Steel Soviet Union

Hitler adjusted the deployment of the German army's next combat plan from the direction of Moscow to the north of Leningrad. The strategic adjustment to the south of the Ukrainian theater did not mean the end of the battle for the city of Yelnya.

On the contrary, because Hitler himself was determined to win the city of Yelnia, which was the future springboard for the German army to Moscow, and he had just been beaten to the end by Stalin and went to the front line in person, he commanded the Soviet reserve front army to take over the next phase of the attack on Yelnya. Zhukov officially took office for the Niya mission.

An unstoppable and bigger storm is quietly gathering over the city of Yelnya.

Although the second phase of the battle in Yelniya City was nominally Zhukov's "meritorious service" after he was dismissed from office by Stalin, it was actually the stage where Zhukov personally commanded the front-line troops on the frontline battlefield after the beginning of the Great Patriotic War. First show.

The arrival of this "Red Army God of War" and "Stalin Fire Captain" is undoubtedly catastrophic and bad news for the German army in the direction of Yelniya City.

Zhukov, who took over the offensive mission of the second phase of the Yelniya battle from the commander of the Western Front, Marshal Timoshenko, immediately began to arrange combat deployments and prepare for the attack after arriving at the headquarters of his reserve front.

Frankly speaking, the reserve force that Zhukov took over at this time was not very strong, and could even be said to be a little weak.

The Battle of Smolensk and the first phase of the Battle of Yelnya in the past few days have caused many troops in the reserve front army to be transferred to neighboring troops for reinforcements to fill the manpower vacancies.

When Zhukov officially arrived at the front line and took over the command of the reserve front army.

This Soviet field group with the front rank designation only has 9 infantry divisions and 1 tank division left, with a total strength of just over 100,000 people. In terms of combat strength alone, it can only be regarded as a group army at best. level combat effectiveness.

If you want to use such an empty front army, which is not an elite force and has incomplete military organization, to take down Yelnya, it is a headache for Marshal Timoshenko, who controls the entire combat power of the entire Soviet Western Front. war zone.

This is not only an epic and difficult test question given by Stalin to Zhukov, his confidant, but also the most suitable debut stage for Zhukov to show off his extraordinary commanding skills.

As the saying goes, a clever woman cannot make a meal without rice. For Zhukov, who is currently preparing to launch an attack on Yelnya City, the most urgent problem to be solved is undoubtedly the shortage of troops at hand, especially tanks and armored units. Shortage is a top priority.

At this juncture when he had just been dismissed from office by Stalin, it was obviously unrealistic for Zhukov to seek help from Moscow.

If it's too far away, then find something close.

After careful consideration based on his personal relationship with Marshal Timoshenko, Zhukov finally decided to seek help from Marshal Timoshenko, commander of the Western Front.

Although Zhukov has been beaten to the end by Stalin and was relieved of his post as Chief of General Staff of the Red Army and demoted to Commander of the Front Army.

However, he had a close personal relationship with Marshal Timoshenko, and in the previous Moscow Political Committee meeting, he had helped Marshal Timoshenko after his defeat in the Battle of Smolensk, saving him from being dismissed by Stalin in anger. Zhukov, who was investigating, had reason to believe that Marshal Timoshenko, who was strong and upright, should not be the kind of person who forgets his kindness and adds insult to injury.

The counterattack in the direction of Smolensk and the simultaneous fighting on both sides in the direction of Yelniya were not going well. Marshal Timoshenko, who had been commanding the operation for many days, looked a little tired.

Zhukov, who was "dispatched into exile" from Moscow to command the front-line troops, came to share some of the pressure on Marshal Timoshenko. Zhukov, who had not seen him for a month since the Moscow Political Committee meeting, immediately stepped forward and headed towards This old friend of mine smiled and spoke.

"We meet again, Comrade Marshal. Seeing you so tired really makes me feel uneasy."

Seeing the former Chief of General Staff of the Red Army who was willing to stand up to the furious Stalin and take the initiative to help him, Marshal Timoshenko with a tired look on his face then managed to squeeze out a smile. , the busy and hurried scene in the Western Front Command did not disturb the conversation of these two famous generals.

"The frontline situation facing your reserve front is very serious, Zhukov."

"Reconnaissance intelligence shows that the Germans have been continuously drawing reinforcements from Army Group Center in the rear area to the Yelniya theater these days. It is expected that at least two armored divisions and more than three infantry divisions are heading towards Yelniya. The specific numbers of the enemy troops are temporarily unknown, but the intelligence department estimates that these reinforcements, including the existing German troops stationed in Yelniya City, are under the command of General Guderian of the enemy's Second Armored Group."

During the great purges of that year, they were almost all-pervasive and made the entire Soviet military and political senior officials tremble and have trouble sleeping and eating. There is no doubt that the agents of the Soviet Ministry of Internal Affairs are capable of spying and collecting intelligence.

Although the rapid progress of the German army that has just begun Operation Barbarossa makes it difficult for the Soviet army to collect intelligence, the agents of the Ministry of Internal Affairs who are lurking in occupied areas or behind the German front lines are secretly carrying out intelligence collection and sabotage work, but they still do their best. He was able to collect some relatively useful information and pass it on. This was undoubtedly extremely useful intelligence for the Soviet army, which was in chaos due to sudden attacks in the early stages of the war.

Hearing the familiar name Guderian again from Marshal Timoshenko's mouth, Zhukov quickly regained his composure and spoke after being stunned for a moment.

"Guderian, I have heard of him. It is said that he is the confidant of the Nazi leader Hitler. I have also read the book "Attention! Tank!" he wrote as a research material."

"To be honest, the armored offensive strategy and tank application methods described in this man's work have unique characteristics, which are somewhat similar to the concentrated operations of large corps that I envisioned. The German troops commanded by him will definitely be a heavy blow. It is the spearhead of elites and attacks. Breaking it can seriously defeat the enemy's arrogance, but we must deal with it carefully. "

After a slight nod of agreement with what Zhukov said, Marshal Timoshenko, who roughly guessed what Zhukov's trip was about, continued to speak after thinking for a moment.

"I have a general understanding of the difficulties faced by your reserve front army. Zhukov, tell me, how many reinforcements do you need?"