Chapter 107 The Worst Result
The residence arranged by the office for Khrushchev was not very spacious. It only had a living room and a lounge. In fact, it was no different from an office.
Yuri entered the living room and was asked by Khrushchev to sit down in a chair in front of the desk.
"I heard you like Chinese tea. I have some here," Khrushchev asked Yuri to sit down. He brought a kettle and placed it in front of him. He smiled and said, "The tea leaves are in the jar. Make some yourself."
"Thank you, Comrade Military Commissar," Yuri stood up and bowed.
"Don't be so polite. You can be more casual with me," Khrushchev waved his hand at him and said with a smile.
"I've heard a lot about your deeds recently. There's even news about you in Izvestia," Khrushchev continued after watching Yuri pour himself a cup of tea. "But those news are too general and not very detailed. I'd like to hear you give me a detailed introduction."
His tone was heavy before he continued, “Well, let’s start with the counterattack of Klin City. Tell me what you were thinking at the time.”
Yuri didn't know why Khrushchev was concerned about these issues, but since he asked, he had no reason to refuse, so in the following period of time, Yuri roughly recounted his experiences during this period, mainly talking about the counterattack in Klin City and a series of battles in the direction of Popkov.
Khrushchev listened very carefully. At some points, he even interrupted Yuri to ask some detailed questions. However, most of his questions were about the performance of the German army. It was obvious that what he actually cared about was the combat morale and troop conditions of the German army.
"According to the intelligence we have received, the Germans seem to have switched to strategic defense since December," Khrushchev asked after listening to Yuri's introduction. "Some of our comrades believe that the Germans have used up their luck and strength. Their mobilization, logistics support and combat capabilities have all fallen to a low point, especially after the great defeat under the city of Moscow. Perhaps the time has come for our full-scale counterattack. What do you think, Yuri? I would like to hear your opinion."
"Comrade Military Commissar, please forgive me for not being so optimistic on this issue," Yuri answered without hesitation, "In fact, the defeat at the gates of Moscow does not explain more. I think the main reason for this defeat is that the past winter has caused huge troubles for the German army, especially in terms of logistics support, which is more important."
"But you have to understand that the weather affects everyone the same," Khrushchev said.
"That's right, but we must realize that the Germans ' logistics support needs to cover a distance of thousands of kilometers, and Moscow is behind us," Yuri said bluntly. "According to the distance ratio, it takes us a thousand tons of supplies to deliver to the front line, while the Germans can only deliver less than one ton. From this perspective, the Germans are obviously more affected."
Khrushchev was silent. He stared at the cup in front of him for nearly a minute before continuing, "Do you think it is appropriate for us to launch a large-scale counterattack against the Germans on the southern front, that is, in the Ukrainian direction?"
"It's hard to say, Comrade Military Commissar. After all, I don't know the situation over there," Yuri said cautiously. He knew very well that if nothing unexpected happened, the action Khrushchev was talking about should be a counterattack in the direction of Kharkov. In his memory, the Soviet army in the previous life suffered a disastrous defeat in this counterattack, which led to the subsequent Battle of Stalingrad.
Khrushchev felt a little regretful. During this period, the Southwestern Front and the Southern Front were jointly formulating a counterattack plan against the German Kharkov assault group. The purpose was to smash this German army group and create conditions for launching an offensive in the direction of Dnepropetrovsk.
Khrushchev knew about this plan because he needed to sign it. However, after the disastrous defeat in Kiev, Khrushchev knew his weakness in military affairs, so he was very cautious about this issue. He asked Yuri these questions not to listen to his advice, but to learn from his opinions.
However, what Yuri said was the actual situation. He was currently affiliated with the Western Front and his combat area was in the Moscow area. He could not have known much about the situation in Ukraine. What's more, the combat plan had not been made public yet, and Khrushchev could not tell him the specific content.
"However," Fortunately, Yuri did not let him down completely. After a brief thought, Yuri said, "I personally have some immature ideas about the war on the southern front in the next few months."
"Oh, tell me about it," Khrushchev suddenly became interested. He moved forward, touched the big mole next to his nose, and urged.
