For the Soviet High Command, the night of June 22 was destined to be a sleepless night.

In one day, a full-scale war broke out on the Soviet-German border, stretching from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Pripyat marshes in the south.

The Soviet High Command led by Stalin had already prepared for this attack on Germany, and made careful arrangements and response plans for the outbreak of this all-out war, but it was still shocked by the powerful offensive of the German army.

The reason for the shock is that the start of the war is full of strange things, beyond their predictions.

In a word, this is not the same as saying good.

In the theater of operations of the Northwestern Front and the Western Front, the German army invaded the territory of the Soviet Union, and the fastest troops had penetrated more than 60 kilometers into the territory of the Soviet Union, but Stalin was not worried about this, because the fighting in these two theaters was still expected by him.

Staring at the southernmost point of the Soviet-German border on the map, in the Przemyśl region, Stalin had a cold face and no emotion in his voice.

"What time is it?"

Zhukov quickly glanced at the floor clock in the operational command room.

"Eleven fifty-eight."

"Hasn't the Central Front been attacked by the Germans yet? Are there any new battle reports? Stalin asked.

Zhukov said: "No. ”

Stalin then asked: "What about the commanders of the South-Western Front and the Southern Front, did Comrade Kirponos and Comrade Tyulenev send war reports?" Were they attacked by the Germans? ”

"After the afternoon, they did not send any new battle reports, indicating that their front was calm." Zhukov said.

"Can't wait any longer. It's too passive to do so. Send a telegram immediately. Ask them about the actions of the Germans opposite them, and send them now. ”

Stalin said with a frown.

After a few seconds of silence, Stalin looked at the two marshals, Timoshenko and Shaposhnikov.

"What do you say the Germans are doing? Why is the front in the Ukrainian direction so calm? ”

Timoshenko scratched his shiny head and exchanged glances with the only person sitting in the room, Marshal Shaposhnikov, his heart full of suspicion.

Their minds were half awake and half confused.

It is sober that the Germans finally made a move, and the confused thing is that the Germans made a big attack on the theater of operations of the Western Front and the Northwestern Front, but ignored their estimate of the main direction of attack in the Ukrainian region.

Less than an hour after the outbreak of the war. The three armies of the border zone sent war reports, the contents of the war reports of the North-Western Front and the Western Front were similar, the border line was shelled by the Germans, and the German troops broke through the defenses of the border guards and had already entered the Soviet border.

The content of the battle report of the Central Front was that various field airfields on the front line had been raided by the Luftwaffe with heavy losses, the border had also been heavily shelled by German artillery, and the all-out offensive of the Germans had begun.

Having received the news of the shelling of the Central Front, Stalin and others did not feel the pain and hatred of the attack at all, quite the opposite. Everyone was ecstatic, they were already dreaming of destroying the main forces of the German Army in the field. Then take advantage of the situation to counterattack the empty Panther line and attack the German mainland in one fell swoop.

However, after another eight or nine hours, seeing that the sky had turned dark and night began to fall, the battle reports of the Western Front and the Northwest Front reporting the battle situation were sent to the Supreme Command one after another, and the Central Front, which was most concerned by them, fell silent, and the expected large-scale offensive did not appear.

Marshal Shaposhnikov guessed the hesitation in Timoshenko's heart, and after considering some words, he took the lead and said: "Comrade General Secretary, I think there are two possibilities, the first possibility is that we have misjudged and the enemy's main direction of attack is not in Ukraine. ”

"Impossible." Stalin screamed.

His voice was so high that all the staff officers in the command room subconsciously turned their heads to look at him, and when they saw that it was Comrade General Secretary who was screaming, everyone hurriedly turned their heads and pretended not to hear.

"Ukraine, certainly Ukraine, there is wheat, there are all kinds of ores, and Crimea, and most importantly, an invasion of Ukraine can cut off the retreat of our troops in Hungary and Romania, in short, it is in the best interests of Germany to attack Ukraine." Stalin said hurriedly.

Shaposhnikov calmly waited for Stalin to finish, and then continued: "Comrade General Secretary, what you said is very reasonable, so I don't think the first judgment is likely. Then there is the second possibility, the Germans are strategically deceiving us. They put on a posture of attacking the Western Front and the Northwest Front, trying to make us nervous, and then attract our troops in Ukraine to the north to reinforce the Western Front and the Northwest Front, and then launch an attack on Ukraine after our main forces leave Ukraine. ”

"It's also a possibility, and we have to guard against German conspiracy." Timoshenko said.

Stalin said: "It must be so, they are trying to confuse us by attacking the North-Western Front and the Western Front, so that we can misjudge the direction of their main attack." You have a point, we can't be fooled. ”

As soon as Stalin's words fell, there was the sound of an urn next to him.

