The divisions of the 19th Army, which had been transferred to the command of Lieutenant General Konev, were still on their way to the front in batches, and these divisions lacked close ties with each other and could only launch echelon defenses in the rear of the left flank of the 22nd Army. The 20th Army, commanded by Kurochkin, was exhausted from fighting between Vitebsk and Orsha, and further south, up the Dnieper River to Rogachev, the 13th Army, commanded by Lieutenant General Lemezov, who was in charge, was flanked and weakened. The 63rd Army, to which it belongs, is encircled and is defending Mogilev with all its might. The 21st Army, commanded by Colonel-General Kuznetsov, was carrying out a continuous counterattack on the enemy, covering the left flank of the 13th Army. In the Smolensk region, the 16th Army, commanded by Lieutenant General Lukin, as a reserve of the Front, is being assembled here. At this point, everything is well understood, but this "full knowledge" is only seen from the map, and the west is unpredictable to the vast space, and this change is not measured in days, but in hours. It was not easy for the General Staff to grasp this change, and it was even more difficult to issue instructions, change the deployment, and put new reserves into the battlefield in accordance with this change.

Because it was a cloudy day, Stalin's office was very dark. After Zhukov reported on the battle situation on the complete front, Stalin paced the room with his hands behind his back, and when Zhukov began to collect the map, Stalin put his hand on the table.

"So, Comrade Kacharov, commander of the 28th Army, understands your task?" Stalin, with a grim expression, looked at Vladimir. Yakovlevich. Kachalov asked, "We entrusted you with a large force, 7 divisions!" …… Resist Guderian! We should first stabilize the situation on the western front. ”

"Yes, I understand, Comrade Stalin." Kacharov replied.

"The task is clear, the main thing is that the divisions must arrive at the assembly area in time. What is the situation with the divisions of this newly formed army group for Kacharov? Where are you now? Stalin asked Zhukov in a very stern tone.

"I can't answer exactly, Comrade Stalin." Zhukov replied with a gloomy face.

"Our divisions are now the main tactical units, and the General Staff must keep abreast of the locations and current situation of the divisions! Know every division well! Stalin's voice became muffled due to dissatisfaction, which made Voroshilov, who was sitting there, palpate.

"I'll report to you in an hour, Comrade Stalin." Zhukov said as he hurriedly collected the map with his hands and feet, "I think that most of the divisions of the 28th Army have been organized, or they are already on the march. ”

"Do you have questions?" Stalin asked Kacharov.

"Yes, Comrade Stalin. But I am asking the departments of the General Staff about the establishment of the group army. ”

"Good! …… Just don't forget, Comrade Kacharov, looking at a person's intelligence, from his question, it is easier to judge from his answer. Stalin shook hands with him with an encouraging smile and said goodbye.

"Don't go yet, Comrade Zhukov." Stalin glanced at Voroshilov and said to Zhukov,

"How did Hitler's High Command work? How many institutions are there? …… How did their slaughter plan come out? Did you know? ……”

"I don't know, Comrade Stalin." Zhukov replied.

"I don't think Comrade Voroshilov knows either." Stalin casually glanced at Voroshilov, who was sitting there, took out a folder on his desk and handed it to Zhukov, "You can take a good look at it." ”

Zhukov opened the folder, and the top document contained an order issued on February 4, 38 on the command of the German armed forces. The order said: "From now on, I will personally take over the command of the entire armed forces. The Operations Department of the Military and Political Affairs Department, which was established earlier, was reorganized into the General Staff Department of the Supreme Commander, and all the powers of the Operations Department of the former Military and Political Affairs Department were directly transferred to me for personal management. ”

"The former head of the War Department of the Ministry of Military Affairs has been reappointed as the chief of staff of the Supreme Commander, and his rank is equivalent to that of the Minister of the Empire."

"The General Staff of the Supreme Commander shall perform the duties of the Military Administration at the same time, and the Chief of Staff of the Supreme Commander shall perform the duties of the Minister of Military Affairs in my name......"

The second material deals with Hitler's procedure for receiving reports on the operational situation.

"This report began on the day of the German attack on Poland, on September 1, 39, in the gardens of the Chancellery. At present, the Supreme Command is located either on special trains or in buildings with special equipment, where there are tools for quickly hanging and unloading maps and charts, and there are many tables for intelligence materials and samples of new Soviet infantry weapons. At such meetings, important decisions and orders are usually issued after the Chief of Staff of the Army has reported on the operational situation. ”

"The number of participants in the Hitler report was very small and fixed. Among them were Field Marshal Keitel, Chief of Staff of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, General Jodel, Chief of Staff of the Operational Command of the Armed Forces, four of Hitler's lieutenants, and, as usual, General Bodensaud, the 'personal liaison officer'. Occasionally, representatives of the General Headquarters of the Army, as well as representatives of the Air Force, were invited to meetings. The most frequent contributor was the Chief of Staff of the Operational Command of the Armed Forces, Jodel. His message came from a report from the command of the three services. ”

"If the Supreme Command is located in the field, then the meeting room should be furnished in accordance with the field conditions, or a special wooden room should be built."

"In addition to the routine reports on the situation at the front, if a major report is received from the commander-in-chief of the three services, a special meeting should be convened on a small scale."

"Every day at noon at the operational meetings of the Supreme Command, the 'Wolf's Lair', Hitler was generally present. The content of the discussion at the meeting was the battle report sent by the headquarters of the three armed services in the morning. The main content of the report sent by the Army General Headquarters was taken from the latest battle reports sent by the various army groups on the same day. Only the reports of the commanders of the German forces in Finland, Norway and North Africa were telegraphed directly to the General Staff of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, with a copy to the General Headquarters of the Army. ”

"Hitler's daily schedule is also noteworthy," the material notes. "At about 11 a.m., Yodel was in a small area, using maps of the battlefields, to report to him the reports of the battles received during the night. Sometimes his report had to be postponed, because Hitler, after the fatigue of the day, had to talk at night with the people close to him, and sometimes only with two stenographers, while eating refreshments, and often stayed up all night until four o'clock the next morning. This brought inconvenience to the solution of major military aircraft matters, and Hitler often had to sleep all morning, and no one could alarm him. ”

Zhukov quickly finished reading the contents of the folder, Stalin looked at Voroshilov, although he didn't say anything, but Zhukov understood what Stalin meant and handed the folder to Voroshilov, who took it and looked at it with excitement.