Chapter 1066: The Plight of Two Leaders

Inside the Kremlin in Moscow, in a grand hall that had been hastily tidied up, a map of the entire, constantly shifting German-Soviet front hung on the wall. Stalin was standing in front of it with Vatutin and several other generals, analyzing and summarizing the war situation.

This analysis was conducted once every day, because they were now only a short 15 kilometers from that line. German infantry were, bit by bit, closing in on the outskirts of Moscow. The daily shelling from their decent-range howitzers was a constant reminder to everyone in Moscow that the German army was not far away.

A huge conference table stood in the center of the hall, scattered with documents from a few days ago and unimportant, outdated telegrams. During the last major bombing, a portion of the German bombs had struck the Kremlin, destroying half of this complex that had stood since the Tsarist era.

The shattered glass windows had only just been repaired. Yesterday, several of them had still been letting in a draft. Of course, this was a room used by men, so after just one day, it had already been turned into a mess by its occupants.

“Comrade Stalin,” Vatutin said, pointing to the hundreds-of-kilometers-long defensive line on the southern front. “I must remind you once again, even if we stabilize the situation in the Moscow theater, the Germans can still achieve a breakthrough here.”

“Yes, great leader, Comrade Stalin.” Another general nodded in agreement and then, gesturing twice at the Volga defense line, added, “From the Volga line all the way to Voronezh, which was just captured, our defensive strength is extremely thin. If the German army takes Moscow and shortens its own defensive sector, it will definitely detach troops to threaten our industrial heartland in Chelyabinsk…”

“That is why our holding every inch of ground here is a contribution to the entire nation’s war!” Before Stalin could speak, a general, eager to express his loyalty, jumped up, slapped the table, and said to Vatutin and the other generals, “Every day we hold out here, we are buying more time for the all-out war against Germany!”

Stalin glanced at this subordinate, who had dared to step up and build his own prestige at such a moment. He was clearly very satisfied with this feeling of being admired and obeyed. He motioned for the general to be quiet for now, as if, in this gesture, he had recaptured that time when he was the one who called, and no one dared to disobey. “Let’s not talk about this for now. Comrade Vatutin, a few days ago I heard that Marshal Zhukov’s troops are heading north. Where are they now?”

“Great leader, Comrade Stalin, the rearguard of Zhukov’s group has already crossed the Sosna River and has reached Livny. They have been ordered to set up a defensive line along the Sosna River at Livny, to stop the German vanguard that is biting at their heels from continuing its pursuit.” Vatutin understood far better than Stalin what kind of impact Zhukov’s army would have on the overall defense of Moscow. So he had poured all his energy, apart from setting up his own defenses, into monitoring the progress of Zhukov’s group’s northward advance.

“The German army has completely encircled Kursk. The Second Battle of Kursk seems to have been won by the Germans,” another Soviet general added, somewhat unwillingly, about the war situation in Kursk. “Yesterday, the German army broke through the Shchigry defense line and captured that city.”

He did not dare to describe the entire Kursk campaign in detail, and even less did he dare to tell Stalin that, a few hours ago, the German army had already captured all of Kursk, apart from the encircled Soviet troops. And a portion of the German army had already entered the southern part of the Lipetsk Oblast, had occupied many towns, and was continuing to advance north. They were only a few days away from completing the encirclement of Moscow. This was a conservative estimate, even with Soviet resistance.

As the German army extended its front line, the Soviet Union was also forced to extend its own. The German army still had surplus troops to fill this long front, but the Soviet army was already on its last legs, with no capital left to resist the Germans’ four-sided encirclement.

“If Guderian’s troops continue to advance north, then we will be forced to add another Moscow southern defense sector,” one of Vatutin’s generals said, pointing to the large blank area on the map below Moscow. “Great leader, Comrade Stalin, in that case, it is hard to say how many of the troops Comrade Zhukov is bringing back can be detached for the defense of Moscow.”

“But the soldiers Marshal Zhukov is bringing back are all elites who have been tested by the flames of war. Of this, there is no doubt,” Vatutin had no choice but to stand up and say a few good words for Zhukov. If it had been a year ago, if there had been an opportunity to stab a rival in the back in front of Stalin and thus gain Stalin’s trust for himself, Vatutin would have been very happy to do so. But at a time like this, those chairs that had once seemed so high and powerful were now no different from the guillotine. To backstab each other and fight for that illusory power at a time like this would make one a complete and utter fool.

