Chapter 96 Stalin’s Confusion (3)

Ps: The chapter name was wrong yesterday, it should be 2, but today it is 3. Please forgive me. It’s a new month, please give me monthly votes and recommendation votes.

In response to this less than ideal answer, Stalin rarely got angry and only asked calmly: "Why."

"Due to insufficient supplies and supplies." Vasilevsky quickly explained, "The Americans temporarily informed us that since the current war on the Eastern Front is not intense, they were originally scheduled to support us with 200 Sherman tanks and 500 tanks next month. The trucks also have 200 P40 aircraft and the corresponding aviation fuel, which are delayed for two months. The rest of the supplies remain unchanged. To make up for these shortfalls and apologize, they said they could send us an extra batch of gas masks, steel helmets, submachine guns, and howitzers. Substitution. In addition, the British also informed us that in order to meet their own supply needs, the tanks, armored vehicles, and Hurricane fighter jets originally planned to be provided to us cannot be provided, and the time may need to be delayed until next year."

As soon as this statement came out, the conference room was buzzing with indignant criticism.

"Why?" Stalin showed a displeased look, "What's the use of that gas mask? Hitler doesn't seem shameless enough to release poison gas. We don't seem to be short of helmets and submachine guns. Besides, the American submachine guns are not as good as ours. As for Poposa, we need some howitzers."

"For no reason, Churchill was hurt by Hitler's beating. He asked the Americans for tanks, planes, and armored vehicles. The request was urgent and the quantity was large. The Americans had to give it, but they couldn't mobilize it in a short time, so they could only delay it. For us.”

"Is this old bastard Churchill causing trouble again?" Stalin said suspiciously, "Didn't the British win the Battle of El Alamein? They also pushed the front to Tobruk. I've seen the map, and they advanced at least 300- 400 kilometers, and tens of thousands of enemy troops were captured, accounting for almost half of the African army. Why is he so anxious for so many supplies? They have a big battle to fight recently? "

"There is no particularly big battle, they just want to recapture Tobruk." Vasilevsky smiled slightly, "Stalin and comrades, the British war reports you heard and saw are true, but this is not true. Represents all the facts. Based on in-depth understanding, it is found that the British losses were huge, but their results were achieved by the Italians. The German losses were probably less than one-tenth of the British losses. The battle communique issued by the Germans, after understanding and verifying it with comrades in the UK, is generally reliable, and the results reported by the Germans themselves are even smaller than the losses calculated by the British. "

"How come I don't know this?" Stalin said angrily.

"The Battle of El Alamein ended not long ago. The relevant reference reports were just statistically analyzed this morning and have been handed over to the comrades of the Supreme Command. I took your copy this morning."

Stalin thought that Vasilevsky had indeed personally sent a reference report on other battlefields. It seemed that he was busy with other things and had forgotten about it. He waved his hand: "I guess my comrades and I didn't have time to read it. You can simply Say it.”

Vasilevsky roughly reported the losses of the British. When he heard that 700-800 tanks or aircraft were lost, everyone in the venue exclaimed. The number of British casualties was not bad. Tens of thousands of people were on the Eastern Front at every turn. The losses of hundreds of thousands were inconspicuous, but the losses of related technical equipment exceeded the battle losses of several armies on the Eastern Front. Considering the small battlefield in North Africa, the density of losses was even more astonishing. The British were indeed like Vasilievs. What Ji said hurts from being beaten

"Guderian, who was dismissed after the Battle of Moscow, went to serve as the commander of the Africa Army. The original German commander Rommel was said to be involved with the anti-Hitler group. After being dismissed, he was admitted to the hospital. No one saw him coming out again."

Several people in the conference room gasped. Being admitted to the hospital before coming out is almost synonymous with secret execution. It was another marshal. This was already the 6th or 7th marshal that Hitler had killed. Everyone took a sneak look at their beloved "Loving father", I thought: Although the great dictators have various titles, the same thing is that they kill the marshal without mercy - in fashionable terms, these two are really a pair of good friends. !

"Guderian, no wonder, no wonder, hum, the British should suffer." Apparently, Stalin had heard of Guderian's reputation. He was still immersed in the memories of the Moscow Battle, and did not notice at all. " The emotional changes of "close comrades".

"Also, the Americans asked us for the technical parameters of the T-34 tank, and even got a scrapped T-34 for testing."

"This..." Stalin became alert, "This is our secret, what tricks are the Americans playing?"

"We refused to say it at first, but later we refused to provide relevant information because we refused to say it, so the American experts hesitated and said - Hitler took our tanks to North Africa and used them, and the effect was good, and Churchill was caught off guard. Many tanks have been destroyed, and even the American Sherman is no match. Now the Anglo-American North African Group is having a headache from top to bottom. There is no comparable tank in the arsenal, so I want to inspect the performance of the T-34 on the spot. Make targeted improvements to Sherman—these are the words of the Americans.”

