Having repelled the Romanians, the situation in Odessa was greatly eased, and it seemed that the Primorsky Army Group was in a good situation? If you think so, you're really wrong. It is well known that in October 1941, Tukhachevsky's counterattack collapsed, and the situation in Ukraine and Belarus was reflected in a chain of collapses, and the Red Army almost took a pill.

And this means that the Red Army can only tighten its belts in the future, let alone continue to reinforce Odessa or open up contact with Odessa by land, and even want to abandon Odessa directly and send valuable troops to Belarus to plug the gap.

This time, even Li Xiaofeng failed to change the army. The decision of the committee, at one time, the order to retreat was given to Rear Admiral Zhukov, who ordered: "Organize a retreat as soon as possible, without any hesitation!" ”

It seems that the Red Army had to give up Odessa again, as in history, but at this critical moment, the Germans helped the Red Army, and didn't the German historian say earlier that "only the Germans are still trying to capture Odessa"? The Germans did.

The German 11th Army, which was besieging Mykolaiv, was ordered to temporarily abandon the attack on Nikolaev and turn around and prioritize the "small problem" of Odessa. While Zhukov was actively preparing for a retreat, the Germans attacked from the east.

The fierce attack immediately interrupted the Red Army's retreat plan, and with the intensity of the German 11th Army's attack, the Red Army would not be able to escape without a single retreat. In desperation, the army. The committee could only temporarily abandon the plan of retreat, ordered Zhukov to continue organizing resistance, and demanded that he: "Repulse the enemy as soon as possible and buy time and space for the next retreat!" ”

It's a pity. This is just empty words. Because the German offensive was just too fierce. Not only was the German 11th Army on land attacking, but also a joint strangulation was carried out in the air and at sea. The Luftwaffe tightly sealed off the waters of Odessa, which at one time forced the Red Army to deliver supplies to the defenders of Odessa at night.

And the heavy air raids also brought certain pain to the Red Banner Black Sea Fleet, the battleship Marat was damaged, the Red Rostov light cruiser was heavily damaged by air-fired torpedoes, and two more gunboats and a frigate were sunk. And this grim situation has also made the army. The committee knows that for the time being, the Binhai Army can only resist alone, I hope they can withstand it!

From October all the way to November. The defenders led by Rear Admiral Zhukov were struggling to support, and at one point the defensive lines on both the east and west sides were lost, and the troops could only fight the enemy in the streets of the city, which looked like a pill. But God forbid, winter in Russia has finally arrived.

When the cold winter came, the Germans, who had not prepared for the winter, rested, and the onslaught of the previous period caused the German 11th Army to suffer heavy losses, and had to temporarily turn to rest. And this break allowed the Primorsky Army to hold on. Especially as the focus of the German attack shifted to Kiev and Bryansk, the German 11th Army was also withdrawn. And as mentioned earlier, the Romanians' will to fight is problematic. These greased gentlemen on a cold day choose to rest rather than fight.

In this way, Odessa is safe for the time being. And as the Red Banner Black Sea Fleet turned its attention to the attack on the Axis navies, it was temporarily unable to take action to carry out the army. The retreat plan has been drawn up long ago. Actually the military. Venezuela has now forgotten about the retreat plan, because even if Odessa withdraws, it will not be able to draw too many troops to fill the hole.

So the Odessa battlefield returned to calm, November was quiet, and in December it was so cold that the eggs hurt and I couldn't fight. And in January, with Rokossovsky's victory at Bryansk, the main German offensive was declared bankrupt, and both sides of the battle fell into a period of replenishment and recuperation, preparing for another battle in the coming days.

At this time, it was Li Xiaofeng who made a key impact on the fate of Odessa, and he did everything possible to cobble together forces to reinforce Odessa, sending a total of five infantry regiments and an artillery regiment to Odessa. And it was these forces that had a key impact on future battles.

What are the implications? During the critical period of the Battle of Kursk, Hitler ordered the deployment of troops at any cost to prepare for a desperate gamble, and it was the Romanians who besieged Odessa, and even half of the more than 200,000 troops here could have a fatal impact on Kursk.

At this critical moment, the defenders of Odessa stepped forward and launched rounds of counterattacks, leaving the Romanians in front of them with fierce counterattacks. For a week, the Romanians could not move, and it was this week that they would never be able to catch up with the Battle of Kursk.

At that time, Trotsky said: "It must be said that in terms of strategic approach Andrei. Comrade Petrovich sees the long term ahead of us. While most people advocated the abandonment of Odessa, he was the only one who advocated continuing to hold on, believing that holding Odessa was of strategic importance and could contain a large number of enemy forces. And at the end of the Battle of Kursk, this persistence played an important role. If there had been no Odessa counterattack, more than 100,000 Romanian troops would have poured into Kursk, and that would have had catastrophic consequences! ”

Once again, Li Xiaofeng's foresight came into play, and Odessa's importance was also taken into account. Committee and government. The governance is generally recognized. In the following period, although the focus of the campaign remained in Belarus, the army. Venezuela has not neglected Odessa, and is still strengthening Odessa's defenses despite the strain of troops.

