News of the failure of the Stalingrad Front's offensive quickly reached Stalin's ears. He immediately contacted Zhukov, who was staying near Stalingrad, through a high-frequency phone.
He asked Zhukov in a stern tone on the phone: "Comrade Zhukov, why did the offensive of Rokossovsky's troops stop? Are you planning to hand Stalingrad into the hands of the Germans?"
Faced with Stalin's accusation, Zhukov replied calmly: "Comrade Stalin, judging from the current situation, with the existing strength of the Stalingrad Front, it is impossible to break through the German defense line and join forces with the Southeast Front in the city. Because the German army More troops have been transferred from other areas to strengthen the troops in the fighting area. It is useless to continue the attack with our existing troops and deployment, and it will cause the troops to suffer huge casualties..."
After Stalin patiently listened to Zhukov's words, he asked into the microphone: "Comrade Zhukov, if the base camp replenishes your troops, can the offensive continue?"
"Comrade Stalin, it is completely necessary to replenish the troops." Zhukov replied respectfully: "However, the enemy's strength has exceeded our imagination, so it is difficult to achieve the desired results by relying solely on an army-level attack. We need to replenish our troops, technical equipment, and readjust our deployment to carry out a powerful assault on the scale of the front army and completely crush the enemy's siege of Stalingrad."
After hearing this, Stalin put the microphone on the table, took out two cigarettes from the cigarette box, crushed them with his fingers, and stuffed the tobacco into the pipe. He slowly lit the pipe, took two puffs, then picked up the microphone and put it to his ear, saying: "Comrade Zhukov, I think some of the issues you mentioned are worthy of further discussion. You can fly back immediately. Moscow, give me a detailed report on the current situation in person."
Zhukov raised his hand to look at his watch and said expressionlessly: "Comrade Stalin, my plane will take off in half an hour. I can arrive at your office in three hours at most."
"Very good," Stalin said with satisfaction at Zhukov's answer: "I will arrange for someone to pick you up at the airport."
Stalin did not waste the time Zhukov was on the road. He called Chief of General Staff Vasilevsky to his office and said to him: "Comrade Chief of General Staff, Zhukov will be with me in a few hours." Here, report on the situation in Stalingrad. Before he comes, tell me how you view the situation in the Stalingrad area."
…………
When Zhukov rushed to Stalin's office, Vasilevsky had already finished reporting his views on the situation in the Stalingrad region. Seeing Zhukov enter the door, Stalin immediately extended his hand to him and said friendly: "Comrade Zhukov, thank you for your hard work!"
"Hello, Comrade Stalin!"
"It's long past dinner time. I think you must be hungry." After Stalin said these words, he quickly walked to the door, opened the door and rushed to Poskrebyshev who was sitting outside and whispered a few instructions. , then returned to the room and said to Zhukov: "You take a rest first, eat something, and we will talk slowly."
Poskrebyshev moved very quickly. After only a few minutes, he came in from the outside with a pot of tea and a plate of bread on a tray. At Stalin's signal, he walked to the conference table, placed everything on the tray in front of Zhukov, and then quietly withdrew.
Zhukov quickly wiped out the bread on the plate, took two more sips of tea, then stood up and pointed to the map on the wall, and asked in a polite tone: "Can I use this map?"
After getting Stalin's permission, he quickly came to the map, picked up the explanation stick leaning on the side, and began to explain to Stalin and Vasilevsky: "...the troops now assembled in the north of Stalingrad, Whether it is Rokossovsky's troops, the 24th, 66th Army, and the 1st Guards Army, they are all very combat-effective units in our army. The reason why they have been unable to make progress is mainly due to the lack of sufficient technical equipment, lacked artillery and tank troops to directly support the infantry attack, and a sufficient number of aircraft."
Zhukov used his explanatory stick to draw a circle on the north side of Stalingrad, and after tapping it hard twice, he continued: "To the north and west of the city, the terrain is open, but there are some canyons, which provide the enemy with good openings. The cover caused inconvenience to our army's attack. At the same time, the enemy occupied many commanding heights outside the city and placed artillery observers on them, so that they could call in artillery fire at any time to bombard our attacking troops... …”
"Comrade Zhukov, our intention to break through the German defenses and join forces with the Southeast Front in the city was shattered by the Germans." Stalin frowned and asked: "Tell me, what kind of help do we need to provide to the Stalingrad Front? They Is it possible to break through the enemy's defense?"
Upon hearing Stalin's question, Zhukov put down his explanation stick and replied with a serious expression: "Comrade Stalin, if we want to effectively break through the enemy's defenses and join the defenders in the city, we need at least a full group army and a tank corps. , three tank brigades and at least four hundred artillery pieces. In order to seize air superiority on the battlefield, at least one air force group must also be strengthened."
"The group army and tank troops can reach the north of Stalingrad within half a month." Regarding Zhukov's request, Stalin said thoughtfully: "But the air force may be a little difficult."
"Why?" Zhukov's question blurted out as soon as Stalin finished speaking.
Stalin did not answer his question immediately, but turned his attention to Vasilevsky aside: "Comrade Chief of General Staff, it's up to you to answer this question."
Vasilevsky nodded, took two steps forward, faced Zhukov and said: "Comrade Deputy Commander-in-Chief, there has been a large-scale rat infestation in the Air Force, which has prevented most of our Air Force from taking off for combat. "
"Rat infestation?!" When Zhukov heard what Vasilevsky said, he couldn't help showing an expression of astonishment on his face: "Comrade Chief of General Staff, I don't understand why the rat infestation prevents our air force from taking off for combat?"