"Hahaha! I finally heard some good news. It made me laugh to death." Stalin laughed heartily. "It's time to teach this old dog Churchill a profound lesson! But supplies and equipment still need to be rushed. If you don't rush, there will never be any." ——If we hadn’t dragged Hitler along, the British Isles would have been trampled by the Germans long ago.”

Everyone has a dark look on their faces. Although you can be proud of the T-34's durability, the problem is that these are trophies captured by the Germans. No matter how good they are, it would be embarrassing to tell them!

The atmosphere of the meeting finally calmed down after such an interruption. Stalin did not pursue Zhukov's "contradictory" words. Instead, he asked pleasantly: "What are you going to do if the Germans attack Moscow again? After strengthening the direction of Stalingrad, Are the troops going to be transferred back?"

"Don't move for the time being, complete the rest on the spot first, and then let these armies serve as reserves - just like the reserves were prepared for the Moscow battle last year. If the Germans attack Moscow again, we can first use other troops to carry out continuous resistance , and then put in the reserve team at the critical moment." Zhukov sighed and said helplessly, "Although we have more troops than the Germans and the reserve force seems to be stronger, the difficulty is actually a bit greater than the Germans. The gap rate of the front-line troops. It is very large and needs time to be replenished. The reserve force lacks supplies, training and equipment and is difficult to use in a hurry. It is irresponsible for these hastily established forces to be put into battle immediately..."

"Comrade Vasilevsky, you just held a different view, what is your opinion?" After Zhukov finished speaking, Stalin did not comment, but asked Vasilevsky's opinion. The latter knew in his heart that the Supreme Commander He was probably dissatisfied with Zhukov's statement just now and thought he might be too "negative". He glanced at Zhukov secretly and found a faint wry smile on his face. Then he looked at Comrade Stalin's hopeful eyes. My heart was pounding, and I thought for a long time before I could formulate a smoother sentence: "I think that although the enemy's move to abandon the Rzhev salient is strange, the possibility of re-attacking in the direction of Moscow has always existed, and it is very necessary. Be prepared to respond according to Comrade Zhukov's opinion; at the same time, I agree with Comrade Stalin's opinion that we cannot comfortably give the fascist gangs a chance to rest. It is very difficult for us, but the difficulties faced by the enemy will be greater and more soon. In winter, time is in our favor. Can we seize the opportunity when our forces on the southern front are relatively concentrated to fight a counterattack...er...a limited counterattack, using the troops that should have been mobilized in the 'Uranus' plan? 500,000-700,000 troops launched a counterattack, trying to advance the front 200-300 kilometers and seize several important cities to lay the foundation for winter operations."

After hearing this, Antonov, Bulganin and Kuznetsov secretly gave a thumbs up and praised Vasilevsky and Xini for their good level: they not only expressed their respect for Zhukov's opinions but also defended Comrade Stalin's Dignity, and at the same time expressing his opinions tactfully, it can be called the highest level of speech. Everyone is a "time-tested" politician in the party. Their ability to escape the purge relies entirely on their keen sense of smell and flexible skills. Now they knew what to say, so they stood up one by one to express their stance, using their words intentionally or unintentionally. Different languages ​​repeat the overall tone of Tasilevsky just now - what is even more difficult for them is that the words are not the same.

The smile on Stalin's face grew wider, and he felt that everything was under his control. He finally spoke and concluded: "The speeches of Vasilevsky and other comrades were very good. We have both concerns about this war. We must fully consider the comparison of military power between ourselves and the enemy and the comprehensive analysis of the battlefield situation. At the same time, we must not ignore the political impact on the global strategic pattern. Regardless of whether the British paid a huge price for the Battle of El Alamein, at least the favorable pattern they achieved in North Africa is global. Remarkably, it took the Americans less than 2 months to make up for this loss. If Tobruk is recaptured and the landing operations are about to begin, the Anglo-American group will basically establish a new strategic pattern in North Africa. This is a reflection of the world. The Patriotic War was an important turning point in the fascist war. As a key component of this war, we should also have tangible results - whether from the standpoint of inspiring the morale and determination of hundreds of millions of people in the country, or from the perspective of the Soviet Union. From the perspective of international image, it is very important, so we must be determined and not afraid of difficulties and sacrifices.”

He scanned the crowd with his eyes, waved his hand, and finally made a final decision: "Aren't you still unsure about the Germans' strategic trends? Don't make any guesses at all. Just follow Comrade Zhukov's advice and rest for 1-2 weeks, and then target Rostow. We will launch an attack on the pivotal point of Kharkiv and capture it before winter arrives. Then, based on the German army’s subsequent response, we will direct our winter counterattack at Kharkov or the Caucasus. We must welcome the turning point of the anti-fascist war with a fearless spirit.”