By now, Stalin knew that the menacing Germans had been prepared for a long time, so the war would be a difficult one, and the Soviets would even have some unacceptable situations in the early stages of the war, but Stalin believed that victory would ultimately belong to the Soviets.

There is no other reason, because in history, even in the tsarist era, the polar bear can be defeated, but it will never be conquered, and what the invincible Napoleon did not do, how could Germany do it?

He didn't know that in history, Britain, which had never been destroyed, had now been destroyed by Germany, although Britain still existed and was already a servant state of Germany.

Still, Stalin made a powerful speech that the state should be fully transferred to the wartime system, that all the forces of the country should be transferred to the production of weapons, that the state should introduce a rationing system, and that life for the people would not be easy.

At the same time, he called on the people to enthusiastically donate money and materials to support the just war of the Soviets, which Stalin believed would not be conquered.

Coming out of the radio room, Stalin re-entered his headquarters, and felt that the atmosphere was somewhat oppressive.

"Comrade Stalin, it's great that you're back." Timoshenko, chairman of the base camp of the High Command, greeted Stalin: "We have just received a report from the Western Special Military District that the situation there is not very good. ”

On the large-scale map, the blue arrows indicate the direction of the German attack, although because the front line is still in chaos, it is not easy to carry out the number detection work of some troops, but the general direction of the German army's attack, when these arrows come out, a terrible situation has appeared.

"That is, the Germans are now divided into two directions and are marching towards our Minsk, and once the Germans occupy Minsk, an encirclement will be formed, so that all three of our armies in the Bialystok salient are in danger of falling into the encirclement of the Germans." Timoshenko continued.

This is also the concern of Marshal Shaposhnikov, and his concern has become the consensus of everyone present.

"In this case, we can't afford to let our army continue to take risks." When Stalin's eyes looked at Zhukov, Zhukov spoke: "We must withdraw these troops from the salient to prevent them from being encircled by the Germans, a tactic that the Germans have used more than once on the battlefields of Europe." ”

Zhukov was also deeply worried, he was well aware of the strength of the German mechanized forces.

Stalin took the smoke pot, inhaled it in one gulp, continued to stare at the map with his eyes, and after looking at it for half an hour, he finally spoke: "The guards of the Bialystok salient quickly withdrew to the original fortified area. The 3rd and 10th armies withdrew to the Lida, Slonim, Pinsk fronts. ”

After saying that, Stalin put his own cigarette pot on the table and knocked it, and the ash inside was already exhausted: "What the hell is Pavlov thinking about this stupid man?" If Minsk is lost, the army of the Germans, it will be easy to reach Smolensk, and even Moscow. If the hundreds of thousands of troops of the Western Front were completely surrounded by the Germans on the Minsk line, a small Bialystok salient. The entire USSR will completely lose its geographical and military power barrier. ”

Stalin had a strategic vision, he had already seen through all this: "It seems that there is a problem with our judgment, according to this situation, the German corps in the south is not the main force of the offensive, and the corps in the center is the most powerful, and we must start to lay a defensive line in Smolensk to prevent the loss of Belarus." ”

Stalin already had a bad premonition.

Stalin's personal order soon reached the command of the 13th Army, and when he heard this order, it was like a spoonful of cold water poured on his head, and Pavlov actually felt that his head was already sober.

"The armies of the north and south are rushing towards our capital, Minsk." Pavlov said to Marshal Shaposhnikov: "Now that our Minsk is facing a threat to its security, the units of our Bialystok salient need to think not about how to counterattack, but how to avoid the imminent danger of total annihilation. ”

Pavlov finally understood, but Marshal Shaposhnikov's face was meaningful, as the commander-in-chief of the front army, he was still thinking about how to engage in these political tricks, which was really anxious.

What did you figure out, but didn't understand it before? Before, he just didn't dare to think about retreating, but now, when Comrade Stalin's order to retreat has come down, Pavlov dares to withdraw his troops, and now he only hopes that it will be too late.

"Now, give my order at once, withdraw the Fourth, Third, and Tenth Armies of the Bialystok salient, hold on to Minsk, and be sure to protect the safety of our capital." Pavlov said, beginning to write his own orders.

Commanders of the 13th, 10th, 3rd and 4th armies:

Today, on the night of April 3, no later than 9 p.m., the retreat began, and the units should be prepared to defend themselves with tanks as the vanguard and cavalry and strong anti-tank defense units as the rearguard.

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This march was to be carried out day and night under the cover of a strong rearguard. Throw off the enemy on a wide front

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It should leap more than 60 kilometers in one fell swoop in one day and night

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Units are allowed to make full use of local tools and to recruit any number of horse-drawn carts

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Watching Pavlov write the order, Marshal Shaposhnikov on the side had the urge to press him on the table and beat him, now, the military situation is urgent, how do you plan to convey such a mother-in-law's order?

If you let the telegraph soldiers send it, it will definitely be a nightmare for the telegraph soldiers, if you let the soldiers convey it, they may not be able to reach the headquarters of the various mechanized corps tonight, this is simply a waste of time, it is sacrificing the lives of the soldiers!

He finally suppressed his impulse, and Pavlov's order was finally written, and it can be said that the order was generally good, clear-minded, well-organized, and decisive, but it was full of political work, which made people look anxious.

If it had not been for this procrastination, if Marshal Shaposhnikov had taken over the command as soon as he came up and had immediately ordered a retreat, then these armies of the Western Special Military District would not have been surrounded by the Germans and then annihilated.

And now, due to the continuous delay of time, the retreat of the Soviet troops was destined to be a terrible breakout battle, and after this order was given, Pavlov completely lost the command of the Bialystok divisions......