Iron Cross

"There are usually two ways to deal with a turtle with its head retracted. One is to relieve its alertness and lure it out with something; the other is to roast it on the fire so that it can't stand the heat and naturally sticks its head out..." Zhukov He said, "I plan to ask you to exchange the order of command. Comrade Chuikov changes from the defensive group to the offensive group, and the same goes for Comrade Chernyakhovsky."

The two of them thought for a moment and understood Zhukov's intention: the Fergana Basin was the tortoise shell of the German army. It was completely impossible to break through the defense line with human lives, but it was certainly not a good idea. It was obvious to use infantry and troops to detour from the mountainous area. Also too slow. But on the other hand, the German army seemed to be hiding well when hiding in the basin, but in fact it also locked itself in - the Soviet army would face similar problems when it blocked the mouth and the German army attacked. It’s true that you don’t have to sacrifice so much.

"My strategy is divided into three parts: In the first step, Comrade Chuikov will lead a strengthened army group to guard the entrance of the Fergana Basin. There is no need to attack, but the German offensive must be contained. Before I give the order to retreat, you can even fight The exit must be blocked to the last person; in the second step, the troops currently deployed west of the Samarkand and Bukhara lines will continue to attack westward. On the one hand, they will pull out these Soviet rebellious and separatist forces that collude with the German army; on the other hand, Eliminate the German supply base in Central Asia; in the third step, I will prepare a counterattack." When talking about removing the independent forces in Central Asia, Zhukov said with gritted teeth.

Stalin had always disliked the various ethnic groups in Central Asia, believing them to be unreliable and untrustworthy. Whenever he had the opportunity, he suppressed or even purged the entire ethnic group. Many senior leaders, including Zhukov and others, originally thought that the attack was too heavy-handed, but he led a large number of troops back to China. After seeing the tragic fate of members of local government agencies and party organizations, Zhukov's mentality changed drastically - he believed that these separatist forces were worse than fascism! The Germans are still pursuing a soft policy in the occupied areas. The last time Stalin used hungry people to deal with the German army, they did not see the enemy killing them. Instead, they were handed over to the Russian People's Liberation Army and sent to the rear to settle down. However, the cruel retaliatory measures taken by the Central Asian national forces have left people filled with righteous indignation. He even specially sent a telegram to Moscow to review it. He believed that he had been soft-hearted in the past and could not see the problem from a higher and farther perspective than Comrade Stalin. His consciousness was too low and he had committed a political childish disease. This was basically a life-and-death class struggle. Is there anything polite you can say?

When determining the Central Asian anti-revolutionary list, the Ministry of Internal Affairs recommended setting a ratio of 20-25%. Zhukov believed that the ratio was too low, at least 50%! ——According to this standard, almost every adult man in Central Asia can be classified.

"Comrade Chernyakhovsky's task is to lead the troops to cleanse these separatist forces. They must uproot them and see if the Germans can save them! Of course, you don't have to interfere with the counter-revolutionary affairs. The Ministry of Internal Affairs will send special personnel. Zhukov explained, "I will lead three armies to wait on the line between Tash and Samarkand. If the Germans break out of the basin, I will surround them and eat them."

The other party nodded after hearing this. This was a good way to force the Germans to move, but what if the Germans didn't come out?

"It doesn't matter if the Germans don't come out. You can continue the attack with your troops until they reach the east coast of the Caspian Sea. There are German logistics and supply bases there, and there may be 30,000 to 50,000 troops. Kill them together. At this special moment, they have no choice. to reinforcements."

"Special moment? Can't get reinforcements?" Chernyakhovsky thought hard about the map while recalling Zhukov's words. The west bank of the Caspian Sea is the main German army group confronting the three main fronts in Stalingrad. , how could we not get reinforcements? Suddenly his eyes lit up and he couldn't help shouting: "Is the Caspian Sea frozen?"

"right!"

Starting from mid-to-late January, the Caspian Sea will enter an ice age for about 2 months. Due to the special hydrological conditions of the Caspian Sea, which resembles a lake but is actually a sea, its glacial period is very strange - not the entire Caspian Sea will be frozen, nor will the lower temperature areas in the north be frozen, but it will be frozen vertically. Specifically, there will be freezing near the west coast, but there will be almost no ice on the east coast, and even if there is ice, it will be very thin. This extremely special freezing state is related to the quality of the Caspian Sea. The salt density in the southeastern seawater is high and the freezing point is low, so the overall ice layer is distributed vertically instead of horizontally.

Of course, the overall ice layer of the Caspian Sea was not thick during the ice age. Light infantry could barely pass through it in the coldest days, and heavy equipment was forgettable. During that time, there was heavy snow and it was difficult to dispatch aircraft, so Zhukov was very confident. Said this. As long as the ice forms, the German ships on the west coast will basically be unable to move. The ships cannot move, and no matter how many troops there are, it will not help.

