USSR 1941

  Chapter 878 Strategic Objectives

  After Shulka said this, Vatutin had nothing to say.

Because the facts are indeed like what Shulka said. Because of the backward communication equipment and the low quality of the troops, the Soviet army often cannot take back the troops after they are sent out to fight. That is to say, there are big problems in command and they cannot be collected Take it easy.

   Regarding this point, Vatutin couldn't answer, he could only talk about him: "We need to restore the offensive momentum we lost before. This is very important, and we must not let the enemy seize the opportunity!"

"As I said, Comrade Vatutin!" Shulka replied: "Have you considered the scenario of failure? It's one thing if we want to recover, but another thing if we can recover! What if it fails? We will lose all the advantages brought about by the victory in the Battle of Stalingrad, and the situation will once again return to the state where the enemy is strong and we are weak and passive!"

   "It is unlikely that we will fail, the enemy is already at the end of their battle..."

  Before Vatutin finished speaking, Zhukov interrupted him beside him: "That's not necessarily true, Comrade Vatutin!"

  Zhukov didn't make it very clear, but everyone knows what it means.

   Not long ago, when Vatutin commanded the Southwest Front Army to pursue the victory of the German army, he thought that he would be able to drive the Germans out of the Soviet Union and achieve a decisive victory in World War I, but the fact that Vatutin slapped him severely.

   Now, after the Germans have gained a firm foothold and strengthened their defenses, Vatutin should not have said such things.

Vatutin knew that he was in the wrong, so he said: "So, should we just wait for the Germans to attack like this? As I said before, you know, the Germans are good at attacking. Although we can't do it, they can do it." With fewer troops and equipment, it will pose a threat or even an advantage to our defense built with several times the number of troops!"

   "So we should be more fully prepared!" Shulka replied: "And I think we have some shortcomings in the formulation of strategic goals in the past!"

  At this time, even Zhukov cast a puzzled look at Shulka...At least part of the previous strategic goals were formulated by Zhukov.

"I think it is necessary for us to reflect on and think about our past battles!" Shulka explained: "Last year's defense of Moscow, and this year's Stalingrad defense, both times the German army launched an offensive in the summer, and then we The army launched a winter counter-offensive. And the strategic goals we pursued were too big and too hasty, and we always wanted to swallow the German army and drive them out of the Soviet Union immediately. But these strategic goals are unrealistic from the present point of view. The German army is still strong, even if it is attacked After the failure of the defense of Moscow and the defense of Stalingrad, they are still an army that cannot be humiliated. We can only seek to drive them out of the Soviet Union step by step instead of one step at a time! This was the case before, and it is still the case now in this way!"

Zhukov nodded slightly, and after thinking for a while, he said: "We are dazzled by the victory, comrades! The defense of Moscow and the defense of Stalingrad were indeed brilliant victories, but it is precisely because of these victories that we forget In order to understand how difficult it was to achieve these victories, forget that the enemy is strong and strong, they are not ordinary opponents, and at the same time they are not prone to retreat when defeated like our army. This can be concluded from previous battles. In other words , we have already made two mistakes, and now...we are going to make a third mistake, still thinking about fighting a battle and winning a decisive victory! This wish is beautiful, but we have to face reality, war The duration may be much longer than we imagined, and it will be much more difficult!"

   Several generals nodded in agreement.

  In fact, this is the most important point, which is to realize that the German army is still strong, even higher than the Soviet army.

  On the other hand, "I can't eat hot tofu in a hurry".

   Otherwise, one would have made the same mistake as Vatutin and Stalin, rushing to counterattack and end the war.

  If you realize this point, that is, the war will not end so quickly and easily, you will not launch a counter-offensive desperately. Instead, you should fight steadily and take a long-term perspective.

   "What do you think? Comrade Vatutin?" Seeing that Vatutin was still hesitating, Zhukov asked again.

   "I...I have no opinion, but Comrade Stalin there..."

"I will persuade him!" Zhukov replied: "Before that, I couldn't judge whether we should counterattack or defend, but after listening to Comrade Shulka's words, the matter has become very clear, and we should remain rational. , we should take a defensive position, and we need to formulate more reasonable and realistic strategic goals. Therefore, I am very confident in convincing Comrade Stalin!"

   Nobody doubts that.

  The reason is simple. Both the defense of Moscow and the defense of Stalingrad can be said to have been victorious under Zhukov's command, but Stalin's command was a mess and made things worse.

   In this regard, Stalin and Hitler actually went to two extremes.

  Hitler was originally full of confidence in himself and the army, and the news of victory had been coming from the front line. Then, repeated failures at the front line made Hitler lose confidence and patience, so he became headstrong and did not listen to the advice of his subordinates.

Stalin was the opposite. At the beginning, he also had confidence in himself and the army, but the Soviet army quickly collapsed under his command and even reached the point of life and death. This made Stalin panic and realized his weakness in military command. Therefore, he changed his usual stubborn personality and often asked his subordinates for their opinions, and even let his subordinates directly participate in decision-making.

   Among them, Zhukov spoke the most powerfully. After all, he was the supreme deputy commander who won two major battles and saved the country from danger.

In the past, the high-level Soviet army could not make a decision more because Zhukov himself did not see it clearly, but now, Zhukov’s stand is firm, there is no problem, and the balance will definitely fall to the defensive side, even if Stalin wants to counterattack. Desperately use the power in his hands to insist on counterattack.

   "Okay, Comrade Zhukov, Comrade Shulka!" Vatutin replied with some helplessness: "I agree with your opinion, change our strategic goal to defense!"

   "Thank you for your understanding, Comrade Vatutin!" Zhukov shook Vatutin's hand.

  In fact, Vatutin knew that in this case, even if he insisted on counterattacking, it would not make any sense.

  (end of this chapter)