Chapter 143 Powerless
After listening to the intelligence Poskrebyshev said, Yuri smiled bitterly. What he was most worried about finally happened. In the outer area of Stalingrad, he used the method of blocking in stages during the retreat and strengthening the attack on both wings to bankrupt Manstein's supporting offensive. Now, the enemy returned this effective blocking tactic as it was, and used it on the Soviet army without any change. It seems that the Soviet army has also suffered a loss, and the loss is likely to be even greater.
"Comrade Stalin..." Yuri was still not sure why Stalin wanted to see him, so he asked tentatively.
"Comrade Stalin was very angry after receiving this news," Poskrebyshev looked at the door of the office and saw no movement, then continued, "He believed that Comrade Vatutin's neglect of reconnaissance on both wings of his front was the fundamental reason for this passive situation, so..."
So even though Poskrebyshev didn't say anything, Yuri could guess it based on his own guesses.
Yuri speculated on the battlefield situation on the southern front based on the little intelligence he knew. The Southwestern Front, which was originally fighting in cooperation with the Voronezh Front, had been on a fierce offensive during this period. The high-spirited Vatutin believed that the German army had lost its defensive capabilities, so he advanced rapidly in the direction of the Dnieper River, forming a salient with a depth of more than 200 kilometers in the Donets region. At present, the front of the entire salient is mainly defended by the vassal states of the German fascists, while the main force of the German army, that is, the combat group commanded by Manstein, is concentrated on the left wing of the salient.
In the past period of time, Vatutin neglected to pay attention to the left wing because Manstein did not have many troops at his disposal, and his main force was the remnants of the defeated troops who retreated from the outer areas of Stalingrad. A moment ago, Poskrebyshev said that intelligence showed that the German army had completed its assembly on the left wing of the Southwestern Front. So, it should be that the German Caucasus combat group has gotten rid of the entanglement of the Soviet Caucasus Front and successfully joined the Manstein combat group. In this way, on the southern front, Manstein's combat group has an overwhelming advantage over the Southwestern Front. Once they break through the left wing defense line of the Southwestern Front, not only the Southwestern Front, but also the Voronezh Front and the Bryansk Front will be in danger.
How to deal with such a crisis? Yuri had a headache.
"Click," there was a slight sound of the door opening, and then Belia, wearing glasses, appeared in the corridor.
Seeing Beria appear, Yuri hurriedly stood at attention and saluted the intelligence chief.
Belia's face was serious, and it was obvious that he was not in a very good mood. However, even so, when he saw Yuri, he stopped, pushed his glasses on his nose, and saluted Yuri with a smile.
Belia walked past Yuri without saying a word, but Yuri saw a lot of things from his eyes, but it was difficult to analyze.
"Comrade Yuri, you can go in," Poskrebyshev waited until Beria turned around the corridor before saying to Yuri.
Nodding silently, Yuri followed Poskrebyshev towards the office door.
When Beria went out just now , he did not close the office door tightly. When Yuri walked to the door, he could see some of the situations inside through the gap in the door. However, it was not a smart idea to spy on the situations in this office. Therefore, he avoided his gaze and raised his hand to knock on the door.
"Is that Yuri Arkhipovich? Come in." Stalin's deep and serious voice came from inside the door. In such a short sentence, Yuri heard two messages.
The first piece of information: Stalin should not have arranged any other meetings this morning except for meeting him and Beria, otherwise he would not have directly said Yuri's name when he heard the knock on the door.
The second piece of information: Stalin’s dissatisfaction with himself due to the Kharkov offensive plan some time ago should have subsided, otherwise he would not have called himself by his name plus his father’s name, which was also Stalin’s habit.
With the appearance of these two pieces of information, Yuri felt a little relieved. If nothing unexpected happened, Stalin's attitude towards the Kharkov offensive had changed, from full confidence at the beginning to the current uneasiness. At least, he no longer believed that the Soviet army had an absolute advantage in the area.
With all kinds of thoughts running through his mind, Yuri pushed the door and walked into the office.
This was not the first time Yuri appeared in this office, but it was the first time he saw this office shrouded in thick smoke.
Behind the huge mauve office, Stalin was standing with his back to the door, his eyes fixed on the map hanging on the wall.
"Comrade Stalin," Yuri stopped as he walked into the door, looked at Stalin's back, and said in a low voice.
