Chapter 151 Cracks
People who like to hide in the shadows and play tricks are actually very miserable, because most of them have persecution complexes. They always feel that there are conspiracies and tricks all around them. They always think that someone is eyeing them and is ready to bite them at any time like a poisonous snake.
"Those who are good at swimming will drown, and those who are good at riding will fall. Each one brings disaster upon himself because of his hobbies." This seems to be true.
In the past, Yuri made his fortune through military achievements. He marched and fought with openness, fighting tough battles relying on his abilities. At that time, he would not consider these petty sneaky things, but now it is different. He chose to stand on the side and chose his "boss", and began to go further and further on this road. Therefore, the openness of the past is no longer seen.
After leaving Khrushchev's villa and returning to his apartment in Moscow, Yuri was unable to sleep for the next few hours. He kept thinking about his position on the Security Committee and whether Khrushchev would change his attitude towards him once he learned of this news.
It was not until dawn that he temporarily suppressed his suspicious mentality and once again devoted all his energy to the work of making a battle plan.
It is just the beginning of March in Moscow and the weather is dry and cold. It is a month of sudden changes from warm to cold, drought and little rain.
At about 11 o'clock in the morning , Yuri hurriedly left the General Staff Building. Just now, he had handed over the rough outlines of the two operational plans for Kursk's defense and offense to the Operations Research Office. Next, the senior advisers of the Operations Research Office will improve the details based on this rough outline. After the plan is refined, Yuri needs to check it again. After confirming that there are no problems, he will hand over the original to the General Staff for filing. Three copies will be handed over to Stalin, the Chief of the General Staff and the People's Commissariat of Defense. When the plan is approved by these three parties, it will return to the Operations Research Office again, and the senior advisers will split it into several parts and hand it over to specific departments for execution. For example: the content of the plan involving a certain front or a certain unit needs to be split out and issued to these fronts and units in the form of orders; the problem of logistics and transportation needs to be issued to the logistics and road and rail transportation departments; the problem of aviation also needs to issue the specific plan and timetable for coordinated operations to the corresponding aviation units, etc. In short, this is a very complicated process. However, these have nothing to do with Yuri, the Chief of Operations.
So what is Yuri's responsibility for? Needless to say, the formulation of the plan, and the execution of some specific tasks are also directly related to his responsibility. For example, in the mobilization of troops, a certain unit is clearly thousands of kilometers away, but Yuri's combat plan requires them to reach the designated destination within one day. Such mistakes are the responsibility of him as the head of the operations department. For another example, a tank manufacturing plant clearly only has 100 tanks, but Yuri's plan requires them to submit 1,000 tanks within a few days. This task cannot be completed at all, and if there is a problem, it is also his responsibility as the head of the operations department.
Don't underestimate these seemingly insignificant mistakes. You should know that in the entire combat plan, if a unit cannot reach the designated destination within the specified time, or the logistics support cannot be provided in place, it is likely to cause major problems, and even lead to a complete loss. In the past period of time on the Soviet-German battlefield, the Soviet army units that were destroyed by the combat plan were not just one or two. For example, the 5th Tank Army during the Battle of Kiev traveled a long distance to the designated location, but when they arrived, the tanks either broke down or ran out of oil. They suffered heavy casualties before the battle even started. This was a major problem in the arrangement of the combat plan.
Yuri would not allow himself to make such a mistake, so when he went to Kursk this time, on the one hand, he had to monitor the defense construction there, and on the other hand, he had to personally determine the specific situation of the corresponding combat troops.
The time agreed with Khrushchev last night was 12 noon. Zibin would drive to Yuri's apartment to pick him up. Yuri was in a hurry to get back, so his steps were a little hurried.
Coming out of the main entrance of the General Staff Building, Yuri didn't notice a gray Volga parked at the foot of the steps in front of the building, and a young man in military uniform standing outside the car. He walked down the steps quickly, and before he could look up, he was stopped by a young man who walked up to him quickly.
"Comrade General Yuri Arkhipovich, please wait a moment," the young man said with a gentle smile on his face, in a very respectful tone, "Comrade Yuri Arkhipovich?"
Yuri stopped and looked up at the young man who stopped him. He was wearing a brand new military uniform and no collar badge, so he was obviously not a formal soldier.
