"Tell me your reasons." Stalin asked with a calm expression after taking out his pipe.

"Comrade Zhukov's strategy is of course correct overall. No matter which of the three goals of Tambov, Voronezh and Kharkov are all key nodes on the German defense line. As long as we can occupy it or deter it there, the German army will be forced to stop the offensive situation. But I think this strategy has three shortcomings that cannot be overcome." Huasilevsky cleared his throat and explained seriously:

"First, our army has a big gap in combat effectiveness compared with the German army. It has been particularly obvious in the Central Asian battlefield recently. The entire German logistics supply line relies on the landing ground on the east coast of the Caspian Sea. The only one guarding the landing ground is a German division with more than 15,000 people. However, our army used two armies to launch an attack on the advancing north and south, with more than 60,000 troops, which is 4 times the opponent's technical equipment is also slightly better than the enemy. However, under the enemy's stubborn defense and air force strangulation, the attack finally returned in vain..."

The example of war cited by Huasilevsky was a small battle on the Central Asian battlefield at the turn of August and September. When other battlefields on the Eastern Front were silent, fierce battles continued in Central Asia. Rommel led his army to rush forward for nearly 1,500 kilometers in Central Asia. It took more than two months to fight from the eastern coast of the Caspian Sea to Tashkent, repeating the story of fighting from Tobruk to Alahman. The third-line troops deployed by the Red Army here collapsed one after another, including Turkmen, Uzbek, Kazakhstan and many other Central Asian countries and nations declared independence, forming a situation of "calmness on the Eastern Front and a great battle in Central Asia"...

In order to save the situation and face, Stalin took advantage of the favorable opportunity for the rest of the battlefield to quell 300,000 relatively combat-capable troops from the Far East and the rear to try to eliminate Rommel's troops. Zhukov did not encircle Rommel's troops according to Stalin's intentions, because he knew that in such a vast place as Central Asia, let alone 300,000, even if he added three times the troops, it would be impossible to block Rommel's armored troops. He carefully studied Rommel's combat experience in the desert, and also learned about the situation from the British side, believing that cutting off the enemy's supply line was the most fundamental and effective way.

However, time did not stand on Zhukov's side. On the one hand, he was urging by Stalin, and on the other hand, he was unable to follow the steps because the situation changed too quickly. If he had enough time, he would disperse 300,000 troops and slowly harasse the German long supply line by breaking the whole into pieces. As long as it was dragged until winter, Rommel's 100,000 people would definitely be in a dilemma, either forced to retreat or fall into a quagmire.

However, the German army was advancing too fast, and the momentum of the ethnic independence movements in Central Asia far exceeded the imagination of the General Staff. The method of breaking up the pieces and harassing the supply line immediately became inappropriate. Small troops would be attacked by Central Asian national militants, and the combat effectiveness and fighting will of the Tatars were not weak. In addition, the general hostility of ordinary people to the Soviets and the Bolshevik regimes has many exiled ethnic minorities in Central Asia. The Red Army guerrillas had no room for existence. Breaking up the pieces would only allow local armed forces to eat them one by one.

So Zhukov could only settle for the second best. On the one hand, he used some troops to lure Rommel to pursue, and on the other hand, he secretly concentrated two armies, including nearly 3 tank brigades, more than 60,000 people and more than 200 tanks to attack the German landing ground and main material storage points. According to the idea, as long as more than 15,000 German military advisors were eaten and the relevant materials were seized or destroyed, the situation in Central Asia could be reversed.

The ideal is beautiful, but reality plays a joke with Zhukov.

The German troops who encountered a sudden attack were only a little panicked at the beginning, but soon calmed down. They relied on the defense line to defend on the spot and called for air firepower support. The Far Eastern Red Army troops, which forced the attack, shed all their blood and could not gain a advantage in the German army's tenacious defense of the army's land and air. The battle was initiated on August 27, but the final result did not even have the chance to force Rommel to revolve.

The German army had only more than 20 tanks. On the first day of the war, three Red Army tank brigades used their armored advantages to launch an assault, but the result was disappointing. The T-34 and T-43, which were destroyed by ju-87g and 88mm anti-aircraft artillery, filled the entire field of vision. Whenever the Red Army tried to gather to launch an attack, the He-218 began to dive attack. Forced the Red Army to shift the attack time to night and try to use night battles to defeat their opponents in close combat.

However, this trick was not successful. From August 28 to 30, the two sides fought fiercely for three days. The surrounded German army was like a reef in the sea, allowing the Red Army's offensive troops to rush up layer by layer like waves. After the tide was scattered, only one corpse was left. On August 29, when the night was the most intense and dangerous, the German army was exposed to danger. They first used flares to illuminate the front of the position, and then used the Himmler organ to fire a large-scale volley, defeating the two Red Army infantry divisions who were preparing to use the human sea tactics to attack.

As time went by, the situation was becoming increasingly unfavorable to the Red Army, because the German army guarded the landing ground, and there was a constant supply of supplies and arms, and there was no risk of scarcity. After several rounds of strong attacks, the Red Army had become the last of its strength. On September 1, reinforcements sent by Rommel arrived, and the reinforcements were also delivered in a very good manner. Rommel's style Italian Paratrooper Brigade and General Studente's paratrooper division directly airborne on the rear of the Red Army's attacking troops. A large number of me-3 and ar-2 transport aircraft landed at field airports, and even the Italian Air Force's joint transport aircraft (the transport version of the joint attack aircraft) joined this ranks.

It is particularly worth mentioning that the improved me-3h model has taken great advantage. Shortly after it was released from the factory, the Puma wheeled armored vehicle with 75mm anti-tank artillery was also transported to the front line, and 24 were shipped in one go. Guderian in the African Battle basically did not use this 8-pair-wheeled armored vehicle specialized in desert warfare. However, in the vast Gobi Desert in Central Asia, the wheeled armored vehicle played great advantage. It not only had extremely high maneuverability, but also had anti-tank capabilities no less than No. 3 assault gun.

The airborne became the last straw that overwhelmed the war. On September 2, Zhukov saw that it was no longer possible to do anything, so he ordered the troops to retreat. When the two troops of more than 60,000 troops arrived, there were only less than 20,000 people left and less than 20 tanks left.

It is obvious that the combat effectiveness shown by the German army in the East Coast Battle of the Caspian Sea is typical. Although the air force bonus has a great impact on it, on the other hand, the Red Army cannot gain more than 4 times the advantage of military strength in the central battlefield. Based on the problems exposed in this small battle, Huasilevsky clearly opposed Zhukov's proposal. (To be continued.)
Chapter completed!