In the Kremlin's spacious conference room, Stalin sat in the middle of the table, with high-ranking officials on the left and right flanks.

When all the participants arrived, Stalin nodded to the moderator of the meeting, General Vasilevsky, who walked to the wall opposite Stalin, picked up the whip and pointed to the huge battlefield situation map, and said in a loud voice: "Comrades know that the long winter has passed, and the summer offensive is about to begin. Based on the actions of the Germans on the battlefield at the moment, as well as the results of the work of our intelligence services, we can determine that the target of the summer offensive of the banditry is Moscow.

After a winter of recuperation, the reorganization of our armed forces has yielded gratifying results, and the total number of our armed forces has now exceeded 12 million. Among them, 6.2 million people are used on the front line to fight against the bandits, and this figure does not include those wounded in hospitals who can return to the front line. ”

Our troops are currently armed with more than 16,000 tanks, more than 130,000 howitzers, cannons, mortars and rockets, and more than 18,000 aircraft. ”

At this point, Admiral Vasilevsky paused for a moment to allow the congregation to digest the information.

Molotov, Beria, Marshal Shaposhnikov and others looked at Stalin together.

Last winter, just after the muddy period had passed and the ground froze, Stalin could not wait to urge his troops to launch a counteroffensive with the intention of making progress in the Ukrainian direction of the southern theater of war, recovering important industrial points such as Kharkiv and the Donets Basin.

However, the Germans were strangled by someone before the arrival of winter, stopped the offensive in time, and methodically switched to the defensive state one after another, and began to distribute winter clothes, build fortifications, hoard war materials, and repair roads and bridges.

After the muddy period, the attacking Soviet forces ran headlong into the German army, and in November alone, more than 500,000 people were killed, missing, wounded, sick and disabled in the direction of Ukraine.

Under the active persuasion of Marshal Shaposhnikov and others, Stalin realized that compared with the German army on the offensive, the German army, which was concentrating on defensive warfare, was also not something he could deal with.

December and January are the coldest months of winter, and the warring sides wisely choose to "squat" in the trenches, not to be enemies of the "Winter General", and at the same time actively prepare for a new round of fighting after the climate warms up in the coming year.

Halfway through 1943, the Germans made a good start to the summer offensive with the capture of the fortress of Sevastopol.

It was clear to everyone present that the battle on the Crimean peninsula was only a precursor, and that the main drama was about to take place.

After observing the demeanor of the crowd for a while, General Vasilevsky continued: "From north to south, our troops are organized into twelve fronts. The northernmost was the Karelian Front, which faced the Finns. Further south, the Volkhov Front and the North-Western Front faced the German Army Group North. In the upcoming Battle of Moscow, we speculate that the German Army Group North will attack our Kalinin Front in conjunction with Army Group Center, so, General Vadudin. ”

Colonel-General Vasilevsky looked at the commander of the Volkhov Front, who was also the commander-in-chief of the North-Western Front, Colonel-General Vadudin.

"The task of the troops in the north-western direction was to pin down the German Army Group North and relieve the pressure on the Kalinin Front during the Battle of Moscow."

The chubby Admiral Vaduddin nodded repeatedly.

"The comrades of the Kalinin Front can safely hand over their right flank to us and concentrate on dealing with the enemy head-on."

Vasilevsky continued: "To the south of the North-Western Front, the Kalinin Front, the Western Front, and the Bryansk Front, they are facing the German Army Group Center, as well as Army Group North Ukraine, which will be the main battlefield for the defense of Moscow. General Zhukov, as the commander-in-chief of the West, you can tell me what you think. ”

Immediately after returning from his wounds, General Zhukov was reactivated by Stalin as commander of the Western Front, and at the same time as commander-in-chief of the Western Front, responsible for coordinating the operations of the Kalinin Front, the Western Front and the Bryansk Front.

Seeing that everyone was staring at him, General Zhukov got up and walked to the map, asked for a whip, pointed to the map and said: "The Germans will definitely use their usual pincer offensive to outflank their armored forces from the direction of Kalinin and Bryansk, and the infantry will attack from the front of the Western Front, encircling us first in Moscow and then annihilating them.

