The Third Reich in Desperation

He didn't understand why the Western Front, with the best equipment and strongest troops, failed to deal any powerful blows to the enemy after such a long time of fighting. He just waited for the formation of the enemy's encirclement, and he didn't understand why Pavlov, who he had always valued, was unable to command his troops, and even couldn't carry out the orders of the high command in critical moments.

At this moment, Stalin suddenly remembered the scene a year ago.

At that time, Pavlov left a good impression on him.Pavlov delivered his presentation with clarity, poise, and confidence.His reputation among the top management has always been good.Compared with the unpopular Zhukov, Pavlov is almost praised.

It is precisely because of this that he appointed Pavlov as the commander of the Western Special Military District.

But now, Pavlov gave himself a terrible answer.

The three front armies, the main force of the Western Front, were easily encircled by the two wings of the German army in the Bialystok salient.

This reminded Stalin of the exercise half a year ago. The strategy used by Marshal Bock of the German Central Army Group is almost exactly the same as the tactics used by Zhukov to defeat the Red Army commanded by Pavlov in the exercise!

After that exercise, Pavlov's villain complained first and kept accusing Zhukov of sabotaging the exercise plan and disrupting the normal exercise pattern.

But now in Stalin's view, Zhukov clearly taught the whole army a lesson and reminded him.But in the past six months, Pavlov did not make any changes to the fortification deployment that was hammered at that time.

Stalin secretly regretted, why didn't he think about promoting Zhukov's tactical thinking at that time?

And Pavlov, who had already lost so badly in that exercise, still trusted him, and listened to his slander, and almost shot Zhukov.

But Pavlov, who was also the young and strong faction who was promoted with Zhukov at the beginning...Why is there such a big gap between the two?

Could it be that Pavlov is inexperienced? That’s not right. He participated in the First World War, the Civil War, and the Battle of the Middle East Railway. It is said that it has been battled for a long time, and it will not panic when it hears the sound of guns.

The only shortcoming, it seems, is that he was promoted too quickly. Stalin couldn't help but sigh when he thought of this. After the "big purge", there was indeed a shortage of generals in the army, especially senior generals.

But it shouldn't be, Zhukov also brought it up quickly, and it still has no problem in using it.

Besides, even if it's just a company commander, in the position of Pavlov's commander of the Western Front Army, it is unlikely that he will lose a thousand and two nets to a powerful Front Army within a week!

After much deliberation, Stalin could not find a single reason to justify Pavlov's failure.

Could it be that Pavlov really had an affair with the German army?!

Putting it that way, it all seems to make sense.

Pavlov himself had an affair with the Germans, but he accused Zhukov of treason and collaborating with the enemy.Then, he sent his deployment to the German army, deliberately sending the most elite Western Front Army's three main armies into his pocket.

Not enough This idea only appeared in Stalin's mind for a moment, and then he denied it.He knew that this was definitely impossible, after all, the commissioner who sent Pavlov off was already on his way back to Moscow.

Stalin stood blankly in front of the huge French windows, watching the evening in Moscow, as the sky gradually darkened.He remembered what Tukhachevsky, who was disposed of by him, had repeatedly emphasized: "The future war will be a war of engines. The concentration of armored tank troops can form a powerful assault fist. It is not easy to resist them!"

At that time, Pavlov was still advocating to himself: "In future wars, it will be difficult for a single tank team to make a big difference. Tanks can only become auxiliary weapons for infantry divisions."

Unbeknownst to Stalin, Tukhachevsky was almost rescued by the Germans.What's more, he didn't know that in a place he couldn't see, Tukhachevsky rejected the way of life offered by the Germans and chose to die.

But now he really regrets it.

If the commander of the Western Front was a general who knew how to fight in armor like Tukhachevsky, maybe the result would not be so bad now, would it?

At least, he won't command troops to lose battles like Pavlov!

In the afternoon, Zhukov returned to the High Command to report

A day later, Pavlov returned to Moscow and reported directly to Marshal Timoshenko at the People's Commissariat of Defense.

When Timoshenko and Zhukov, who had arrived here earlier, saw the defeated general, they had a hard time recognizing this old acquaintance. The 8-day war completely changed the appearance of this mediocre general. He was visibly thinner, his two bloodshot eyes protruded desperately, a lot of gray hair grew on his head, and he walked with almost no hair. Spirit.

Pavlov saw the way Zhukov and Timoshenko looked at him, as if he had guessed something, and there was a look of horror in his eyes.He sat on a chair, facing Marshal Timosinger, who succeeded him.After waiting for a long time, neither Zhukov nor Timoshenko spoke. He glanced at Timoshenko and smiled reluctantly: "I heard that you have been appointed as the commander of the front army. Maybe I still need to ask you Report..."

