"Half a month, a week? It turned out to be only three days! Kyiv has fallen! Stalin snorted coldly and chattered in his office with his hands behind his back.

Originally, he was counting on Kyiv to hold on for a while, so that he could improve his Stalingrad defense system.

But now, his hopes have been dashed, Kiev is already German, not only Kiev, the Soviets have lost all the land west of the Dnieper at once.

The Ukrainians warmly welcomed the arrival of German troops, exposed the partisans, reported the hiding Soviet high-ranking officials, and kept the German troops in Ukraine.

The Germans were also well prepared, and they distributed food along the way, although it was just some cheap food such as potatoes, but it did win the hearts and minds of the Ukrainians.

Stalin's iron-blooded repression in Ukraine was too ruthless before, which made the locals think of opposing Stalin, and the arrival of the German army gave people a window to vent, so the German army swept all the way, as if no one was in a land.

Krivoy Rog, Nikopol and other regions have surrendered one after another, and the previous situation in which the Soviet Union did not retreat and did not surrender any city completely ended in Ukraine.

It was as if the fear that had been suppressed for a long time exploded at this moment. The defenders of the Soviet Union began to show mass surrenders, as if they were desperate for the war.

The Soviet troops in Dnipropetrovsk were so depressed that in a matter of days it had become an isolated city, and the surrounding towns had already surrendered to the Germans.

What is even more terrifying is that in mid-September, the Germans took control of Kherson, crossed the Dnieper and began to advance towards the Crimea.

Nikolaev, the main transportation route that had been held for a month, was finally exhausted and taken by the Germans.

The Soviet defense line collapsed as if overnight, a large number of weapons and equipment were abandoned on both sides of the road, and countless Soviet soldiers raised their hands.

Probably 700,000 Soviet troops surrendered their weapons to the Germans, and almost 200,000 were annihilated in the rout.

The defense system of the Soviet Union's more than 2 million troops collapsed in an instant, and Zhukov and Vatu Kyoto were powerless.

Nova Kakhovka was occupied by the Germans on 17 September, and the vanguard of German Army Group D crossed the Dnieper River and completely encircled the Crimean Peninsula.

On the same day, the Soviet garrisons stationed in Melitopol announced their surrender, and the city was handed over to the Germans in its entirety.

Melitopol is a major transportation center in southern Ukraine, and the change of hands of the city gave the Germans a bridgehead to advance towards Donetsk.

In the entire Ukrainian theater of operations, the northernmost line of defense has retreated to Kharkiv, the westernmost point is only holding on near the Dnieper River, and the southernmost one, although it is still in the Crimea, has been surrounded.

What made Stalin even more depressed was that he finally lost the ships and supplies that had been saved by the main force of the Black Sea Fleet, and at this moment he was also embarrassed on the Sea of Azov.

The ships had to retreat to Rostov-on-Don, where they waited for the final apocalypse!

It was originally thought that there was a Kerch Strait in the Sea of Azov to prevent the German fleet from entering, and it would be safer to place ships.

But as the Germans advanced east of the Dnieper, the Sea of Azov was no longer safe – not to mention, if the Germans built a field airfield near Melitopol, there might be no safe place for the entire Sea of Azov.

As a result, at the risk of being wiped out by the German Navy, the Soviet transport and supply fleet had to pass through the Kerch Strait once again and return to the Black Sea.

Only by returning to the Black Sea can they continue their retreat south, to the safer Caucasus.

And even in the Caucasus, they had to face a blockade by the German Navy, as well as an attack by the heavy artillery of the German Navy.

"Yes! Comrade Stalin, the great leader! Kyiv has fallen! Govorov was captured...... We are still investigating the specific information! An officer reported.

"Captured? Why didn't he choose to die in battle? Or suicide? How could you be captured? The USSR has not yet captured a marshal! How could he do such a humiliating thing? Govorov ...... Govorov ...... "When Stalin heard the news, he muttered that there were signs of anger.

After all, the marshals he had been promoted to have already chosen to repay his promotion with death. But Govorov did not die, which made Stalin unbearable.

In fact, at this time, Govorov had already starved to death on hunger, but the German side blocked the news and did not let the Soviet side know the news.

"Pass my orders and hang Govorov's family! No more interrogation! Hang them all! With a wave of his hand, as if to drive away the flies in front of him, Stalin gave the order to punish.

By this time he had become impatient to send the general's family to Siberia, which was almost out of his control.

If the sinner is sent there, it will be used by the ambitious, and the gain will outweigh the loss.

Therefore, Stalin directly ordered the execution of the death penalty and killed the people in Stalingrad to prevent future troubles.

After hearing Stalin's star, the officer hurriedly spoke and said: "Comrade Stalin, the great leader...... The whereabouts of Comrade Govorov cannot be confirmed, and it is inappropriate to hastily execute his family, right? ”

"You're saying that the rumors of a captivity, aren't accurate?" Stalin heard the persuasion of his men and felt that the order he had just given was a little too hasty.

After all, it was a marshal's family, and a hasty disposition could easily shake the morale of the army. So Stalin changed his mind and ordered: "Put the people in custody first, and then deal with them when the investigation is clear!" ”

After changing the order, Stalin felt more and more that there seemed to be a lack of people around him who could give him the right advice.

So he gave another order: "Let General Vatutin return to Stalingrad!" Also retreating were the 5th Guards Tank Division and the 4th Guards Tank Division! ”

As soon as he gave the order, he not only transferred back the 5th Guards Tank Division, which had been transferred from Stalingrad, but also transferred Zhukov's strategic reserves.

You know, now the 4th Guards Tank Division is the only complete armored division left in Zhukov's hands, and without this armored division, Zhukov's holding on to Kharkov has become a problem.

But Stalin had already made up his mind, and this time he was not going to rely on others, he was going to rely on himself.

He will wait for the arrival of the Germans in the city named after him, and fight the Germans to the death here!