On June 7, Zhukov, as the supreme commander-in-chief of the southern front of the Soviet army, received information from two different directions.

One was about the direction of action of Comrade Stalin, who was already on the verge of arriving in Stalingrad, and this was news for him that he did not know whether it was good or bad.

After all, having an extra person behind him is much more comfortable than not having such a person, at least that's what Zhukov thinks.

But on the other hand, the arrival of Stalin can more or less bring more effective supplies to the Soviet army on the Ukrainian side, which is good news.

Therefore, the arrival of Stalin, for Zhukov, was mixed with good and bad news.

Another piece of news is interesting: Italian and Romanian troops are advancing into Moldova, much faster than they had done before.

This is not good news for Zhukov. If he had lost Odessa before Stalin's arrival, the joke would have been too big.

"The movement of the main forces of the German army was not detected, perhaps even behind the Italians." A Soviet general told Zhukov about the latest situation.

"Italian troops are advancing towards Transnistria, which is not good news for us!" Another Soviet commander added worriedly.

In fact, the Italian troops were not as bad as the legend suggests, and they still performed well in many cases.

As for the performance of the Italian troops described by Rommel and other German generals, there is some shirking responsibility and putting gold on their faces.

Although the combat effectiveness of the Italian army is not as strong as that of the German army and the Japanese army, it is still worth boasting about compared to some second-line Soviet troops.

After careful preparation, the attack they launched was still very threatening. Especially when they get enough oil supplies.

"It's really not good news, whether the Germans want to abandon Moscow and come to us first to trouble, or just make a show to scare us, this is worth a good analysis." Zhukov is not a fool, he said with a frown.

He guessed the strategic intentions of the German army, which was nothing more than two situations: the first was to scare the Soviet troops on the southern front and take advantage of them; The second scenario was that the Germans were going to abandon Moscow and move south.

In Zhukov's heart, it is obviously not a wise choice not to swallow the piece of Moscow fat on the side of his mouth.

So he guessed the strategic intention of the German army, probably to scare the Soviet army, so as to take advantage of some white pick-up.

Zhukov planned to throw out some benefits, so as to satisfy the appetite of the German army and prevent the German army from moving south.

But he also does not intend to abandon strategic points, he wants to maintain the status quo of the Black Sea and Ukraine as much as possible, and thus the entire southern hinterland of the Soviet Union.

"They will not give up Moscow! Attacking our side is just a test for them to put on a show. At this point, he definitely said what he thought.

And these ideas were supported by many high-ranking commanders of the Soviet army who attended the meeting. They also believed that the Germans would not rush south and threaten their rear.

Since the Germans would not rush south, there was no need to strain the troops of the German Army Group Center to the north.

The rest was simpler: they could maintain the status quo as long as they defended the German attack in front of them.

"Odessa's defense must be strengthened, Transnistria is easy not to give up! Sticking to that is our bottom line! Zhukov pointed to the map and gave his strategic plan.

As the supreme commander of the Soviet army on the Southern Front, not a dime of iron roosters, in his opinion, if necessary, it is an acceptable compromise to give up some places appropriately.

Now, in Zhukov's opinion, some small cities and villages west of the Dniester River can be abandoned.

"Even we can give up Shepetovka! Give it there to the Germans too! As long as the Germans are willing to ask for it, Orevsk is not impossible to give! Zhukov also drew a bottom line on the map, and this line is also a line of defense that he has been carefully arranging.

The Soviet army established a defensive line in Korostian, Zhytomyr, Berkichev, Vinnytsia, as well as in the middle and lower reaches of the Dniester River, and built several defensive lines, forming a very wide defensive depth.

This was also something that Zhukov had been busy with, and it seemed to him that he would be able to hold out near this line for one to three months, as long as the German Army Group in the north did not move south to copy his rear route.

If he could get 1,000 or more tanks later, he could think about counterattacking in the direction of Moscow to the north.

It's a pity that all this is just wishful thinking on his part, he hasn't gotten enough supplies yet, and the tanks are even less pitiful.

Originally, he had some of the main tank units of the Soviet army in his hands, but these troops, about 200,000 people, had already been transferred to the direction of Moscow.

"In any case, there must be a reason why the Germans suddenly accelerated their offensive in the south at this time." Zhukov looked at the map with a heavy heart and said to his men.

His gaze fell on the port of Odessa, which was closest to Romania, and then he spoke: "The purpose of the enemy's attack this time, I guess it is probably Odessa!" ”

"If something goes wrong in Odessa, then the pressure on the Turkish side will be great." Hearing Zhukov's analysis, an officer immediately saw the problem.

The others also nodded, the Black Sea Fleet was no match for the Axis navies, and if the opposing navy did reach the Black Sea through Turkey, it would be a serious problem.

"Although we have a navy in Sevastopol, everyone knows how old that navy is. After the start of the war, it will take less than a day for the Black Sea Fleet to be completely annihilated. "The commander of the Black Sea Fleet looked at the map and said to Zhukov.

In an instant, he finally knew why an army combat meeting would bring him, the naval commander, to him.

Now he understood that the battle was soon about him, not only to defend the Sevastopol military port, but also to find a way to save his fleet.

This is not an easy task to accomplish, at least with the few broken ships of the Navy's Black Sea Fleet, there is no guarantee to stop the fleet of the Axis powers.

After all, that's a powerful fleet with several battleships and several aircraft carriers!