Steel Soviet Union

Back to a few days ago, Zhukov, who had compiled a summary of the day's combat reports, was in the office symbolizing the seat of the highest power in the Kremlin, reporting to his loving father Comrade Stalin, whose mental state had not improved recently.

"The enemy's offensive has weakened in the recent period. We have successfully contained the enemy's second round of offensive. The offensive energy of Paulus and his Sixth Army has been greatly weakened. The Germans want to quickly The plan for a quick victory has been aborted, and the battle has entered a stalemate stage that is beneficial to us. "

"But I judge that the enemy will not give up so easily. Although the Sixth Army has suffered a certain degree of losses, it has not been broken. Their strength still exists. According to the combat style shown by Paulus and the German army earlier this year, Based on the strategic deployment situation, I judge that the third round of attack should come soon, and it is likely to be the largest one."

Comrade Stalin, the loving father, was flipping through the war summary report in his hand, smoking a pipe in his mouth, and listening to Chuikov's report to him. When he finally put down the document in his hand, his expression had softened considerably.

"That's good, Zhukov. I saw in the report that our troops fought tenaciously, and that's right. We must defeat the enemy's spirit in Stalingrad, in this city where they are destined to be unable to win." Let them taste failure again, which will be extremely beneficial to our strategic deployment in the next stage."

Stalin, who held the pipe with his hand and took a deep breath of smoke, could feel the rich, bitter and long taste between his lips and teeth, quickly continued.

"As for the third round of attack you mentioned, you and Vasilevsky should discuss countermeasures and formulate a practical response plan. Try to be as safe as possible. We do not seek to completely eliminate the enemy, but we must not throw away the existing ones in our hands. Advantages. The relevant details must be conveyed to the front army headquarters to ensure nothing is missed.”

Comrade Comrade Father has now changed his mind and no longer pursues the destruction of enemy forces in a short period of time. Instead, he has followed Zhukov's advice to slow down the strategic aggressiveness and strive for victory in a stable manner. After stabilizing the battle situation in Stalingrad and ensuring that the strategic stalemate has become an established situation, they can then launch a well-prepared strategic counterattack to completely eat up the exhausted enemy in one fell swoop.

The kind-hearted comrade who had had his fill of cigarettes knocked on the pipe in his hand and was about to put it aside. However, Zhukov, whose head was spinning rapidly, saw the right opportunity to speak again.

"Do you remember the 1st Guards Heavy Tank Breakthrough Regiment? Comrade Stalin."

"Um?"

The kind father who had just put his pipe on the stand was thoughtful after hearing this. After searching for a moment in the vast sea of ​​memories, he quickly nodded.

"I remember that this unit repeatedly fought for control with the enemy at Stalingrad No. 1 Railway Station and changed hands several times. After controlling the situation, it was transferred to Mamayev Hill and repelled the enemy entrenched on the hill. The enemy has regained the advantage for us. The name of the regiment leader is Malashenko. You often mention this young man to me, am I right? "

Zhukov was very fortunate that his loving father Comrade Stalin, who was supposed to be a noble and forgetful man, could still remember the small role of Malashenko, which saved him a lot of unnecessary trouble.

"That's right, Comrade Stalin."

"The 1st Guards Heavy Tank Breakthrough Regiment has been fighting from Kharkov to Stalingrad. It has never had a good rest since the beginning of this year's battle."

"This heroic unit has gone through at least five large-scale battlefield replenishments, and countless small-scale sporadic replenishments. The soldiers in the unit have almost changed to the point where they don't know each other and have met each other for the first time. The quality of the equipment is also poor. It’s all uneven, and the combat effectiveness of the entire unit has been severely reduced!”

He picked up the water glass on the table and took a sip. The loving comrade Shuang Mu, who was not looking directly into Zhukov's eyes, didn't know what he was thinking. Even Zhukov himself, who had been staring at the loving comrade, couldn't tell what was going on. smell.

He slowly put the lid on the water glass in a non-committal manner. The fatherly comrade, whose face was covered by a big beard, seemed to be deep in thought, but he still couldn't see what he was thinking. After nearly twenty seconds, After time passed, he finally gave a reply to Zhukov.

"What do you mean, withdraw the 1st Guards Heavy Tank Breakthrough Regiment and let them return to the rear to rest and replenish?"

Zhukov's greatest characteristic was that he did not hide his true thoughts in front of Stalin, and he always dared to act and speak without any lies or pretentiousness.

This is what Stalin admired most about Zhukov, and of course this time was no exception.

"Yes, Comrade Stalin. I think it is necessary to retain this heroic unit. At the same time, I am very optimistic and appreciate Comrade Malashenko. He is a grassroots commander and fighter with firm beliefs and pioneering thinking. He has brought me Even Comrade Kotin has inspired me a lot, and I advocate that he should be allowed to live instead of dying in Stalingrad.”

Faced with Zhukov's blunt advice, Stalin did not give a direct answer but once again entered a state of silence without comment. As the supreme leader, the fatherly comrade was quickly weighing the pros and cons of Zhukov's suggestions.

All the troops in the direction of Stalingrad are persisting in fighting and fighting to the death. At this time, it is not the best choice to actively withdraw a unit with the honorary title of Guards on its head and return to the rear. Stalin, who considered this matter from a political and leadership perspective, was thinking more about the subtle impact this would have on other troops and commanders on the front line.

But on the other hand, Zhukov's words also made Stalin start to think about things from another perspective.

If the 1st Guards Heavy Tank Breakthrough Regiment, together with its commander Malashenko, who was personally praised by Zhukov, were annihilated in Stalingrad, what kind of adverse impact would it have?

The 1st Guards Heavy Tank Breakthrough Regiment was the first heroic tank unit to be awarded the Guards designation, which to some extent has an extraordinary and special significance.

Furthermore, Stalin had personally given many instructions to single out the 1st Guards Heavy Tank Breakthrough Regiment among the many bloody fighting troops on the front line as a typical hero, and asked the political propaganda department to increase efforts to publicize and praise its deeds. , strengthened people's determination to fight to the end and boosted the morale of the frontline Red Army troops.

Such a troop that was a frequent headliner in Pravda was completely wiped out in Stalingrad. Stalin was worried that the Germans who would do whatever they could would take this incident as a negative example and publicize a counterattack against the Soviet Union, thereby creating a spiritual foundation for them. Shanghe and the loudspeaker trampled the brave and fearless Red Army Guards under their feet, and at the same time, they also dealt a blow to their own morale.

If this is really the case, it may end up boosting the enemy's morale. At worst, even the entire German combat troops on the front line will be affected by this.

Stalin knew very well how capable Hitler and his dog-meat brother Goebbels were in bragging. Their ability to make dead people look alive and white people look black was no worse than the Soviet propaganda department. The outcome of the political games and undercurrents that may be involved depends entirely on Stalin's own final decision.

Zhukov, who did not bother to look at his watch, could not accurately calculate how long his loving father Comrade Stalin had been thinking about it. He only knew that the moment Stalin opened his mouth to reply was the moment when the pipe on the tobacco rack was completely extinguished and no longer smoked.

"If I agree to withdraw this unit, talk about your planned follow-up arrangements, Zhukov, just if."