By November 1942, for the first time, the forces of the defenders of Odessa approached the enemy surrounding them. And then the question arises, whether to make a counterattack and drive the enemy away.

On this issue, even Li Xiaofeng, who has always supported Odessa, has been very cautious. Because the situation in Bryansk and Kyiv is very tense, especially Kyiv, the city that has just been recaptured has once again been pressed by enemy troops. Venezuela prefers to resolve the issue of Kiev first.

There may be comrades who want to say that Kyiv and Odessa are thousands of miles apart and have nothing to do with each other. That's not what I said, the overall situation is a game of chess, the total strength of the Red Army is limited, and it is necessary to fight a war of annihilation in Bryansk, and to relieve the siege of Kyiv. And also to counterattack in Odessa. So spread out across the board. The number of troops is really stretched. You must know that the defenders of Odessa are only close to the enemy in terms of strength. That's not to say they're stronger than the enemy. Even if the Romanians' combat effectiveness is discounted, how strong can the defenders of Odessa, who have been besieged for more than a year, be?

What's more, it's not just a matter of troops, it's also about logistics. Satisfying the offensive operations of the three battlefields at the same time, the Soviet Union really could not manage it. Especially in an area like Odessa, which is surrounded and can only be supplied by sea, preparations for offensive operations are even more complicated and troublesome.

So after some serious discussions, the counterattack and the liberation of Odessa were postponed. According to the Army. According to the Committee's estimates, it was tentatively estimated that around April 1943, the Red Army would be ready to break the siege and counterattack. Before that. Troops on the battlefield and logistical supplies will be prioritized in favor of Bryansk and Kyiv, especially Bryansk, which is the army. The focus of the Committee's concern.

But what follows is not the story of the Battle of Bryansk, where as long as Ubolevich and Rokossovsky and others are not brain-dead, there is no big problem. The biggest change on the battlefield has come from Kyiv.

As mentioned earlier, in order to cover Operation Redbeard, Hitler specially instructed Army Group South and Army Group Center to launch feints in two secondary directions. One Minsk, while the other is Kiev. Hitler was ready to use the special position of these two cities to distract the Red Army and divert the main forces of the Red Army in the wrong direction.

The problem is that now total. The chief of staff was Ubolevich. And Li Xiaofeng, who is in charge of intelligence work, how could he be deceived by Hitler's little trick. So the mustache's wishful thinking fell through. The Red Army correctly judged the direction of the main attack of the German army and quickly concentrated its heavy forces to strike-for-tat.

Then there is little point in the feints of Minsk and Kiev. Especially in Minsk, the 1st Belorussian Front over there was already relatively strong, even if part of the army group was transferred to participate in the Battle of Bryansk, it would not be a problem at all to block the German army's already sharp feint attack in Minsk.

Once again, the Germans hit a wall in Minsk and retreated in disgrace. However, in the Kiev direction, the Germans made an unexpected gain. According to Hitler's arrangement, the forces responsible for the feint attack on Kiev consisted of two parts, one part was Manstein's 11th Army, and the other part was the first group of original tanks in a dilapidated state. The two forces formed a battle group, which was placed under the command of Manstein.

It should be said that the strength of this new Manstein battle group is limited, and it is even worse than the troops that feinted to attack Minsk. Anyway, before that, Hitler had no hope for this cluster, and the Führer himself admitted: "Manstein's cluster is a complete feint force, as long as it can play a diversion role, it will be considered a success to keep the 1st Ukrainian Front on the opposite side in the Kyiv region!" ”

But Manstein, who was not optimistic about the Führer, performed a miracle, with such a broken army, Manstein miraculously defeated the First Ukrainian Front led by Timoshenko, and once again approached Kiev from three directions, if it were not for the Dnieper River, the Red Army in Kiev would have turned into a turtle in an urn.

Timoshenko's unexpected defeat gave the army. The committee was shocked, but it was not the army. The committee could not accept the fact that the Red Army was defeated by the Germans, but Timoshenko was defeated and retreated a little facelessly, and he was hardly a united enemy of the German army, and he fell apart in a hurry. And this is the army. What is absolutely unacceptable to the committee is that even Li Xiaofeng was extremely surprised after learning of this fact.

Because it's not normal! The First Front of Ukraine is not a motley force, the main force is a heroic unit that participated in the first battle for the defense of Kyiv, has been tested by war and has rich combat experience. And the ministry has previously rested and replenished well, it should be said that it is much more energetic than the 2nd Belorussian Front and the 2nd Ukrainian Front, which have been fighting. Why did you make a fuss all of a sudden?

Angry, Li Xiaofeng immediately rushed to Kyiv in person, and he wanted to hear Shaposhnikov and Timoshenko explain this in person.

"The main reason for the defeat of our army is the lack of preparation," Timoshenko was a little depressed, of course, the reason is very simple, his performance in the previous Kiev siege relief operation and later the Battle of Kursk was good, originally he was still ready to do a big job, and he had the idea of replacing the rank of general with marshal, and this time he was defeated by the Germans so neatly that he almost poured a basin of cold water on his head.

