An hour later, Stalin summoned Zhukov and Vasilevsky again, and now his overall mental state had improved considerably compared to the situation he had just been in a state of anger, and the all-powerful Comrade Stalin had returned. Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info

"First of all, I will tell you the good news, Comrade Molotov called and said that the supplies provided to us by the United States from the direction of the Pacific Ocean have arrived. The total amount is close to 400,000 tons, including 100,000 tons of fuel oil, 100,000 tons of various urgently needed armor steel, aluminum ingots, copper and other materials, in addition to more than 200 P-39 aircraft, more than 250 Sherman tanks, more than 4,000 trucks, jeeps and other vehicles, as well as a large number of grain, canned meat and other materials...... "Stalin told his two subordinates with great vigour, "The Americans express great indignation at Turkey's treacherous behavior and apologize to us, They said they would freeze all Turkish assets in Britain and the United States. At the same time, they will provide another batch of supplies in the middle of next month, in the amount of 400-500,000 tons. ”

"This time the Americans are very generous."

"On the one hand, because the supplies promised to us in the previous few times have not been provided to us, and on the other hand, because the main Japanese fleet is in Europe, and the Far East is quite empty, the Americans have organized a convoy of more than 30 ships." Stalin waved his hand, "Although we cannot pin our hopes for victory on the Americans, at least these supplies can help us a lot now, and I will tell Comrade Molotov to ask the Americans to find a way to increase the aid of refined oil products - these difficulties are caused by the Turkish sneak attack; Comrade Voroshilov is already coordinating with the Far Eastern side to send supplies over as soon as possible. ”

Zhukov and Vasilevsky looked at each other and breathed a sigh of relief.

"I have thought about it carefully, and I think your ideas are very reasonable and constructive, but ......," Stalin unexpectedly turned, "we cannot be so passive in dealing with the next move of the Germans, and we must take a more active stance." ”

"What do you mean?"

"The Germans and Turks cannot be allowed to encircle the Caucasian Front, let alone tolerate their offensive on the front lines in the Don region, and the Red Army should take decisive measures to disrupt the enemy's rhythm."

Zhukov frowned and asked, "You want to retreat in advance?" ”

"Nope! Offensive! Stalin waved his arms vigorously, cooperating and strengthening his tone, "Comrade Konstantin, let's attack first!" ”

"What?" Vasilevsky almost didn't scream, now in such an unfavorable situation, he is still thinking about attacking, Comrade Stalin should not be crazy, right?

"It sounds a bit unrealistic, but I think it's a good way to be surprised." Stalin expounded his thoughts on the map, "You see, if the Persian Army Group and the defenders of Baku are now used to hold back the enemy's Middle Army Group, and at the same time 100,000 troops are drawn from the Caucasian Front to block the passes and key points of the Caucasus Mountains, a relatively long time can be gained." We used this time to preemptively launch an offensive - targeting the Kleist cluster in Army Group South. I intend to draw two from the three fronts currently facing Manstein, plus the rest of the Caucasian Front, to attack first, so that the total number of troops that can be mobilized will exceed 1 million, and it will be able to form a significant advantage over the enemy's Kleist cluster. Even if we can't wipe out this heavy group in one fell swoop, at least we can force it to retreat, and then our army will shrink to the north......"

Zhukov patiently listened to the general idea of the other party, and did not rush to deny or express different opinions, but fell into deep thought. In fact, although he did not communicate with Vasilevsky, he actually considered this idea, and was theoretically more active and proactive, but in practice there were many difficulties in implementing it:

First of all, how long the 170,000 troops of Transcaucasia could withstand the Turks and Rommel, he was completely unsure;

Secondly, it is not impossible for the Caucasian Front to transfer 100,000 horses to defend the pass, but under the attack from both sides, I am afraid it will not be as easy to defend as in the summer;

Again, he only intended to send one front to flank the Kleist cluster with the Caucasian front and force the enemy to retreat, and Stalin was more extreme than him, and planned to draw two fronts, which of course made him more sure of dealing with Kleist, but the pressure on Manstein's front was too great.

In the end, even if all goes smoothly to complete the battle plan, the final location of the defensive line after the two sides break away from large-scale contact will need to be carefully considered rather than simply withdrawn.

Of course, he could understand what Stalin meant, since the 170,000 troops in the Transcaucasia were doomed to lose most of them, it was better not to bother with the rescue at all, but to let them play a more active role and value, even if for this purpose they had 100,000 troops drawn from the direction of the Caucasus, to attract the enemy with these decoys and outcasts, and to exchange their eventual collapse for the basic stability of the southern flank of the entire front.

