Chapter 1004: Memory of Shame

For this particularly important test, a whole regiment of Red Army artillery units worked in Kubinka for half a month.

Because they were not particularly familiar with the captured super weapon, this newly formed Red Army special artillery regiment had to use the German prisoners of war transported from Stalingrad by train as tools, asking these German prisoners of war to help with the work and at the same time give instructions on how to operate this super weapon.

The Kubinka weapons test site, located west of Moscow, has never been so lively. More than a thousand German prisoners of war and a whole regiment of Red Army artillery are busy.

In order to make the test go smoothly, the Kubinka weapons test site, which originally had no suitable railway, specially dispatched railway engineering experts to the site for instructions, and expanded a dedicated two-way railway track in the Kubinka test site according to the specifications of the weapon.

In short, it was just to make this super weapon roar and show its true power in front of the supreme leader Comrade Stalin.

Not only were the Red Army artillery soldiers and German prisoners of war exhausted and busy all day, but even those officials and experts who wanted to take the opportunity to show off and please Comrade Stalin also stayed on the site all day and worked hard on their own professional work.

It took a lot of effort to transport it back from the Stalingrad front. The Red Army soldiers who finally took a breath began to gradually find that it was much more troublesome to assemble this thing than to dismantle it and transport it away.

It was not until the day before the scheduled test date, that is, yesterday, that all the basic debugging work of the weapons was completed.

Under the "giving all" of the German prisoners of war with guns pointed at their heads, the Red Army Special Artillery Regiment, which was specially assigned to this super weapon, can now basically complete the disassembly and assembly of the weapon independently.

Although it takes much longer than the skilled German army, it is always better to master it yourself than to ask the enemy for help. If they continue to train and run in over time, this special Red Army artillery regiment will be able to quickly master this super weapon and form combat effectiveness. Stalin, who supervised the plan and personally ordered the deployment, was very sure of this.

Standing under this magnificent war machine that was so huge that it could cover the sky and the sun, even Comrade Stalin, who thought he was already prepared after seeing the photo, was still deeply shocked by the scene in front of him and spoke out.

"Hitler and his experts built a crazy and terrible war machine. It is even hard to imagine how the Germans completed it.

No one of the entourage following Stalin said anything. Almost everyone was conquered by the oppressive, heavy, and suffocating war machine in front of them.

As Comrade Stalin, the loving father, lamented, you can't imagine how a war machine with a combat weight of 1,350 tons, heavier than a lighter destroyer, could drive onto land to show off its power.

If this super weapon had not been assembled and placed so realistically before our eyes, it would probably be hard to even think of proposing such a weapon. The idea and concept of the weapon will be sneered at by others. We have to admit that Germany during World War II had the amazing motivation to turn madness into reality, as if nothing was impossible in the eyes of these crazy Nazis.

Comrade Stalin, the loving father, who was amazed that time had come to an end, took two steps back and took a few last glances at the last posture of this mighty super weapon before firing, so that the real existence of the "Red Stalingrad" would be more deeply engraved in his mind. He turned around and took a step while randomly giving orders to the entourage around him.

"It's time to start. I'll wait for the moment when this cannon roars."

"Okay, Comrade Stalin, I'll arrange it now."

The chief guard who received the order again quickly disappeared from the field of vision and rushed to convey the final order. When Stalin, surrounded by a group of entourage, came to the audience, Zhukov and Vasilevsky, who were sitting in the front row, immediately stood up at the same time and saluted the Soviet supreme leader solemnly.

"I wish you good health! Comrade Stalin."

"Hmm."

Stalin, who was an old acquaintance of the two people in front of him, did not go through the formalities of polite conversation, but directly expressed his true thoughts in a concise and to the point manner.

"You two performed very well in Stalingrad. This great victory inspired our people, boosted the morale of the Red Army soldiers, and gave the entire Soviet the determination to continue to resolutely resist the Nazi invaders until they were completely crushed."

"I know the details of the whole story, Zhukov, you have trained the boy named Malashenko very well, which is great! Our Red Army needs more such brave grassroots commanders and fighters who are loyal to the Soviet Union and dedicated to the country. They need courage and perseverance like Malashenko. Keep doing what you should do. "

Stalin, who was shaking hands with Zhukov, had an encouraging smile on his face, and there seemed to be nothing too serious. However, Zhukov, who was also smiling and agreeing with his leader, was not thinking the same thing as his facial expression said.

Stalingrad had achieved a great victory, but Zhukov had just suffered the most humiliating defeat in his life.

Model, who was unknown and not well-received in the entire Wehrmacht, made Zhukov thoroughly taste the taste of failure.

Operation Mars caused the Red Army troops to suffer more casualties than expected, but Zhukov, who was good at commanding large armies on the front battlefield, did not get an equal return for this huge price, and the initial strategic goal was not achieved.

The huge force of nearly 700,000 people plus 2,000 tanks was defeated by the less than 100,000 troops and 200 tanks commanded by Model.

The blood of more than 300,000 Red Army soldiers and the burning wreckage of thousands of their own tanks only killed Model's troops of at most three divisions, and none of the predetermined strategic goals were achieved. Zhukov, who was conducting post-war statistics, felt strongly humiliated holding the bloody report in his hand.

Zhukov, who reflected on every command and judgment error he made, vowed to take back the lost glory from Model in the future.

Because Zhukov had been portrayed as a war god hero on the battlefield, wherever the Red Army's war god went, there would be a great victory. Under the personal instruction of the supreme leader Comrade Stalin, the Soviet propaganda department did not mention too many details and reports about the Mars operation, but suppressed the matter as a secret.