Chapter 1016: Red Square Parade

“But, to retreat like this, with hundreds of thousands of men, we’ll probably lose more than half,” Vasilevsky’s voice came over the phone, still somewhat unwilling. After all, these battle-hardened Soviet elites were simply too precious. To give up half of them just like that was truly heartbreaking.

“There’s nothing to be sorry about, General Vasilevsky,” Zhukov said with a bitter smile. He stabilized his emotions before continuing, “If we wait until the Germans attack first, then I’m not even sure I can get one-third of them back to Moscow. At a time like this, we’ll save as many as we can…”

Vasilevsky was silent on the other end of the line for a moment before finally acknowledging Zhukov’s order. “Since you’ve made up your mind, I will carry out your orders! I will move my troops north immediately. Please contact the air force for me and request as much cover as possible…”

This was also a necessary part of the plan. Modern warfare could no longer bypass the threshold of aerial reconnaissance. If the Germans learned of the Soviet troops’ intention to move north, it was very likely the enemy would take the opportunity to attack and annihilate them, completely finishing off Zhukov’s group, which had lost its fortifications. Vasilevsky could only hope that the sacrifice of the Soviet Air Force would buy them enough time to delay the Germans from discovering the truth.

While Zhukov, Vasilevsky, and Konev were scrambling to find a way out for their hundreds of thousands of troops at Kursk, Stalin was also trying everything he could to strengthen the defenses on the northern and main fronts of Moscow. The nearest German forces were now less than 25 kilometers from Moscow. This was not good news for Stalin.

More than 100 of the hastily converted SU-76 assault guns, and 35 SU-122 assault guns, which were originally intended to support Zhukov, had been held back by Stalin and given to the Moscow defenders, who were constantly contracting their lines. He hoped that this hastily scraped-together heavy weaponry could buy enough time for his Moscow defense system to take shape.

Of course, this equipment had indeed given the Germans a fright. Some German units had even claimed that they had discovered the Soviets were imitating the Panther assault gun (Jagdpanther), having mistaken the Soviet SU-76 for a friendly Jagdpanther. And these hastily commissioned tank destroyers had indeed caused a certain amount of trouble for the German army.

In his command post, General Kluge received numerous reports from his troops, claiming that the number of Soviet tanks was increasing. Relying on camouflage, they were opening fire at extremely close range. These hastily converted tank destroyers had indeed inflicted a certain amount of losses on the German armored forces.

In a few days, 17 German tanks had been destroyed by the less-than-skilled Soviet tank destroyers. Although at least 40 Soviet tanks had been taken out, this close exchange ratio was a real headache for the German high command, who were all about the elite route.

In another timeline, the weapon that had frustrated the Allies the most was not the battlefield-dominating Tiger tank, nor the advanced Panther or King Tiger. The weapon that the German army had produced from the beginning of the war to the very end was not one of those terrifying war monsters—on the contrary, the inconspicuous Panzer III assault gun (StuG III) was the armored pillar that the German army had relied on until the very end.

These low-profile, sharp-shooting stopgaps, when on the defensive, had hidden their lack of a turret and, in pre-prepared defensive positions, had often displayed a power beyond imagination. Someone had once done the math: Germany had produced 10,000 Panzer III assault guns, while the Tiger tank had only a little over 1,300.

From the data, it was not hard to see that the world-famous Tiger tank was perhaps not as important to the German military and industrial departments as the obscure little Panzer III assault gun. And the cheap and seemingly outdated StuG III had repaid the German army’s trust with an astonishing combat record of destroying 20,000 Allied tanks.

Unfortunately, unlike in another timeline, the situation now seemed to be reversed. The German army was constantly on the attack, while the Soviet army had now become the defender. The result was that the assault gun, cheap and easy to produce, which in another timeline had been Nazi Germany’s true lifeline, had now been given a facelift and had become the Soviet Union’s great weapon of self-salvation.

It had to be admitted that, from the current situation, there was really no good way to deal with the Soviet tank destroyers, which were camouflaged in every possible location and were sniping at the German tanks with a “trade-one-for-one” mentality. At the very least, the German army lacked the experience to deal with this kind of roguish tactic, especially since the Soviet tank guns were not that far behind the Germans in terms of power.

In mid-June, while the Germans had destroyed 170 Soviet armored vehicles, including tank destroyers and tanks, Stalin had received 165 tank destroyers of various models, sent from the rear. This near-equilibrium of attrition made Stalin feel as if he had found the key to victory. He ordered a halt to tank production, and to instead produce this turretless “weapon of victory.”

