On the battlefield of the Western Front of the Soviet Union in early 1943, as the Soviet army launched a new round of winter offensives, new opportunities emerged.

In just one week after Christmas, more than one million troops on the southern front, under the command of Zhukov, began a rapid offensive similar to division of troops on the southern front of the German troops stranded in Ukraine. After a half-month attack, the Soviet army successively seized important areas in Ukraine such as Rostov, Zaporoze, Stalino, and other important areas in Ukraine, and conquered Kharkov, Ukraine's second largest city.

Under such circumstances, the German troops on the southern front and the central cluster were facing extremely harsh situations. There is no doubt that once the entire Ukraine fell into the hands of the Soviet army, the Soviet army would be able to advance west along the Dinabe River, seize Odessa, and continue to attack Romania from this line. For the German army at this time, to be precise, to be precise, Romania's status was crucial to the German Empire in the war, and the oil produced there was an important resource for the German army to maintain the war.

In order to reverse the decline of the Southern Front Battle, the German General Staff issued a series of orders: Hitler personally ordered the revocation of the B Group Army Group that suffered heavy blows in the previous stage of the battle, reorganized the Southern Cluster, and appointed Manstein as the commander-in-chief of the army group.

At this gate, there was a problem with the senior commander of the Soviet army on the Western Front. Zhukov, who had always commanded the operation in the region, and Konev, commander-in-chief of the Western Front, had serious differences on the focus of the next offensive operation. The two even quarreled at the military agreement meeting. Konev believed that under the current situation in Ukraine, the Soviet army on the southern front should turn to the assault on the Romanian direction. On the one hand, they could carry out flanking attacks on the German central cluster from the left, and on the other hand, they could directly threaten Germany.

Zhukov disagreed with this tactic. He believed that although the German army suffered heavy losses in the previous stage of the battle, it seemed too early to say that the Soviet army had gained the upper hand in this way, and it was even more unrealistic to conclude the end of the war in this situation. Zhukov believed that under the current circumstances, he should continue to concentrate all his efforts on the German army on the southern front and further destroy their fronts, thus preventing them from recovering their vitality and relieving in a passive situation on the battlefield.

The conflict between the two caused a series of problems, and there was no doubt that Zhukov, who performed well in the Battle of Stalingrad, won most of the commanders of the Soviet army on the Western Front, which also made Konev, who was eager to show on the battlefield, was very upset.

The conflict between the two eventually led to Konev making a decision. On January 13, he convened a military meeting attended by the main generals of the Western Front, at which he announced the removal of Zhukov's position as commander-in-chief of the Southern Front and transferred him to the Northern Front to command the battle against Finland.

On January 14, Zhukov boarded a military plane to the north at the Rostov military airport. Before boarding, he told Meletskov and others who came to see him off. He had foreseen that the Soviet army would retreat on the southern line in the next few months, and Manstein was a terrible and respectable opponent. He would never miss any opportunity to launch a counterattack. Once the Soviet army on the southern line turned around and looked west, it would be time for him to launch a full-line counterattack.

After transferring Zhukov from the southern line, Konev immediately began to implement his own offensive strategy. In mid-to-late January, the Soviet army on the southern line began to attack west along the Dinabo River, and successively captured Khlsong, Nikolayev and other important outer cities of Odessa.

As if to confirm Zhukov's argument, in early February, Manstein, who had been waiting for a long time, finally showed his power. On February 4, after a brief renovation, the German army's southern line cluster dispatched a total of eight divisions to launch a sudden attack on the Soviet defense line between the Dinaber and Donetz Rivers. At that time, the Soviet army stranded on this line had only two groups of troops, and from that perspective, they were all on the weak side. In this way, after only less than two days of resistance, the Soviet army on the line retreated completely, and it was a thousand miles away and unstoppable.

The German counterattack caught Konev off guard. Although he intended to withdraw the troops attacking Odessa's front line or turn north to attack to restrain Manstein's offensive, it was too late. Moreover, Manstein obviously made up his mind to cut off the retreat of the Soviet army westward. He ignored the attack from Odessa, but focused his all-out efforts to attack Rostov.

On February 10, the German army recaptured Kharkov and on the 13th, they captured Belgorod. At this point, the Soviet army on the southern front was divided into two, and the situation has suddenly turned bad since the Battle of Stalingrad.

There is no doubt that at this gate, if the Soviet army did not open up the passage to Odessa in a short period of time, then the nearly 400,000 Soviet troops who came forward to the area and were cut off from the German army would directly face the fate of being destroyed. That was a 400,000 army. The Soviet army, which had just obtained some initiative in the battlefield, could never withstand such a heavy blow. For a moment, the atmosphere of the War of Resistance in the Soviet Union was once again shrouded in the shadow of failure.

