Chapter 144 Passive
"Comrade Stalin, judging from the entire battlefield situation on the southern front, I believe that we have fallen into an absolute passive position in Kharkov," after a comprehensive analysis, Yuri made his attitude clear to Stalin.
After his first disobedience to Stalin's attitude, Yuri felt much more relieved this time when he went against his wishes and expressed his true opinions.
"Comrade Vatutin's Southwestern Front has lost the ability to switch to defense because of its rash offensive in the previous stage of the battle," Yuri walked around the desk and came to Stalin's side, pointing to the map on the wall and said, "The main force of the Southwestern Front is currently gathered on the Dnieper River line, and there are no reserves in the rear. Once the German army launches an offensive on the Mius River line and breaks through the Southwestern Front's fragile defense, it will be able to advance to the Volchansk area in a very short time, thereby cutting off the Southwestern Front's logistical supply line. This will be a devastating disaster for the Southwestern Front, especially the 9th Tank Army, which has suffered huge losses after the previous stage of the battle."
"I want to hear your advice, Comrade Yuri Arkhipovich," Stalin's displeasure was obvious, but he still kept the name Yuri, "not your analysis."
"Retreat, this is our only option at the moment," Yuri said, "Order Comrade Markian Mikhailovich Popov's 9th Tank Army to retreat urgently in the direction of Volchansk, the 69th Army to withdraw to the Mad River line to build defenses, and the 40th Army to withdraw to the Bogodukhov area to build defenses. The troops that receive the order must complete the evacuation mission within 3 days and build the Volchansk-Bogodukhov defense line. If we can block the German offensive on this line of defense, the Voronezh Front can still arrange its evacuation calmly..."
"What about Kharkov?" Stalin looked at the map and asked in a deep voice without waiting for Yuri to finish his words, because according to Yuri's retreat and deployment plan, Kharkov, which the Soviet army had just recaptured, would be thrown away in vain.
Yuri remained silent. He didn't think that the Soviet army was still capable of keeping Kharkov at this time. After several battles, there was no place to build a defense line in the city.
"Comrade Yuri, as the Minister of Operations, is the first suggestion you made to me to flee in the face of the attack by German fascism?" Stalin finally showed signs of being unable to hold back. He looked at Yuri and asked in a deep voice.
"This is not the first suggestion I have given you. My first suggestion is that you should not rashly launch a large-scale offensive against Kharkov." Yuri wanted to answer like this, but he was not crazy yet, so he held back.
"Comrade Stalin, this is not running away, this is just making some adjustments to the wrong strategic deployment," Yuri said calmly after thinking for a while, "We don't have enough reserves behind the Kharkov battlefield. This is a cruel fact that we cannot ignore. The German army is proficient in blitzkrieg tactics. They are used to quickly raiding and outflanking our flanks after breaking through our defenses. There is no better way to deal with this tactic. We must ensure that there are enough reserves behind the defense line . Now, because there are no reserves behind the Kharkov front, only retreat can avoid greater losses. This is a reality. As the Minister of Operations, it is my duty to discover and warn, and it is the commander's job to win."
Stalin looked at Yuri for a long time. It was impossible to see his inner thoughts from his serious face.
"Two days ago, the American Time magazine just published our victory in Kharkov." After about three or four minutes, Stalin's expression eased. He opened the drawer of his desk, took out a copy of Time magazine, threw it in front of Yuri, and said, "The article said that the victory in Kharkov marked the Soviet Red Army's complete defeat of the German fascists in Stalingrad. Now, the article has only been published for two days, and we have lost Kharkov again. Have you considered the political impact?"
"Military thinking, strategy and tactics, not politics, should guide operations, Comrade Stalin," Yuri said in a calm tone without looking at the magazine.
This time Stalin was really angry. He raised his hand holding the pipe and waved it in the air twice, as if he wanted to say something, but he didn't say it. Finally, he just pointed in the direction of the door and said, "Okay, Comrade Yuri, I understand your opinion. Now, you can go out and return to your post!"
Yuri stood up straight, saluted, turned and walked out of the office.
In the corridor outside the office, Poskrebyshev was still waiting. He had obviously heard the conversation in the office, so when Yuri came out, he looked at him with a bit of strangeness. In Poskrebyshev's memory, since the outbreak of the war, there seemed to be only two people who dared to talk back to Stalin on military issues. One was Zhukov, and the other was the man in front of him.