"Comrade Stalin, I understand what you mean, but there are two points that need to be reconsidered. First, we cannot focus our campaign on destroying the enemy Kleist cluster, and it seems more appropriate to repel it instead; Second, the transfer of two fronts may be too aggressive, and the remaining fronts are likely to be unable to withstand Manstein, so whether to transfer one front and strengthen it separately. ”

Hearing that Zhukov did not reject his opinion in principle, but proposed significant revisions, Stalin hesitated, and after a moment asked: "Why?" ”

"You want to use 270,000 troops to drag the enemy in order to create an opportunity to encircle and annihilate Kleist's more than 400,000 troops, this is very variable, because the enemy is superior in equipment and more in number than us, it is very likely that before the collapse of our army's 270,000 troops, the enemy has not collapsed, then the previous efforts will be wasted."

Stalin nodded, he could understand Zhukov's subtext: 270,000 was not only less than 400,000 in quantity, but also not an opponent in terms of quality, and to explain it in Go terms, the Red Army belonged to the side with less gas when both sides were tightened at the same time.

"Number two, what are you going to do?"

"Draw the Stalingrad Front, then transfer 50,000 troops from Central Asia, assign all the 200,000 reserves directly under the base camp to him, strengthen the strength of the front army to more than 650,000, and launch an offensive with the Caucasian Front, so that we can almost gather 90-950,000 troops, and we can also form an advantage over the enemy." Zhukov paused, "As for the reserve directly under the base camp, after the strength of the reserve is exhausted, 150,000 troops and 50,000 recruits will be transferred from the direction of Moscow to reorganize. ”

"Agree with your idea, transfer 100,000 from the Steppe Military District to strengthen the Stalingrad Front, and ensure more than 1 million troops." Stalin gritted his teeth and said, "Local superiority must be formed." ”

"Then the General Staff immediately reworked the plan around this plan, which will take about two days."

"Yes." Stalin magnanimously said, "Give you three days, and I will make the troops of Transcaucasia firmly defend, anyway, even if they want to retreat, they will have to wait for the river fleet, and in three days it may not be possible to organize the fleet." ”

Just a minute after leaving Stalin's office, Vasilevsky began to complain to Zhukov: "How can you just promise Comrade Stalin like this? This is obviously a very dangerous thing. It is understood that there are no less than 500,000 Turkish troops, and more than 100,000 Germans and Iranians, and it is a miracle that the 170,000 troops in the direction of Mezov and Baku can hold out for ten days, how can you pin your hopes on them? ”

"If you don't pin your trust on them, who else can you pin on them?" Zhukov sighed, "According to my thoughts, the armies on the three fronts of the Don River should have retreated a long time ago, but Comrade Stalin was afraid of losses and refused to give the order to retreat, always thinking that when spring came, the roads would thaw, and the enemy's mechanized troops would lose their superiority, we would retreat calmly and unhurriedly, and now it will be better ......"

"And you're still catering to his idea of attacking?" Vasilevsky looked at no one next to him, and said in a low voice, "Originally, if we retreated according to my plan, we would have lost 15-200,000 people, and according to his plan, we might lose 70-800,000 people." ”

"According to your plan, how much will the Germans lose?"

"1-20,000, maybe 10,000 Turks."

"What about his plan?"

"This ......," Vasilevsky hesitated for a moment, then said, "the enemy may lose 20-250,000 troops." ”

"That's about the same as I estimated." Zhukov took a deep breath, "Now that the situation is clear, the focus has become the question of whether it is cost-effective for us to pay more than 500,000 in exchange for the enemy's loss of 200,000 more, what do you think?" ”

"I ......," Vasilevsky could not answer the question, stamping his foot in hatred, "a man dies and never lives again." ”

Zhukov was also silent: in Stalin's eyes, if he had to pay the price for victory, let alone 500,000 for 200,000, he might not frown even if he took 1 million for 200,000.

"Moreover, not only the dead, but also the loss of aircraft and tanks will be very large, at least in the thousands."

After a long time, Zhukov said leisurely: "It's good to be gone, and then you don't have to worry about the number of them." ”

"You!" Vasilevsky stopped and glared at Zhukov.

"Baku is lost, and by the autumn how many of these tanks and planes do you think will be able to move? If it were still at this level, Comrade Stalin would definitely take all the heating oil and use it on tanks......" Zhukov closed his eyes and said bitterly, "At that time, it will not be as simple as 500,000 deaths, but 1.5 million people, 5 million ......."

Vasilevsky stammered and could not say a word, because he knew that in the event of an oil shortage, this scene depicted by Zhukov was very likely. The thought of this chilling consequence made him feel the hairs on his back stand on end. (To be continued.) )