"Of course, my final strategy is not to focus on the 30,000 to 50,000 small shrimps on the east coast. I am going to catch the big fish." Zhukov's out-of-the-box thinking today made it difficult for the two to keep up, but they believed that this It was an extremely bold strategy, and I nodded subconsciously.

"After controlling the east coast, it should be easier for us to get a ship. Then I can request 1-2 airborne troops to attack here..." He pointed at the location of Baku on the map. "The comrades in the intelligence system told me that there are no German troops near Baku and Azerbaijan, only Turkish troops. Because of the fight for Baku and Azerbaijan, the Turks, Germans and Iranians were once in a stalemate. Although the relationship did not break down on the surface, I boldly speculate that the Turks will not choose to ask for support from Iran or the Germans at the first time. Even if they do, the Germans or Iranians will not arrive quickly. As long as we can send an army group up and cooperate with the Caucasus Pass, we can fight far away."

The other two people were immediately excited. They soon understood Zhukov's intention: on the surface, he took the opportunity of clearing the German supply base in the eastern Caspian Sea and some of the defenders to launch an offensive posture, but in fact it was just a feint. The real purpose was to deploy the troops forward, and then quickly capture the nearest Baku by assault, and occupy a bridgehead in Transcaucasia in one fell swoop!

The situation will change significantly after Baku is recaptured: in terms of defense, the Central Asian Front can easily rely on the passes of the Caucasus Mountains for defense; in terms of offense, after the cooperation of the Yeremenko Front deployed in the Astrakhan direction in the north, the two fronts in the north and south can attack the German army in the Lesser Caucasus.

"Of course, it is impossible to expect to encircle and annihilate or severely damage the German army on the southern wing." Zhukov concluded, "At least the situation can be reversed a little, and the arrogance of the Turks can be hit. More importantly, after Baku is regained, we have the foundation to negotiate with the Germans. Even if the German army wants to attack from the north, we don't have to be afraid. At most, we will continue to go south to fight Turkey and Iran, and then retreat to Central Asia from the southern coast of the Caspian Sea. It is true that the Soviets cannot beat the Germans, but it is not the case that they cannot even beat the Iranians and Turks now, right?"

"Can I make a correction?" Chernyakhovsky said.

"Of course, you say."

"In addition to the 30,000 to 50,000 German troops on the east coast of the Caspian Sea, there are also some troops near the north coast. Can we ask Comrade Malinovsky's independent army to cooperate?"

"This is a good suggestion." Malinovsky's independent army was originally a separate force set up to prevent Rommel's troops from breaking through the defense line on the north coast of the Black Sea and threatening Astrakhan from the rear. The number of troops exceeded 200,000. After Rommel made a feint and led the main force eastward, the independent army recovered most of the areas on the north coast of the Caspian Sea, but never went south to deal with the German troops on the east coast of the Caspian Sea - because they were afraid of being attacked by the counterattack of the German Central Asian Army. But now the situation is reversed. The German Central Asian Army has locked itself in a solid cage, and the main force of the German army on the other side has been unable to support it for a while and stared anxiously. The independent army can completely go south to cooperate with the Central Asian Front to fight.

The three discussed for a whole afternoon and finally finalized the general process and offensive plan, and then asked the staff officers to form a detailed combat plan.

"The day after tomorrow, I will take this plan back to Moscow to report to Comrade Stalin in person. You should first deploy and mobilize the troops according to the relevant points. I think he will be interested in this plan."

On January 11, when Zhukov took the full set of plans called "Mercury Plan" to Moscow for report, the Fergana Basin had already begun a confrontation war. The Red Army gave up the aggressive and all-cost offensive, and instead began to defend the trenches like the German army. Chuikov's defensive deployment took shape quickly. He divided the troops at hand into three lines of defense, and formed a mobile defense force with two guards tank brigades as the core. Tank destroyers such as SU-100 and SU-122 were piled up at key nodes without hesitation.

"The enemy wants to trap us to death?" After receiving the report, Scherner felt strange, but he was relieved all of a sudden, "We have at least 4 months of supplies available, let's fight and see who can outlast the other!"

Just as the two sides stared at each other, Chernyakhovsky had led his troops to sweep across Central Asia in a fan-shaped manner. The cavalry chopped off a lot of heads with sabers, and there were cries everywhere. This abnormal situation was soon reflected to Scherner through various channels, and he began to have difficulties. Balk and Wenk suggested taking the initiative to fight a surprise attack, but the effect was obviously not good - the defensive terrain advantage that the German army desperately sought at the beginning now became the Red Army's positional advantage in turn.

After fighting for 2 days, the German army lost more than 2,000 troops and more than 40 tanks, but only advanced less than 3 kilometers. Although Chuikov's losses exceeded 15,000, he gritted his teeth and blocked it with the reserve troops.

"We can't fight like this," Scherner said to his men. "Based on the current losses, we will lose at least half of our troops to break through the enemy's defenses. If the enemy mobilizes its main force to counterattack, the Fergana Basin will be undefendable. Report this to Marshal Manstein and ask him to handle the matter as appropriate."