Chapter 574 Summer Thunder (6)

After listening to what Beria said, Stalin breathed a long sigh of relief. What he was most afraid of now was that Khrushchev, Zhukov, and Vasilevsky would join forces to form the "Communist Group", in which case members of the Politburo would be involved. With political backers, including two military leaders, Zhukov and Vasilevsky, the momentum was too great. It is easy to clean them. As long as he moves his mouth now, the Ministry of Internal Affairs will arrest them all in less than half an hour. But what will happen after they are arrested? Clean it off like before? That would cause big trouble.

There is no problem in purging Khrushchev. He is just a former Ukrainian First Secretary, and his qualifications are not enough to be an "older generation of proletarian revolutionaries." However, Zhukov and Vasilevsky cannot do it lightly. He can't find anyone who can replace them. The two generals arrived. He clearly knew that Zhukov had a high prestige among these front commanders, especially the thorns on the southern front - Vatutin, Yeremenko and Rokossovsky. No one else was convinced, so he just Serve Zhukov. What if they panic when they hear that Zhukov has been arrested? If these three southern front armies follow the example of the Bryansk front army and surrender to the enemy, the party and the country will be really doomed.

Vasilevsky cannot move lightly. Behind him is the old Marshal Shaposhnikov. If he moves the former, what will Shaposhnikov, who is retired but has a lot of subordinates, think?

He smiled and asked: "Since Comrade Constantine has such a clear idea, why don't you explain it in front of me? I think he said it well."

"This..." Beria hesitated for a moment, and finally decided to tell the truth and beautify Zhukov a little more appropriately. "He said that because the Bryansk Front surrendered to the enemy and rebelled, it is not appropriate to discuss this topic publicly recently, leaving Comrade Stalin with some thoughts. He said that the General Staff will only look at problems from a military perspective, and the General Secretary stands tall and sees far, and is good at looking at the overall situation and strategy. Think highly of problems and be good at making decisions around the fundamental and long-term interests of the people..."

"Did you add the last half of the sentence?"

Beria gritted his teeth: "Comrade Zhukov didn't have the exact words, but the meaning was similar, and there was no trace of him collaborating with others."

"Comrade Vasilevsky asked for a meeting and said he had an urgent military intelligence report."

"Invite him in." Stalin sighed.

"Early this morning, the enemy launched a fierce attack on the line from Michurinsk in the north to Mikhailovka in the south. This time they attacked in a straight line and fan-shaped attack. So far, the German army has broken through our army. The central defense line is 30-40 kilometers. The General Staff believes that we are unable to defend this continuous front. In order to avoid the loss of effective forces, we request the General Secretary to agree to the withdrawal of the troops. "

This is also the reason why Stalin believed that Zhukov could not do without: After the Battle of the Castle, Zhukov believed that the German army would have a gap period for supply and dispatch after the Battle of the Castle. Zhukov originally estimated a 300-kilometer offensive line and about 2 weeks of During the rest period, it turned out that his judgment was very accurate. The German offensive stopped at 280 kilometers, and then it took 18 days to rest.

The Red Army seized this golden opportunity and desperately dispatched and supplied supplies.

The only difference was that the base camp believed that this attack was still a pincer offensive, but they did not expect that the German army would use a front-line push tactic on such a wide front.

"Where else can we retreat?" Stalin asked calmly.

"The central defense line will retreat another 300 kilometers."

"Then the enemy will rest for a few days and come again in August?" Stalin said in a very annoyed tone, "After August there will be September, and after September there will be October. Should we retreat all the way to Siberia?"

Vasilevsky said calmly: "If the troops from the direction of Leningrad are withdrawn, we can launch a pincer offensive from both directions of Moscow and Stalingrad, but the premise is to continue to lure the enemy to attack. superior."

"If we retreat easily, will the Germans still be fooled?" Vasilevsky hesitated, and finally said calmly, "So we think we need to make some sacrifices to show that we are retreating in a hurry. Some of the troops, equipment and supplies They will be abandoned, and some people may temporarily have to live in enemy-occupied areas..."

"Enemy-occupied territory..." Stalin's mind was spinning quickly, and he suddenly thought of the 2 million plan just now, and immediately said: "Comrade Beria just made a suggestion to me."

Beria secretly complained that this was obviously an idea that the General Secretary had come up with, but it turned into his own "suggestion" in the blink of an eye. He did not dare to deny it in front of Vasilevsky, so he had to explain it in detail. Re-elaborated the opinion,

Vasilevsky was stunned and said hesitantly: "This is completely feasible in the military. Politically, will it affect the reputation of the Party and the General Secretary?"

"We will convene an emergency meeting of the Political Bureau tonight to discuss this strategy. If most comrades agree, we can try it." Stalin walked to the map again, "No matter how you retreat, you must leave enough time for the rear to move. , we cannot let the planned transfer really turn into a retreat and a rout..."

When Vasilevsky returned to the General Staff, another two hours had passed. The situation he reported to the front had greatly deteriorated: Balashov, who was deep in the front line of the confrontation, fell into the hands of the Germans, and the two remaining divisions with more than 6,000 people surrendered; in the rest of the front, the Germans were relying on armored forces to launch a fierce attack. There was no continuous front to rely on, and it was impossible to stop the German offensive forces that were like a tide. The Red Army was pushed out from the defense line like a duck being chased. Occasionally, a few troops found a small plot of land that could be temporarily defended, but they were quickly surrounded by the German infantry that poured in later. One small encirclement after another was quickly formed and then quickly melted away.

He conveyed his opinion to Zhukov, who was stunned and asked after a long time: "Is this what Comrade Stalin meant?"

"It was Comrade Beria's suggestion, but I feel it was Comrade Stalin's hint."

"When can we fight back?"

"At least we have to advance another 300-500 kilometers."

Kuznetsov was dumbfounded: "Even Kuibyshev will fall."

"If we don't want the Germans to attack Moscow or Stalingrad this summer, we can only give them the middle area. Of course, we still have to fight a necessary blockade. If we don't fight at all and just retreat, the troops will be completely finished." Zhukov hesitated for a long time, and finally made up his mind: "Execute this order first, and save as much manpower as possible."