Voroshilov's words were very unsubstantial, which made Comrade Stalin very worried, so he summoned the Chief of the General Staff of the Red Army Zhukov, the Deputy People's Commissar of Defense Shaposhnikov, and the commander of the Red Navy, Kuznetsov, who had just returned from Molotovsk, to the No. 1 office of the Kremlin Privy Council building. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

"Comrade General Secretary, I think it is very pointless for the Germans to storm the Kronstadt fortress." Zhukov was the first to speak for Stalin - he was still an old man, he had one thing to say, and he did not expand his explanation politically, but only on military issues, and he would not achieve his goals by deceiving the great leader. This attitude was exactly what Stalin loved, which is why Zhukov, who was not a good sycophant, was always trusted by Stalin.

"No point?" Stalin, who was smoking a pipe, was almost amused by Zhukov. "Comrade Zhukov, do you think that those outstanding German military strategists are fighting a senseless battle?"

"Yes...... Zhukov shrugged, "perhaps their purpose is to disrupt our established arrangements and make us make a wrong judgment." ”

"No, Comrade Zhukov, you are not right." The Commander-in-Chief of the Red Navy, Kuznetsov, immediately interrupted Zhukov, "The Germans really want to attack Leningrad from the sea!" Their purpose in seizing the Kronstadt fortress was to cover the battleship's approach to Leningrad. ”

The Commander-in-Chief of the Red Navy, whose face was very solemn, said: "I understand very well how powerful the battleships of the Germans and French were. Our Soviet Union is armed with a 406mm main gun system from Germany, and we also have their 380mm naval guns. Both types of artillery are extremely powerful and have a long range, which allows shells to be dropped at a distance of 35-40 km.

That is, the Bismarck-class battleships and Hindenburg-class battleships of the Germans could bombard the center of Leningrad in the waters northwest of Kotlin Island. And any fortifications and fortified buildings that we can rely on in the city of Leningrad could not withstand the bombardment of 380mm and 406mm caliber naval guns. ”

The words of the commander of the Red Navy made Stalin suddenly realize - it turned out that the Germans really wanted to occupy Leningrad!

Stalin looked at Zhukov and Shaposhnikov and asked: "If a few Bismarck-class and Hindenburg-class ships really arrived near Kotlin Island, would we still be able to hold Leningrad?" ”

There are a total of 4 Bismarck-class and Hindenburg-class guns, 16 380mm guns and 16 406mm guns, which fire at Leningrad all day long...... It's kind of scary!

"I'm afraid it's difficult, it's hard to hold, but we still have artillery positions on both sides of the Gulf of Finland......" said the veteran Shaposhnikov, a military expert who graduated from the Military Academy of the Tsar's General Staff and had a deep study of military engineering and fortifications, said with a frown.

"It will be destroyed or suppressed by the Germans!" Kuznetsov said that "and the Bismarck and Hindenburg classes are very strong and are not at all afraid of shelling from long distances from 203mm-305mm guns." The Germans should have now seized Kotlin Island not because they were afraid of shore artillery bombardment of the Bismarck and Hindenburg classes, but of the artillery of the Kronstadt fortress to bombard their cruisers and destroyers. If the battleship was not covered by cruisers and destroyers, it was easy to sneak up on submarines and torpedo boats. ”

Now there are no submarines in the Baltic Fleet, all the submarines are transferred to the Northern Fleet and the Pacific Fleet, but there are still some torpedo boats.

"But the Red Navy and the Red Air Force still have many aircraft that can attack surface ships!" Zhukov still did not believe that the Germans would dare to drive their precious battleship into the depths of the Gulf of Finland. "Moreover, we can also block enemy battleships with mines."

The Red Navy had already laid a number of mines in the central part of the Gulf of Finland, forming a mine blockade network. But the number of mines was not large, because the Soviet Red Navy did not believe that Leningrad would be invaded at all, and even less that the Kronstadt fortress would have problems.

Moreover, after the start of the world revolution on June 1, German ships and planes blockaded the Gulf of Finland, and Soviet ships did not dare to sail to the west of the Kronstadt fortress during the day. Naturally, the mine-laying work was carried out relatively poorly, and the mines laid were successively taken away by the German minesweepers.

"Airplanes and mines do not replace the role of the Kronstadt fortress." Kuznetsov shook his head, "As soon as the fortress fell, it was possible that the Germans would send battleships to the vicinity of Leningrad." ”

Stalin nodded, the affairs of the army can be listened to Zhukov, but the navy he does not understand. So what Kuznetsov said was correct, Germany must have wanted to attack Leningrad with battleships.

And this has a good chance of leading to the fall of Leningrad! And once Leningrad falls, it will become Petrograd, and the consequences will be incalculable......

