As of mid-December, Army Group North commanded by Field Marshal Wilhelm Rittel von Loeb had surrounded Leningrad, and Army Group Center commanded by Field Marshal Fedor von Bock was also approaching Moscow from the left and right flanks, forming a After launching the pincer offensive, Army Group South commanded by Marshal Rundstedt made slightly slower progress, but it had also completed the encirclement of the Soviet Southwest Front. It was only a matter of time before the millions of troops of the Southwest Front were wiped out.
In addition, the German army has prepared sufficient winter supplies in advance. Therefore, in this time and space, it is really hard to say whether the German army can finally complete the three tactical goals set by the head of state before the war!
And if the German army achieves one of the three tactical goals of the Führer, it will most likely trigger a series of chain reactions, eventually leading to the Soviet Union losing the Great Patriotic War!
For example, in Leningrad, if the German Army Group Northern captured Leningrad, then the situation in the Soviet Union's entire Patriotic War would deteriorate sharply, because after the German Army Group Northern captured Leningrad, it could both attack and Invade the hinterland of the Soviet Union and destroy Soviet industry. You can also throw a hook and coordinate with Army Group Center to threaten Moscow's flanks.
Historically, the Soviet army in Moscow had a very difficult time just dealing with the German Army Group Center. If the German Army Group North rolled over from the flank, the Soviet army in the direction of Moscow would not be able to withstand it, and the loss of Moscow would be inevitable. Inevitably, if Moscow falls, the impact on this political level will be too great!
Before the war began, Stalin consolidated his authority through a series of purges, but it must be noted that the Soviet Communist Party was definitely not monolithic. If Moscow had not fallen, the Soviet Communist Party could still be united, but if Moscow fell, the Soviet Union would most likely It is not impossible to break up and have a puppet government emerge.
Even if Leningrad and Moscow withstood it, the consequences of failure on the southern front would be absolutely catastrophic.
If the German Army Group South achieves its tactical objectives, it will not only mean that the Soviet Union will completely lose the large granary of Ukraine, but it will also mean that the Soviet Union will completely lose the oil fields in the Caucasus! Then in turn, the German army will continuously obtain strategic materials such as food and crude oil from Ukraine and the Caucasus.
Throughout World War II, the most serious strategic shortcoming that plagued the German army was crude oil!
Due to the lack of a stable and sufficient supply of crude oil, the German army was unable to use tank naval tactics like the Soviet army. Instead, it focused on improving tank performance as much as possible. However, in the end, the German army's limited number of high-performance tanks failed. It was completely overwhelmed by the Soviet army's large number of tanks with average performance.
Let us assume that if the German army obtains the Caucasus oil fields and has a stable and sufficient supply of crude oil, the German army will no longer have to pursue the ultimate tank performance as it did in history. If the German army is as generous as the Soviet army, it produces tens of thousands of tanks every year. Simplified versions of Leopard and Tiger poses and then pushing forward... This picture is really chilling!
Therefore, the current situation in the Soviet Union is really not as dangerous as usual! It's simply extremely sinister!
Seeing that Xu Rui remained silent, Cherev couldn't help but ask: "Comrade Xu Rui, regarding the current situation of the Great Patriotic War, do you have anything to say?"
To be honest, Cherev didn’t quite understand why Comrade Stalin insisted on reporting the war situation to Xu Rui every three days. Based on Cherev’s private speculation, Comrade Stalin probably hoped that Xu Rui could make suggestions regarding the Soviet Union’s Patriotic War. Some suggestions were made to help the Soviet Red Army reverse the unfavorable situation, but Cherev felt that Comrade Stalin's idea was a bit wishful thinking.
Yes, in the Soviet-Finnish War, Xu Rui indeed played an important role and showed extremely superb commanding skills. However, the scale of the Soviet-Finnish War was completely incomparable with the Soviet-German War. Although the Soviet Army gave the Soviet Union The army caused casualties, but compared with the casualties caused by the German army, it was nothing worth mentioning!
Therefore, it is difficult to apply the experience of the Soviet-Finnish War to the Soviet-German War.
What's more important is that Xu Rui is still in China at the moment and does not know much about the situation on the Soviet-German battlefield. Although he will report the situation of the Great Patriotic War to Xu Rui every three days, these are only battle reports after all, and they have nothing to do with the situation on the front line. The actual situation is definitely different, so Cherev does not think that Xu Rui can make suggestions on the Great Patriotic War.
However, since Stalin gave the order, Cherev could only execute it.
Facing Cherev's hopeful eyes, Xu Rui shook his head and said, "No, I don't have anything to say."
Xu Rui really had nothing to say, because it would be useless to say it. At this time, even if he replaced Stalin as the supreme commander of the Soviet Red Army, it would be useless, because the gap between the Soviet Red Army and the German army could be said to be comprehensive. , to use a current terminology to describe it, there is a generational difference between the two armies!
There is not a generational difference between weapons, but a generational difference between tactical guiding ideology!
