Steel Soviet Union

The chief of staff, who had hardly thought about the doubts reported by Zhukov, immediately responded.

"I don't think this is a big problem, Comrade Commander, just imagine that after the battle with the White Bandits, there were still many people in our team who were once called the White Bandits. Didn't everyone later become Comrade?"

The words coming from the Chief of Staff's mouth were full of puns. What meaning could be interpreted depends on Zhukov's ability.

He picked up the hot water cup on the table and took a sip. After thinking for a moment, Zhukov finally made up his mind and spoke.

"Malashenko told me in the telegram that the German threatened to commit suicide if his demands were not met. It seems that we were cornered by the Germans this time. Am I right?"

With his hands in his pockets, he couldn't help laughing when he heard Zhukov's intriguing rhetorical question. The chief of staff, who knew what Zhukov was sarcastic about, turned around and smiled.

"Yes, Comrade Commander, but the situation is different now. It's time for us to push the Germans to the edge."

The resolute words echoed in the air of the front army headquarters. Zhukov, who controlled the fate of Moscow and the entire Soviet Union, couldn't help but reveal a relaxed and triumphant smile.

That afternoon, Malashenko, who was about 23 kilometers away in the outskirts of Tula city, sent a telegram to Zhukov, saying that the 1st Guards Heavy Tank Breakthrough Regiment led by him had joined the three infantry divisions that launched the counterattack. , is launching an attack on the remnants of the German 4th Armored Division and most of the Grossdeutschland Infantry Regiment's defense lines.

As of the time of reporting, Malashenko said that the German army's defense was extremely fierce, and he even did not hesitate to mobilize the reserve team to play a confrontation with Malashenko's troops in front of the position relying on a favorable defensive formation. Although the troops suffered heavy losses, Malashenko assured Zhukov at the end of the telegram that he would find a way to penetrate the German field defenses as soon as possible.

That day was December 5th. This day was not only the day that determined the turning point of the Battle of Moscow, it was also the starting point of a downhill road that Guderian would never forget.

It was freezing cold outside Moscow at night, and the ray of warm sunshine that could barely be felt during the day no longer existed. In the brightly lit frontline command post, a sad-looking Guderian was holding a phone and having an extremely desperate call with Marshal Bock.

"Where is your command post now? You reported to me that you have begun to move away from the fighting in Tula City and toward Moscow. Why is there no accurate result yet?"

Guderian, holding the microphone in his hand, understood that the cold weather and the bad battle situation had caused Marshal Bock, who was anxious in his heart, to misjudge the situation of the battle.

Marshal Bock on the other end of the phone obviously mistakenly thought that Guderian was commanding the battle far away from the front line, otherwise there would be no precise news of the specific battle situation for so long.

But the fact is that Guderian, who was strict with himself, never left his troops. One of the military creeds Guderian advocated was to locate the headquarters where the sound of artillery could be heard. In order to make correct judgments about the war and the troops and not let the fighter plane slip away from his hands, Guderian always stayed closest to the battlefield and his soldiers.

At this juncture, there is no need to worry about these minutiae matters anymore. Guderian, who is well aware that Marshal Bock's current situation must be worse than his own, did not argue or argue on the phone, but sighed softly. Then he spoke to Marshal Bock in a relatively calm tone.

"I'm with the troops, Marshal, within earshot of the cannon fire."

In response to Gudry's quiet answer, Marshal Bock on the other end of the phone once again fell into a brief silence.

"Hepner's 4th Armored Army was stopped, as were Guderian and Hoth's 3rd Army. They exhausted their strength 35 kilometers away from Moscow and are now forced to rest in place. I have just received a telegram from the 9th Army. A huge group of Russians is moving towards their flanks through the night, and the battle is expected to break out immediately after dawn. "

Guderian knew what Marshal Bock wanted from him on the other end of the phone, but when the duty of a soldier overlapped with the current bad war situation, Guderian, who had never been able to tell a white lie, finally chose to say Tell the truth.

"My 2nd Armored Group has been stopped, Marshal. The Russians have mobilized batch after batch of troops from the north to launch a counterattack against us. The battle has been very fierce. Now my 2nd Armored Group has not only been stopped. offensive and have to retreat, the situation is now on the side of the Russians. "

Obviously, Marshal Bock on the other end of the phone, who had expected Guderian to bring some good news, was very surprised. He did not understand how the 2nd Armored Group, which had launched a fierce offensive against Tula three days ago, could be defeated. So fast.

"What happened!? Guderian, that's not what you told me three days ago. You have to give me a clear explanation."

Guderian, who had already expected that Marshal Bock, who was a little emotional, would ask such a question. Guderian, who had been concealing the truth about the troops and reporting good news but not bad news, finally decided to tell all the negative news.

"I am holding the casualty report for the week in my hand, Marshal. It clearly states that there are 368 soldiers and officers who suffered amputations due to frostbite. This is just the number for one week! I will go there this evening. I inspected the field hospital of our Second Armored Group. When I got there, they had just dug a pit. It is very difficult to break ground in such ice and snow. "

"I walked up and grabbed a soldier holding an iron bar in his hand and asked them why they were digging a big hole in such weather that seemed to have no military value at all."

"The soldier pointed to a pile of frozen soil around him and told me that a pit had just been filled, filled with frozen corpses and surgical amputations. Now they were going to dig a new pit and continue to repeat the same thing. , because the storage of our soldiers’ corpses is full and there is no place to put them. Do you know what this means?”

The silent rhetorical question from Guderian shocked Marshal Bock's heart. The warm fire flames that kept jumping in the room could not bring even a little warmth to Marshal Bock's cold heart.

Looking out the window at the bleak night sky with howling cold wind, Marshal Bock, whose heart had sunk to the extreme, suddenly lost his mind and asked questions.

"Guderian, what is the temperature outside now?"