Chapter 574 Counterattack

The loss of Sevastopol made Stalin very angry.

"I don't know what happened in the Crimean Peninsula!" In the conference room, Stalin glanced at the officers in the meeting with a cold eye and said coldly: "The situation was originally very favorable for us, wasn't it? Sevastopol is a fortress that is difficult to conquer, and the Kerch Peninsula is also very suitable for defense in terms of terrain. They have 120,000 and 260,000 garrisons respectively, while the enemy has only 160,000... Even our troops were in a situation of attacking the enemy from both sides on the left and right, but the enemy still easily captured Sevastopol!"

At this point, Stalin picked up a cigarette He stuffed tobacco into the pipe and said with a serious face: "Who can tell me why?"

Oktyabrski, who escaped from Sevastopol, felt that he needed to explain this, so he stood up and answered: "Comrade Stalin, it was because the enemy attacked the power station unexpectedly, and... Sevastopol was short of troops, and the city did not arrange the necessary reserves, so the interior was empty!"

Stalin did not speak, but just silently lit the pipe, took a deep breath and exhaled, and suddenly a cloud of smoke enveloped Stalin like a cloud.

As the smoke gradually dissipated, Stalin asked, "Is that all?"

"Yes, Comrade Stalin!" Oktyabriski replied, "It was my mistake in command, please hold me responsible!"

"No, Comrade Stalin!" At this time, Mekhlis, who was sitting on Stalin's left, stood up and said righteously, "I don't think these are the reasons for the failure of the Battle of Sevastopol. Of course, I think it was indeed Comrade Oktyabriski's mistake in command, but it was not the lack of troops or the enemy's sneak attack as he said. In fact, what is more important is that Comrade Oktyabriski organized this battle with a passive defense mentality. When we have an advantage in troops, we should attack the enemy instead of passively defending. We have a total of 380,000 troops, which is the enemy's More than twice as many as the enemy, and we also have the artillery of the fortress battery and the Black Sea Fleet. They could have easily annihilated the 160,000 fascists who invaded the Crimean Peninsula, but Comrade Oktyabrsky did not do so. Now, our advantage is being lost little by little..."

"But, Comrade Mekhlis!" Oktyabrsky defended himself: "The enemy has air superiority, and it is difficult for our navy to play a greater role. At the same time, the muddy roads are not suitable for attacking. Doing so will cause a large number of casualties in our troops..."

"This is exactly why you lost this war, Comrade Oktyabrsky!" Mekhlis criticized with an arrogant tone: "Such cowardly thoughts are not allowed on the battlefield. You should make a deep reflection on this!"

Oktyabrsky was speechless.

Mekhlis was the director of the General Political Department of the Red Army and the deputy people's commissar of defense. He was Stalin's pawn and a typical figure of the Stalin era... ignorant, arrogant, without much combat experience, and only had political correctness.

It is said that Mehlis once argued with others about whether the moon would shine... Others told him that the moon itself does not shine, it just reflects the sun's light, but Mehlis did not think so, because the moon he saw clearly shines.

Indeed, this is difficult for someone who has not even graduated from elementary school to understand.

Stalin was silent for a while, and then said: "I think Comrade Mehlis's words make sense, we should boldly launch a counterattack against the Germans!"

"Comrade Stalin!" As soon as this was said, Oktyabrsky hurriedly said: "I think our army is not ready, and the current situation is not suitable for launching a counterattack!"

"Are you talking about the muddy roads?" Stalin asked back.

"This is one of the reasons..."

"But!" Stalin interrupted Oktyabrsky: "Didn't the Germans launch an attack on these roads?"

After Stalin said this, Oktyabrsky was speechless.

"Comrade Stalin!" Kuznetsov had to stand up and said, "I also think it is not suitable to counterattack at this time. Our preparations are not sufficient..."

"The Germans are also not fully prepared!" Stalin said, "In fact, we have sufficient intelligence to prove that the Germans' increased supplies and manpower are inferior to ours, which means that if we can defeat them in the Battle of Moscow, we can also defeat them now!"

After a pause, Stalin continued, "Comrades, you have seen the results of passive defense. Even a strong fortress like Sevastopol will be occupied by the enemy. I have reason to believe that if this continues, the Kerch Peninsula will have the same fate. On the other hand, we all know one thing... Once the Germans are ready, they will attack us, and we don't even know where they are going to attack. So, why don't we take the initiative to launch a counterattack now? This can disrupt their plans on the one hand, and on the other hand, we can defend the Kerch Peninsula and take the initiative. You know, as long as we can defend the Kerch Peninsula, the enemy cannot attack!"

In a way, Stalin's statement is still correct.

Because the four armies on the Kerch Peninsula were like time bombs buried behind the German defense line, like a thorn in the eye, the Soviet army would not allow it to be easily disintegrated by the German army like Sevastopol.

If the Soviet army launched a counterattack in other directions and the Kerch Peninsula, it would form a "cooperation from the inside and outside" situation, which would prevent the German army from implementing the offensive plan.

Seeing that no one objected, Stalin ordered: "I order Comrade Mekhlis to go to the Kerch Peninsula as a representative of the Supreme Command to inspect the preparations. When the time is right, we will deploy all our troops to launch a counterattack against the enemy head-on!"

Oktyabrski's heart sank to the bottom of the valley when he heard this... He knew that Mekhlis was "inspecting the preparations" on the surface, but in fact he was a political representative with the power of life and death. This had already doomed the counterattack on the Kerch Peninsula to be inevitable, and the commander of the Kerch Peninsula attack was still Mekhlis, a fool who only talked about courage and spirit. It is conceivable what the fate of the four armies in Kerch would be.

Oktyabrski gritted his teeth and wanted to prevent the tragedy from happening, but he heard Stalin continue: "Remove Comrade Oktyabrski from the post of commander of the Black Sea Fleet!"