In fact, if Yuri had a choice, he would definitely not talk back to Stalin. He was willing to follow the leader's words and do what he said. But the problem was that military issues were different from politics. Political matters could be ambiguous, but military issues could not. The results were immediate, and a mistake would lead to a complete loss. The responsibility was too great. As the Chief of Operations, Yuri was always worried about making a mistake. How could he dare to be cunning and sly on such an important issue?
Coming out of Building No. 1, the drizzle that had just stopped not long ago started again. Yuri didn't bring an umbrella when he came here. He stood in the corridor in front of the building, took a look at the dense rain and mist, and was still hesitating whether to go out in the rain, when he saw two people walking towards him with umbrellas.
After seeing the two people clearly, a smile appeared on Yuri's originally serious face. He walked down the corridor steps in the rain and went to greet the two people.
"Hey, Konstantin, Vasily," Yuri stretched out his hand and greeted them with a smile as he was about to walk up to the two men. "When did you come to Moscow?"
"I got off the plane an hour ago," Rokossovsky shook his hand and smiled, "I was delayed for a while because I had to wait for Vasily."
"Yuri, now I should call you Comrade Minister," the other person was Chuikov, who had fought with Yuri in Stalingrad. This general with a slicked-back hair was not as serious as people imagined. On the contrary, when he was with people he was familiar with, he spoke very humorously and liked to make a joke.
Yuri smiled but said nothing.
"Are you not happy here?" Chuikov did not understand the situation in Moscow. The future marshal's rank was not high enough yet. However, he was very sensitive to Yuri's bad mood, so he lowered his voice and asked.
"On the issue of the Kharkov campaign, some suggestions were made that did not please Comrade Stalin," Yuri explained vaguely, and then asked, "Why did you come to Moscow ? What is the situation in the Kursk direction?"
"Not very good," Rokossovsky was a smart man. He did not ask any more questions but answered directly, "I came to Moscow this time to report some situations to the Supreme Command and make some adjustments to the deployment."
"Then you came at a wrong time. Comrade Stalin is in a bad mood now," said Yuri.
Chuikov shrugged, meaning that he couldn't care less about that now.
"Are you interested in joining the Central Front?" Rokossovsky asked.
“I’m afraid that’s beyond my control,” Yuri said with a wry smile.
The Don Front commanded by Rokossovsky has been reorganized into the Central Front. Its current battle direction is the Kursk area, with the aim of putting pressure on the German central combat group.
"Vassily and I are going to take the evening plane back to the army," Rokossovsky said after a pause, "If we have time, we can sit down for a while afterwards. I have left two bottles of good wine, which is just right for entertaining Vasily."
"Then let's go to my house. I'll arrange for Arseny to pick you up later." Yuri was eager to do so and agreed immediately.
There is no need to say much about the relationship between Yuri and the two generals in front of him. Since the Battle of Moscow, Yuri has been fighting under Rokossovsky's command. During this period, the two had a long period of contact in the Bryansk Front. As for Chuikov, it goes without saying that during the siege of Stalingrad, the two were the best partners. The relationship forged in the flames of war is not something that ordinary people can compare to.
Rokossovsky and Chuikov were in a hurry to see Stalin, so they didn't talk much with Yuri. The three of them parted ways in front of the court. Yuri left the Kremlin in the rain and returned to his residence.
At the same time that Yuri left the Kremlin and returned to his residence, thousands of kilometers away in eastern Ukraine, in the Izyum region, the German 48th Tank Army launched a surprise attack on the Soviet 9th Army stationed in the area without any warning.
Before the battle began, the Soviet Ninth Army had made defensive adjustments based on intelligence. However, according to the predictions of the General Staff and the intelligence department, the main attack direction of the German army should be the Balakleya line, because the Soviet defense in this area was the weakest. But the fact is that the attack organized by Manstein ignored the defense of the Ninth Army and directly chose Izyum, the headquarters of the Ninth Army, as the primary attack point.
The unexpected attack caused great trouble to the Soviet army. Four hours after the battle began, the defense of the 9th Army in the Izyum area collapsed and the army headquarters was dispersed. The German army then quickly moved north and captured Kupyansk in the early morning of the next day, cutting off the retreat route of the Soviet 9th Army to the east.
