Smolensk in March is still covered with snowflakes this year. Although winter is about to pass, the cold still reminds people that it is not willing to go away so cleanly. However, this year is different from usual, because Smolensk has become a battlefield and a frontline.

I can't remember how long it took to have not experienced war here. The Russians here seem to have forgotten that there is war in this world. They have their own unique pride because their motherland seems to have something to be proud of in the word war.

The last time I passed by here to challenge this country, I heard that he was also a great leader. He was domineering all over Europe and had the myth of winning the battle. Until more than a hundred years later, someone still talked about his name: Napoleon! Look, what a loud name!

But the name fell because he attacked Moscow and tried to challenge the bravery of the Russians. So he lost his honor and his own country in Moscow. So the civilians of Smolensk looked at the war in front of him very calmly. They had reason to believe that the other side would be defeated and that they themselves would win the final victory.

But when these civilians saw the face of war, they knew that there might be some twists and turns this time, because the enemies they saw seemed a little stronger than they imagined, or rather, they were not a little stronger.

"Boom!" A large-caliber shell landed in the city of Smolensk. The huge shock wave destroyed the blocking buildings. A building began to collapse with the explosion, and the dust raised when it collapsed began to spread to the entire street. After more than a hundred years of evolution, the destructive power of war was no longer the kind of small fights in the Napoleon era. How terrifying it became, only those who have experienced it will know it.

A teacher who had just enlisted in the army looked at the collapsed house in the distance, and exclaimed with his rifle on his back: "My God, the enemy's cannon is so powerful, a building collapsed like this!"

Several veterans walking in front of him looked disdainful. They knew that their cannons were more powerful, but they were unwilling to explain to a new recruit. After all, the follow-up of this matter would develop a sentence: "Why are our cannons more powerful but they were hit by someone at the door of their house?"

Explanations like this are more complicated. After all, the German planes are too powerful, the tanks are too powerful, and even the infantry are even more powerful. But I feel embarrassed to say these words, aren’t it? So everyone remained silent and just walked towards the edge of the city step by step.

There was already a ruin. The Germans only surrounded Smolensk and did not send their own troops to attack it. They shelled and harassed the edge of the city every day, but never tried to capture the inside of the city that was closely guarded by the Soviet army. The German army carefully avoided street fighting and avoided falling into a battle with the Soviet Union that consumed human resources.

In order to defend Smolensk, Zhukov left 100,000 Soviet infantrymen and set up a street fighting position similar to Kharkov in Smolensk, trying to drag the A Group of Army into the street fighting, allowing Smolensk to consume the German armored forces. However, Lundstedt was not deceived, or Germany had no capital to be deceived, so the two sides only fought some small-scale battles outside the city.

The lack of oil allowed the Germans to stop the attack themselves, while Zhukov and Stalin couldn't figure out the details of the Germans. They didn't know why the Germans stopped attacking again this time, whether they were tired of fighting or another trap dug for the Soviet Union.

"You can let the troops fight back at the right time to see what the Germans are planning!" Stalin said in an unhappy tone on the phone. He ordered Zhukov to defend Smolensk to the death, but Zhukov threw it to the Germans, which made Stalin very unhappy. However, he also knew the current situation of the Soviet Red Army and knew that this was not Zhukov questioning his order, but that he could not defend Smolensk at all.

However, he was still worried that Moscow was strategically bombed by the German army, so he was almost paranoid to strengthen the Soviet Union's air defense capabilities in the direction of Moscow. He mobilized the best fighter jets and the best pilots near Moscow, and deployed a large number of anti-aircraft gun positions here.

This consumed a lot of the Soviet Union's valuable air defense resources and increased the burden of the frontline's lack of air defense firepower. However, Moscow was of great significance to Stalin, and it was absolutely understandable that he did so.

Zhukov was also happy to see this. Since Stalin personally inquired about the air defense in the direction of Moscow, he had no time and energy to interfere with his combat command. Therefore, he had more flexible command power and could arrange his defense more calmly.

