Transmigrated as the Crown Prince

Chapter 176: Battle of Poland (39)

The German high command outlined dozens of small squares in Warsaw and drew all these areas on the map. After each group of street fighting troops captured a square, they withdrew, and the next group of new troops took over and continued to advance, so as to allow All troops experienced street fighting firsthand. Although the brutality here was nothing compared to the subsequent street battles in Stalingrad, it allowed the soldiers to accumulate good experience.

The German army was leisurely clearing and cannibalizing the Polish defenders in Warsaw, and the offensive at the front was also advancing in an orderly manner. This made Stalin who was far away in Moscow anxious.

Because the Soviet troops on the front line have not been able to break through the fortifications on the Polish border so far and are still standing still.

The Polish troops relied on solid defenses to fight steadily, causing tens of thousands of casualties to the Soviet Red Army. Although the entire defense line is now crumbling due to a lack of reserves and follow-up supplies, it seems that it will definitely not last another ten days and a half. questionable.

In order to show the importance he attached to the front line, Stalin sent his right-hand man Yezhov to the front line.

"Why haven't you broken through the Polish defense line yet? Marshal Voroshilov?!" Yezhov asked in an aggressive tone as soon as he arrived at Voroshilov's command post on the front line.

Voroshilov secretly wondered what he could do. As soon as he took office, he discovered how bad the situation was. Due to logistical chaos, materials that should have been continuously shipped to the front line were now piled up in Kiev and Minsk. There are quite a few roads built with German assistance, but without corresponding dispatching levels, even half of the transport capacity cannot be used.

The soldiers on the front line cannot replenish the supplies they deserve, and the ammunition cannot meet the needs of large-scale battles. How can they fight the war? He was glad from the bottom of his heart that it was summer and not winter. Otherwise, with such poor logistical support, countless soldiers would have frozen to death.

"Comrade Yezhov, Leonid has made a mess here. I have to sort it out before launching a large-scale attack." Leonid was the former commander. In order not to be sent to Siberia to dig potatoes, Voroshilo My husband can only let him take the blame, and he can't jump out to protest anyway, right?

Ye Ruofu thought about it and felt that what he said made sense. After all, Voroshilov has only been in office for a few days, and it is impossible for him to take full responsibility. "How long will that take?"

"About two or three months." In fact, what Voroshilov wanted to say was at least six months. After all the supplies were in place, he would be confident of overcoming the Polish defense line in one fell swoop. But he also knew that Comrade Stalin would not have the patience to wait for so long, and might withdraw him in anger.

But obviously he still overestimated the patience of Stalin and Yezhov in front of him. Yezhov almost jumped up when he heard the time given by Voroshilov. "Two or three months? Marshal Voroshilov, are you kidding me? Don't you know that the German army has surrounded Warsaw and is still advancing eastward. They will reach you in less than a month!" How embarrassing must it be that the Soviet army suffered countless casualties, advanced several kilometers into Poland, and achieved a great victory?

"..." Marshal Voroshilov didn't know the speed of the German army, but what could he do? He is willing to let the soldiers go up and die, but the premise is that the lives of these soldiers can be exchanged for victory!

Seeing him silent, Yezhof made a decision for him. "Continue to attack! We have never encountered any difficulties, so we are retreating from this difficulty?!"

Although he did not reveal it openly, Yezhov had usurped the military power of Marshal Voroshilov and issued the order to attack across the entire front. Marshal Voroshilov did not even dare to complain. After all, he was a confidant of the great leader Comrade Stalin. Maybe he could be taken down as a marshal and thrown to Siberia with just one word. Moreover, he also knew that Yezhov was engaged in political work, so he was more than enough to deal with his own people. If he wanted to command a battle, he would be overestimating his capabilities.

Therefore, Marshal Voroshilov was happy to sit aside and watch Yezhov make a fool of himself, but the price was a bit high, and he didn't know how many soldiers had to be sacrificed.

Yezhov's desire to show off his strategic vision and commanding talent made the frontline's offensive attack even worse. Because he insisted on the order to attack across the entire front regardless of priority, the Soviet army dispersed its advantage in heavy weapons and fought for several days in a row without being able to move forward. One-third of the regimental commanders were killed, and another third were captured and executed, but the situation still failed to open up.

This result made Yezhov quite embarrassed, but he was too embarrassed to go to Marshal Voroshilov. Instead, he found some middle and high-level commanders, discussed it all night, and finally came up with a concentrated superior force to break through at a single point. , a roundabout plan to outflank.

Unfortunately, this seemingly perfect plan ended up being chaotic due to the lack of middle- and lower-level officers, and the process of gathering troops was chaotic. The Soviet army itself became chaotic first and failed to implement it. The army was in chaos, and many political commissars reported to him that they could no longer push the army forward!

After two failures, Yezhov finally understood what this war was about. Looking at the number of casualties in the troops, he felt sweat breaking out on his forehead. He couldn't help but regret in his heart that he shouldn't have come here if he had known this. All he could think about now was finding some excuse to shirk responsibility for this failure.

But when Voroshilov took back his command, he was faced with a mess that was even worse than before. It couldn't be worse.

That night Yezhov finally lost his temper and brought two bottles of good wine to Voroshilov. And Voroshilov didn't want to get into trouble with him, so he accepted Yezhov's silent apology.

After each drank a bottle of high-strength vodka, both of them became a little confused. Ye Ruofu said with a sad face. "Marshal Voroshilov, what do you think we should do now?" He came here and performed some magical operations, but made no progress and in vain increased the casualties of the soldiers. If he just went back like this, the consequences would be unimaginable. Although it is true that he is Stalin's confidant, there are countless people who are jealous of this position. If he makes a mistake, it will be doomed.

Although he was a little confused, Voroshilov couldn't say anything grand, such as being able to capture the defense line tomorrow. "I still say the same thing. We can only wait until the supplies are in place and enough food and ammunition are distributed before we can continue the attack."

"But now Comrade Stalin wants to see a victory as soon as possible!" Yezhov excitedly slapped the table and shouted loudly. But the next second there was suddenly no sound, and his face turned a little pale.

"What's the matter? Comrade Yezhov?" Voroshilov noticed something strange about Yezhov and asked. "Are you feeling uncomfortable somewhere?"

"..." Ye Ruofu shook his head slowly, his expression changed several times, he looked around cautiously, and after making sure there was no one else, he lowered his voice and whispered. "Since Comrade Stalin wants news of victory, how about we create one for him?"

"Create one?" Voroshilov was confused. How to create news of victory? Is it possible to forge one?

"!!" After reacting, Voroshilov felt as if the roots of his hair were standing straight up, and his whole body was soaked in cold sweat. He looked around hurriedly, and only after making sure that there was no one else, he said hurriedly. "Are you crazy?! If Comrade Stalin finds out that we dare to deceive him..." He couldn't even imagine the consequences.

Ye Ruofu's eyes became more determined. "Marshal Voroshilov, this line of defense will be conquered by us sooner or later. We are just giving the news of victory in advance. Strictly speaking, it is not deception. You must think clearly. If there is no news of victory, Your fate will be Leonid. As long as we have this news, we can buy some time and win a greater victory. Even if we are discovered by then, the merits and demerits will be equal to each other, and nothing will happen to us." Even coaxing. After being frightened for a long time, Voroshilov nodded in agreement with difficulty.

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