Imperial Overlord

Unlike the war-torn front lines and the smoke-filled Sevastopol, Stalingrad is still a peaceful scene.

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Although the atmosphere in the streets is very tense, the army is also frequently mobilized. But there was at least no intensive shelling here, nor the roar of Stuka dive bombers.

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In the spacious and bright office, Stalin and his secretary-general were sitting there, listening to the officers of the intelligence department reporting the front-line combat situation they had just obtained.

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Of course, as before, the German army was in tatters, and what Stalin and his secretary-general heard was bad news.

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"The day before yesterday afternoon, the German navy shelled Sevastopol! General Vasilevsky took the battle calmly, with little loss, and sank a German destroyer..." The officer reported the Black Sea the course of the battle.

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"Around 3:30 in the afternoon, the German Fleet Squadron fought a decisive battle with our Black Sea Fleet near the Kerch Strait. The two sides fought a gun battle for almost two hours." Light glanced at Stalin.

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When he found that he was not angry, he continued: "Our battleship Paris Commune was sunk, and the enemy ships then retreated due to huge losses. Our transport fleet and auxiliary ships are safe and sound..."

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This is the art of reporting. While mentioning one's own losses, one should also subtly emphasize the enemy's losses. Anyway, in the end, the German fleet was the first to retreat, so it must be possible to report a "victory" of repelling the enemy fleet.

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To call the apparent defeat a forgivable victory is to take care of General Gorshkov, who died in the Kerch Strait.

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After all, as an admiral, choosing to be brave against the enemy and sinking with his own battleship is something worthy of respect.

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"Unfortunately... Comrade Stalin, the great leader. General Gorshkov, the commander-in-chief of the Black Sea Fleet, fought bravely to the last moment, died on the battleship Paris Commune, and sank with the ship." The officer said in a heavy tone. Gorshkov, who was killed in battle.

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Sure enough, Stalin was more tolerant of generals who chose to die in battle. He wanted to investigate the loss of the Black Sea Fleet, but he heard that the commander-in-chief of the Black Sea Fleet had died in battle, and his expression was a little calmer.

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"Promoted to Admiral Gorshkov to be the Admiral of the Navy! An obituary will be issued in my name, praising his heroic fighting spirit!" Stalin thought about it and decided to promote the dead Gorshkov as usual.

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After all, whether it was Konev or Rokossovsky, Stalin would generously give the title of the last marshal to the generals who died in battle to the end.

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After talking about the battle at sea, it's time to talk about the things on land. The officer turned a page of the report and continued to report: "As of yesterday, 4 German divisions have broken through our defense line and are advancing in the direction of Mirgorod, and the 7th Guards Tank Division is in Poltava. Build new lines of defense to try and stop the German advance."

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The 6th Guards Tank Division, the 4th Guards Tank Division, and the 5th Guards Tank Division and the retreated 7th Guards Tank Division, the four tank divisions with the title of Guards, are now compressed by the Germans in the 1st Guards. East of the Niepro.

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This also made the position of the Crimean Peninsula even more dangerous, and it was easy to fall into the siege of the German army.

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But what matters now is not the Crimean Peninsula, but the Soviet army in the Kyiv encirclement, which has been surrounded and is struggling.

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After the officer finished talking about the relatively stable direction of Poltava, he really mentioned Kyiv within the encirclement.

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He didn't say anything about the bad situation in the Kyiv encirclement, but only mentioned the morale problem in the encirclement: "The troops in Kyiv have high fighting spirit! Comrade Govorov, the commander of the garrison, is consolidating his defense line!"

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Then, the usual defense time commitment. Govorov is also a famous general, so the army under his command is still worthy of recognition.

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Therefore, the promise given by the Soviet officer was very exciting, and the secretary-general beside Stalin was a little elated: "Our army's defense line in the Kyiv area is very complete, and it can be held for at least more than a month!"

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However, after being overjoyed, the secretary-general, who was always beaten, poured out a pot of cold water: "Don't say it so absolutely! Comrade Stalin has heard enough of such unrealistic promises! We want the most conservative ones. Time! Not the time to brag!"

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The officer who reported it knew that the frontline defenders were exaggerating a bit, so he quickly changed his mind and said, "Conservatively estimate...you can hold on for a week, right?"

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Stalin was a little dissatisfied when he heard this time. He looked at the officer who was reporting and asked coldly, "A week? It's really a short period of time... Let's stick to it for more than two weeks as much as possible... Isn't this requirement too much?"

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"We are confident that we will stand there for two weeks! According to Comrade General Govorov's plan, we have also deployed troops in the Brovary area! We can also fight the invaders there!" Hearing Stalin ask this question, then Another officer raised the target to two weeks.

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If it is a serious military meeting, this kind of nonsense time is a joke at all. Stalin actually believed in such a promise, which shows how chaotic and unbearable the Soviet Union is today.

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On weekdays, when Zhukov or Vatutin were by Stalin's side, they would say, "How did you estimate this time?"

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But now the generals who can fight are no longer by Stalin's side~www.wuxiaspot.com~, so these staff officers can only talk nonsense.

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"I have great confidence in you! I hope you can fulfill your own promises!" Stalin nodded and said.

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He had to believe this report, and was happy to believe it. After all, talking about morale and talking about exaggerated sticking time made him believe that the Soviet Union could win the war.

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Although the current situation is very bad, most people can't see hope - but Stalin personally still has to keep fighting, so he needs various victories to support his beliefs.

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Even if some or all of these victories are fake, it doesn't matter. He just needed a reason to keep going, to keep fighting the Germans.

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"Send a telegram to General Govorov! Promote him to Marshal of the Soviet Union! Victory belongs to the great Soviet, and victory will certainly belong to us!" Stalin said firmly with his head held high.

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7th more! Long Ling worked hard today! There will be 8th more in a while! 8)