Zhukov held the phone in the command center and spoke to his leader: "I don't have enough information to confirm it yet. I don't know if the Germans took the initiative to stop the attack this time, or whether it was because of lack of oil or other supplies. At this time, a rash attack may lead to a large number of troops again, which will definitely make us finally build a good defense system and collapse again."

His words are by no means alarmist. Although British spies in Germany have repeatedly claimed that Germany lacks sufficient strategic materials and the United States also hopes that the Soviet Union will start to fight back to fight for initiative on the battlefield, this series of intelligence is still not enough to make the Soviet generals determined to launch a tentative counterattack.

After all, their wounds have not healed yet. They have taken the lead in Ukraine in Poland and have both been hit by the German armored forces. They have lost a large number of troops in these two offensive operations. These losses have not been able to organize effective defenses to prevent the Germans from advancing.

Who dares to say that the Germans stopped attacking this time had not planned? Who dares to say that the incomplete information that Germany had shortage of materials was not false information that the Germans spread to deliberately confuse the Soviet Union for making a wrong reaction? Once the Soviet Union starts counterattack again, the price it pays after failure is not something the Soviet Union can bear.

That's why Stalin gave up his arbitrary behavior and sought Zhukov's opinions. Therefore, Zhukov changed his combat policy of attacking instead of defense, and waited carefully for the opportunity he thought was suitable.

It is like the powerful British Empire navy, after ruling the world ocean for a hundred years, anyone should think twice before challenging. After winning a series of victories, anyone should treat this behemoth carefully and dare not easily try to counterattack this more offensive challenge method. Everyone is willing to use another relatively gentle method to win: first defend the position and wait for the Germans to attack. Once the Germans fail, it proves that the Germans' offense is really weak, and then launch a counterattack.

Sometimes conservatism means lower risks and less responsibility for everyone. So even all senior Soviet generals, including Zhukov, are waiting for a relatively complete opportunity, which is related to time.

Zhukov's idea was very simple. The Soviet Union had already drawn 35 main forces from the Far East and transported them to its western front in batches. Many of these troops were old troops commanded by Zhukov. They had practical experience in the Japanese Kwantung Army and had higher combat effectiveness than those.

As long as these troops arrive in Moscow, Zhukov will have the confidence to stick to his current defense line. As long as he sticks to his current defense line, the Soviet Union will find an opportunity to defeat the German army in the new winter.

A muddy spring, a summer when the German attack was defeated, and a muddy autumn, the most exhausting winter of the German army followed. The Soviet Red Army entered a full counterattack when the second winter arrived, and the German army was defeated one after another... This is Zhukov and Stalin's script. There is no need to take risks at all, just maintain the current situation.

According to estimates, the maximum mobilization of Germany is about 7 million to 8 million. Now the German army has almost reached the limit of military mobilization. As long as the Germans are defeated once, they will not have a second chance. So Stalin felt that he could wait for a chance to kill without letting the Soviet army in Moscow continue to take risks.

So on the phone, Stalin's instructions were very simple: "Strengthen all defenses in the direction of Moscow, put the Germans into the quagmire of war, and eventually counterattack when the Germans lose their offensive ability! Muscow must not be involved in the war, this is a crime that the great motherland cannot tolerate!"

Zhukov roughly agreed with Stalin's view, but he cared more about the defense in the direction of the Caucasus: "The great leader Comrade Stalin, Rokosovsky, was determined to live and die with Stalingrad, so I, Zhukov, will also live and die with Moscow! But in the direction of counterattack after defense, I still tend to target the enemy's weaknesses rather than the region."

His idea was to fight back from the Caucasus first, remove the German threat to oil resources, and then counterattack from the South to regain Ukraine in one go, threatening the German oil-producing area Romania, in order to quickly destroy Germany's war potential.
Chapter completed!