"Hello, Comrade General Yuri Arkhipovich, I am the secretary of Comrade Secretary Alexander Sergeevich," the young man said hurriedly when he saw Yuri stop.
"Oh, hello," Yuri was confused for a few seconds, but soon realized that the young man was talking about Alexander Sergeyevich Sherbakov.
"I'm very sorry to bother you so hastily," the young man seemed very well-mannered. Of course, the difference in status between the two sides was also obvious enough. "Please allow me to delay your time for a few minutes so that I can convey to you an invitation from the Moscow City Party Committee's War Committee."
"Okay, you say," Yuri instinctively looked at his watch, he was in a hurry.
"It's like this. In the middle of this month, on the evening of the 15th, a celebration will be held at the Bolshoi Theater to celebrate the first anniversary of the victory of the Battle of Moscow," the young man said. "Secretary Alexander Sergeyevich hopes that you can take time to attend, because the Municipal Committee has arranged for some outstanding female comrades to participate in this celebration... Well, I have a list and related archival information here."
As the young man said this, he raised his hands and handed a thick file bag to Yuri.
After listening to the young man's words, the first thought that came to Yuri's mind was... It has been a year since the Battle of Moscow. Time has passed so quickly.
Then, he was furious again: Why did you, the Moscow Municipal Committee, invite me to participate in the celebration? And why did you arrange for some outstanding female comrades to participate, and... um? Sherbakov? Lesbians?
Before the anger in his heart could rise, Yuri suddenly realized the crux of the problem. It seemed that Comrade Sherbakov knew what Stalin said yesterday, so after only one night, he was in a hurry to arrange a blind date for himself.
I secretly admired in my heart that power is really useful, and Stalin's authority is absolutely unmatched in the Soviet Union at that time. With just a few simple words, he scared a member of the Politburo and the Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. His control is unparalleled.
Yuri didn't know why Stalin was so concerned about his personal problems, nor did he know what the problem was between Stalin and Sherbakov. Therefore, he couldn't refuse this kindness.
"Okay, please tell Secretary Alexander Sergeyevich that if I can make it back from Kursk by then, I will definitely attend." Yuri said with a smile as he took the file bag handed over by the young man.
"Thank you very much, Comrade General Yuri Arkhipovich," the young man seemed relieved. He thanked him repeatedly and said, "I won't bother you anymore."
Watching the young man get on the car, Yuri weighed the file bag in his hand, smiled self-deprecatingly, and continued to rush back.
…
Bobreshevo, the headquarters of the Voronezh Front, is less than 100 kilometers away from Marino, the headquarters of the 2nd Air Force assigned to the front, only 60 kilometers away from Oboyan, and less than 300 kilometers away from Shigre, the temporary headquarters of the Central Front. It is a very critical location.
However, Golikov, who returned to the Voronezh Front yesterday, has made a decision to move his headquarters south to Berenishino, which is closer to Belgorod, that is, closer to the German front. In the early hours of this morning, Golikov convened a meeting of the commanders of the army groups under the front and announced this decision. He said that although the Voronezh Front planned to set up three lines of defense on the Belgorod-Kharkov line, as the commander of the front, he could not tolerate the German army's line of troops being pushed to the last line of defense. He would stay behind the second line of defense and not retreat a single step.
Golikov, who returned from Moscow, was furious. He knew that he and the Voronezh Front under his command had become the scapegoats. Zhukov and the people in the General Staff had originally planned to put the blame for the failure of the Kharkov offensive on him and the Voronezh Front.
Well, Golikov did not dare to say that he and the Voronezh Front were not responsible for the failure of the Kharkov offensive, but if we talk about responsibility, it is obvious that Vatutin and his Southwestern Front were more responsible. They were the first to be defeated by the Germans, thus exposing the flank of the Voronezh Front.
If the Supreme Command held him responsible, Golikov would not evade it, but what he could not tolerate was that Vatutin was less responsible than he was. What kind of logic was this? Was it because Vatutin came from the General Staff system? Was it because Golikov came from the field command system?
At the meeting of commanders of all fronts, Golikov complained a lot about this unfairness. The most direct impact of his actions was that it created a lot of dissatisfaction within the command . This sentiment will intensify as time goes by, and eventually form two opposing factions within the Soviet Red Army system: the field faction and the general staff faction.
