Zhukov sat decadently in the command headquarters, and the news from the front made him not interested for a while. He didn't even know what to do with Stalin's report, and although the war had not yet been decided, he could already anticipate the course of the war.

Although the Soviet Union still has a strong air force, the lessons of the previous tank clusters and the process of the Chinese Air Force eliminating the Soviet air defense positions make him feel that the Chinese Air Force is definitely much stronger than the Soviet Air Force.

In the past, the first impression of China was that the Air Force was the most powerful, and the Army was secondary. Now even the army has been defeated, not to mention that the air force, which does not look much stronger than the army, can defeat the Chinese air force.

At least Zhukov knew that the Soviet Air Force had absolutely no way to destroy the Soviet air defense forces in the same way that China destroyed the Soviet air defense forces. Judging from the performance of previous exercises, in order to wipe out nearly 100 Soviet air defense positions, the Soviet Air Force would have to pay the price of at least 100 fighters. One to one, this is already Zhukov's most optimistic estimate. Not to mention that China only lost a few planes in this attack, and many of the injured planes were able to fly back. Even the pilots who have wrecked others can fly into the airspace of their own units to parachute, and the gap is even more obvious when compared with each other.

More than a thousand and two tanks of the army's ace tank cluster were wiped out, and it was only half a day. The Air Force can take off, but it does not dare to attack at will. Nest, too nest, compared to the Chinese army, Zhukov felt extremely aggrieved.

However, he did not lose the confidence to fight, and now the Soviet side just has no way to attack, but in terms of defense, Zhukov is still very confident that he will hold this painstakingly managed fortress. Although it is not as good as those internationally famous fortresses and many military fortresses of the Soviet Union, it is also a kind of military fortress that cannot be ignored on the Siberian Plain. And the weather is getting colder and colder, and in another month, there is basically no way to continue large-scale battles. At that time, the plane will not be able to take off, so it can only stay in the airport obediently.

And Zhukov is still very strong now, although he has lost tank troops, but there are still a lot of armored vehicles that can be used. At the same time, the loss of soldiers was not very large, and by now he could still muster at least half a million soldiers to participate in the battle. Zhukov is very confident in these subordinates, although there are many people who are afraid of death, but when they need to fight hard, they will not hesitate. Besides, there is no one who is really not afraid of death, and when there is no choice, a brave death is the best choice.

500,000 infantry, with the help of this fortress, is enough to block the Chinese army to the death. And you can also look for opportunities to give the other party a heavy blow, which is not impossible. As long as it holds out for a month or two, when Siberia reaches its coldest point, the war will end in a draw. And the Soviet side can also take advantage of the winter to take a breather, and wait until next year, when the Soviet Union has eased up, a steady stream of tanks and equipment will be able to arrive here. Then everything will be unpredictable again.

"Alas! I hope that person doesn't get too angry. Zhukov sighed and stood up helplessly. He knew that he had to report to Stalin as soon as possible, and that he would be even more passive if he had been told about the situation elsewhere.

"Send a telegram to Moscow, the content of the message: At ten o'clock in the morning of November 23, our Red Army tank group and the Chinese tank group launched a head-to-head confrontation ......, according to my opinion, as long as we hold out until the cold winter really comes, with the help of the cold, we can counteract the active offensive of the Chinese side and force the other side to abandon the offensive. Once the cold winter is over, the course of the war will be decided.

Commander of the Siberian Theater of Operations Zhukov. ”

When the signal corpsman sent the telegram, Zhukov suddenly collapsed in his chair. He didn't know what the Moscow one was going to do with him, but he had no better way to do it, and he could only hope that the one would understand his thoughts. Zhukov was not afraid of death, but he did not want to die with infamy on his back.

In the Moscow Kremlin, Stalin soon received a telegram from Zhukov. The Soviet side, which originally seemed to be dragging its feet, behaved quickly this time, because the content of the telegram frightened them. It was to be expected that they would be furious when they saw the telegram, and they did not want to be unlucky because they were slower.

It's just that to everyone's surprise, Stalin did not get angry after reading the telegram, and he did not look angry. At least on the surface, there is no anger on his face. Just looked preoccupied, waved everyone back, did not say what to do with Zhukov, and did not give an answer.

Unlike Zhukov, Stalin thought more. His eyes were not only focused on the Siberian region, but also on the overall strategy of the Soviet Union. He does not agree with Zhukov's opinion now, and according to his agreement with Germany, he will divide up European land with Germany next year, and he will not be able to deal with China at all.