"We must defend Leningrad!" Stalin took a sharp puff of his cigarette and then exhaled a large cloud of white smoke, "And the key to the defense of Leningrad is the Kronstadt fortress!" ”

He paused, looked at Zhukov again, and said: "Now it seems that the battle for Leningrad may well be a decisive one!" The main forces of the German Nazi army will be concentrated around Leningrad. ”

"Comrade Stalin, are we going to end the Battle of Warsaw and transfer troops to the vicinity of Leningrad?" Zhukov asked.

"Isn't the Battle of Warsaw going very well now?" Stalin's brow furrowed, he was still unwilling to give up the iconic city of Warsaw.

And from August, the resistance of the German troops in Warsaw weakened significantly. Now the city of Warsaw north of the Vistula River has been liberated, and most of the city south of the Vistula River has been liberated. The northern road cluster, which had been defeated in the previous battle, has now made considerable progress after being strengthened, and has pushed the battle line into the city of Legiononovo.

"No, there is no need to give up Warsaw." Stalin pondered for a while, "It is likely that the Germans attacked Leningrad to end the siege of Warsaw, and if we abandon Warsaw, they will have achieved their goal." ”

"Then abandon the Lviv campaign." Zhukov said again.

Zhukov knew very well that the reserve side could not be weakened, otherwise the rear of the Western Front would be unstable, and then it would have to be necessary to transfer troops from the Southwestern Front. Moreover, the battle for Lviv was fought very poorly, and the stubbornness of the Western Ukrainian reactionaries was completely different from that of the Polish reactionaries. Not only did the propertied class and aristocracy hate the Red Army extremely, but even the Western Ukrainian proletariat fanatically followed Nazi Germany (that is, the propertied class, which used to have houses and land, is now proletarian, can it not hate the Soviet Union?). ）。 So the Southwestern Front fought hard for two months, and it didn't even touch the edge of the city of Lviv, and the losses were not under the Western Front that invaded Warsaw!

"Well," Stalin nodded, "the Southwestern Front temporarily abandoned the offensive on Lviv and retreated to its original defenses. At the same time, three army groups were drawn from the Southwestern Front, one army group from the Caucasian Front and one army group from the Central Asian Front to form the Kalinin Front, with Comrade Konev as commander and Comrade Leonov as military commissar. The task of the army group was to support the defense of Leningrad. ”

Stalin paused, looked at Zhukov again, and said: "The North-Western Front and the Northern Front were merged to form the Leningrad Front, with Comrade Zhukov as the commander and Comrade Krementiev as the military commissar. ”

Stalin originally believed in Voroshilov, but the news from the Leningrad front (Zhdanov's small report) reassured him, and it was more reliable to let Zhukov go.

"As for the current post of Chief of the General Staff of Comrade Zhukov, Comrade Shaposhnikov will do so." Stalin then sent the chief of the General Staff to Shaposhnikov, but instead of sending Voroshilov back to take charge of the work of the People's Commissar of Defense, he himself took on the role of People's Commissar of Defense.

……

"The key to the siege of Leningrad should be Kirovsk and the area along the shores of Lake Ladoga!"

On the evening of August 13, Reich Field Marshal and Minister of Defense Hersmann rarely came to the general staff of Tsosen to instruct Kesselring and Halder on how to fight. This has rarely happened since Hersmann stepped down as chief of the General Staff, because now it is a critical moment when Hersmann's "historical experience" can play a role.

Historically, the German attack on and siege of Leningrad were quite unsuccessful, the attack was frustrated, and the siege was not killed. During the 17-month siege, a lifeline remained for the people of Leningrad, Lake Ladoga, northeast of Leningrad.

In the winter of 1941, the "useless population" of Leningrad was able to retreat from the frozen Lake Ladoga, and outside reinforcements and food were able to enter Leningrad from Lake Ladoga.

Although Hersman did not want to capture Leningrad now, he did not intend to starve the people of Leningrad to death. But the one who should die in the circle still has to be killed! Because in the "blue plan" formulated by Hersmann, Leningrad was a magnet that attracted the Soviet Red Army to send them to their death!

"According to what is now available, the Soviet troops near Leningrad were not numerous and well-equipped, lacking field capabilities. Therefore, we should take the opportunity to establish a Leningrad encirclement, encircle Leningrad, and cut off all land links with the outside world. ”

Hersmann said slowly: "Because Leningrad is Stalin's salvation, and its proximity to the Baltic and Finland is conducive to our supply and reinforcements. If a situation of encirclement and reinforcement can be formed under the city of Leningrad, it will be conducive to destroying a large number of the Soviet Union's living forces and at the same time reducing the pressure on other battlefields. (To be continued.) )