Chapter 420 Caucasus (8)

"Fighting a war of attrition, fighting a high exchange ratio, and consuming our war potential." Zhukov stared at Rokossovsky and spoke out word for word.

"Ha!" Rokossovsky laughed, "This is the most ridiculous strategy I have ever heard - Germany still wants to compete with us for its little potential? How many people can they die? How many supplies do they have? And food can be used for war? Will the capitalists support Hitler to fight a long war? "

"I don't think it's ridiculous, on the contrary, it's a fatal strategy." Zhukov said with a sad face, "Since the Germans betrayed their faith and launched the surprise attack, the war has lasted for 21 months. Not counting civilians, we have lost nearly 100,000 people in total. With an army of 9 million, the average loss is more than 400,000 a month and 100,000 a week.”

"So many?" Rokossovsky was stunned. "Comrade Stalin did not say that we lost 2-3 million people, but at least 1 million Germans were wiped out."

"2-3 million?" Zhukov sneered, "Do you really believe this number? The accumulated wounded alone exceeds 3 million."

"Most of the wounded can return to the front line after treatment."

"Maybe 2 million can be returned, but it's not like being injured today and recovering tomorrow. Most of them take 3-6 months. The wounded who returned early were basically lost in subsequent battles." Zhukov sighed, "The base camp last year A large-scale military recruitment was organized in August. The propaganda department said that more than 95% of the soldiers joined the army enthusiastically and voluntarily. Do you believe it? "

"I..." Rokossovsky was speechless. He wanted to write a letter, but when he thought of the bearded soldiers in the army who were in their 30s and 40s, the last half of his sentence was not enough.

"I can tell you a number. Last fall we exhausted all the children born in 1925 - a total of 1.4 million. Don't say you didn't see them."

Rokossovsky's eyes widened. He thought that the child soldiers who were not as tall as rifles were just a partial phenomenon. Unexpectedly, the truth came out in three cold words - "Conscripted!"

"If the situation is urgent, I will start recruiting children born in 1926 after the summer. In fact, we lost more than 7.6 million troops in the first 15 months. If the loss level had not been slightly reduced in the past six months, the average weekly loss would still be It's ugly." Zhukov sighed, "The combat effectiveness of the troops now has dropped a lot compared with that before the war, even compared with the Moscow defense war - you know why there was no large-scale counterattack this winter like last year. ? Because Comrade Stalin himself lacks confidence."

This was the first time Rokossovsky had heard such inside information, and he couldn't help but become suspicious: What did Zhukov mean by telling him this?

"You say that the Germans do not have the ability to persist in a long-term war. It depends on the situation and the country you are comparing it with - Americans are probably qualified to say this, but we are probably not. Since the Battle of Poland, the Germans have fought continuously After three and a half years of war, not only did we show no signs of fatigue, but we became stronger as we fought - now even the navy can try to compete with the British. Can you imagine that Comrade Vasilevsky and I heard about Germany before the war? The Germans were shocked after the news that the navy had rushed out of the North Sea and occupied the Azores. Now the Germans had factories all over Europe to help them produce arms and industrial products, and they had food and resources from the Middle East, Africa, and Europe for them to squander. As for the casualties, the General Staff estimates that they are between 1.5 and 2 million. Considering that Germany suffered about 6 million casualties in the last war, they are far from being unable to sustain it. "

Rokossovsky was silent. He knew that Zhukov was right: the Red Army's combat effectiveness had dropped dramatically, and the German army had almost no impact - the Germans only used 300,000 to sweep across Africa and the Middle East! On the Eastern Front, it was at best a medium-sized battle, but it left the British Empire abandoned and almost unable to take care of itself. Everyone knows that there are four pillars supporting the global hegemony of the British Empire: the first is the Royal Navy; the second is the Suez Canal and Middle East oil; the third is the colonies of the Indian subcontinent; and the fourth is the four autonomous territories of South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and Canada. Now two and a half of the four pillars are broken: the Royal Navy has suffered heavy losses, its hegemony in the Mediterranean has been completely lost, and absolute sea control in the North Sea is difficult to maintain; the Suez Canal and oil have been completely lost; the Indian Ocean routes are almost cut off; only the four autonomous dominions appear to be The impact is not big, and blood transfusions are still being made to the mother country.

The two people’s views are actually a bit one-sided. The reason why 300,000 German troops were able to sweep across Africa and the Middle East was because of some irreproducible conditions: on the one hand, these 300,000 troops mobilized elite ace troops; on the other hand, the Japanese combined fleet joined the battlefield—— Without the combined fleet to clean up the British and American fleets in the Indian Ocean and blockade the relevant sea areas, the German army would have no way to win in the short term.