In a pincer offensive, the southern part of Moscow, in the Tula direction, that is, the Bryansk Front, will be under greater pressure, because the terrain here is more suitable for armored operations than in other directions, and the Bryansk Front will have to withstand the flanking attacks of the German Army Group Center and Army Group North Ukraine. Therefore, I suggest that priority should be given to strengthening the Bryansk Front, and at the same time creating strong reserves in the south. Outside Tula, we had to systematically build fortifications, especially anti-tank fortifications. ”

General Vasilevsky said: "General Zhukov is right, we also believe that the Tula direction will be the key offensive direction of the Germans, so in addition to forming a reserve front in Moscow, we also merged the original steppe front and the central front into the Voronezh Front, which is deployed in the Voronezh region of the upper Don River, and can rush to the aid of the Bryansk Front at any time." ”

Stalin suddenly interjected: "In fact, it is relatively easy to judge the main direction of attack of the Germans, that is, to focus on one person." ”

Zhukov asked tentatively: "Comrade General Secretary, are you talking about Heinz von Rosen?" ”

"Yes, this person appeared in Leningrad before, and not so long ago in Turkey and the Crimean peninsula, and the result we all know. The place where the villain appeared can basically be determined to be the main direction of attack of the Germans. ”

Everyone nodded their heads in agreement, agreeing with Stalin's statement.

The villain Heinz von Rosen appeared in Leningrad, as a result of which Leningrad was lost, and Marshal Voroshilov committed suicide.

The villain of Heinz von Rosen appeared in Turkey, and as a result, Turkey opened the Turkish Straits, allowing the combined German and Italian fleets to enter the Black Sea, and the Black Sea Fleet was completely destroyed.

The villain of Heinz von Rosen appeared on the Crimean peninsula, as a result of which the fortress of Sevastopol was lost.

This series of cruel facts is in front of everyone, so that the villain index in the heart of a high-ranking Soviet official keeps rising, ranking second in the list of gangsters, second only to a guy with a mustache.

Marshal Shaposhnikov said: "The general secretary is right, we need to pay close attention to the movements of that scoundrel and use it to determine the direction of the main attack of the Germans. ”

General Vasilevsky nodded, and then looked at Marshal Timoshenko, who was also the commander-in-chief of the Southwestern Front.

"The southern part of the Bryansk Front is the southwestern direction, with the Southwestern Front and the Southern Front. Your task is similar to that of your comrades in the north-west, that is, to contain the German Army Group South Ukraine and Army Group North Ukraine, your task is also very difficult, and the Germans should have similar ideas, after all, they do not want you to send troops to reinforce the direction of Moscow, and your theater of operations is extremely suitable for the German armored forces to fight, and your pressure is also very high. ”

Marshal Timoshenko said: "What I want to know is, how many troops are there in the Germans at the moment? ”

"Uh·····" General Vasilevsky was stunned for a moment, and then said: "According to our intelligence, we believe that the enemy has 310 divisions with a total strength of 5.8 million troops, including about 1.2 million troops of Finns, Italians, Romanians and Hungarians. ”

"In terms of troops, we still have the upper hand, and I am very confident that we can win the summer campaign." Marshal Timoshenko said.

"I'm also confident of victory." This was stated by the commander-in-chief of the Caucasian direction, Marshal Budyonny.

Marshal Shaposhnikov said: "Since Marshal Budyonny is also confident, now we will talk about your tasks. In the Caucasus direction, we formed the North Caucasus Front and the Transcaucasian Front. The North Caucasus Front was responsible for the defense of the Taman Peninsula and the eastern shore of the Sea of Azov, and the Transcaucasian Front was responsible for monitoring the Turks and defending part of the eastern coast of the Black Sea. Behind you, in the Stalingrad direction, we also have the Stalingrad Front as a reserve, although you are a secondary battlefield, but at the same time you have to assume the responsibilities of the general reserve. After all, after the conquest of the Crimean peninsula by the Germans, their 12th Army was given freedom of movement, and we do not know where this force will be sent, so it is necessary to reserve more reserves. ”

"Our Black Sea Fleet is gone, is it still necessary for our troops left in the Kerch area on the Crimean peninsula to remain? I think they should be withdrawn. Marshal Budyonny asked.

Without waiting for General Vasilevsky to speak, Stalin decisively said: "Reserve, continue to keep, in the future we will still have to counterattack, the Crimean peninsula must be recaptured, and that unit can come in handy as the vanguard of the counteroffensive." ”

The collective silence of the cadres in the face of Stalin's exuberant desire to attack and "foresight".

Stalin's close comrade-in-arms Molotov broke the awkward situation of the cold in time.

"In short, we have a clear understanding that the target of the enemy's attack is Moscow, and this is a battle that can only be won and not lost. I confirm that victory in the defense of Moscow will be the beginning of our strategic counteroffensive. And in order to win the battle of Moscow, we must first determine the direction of the enemy's main attack. The general secretary just said that the place where the villain Heinz von Rosen is located should be the main direction of attack of the enemy, so we have to trouble the comrades of the intelligence department to pay close attention to the movements of that villain, and if we find him, we will find the main force of the enemy. ”

Seeing Molotov looking at himself as he spoke, Beria pushed the glasses on the bridge of his nose and continued: "That scoundrel is very showy, he is now receiving awards in Berlin, and he is living a good life. ”

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