The marshals of the Soviet Union are really worthless, from Voroshilov and Timoshenko at the beginning, to Budyonny, and then to Govorov, who has just been promoted, it is really a lot of hair.

Eighty percent of people like Zhukov and Vatutin, who will eventually be promoted to marshals, just see when they are surrounded, and they can only commit suicide and martyrdom.

And General Vasilevsky, who is on the Crimean Peninsula, is expected to soon become a marshal - he will soon be surrounded and will have to fight alone in Sevastopol.

In addition, during the Battle of Moscow, Stalin promoted Rokossovsky to Marshal of the Soviet Union after his death, and then gave Marshal of the Soviet Union to Konev in the Moscow encirclement......

There are now as many as six marshals killed in the Soviet Union. Together with Marshal Shaposhnikov, who died in bed due to the deterioration of the situation, there were 7 fewer marshals in the Soviet Union.

In the real historical time and space, counting Stalin, who later became the generalissimo, there were only 14 marshals in the Soviet Union in World War II, so 7 died is not less.

Some famous generals who could have been promoted, such as Tolbukhin, Meretskov and others, either died in battle or had no chance of promotion, and the Soviet Red Army, which was originally a bright star, now has to face the unfavorable situation of a shortage of major generals.

Defeated by Beria's disloyalty after his departure to Chelyabinsk, Stalin had now given up the idea of going to Chelyabinsk.

Now he can only improve the fortifications in Stalingrad. He inspected the defenses of the entire city, and then personally ordered the reinforcement of half of the bunkers and trenches.

Countless reinforced concrete were used in the defense of Stalingrad. The Soviets were constantly reinforcing their defenses, as if preparing to turn Stalingrad into a fortress.

Not only that, but on the outskirts of Stalingrad, the Soviets built several ring fortifications, which were connected to each other by tunnels.

These independent fortifications were not afraid of German encirclement and could hold out for a long time. Even if one of them is captured by the Germans, as long as the tunnels inside are blown up, the other ring fortifications can still continue to fight.

Stalin personally ordered the construction of such defenses and laid a large number of mines around them. He was fascinated by the mine as a defensive weapon, and often chose the location of the minefield himself.

There were countless barbed wire fences and machine-gun bunkers, and even the commanders of the Soviet army themselves complained that the construction of these fortifications seriously affected the material reserves in other directions.

Since he was no longer planning to leave, Stalin wanted to turn Stalingrad into a huge fortress. He succeeded, and now Stalingrad is a fortress.

He intends to fight here for a year, or even ten years! That's why he repeatedly confirmed the speed of retreat of the front-line troops, so as to rationally arrange the speed of building the Stalingrad Line.

Although the 5th Guards Tank Division was withdrawn, the Stalingrad line was not weakened much.

The Soviet recruits who were replenished built the defensive line with their own hands, and they were familiar with every tunnel and every section of the trench, and they could take advantage of the geographical advantage to destroy a large number of German troops.

The training of these Soviet troops was also guaranteed, after all, staying around Stalin, the speed of obtaining supplies was three points faster than in other places.

They have plenty of weapons and ammunition to use for training, so their combat effectiveness is much higher than that of recruits from other regions.

Compared to other cities, Stalingrad has a unique geographical advantage. It was backed by the Volga River, and it was not easy for the Germans to encircle the city.

So, no matter how little, the Soviet army could supply Stalingrad through the Volga, which allowed Stalingrad to hold out longer.

Determined to do civil engineering in Stalingrad, backed by the Baku oil field and sitting on the Stalingrad factory, Stalin seems to really have the capital to hold on.

The only thing that made him depressed was that as time went on, the amount of American aid sent to him became less and less.

In fact, the total amount of American aid has increased, but Chelyabinsk withheld most of it and privately formed its own army. In the name of fighting Germany, in fact, it is supporting its own troops.

The Soviet Union is no longer the monolith of 1940, and even three months ago, Stalin was in a much higher grip.

The fleet in the north was expelled from Murmansk by Germany, and the Black Sea Fleet in the south was heavily damaged and almost wiped out - both at sea and on land, the Soviet defense line was shrinking.

However, it is not without good news, at least in terms of time, the Soviet side still has its own advantages.

It was already September, and by the time October came, the long defensive line in the north would not be suitable for combat. A sudden drop in temperature will affect all military operations, and it will definitely be difficult to carry out it on a large scale.

By around November, most of the Soviet Union would be frozen. If you want to continue fighting, you will have to wait until around March next year at the earliest.

If we take into account factors such as muddy roads and bad weather, the more secure combat time will be postponed to about April.

With three months to recover, Stalin felt that it was possible for him to raise another army of more than 3 million!

When the time comes to fight again, it is still unknown who will win and who will lose! This is also his spiritual pillar, which has made him dare to persevere until now in such an unfavorable situation.

In addition, if Germany had relied too much on a quick victory and had not been well prepared for winter clothing and cold weather, the Soviet Union might have won without a fight when the harsh winter came.

The Germans were not Soviets, and certainly would not have gotten used to the bitter cold of the Soviet Union. Winter in Germany may be around minus 20 degrees Celsius, while winter in Moscow may be minus 40 degrees Celsius!

As long as the German top brass is not well prepared, a heavy snowfall can annihilate an entire German army group!

In real history, Germany's defeats in Moscow and Stalingrad were accompanied by heavy snow and bitter cold.

Many German weapons and equipment were also not fully taken into account for their use in severe cold meteorological conditions, and many of them, including tanks No. 3 and No. 4, could not fight in particularly cold conditions.

Although Li Le emphasized the cold resistance of weapons, more than half of the weapons and equipment are not adapted to cold weather, and this problem can only be improved but cannot be eliminated.

Whether Li Le and his senior generals wanted to hold out until mid-October at most, the German offensive would have to stop, and the whole army would have to be fully prepared for the bitter cold.

And this long winter was the time for the German army and the Soviet Red Army to rest and prepare. When the spring flowers bloom next year, even bloodier battles will come.

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The eighth update, there will be an update in a while! You can watch it again tomorrow morning!