Chapter 640 It’s Time to Work

Stalin wanted to crush the German army's aggressive attempt to capture Stalingrad with a clean counterattack. Such a plan was indeed feasible and attractive on paper, but Zhukov, who was almost counting his fingers to make a living, really didn't want to do it.

After arriving in Stalingrad and inspecting the specific situation, Zhukov found that the current situation in Stalingrad was much worse than the data on paper documents he studied in Moscow.

None of the available troops were fully equipped. The troops in a slightly better situation could reach 70 to 80 percent of the full formation, and the worse troops could even reach less than half of the full formation.

Of course, the worst was the First Guards Heavy Tank Breakthrough Regiment led by Malashenko. As soon as Zhukov arrived at the headquarters, he heard Vasilevsky talk about the miserable situation when Malashenko only had eight tanks left.

To be honest, even Zhukov, who knew Malashenko, was quite surprised at the time. The nominally called regiment but actually larger than the division, only had eight tanks left and could be successfully withdrawn. If this is not a miracle, then there is nothing in the world that can be described as a miracle.

Zhukov told Stalin on the phone that the morale of the grassroots commanders of the troops was high, which was indeed a fact without any exaggeration. For example, Malashenko, who was almost buried by the Germans, repeatedly "came back" and still wanted to fight the Germans to the death.

But Zhukov, who only reported good news but not bad news, did not tell Stalin another thing: At present, many middle and senior commanders of the Stalingrad Front were full of worries and frustration about the outcome of the war, and it can even be said that they were full of fear in their hearts.

After arriving in Stalingrad and taking office, Zhukov had visited the front-line army-level headquarters for many consecutive days. The commander of the 62nd Army, Lopatin, was the best example of a weak will.

As the commander of the army, Lopatin was brave enough in the battle, but he repeatedly mentioned how fierce and powerful the Germans were in front of Zhukov, and was full of pessimism about the future of the entire war.

The depressed Lopatin was obviously no longer suitable to serve as the commander of the 62nd Army, which was the main force. Zhukov was planning to appoint Lieutenant General Chuikov to replace him, but this process would take a few days to be truly completed.

The morale of the grassroots commanders and soldiers below was high, but the middle-level commanders were full of gloom and their will was shaken.

Such a situation inevitably reminded Zhukov of the scene during the Battle of Kiev last year. If the situation continued, Zhukov would have to consider the possibility of repeating the same mistakes. The role played by the middle-level commanders in the success or failure of the entire battle was extremely huge. In this case, launching a counterattack with insufficient troops could almost guess what the result would be.

"The planned counterattack will not develop in such a good direction. Comrade Stalin is a little too optimistic."

No matter what Zhukov thought secretly, he could not delay or change the counterattack against the German troops in the northern suburbs of the city.

To launch a counterattack that has practical effects and is not a pure waste of manpower, it is necessary to gather strong offensive energy.

To achieve this goal, it is necessary to use the few remaining tank troops at hand. Zhukov has reason to believe that a simple infantry attack is tantamount to hitting a stone with an egg for the German offensive group that is in full swing.

The slow-moving infantry troops will be pushed back by the German army before they can make a real breakthrough. This approach will not only fail but also waste a huge amount of manpower in vain. However, it is a headache to find a suitable tank unit to serve as the vanguard of the attack.

Zhukov, who had been sitting at his desk and scratching on the war zone map with a pencil and compass for more than an hour, had no other choice but to answer the phone call to the headquarters of the 1st Guards Heavy Tank Breakthrough Regiment when he was so poor that he had no soldiers to use.

"Is it me, Zhukov, Political Commissar Petrov? Please tell Malashenko to come to the front headquarters immediately. There is a very important task to assign to him. OK, I got it, that's it."

Malashenko was holding a piece of chalk in his hand to teach tactics to the group of regrouped guerrillas below. His fingers were about to poke the blackboard and Malashenko was dry-mouthed. He was about to take a sip of the water bottle on the table. Political Commissar Petrov, who came trotting all the way without warning, immediately conveyed Zhukov's order to Malashenko.

"Go to the front headquarters? Now? What happened?"

Political Commissar Petrov had no right to inquire and had no idea what task Zhukov was going to assign Malashenko. The only answer he could give was to shake his head.

"Okay, I'll go over right away. The course has come to the part about interspersed detours. You continue and tell them all about our usual combat modes. Many people only have those rigid textbooks in their heads, which are of no use at all. Lavrinenko will come to take over the shift later. He is now understanding the situation with Karamov."

Malashenko, who threw away the chalk in his hand and didn't even have time to wash his hands, gave a brief explanation to Political Commissar Petrov, and immediately took a car to report to the front headquarters. Zhukov's request for him to go over immediately at this time was probably not a good thing.

As expected, when Malashenko arrived at the front headquarters after a long journey to report, Zhukov, who was reviewing the report on the delivery of supplies to the counterattack troops, was obviously not in a good mood.

"Sit down and talk. It may take some time. This time I called you here not only to arrange combat tasks, but also to hear your opinions on some situations."

Ever since Malashenko's "prophecies" against the German army last year began to come true one by one this year, Zhukov's feeling of being unable to see through the young man Malashenko has become more and more subtle.

He wanted to listen to Malashenko's suggestions mostly with a try-and-see mentality. Zhukov always felt that if Malashenko said a little divergent thinking, he might be able to find some new direction, just like the report on the German army submitted to Moscow last year.

After signing the document with a fountain pen in his hand, he immediately closed the folder and put it aside temporarily. After finishing his work, Zhukov turned around and said the first sentence that made Malashenko's heart skip a beat.

"The situation has changed, Malashenko. The 1st Heavy Tank Breakthrough Regiment of the Guards needs to participate in the upcoming northern counterattack. You will be transferred to the offensive direction of the 24th Army as a vanguard to participate in the operation."