Seven Hundred and Eighty-Seven

The first time the King Tiger tank appeared on the frontal battlefield on a large scale, it became a nightmare for the enemy. This steel monster with a low profile, strong power, amazing protection, and superior firepower easily tore apart the Soviet defense line. Even the dozen or so Soviet tanks that came to support them were simply destroyed.

The emergence of these King Tiger tanks allowed the German army to once again surpass the Soviet Union in terms of the quality of its armored forces. Even the Stalin tanks, which the Soviet Union struggled to produce to make up the number, proved to be unable to cope. The Soviet defense line was broken through again, and the German Army Group A was getting closer to Minsk.

When Zhukov received the new German tanks appearing on the battlefield, broke through the defense line set up by Konev, the commander of the 1st Guards Front Army, and advanced 20 kilometers in one breath, he just waved his hand and told the reporter not to Moreover. Now he has enough troubles, adding this one more will not make him any more desperate.

The news just came that the hundreds of thousands of troops of the Soviet Red Army in the direction of Donetsk gave up resistance, dropped their weapons, and surrendered to the German army. This information was a disaster for the Soviet Union. The fragile Caucasus region was exposed to the guns of the German army, and there were oil fields that were crucial to the Soviet Union, producing the oil needed for the Soviet counterattack and various chemical products.

Once the Caucasus is lost, even if the Soviet Union can remain undefeated on other fronts, it will be dragged down by Germany one day in the future and fall into the abyss of eternal doom. For the Soviet army or the entire Soviet Union, the Caucasus is as important as Moscow.

With his hands behind his back, Zhukov walked to the front of the map, carefully staring at the front of his defense line, the actual line of control between the two sides that was getting closer and closer to Minsk, and sighed helplessly. At this time, General Rokossovsky, the commander of the 2nd Guards Front of the Soviet Army, walked into Zhukov's office.

He came to report on his duties, and now his 2nd Guards Front Army urgently needs to rest and reorganize, and has lost the need to continue to stay on the front line. The battle on the front line has little effect on him personally. After all, the way the war is now has nothing to do with him.

"Ah, Comrade Rokossovsky, you're here. Sit down, I don't have any vodka here, so I can only give you some water. What a pity." Zhukov pointed to the seat not far away and motioned to Rokossov Ski sat down, and then continued to speak slowly: "Do you know why I brought you here?"

"Comrade Zhukov, I heard that our army has been defeated on a large scale in the southern region. At this time, you came to me because you hoped that I would rush to the south and help the army there to stabilize their position?" Rokossovsky said. After thinking for a while, he replied: "Anyway, my front army also needs to rest and reorganize, and it happens to retreat to the Caucasus, right?"

"If we can't hold it there, we don't have to continue fighting, so I sent you there, hoping that you can hold on there until we defeat the German attack from the front.

"Zhukov sighed and said: "I can't give you much, but you are closer to Chelyabinsk there, and I will give you priority as much as possible to supply you with heavy weapons such as tanks. "

Everyone knows that going to the Caucasus is not an easy job. Most of the soldiers there were newly recruited and had no combat experience. Using these soldiers to block the advance of the German army was definitely a very difficult task.

"Let me take away the 2nd Guards Front too? With the troops mobilized from other directions, if I don't have to fight back, I can still defend the Caucasus. It's just... no matter how persistent, there is always a time limit. After this time limit, forgive me for being powerless." Rokossovsky said confidently.

Zhukov shook his head, looked at the huge map of the Soviet Union hanging on the wall, and said sadly: "This war is now a loss for both sides. In fact, there is no possibility for us to win. , no matter what we do, the Soviet Union's losses are estimated not to recover for 50 years."

His eyes swept over Minsk, Kiev, and Kharkov. Finally it stopped on Rokossovsky: "We have no way to end the war, because we have to take back all the lost land before we dare to ask for peace talks, otherwise we, including Comrade Stalin, are all national Sinner. But I don't see any hope of getting our land back now, not even the slightest. I send you to the Caucasus because I can't say how long it will be before we are able to fight back, maybe a year, maybe two years , maybe...will have to wait three years or even longer."

