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When it comes to Stalin, the image of a tough leader comes to mind in many people's minds. But in fact, in his life, which he has experienced countless storms and waves, there have also been times when he was impulsive, walked away, and risked his own life, which happened during the Second Battle of Smolensk in August 1943.
Inspections that are just about to go.
The memories of this incident involve Ivan Alexandrovich Serov, the Soviet Ministry of Internal Affairs, who was in charge of organizing the trip and defending the whole process, on an unusually unremarkable early morning in August 1943.
Serov was suddenly summoned by Stalin, and he answered the call as quickly as he could, inevitably feeling uneasy. Because according to the convention, the various functional departments of ** perform their own duties, and they only need to operate step by step, who would have thought that they would suddenly receive a separate summons from the Supreme Leader?
In the process of hurrying to accept the summons, did this Ministry of Internal Affairs ** have any guesses in his heart? The diary he left behind many years later was not written, and other sources are even more impossible. This may become a mystery that no one will ever know.
But when he finally met Stalin, the "Iron Leader" seemed to have no desire to waste time, and he gave Serov an order to be completely straightforward and without any detours.
I'm going to the headquarters at the front. Stalin stated to Serov that this was certainly not a plan or idea in which the other side should be consulted, but something that he had already decided. As for Serov, it was enough for him to take orders and arrange all the details to the best possible.
After the initial shock, Serov immediately mobilized all his attention and brain power to jot down the details of Stalin's request.
First of all, the place where Stalin was going was the command of the Western Front and the Kalinin Front, which could be put into battle at any time, in order to get first-hand information on the battlefield.
Second, the trip had to be swift and private. It is necessary to keep a low profile, do not have a special residence, let alone a palace, and the number of guards is only very small.
In the end, the matter was left to Serov, who himself must not only be responsible for everything involved, but also must start with himself and be completely tight-lipped.
This order was of course the first urgency and importance to Serov, and he immediately plunged into intense top-secret preparations, without even having time to think about it: what was the reason for Stalin's such a pivotal position and his personal presence at the front and his indication of not wanting a large number of escorts at this juncture of war clouds?
Smolensk".
From the perspective of later researchers, the logic of Stalin's sudden decision to go to the front is not so difficult to understand, because the location where the great war is about to break out is the place name "Smolensk", which occupies a considerable place in the entire history of World War II.
During World War II, the battle named after "Smolensk" broke out twice. The first of these battles broke out in the early days of the Soviet-German war, and the German Army Group, known for its "blitzkrieg", did not take much time to defeat all the Soviet armies deployed on this land and firmly grasped the control and dominance of this area.
For the Soviet army, which had always prided itself on its strength, the first Battle of Smolensk was a similar stain and shame. Because the war ended too quickly and the disparity between victory and defeat was too great, the German army even won the victory with a crushing advantage. At the same time, the battle was also regarded as one of the nodes of the change in the tide of the war, and after the German victory, the arrogance of the German army was even higher, and the two sides successively captured large areas of the western Soviet Union, and then the two sides entered a stalemate.
In the early days of the Soviet-German war, the Soviet Union showed a battlefield weakness, and in fact, there was a reason behind it: in terms of absolute military strength at the beginning of the war, the German army did occupy a considerable advantage.
But the Soviet Union also had its own advantages, one was strategic depth, and the other was energy reserves, which at that time had the richest oil reserves in the world. In the context of the war, the strategic significance of oil goes without saying, there is almost no transportation equipment that can leave oil, and without oil, aircraft and tanks will become a pile of scrap metal.
In addition, most of the oil resources owned by the Soviet Union were concentrated in the east, and the geographical conditions were complex and difficult for the German army to touch, so in the course of the Soviet-German war, the Soviet Union's oil supply never had any major problems.
In contrast, the Germans did not have an equal advantage, so Germany actually actively sought a decisive battle with the Soviet Union in a frontal battlefield from the outset, so as to deal a devastating blow to the Soviet defense forces.
This battle, both large and tragic enough, did take place as expected, and that was the Battle of Stalingrad, which was also an important turning point in the European theater of World War II.
A battle of revenge that cannot be lost.
It was against this background that the Second Battle of Smolensk broke out, and it was also the moment when Stalin personally went to the battlefield command. At that time, the Soviet Union was at a juncture of relieving its breath and preparing for it, and the success or failure of this battle therefore had a very special importance.
In the final analysis, after entering 1943, the situation on the battlefield was very different from the previous two years. After several battles, the Soviet and German armies had a considerable understanding of each other's combat effectiveness, logistical capabilities, and even tactical thinking.
At this point, the element of chance has been reduced a lot, and the two sides are more desperately fighting for strength and a war of attrition, or in other words, what they are fighting for is actually national strength, that is, the country's military and economic potential.