"So, you judge that Germany's strategy has changed from a large-scale siege of cities and territories to a continuous war of attrition or annihilation?"

"No, to be precise, it is a suffocation war! The Germans are suffocating our war potential. In terms of military population alone, we still have 9 million troops, which is about 1.5 times the size of Germany. Unfortunately, in actual battles, the ratio is often 1:4 , 1:5 battle loss, this advantage is difficult to maintain. Of course, it does not mean that without these 9 million troops, we will be completely finished. It is okay to drive the Soviets crazy and raise 9 million more. The problem is that we are unable to provide for these 18 million. People provide sufficient military resources." Zhukov explained seriously, "I have been thinking about Germany's strategic changes recently, and I have vaguely grasped the enemy's thinking. There has been no large-scale battle in the past few months, and the northern theater has been calm. , but the damage to our military potential in calm is much greater than fighting a few battles."

Rokossovsky listened quietly to Zhukov's words. He had realized that the other party had more comprehensive and sufficient data than he did.

"We still have 9 million troops. If we go by the consumption rate of the previous 21 months, we can still maintain it for nearly 2 years. In fact, you also know that this is impossible. The momentum of the storm-like attack has passed. At present, Our average casualties are slowly declining, but the depletion of military resources is much faster than the depletion of soldiers. Taking tanks as an example, our current production volume is 2,500 vehicles a month, which is about twice that of the Germans, but the Germans are large. Some are Panzer IV or Tiger, a small part are assault guns, not a single light tank, and we produced about 800 light tanks, which has no value at all if it is completely converted to T-34 or newer T-43. It will soon fall within 2,000 vehicles. Even if we add 300 vehicles for a month of American supplies - although the Americans have not yet reached their commitment, we can only reach 2,300 vehicles, while Germany will increase it to more than 1,500 vehicles. . At this level, let alone 1:4 (the exchange ratio achieved by the 4th Tank Army), we cannot afford battle losses of 1:3 or even 1:2.”

There is one thing Zhukov did not say, and Rokossovsky also tacitly did not mention it: the quality of tanks has declined greatly recently, and the quality of some defensive armor is ridiculously poor. Not to mention the 50mm anti-tank gun, it is the 37mm anti-tank gun that the German army has eliminated. Tank guns with tungsten core bullets can penetrate it.

"The second piece of evidence that the Germans are suffocating us is the destruction of our foreign aid channels. It all seems to be a coincidence, but the enemy is obviously executing around this goal. They cut off the Arctic route, and after occupying Iran and the Middle East, they cut off the southern route. , now only the Pacific route can maintain some transportation tonnage, and I am very doubtful about how long it can last. I have communicated with the British representatives. They are now asking the Americans for their own tanks, and they have no spare capacity to support us in the Middle East. Finally, they even began to cry for crude oil. The third piece of evidence was crude oil. The Germans forced us to bomb Baku - the damage was more complete than their bombing with planes. Although the Americans were powerful and wealthy, they were willing to support us. , But now it is simply impossible to transport enough supplies. Two days ago, Foreign Minister Molotov made a request to increase the supply of refined oil. They agreed, but implicitly stated that they might give priority to ensuring the needs of the British."

Rokossovsky's frown deepened.

"A few months ago, Comrade Stalin tentatively proposed peace..."

"Peace?" Rokossovsky opened his eyes wide and exclaimed.

"Keep your voice down, can you keep the party's secrets like this?" Zhukov glared at the other party with dissatisfaction, "The middleman is the Bulgarian Tsar Boris III. Hitler agreed to make peace, but the conditions are very high."

"What conditions?" Rokossovsky added quietly, "If it doesn't involve important secrets, I would like to know."

"Anyway, there are rumors flying all over the world, so it's okay to tell you. First, unconditionally recognize the independence of those 'Eastern countries'; second, compensate the Germans 100 billion marks; third, we will retreat 400 kilometers back from the existing actual military demarcation line. , these places and the territory already occupied by the German army will be handed over to the puppet army for the establishment of the country - as for the land we lost, the Germans encouraged us to attack Afghanistan and India and obtain land from there as compensation. Comrade Stalin was only willing to agree to the first two items, Bulgaria. Later, the Germans took the initiative to make some concessions. The compensation was increased to 200 billion, the retreat was reduced to 200 kilometers, and control of important cities such as Moscow and Stalingrad remained unchanged, except for Leningrad.”

Rokossovsky entered a state of confusion. He did not understand why Zhukov told him this.

"Actually, it's very simple. I want to fight a blocking battle in Stalingrad, wipe out the enemy's 500,000-600,000 troops, and then push for peace talks if conditions permit - the Soviets really need a breathing space."