"Comrade Vlasov, you have to make a little momentum on the periphery of Leningrad. Only in this way will the enemy believe that the goal www.biquge.info of the Kalinin Front is only the Leningrad encirclement. ”

On the evening of May 5, Zhukov, having attended the meeting in Moscow, returned to the city of Kalinin (140 km northeast of Moscow), where the headquarters of the Kalinin Front was located, and then summoned the commander of the 1st Shock Army and deputy commander of the Kalinin Front, General Vlasov, who was subordinate to the Kalinin Front, overnight.

Vlasov distinguished himself in last year's Polish campaign and the Battle of Minsk (Belarusian campaign), where he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union and promoted to the rank of general.

After the victory in the defense of Minsk, he was regarded as a "strong general" by Pavlov and Shaposhnikov, and was entrusted with the important task of being the commander of the newly formed 1st Shock Army.

Although the 1st Assault Army, which is now under his command, is a newly built group army, the troops below are all veteran units with rich combat experience. At present, the army group is subordinate to the 11th and 14th Guards Infantry Divisions, the 29th, 44th, 50th, 55th, and 71st Infantry Divisions, the 93rd, 94th, and 95th Independent Tank Brigades, the 21st, 22nd, and 23rd Independent Tank Fighter Tank Brigades, the 1st Assault Artillery Division, and some other auxiliary units.

Unlike other armies, this assault army has no corps-level units under it, only 7 infantry/guards infantry divisions, 6 tank/tank destroyer brigades, and 1 artillery division.

However, the strength and firepower of this assault army are not weak at all, because the establishment of 2 Guards Infantry Divisions and 5 Infantry Divisions under its jurisdiction is very sufficient (now the number of infantry divisions of the Red Army is not as large as before the war, the full strength of ordinary infantry divisions is more than 11,000 people, and the Guards Infantry Division is more than 12,500 people), the total strength exceeds 90,000, and the number of tanks/tank destroyers/assault guns equipped exceeds 250.

"Comrade commander, please rest assured, I promise to complete the tasks assigned by the organization." As he spoke, Admiral Vlasov lifted the large glasses on the bridge of his nose and looked very calm.

Zhukov nodded, he had attended the Leningrad Higher Cavalry School training class with Admiral Vlasov, and he still had some understanding of the abilities of this old classmate. And he was also very optimistic about this general who showed a calm atmosphere everywhere, and in this Leningrad siege battle, Zhukov even appointed Vlasov as the commander-in-chief of the right flank group, and handed over the strength of as many as 4 assault armies (1st, 3rd, 4th and 5th assault armies) to Vlasov.

By the way, the current Kalinin Front, in addition to 5 assault armies and 1 tank army, also includes the 20th Army, the 22nd Army, the 3rd Army of the Air Force and a number of artillery, cavalry, as well as separate tank / anti-tank units.

"This mission is a bit complicated, you need to feint first, and then attack." Zhukov said that "after breaking through the German encirclement, it is necessary to timely transport the materials hoarded in Veliky Novgorod to Leningrad, and to evacuate the useless population of Leningrad...... This must be done as soon as possible, understand? ”

"As soon as possible?" Vlasov was stunned, what Zhukov said now is different from what was arranged before, and the situation has obviously changed. "Comrade commander, is it possible that Leningrad will again be surrounded by the enemy?"

Zhukov was noncommittal...... There is no way for him to answer the question asked by Vlasov, this kind of thing can only be tacitly understood.

"In addition, you must be prepared to stay in the city of Leningrad for a long struggle." Zhukov went on to say, "This is a very difficult task, and only you can do it. ”

What this meant was that Zhukov was ready to recommend Vlasov for the post of commander of the Leningrad Front. This position was not so long ago Zhukov, and after Zhukov's departure, the commander of the Leningrad Front was first acted by Lieutenant General Fedyuninsky (a close confidant of Zhukov who has now left Leningrad to become commander of the 4th Tank Army), and then by the former chief of staff of the Leningrad Front, Lieutenant General Khozhin (also a close confidant of Zhukov). And because Vlasov is a general, he will definitely replace Khozin as the commander of the front army after leading troops into Leningrad.

After explaining his mission to Vlasov, Zhukov then spoke with Lieutenant General Fedyuninsky, the commander-in-chief of the left flank cluster of the Veliky Luki, who was in charge of commanding the raid on Velikiya Luki.

The Kalinin Front's left flank cluster includes the 5th Tank Army, the 2nd Shock Army and the 20th Army, although the total strength is not as good as the right flank group, but there are as many as 260,000 men, and the number of tanks/tank destroyers/assault guns is more than 1,000, which is definitely a striking force to be reckoned with.

