Chapter 202 Southward
Moscow, which had just entered February, was extremely cold, with temperatures below 30 degrees below zero. The entire city was as cold as an ice cave. It seemed to have snowed a few days ago. Although the city had organized snow clearing work, some street corners, especially rooftops, were still covered with thick snow. Because of the low temperature, the surface of the snow had frozen into ice, which shone brightly under the sunlight.
A dark black Moscow sedan stopped at the entrance of the Kremlin's Borovets Tower to be inspected by housekeeping personnel. Sunlight shone through the gaps at the top of the tower and fell on the outside of the car window.
Inside the carriage, Yuri was dozing with his eyes closed. The brim of his military cap hit the back of the chair, making the whole cap a little crooked.
Outside the car, the guard from the Ministry of Internal Affairs looked through the driver's pass, then walked to the back, bent down slightly, and took a look inside the car. Seeing Yuri sitting inside, he saluted hastily - this car was not the special vehicle that Yuri usually took, so the guard did not recognize him.
The car was allowed to pass again and slowly passed through the tower and entered the Kremlin.
Just less than two weeks ago, Moscow and the Kremlin held a grand celebration with hundreds of cannon salutes firing to celebrate the great achievements of the Soviet Red Army in the Battle of Leningrad and to pay tribute to the liberators of Leningrad.
As a relic of that celebration, there are still places in the Kremlin where red silk is hung. It is said that Stalin personally issued an order that these red silks celebrating the victory are not allowed to be removed and must be replaced with new ones when news of the next victory comes back.
That's right, Comrade Stalin has no doubts about the victory of the war now, and the increasingly frequent salutes clearly prove this point. At this point in the war, the heroic Soviet Red Army has the confidence to win any battle. The Soviet soldiers "can launch an offensive against the German fascists at any time, whether in spring or autumn, or in summer and winter." The Red Army's offensive is no longer determined by the season or any other factors, but only by the operational plan of the General Staff. This was Molotov's answer to the American reporter's question about aslkgv.
Of course, in Yuri's opinion, although Molotov's words were very inspiring, they were pure bragging. Given the current situation of the Soviet army, it was impossible for them to launch an attack on the German army at any time, even if the current situation was favorable to the Soviet army. Compared with two years ago, the Soviet Red Army today is more mechanized, and its demand and dependence on logistical supplies are naturally higher. Now, if the Soviet army wants to launch a large-scale campaign, the amount and time of the military supplies allocated in advance is a headache.
It is still that ordinary-looking building. Maybe it is really ordinary, but because Stalin lives in it, its ordinariness is no longer ordinary.
On the steps in front of the building, Comrade Poskrebyshev folded his hands on his abdomen and watched the car approaching with a smile on his face. When the car stopped and the driver opened the door, he walked down the stairs and greeted Yuri just in time, saying, "Comrade Yuri, Comrade Stalin is waiting for you."
Coming out of the relatively warm carriage just now, Yuri inevitably felt a little cold when he was blown by the cool wind outside. He shivered, shook hands with the bald and hatless Poskrebyshev, and asked casually, "Any good news?"
"If the new battle plan can be considered as such, then there is indeed some good news." Poskrebyshev shrugged and smiled.
"A new battle plan?" Yuri raised his eyebrows and said, "Are there any new offensive plans recently? This is not a good time to attack."
"In southern Ukraine," Poskrebyshev did not hide anything. He said directly, "Comrade Zhukov hopes to launch a large-scale offensive in southern Ukraine before launching the campaign to liberate Belarus."
As Stalin's most trusted secretary, Poskrebyshev was always very tight-lipped. It was very difficult for anyone to get anything done from him. But at this moment, Yuri easily got the inside information - Stalin called him back this time to determine whether the southern Ukraine region was suitable for launching a large-scale campaign in the near future. At the same time, Poskrebyshev also specifically revealed that this plan was formulated by Zhukov himself.
Poskrebyshev did this, on the one hand, because he wanted to befriend Yuri. As Stalin's most trusted person, he knew very well the position of Yuri in Stalin's eyes. If we had to make a comparison, Yuri was probably more trustworthy than Zhukov in Stalin's eyes. It was obviously in Poskrebyshev's interest to befriend such a person.