So when his subordinate had slandered Zhukov, he had quickly stood up to explain for his nominal superior. “Comrade Stalin, you must know that the troops in our hands all lack combat experience. The troops that Comrade Marshal Zhukov is bringing back can effectively make up for this shortcoming of the Moscow defenders… This will definitely double our combat effectiveness.”

Stalin nodded after hearing this, and then signaled for the others to leave the room. And so all the generals, as if a great burden had been lifted, all picked up some of their own materials and documents and quickly walked out of this huge conference room. Outside the window, a corner of the Kremlin, which had already collapsed, could be seen. Soldiers and civilians were slowly clearing the rubble left by the collapsed building.

BOOM! A faint sound of artillery came from the distance. It was the sound of the German army bombarding the defensive positions on the outskirts of Moscow. Shells often fell into the city, exploding in the streets or on buildings, causing panic among the citizens and not-insignificant casualties. This place had already become a frontline fortified city. Nothing was safe anymore.

Looking out the window, at the thick smoke rising in the distance behind the buildings, where his line of sight could not reach, Stalin stood with his hands behind his back, saying nothing. And behind him, Vatutin could only stand there, also remaining silent. The corners of the first floor of the nearby buildings were already piled high with sandbags. Barbed wire was stretched across the streets. The barricades were manned by soldiers with their rifles. The atmosphere was so tense.

“In these past few days, the Germans have not carried out any large-scale air raids…” Stalin suddenly spoke, addressing Vatutin behind him. “We don’t have the energy to repair our city either, but you must pay attention to the reaction of the civilians. The waterworks and the power plants must also be well protected.”

“Please rest assured! Great leader, Comrade Stalin!” Vatutin replied at attention. “I have already transferred the most reliable troops in the Moscow defense zone to the waterworks. The power plant, too, has our most loyal troops. I am not worried about these places, but I am worried about the Germans entering the city from the main front.”

Stalin nodded. He had not been paying much attention to these problems, but hearing the news of Zhukov’s return had rekindled a glimmer of hope in his heart. That was why he had kept Vatutin behind today to ask about the frontline deployment.

The Soviet main defense line was quite well laid out, which was why it had been able to block the repeated fierce attacks of F Army Group and A Army Group’s infantry. The Soviet army had mobilized a large number of civilians to build their defense line, allowing them to dig countless anti-tank ditches in a short period of time, artificially turning the plain in front of Moscow into a rugged obstacle zone.

Moreover, the Soviet Union had begun to equip its “new weapons” on a large scale, including a large number of anti-tank weapons such as anti-tank rifles and self-propelled anti-tank guns. These weapons had helped the Soviet army in the Moscow direction to temporarily stabilize its defense line and to stop the frantic German offensive.

Of course, the German army was not just waiting for the Soviets to strengthen themselves. F Army Group had advanced 10 kilometers in the southwest of Moscow, pushing its front line to be level with A Army Group. And A Army Group, with its steady and solid advance, had pushed its vanguard to a place only 15 kilometers from Moscow.

The western part of Moscow city had already been reduced to a pile of rubble by the German heavy artillery. Many of the buildings had collapsed, and the streets were buried in rubble, becoming a natural defense line for the soldiers. Of course, Stalin had not been to the western part of the city to see it, so as the supreme leader of the Soviet Union, he still did not know that nearly one-fifth of his capital had already become unrecognizable.

“When Zhukov returns to Moscow, help me arrange it. I want to personally go and welcome him,” Stalin said, turning his head and looking at Vatutin. “As a Marshal, he has not betrayed the trust I placed in him. So I must also repay his loyalty to me with the highest treatment! If we win this battle, you, and he, will both be heroes of the Soviet Union!”

“I understand! Comrade Stalin! I will go and prepare immediately! The location will be on the outskirts of the southern part of the city. I will prepare a 1,000-man honor guard for you and the Comrade Marshal to inspect,” Vatutin said, having understood the unspoken meaning. He quickly proposed a seemingly good ceremonial procedure for Stalin.

“Go and prepare it,” Stalin said, nodding in agreement with Vatutin’s arrangement. “If every general in the Soviet Union were as loyal and as capable as you and Comrade Zhukov, perhaps we would not be in this situation today.”

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