"What if the main direction of the Germans is really not Ukraine, but Moscow or Leningrad?"

Stalin glanced at Zhukov and said unhappily: "If their main direction of attack is Moscow, our troops in Ukraine can concentrate and go north, fiercely attack their elongated right flank, and cut off their retreat." ”

Seeing that Zhukov had an old problem, Timoshenko questioned the wisdom of the general secretary in front of everyone, and hurriedly opened his mouth to play a round.

"Today is only the first day of the war, the situation is not clear, we have not even figured out the number of the enemy troops opposite, and in another day or two, we will figure out the number of the enemy on the opposite side, and by that time, the situation will be clear."

Zhukov ignored Timoshenko's kindness, and continued: "In two days, everything will be late, the Western Front and the Central Front will be separated by the Pripyat swamp, you know that large swamp, it is not suitable for the passage of armored troops at all, if we want to move Ukrainian troops to the north, we must bypass this swamp, which will consume at least a week to ten days, and if we make a mistake in judgment, the Western Front and the Northwest Front will be very dangerous, and there is even a possibility of total annihilation." ”

Stalin stared at Zhukov with a cold glint in his eyes.

"Comrade Zhukov, the war has just begun, and you are so panicked, are you frightened by the Germans?"

Timoshenko's heart tightened, the word "panicked" was a word with a special meaning in the Soviet Red Army, and Stalin used this word to hit back at Zhukov, which was enough to see that Zhukov was already extremely dissatisfied.

Marshal Shaposhnikov blinked his eyes and suddenly said: "No matter where the enemy's main attack is, as long as we have sufficient reserves, we can defeat them." Comrade General Secretary, we should give the general mobilization order according to the predetermined plan. The reserves of the Supreme High Command should also be ready for departure. ”

A communications staff officer appeared in time, he hurried up to Zhukov and handed the telegram in his hand to Zhukov.

"The defensive line of the Central Front was subjected only to air and artillery strikes, and not to other attacks. The German troops in Hungary and Romania still showed no signs of an offensive, and in any case the front there was calm. ”

Stalin silently read the telegram, thought for a while, and then said: "Order, the Western Front and the Northwestern Front immediately find out the number of the German troops on the opposite side and the direction of the main attack. Inform Marshal Budyonny that in the direction of Ukraine, we must carefully detect the movements of the German troops on the opposite side, do not allow any carelessness, and inform me of any important information at the first time. ”

After Stalin finished speaking, he turned and left the operational command room.

Patting Zhukov on the shoulder, Timoshenko said earnestly: "Remember, don't question the judgment of the General Secretary in person in the future. ”

"When talking to the general secretary, we should pay attention to ways and means." Marshal Shaposhnikov said.

The two old handsomes were old and couldn't stay up late, and Zhukov presided over the work without concession.

The busy night passed quickly, and when the hands of the floor clock pointed to nine o'clock, Zhukov rubbed his bloodshot eyes, and was about to go to rest for a while, when he heard Stalin's voice on the radio.

"Comrades! Citizens!? Brothers and sisters!? Our army and navy fighters!? I address you now, my friends!

On June 22, Hitler's Germany launched a treacherous military offensive against our homeland. Although the Red Army put up a heroic resistance, and although the enemy's elite divisions and their elite air units had been routed and buried on the battlefield, the enemy brought in fresh forces to the front and continued to advance.

Hitler's army occupied most of Lithuania, western Belarus, and part of western Ukraine. The fascist air force is expanding its bombing area, bombing Orsha, Mogilev, Smolensk, Kyiv, Odessa, Sevastopol and other cities. Our homeland is in grave danger

In order to quickly mobilize all the forces of the peoples of the USSR against the enemy who treacherously invaded our homeland, the State Defense Committee has been formed, which now concentrates all the power of the state in its own hands. The National Defense Committee, which had already begun its own work, called on the people of the whole country to rally around the Party, around the Soviet Government, to support the Red Army and the Red Navy with selflessness, to crush the enemy, and to strive for victory.

Support our heroic Red Army and our glorious Red Navy with all our strength!

Crush the enemy with all the power of the people!? For our victory, forward!"

Hearing this impassioned speech, Zhukov automatically filtered out the part of his speech that "the enemy's elite divisions and their elite air forces have been defeated" and put a heavy stone in his heart.

He was well aware that this speech meant the beginning of a general mobilization, and according to the predetermined mobilization plan, at most ten days, the Soviet Union would mobilize at least five million people into the army.

With a strong reserve, any complex situation can be coped. (To be continued......)