"That's right, Comrade Deputy Commander-in-Chief." Vasilevsky replied with a grimace: "A large number of rats got into the interior of the aircraft and chewed up various insulated wires, making our aircraft unusable. Moreover, there are many A young ace pilot was infected with cholera and is now being treated in a field hospital."
Zhukov never dreamed that a little mouse would actually cause the Soviet Air Force to lose its combat effectiveness. He was silent for a long time before asking: "Isn't there any way our air force can eliminate these damn rats in a short time?"
Vasilevsky spread his hands and said rather helplessly: "We have taken necessary measures to try to eliminate these rat infestations, but even if we eliminate all the rats, we still need to spend a lot of time on each aircraft. The aircraft is inspected to see if it can be used normally."
Zhukov felt particularly disappointed when he learned that he would not be able to receive support from a large amount of air force in a short period of time. He knew very well that it was very unrealistic to defeat the enemy if he could not control the air on the battlefield. Even if his own side had the advantage in strength, facing the German air force would only pay a more painful price.
Stalin did not speak, but stared at the map in front of him. In order not to disturb Stalin's thinking about the problem, Vasilevsky took Zhukov to a place a little further away and whispered: "It seems that we need to find a solution to the problem as soon as possible."
Although the two men were standing a little far away from Stalin and their voices were very low, Stalin still heard Vasilevsky's words and immediately turned around and asked: "How do you plan to solve the problem?"
Seeing that Stalin heard their conversation, Zhukov and Vasilevsky returned to the conference table, stood upright in front of Stalin, and waited for him to say the next words. Stalin took the pipe out of his mouth, held it in his hand and pointed at the two of them, and said: "Let's go to the General Staff Headquarters and discuss what measures should be taken in the Stalingrad area and where to start. Move troops to improve the situation in the Stalingrad area. At eight o'clock tomorrow night, I will be here waiting for your news."
Zhukov and Vasilevsky agreed, turned around and prepared to walk out of the office. Unexpectedly, just as Zhukov's hand touched the door handle, he suddenly heard Stalin say from behind: "Comrade Zhukov, I heard that after Rokossovsky's troops broke through the German defenses, Chuikov once sent a troop Go north to support us. It is said that the commander of this unit is Xiao Misha, is it true?"
If Stalin had not raised this issue, Zhukov would have almost forgotten Sokov. At this moment, when he heard Stalin emphatically asking about this matter, he quickly turned around and replied: "Yes, Comrade Stalin. According to Chuikov's report, he asked Lieutenant Colonel Sokov to lead a force of 200 people to go north to Orlovka. The 67th Tank Brigade, which broke through the German defense line, had been completely wiped out by the Germans during the march, so that they could not Complete the task of joining forces."
"I heard that Xiao Misha performed very bravely in the battle," Stalin then asked: "He personally led his men to blow up five German tanks and was injured, right?"
Vasilevsky heard that Sokov and his men blew up five tanks, and a look of surprise flashed across his face. However, Zhukov did not know much about the questions Stalin asked. He said with some embarrassment: "I'm sorry, Comrade Stalin, I don't know much about this matter. If you want to know more, I will call Khrushchev later." , he should know this."
"No need." Stalin waved his hand to Zhukov and said, "You don't need to call. I will know the specific situation in a few days. You can go and do business."
After Zhukov and Vasilevsky came to the corridor, they asked in a low voice: "Comrade Chief of General Staff, why did Comrade Stalin say that it would take a few days to know the details of Lieutenant Colonel Sokov. Do you have anything else?" News channel?”
"Comrade Zhukov," Vasilevsky said in a low voice without calling Zhukov as deputy commander because it was not a formal occasion: "Yesterday Yakov personally led a team and escorted a batch of new weapons to Stalingrad. So. He will know exactly what Lieutenant Colonel Cove experienced during this move northward."
"New weapons, what new weapons?" Zhukov asked in surprise: "Why haven't I heard about any new weapons being developed recently?"
"It's a long story." Vasilevsky walked along the long corridor and said to Zhukov: "I have never seen what this new weapon is. It is said to be from Sokov. Developed by Xiao and Yakov."
Hearing what Vasilevsky said, Zhukov vaguely remembered that Sokov and Yakov had disappeared for a period of time, presumably because of this new weapon. Since Vasilevsky did not know anything about this new weapon, he would not get an ideal answer if he continued to ask, so he took the initiative to change the topic: "Comrade Chief of General Staff, Comrade Stalin asked us to designate a plan , do you have any ideas to reverse the situation in the Stalingrad area?"
Regarding Zhukov's question, Vasilevsky did not answer immediately, but asked: "Comrade Zhukov, do you have any good ideas?"
"Comrade Chief of the General Staff," seeing that Vasilevskiy was unwilling to express his views casually, Zhukov did not talk in circles, but said bluntly: "I am considering whether it is necessary for our army to implement a military operation in the Stalingrad area. An offensive campaign is necessary.”
"Offensive campaign?" Vasilevsky asked in surprise: "Comrade Zhukov, what kind of troops do you plan to use to complete the offensive campaign you imagined?"
Zhukov looked left and right. Although there were only two of them in the entire long corridor, he still did not want to casually talk about his offensive battle plan on this occasion, so he said to Vasilevsky: "Comrade Chief of General Staff, this is not the place to talk. Let's go to your office to discuss the feasibility of a large-scale offensive campaign."
"Please come with me, Comrade Zhukov." Seeing Zhukov saying these words so solemnly, Vasilevsky also said seriously: "Only after understanding the current situation of both the enemy and ourselves can it be possible to formulate a plan To come up with an accurate attack plan, the General Staff should still have a staff officer on duty. I think he can provide us with all the information we need for this plan." (https:)
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