Chapter 165 Confrontation
The Kursk Direction Operations General Command was a theater command that was superior to the front command and directly commanded by the Supreme Command. Stalin must have had political considerations in setting up such an organization.
As expected by Yuri, Zhukov was appointed as the commander of the headquarters, while Vasilevsky, as the chief of the general staff, did not get the position of chief of staff of the headquarters. Instead, Zhukov's old assistant Meretskov got the position. As for the position of military commissar of the headquarters, it was not surprising that Khrushchev took the position, and Stalin did not continue to introduce more detailed personnel arrangements.
Yuri didn't know how this personnel arrangement was determined, but Zhukov's taking over the position of commander would probably cause dissatisfaction among a large number of people, including Rosilevsky and all the commanders of the Kursk Front. If Yuri were to evaluate Zhukov's role in this matter, he would only have one thing to say: it was too ugly.
Zhukov is no longer a pure soldier. He can be considered a half-politician. However, his political path is different from Yuri's. He relies on his reputation to accumulate political capital. Because of this, he has gone too far in the pursuit of reputation, and it can even be said that he is a bit unscrupulous.
How much did Zhukov have to do with the layout and command of the Battle of Kursk? Although it cannot be said that he had no relationship at all, his role in it was definitely not very big. However, now that the German battle plan has been determined and the Soviet defense in the Kursk direction has been properly arranged, Zhukov jumped out at this time. Regardless of who made the decision to establish the Kursk direction headquarters, since Zhukov took over the position of commander, don't blame this position for attracting hatred for him.
Yuri even suspected that the idea of establishing this department was probably from Stalin. As for the purpose, it was probably not just to increase Zhukov's prestige. This was a trap in itself, a gorgeous and tempting trap. Prestige is indeed very important for a general, but if the general's prestige is so high that he has no friends, he is just a commander without troops. At best, he is just a bigger flag serving as a background.
At this moment, Yuri is increasingly aware of how wise his original choice was. The position of Chief of Operations is good. He is not very prominent and will not be very famous, but his presence will not be missing in any subsequent major battles. Well, to describe him, he is like a planner hiding in the dark. There are no legends about him in the outside world, but there are people who should know him.
Stalin confirmed the personnel issues of the Kursk Operations Command and began to confirm the details of the defensive battle. Yuri detailed the battle plan that had been improved during this period, especially emphasizing the problem of the troops' rash attacks during the defensive battle.
When emphasizing the harm caused by a rash attack, Yuri bluntly used Vatutin's performance in the Kharkov Offensive as a counterexample, and detailed the losses suffered by the Southwestern Front in the Kharkov Offensive.
Often, as the supreme leader, Stalin did not know too many details when he learned about the losses of his troops. For example, when the Southwestern Front suffered a rout in the Kharkov region, the losses of the subordinate troops were generally reported to Stalin in the form of percentages. Generally, it was a percentage of a certain army's losses, a percentage of tank losses, and a percentage of artillery losses.
But Yuri's report was different. He described in detail the personnel losses of the subordinate units of the Southwestern Front. For example, the 40th Army lost more than 24,300 soldiers in this battle, and more than 12,700 were missing or captured. Among them, 321 grassroots commanders below the captain level lost, and 23 middle-level commanders below the colonel lost, etc. Most importantly, Yuri also exaggerated it, listing how many of these losses had been awarded the title of Soviet Hero, and how many had outstanding performance in the Battle of Stalingrad and survived.
Although the Battle of Kharkov had happened several months ago, Yuri's unique and detailed report still wiped out Stalin's original good mood, and the expression on his face was so grim that it was intimidating.
This is the second skill Yuri learned on his political career, tampering with reporting work.
When reporting the same thing to the leader, different reporting methods will cause the leader to have completely different emotions in his attitude towards the matter. This is an essential skill for both deceiving and praising people, and you have to learn it.