From the point of view of army morale, the Soviet Union could not afford to lose a second time in Smolensk. The outcome of the First Battle of Smolensk was seen as a disgrace for the Soviet army, and the military, political, and even the entire country was holding back their strength to fight a war of revenge. If this victory is won, it will not only be a shame but also a justification, and if it loses again this time, it will be an immeasurable blow to the morale of the entire Soviet army.
All these reasons are superimposed, and the deep reasons why Stalin personally went to the front command are about to come out.
A trip to Gzatsk.
In short, after some careful preparations, Stalin and his party secretly set off, and the first stop on the itinerary was a small town called Gzatsk. The city had been under German control not long ago, and although the Soviets had recaptured it, both the city's facilities and the lives of its residents were still in a state of chaos that needed to be restored.
Serov himself was a capable and experienced Ministry of Internal Affairs, and he had already found a house in the small city as a temporary place for Stalin. Although the city had just experienced war, it was difficult to guarantee comfortable enjoyment and abundant resources, but since Stalin himself had already stated that he would "travel quickly and unobtrusively", the hardware facilities would not have caused him much dissatisfaction.
What really bothered Serov was the issue of security.
The house was a requisitioned private house, not a well-guarded official residence, and there were no supporting guards to stand guard. Fortunately, when I took the special train on the way, the train was a confined space, and all the personnel were people who knew the inside of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. But once you get off the train and are in the city where the situation is predetermined, who knows that there will be hidden dangers?
In desperation, Serov had no choice but to place his personnel around the house as much as possible, and repeatedly repeated the order to pay attention to concealment, to pay attention to the movements of the surrounding environment, and to ensure absolute safety within Stalin's range of activities.
But it was so coincidental, perhaps because of something on his mind, that Stalin spent less than half an hour in the house and went out with great interest to take a look around. At this glance, before the personnel of the Ministry of Internal Affairs had time to hide in place, two were grabbed out by Stalin from the bushes and behind the walls!
Serov's heart was like a military band beating the drums, but he was afraid that he would be affected if the task was not completed properly. Unexpectedly, Stalin was furious and reprimanded that the men of the common people in the whole city had gone to the battlefield, what the hell are these people hanging out here!
Serov was so apprehensive that he hurriedly complied with the order to remove most of the guards and let them go on other tasks, while Stalin was left with only six guards, including Serov.
The report of the armies of the two fronts.
Due to the urgency of the situation, the original plan for a short period of time in Gzatsk was changed. Stalin and his entourage hurried on the road temporarily, and after a rush of rush, they finally moved into the abandoned site of the headquarters of the Western Front.
Now it was real working time, and the commander of the Western Front, Sokolovsky, soon arrived to report on the battlefield first-hand. According to Serov's recollections, Stalin was deeply concerned about the situation on the battlefield and asked very detailed questions, as if he himself was ready to personally lead his troops into battle and set foot on the battlefield.
There were other episodes at this time, when the planned food supply was not in place on time, and Stalin even joked: "How about porridge tonight?" But since the situation on this battlefield was not too disturbing, the exchange between Stalin and Sokolovsky was quite pleasant. Stalin kept his spirits high and even offered everyone a bottle of wine together.
However, by the time he arrived in Rzhev the next day and contacted the commander of the Kalinin Front, Yeremenko, things were far from pleasant. It turned out that due to the combined influence of various complex reasons on the battlefield, the Kalinin Front was facing a far less optimistic situation on the battlefield than the Western Front, with the offensive blocked, poor performance, and even a sense of crumbling danger.
Before the battle began, the whole army of the Soviet Union had a tacit understanding, and this time in Smolensk, it was necessary to fight a large-scale situation as planned. Now the situation of the other troops is quite good, and the "ineffectiveness" of the Kalinin Front is particularly eye-catching, and the news brought by Yeremenko naturally made Stalin quite dissatisfied.
It is also for this reason that the reporting process of the two fronts presents a polarized atmosphere. On the side of the Western Front, because of the special praise of the commander Sokolovsky, Stalin quickly returned to Moscow and promoted the commander of the long-range aviation to the rank of air marshal.
However, before and after the report of the Kalinin Front, not only did not give the order to elevate, but there was no toast or anything like that. It was not until the latest war report came: the Soviets had taken Belgorod victoriously, and it was only a matter of time before the Germans were driven out of the whole of Omuel, that the atmosphere finally took a turn for the better.
Stalin immediately decided that as soon as his party returned to Moscow, he would immediately issue an order to fire a gun salute in the capital as a tribute and commemoration of this important victory. It was also from this time that Moscow's custom of firing gun salutes and saluting major victories was gradually followed.