Moreover, Stalin only wanted to make Mongolia a military buffer zone between the two sides, and even if Stalin had ambitions for the Chinese land, he could not do it now. It's just that China made Stalin feel great pressure, and he urgently needed something to relieve this pressure, and Mongolia was the best place. Stalin did not need to make Mongolia his own, he just wanted to create a state of his own, nestled between the two countries. In this way, the Soviet Union will be able to spare its hands and will not have to worry about when, as it is now, when China will suddenly cut off the Far Eastern Railway.

At the same time, Stalin was testing China's reflection and military strength. Now that these have answers, Stalin was also a little disheartened for a while. I originally thought that after the T-34/76, I would be able to be no weaker than China in land warfare, but I didn't expect that as soon as more than a thousand tanks entered the battlefield, they couldn't hold out for even half a day. And still in the case of outnumbering the other side, how this did not disappoint Stalin.

However, after seeing this telegram, Stalin also felt as if a stone had been laid down in his heart. In the past, China seemed to be shrouded in a veil of mystery, which made people unable to see clearly and did not know what was hidden under the veil. And through this battle, Stalin did not dare to say that China showed all its strength, but at least part of it was exposed, even the tip of the iceberg was enough. Of course, if it were not for the temptation, Stalin would not have chosen to launch the plan in the winter.

A tank that is much more powerful than the T-34/76, and this is important news. Moreover, the Chinese leopard used by China itself is not only a little bit stronger than foreign trade, but also very important. Through these messages, Stalin was confident that in a few years the Soviet Union would be able to produce even more powerful tanks. At the same time, Stalin now began to firmly believe that tank units should be used intensively. Before, he was still a little swaying, whether the tanks were used separately or centrally, now there is no need to wonder.

And for Zhukov, Stalin did not blame, it was China that was too mysterious. On the contrary, he felt that Zhukov had done a good job, and although he was still a little impatient in some aspects, he was already much better than other Soviet generals. You can still see this with Stalin, otherwise he would not have been able to get to this point. If Zhukov was not in command of this war, and if he was replaced by any Soviet general, then the result would be even more tragic.

Stalin was very moved by Zhukov's proposal, but for the sake of the overall situation, Stalin had no choice but to break off this idea. The war had to end as soon as possible, Asia was too far away from Moscow, and Asia was much behind Europe. The eyes of the Soviet Union should be on Europe, and Asia is beyond the reach of the whip.

One thing that was most important in Stalin's mind was that the USSR needed only one enemy in the Far East. Stalin did not want to be an enemy of China rather than an enemy of Japan, and the answer is well known. Moreover, Stalin hated Japan even more, and China did not mention the 150 square kilometers of land in the Far East, while Japan jumped left and right on the issue of Sakhalin, and was very restless. And he also relied on the new capital ship Fuji to cause a confrontation between the two navies, which made Stalin extremely unhappy.

On the one hand, the forces in the Far East are to prevent a sudden attack by China, and in the event of a sudden attack by China, it is better to have troops to block it so that the country has enough time to react. On the other hand, he was always planning to clean up Japan, and if he signed an agreement with China, then Stalin would have the confidence to clean up the Japanese. The province is always worried that China is eyeing the back.

The bottom line is simple, a peace agreement with China should be reached before next year, preferably a peace agreement that will not suffer losses, and the two sides will reduce the troops stationed on the border to reduce the pressure on both countries. And the premise of peace is that Zhukov will hold out until the coldest winter in Siberia, so that the Chinese side does not want to fight.

In order to better achieve his goals, Stalin now also wants to give Zhukov a little support, but now domestic tanks are still on the production line. There was no way for the tanks, so Stalin sent electricity directly to the two heavy artillery divisions stationed in Moscow, and gathered all the empty guns that could be put together, and ordered them to immediately take the Far Eastern Railway by train and rush to Kyakhta.

After sorting out his thoughts, Stalin sent his opinion to Zhukov, without mentioning what to do with Zhukov. This disappointed many Soviet generals who wanted to see Zhukov's bad luck, Zhukov was moving too fast, naturally some people were jealous, and some people were afraid that he would threaten their position. Life is full of variety.

Receiving a telegram from Stalin, Zhukov made a decision in his heart. Previously, he wanted to send the Air Force to compete with the Chinese Air Force, but after learning that the tank forces were at a disadvantage, Zhukov dispelled this idea. At that time, Zhukov also thought that if the Soviet tank forces failed, the power of the air force must be preserved and could not be squandered anymore. As a result, Zhukov felt very glad that he did not really dispatch the air force at that time, otherwise he would have to hold it for a month or two, which was really difficult for him to rely on the army alone.

When he saw the reinforcements sent to him mentioned in Stalin's telegram, Zhukov was reassured. With two heavy artillery divisions, plus air guns and air force, he was confident that he could hold on.

(To be continued)