I went to Shanghai to study for a few days, and I gained a lot, especially people like soldiers, who basically don't listen to things outside the window and only write their own books...... Since the soldier wrote the book, he had never read an online article for 12 years, and he could be said to have no knowledge of the context and direction of the online article, and it would not be an exaggeration to say that it was done behind closed doors. After studying, I realized that "it turned out to be like this, it is like this...... thanks to the editors and the great gods for waking up, and thanks to the support of book friends, the soldiers will strive to write better online articles.

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In the Moscow Kremlin, Stalin uncharacteristically took a conservative approach.

Until then, Stalin had always been very tough, either by asking his troops to hold out to the last man and not to take a step back, or by ordering his troops to launch a counteroffensive to resolutely destroy the enemy.

But now Stalin was hesitant about whether he should attack or not.

Stalin is not to blame for this.

The first is that it turned out that Zhukov was not invincible either.

For example, the counteroffensive plan prepared in Stalingrad had already taken the initiative to retreat before the German army was launched.

If this can be called an accident, then the attack on the Caucasus Mountains can be called a complete failure...... This offensive not only consumed a large amount of manpower and material resources of the Soviet army, but also caused more than 100,000 casualties to the Soviet army.

More than 100,000 people may not be much to Stalin, but these 10,000 people are the elite selected from various units. So it is conceivable that this will have a negative impact on the combat effectiveness of the entire Soviet army.

Secondly, it was this offensive that was extraordinary, and Stalin had to be cautious.

Stalin smoked a cigarette and kept his eyes fixed on the offensive plan on the table, but his head was thinking about other questions.

After a long while, he said to Zhukov, who offered the plan: "Comrade Zhukov, have you ever thought about it, this plan has thrown all our reserve forces into it, and if it fails...... What will be the consequences? ”

"Of course I thought about it, Comrade Stalin!" Zhukov replied: "In case of failure, we will not be able to organize another counteroffensive of a similar scale for a long time!" ”

Stalin did not speak, in fact he believed that it was not only impossible to organize another counteroffensive of a similar scale, because the Baku oil fields fell into the hands of the Germans and the Soviet reserves of oil were exhausted, which would lead to a massive reduction of Soviet tanks, warplanes and even all equipment.

In other words, Stalin's concern was not just the inability to organize another counteroffensive of a similar size, but the question of whether the Soviets would be able to hold back the German counterattack if this time failed with heavy losses.

However, this question does not seem to be too much to worry about, because the British and Americans will not sit idly by and watch the collapse of the Soviet Union, so this is unlikely, but Stalin did not like to leave his fate in the hands of others...... This is not only a matter of dignity, but more importantly, it will fall into a comprehensive passivity politically and diplomatically.

If the Soviet army and the German army still have the strength to fight, or at least can block the German attack, then the Soviet army will have the capital to negotiate with the German army, and at the same time have the right to speak in Britain and the United States, and even use this to threaten Britain and the United States to open up a new battlefield.

But if the Soviet army is on the verge of collapse...... At that time, let alone negotiations and threats, the Soviet Union had no choice but to seek Britain and the United States.

Thinking of this, Stalin asked again: "Do you know about the defense of the Germans, Comrade Zhukov?" ”

"Yes, Comrade Stalin!" Zhukov replied: "They seem to sense that we will launch a counteroffensive, so they are prepared for defense!" ”

This is nonsense, the Soviet army massed forces in Kursk, who would not know that the Soviet army was going to counterattack.

After a pause, Zhukov added: "They laid a large number of mines, barbed wire, and pillbox fortifications on the front line, and also built two reserve lines of defense, about 15 kilometers deep!" ”

"Even if you know this, you're still ready to attack?" Stalin asked.

"Yes, Comrade Stalin!" Zhukov replied: "But the Germans were arrogant and did not destroy roads, railways and bridges, they were not even ready to blow them up!" ”

Zhukov was right, this was because the German army believed from top to bottom that the Soviet counteroffensive was only temporary, and the German army would eventually fight back and even launch a counteroffensive.

On the other hand, it was the German army's "blitzkrieg" and logistical supply difficulties that made it more dependent on roads and railways.

As a result, the German and Soviet armies are generally two extremes in this regard:

The Germans preferred to leave the roads and railways to the Soviet army rather than destroy them.

The Soviets, on the other hand, preferred to blow up rather than leave it to the Germans.

Of course, the retreat of Army Group South after the Battle of Stalingrad was a special case.

"The question is......" Stalin asked rhetorically, taking his pipe from his mouth, "how can we break through the enemy's lines without paying a heavy price?" You know we can't afford to fail again! ”

"I know, Comrade Stalin!" Zhukov pointed to a point on the map and said: "That's why we set the direction of the main attack here!" ”

Seeing the place Zhukov was referring to, Stalin pondered for a while, and finally nodded and agreed, because even Stalin was deceived by Zhukov.

So, Zhukov's main direction of attack was not the frontal of the Kursk salient...... This is all an illusion deliberately created by Zhukov.

Zhukov called it the "Muskrovka" plan.

This plan was a deliberate attempt to create the illusion that the Soviets would launch a large-scale frontal attack from the Kursk salient......

To this end, Zhukov deployed a large number of troops here, infantry, artillery, tanks.

Among them, the infantry is real, but many of the artillery, tanks, etc. are fake, and there are also a large number of fake fortifications and fake airfields.

Among them, the fake airport is more troublesome to build, because it is actually to create an open space, which requires a lot of manpower, otherwise the German pilots will know the real or false of the airport when they look down.

Then, Zhukov laid a large number of fake tanks and planes on these fake fortifications and fake airfields.

Of course, these areas are garrisoned by absolutely trustworthy troops, and no one or unit is allowed to approach them

This is to prevent the reconnaissance of the German army, and the battle has been fought so far, not to mention Zhukov, even ordinary soldiers know the history of the German Brandenburg troops, and they can always infiltrate the Soviet army to collect intelligence.

The Germans did not have the slightest suspicion of these actions of the Soviet army, and even Marshal Manstein and Qin Chuan were kept in the dark.

Of course, it was understandable that Qin Chuan was kept in the dark, because he had very little access to intelligence.

In addition to Zhukov's relatively tight planning, another more important factor is that the Soviet army has always been bad at carrying out strategic deception.

It's kind of like a lie.

A person who is full of lies will usually be skeptical of what he says.

But if an honest man who has never lied once in a while, once in a while...... Even though this lie has many loopholes, it is quite lethal and will deceive a large number of people.

The USSR clearly fell into the latter category.