In the Soviet Kremlin, Zhukov was working with a group of Soviet generals to persuade Stalin to agree to the plan of the Soviet army to go south for a decisive battle. Most of them felt that they had been deceived by the Germans, by the German planes that had bombed Moscow the other day.

We wasted more than ten days of bombing for a high-altitude bombardment that did not even attack the city center. An officer sighed and shook his head in lamentation: "This is too cowardly, isn't it? ”

Everyone thinks that he is just a typical hindsight, so no one delves into his complaints, you must know that he is such a small army commander, even Stalin and Zhukov did not dare to easily conclude that the German bombing was just a bluff ten days ago.

At that time, in any case, the capital Moscow was also massively bombed by German bombers, which is an indisputable fact that no one can question. Many people estimated that the German troops attacking Moscow would move within twenty-four hours, and some even concluded that the German army would soon attack in the direction of Moscow.

In that case, almost all of them advocated defending Moscow first and then thinking about other issues, because no one could afford to lose the country's capital. As a result, everyone ignored each other, and in the end, the plan of the Soviet Red Army to go south came to naught, and that was it.

As for now, ten days later, everyone obviously understands that the news of the German army's lack of fuel may be true, and the bombing of Moscow on an unprecedented scale is actually a means for the German army to cover up its weakness. Because from that bombing until now, there has been no second air raid.

So at this time, many younger generals began to question Zhukov or Stalin's judgment, and they did not dare to openly raise it at the meeting, but adopted this way of talking behind the scenes and spreading it in their own circles. This kind of thing was done very covertly, because after the Great Purge, the Soviet Union's tolerance for Stalin, the leader of the dismissive state, was almost zero.

"Why do you want to die? Everybody knows that Stalin guy is an idiot when it comes to military command, but what can he do?" the other officer turned his head, looked at the positions of the guards around him, and whispered, "What a great opportunity for so many days has been wasted." ”

Not in his position, not in his politics, not in Zhukov's position, of course I don't know how much pressure he will face, at this time, of course, "everyone else is two hundred and five, only he is wise and martial". Before the two men's words could land, the mournful sirens sounded again in the sky over Moscow.

Yes, the German Air Force made another sortie, this time with so many planes, accompanied by twenty fighters. It was still not rushed into Moscow's absolute air defense circle, it was still dropped on the periphery, and it was done hastily, the only difference is that last time it was at night, this time it was during the day.

"German planes, air raids, how is this possible? Doesn't it mean that the German army is really short of fuel? What is going on?" The voice of the young officer, who was still making a lot of nonsense just now, asked in a trembling voice, when he questioned other people's decisions, he might pick out dozens of faults and attack everywhere, but let him find a way to come out by himself, that is a bit difficult for a strong man.

The other officer didn't speak this time, for he was too frightened to speak by the distant explosion. After all, he's just an officer in the logistics department, and he's not the kind to be in charge of.

When the two of them were at a loss for what to do, Zhukov happened to pass by with his assistant, he looked at the two officers with earthy faces, and said in a slow tone: "It just so happens that you are here, the great Soviet leader Comrade Stalin is going to convene an emergency meeting, and all the officers who can participate must attend. ”

"Yes!" the two men hurriedly stood upright, then followed Zhukov and Zhukov's assistants, and walked to a huge conference room in the Kremlin with their heads bowed. It was the place where Stalin often held his battle meetings, and it was spacious and bright, not at all like the current war situation in the Soviet Union.

"Comrade Stalin, I personally suspect that the Germans are really trying to interfere with our army's judgment with their strategic bombers to the maximum. "The meeting began quickly, and there were no less than 20 generals and officers sitting in the whole conference room, some of them from the Moscow Garrison Command, some from the logistics department of the Moscow Theater of Operations of the Soviet Union, and there were very few front-line generals, because they all had to prepare for war on the front line.

Zhukov took the lead in expressing his doubts about the irregular bombing of Moscow by the Germans, which he felt was a kind of interference operation of the German army, aimed at preventing the main Soviet forces from moving south.

