Red Moscow

After ending his conversation with Rokossovsky, Zhukov immediately called the Kremlin switchboard.

When a voice came out of the receiver, Zhukov said bluntly: "Operator, this is General Zhukov, commander of the Western Front. Please connect me to Comrade Stalin's office. I have something important to report."

The female operator's sweet voice came: "Comrade General, please wait a moment. I will immediately connect you to Comrade Stalin's office."

After a while, the female operator's voice came again, but it was full of apology: "I'm sorry, Comrade General, no one answered the phone in Stalin's office. Do you want to transfer to another number?"

Zhukov thought for a moment, then said, "Then tell me to transfer to the General Staff and ask Marshal Shaposhnikov!"

However, the operator stammered, "Comrade General, the General Staff has left Moscow. Now there is only one staff group left. Do you need me to connect you?"

Zhukov was shocked by the operator's words. He had never dreamed that the General Staff, whom he had contacted yesterday, had quietly withdrawn from Moscow. However, he did not ask the operator for details, because a communications officer of her level did not have the authority to understand many things. He just said casually, "Then connect me to the liaison team."

This time the call was not disconnected. Soon a strange man's voice came from the receiver: "This is the General Staff's rear-guard team. Who are you?"

"I'm Zhukov." Zhukov asked sternly, "Who is your leader?"

The person who answered the phone replied with a stutter: "Yes, it's Major General Vasilevsky!"

"Let him answer the phone!"

"Hello, Comrade General, I am Major General Vasilevsky!"

"Hello, Comrade Vasilevsky." Zhukov asked curiously, "I heard that the General Staff has left Moscow?"

"Yes, Comrade General." Vasilevsky explained carefully: "In view of the current situation, Moscow is already in danger, so the Supreme Command issued an evacuation order. Marshal Shaposhnikov left Moscow with the General Staff and headed for Kuibyshev."

Zhukov's breathing became rapid. He had never expected that such a big change would happen in the city after he had not contacted Moscow for only ten hours. After a moment of silence, he asked cautiously, "What about Comrade Stalin? Did he also move to Kuibyshev?"

"No." Vasilevsky answered without hesitation: "Comrade Stalin stayed!"

The words "Comrade Stalin stayed" made Zhukov's heart, which had been hanging in his throat, settle back into his stomach. Although the enemy was approaching Moscow step by step, threatening the entire city, as long as Stalin stayed in Moscow, he could stabilize the army and boost morale.

Just as Zhukov was secretly sighing, he heard Vasilevsky ask: "Comrade General, you are calling me at this time, is there something important?" It was three o'clock in the morning, and no one would rashly call if there was nothing important.

"Vasilevsky, I want to ask you something." Zhukov asked straight to the point: "Who bypassed the front headquarters and gave Rokossovsky's 1st Army the order to launch a counterattack against the German army?"

This time it was Vasilevsky's turn to be stunned. He was stunned for a moment, then said: "Comrade General, I am not very clear about this matter. But don't worry, I will call you after I understand the situation clearly."

Zhukov put down the phone, staring at the map on the table in front of him, thinking to himself, if a week ago, no, five days ago, if a fully staffed army launched a counterattack in the designated area, it might be possible to break through the German encirclement in the Vyazma area and rescue most of the hundreds of thousands of troops trapped. But now it's too late. The troops in the encirclement are facing a situation of running out of ammunition and food. Not to mention one army, even if two armies launched a counterattack in this area, I'm afraid they won't be able to rescue them. And letting the 16th Army, which is seriously short of troops, launch a counterattack at this time is undoubtedly putting them in danger.

Soon, the phone on the table rang. Zhukov picked up the receiver, put it to his ear, and said in his deep voice, "I am Zhukov!"

"Comrade General, this is Vasilevsky!" Vasilevsky's voice came from the receiver: "I have learned that the order for the 1st Army to counterattack the enemy in front was issued by Marshal Shaposhnikov himself." Perhaps he was worried about what Zhukov would say, he also emphasized, "You should know the character of Comrade Marshal very well. Since he issued such an order, he must have obtained the instruction of the Supreme Commander himself. In other words, no matter what the circumstances, this order cannot be cancelled."

Although Zhukov knew in his heart that this wrong combat order must be carried out, he still felt disappointed when he heard Vasilevsky confirm his guess in person. He said calmly: "I know, the counterattack will be launched at the appointed time."

After hanging up the phone, he stared at the map in front of him again, thinking about how heavy the losses would be if Rokossovsky carried out this wrong counterattack order with his current strength. And would the 16th Army, which had lost a large number of its manpower, still be able to hold the existing defense line?

After looking at it for an unknown amount of time, he picked up the phone on the table and called the 16th Army Headquarters directly.

After hearing Rokossovsky's voice, he asked solemnly: "Comrade Rokossovsky, tell me truthfully, do you have the confidence to complete the counterattack mission assigned to you by your superiors?"

"Comrade General!" Hearing Zhukov call him by his last name instead of his nickname, Rokossovsky knew that he wanted to have a serious talk with him, so he said solemnly: "You know how strong our army is. If we insist on carrying out such a mission, I'm afraid we will exhaust our manpower. Once the army suffers serious losses, we will be at a disadvantage in the next battle."

"Comrade Rokossovsky, I understand your current situation." Zhukov guessed what Rokossovsky would say next, so he spoke before him: "I have already understood that this order was personally issued by the Chief of the General Staff, Marshal Shaposhnikov. There is no room for bargaining. Do you understand?"

