When Vatutin mentioned the entire war situation in Ukraine, several Soviet generals present did not look very good - because this was tantamount to exposing their shortcomings and asking for their lives.

Each and every one of them participated in this huge battle. It can be said that the whole of Ukraine was lost in their hands.

So after hearing what Vatutin said, several generals took one look at Comrade Stalin and began to think about how to shirk responsibility.

"When I was fighting hard in Lviv, there was no one to support me!" One of them spoke, passing the buck away.

Indeed, he fought hard in Lviv for more than ten days and did not take a step back - but everyone knows that at that time the Germans did not attack with all their might.

At that time, Army Group South was responsible for attracting the attention of the Soviet troops on the southern front, and it was not necessarily possible to advance 10 kilometers in a few days.

Moreover, the Italian Expeditionary Force was responsible for the main attack on Lviv, and its combat effectiveness was inferior to that of the German army in any case.

Therefore, when he heard this general mention Lviv, another general also hurriedly excused himself: "My troops have been fighting in Odessa for more than a month, and they have lost a third without taking a step back!" ”

When the Soviet general who spoke spoke, the general next to him almost spurted a mouthful of old blood onto the table in front of him.

The reason why Odessa has been able to hold out for so long is not because the main attacking troops have always been Romanian servant troops?

Moreover, the German army has not adopted the tactics of encirclement, but only used Odessa to exercise the ability of the Romanian troops to attack fortified positions.

It is precisely because of this that the Soviet army was able to hold out in Odessa for so long...... Of course, at that time, the elite of the Soviet army was exhausted, which was also a major reason for its strong combat effectiveness.

You must know that when the Battle of Odessa began, the Battle of Moscow had not yet completely ended, and the combat effectiveness and fighting determination of the Soviet army could not be the same as now.

Another general also pushed three or six five, waved his hand and said: "I am in charge of logistics support, and I have never delayed the transportation of materials!" ”

After a few people finished talking, I said, not giving others a chance to interject at all. As if everyone was afraid that Stalin, who was sitting in the first place, would put the blame for the battle in Ukraine on them.

"Who would have thought that a Ukraine would be handed over to the Germans if it didn't hold out for two months." The admiral opened his mouth and complained.

He doesn't care whose responsibility it is, anyway, the losses of the navy will be borne by those army units! If it weren't for the fall of Odessa, how could the German fleet have been able to enter the Black Sea to fight?

What's more, even if the German army entered the Black Sea, if the army had not lost Melitopol, the ships of the navy would not have fled the Sea of Azov in a hurry!

Fortunately, the army units have retreated again and again, and the Sea of Azov has become a dangerous area. Rostov is no longer safe, the Black Sea Fleet of the Navy has become a nomadic ghost without roots, and it is only a matter of time before it is annihilated.

A large number of transport ships and maintenance ships were sunk or forced to sink themselves - which was not good news for the Soviet Union, which had a weak navy.

Because of this, when the navy can satirize the army, it always has to say two sarcastic sentences to vent the dissatisfaction in their hearts.

Of course, the army side will inevitably retort, so one of them stood up and said angrily: "Your navy still has the face to say that our army? I heard that the enemy's fleet was coming, and I left Sevastopol overnight and ran away. ”

Another army general also sarcastically said: "Isn't it, I escaped overnight, I was caught up by the German fleet, the flagships were sunk, Sevastopol is still fighting with the Germans, what about the warships of your navy?" Why don't you go to support? ”

The heavy damage to the Black Sea Fleet was no secret among the high-ranking officers in Stalingrad.

Army generals were also happy to use the defeat in this naval battle to prevaricate the navy's accusations against the army. Of course, the Air Force has not spoken much, because they dare not speak out for fear that the Army and Navy will remember their existence......

You must know that no matter how badly the army fights, it will still fight more than a dozen cities in bloody battles, and the navy will fight poorly because its own strength is ten times different from the German army.

Only their air force, which has a lot of troops, has fought poorly, and the most terrible thing is that they have never had a decent record - from the beginning of the war to the present, the German army has basically annihilated the Soviet air force 1-5 or even 1-10......

"That's it! That's enough! Shut up! Have you had enough of arguing? Stalin slapped the table twice to silence the room.

Finally, he couldn't bear it anymore, and finally spoke up to stop his subordinates from passing the buck to each other. The meeting room fell silent all of a sudden, and everyone looked at Stalin and did not dare to make a sound.

"How are the lines of defense laid out along the Volga River ready? Do you think that next spring the Germans will become vulnerable on their own? After a long silence, Vatutin knew it was time for him to speak, so he asked out loud.

One of the generals awkwardly stretched out his hand and pointed to the map spread on the conference table, pressed his finger near the Volga River and said: "Great leader, Comrade Stalin, Comrade General Vatutin, we have deployed two fortifications on the east bank. ”

"These fortifications are supported by a permanent machine-gun fire point, and each machine gun fire point is reinforced with mortars around it!" "We have reinforced these machine-gun bunkers with iron plates and concrete, and they cannot be destroyed by ordinary fire," he said, gesturing along the river. ”

He's been reinforcing these lines lately, so it's a bit of a rambling story. Stalin also put a lot of thought into this line of defense, so the whole line of defense was still very strong.

After all, around March 1942, the Soviet army had to rely on these defensive measures to thwart the German offensive first and then consider the next counterattack.

"There is barbed wire on the bank of the river, and we have laid some mines! On the 1st line of defense near Stalingrad, trenches in part of the section were also reinforced with reinforced concrete! Finally, the officer said with confidence: "Almost a hundred kilometers, it is very difficult for the Germans to cross the Volga!" ”

Vatujing knows that what really makes this defense line impossible to break through is actually the more than 2 million additional soldiers behind the defense line who have been trained for more than 4 months!

As long as these troops continue to enter Stalingrad, then this place will become a meat grinder, and all the elite of the German army will be consumed!