"I think the Germans will definitely be unwilling to accept the defeat they suffered at the gates of Moscow this time. They will not give up their desire for Moscow easily," Yuri did not directly mention the southern front, but talked about Moscow. "However, judging from the current situation, the German army's strength in the central direction is not enough to support another large-scale assault, and in the north, their main forces are tied up in the quagmire of Leningrad. Therefore, in the future, they will definitely not be able to launch an offensive against Moscow from these two directions."
"Is this related to the situation on the southern front?" Khrushchev asked with some confusion.
"Since the German army does not have the strength to continue its offensive against Moscow from the central and northern directions, will they start from the south?" Yuri said, "Will they use the strongest southern group, which has suffered relatively little loss, to launch an offensive to the east of Moscow in a far-reaching and roundabout way?"
"Is this possible?" Khrushchev asked with a serious expression.
"I think it's possible, Comrade Military Commissar," Yuri said, and then looked around, trying to find a map.
Khrushchev understood what he meant and shouted in a loud voice: "Terlenov!"
"Here!" an orderly answered loudly outside the door.
"Go and get the map I brought with me," Khrushchev said.
"Yes, Comrade Commissioner," the orderly ran into the bedroom quickly and brought over a folded map in a few moments.
Yuri rushed to take the map, unfolded it, put it on the table and looked at it carefully.
This is a map of the entire battle situation, covering the entire battlefield situation on the southern, central and northern fronts.
"I think that if the German army intends to make a long detour towards Moscow, then their main offensive direction should be Kharkov," Yuri said, pointing to several locations on the map with one finger, and then drawing a line. "Then, they will seize Rostov and Stalingrad, and then go north along the Volga River to seize Saratov and Ulyanovsk to realize their intention of outflanking Moscow."
Although what Yuri said was the true intention of the German army, which had been proven in his previous life, but when he said it at this time, it could only be regarded as a concept, a concept that .
Therefore, after finishing his speech, Yuri smiled and said, "Of course, this is just my own idea, which may be a little unrealistic. However, I think that the offensive on the southern front should be temporarily slowed down to see the movements of the German army, and then decide how to arrange the battle plan."
Khrushchev remained silent. Perhaps Yuri could see that this plan was unrealistic, but he could not. Not only could he not see it, he also felt that this plan was no different from the previous situation when the German army encircled Kiev from the south. The only difference was that the scale of this plan was larger.
In fact, Yuri did not expect his words to have any effect. It must be said that after the victory of the Battle of Moscow, the spirit of the entire Soviet Union was boosted. The pessimistic atmosphere was swept away, and replaced by the German army being no longer strong, and the Soviet army could easily defeat their arrogance.
The counterattack outside Moscow had advanced nearly 400 kilometers to the west, and the Supreme Command was still ordering the front-line troops to continue the offensive. Leningrad in the north also shouted the slogan of driving the German army out of the city, and in early March, it launched a series of ineffective counterattacks against the German army. Now, the Soviet army on the southern front can no longer sit still, they also want to launch a counterattack, and even think about taking back Dnepropetrovsk and Kiev.
Yuri knew very well that this arrogant and reckless advance would soon make the Soviet army suffer. The Germans would try every means to prove that they were not paper tigers, and anyone who despised them would pay the price for this contempt.
Yuri felt that the battle in the direction of Moscow might calm down for a while. After all, the Western Front was really tired and needed to rest. So, what kind of orders would he receive during this rest period? Should he go north to support the besieged Leningrad, or go south to Kharkov and Stalingrad where the battle was about to start?
To be honest, if he had a choice, Yuri would never want to go to Stalingrad. Of course, he would rather not go to Kharkov. The battles in the former were brutal, and the death rate of commanders in the latter was too high. If possible, Yuri would rather receive some training at this time to recharge himself, so that he can successfully ascend to the throne of the army commander at a critical moment.
However, Yuri is not the son of God after all, not even an illegitimate child, so his luck is not as good as he hoped. That damn Stalingrad is already beckoning to him.