The grudge between Yuri and Vatutin is not actually very deep. The process of their feud was only caused by Vatutin's disregard for Yuri during the Battle of Kharkov. Now, Yuri has walked out of the dilemma of being marginalized. If he wants to establish his own prestige, he must have an opponent as a target. Vatutin is unlucky and was favored by him, so he is destined to be pitted continuously.
In addition, there is another reason why Yuri kept trying to deceive Vatutin, that is, Vatutin was someone Zhukov tried his best to protect. Unfortunately, not only Yuri knew this, but Stalin also knew it. Yuri kept trying to trick Vatutin to death, which was also to show Stalin his position, that is, he, the Minister of Operations, was not the same as Comrade Zhukov.
The meeting chaired by Stalin lasted until 1:30 in the morning. At this time, Stalin usually went to bed, so it was Voroshilov who first proposed that the meeting be formally adjourned.
"Although Comrade Nikolai Fedorovich is lacking in command style, he is still a commander who is good at finding opportunities in attack. His talents are still worthy of recognition." When Zhukov came down from upstairs and walked to the steps in front of the building, he deliberately fell two steps behind. After Voroshilov, Beria and others went down the stairs, he turned around and found Yuri who was lagging behind, and said solemnly.
"There is no doubt about that, Comrade Georgy Konstantinovich," Yuri nodded and said in agreement, then changed the subject and continued, "But I think that for a commander, before becoming an excellent commander, he must first learn to be a qualified commander. And the most basic quality that a qualified commander must possess is to obey orders and follow commands. In this regard, I personally think that Comrade Nikolai Fedorovich is not doing very well."
Zhukov frowned. He knew very well where the feud between Yuri and Vatutin came from. He also knew very well that Yuri was not someone who could be easily persuaded, at least not someone who could be easily persuaded by him.
Previously, Zhukov was against using Yuri as the Chief of Operations, after all, he had not worked with him much. But there was no other choice, Khrushchev strongly recommended this person, and Beria, Khrushchev's main competitor, remained silent. In addition, Stalin himself had already developed a repulsive mentality towards candidates from the General Staff, so this young man stood out and occupied this key position that he could advance or retreat from.
What's going on now ? The trouble finally showed up. As soon as this guy jumped up from the bench, he immediately started to jump up and down. As the Chief of the General Staff, Vasilevsky couldn't control him at all. So far, he had never taken the initiative to report to Vasilevsky, the Chief of the General Staff. All his suggestions and proposals were made directly to Stalin, bypassing the General Staff.
What was particularly troublesome was that this guy was always holding on to Vatutin. Zhukov was sure that by the day after tomorrow, what happened tonight would have spread to a certain extent, and at least the commanders at the front level would know that he, Zhukov, wanted to keep Vatutin, while Yuri wanted to get rid of him. This was a confrontation, and considering Vatutin's poor performance in the Battle of Kharkov, if Zhukov won, he would be scolded for being unfair, and if he lost, he would be completely humiliated.
Staring fixedly at Yuri's overly young face, Zhukov even suspected that this guy was deliberately dragging him into this fight. After all, no matter the outcome of this battle, it would only benefit Yuri and not cause any harm.
"Comrade Georgy Konstantinovich," Yuriko continued without considering what Zhukov was thinking, "I think the headquarters should give another order to Comrade Nikolai Fedorovich. I suspect that he has lost his temper and is preparing to launch an offensive in the direction of Kupyansk. If this guess is correct, then I will do my duty and submit a report to the Supreme Command and the Military Committee, suggesting that this commander who disregards the overall situation and disobeys orders be sent to a military court."
"I believe Nikolai Fedorovich would not do such a thing." Zhukov said seriously.
"I hope so." Yuri looked at Zhukov and smiled. He stretched out his hand and said, "Well, Comrade Georgy Konstantinovich, I'll go back first."
Zhukov shook hands with him and watched him walk down the stairs first and get into his car.
It was still a little chilly in Moscow in the early hours of the morning at the end of April. Zhukov stood on the steps , watching the cars leave the parking lot in front of the building and slowly disappear into the night. He also felt a little chill in his heart.