On the other hand, the reason why Poskrebyshev revealed such information was to understand Yuri's attitude towards this combat plan in advance, so that when he talked about this plan in front of Stalin, he would have a clear goal to focus on.
Sensitively noticing Yuri's raised eyebrows, Poskrebyshev pretended to be nonchalant and asked, "Comrade General Yuri, what do you think of Comrade Zhukov's battle plan for southern Ukraine?"
"Well, although it's hasty, it's a very necessary campaign," Yuri thought for a moment and said, "I think the General Staff should formulate a detailed plan as soon as possible to arrange its implementation."
"Oh, can you tell me the reason?" Poskrebyshev was obviously very interested in Yuri's idea, and he asked tentatively.
"Generally speaking, there are at least two reasons," Yuri said, holding up two fingers.
"Let's talk while we walk, Comrade General Yuri," Poskrebyshev said as he gestured for Yuri to go into the building.
"Comrade Zhukov's new offensive in southern Ukraine should continue to advance towards the Romanian border, thereby threatening the most important oil-producing area of the German fascists," Yuri said as he followed Poskrebyshev up the stairs and into the building. "The Germans today can no longer afford the risk of losing Romania . Therefore, such a campaign offensive can effectively confuse the German army and draw their attention to the southern front as much as possible, so that they will ignore our actions in Belarus."
"So, the two reasons are to threaten Romania and to confuse the German army," Poskrebyshev concluded.
"Yes," Yuri nodded.
"But considering the combat time, um, mainly Comrade Zhukov's offensive campaign time and the previously determined offensive time in the Belarus direction, aren't they too close together?" Poskrebyshev asked, "Can our troops withstand two large-scale battles without interruption?"
Yuri glanced at the other person. Just from the question raised by Poskrebyshev, it could be seen that this Stalin's secretary was indeed very good at grasping the key points. It was certain that if Stalin had any hesitation on this issue, the focus of his hesitation would definitely be on the question raised by Poskrebyshev.
"After two consecutive large-scale battles, our troops, or more precisely, our logistics supply, will definitely be under tremendous pressure," Yuri said directly, "However, fortunately, we don't need to invest too much in southern Ukraine."
As they were talking, the two men walked to the corner of the stairs on the first floor. A female soldier in the uniform of the Ministry of Internal Affairs came down from the stairs. When she saw the two men, she hurriedly stepped aside, saluted and asked them to go first.
"We have four fronts in Ukraine. The third and fourth fronts did not suffer too many losses in the previous battles, so they can be quickly deployed to the battle." Yuri waited until he went upstairs before continuing, "In addition, unlike the situation in the north, we also have a complete Black Sea Fleet in southern Ukraine. It is completely possible for them to provide transportation and supply services for the troops fighting on the southern front."
As the Chief of Operations of the General Staff, Yuri had a certain understanding of all aspects of the Soviet Union's domestic preparations for war, and some things were naturally easy to come by. He first introduced the basic situation of the troops on the southern front of Ukraine to Poskrebyshev, and then introduced the supply capacity of several important industrial cities in the rear of Ukraine. These data are very convincing, and they fully illustrate one point, that is, the current Soviet Union does not lack the necessary war preparations. What it really lacks is the means and time to transport these materials from the rear to the front.
Listening to Yuri's introduction, Poskrebyshev nodded frequently. For him, Yuri's detailed introduction was very useful. At least it allowed him, a layman, to understand it. After clarifying these issues, he would not be speechless when Comrade Stalin talked about relevant issues with his secretary in private in the past two days.
As a person who has been Stalin's personal secretary since 1928, Poskrebyshev naturally has his own political survival philosophy. In and outside the Kremlin, apart from normal work, he is not far from anyone, but of course, he is not close to anyone either. He can see that people like Zhukov and Vasilevsky, although they respect him in their daily words and deeds, are also distant and even contemptuous of him. A conversation like the one he had with Yuri today could not have happened between him and Zhukov or Vasilevsky.