Timoshenko sighed and said coldly: "No need, all the most unbelievable things have happened."

Pavlov put away his only smile, lowered his eyelids, and asked tentatively: "The commander-in-chief scolded me!"

Timoshenko's heart tightened. He knew that Stalin's punishment for Pavlov would not be as simple as scolding. He could already vaguely guess what fate awaited the disgraced general in front of him.

Timoshenko forced a smile and said, "Not only you, but all of us have been scolded. Scolding is nothing, if it can recover everything lost, it is nothing."

"Comrade Marshal, I think, in my position, even if anyone comes, it won't help." Pavlov seemed to feel a little relieved when he heard Timoshenko's comfort.

"I understand that our personnel lack training, insufficient equipment, unsatisfactory fortifications, and wait for their lives. But the front army has lost most of its troops and aircraft, and lost so much territory. As the commander of the Western Front, you feel that Don't you have any responsibility at all?" Timoshenko smiled wryly.

Text 755 I declare that you have committed treason

Zhukov and Timoshenko looked at each other, sighed silently, and walked out of the conference room without looking back.

Then, Pavlov, who stayed in the conference room, saw three people coming in at the door, the leader was a fat lieutenant general, followed by two young and tall major soldiers.

Although Pavlov had never met this lieutenant general and didn't know what department he was in, the political literacy he had cultivated over the years still gave him a premonition of something different.

The lieutenant general also saluted Pavlov politely, announced his long list of Russian names, then took out a piece of thick paper from his briefcase, and glanced at Pavlov again, but immediately He looked away again, subconsciously adjusted his glasses.

After coughing twice, the fat lieutenant general stretched out his hand and slowly handed the paper to Pavlov, and said softly: "General Dmitry Grigorievich Pavlov, please yourself Take a look at this document..."

Pavlov, who was sitting there blankly, stared at the strange fat general in bewilderment, and kept taking the piece of paper with his hand.

But as soon as Pavlov's peripheral vision touched the paper, his whole body trembled immediately, he couldn't help taking a breath of air, his eyes widened, his mouth was slightly opened, and he was speechless for a long time.

The reason why he was so shocked was because he found a line of thick black characters printed on that piece of paper: "Arrest Warrant"!

"Since you can't speak, then come with us first and think about explaining it this way." The fat lieutenant general saw how bad Pavlov's state is now, so he didn't force him to speak immediately, but It was decided to detain Pavlov first according to the procedure.

Then, Pavlov was taken to a prison on the outskirts of Moscow, where he was interrogated by the former fat lieutenant general.

Seeing that Pavlov was in better condition after a short rest, the fat lieutenant general first asked in a tentative tone: "I have a question, and I still don't understand why such a strange situation occurred in the Western Front. Why did you deploy the three armies so close to the border? The consequences of this deployment can be clearly seen even in the exercise between you and General Zhukov half a year ago."

Pavlov didn't answer right away, but stretched out his trembling hands and said to the fat lieutenant general, "Can I have a cigarette?"

Behind the fat lieutenant general, the two tall majors looked at each other and stood aside, wondering if they should meet the little request of Pavlov, a sinner.

"Give him a cigarette." The fat lieutenant general didn't stick to such trivial matters.

Moreover, seeing Pavlov's still pale face, if he didn't give him a couple of cigarettes to calm himself down, it is estimated that this guy would not even be able to speak clearly.

"Yes." After receiving the instruction, a major immediately took out a pack of cigarettes in his pocket, took out one, lit it, and handed it to Pavlov.

The cigarettes that the major took out are very good, and they look good at first glance. Those who know it can easily find that these are high-end cigarettes imported from Germany by the Soviet high-level before the Soviet-German trade was interrupted.

Although the trade between the two countries is currently interrupted, there are still a lot of stocks, which are in the personnel and stocks of important departments.

Pavlov took a puff of a German cigarette to calm himself down, and then slowly said: "All exercises and training are arranged according to the plan of the military district. I have no right to cancel this plan. It is approved by the General Staff .”

"But at least you should think about getting all kinds of weapons into their respective positions as soon as possible...

"I didn't get an order." Pavlov hurriedly interrupted the lieutenant general, but he took a puff of cigarette, and his tone slowed down again, "I didn't get any order to do this.

"You are responsible for arranging these military affairs in advance!" The lieutenant general said dissatisfiedly, "You went to the border in person a few months ago, why didn't you take relevant countermeasures?