Chapter 137 The God of War Arrives

Hitler adjusted the deployment of the German army's next combat plan from Moscow to Leningrad to the north, and the strategic adjustment with the Ukrainian theater to the south did not mean the end of the battle for Yelnya.

On the contrary, due to Hitler's determination to win Yelnya, the German army's future springboard to Moscow, and Zhukov, who had just been pushed to the front line by Stalin, commanded the Soviet reserve front to accept the task of continuing to attack Yelnya in the next stage, he officially took office.

An unstoppable storm is quietly gathering over Yelnya.

Although the second phase of the battle in Yelnya was nominally Zhukov's "meritorious service" after being dismissed by Stalin, it was actually Zhukov's first appearance on the front battlefield after the start of the Great Patriotic War, personally commanding the front-line troops to fight.

The arrival of this "Red Army God of War" and "Stalin Fire Chief" was undoubtedly a catastrophic bad news for the German army in the direction of Yelnya.

Zhukov, who took over the second phase of the Yelnya Campaign from Marshal Timoshenko, the commander of the Western Front, immediately began to arrange combat deployments and prepare for the attack after arriving at his reserve front headquarters.

Frankly speaking, the reserve front that Zhukov took over at this time was not very strong, and could even be said to be somewhat weak.

The Smolensk Campaign and the first phase of the Yelnya Campaign for many consecutive days had caused many troops in this reserve front to be transferred to friendly troops for reinforcement to fill the vacancies.

When Zhukov officially arrived at the front and took over the command of the reserve front.

This Soviet field group with a front-level number only had 9 infantry divisions and 1 tank division left, with a total strength of just over 100,000. In terms of combat strength, it was at most a group army-level combat strength.

If you want to use such a front army with incomplete and incomplete combat power to take down the Yelnya theater, which is a headache for Marshal Timoshenko, who controls the entire combat power of the Soviet Western Front.

This is not only an epic test given by Stalin to Zhukov, his beloved general, but also the most suitable debut stage for Zhukov to show his extraordinary command art.

As the saying goes, a good cook cannot cook without rice. For Zhukov, who is preparing to launch an attack on the city of Yelnya, the most urgent problem to be solved is undoubtedly the shortage of troops in his hands, and the shortage of tanks and armored forces is the most urgent task.

At this moment when he has just been dismissed by Stalin, it is obviously not practical for Zhukov to ask Moscow for help.

Since the far one doesn't work, then find the near one.

Zhukov, after thinking over and over again, combined with his personal relationship with Marshal Timoshenko, finally decided to ask for help from Marshal Timoshenko, the commander of the Western Front.

Although Zhukov had been dismissed from his post as Chief of the General Staff of the Red Army by Stalin and demoted to the commander of the front.

But Zhukov, who had a close personal relationship with Marshal Timoshenko and had helped Marshal Timoshenko after the defeat in the Battle of Smolensk in the previous Moscow Political Committee meeting, saved him from being dismissed and investigated by the furious Stalin, had reason to believe that Marshal Timoshenko, who was strong and upright, should not be the kind of person who forgets his kindness and adds insult to injury.

The counterattack in the Smolensk direction and the simultaneous war in the Yelnya direction were not going well, which made Marshal Timoshenko, who had been commanding the battle for many days, look a little exhausted.

Zhukov, who was "exiled" from Moscow to the front-line troops to command operations, came to share some of the pressure for Marshal Timoshenko. Zhukov, who had not seen him for a month since the Moscow Political Committee meeting, stepped forward and smiled at his old friend.

"See you again, comrade Marshal. Seeing you so tired really makes me feel a little uncomfortable."

Seeing the former Chief of the General Staff of the Red Army who was willing to stand up and help him in front of the furious Stalin, Marshal Timoshenko, who looked tired, also forced a smile. The busy and hurried scene in the Western Front Command did not disturb the conversation between the two famous generals.

"The frontline situation facing your reserve front is very serious, Zhukov."

"Reconnaissance intelligence shows that the Germans have been continuously drawing reinforcements from the Central Army Group in the rear to the Yelnya theater these days. It is expected that at least two armored divisions and more than three infantry divisions are moving towards Yelnya. The specific numbers of the enemy troops are not yet known, but the intelligence department expects that these reinforcements, including the existing German garrison in Yelnya, are under the command of General Guderian of the enemy's Second Armored Group."

In the Great Purge of that year, it was almost pervasive and made the entire Soviet military and political senior officials tremble and sleep uneasy. The Soviet Ministry of Internal Affairs agents' ability to spy and collect intelligence is undoubtedly beyond doubt.

Although the German army, which had just started Operation Barbarossa, was making rapid progress and making it difficult for the Soviet army to collect intelligence, the MVD agents lurking in the occupied areas or behind the German front lines secretly carried out intelligence collection and sabotage work and did their best to collect some relatively useful information and pass it on. This was undoubtedly extremely useful intelligence for the Soviet army, which was in chaos due to the sudden attack in the early stages of the war.

Zhukov was stunned for a moment when he heard the familiar name Guderian again from Marshal Timoshenko, but he quickly recovered and spoke.

"Guderian, I have heard of him. It is said that he is the confidant and favorite of the Nazi leader Hitler. I have also read his book "Attention! Tanks!" as research material."

"To be honest, the armored offensive strategy and tank application methods described in this book have their own unique characteristics, which are somewhat similar to the large-scale concentrated operations I envisioned. The German troops under his command will definitely be the heavy punch and the spearhead of the attack. Breaking it can severely defeat the enemy's arrogance, but we must deal with it carefully."

Marshal Timoshenko nodded slightly to express his agreement with what Zhukov said. After roughly guessing the purpose of Zhukov's visit, he continued to speak after a little thought.

"I have a general understanding of the difficulties faced by your reserve front. Zhukov, tell me, how many reinforcements do you need?"