1147th Last Farewell
"Lenino? You have already moved the headquarters to Moscow?" Stalin reacted very strongly to Zhukov's words. He thought that at least most of the south of Moscow should still be in the hands of the Soviet army, but now he knows the truth and knows the truth. The Germans had captured Razwirka, Butovo, and even reached Biryulev. 【No Pop-Up Novel Network】.??`
"Yes! The German army took Butovo from us ten days ago. If you don't know, I can tell you with certainty that the counterattack at Bicha Park failed. Now the German army Control it, the 150mm howitzer that bombarded the Kremlin this morning should have been fired from there." Zhukov smiled wryly, and then told Stalin, who was still in the dark, everything he knew.
It was really terrible news. Stalin staggered, and then looked at Zhukov, hoping to see some clues from the other person's face, but he failed. Obviously, Zhukov was very bachelor when he said these words, and his expression did not change at all.
"How long is the nearest German army away from me?" The stimulated Stalin seemed to quickly adapt to Zhukov's collapse therapy. The fluctuations did not show up, but I just calmly asked Zhukov who had told everything: "Is there anything else I don't know, let's tell it together."
"According to the radio station and some other channels, we can confirm that Siberia has rebelled, and the attitude of the Far East is also ambiguous." Zhukov simply became more bachelor: "The reinforcements you have been looking forward to are impossible to come, and The Germans captured Vorontsov Park the day before..."
"An infantry battalion of the German army is now infiltrating into the neighborhood near Vorontsov Park, and the nearest troops are only 1 km away from Lemonosov Avenue.? .?? `" The news still came after Zhukov On the way, I personally discovered the situation. At that time, when his car drove across the bridge to the east bank of the Moskva River, he heard the sound of artillery from there.
Lemonosov Avenue is another core location of Moscow's defense system. If the Germans did take this avenue, there would not be much distance left to the Moskva River. At that time, perhaps larger and farther mortars will be able to hit the Kremlin, the core of Moscow.
When Stalin heard the terrible news, he didn't say anything more. He just quietly listened to Zhukov's news that it couldn't be worse, and kept telling him. Zhukov was not very clear about the operations of the German troops in the north of Moscow, and Vatutin did not report more information to Zhukov who was in a state of distress.
The poor Soviet Marshal may have at most 10 divisions of troops, and some of these troops are not full. He insisted on defense near Leninuo, causing many casualties to the German army, but the German army did not retreat because of too many casualties, but instead strengthened the attack intensity nearby.
"Our forces are not strong enough to hold the existing defensive positions,
It is necessary to retreat and give up part of the burden, and focus on defending the positions near Nasimov Street. Zhukov said to Stalin, pointing to a huge city defense map of the Moscow region hanging on Stalin's wall.
The location where his finger was pressed was still marked with many defensive troops on the map, and places farther away were still marked as still under the control of the Soviet army. It's a pity that most of those places have now been occupied by the German army, and the reserves that showed a large number have actually been consumed by more than half now.
There are actually not many remaining forces in the Soviet Union that can fight. Some of the original Moscow city defense forces, some of the troops in the hands of Vasilevsky, plus some of the troops in the hands of Zhukov and Konev. . `The remaining defensive forces, which seem to have an astonishing number, are actually just civilian armed forces without any heavy weapons.
To put it bluntly, these troops are just the most ineffective infantry with guns in their hands. Without much systematic logistics and supplements, and lack of unified command and scheduling, it is difficult for these troops to play any role in the defense process. In the face of German tanks, these temporary armed forces and even basic anti-tank firepower were easily killed by experienced German infantry in groups.
Officially, there were about 519 soldiers killed and missing by the German army on July 15, and it was for this reason that the declared number of Soviet soldiers killed was as many as 4,000. According to the official records of the Soviet Union, the Germans killed 600 soldiers on this day. The reason for not getting statistics.