The failure of the Southern Front Battle and the news that 400,000 Soviet troops were trapped in the German encirclement reached Moscow, which directly caused an uproar in the upper level of the Kremlin. At noon on the 13th, Tukhachevsky, who was sick in charge of the work of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and the Supreme Command, relapsed his heart disease and was rushed to the Moscow National Hospital for emergency treatment. He was not finally out of danger until around 6 pm on the 14th. This heart attack almost completely defeated the body of the old marshal Tukhachevsky, the Soviet Union's old marshal, and he could no longer stand up and issue orders through his own language.

On the 15th, Yakir, who had originally announced that he was about to retire, took over Tukhachevsky and temporarily presided over the daily work of the Kremlin. However, compared with Tukhachevsky, the old Yakir obviously did not have the ability to suppress all forces. For a moment, the contradictions that had been hidden in the Kremlin for a long time suddenly burst out, caught off guard and unable to control them.

On the fifteenth, the Red Star News published an article written by a famous Soviet journalist and current affairs commentator Einbo. Through this article, Einbo expounded his views from a reporter's standpoint. He believed that under the current circumstances, the best solution was to suspend the entanglement of domestic political issues and first concentrate on dealing with the current new round of offensives of the German army on the Western Front. In this regard, Konev, who is currently the commander-in-chief of the Western Front, obviously does not have this ability. He suggested that Chu Sinan, who is still commanding the Japanese war on the Eastern Front, should be transferred back, and he will re-direct the war on the Western Front. After all, Chu Sinan rose from the Western Front, and he has great experience in fighting with the German army.

Einbo proposed in the article. It was undoubtedly approved by the Soviet military, especially the generals and territories participating in the battle on the Western Front. Rokosovsky, who has always been unscrupulous in his words, even directly claimed that the decline on the southern front must be reversed by Marshal Chu Sinan. Otherwise, the internal chaos of the Western Front troops could not be resolved, so how can we talk about turning defeat into victory?

Under such circumstances, Yakir, who temporarily presided over the work of the Kremlin, made suggestions to the Supreme Command and the Political Bureau of the Central Committee, and transferred Chu Sinan to return to the Western Front in an attempt to reverse the current adverse situation on the Western Front. Yakir's order was quickly passed, and immediately, a telegram aimed at mobilizing Chu Sinan to the Western Front was sent to the Far East and Pacific Battle Command.

What shocked Yakil and the entire Kremlin appeared the day after the telegram was sent. Chu Sinan, the commander-in-chief of the Far East, the Pacific War Zone, refused to accept the Kremlin's transfer order. He had his own reason, that is, for his transfer, the Supreme Commander, the Ministry of National Defense, and Tukhachevsky jointly issued the local order. Otherwise, it would be a violation of military law.

What is particularly important is that the war in Manchuria has entered its final stage. The Soviet Army's fourth-line front has surrounded the main force of the Japanese Kanto Army in Manchuria in a narrow and long area centered on Shenyang, Tongliao and Fushun. The final end of the battle is just around the corner. At the same time, the Romisov tribe, which attacked the Korean Peninsula, has successfully captured Pyongyang and is launching an offensive on the front lines of Seoul and Incheon. In Chu Sinan's idea, he will launch the last battle to land on the Japanese mainland at the end of March and early April.

At this critical moment, how could Chu Sinan turn around and give up such a great opportunity?

What's more, according to Gilnilova's advice, he was not suitable to accept this order at this time.

It is obvious that after this serious illness, Tukhachevsky's chance of returning successfully again is quite slim, so the situation in the Kremlin will no longer be dominated by him. In the future, the situation in the Kremlin will be a scene where "all forces show their powers, fighting for each other." Therefore, Gilnilova believes that at this juncture, Chu Sinan needs to make a tough stance and show his existence to all parties through this performance. Of course, the top priority is to firmly grasp the huge army on the Eastern Front in his own hands.

Although he refused the order to transfer to the Eastern Front, Chu Sinan gave Yakil one in his own way. He suggested to Yakil that Zhukov should be re-activated and transferred him back to the Southern Front to preside over the battle. At the same time, to some extent, he provided Yakil with the best counterattack plan for the next period of time.

Then, according to Chu Sinan's suggestion, Yakil transferred Zhukov back from the northern line and gave him the right to fully command the battle on the southern line. At the same time, he also provided some of the suggestions given by Chu Sinan to Zhukov, who was indignant.

There is no doubt that Chu Sinan's suggestion was absolutely recognized by Zhukov. Starting from mid-to-late February, Zhukov re-arranged the battle situation on the southern line, and his strategic focus, which can also be said to be the focus of the battle, is placed on Kursk that Chu Sinan is optimistic about.

At the same time, the German army, which had just gained some advantage on the southern front, also targeted the offensive targets at Kursk. In the previous counterattack launched by Manstein, the German army made smooth progress in the direction of Kursk. They compressed the Soviet troops in the Oboyan area south of Kursk. In this way, the German army formed a protrusion centered on Kursk in this direction. To the south of this protrusion is Belgorod occupied by the southern cluster, and on the back is the protrusion of the Oryor region that is firmly grasped by the central cluster.