In fact, if there is only one battlefield in the direction of Moscow, then he must also be a stone Buddha, immobile as a mountain until the last second. However, Rokossovsky could not withstand the urging of several telegrams from the southern theater of operations all day and night, and asked Zhukov to go south to reinforce him.

If the problem of the southern theater of operations is calculated, then Zhukov has to admit that the decisive battle in the south is the best option at the moment. However, he was not Stalin, and could not directly command the troops to move south quickly and strive for a more favorable chance of decisive battle.

As a commander, he prefers to command the troops to rush on the front line as he did during the battle for Ukraine, and even if he fails, he is worthy of his title of marshal. It is a pity that he can only sit in Moscow now, waiting for Stalin to come to his senses.

"The gap between German bombing was not short, and I personally felt that the strategic bombing of the German army did not prove that it had sufficient fuel. A general in charge of logistics thought for a moment and said to Stalin: "But Comrade Stalin, I can't take responsibility for putting Moscow at risk......"

If anyone dares to say that a decisive battle in the south is the best policy at this time, they will have to bear the follow-up responsibility for Moscow once it is occupied by the Germans. Whether it is Stalin or the successors of the Soviet Union in the future, the first one will be to take this man out and make an example of him - it is not enough to have a small weight, it is only enough to be at the level of Zhukov or Stalin.

"The size of the German bombers...... It's not big. Zhukov looked at Stalin, who was quite entangled, and decided to choose the most feasible plan at the moment. He didn't want to sit still, because the news that had just come was not very optimistic, or at least he felt that the current situation of the Soviet Union was not good.

"If, I mean if, we lost Stalingrad...... Can the war continue?" Stalin closed his eyes, as if he were determined to make up his mind for the next day, and as if he had just closed his eyes and recuperated because of recent exertion. The question he asked made the hall quiet for a moment, and the voices that had whispered against the southward movement just now disappeared.

"Comrade Stalin, if we lose the oil fields near Baku, we will have enough reserves to launch an offensive...... If our offensive fails, then the 'Great Patriotic War' will never be won. Zhukov looked at Stalin and finally replied: "With all due respect, my advice is that it is better not to abandon the Caucasus ......"

"That's enough! I see. Stalin stretched out his hand and stopped Zhukov's words. He was one of the few people in the room who knew something else, and a few hours earlier a worse telegram had reached Moscow, and most people were not yet aware of the crisis, but he knew it personally.

So he needs a victory, a great victory to stop the defeat at the front, that's what he was still determined to do. If it weren't for the sudden and well-timed bombardment now, perhaps Stalin would have given the order for the main Soviet forces to begin to move south.

"So. Or suppose that if I order the troops to go south, will they bump into the German armored units in the process of going south?" Stalin opened his eyes and continued to ask Zhukov. These days, Stalin has also studied the battle plan of the Soviet army to the south, and he knows that this plan has a high degree of feasibility, at least it is much stronger than trapping Moscow and waiting to die.

"Comrade Stalin, we are already half a month later than expected, and Army Group G has been resting for almost 20 days, and has just approached the Kursk region...... In this case, I don't think even if I use the original size of the force to go south, it will be useless. Zhukov regretfully stated to Stalin: "If you ask me what to do, then I will gather more troops and move south to fight the Germans in the Kursk region." ”

"Now, then, how many troops do you need to go south? 30 divisions? or 35 divisions?" Stalin listened to Zhukov finish his words, and then asked: "Do you have your own ideas on how to prevent the Germans from exerting their air superiority, and how to crush the most elite armies of the German army in one fell swoop?"

"First of all, Comrade Stalin, any operation is risky. Zhukov replied: "I will concentrate all my armoured forces and move south to the front against the German Army Group G, which is slowly advancing northward." I chose to wait for a decisive battle in bad weather, because we had the advantage in strength, so I was confident that I would crush this German force. ”

He paused, then proceeded to answer Stalin's question: "I need 40 divisions, a full 40 divisions! If the battle enters a stalemate, even the 10 new divisions drawn from the Far East will be used as reserves." ”