There are all kinds of corpses lying everywhere in the streets and alleys. Some corpses are real civilians. These people came out to find food or do other things, and then they were hit by shells or stray bullets. No one cares about dying there. Some were members of the "Moscow Self-Defense Forces". They carried a Mosin Nagant, took a few bullets, and squatted in a corner until they were shot dead by the German army or killed by the German army after passing by. —They often only have a chance to fire a shot, and most of the time this shot has no chance to hit the enemy at all.
The number of guns quickly became insufficient due to the unlimited expansion of the "Moscow Self-Defense Forces". So this disorderly "army expansion" was finally stopped by Zhukov. Then the Supreme Command of the Moscow Theater issued an order, requiring that those who distribute guns can only be between the ages of 10 and 65 after registration, and try not to give them to women.
Even so, the German army still saw and recorded a terrible scene. In a Soviet building, there were basically no regular soldiers guarding it. When the German army rushed in, they found 40 young women fighting with them. There are 15 children and a group of 60-year-old grandpas—they are an integrated company of the "Moscow Self-Defense Forces", commanded by a temporarily promoted captain, and their task is to stick to this building with little strategic value.
These poor "soldiers" only have 3 to 7 ammo each, only one grenade for the whole company, no anti-tank weapons and no radio stations, and because many of them are on crutches, they don't even have the ability to retreat when necessary No. Some of these people leaned against the wall, some supported their bodies with chairs, and opened fire at the Germans with weapons in their overcoats, and some of them couldn't even pull the bolt of their guns, just sitting there waiting to die.
The combat-capable female soldiers in the room were surrounded by the German army and shot at each other to complete their mission. When the German army rushed into the room, they saw blood all over the wall and a whole room full of corpses. Soon the roofless building was occupied by the German army, and judging from the German army's combat diaries and official materials, the German army did not capture a single prisoner in this battle.
"Comrade Stalin! We must get women and children off the battlefield... These people can't help at all. They are useless except to waste the enemy's ammunition." Zhukov also mentioned the "Moscow Self-Defense Forces" in front of Stalin. "Things, these troops wasted precious ammunition, and often made tragic charges, which only increased casualties.
"This army was organized by a committee, and it was established by the citizens of Moscow to fight against the invaders... I don't think it is necessary to deny the high patriotic enthusiasm. We have not much left now, Comrade Zhukov." Stalin forehead Sweat was soaked on his face, and he trembled when he spoke, as if he hadn't smoked since he opened his eyes.
Zhukov shook his head dejectedly, and said to Stalin: "Comrade Stalin, if you think it is patriotic enthusiasm to charge a group of people a few years older than you to the German positions with guns, then I will shut myself up." The mouths of the old men and women and children don't know what fighting is, they just run to the German positions with rifles in their hands - you should be able to guess what will happen without me telling you, The Germans would not hesitate to shoot and kill civilians who would never shoot."
"Then let them shoot those civilians! It's like they shot me a few days later!" Stalin finally couldn't bear it and burst out. He endured Zhukov's blame only because his illusory victory burst like a bubble. That's it, not because he can tolerate being questioned about his decisions. Of course he knew that some departments were organizing civilians to die, and this was done at his behest.
If you don't do this, how will the defense line of hundreds of kilometers outside the city of Moscow be built? If not, where did the millions of troops in the Moscow theater come from? He, Stalin, needs millions of troops, even if the millions of troops are illusory, have no combat effectiveness, and are temporarily armed civilians. And in his heart, he took it for granted that when he needs an army of millions, he must have an army of millions!
"I allow you to demobilize those Moscow Self-Defense Forces that you think are useless in the Lenino area, but you have no right to deny all the Patriotic Self-Defense Forces! Understand?" Stalin stared at Zhukov and asked in a cold tone.
Zhukov knew that he had overdrawn too much of Stalin's trust and mood when he came here this time. He didn't speak, but stood at attention, and gave a solemn military salute to Stalin. Then he turned and walked out of Stalin's room, leading his guards out of the bunker—the last time he and Stalin saw each other.
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