“Comrade Stalin, the front line has basically been stabilized by us. The Germans are wary of losses and have stopped their frantic advance on the northern and main fronts. Although the closest enemy is only 20 kilometers from our capital, as long as we can drag this out until September, the weather will help us to delay the Germans until next spring,” General Vatutin said. He was very optimistic about the defense of Moscow. He even felt that he might be able to turn the tide of the entire war on the outskirts of the city.

Hearing this news, Stalin seemed to relax a little. This man with the bushy mustache had, in the last few weeks, become visibly gaunt. He had even been smoking his favorite pipe less and less. He and a group of his subordinates, who had long since become like frightened birds, had been trying every means to expand the armored strength near Moscow, hoping to rely on this equipment to stop the German offensive.

Now it seemed that it had had a certain effect. Those crude weapons and equipment had indeed provided the defenders near Moscow with a certain anti-tank capability, and having this capability had undoubtedly strengthened the confidence of these new recruits in their fight against the German invaders.

Like the Germans in another timeline, the Soviets had used every armored vehicle they could find, had modified them, and had turned them into badly needed self-propelled anti-tank guns. For example, some of the artisan workshops had removed the turrets from the outdated T-26 tanks, had mounted a 76mm cannon that was completely immobile, and had thus completed the production of an “SU-76” tank destroyer. The Soviet high command had counted all 76mm self-propelled guns as SU-76s. It was unknown if this was to bolster the courage of their own soldiers, or their own.

These crude cannons had no top armor, and some didn’t even have side armor. They had deludedly installed some frontal armor, and then had put on some brackets for hanging sandbags, and had thus been “issued” to the frontline troops. And the frontline troops, having nothing else to rely on, had simply used these weapons as “tanks.”

If one were to count the thousands of T-26 and old KV tanks that could not even go to the battlefield, then it would not be hard to understand why the Soviet Union, which was facing a depletion of its resources, had been able to “quickly” replenish the frontline troops with “SU-76s and SU-122s.” To put it simply, it was nothing more than a self-deceiving numbers game.

“In every shop’s display window, set up an anti-tank gun. In every park, lay mines,” Stalin said, his face expressionless, to his city defense commander, Vatutin. “Every street, every house, must have its defensive positions meticulously arranged. Moscow is our last fortress. No one can retreat a single step… do you understand?”

“Yes, Leader Comrade. I have already had the civilians set up defensive positions in the city. Many of the streets have already begun to be dug up with trenches and anti-tank ditches. The wrecks of cars and the rubble from collapsed buildings have all been used as obstacles to block the main roads,” Vatutin said, standing at attention and introducing the progress of the city’s defensive deployment.

“I have just issued an order from the High Command. Zhukov’s group is already moving towards us. As long as we can successfully rendezvous, then Moscow will have several hundred thousand more troops. Manpower is not a problem. I hope you can understand this,” Stalin said, mentioning Zhukov’s troops. A little color had returned to his face. Zhukov had, to this day, firmly supported him, carrying out his every order. This showed that he had not been wrong about the man. So when he mentioned Zhukov, his spirits were a little higher.

“…” Hearing the news of Zhukov’s northward advance, Vatutin also relaxed a little. He knew how thoroughly Moscow had been fortified. Including the subway project, dozens of meters underground were all maze-like air-raid facilities. As long as there were enough troops, this place would become a slaughterhouse that would bleed both sides dry.

This was the only piece of good news he had heard in more than ten days. Just now, Vatutin had heard that the German army had captured two small towns north of Moscow, only 18 kilometers away. He had not dared to report this to Stalin. After all, the difference between 18 and 20 kilometers was not that great.

Stalin glanced at the silent Vatutin. Because he was in a good mood, he suddenly said, “I know everyone has been working very hard to prepare for this difficult battle, and I also understand everyone’s current feelings. But you must believe me, believe that the Soviet Union will surely win!”

“Yes! Leader Comrade!” Vatutin quickly nodded in agreement. He had just been fantasizing that he could turn the tide of the war in Moscow, so he could be said to have resonated with Stalin’s words. At the very least, he could feel the weakening of the German attack, which was the best proof that the German army was also beginning to run out of steam.

“Make the preparations!” Stalin said after a moment’s thought to Vatutin. “Find some decent-looking tanks. In two days, I want to hold a parade in Moscow’s Red Square! Victory, in the end, will belong to the great Soviet people!”

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