Like Zhukov, Rokossovsky knew Shaposhnikov very well. He knew that the old marshal was cautious and would consult Stalin before issuing important combat orders. Zhukov said that the order was issued by Shaposhnikov himself, which was equivalent to telling Rokossovsky in disguise that this counterattack was arranged by Stalin himself and there was no possibility of any change.

The Great Patriotic War had been going on for almost four months. As the commander of the front, Zhukov naturally understood the importance of air supremacy in war. However, a good cook cannot cook without rice. He had no air force at all. How could he provide air support for Rokossovsky's troops?

"Comrade Rokossovsky," Zhukov said helplessly, "I reiterate once again that I cannot provide you with air cover. You have to figure out how to deal with the German bombing during the counterattack."

After Rokossovsky finished the call, he said bitterly to several deputies around him: "Comrades commanders, Zhukov just said on the phone that the order to counterattack was issued by Marshal Shaposhnikov and cannot be revoked. Moreover, during the attack, we will not be able to provide air cover..."

Malinin couldn't help but exclaimed when he heard this: "Comrade Commander, if we don't have air cover when we launch a counterattack, our offensive forces will collapse under the bombardment of enemy aircraft."

"I know, and Zhukov knows it too." Rokossovsky's mouth twitched, and he said helplessly: "But Zhukov has no air force to use and cannot provide us with the necessary support, so we can only find a way to deal with the enemy's air force."

After hearing what Rokossovsky said, everyone began to frown and think about what measures should be taken to deal with the German air force.

After an unknown amount of time, Rokossovsky asked, "Do you have any good ideas?"

Upon hearing this, everyone shook their heads expressionlessly, indicating that they had no way to deal with the German air force.

"Since we can't think of a solution, then our counterattack has no chance of success." Rokossovsky sighed and said unwillingly: "It's a pity that the little manpower we have is wasted in vain."

"Comrade Commander, I think you could ask Major Sokov," Malinin reminded Rokossovsky, "Maybe he has a solution."

When Rokossovsky heard that Malinin actually pushed Sokov out, he was displeased at first, but then he thought that judging from Sokov's various performances, he was a resourceful person. Asking his opinion might bring unexpected results.

Thinking of this, Rokossovsky quickly said to Malinin: "Chief of Staff, I agree with your proposal. Now let the radio operator send a telegram to the infantry brigade and ask Sokov for his opinion to see if he has any way to deal with the German air force."

The telegram was sent to the Infantry Brigade. After receiving the telegram, the radio operator Morozova woke up Sokov from his sleep and said anxiously: "Comrade Brigade Commander, Comrade Brigade Commander, wake up quickly!"

Sokov opened his eyes and looked at the female soldier in front of him with a blank face. For a moment he was still not able to come back to his senses and didn't know whether he was in a dream or in reality.

Seeing Sokov staring at her in a daze, Morozova became a little anxious. She shook her head vigorously twice and said hurriedly: "Telegram, Comrade Brigade Commander, your telegram is from the army headquarters."

Hearing that it was a telegram from the army headquarters, Sokov shuddered and then woke up. He sat up suddenly from the bed, snatched the telegram from Morozova's hand, and quickly read it with the help of the candlelight in the tent.

Deputy Brigade Commander Belkin, who was sleeping next to her, was also awakened by Morozova's voice. He rubbed his eyes, sat up, and asked sleepily, "Comrade Brigade Commander, who sent the telegram?"

"It's a telegram from Chief of Staff Malinin." After reading the telegram, Sokov handed it to Belkin and said solemnly, "It says that the army group will launch a comprehensive counterattack against the German army in more than 20 hours. But because there is no air support, they are worried that the counterattack troops will be bombarded by German planes during the attack, so they sent a telegram to ask me if there is any good way to reduce the casualties of the troops during the attack."

Belkin asked Sokov in surprise: "Comrade Brigade Commander, why are they asking you?"

"Who knows?" Sokov said, scratching the back of his head. "Without air cover, we have to launch a counterattack against the enemy. Isn't that just courting death? To be honest, I don't have any good way to deal with the German air force."

"Comrade Brigade Commander, since the army chief of staff sent you a telegram personally, it means that this is the commander's intention." As a senior commander, Belkin could naturally understand the essence of many things. He carefully reminded Sokov: "If you can't provide a good solution, I'm worried that it will leave a bad impression on the commander."

Sokov understood this truth, but he was a man, not a god. Without planes and enough anti-aircraft guns and anti-aircraft machine guns, it was simply a pipe dream to fight against the German Air Force, which had mastered the air superiority on the battlefield. But as Belkin said, since Rokossovsky asked Malinin to come forward and ask him for advice, if his answer was not satisfactory to the other party, it would probably leave a bad impression on him.

It was with this in mind that Sokov began to think hard about what methods could be used to deal with the German air force.

He had read a time-travel novel before, which mentioned that the way to deal with the enemy's air force was to burn fires on the ground to create smoke to interfere with the enemy pilots' vision; or to release captured birds or hydrogen balloons to prevent the enemy's planes from descending.

These methods seem good, but if you think about it carefully, they are nonsense. When the battle is going on, the smoke produced on the battlefield is not as good as the smoke produced by a few campfires? The smoke of gunpowder cannot interfere with the vision of the pilots, let alone the small smoke produced by a few campfires. As for releasing birds and hydrogen balloons, that is even more impossible. Do you really think that these things are everywhere and you can just pick them up and use them when you need them?