Timoshenko could only explain in 1510: "After the end of the last battle, the mood of the troops was too relaxed, and they did not realize that Kyiv would still be attacked by the enemy. Some commanders and fighters were paralyzed and careless, which led to ......"

In fact, Li Xiaofeng is clear about the reasons that Timoshenge said. But that's not what he wanted to hear. Is paralysis a reason? What is the paralysis of some commanders? What is the part of this part of the commander? Does it include you Timoshenko and Shaposhnikov?

Plainly. Li Xiaofeng is extremely dissatisfied with the performance of Timoshenko and Shaposhnikov, you two actually dropped the chain like this, isn't it a shame for Lao Tzu? A certain immortal who wants to save face will never tolerate his subordinates being so embarrassed!

Shaposhnikov and Timoshenko soon sensed the wrath of a certain immortal, and both were removed from their posts. The so-called dismissal and retention are the same as retention. Party probation and retention. Proofreading a nature. If the two of them can't come up with a convincing performance to wash away the previous shame, then it's really a blow to the end!

"This Comrade Andrei is really not easy to serve!" Timoshenko sighed sadly.

Shaposhnikov didn't answer, but he knew what Timoshenko meant. Back then. When Dalin was still there, as officers of the first steel department, they were more suitable for the way of the steel emperor. What did steel do to them back then? That's really a brother. It's full of love between Qiu Ba. If they make a mistake, the steel will generally not slap the face like this, but help cover the lid or say intercession. They were indeed much better off at that time.

However, Shaposhnikov did not feel that it was better than it is now, for the simple reason that he understood that S. Dalin's temper, for Comrade Steel, when you are useful to him, it is a treasure, and it is to take care of him in every way. But once you lose your value, then your sincerity is discarded like grass shoes, more ruthless than throwing away garbage. To put it bluntly, the man of steel can share weal and sorrow, but not wealth. When they started a business together, they were brothers, but once they ascended the throne and sat on the dragon chair. I'm afraid it's not even good to be a courtier.

Therefore, although Shaposhnikov is close to steel, he does not belong to the dead gear of the steel series, and he is also keeping his distance as if he is nothing, so as not to lose ground in the future.

As for Timoshenko's remark that a certain immortal is not easy to serve, Shaposhnikov even sneered in return. Which of the old men in charge of the situation is easy to serve? Lenin is good to serve? Trotsky is good to serve? Even S. Is Dalin really easy to serve?

Shaposhnikov thinks that in a sense. Dalin is even more difficult to serve than Li Xiaofeng. Li Xiaofeng's poor service is just on the matter, as long as you really do things, he will generally not find your fault. And Si. Dalin is different, even if you are dedicated to the public, but as long as you fail to satisfy Comrade Steel, or if your position is slightly different from his, it will be lightning and thunder, and the bones will be gone. In Si. Dalin's subordinates are much more difficult and risky.

But Shaposhnikov doesn't intend to say it either, so what's the point of saying it? What's more, Timoshengo just said it casually, who hasn't thought about it back then. Just treat it as if you didn't hear it, that's the best policy.

So Shaposhnikov went straight to the point: "What are you going to do?" ”

Shaposhnikov's so-called do-nothing is by no means how to hold Kyiv, because holding Kyiv is not the same as a shame, and holding Kyiv is his and Timoshenko's responsibility and obligation, that is, the so-called bottom line. What Li Xiaofeng wants is snow shame, that is, a tooth for a tooth to fly Manstein to see a little color.

To tell the truth, there is no good way for Timoshenko, because Manstein on the other side is by no means a vegetarian. It wasn't just negligence that he was beaten before, but also because he wasn't Manstein's opponent. These days, Manstein didn't give him any chance to take advantage of it, but caught him with a bruised nose and swollen face.

Anyway, Temoshenge only has the strength to parry for the time being, and he can't fight back at all, and at this time, Li Xiaofeng jumped out to put pressure on him, it is conceivable that he is in a very bad mood. Of course, the emotion that he seemed to complain about before was also meaningful.

What is the deep meaning? That is to test Shaposhnikov's attitude. Previously, Xiao Si began to woo him openly or secretly. To be honest, Timoshengo was a little moved, because he felt that he didn't have the same important position in steel on the side of a certain immortal, and he couldn't enter the inner circle of a certain immortal. This disappointed him a little.

And now, Xiao Si's military power is weaker than that of a certain immortal, and he needs a senior general like him to help him stand on the platform, if he votes for Xiao Si, his status will be much higher. As the saying goes, people go to high places and water flows to low places, and they can completely change the door!

Therefore, Timoshenko took the opportunity to complain to test Shaposhnikov's true attitude, if he can say that Shaposhnikov will switch to Sverdlov together, it will not only prove his ability to Xiao Si, but more importantly, there is an old guy who is very familiar with each other and has a lot of mixed up!

But now Shaposhnikov didn't make a stubble, which made Timoshenko feel like he had punched him empty, and he had to start testing again: "What can I do?" With our current strength and situation, it will not be easy to stabilize our position, how can it be possible to counterattack, this is simply nonsense! ”

After saying this, Timoshenko looked at Shaposhnikov very sincerely, with a completely clear expression that you should understand what I meant...... (To be continued.) )

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