However, it is still not enough to look at it in front of the German 4th Panzer Army, even if it uses the "cut out" forest road to sneak attack, it will definitely not be able to defeat the German 4th Panzer Army, not to mention that the German troops on the Leningrad front line will come back to help.

Therefore, the condition for the success of the battle of Velikiye Luki is not only suddenness, but also the right timing.

"The timing of the offensive is crucial," Zhukov said, "and the ideal time is when Smolensk is about to fall and the Germans are locked in a bitter battle between the northern and southern routes, when the enemy's defenses at Velikiye Luki must be the weakest." Moreover, the capture of Smolensk first and the defeat of the Bryansk Front first must be the first choice of the German commanders, and we can encircle or capture Velikiye Luki if we are determined enough. And as soon as Velikiye Luki is captured or encircled by us, then the Pskov-Smolensk railway line will be interrupted, and the logistics of the German army will be difficult. In order to attack Moscow, the Germans would definitely counterattack Velikiye Luki with all their might, most likely drawing troops from around Leningrad...... This is our chance to relieve Leningrad. ”

Not to mention, Zhukov is really a generation of famous coaches, and his grasp of the timing of the attack is still extremely accurate. But fortunately, in the great Soviet Red Army, there are not too many characters like him, and there are many guys who help out. For example, Comrade Stalin's beloved general, Andrei, who is currently the commander of the Reserve Front. Ivanovich. General Yeremenko.

He, along with Zhukov, Vlasov, Rokossovsky and Bagramyan, graduated from the Leningrad Higher Cavalry School. And he is undoubtedly the hardest-working, roughest and most confident person in this training class.

According to the recollections of his classmates, Yeremenko, with rare efforts, mastered the breadth and wealth of knowledge prescribed by the syllabus - how difficult could the textbook of a short-term training course be? It takes rare effort to master, which shows how stupid this guy is.

As for his brutality, it also reached the point of awesomeness in the Soviet Red Army, because when he was deputy commander of the Western Front, he once beat Ganenko, military commissar of the 13th Army and secretary of the Central Committee of the Belarusian Bolshevik Party. In the Soviet Red Army, the deputy commander of the Front Army beat the military commissar of the army group (or the secretary of the Central Committee of the Party of the union republics), and probably only Yeremenko did it. However, his awesomeness lies not only in daring to beat the military commissar, but also in the fact that he did not receive any punishment after being beaten...... This is the Soviet Red Army, whose military commissar is as big as the sky!

As famous as Yeremenko's stupidity and brutality was his self-confidence, which contrasted sharply with the lack of confidence of Pavlov and Shaposhnikov. And this unjustified self-confidence was absolutely very harmful for the Soviet Red Army.

"Comrade Yeremenko, can you hold Smolensk?"

At noon on May 6, Stalin summoned to the Kremlin the man he trusted the most, and would never say no to him, ready to give him a task that no one dared to take on: the ever-confident Yeremenko.

And the task that Stalin was going to give Yeremenko was to encircle Smolensk.

The 5th Tank Army left Smolensk on 4 May to stop the German 1st Panzer Army in the "junction area". The 16th Army, which was supposed to arrive quickly, was stopped by a German armored unit detouring west of Smolensk. Thus, by 6 May, the only Soviet troops defending Smolensk were the 3rd Army, the 22nd Infantry Army, the 51st Fortified Area, 50,000 useless militiamen, and a miscellaneous number of troops.

It was clear that the powerful German 4th Panzer Army could not be stopped by these people, so the commander of the Western Front, Field Marshal Kulik, telephoned Stalin early on the morning of May 6 and asked to abandon Smolensk at the right time.

Then Stalin asked Kulik what was the right time?

Marshal Kulik told Stalin that Smolensk would be surrounded in 2-3 days and lost in 2 weeks.

Stalin, of course, could not agree to abandon Smolensk, so he ordered Kulik to hold on, but Kulik said that he could not do anything. Because the German panzer group had now completed its detour from the west of Smolensk, and since the Western Front had no tank armies in their hands to stop them, the German pantry group would soon go around to the east of Smolensk. At that time, the city will be surrounded, and no one will be able to hold Smolensk with a hundred thousand remnants of defeated generals and militia.

Stalin knew that Marshal Kulik could not bear the responsibility for the siege of Smolensk, so he was ready to ask for another master. But Pavlov, Shaposhnikov, Rokossovsky (now deputy chief of the General Staff), and Chuikov (now deputy commander of the Reserve Front) did not dare to stand up and take responsibility. So in the end, Stalin could only look for Yeremenko, and Yeremenko's answer did not disappoint.

With great confidence, Yeremenko said: "Not only will I be able to hold Smolensk, but I will also destroy the invading German hooligans!" (To be continued.) )