In this way, the German army formed an offensive situation in the front area of ​​Kursk, and the inner position of this Pin-shaped character was the main force of the Soviet Central Front Army and the Southern Front Army.

The improvement of the war form made Hitler happy. He saw the dangers of the Soviet army in the direction of Kursk. Similarly, he also saw that if his troops could wipe out the Soviet army in the direction of Kursk, they would be able to get the opportunity to attack Stalingrad again.

"This is a great opportunity to turn the situation around! If I give up on it, I can't forgive myself!"

In this way, Hitler ignored Manstein's suggestion that he would focus his efforts to eliminate the besieged Soviet troops and personally presided over the formulation of a "fortress" combat opportunity similar to a battle against the water.

Just as Zhukov returned to the southern line, the German General Staff issued an order for the "No. 6" combat. A comprehensive military mobilization was implemented on the Eastern Line. Starting from late February, German troops from all sides of the Eastern Line began to assemble to Kursk.

Fifty elite German divisions, including sixteen armored divisions and motorized divisions, and more than 900,000 soldiers arrived at the Kursk Battle area. Among these troops, 70% of all tank forces on the German Eastern Front battlefield and 60% of all combat aircraft. At the same time, all the Tiger tanks, Ferdinand attack artillery, Foxgh Wolf 190a fighter, and Hanlk 129 attack aircraft that were newly launched into combat have all appeared...

The German army mobilized a huge army on the front battlefield, which aroused the alertness of the Supreme Command and Zhukov. At the same time, some of the German military and local combat intentions were also acquired by the Soviet spies. In this way, in response to the strategic intentions of the German army, the Soviet army began to take emergency actions. On the one hand, it mobilized troops to prepare for counter-attack, and on the other hand, it began to step up the organization of defense lines in the front direction of Kursk.

Starting from late February, residents of several states such as Orel, Voroiri, Kursk, Kharkov, etc. were mobilized. Both men and women, all Soviet citizens over the age of fourteen and under fifty-five, took action to build fortifications on the Soviet front in the direction of Kursk.

"The power of the people is infinite," this sentence is fully reflected in this war that can almost determine life and death.

From late February to mid-March, in just less than a month, millions of engineering teams composed of ordinary citizens built several large-scale fortifications in the direction of Kursk. The area with the largest defense depth actually reached an unimaginable 300 kilometers. In each defense direction, the depth of the tank fortifications, which aims to defend against tank assaults, also reached an astonishing thirty to thirty-five kilometers. According to Zhukov's tactical guiding ideology, it is to require the Soviet troops on the front of Kursk to persist for two to three months in the face of the German offensive, so as to consume the German army's vitality while buying up time for attacks in other directions.

While building huge fortifications, the Supreme Command also drew troops from several other directions to support the Kursk battlefield. The first person to be ordered was the Grassland Military Region, which had been the reserve team of the base camp. In early March, the Grassland Front Army, composed of troops under the Grassland Military Region, was established and headed to the Kursk front line. At this point, the total strength of the Soviet Kursk Battle was increased to 1.33 million, and the troops had more than 19,000 mortars, nearly 3,500 tanks, self-propelled artillery, and more than 2,200 combat aircraft. In terms of force and weapon equipment alone, the Soviet army had already occupied an absolute advantage at this time.

In just less than two months, the dense clouds of war were silted above Kursk. The German army was on the Eastern Front battlefield, and also the last large-scale battle, was about to begin.

Just when the battle was full of clouds on the Western Front, what was Chu Sinan doing?

Speaking of which, Chu Sinan's life during this period was quite nourishing. The battle against Japan in Manchuria has entered the final stage. He no longer needs to be pointed at the fronts on the four fronts. All he had to do was stay in the command center every day and listen to the battlefield news compiled from all aspects.

During this period, Chu Sinan had another pastime project, which was to go to various troops to inspect when they were fine. However, in the eyes of others, at least in the eyes of his wife Comrade Gilnilova, his so-called inspection was just an excuse. He was not about wine, but about the "swan dance".

It has been two months since Ulanova and her group of actors arrived on the Eastern Front. During this period, this woman was quite active in the army. Important Soviet military bases such as Harbin, Jilin, Qiqihar, and the gathering place of wounded and sick were places where she would visit without exception. Of course, her arrival was also warmly welcomed by the vast number of Soviet military officers and soldiers. In the eyes of all Eastern Front soldiers, this ballet queen who was willing to take the risk to come to the battlefield to perform for them was undoubtedly an angel. ￣￣￣￣￣ but this angel seems to have a famous flower now, and this lord is also a famous marshal.

Some officers even speculated in private that Chu Sinan and Ulanova would eventually go, especially in the current situation, Gilnilova, who has always been fearful, is in the Far East.
Chapter completed!