Qin Chuan guessed correctly, when the German army was carrying out a series of deployments, the Soviet side also proceeded in accordance with Vasilevsky's plan.

The first is in the military aspect.

Stalin himself gave these preparations a name: the "Sunshine" program.

The "sunshine" for a plan to be carried out in the harsh winter months also shows how high Stalin's hopes were for this project.

Zhukov was mainly responsible for military operations, and a series of reorganizations of the troops were later carried out with the approval of the headquarters of the Supreme Command and the National Defense Committee:

The first was the newly created Southwestern Front, the ones that Zhukov had requested, which he believed would be able to compete with the German Army Group South. Stalin, as he hoped, put these troops in Zhukov's hands.

The commander of this front was Vatutin, a commander who was good at directing tank operations...... This was not long in the Soviet army, because the Soviet Union itself made tactical mistakes in the use of tanks.

The second was the Stalingrad Front.

The main task of the Stalingrad Front at this time was to defend the Don River, so it was changed to the Don Front, and the commander Rokossovsky ...... The purpose was to free Zhukov from the command of the front and use it to command the overall situation.

Again, the Southeastern Front.

The military purpose of the South-Eastern Front, in addition to the defense of the Volga, was to recapture the main force of Stalingrad, so it was changed to the Stalingrad Front, and the commander was still Yeremenko.

Zhukov's plan was simple: to wait until the river froze in winter, and then launch a counteroffensive by the newly formed Southwestern Front and the Stalingrad Front from the west of the Don River and south of the Volga River towards the German lines...... The part of the attack was the flank of the German army defended by the Romanian army and the Italian army as Qin Chuan mentioned earlier.

After breaking through the German lines, the two Soviet fronts outflanked the rear of the German army and pointed directly to Karachi east of the Don River.

Obviously, when the two fronts met in Karachi, the Germans would be encircled in the area around Stalingrad.

However, as time went on, it was opposed by many generals.

The reason for this was that the Soviet generals found that the Germans had filled the holes in these areas.

The main opponent was Volsky, the commander of the mechanized 4th Army, which was to be tasked with an important assault offensive in the newly formed Southwestern Front.

"I think we should postpone or even cancel this plan!" "The reason is that the Germans are ready for defense, and such an attack looks like an attack on the enemy's weak points, but in fact we are hitting those Romanian and Italian troops, and the fists of the main German forces are hitting us!" ”

Wollisky's words are very vivid, and at the same time very reasonable.

It was indeed possible for the Soviets to break through the German defenses, but that was only the army of the German client state.

Because of the attack, the Soviet troops, equipment, specific locations and other information are placed in front of the Germans, and then the main force of the German army will launch a thunderous counterattack against the Soviet army under the cover of the air force.

"So!" Volysky concluded: "If we do this, not only will we not succeed, but we will suffer a crushing defeat with the serious consequences of this, and even the two lines of defense that we originally garrisoned will be in jeopardy because of the lack of troops, and I ask the National Defense Committee to immediately examine in detail whether the decisions made in this campaign are realistic!" ”

Stalin did not judge Volisky's words.

Because strictly speaking, Volsky was right, but Volisky did not know that the Soviet Union still had a hand in strategy......

Stalin had sent Molotov (People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs of the Soviet Union) to London to mediate with the British, to show them that the Soviet Union was willing to negotiate an armistice with the Germans, and that if Britain and the United States continued to let the war unfold and sit idly by, the Soviet Union would not be willing to sacrifice its own military and civilians in such a senseless way to continue the war.

Good offices took time, and Stalin could not be sure what the outcome would be, so he had to put opposition aside.

In fact, there was no need for Stalin to mediate, and as soon as the news of the loss of Stalingrad reached London, Churchill looked at the map and fell into deep thought.

Vasilevsky guessed correctly in this regard, Britain and the United States did not want the Soviet Union to break free from the trap of war with Germany, nor did they want the Soviet Union to be defeated by Germany, because it was obvious that if Germany brought the Soviet Union down, it would be time to free up its hands to deal with Britain and the United States, and the American army was even fighting the Japanese in the Pacific theater at this time.

Then Churchill called Roosevelt.

"Mr. President!" Churchill said: "Looking at the current situation, the situation of the Soviets does not seem to be very good!" ”

"Uh-huh!" Roosevelt didn't say much.

Roosevelt was actually more inclined to open up a second battlefield, but Churchill insisted on pressing this matter on the basis that the second battlefield had to be based in Britain.

Roosevelt's reaction embarrassed Churchill, who cleared his throat and said, "If you look at the map, you will see that the Germans have gradually formed a siege of the Soviet Union, especially the loss of the Baku oil fields...... I think that if we don't strike again, the Eastern Front will soon fall into collapse! ”

"Your Excellency the Prime Minister!" Roosevelt sarcastically said, "I'm glad you've finally realized this, and you're becoming more and more interested in building a new battlefield!" ”

"Of course, Mr. President!" Although Churchill knew that Roosevelt's words were thorny, he still replied with an unchanged face: "In particular, I have heard rumors that the Soviet side intends to rely on the existing defense line on the Don and Volga rivers to hold on, and negotiate with the Germans accordingly!" ”

Roosevelt couldn't help but be moved by this news...... During this period, although the United States surpassed Britain in terms of industry and economy, there was still a gap between it and Britain in terms of intelligence, so Roosevelt always got less intelligence than Churchill.

"We can't allow that to happen!" Roosevelt said.

"Of course!" Churchill said: "So we need a plan......"

"No, it's not a matter of planning!" Roosevelt said in a hurry: "We should get in touch with Stalin and let him dispel this idea, on the other hand, we will increase the reinforcements to the Soviet Union, including oil, and then the question of planning!" ”

"Yes, Mr. President!" Churchill replied: "I agree!" ”

Actually, it wasn't that Roosevelt was in a hurry.

Roosevelt was pretending to be "anxious", he just wanted to use this opportunity to lead the opening up of the second battlefield and enhance the United States' right to speak.