Chapter 559 It’s so Hard for Me

"Stalingrad must be defended no matter what! The advance of the Fascist minions must be stopped at all costs!"

Some things are easy to say but difficult to do. The frowning Chief of Staff Vasilevsky spoke to Stalin again without much thought.

"But the Southwest Front commanded by Comrade Stalin and Comrade Timoshenko has now suffered heavy losses! All the troops are being routed, or have been surrounded by the Germans! We do not have enough troops to defend Stalingrad. It’s impossible to do it with the disabled Southwest Front Army alone!”

Although the words were very unpleasant to listen to, the situation explained by Vasilevsky was undoubtedly an indisputable fact. Comrade Stalin, a kind father with a sound mind, naturally could not refute, so he had to grit his teeth and start talking. He closed his eyes slightly and thought of a way.

But when Stalin spoke again, Vasilevsky was instantly surprised by the solution he gave.

"Order the formation of the Stalingrad Front! Move all the defense forces that can be mobilized in the direction of Moscow, and all the reserve forces. I only want Stalingrad to be able to hold it!"

Vasilevsky was startled when he first heard Stalin's order. If he followed Stalin's order, Moscow's frontal defense would be completely open.

"Comrade Stalin, do you want to think about it again? If you do so, the defense in the direction of Moscow will"

"I know what order I gave, Comrade Vasilevsky!"

Stalin, the loving father with a stern look on his face, turned around and forcibly interrupted Vasilevsky's speech, looking very ferocious.

"The top priority is that Stalingrad must be defended! If Stalingrad is lost, you know better than me what kind of difficulties Moscow will face. Do you think the few troops in Moscow can defend it after Stalingrad is lost? Moscow? What’s the use of these troops if I can’t hold it?”

After being sternly scolded by his loving father Stalin, Vasilevsky, who had fallen into a routine and tactical thinking, suddenly woke up and understood the truth.

Although he misjudged the direction and intention of the German army's main attack during the counteroffensive in 1942, as a qualified leader, Stalin undoubtedly had all the necessary judgment and overall judgment.

Under the strict orders of Supreme Leader Stalin, the elite Soviet army groups that stayed on the Moscow defense line after the Winter War began to move south one after another, rushing to support the already endangered Stalingrad front line.

The 64th Group Army commanded by Lieutenant General Chuikov rushed south from Tula City to the Stalingrad front line. The 62nd Army Group commanded by Major General Korpakovich was the closest, and they would be the first to arrive outside Stalingrad to deploy defenses. Integrated Army units.

Orders and telegrams from high-level officials flew to the front line one after another like snowflakes. Malashenko, who knew nothing about the situation and could not care about it, was still fighting to death with the troops with heavy casualties in a pool of blood. According to Timoshenko contacted him from time to time and sent orders to withdraw all the way to the Don River grassland.

Malashenko, who retreated all the way from the forefront of the Kharkov front to the Don River grassland, abandoned nearly half of his tanks along the way and was also destroyed by German air strikes, had never felt so embarrassed. With hundreds of German divisions hanging behind him, Malashenko felt that his life might be in danger at any time, so he had no choice but to command the troops to retreat to the safest place possible.

It's like winter is over and it turns into summer in the blink of an eye.

It had not been two days since Malashenko felt that the snow had completely melted away, and then he encountered the first heavy rain in early summer. Raindrops the size of soybeans poured down like a downpour, making the retreat of the entire army even more difficult. Malashenko, who was wrestling in the field, couldn't stop complaining, cursing the damn Germans and the bad weather.

"You bastard Kraut! Damn the weather!"

The soldiers of the 1st Guards Heavy Tank Breakthrough Regiment were exhausted after many days of running and retreating. The army supplies that had been exhausted and difficult to replenish were no longer available, not to mention cigarettes, and even the extremely unpalatable black bread. Eat sparingly with your fingers.

My body was overworked, my nutrition couldn't keep up, and I was soaked in the pouring rain for almost a day and night. Problems soon appeared.

The tank soldiers who stayed in the tanks were okay, but the regiment's own logistics and baggage troops who were gathered up by Malashenko along the way to carry the retreating infantry were not so lucky.

A large number of Red Army soldiers suffered from colds and fevers, and a few of them were so severe that they even began to suffer from vomiting and diarrhea and became paralyzed and collapsed.

Taking care of a patient and taking him with him requires the help of at least two Red Army soldiers. Over time, the original patient's condition did not improve, and many new patients were added. Ma was overwhelmed by the bad situations that followed one after another. When Rashenko was most hesitant, he once again received a telegram from the front army headquarters.

"Stop retreating, defend the Womano village closest to your headquarters in a straight line, and wait for follow-up orders and additional support."

Supplementary support, this is the most exciting and surprising word Malashenko has seen in nearly a month.

During this crazy retreat, Malashenko racked his brains and tried every means to obtain supplies.

Like a beggar, he reached out to the friendly troops that he met on the way who were also in retreat, and if the officers and soldiers of the friendly troops were of lower or equal ranks than himself, Malashenko would have to beg them with shame, and it would be even more shameless if he met officers and soldiers of higher ranks than himself.

As long as he could get some limited supplies, Malashenko would even be willing to wipe their shoes, although this did not really happen.

Along the way, he met many scattered troops who were separated from the main force and were at a loss. These troops included infantry, engineers, artillery, and even a dozen cavalrymen on horseback. The largest officer was just a lieutenant of the Red Army who was also in a panic.

Malashenko, whose own troops were already insufficiently supplied, could not watch these soldiers who had lost their command being caught up by the Germans and sent to prisoner-of-war camps or directly killed.

Malashenko lamented that he really couldn't bear to be cruel. He kept gathering up a battalion of scattered troops along the way. The extra rations for hundreds of people made Malashenko himself start to feel hungry and full.

The reply he got from the "crying" telegram to Timoshenko was still to try to overcome the difficulties and find a way to solve the problem. Malashenko, who cried all the time, really wanted to sit on the ground and wipe a few tears. "Waiting for follow-up orders and additional support" was definitely the voice of salvation that could pull Malashenko's soul back from the endless abyss.