The tactical guiding ideology of the senior generals of the Soviet Red Army still remained at the traditional level of large-depth operations. This was actually the guiding tactics of World War I. To put it bluntly, it meant digging trenches and echelon defense in a wide area. You can break through us. There is a first line of defense, and there is a second line of defense waiting for you. If you break through the second line of defense, there is a third line, endless. So as the offensive side, the guiding ideology of the battle is to push all the way, and after breaking through the defense line, tear towards the two wings. After stabilizing, continue forward to attack the enemy's second line of defense, then the third line, until the enemy's army completely collapses.
However, the tactical guiding ideology of the German senior generals has evolved to the level of rapid blitzkrieg battles of tank clusters. The German tactical guiding ideology is to never get entangled with you, to assemble a huge tank cluster, supplemented by infantry, and to select a weak point of the opponent to rebuild. After attacking and breaking through the defense line, they still won't entangle you too much, but stride forward in depth, directly cutting off the enemy's retreat and logistics channels, and then wait for the enemy to fall into huge chaos and finally collapse!
Well, the German blitzkrieg tactics are actually an armor-strengthened version of the infantry group roundabout tactics of the Chinese Volunteer Army on the Korean battlefield! The equipment of the Chinese People's Volunteers is so poor, but they can use the roundabout tactics of infantry groups to defeat the U.S. Army that has just finished World War II. So you can fully imagine how many Germans used the armored version of the roundabout tactics of infantry groups as their guiding ideology. fear? It can be said that the Soviet army has no chance of winning, at least in positional warfare, there is absolutely no chance of winning.
Therefore, Xu Rui really had nothing to say, because asking him to direct could not change the outcome.
But Cherev was obviously dissatisfied with Xu Rui's answer. He frowned and said, "Don't you even have the slightest suggestion?"
After a slight pause, Chelev pointed to the map and said: "For example, on the Kiev battlefield, the elite troops of more than 70 divisions of the Southwest Front have been completely surrounded by the German army. At the moment, the high command is trying to mobilize troops to reinforce the Southwest Front and at the same time orders the Southwest Front to Try your best to save yourself. Comrade Xu Rui, even Comrade Timoshenko admires your commanding skills. I don’t believe you don’t have any suggestions. If you have some, you will definitely be able to help the Southwest Front. Am I right? ?”
"Comrade Cherev, I'm sorry, I'm afraid I really can't help the Southwest Front!" Xu Rui shook his head and said, "The situation of the Kiev battle is already very clear. The two major German Army Groups, the Central and Southern Army Groups, have formed an encirclement on the Southwest Front. But your Soviet reserve force is still being formed, and Yuan Shui can no longer save Near Thirst!"
After hearing this, Cherev's face immediately became embarrassed and asked: "Comrade Xu Rui, you mean to say that the defeat of the Southwest Front Army is inevitable, right?"
"No, you are wrong." Xu Rui shook his head and said, "Comrade Cherev was not defeated, but was completely annihilated by the German army! The seventy divisions of the Southwest Front that were besieged near Kiev will inevitably be annihilated by the German army. Annihilate!”
Upon hearing this, Cherev could no longer suppress the anger in his chest and said sternly: "Farewell!"
After saying that, Cherev turned around and left. When he walked to the door, he happened to meet Wang Husheng coming back from the construction site.
Wang Husheng said in surprise: "Comrade Cherev, are you going back? Why don't you leave after lunch?"
Cherev ignored him and walked away. Wang Husheng was confused. He walked into the war room and asked Xu Rui: "Old Xu, what's wrong with Comrade Cherev? Is it because of the gunfire?" Already?"
Xu Rui sighed and said: "The situation in the Soviet Union's Patriotic War is very serious and we are anxious."
Wang Husheng's expression condensed when he heard this, and his attention immediately shifted to the big map, and asked: "Is the situation in the Soviet Union's Patriotic War very serious? How serious is it?"
Xu Rui pointed at the map and said: "The Soviet Union's Southwest Front Army has been surrounded by the Germans in Kiev. As expected, these more than 70 divisions with nearly one million troops will be completely wiped out!" After a pause, he continued. , "After losing the Southwest Front Army, the largest strategic army cluster, the strength of the Soviet Red Army has dropped to an extremely dangerous level!"
Wang Husheng was stunned and said: "Old Xu, will the Soviet Army's Southwest Front Army really be wiped out by the German army?"
"I'm afraid it's inevitable." Xu Rui nodded and added, "With the annihilation of the Southwest Front Army, more than 500 divisions and more than 5 million Soviet troops deployed 500 kilometers deep on the Soviet-German border, It has been basically defeated by the German army. If the Soviet high command cannot recruit enough reserves and form a sufficient number of reserve corps in a short period of time, the fall of Leningrad and Moscow will be inevitable. If Moscow falls, the Soviet Union will basically be defeated. You can be sentenced to death!"
"What? This can't be possible." Wang Husheng said horrified, "During the Franco-Russian War, the French army also occupied Moscow, but didn't Russia survive in the end? So even if Moscow finally fell, the Soviet Union might not be destroyed, right? ?”
"Times have changed." Xu Rui shook his head and sighed, "Today is different from the past."