He stretched out his hand, stroked the important cities on the map, looked at the control line representing the strength of the two sides, and finally pressed his hand on Minsk: "In order to draw more troops to give you more support, I have even I wrote the combat report on abandoning Minsk and sent it to Moscow... This may be the last time I give the order to retreat, Comrade Stalin must find someone to bear the consequences of the defeat, I... the position is very suitable."

Giving up Minsk is a helpless move to shorten the line of defense. The German army's advancing speed in the south is obviously too fast, causing the entire north to be like a huge protrusion trapped in a semi-encircled German army. Once Guderian's troops start to move along the Kurdish If Ersk goes north, all defenders in Belarus will be in danger of being encircled and eaten.

In order to avoid this danger, Zhukov decided to give up some areas to consolidate his defense. And the first place he wanted to give up was Minsk, an important town in the west of the Soviet Union. The responsibility of losing cities and lands will naturally not be borne by the leader Stalin, so Zhukov, the commander-in-chief of the front line, has become a good candidate for the scapegoat.

However, once the Soviet Union gave up Minsk, it would be equivalent to the liberation of about 200,000 troops. These troops can go south with the 2nd Guards Front Army to fill the gap in the Caucasus region and continue to maintain the current stalemate for the Soviet Union. Keep fighting.

In other words, what the Soviet Union may have to give up is not only Minsk, but also a series of areas such as Kharkov, Smolensk, and Kursk, and even the Caucasus region at the expense of turning Moscow into a front line oil field. Only in this way can the Soviet Union have the capital to continue to fight and to continue to entangle with Germany.

The key now is that these are just a series of military speculations, and whether Stalin, who is far away in Moscow, will buy Zhukov's account. Whether he accepts the plan or not is the key to all problems.

Minsk is okay. Does Stalin have the guts to give up Smolensk, Kursk and other Moscow gateways, so that the German army can really hit the door, and use the loss of strategic space in exchange for more mobile forces. More time, in order to launch a strategic counterattack in the future.

If this plan is implemented smoothly, then it depends on whether the German army has the courage to advance about 700 kilometers, enter the real Soviet Union, transport its own logistics materials on the muddy road, and fight with the Soviet army under the city of Moscow. It's a fight to the death.

What Zhukov was waiting for was nothing more than an order from Stalin, and all he could do now was to draw out the 2nd Guards Front Army and push it in the direction of the Caucasus.

"Report!" At this time, a soldier stood at the door knocking on the door with a telegram, then walked up to Zhukov respectfully, stood at attention and saluted, and handed the document to Zhukov: "Calling from Moscow, the great leader Comrade Stalin himself Please take a look at the telegram you have sent."

"Read!" Zhukov didn't take the telegram that decided his own fate, but just looked at the map and ordered calmly.

"Comrade Zhukov, as Marshal of the great Soviet Union, my personal confidence in you is unquestionable. I have announced your continued appointment as commander of the front at the wartime personnel appointment conference in Moscow... The rout of the front should not be You are responsible, in fact the main reason for this failure is because of the incident in the Crimean Peninsula. The sinners of these countries have paid the price for what they did, and for our own side, the main responsibility lies with the bad command of the southern front Comrade Timoshenko, it's not you." After hearing the order, the soldier opened the telegram and read it solemnly.

When Zhukov heard this, he closed his eyes. What he feared most was that the scapegoat would be handed over to him. This time, the scapegoat was the number one person in charge of the southern rout, Marshal Timoshenko, who was in charge of commanding the battle there. It seems that Stalin also saw that the situation in the Caucasus was very dangerous and supported the plan to abandon Minsk.

Sure enough, Zhukov guessed exactly what happened next. The soldier continued to read: "As for the plan to abandon Minsk, I personally support it. Of course, there will be setbacks and short-term defeats in the war. But we should firmly believe that the power of revolution is infinite, and we will surely achieve the ultimate goal." Great victory!"

"It seems that we can compete with the Germans again!" Zhukov found that the shirt he was wearing had been soaked with sweat before he knew it. But now his worries have been swept away, and his mood is more than a little bit more relaxed. Stalin not only let him command the troops on the front line, but also replaced Timoshenko so that Rokossovsky sent by Zhukov could take over. This is undoubtedly good news for all Soviet soldiers.

Zhukov looked at Rokossovsky and murmured, "Abandoning it gave us a chance to win."