"Yuri Arkhipovich, tell me, where is the 23rd Army now?" Stalin asked directly without turning back.
"We are gathering in the Kastornoye area and preparing to go via the Kastornoye-Kursk railway branch line..." Yuri answered without hesitation. Although his position has been marginalized during this period, he has been recording and collating information like this because it is his job.
"Kastornoye..." Stalin found this location on the map, and then tilted his head to check it for a while, and asked, "If, I mean if, we give them three days, can they get to Balakleya?"
A complete map of the Southern War Zone quickly appeared in Yuri's mind, and he quickly found the location of Balakleya. At the same time, the roads, terrain, transportation conditions, and other information that needed to be passed from Kastornoye to Balakleya also appeared clearly in his mind.
"I'm afraid that's impossible, Comrade Stalin," Yuri replied, sorting out this information in less than 30 seconds and summarizing it in detailed and convincing intelligence. "There is no main railway line from Kastornoye to Balakleya, only two short railway branches. As for the road network, the German army destroyed the roads thoroughly during the previous retreat. In Volchansk, Novoskol and other places, vehicles can hardly pass on the roads..."
Stalin seemed very patient. He folded his arms, held a pipe in his mouth, and listened quietly to Yuri's description of the various situations. He was silent for nearly two minutes, and then suddenly said something that was completely unexpected to Yuri.
"Comrade Yuri Arkhipovich, if the headquarters appoints you as the commander-in-chief of the Southwestern Front now, can you guarantee that you can resist the possible offensive launched by the German army on the southern front within the next week?" Stalin said, breaking the silence.
"I don't know the specific situation that the Southwestern Front is facing now," Yuri said calmly, suppressing his surprise. "The General Staff and the Southern Front Operations Department haven't submitted the latest combat report to me for five days."
Yuri's words were tantamount to filing a complaint against the General Staff and the Southern Front Operations Department. Of course, they were also tantamount to filing a complaint against Vatutin. There was no way around it. No matter who was involved in this complaint, the other party would not take him seriously, and he didn't mind stabbing the other party in the back.
Stalin must have understood what Yuri meant, but he did not express his opinion directly. Instead, he turned around, pointed to a pile of documents on the desk, and said, "You can see everything that happened there now."
Yuri didn't refuse. He walked straight over, picked up the top document and started reading.
It must be admitted that Yuri has been marginalized during this period. As the head of the Operations Department, he could not get the specific information of the southern battle. This is undoubtedly a tragedy. However, it is also good, at least he does not have to bear any responsibility for this foreseeable failure.
After quietly reading all the documents, Yuri felt a chill in his heart. He clearly realized that the Southwestern Front had made a huge mistake. Vatutin, who was greedy for merit and reckless but refused to listen to advice, deserved to die!
Facing his repeated reminders, Vatutin, who was advancing recklessly, not only did not guard against the threat from the German flank, but instead accelerated the pace of the attack. Now, in the Balakleya area, the Southwestern Front only had one severely damaged Ninth Army responsible for defense. According to the intelligence of the National Security Committee, opposite the Ninth Army was the Ninth Tank Army, which had just completed its replenishment. Looking at the troops that could be deployed in the rear, in the Soviet combat sequence, the closest to the Ninth Army was the Seventeenth Army, which was still in the process of reorganization, and its base was nearly 270 kilometers away from Balakleya.
Once the Ninth Army's defense line was broken by the German army, it would mean that the German armored corps that broke into the Soviet army's interior could encircle Kharkov as if it were in an empty space. At that time, the battle situation would be a disaster for the Soviet army.
As the commander of the Southwestern Front, Vatutin had to take responsibility for this failure that could come at any time, but the question was, if Yuri was appointed as the commander of the Southwestern Front as Stalin said, could the current decline be reversed? The answer was obviously no.
Yuri is just a commander, he is not a god, not even a demigod. Moreover, the current situation is very clear , the Soviet army is doomed to fail, the only question is when. Yuri is willing to fight hard battles, and he has fought many hard battles, but he is unwilling to take the blame.
"Comrade Stalin, my suggestion is that the Southwestern Front and the Voronezh Front must retreat from the Kharkov direction, quickly and effectively." After reading the intelligence information, Yuri was silent for a while, looking at Stalin and said calmly, "This is the only thing we can do now."
