Author: World War II Pretty Lady (Without permission, it is forbidden to copy the full text and carry it privately!) ）
Of all the famous generals of the Soviet Union in World War II, one of them has always been deeply "loved" by Stalin! In the war, the promotion speed of this person is comparable to that of a "rocket", and he "swoops upwards" vigorously. This famous Soviet general was known as the "wisdom of the Soviet Army": Alexander Mikhailovich Vasilevsky.
Vasilevsky
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="79" > was humble and enthusiastic, and after the October Revolution, he joined the Red Army and was valued by Stalin. </h1>
Born on September 30, 1895, Vasilevsky fought in World War I as a young man, was promoted to battalion commander for his bravery, and earned the rank of captain. After the outbreak of the October Revolution in 1917, Vasilevsky resolutely chose to join the Red Army and became a regimental commander of the Red Army.
October Revolution (War Recurrence)
In the eyes of his colleagues, Vasilevsky was a man of "humility and sincerity." From the autumn of 1931 onwards, Vasilevsky was transferred to the organs of the General Headquarters of the Red Army.
In 1935, Vasilevsky was again sent to the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Red Army for further study. There, he met one of his great mentors: Shaposhnikov, known as the "brain" of the Soviet Red Army. After graduating from the school, Vasilevsky was appointed head of the "Campaign Training Department of the General Staff of the Red Army".
It has to be said that Vasilevsky's "modest" character has always made his career smooth: after all, it is not easy to offend people, and his style of acting is very clever, and he soon gained Stalin's attention and attention.
Stalin (film)
In late 1938, the General Staff of the Red Army commended Vasilevsky for his loyalty and high quality in accomplishing a series of important tasks!
In June 1939, Vasilevsky was appointed Deputy Director of the Operations Department of the General Staff, and in May 1940 he was appointed First Deputy Director of the War Department. Just a month later, on June 4, Vasilevsky was awarded the rank of Major General of the Soviet Army.
<h1 class = "pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="29" After the outbreak > of the Soviet-German War, Vasilevsky officially began his own "rocket promotion" road. </h1>
After the outbreak of the Soviet-German War in June 1941, Vasilevsky's promotion became even faster! Throughout the war, he was constantly used and promoted by Stalin.
He became the fastest-promoted of the red army's senior generals, not one of them. The speed of his promotion is probably "rare" in the history of war:
In the Battle of Kiev, just one month after the outbreak of the Soviet-German war, Vasilevsky was promoted to deputy chief of the general staff and chief of operations of the Soviet Army. Three months later at the Battle of Moscow, Stalin again awarded Lieutenant General Vasilevsky the rank of Lieutenant General. Five months later, in April 1942, Stalin awarded him the rank of general and succeeded Shaposhnikov as chief of the Soviet general staff.
This was not the end of it, on January 18, 1943, Vasilevsky was awarded the rank of Great General by Stalin, and was also awarded the Suvorov Medal of the First Class. Less than a month later, on February 16, 1943, the Soviet Union again awarded Vasilevsky the rank of Marshal of the Soviet Union.
From 1940 to 1943, in just two years and seven months, Vasilevsky was promoted from a Major General of the Soviet Army to a Marshal of the Soviet Union, and the speed of promotion was really "staggering".
Why did Stalin, who had always been recognized as "ruthless in iron blood," value and love Vasilevsky so much? In fact, this is closely related to Vasilevsky's personality and "low energy".
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="78" > after being promoted by reuse, in order not to follow in the footsteps of his predecessors, he chose a "smart" way of counseling. </h1>
Since Vasilevsky took over as Chief of the General Staff of the Soviet Army, contacts with Stalin have become more frequent. However, the bleak end of his predecessors Zhukov and Shaposhnikov being "cleaned up" by Stalin also made Vasilevsky a little "heartbroken"!
Therefore, fearing that he would follow in the footsteps of his predecessors because of "disagreements", Vasilevsky decided to adopt a "foil strategy": to make his military plan "full of loopholes" and deliberately let Grand Marshal Stalin of the Soviet Union criticize and correct it.
At the meeting, Vasilevsky always spoke of three "correct opinions" first, but he was "vague in his speech, wordy", and even contradictory.
Then he would make a few "wrong opinions", when he was loud, accurate and thoughtful, well-organized, and he really just wanted to tell Stalin around him.
Therefore, when it was Stalin's turn to speak, the Supreme Leader would first criticize Vasilevsky's "erroneous opinions" to the fullest. Stalin would then expound his correct decisions sentence by sentence, thinking clearly.
However, if you listen carefully, stalin's so-called "correct decisions" are actually Vasilevsky's vague statements, and Stalin has only made some "polishing" slightly.
It was under this "tumultuous operation" that Stalin's battle plan was quite perfect and almost impeccable. In the beginning, Vasilevs's "abnormal" behavior made his colleagues despise him. However, later everyone understood that Vasilevsky's unique "staff" method had received a good effect of "killing two birds with one stone".
After all, this mode of operation not only flattered Stalin's lofty image as a "great military man", but also successfully promoted his own operational ideas. Later, in the Soviet military circles, many people began to admire Vasilevs's "wise and foolish" cleverness.
Many years later, Vasilevsky recalled his own practice and said:
"If I behave like everyone else and always expect to be appreciated by Stalin in person, then my opinion will probably be thrown into the trash." So I had no other choice but to make Stalin happy to accept my opinion, so I had to pretend to be stupid. Only when the correct opinions are adopted will the soldiers in the front bleed less and win more battles! I think this is much more important than being praised by Stalin in person, and what do I personally gain from being wronged? ”
Perhaps because of this, some war history experts after the war will have a lot of misunderstandings: Vasilevsky's command work in the Great Patriotic War was not "perfect".
But the attack on the Japanese Kwantung Army at the end of the war proved Marshal Vasilevsky's true "military talent"! The Soviet Far East Forces, under the command of Marshal Vasilevsky, attacked northeast China with lightning speed. They soon defeated the Japanese Kwantung Army, known as the "Flower of Empire", and fought much more "smoothly" than the Battle of Nomonkan.
Soviet troops in battle
This time of independently commanding a large-scale regimental operation also vividly demonstrated Vasilevsky's excellent command ability. This is almost like two people in his performance of "great wisdom and foolishness" in the General Staff.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="76" > injured in a car accident, he pleaded for the driver who caused the accident. Stalin: You probably haven't even bullied a fly! </h1>
In addition to his outstanding military talent, Vasilevsky's good character has always been praised by posterity. During the Great Patriotic War, Vasilevsky once inspected the front line, but on the way he was hit by a Soviet jeep of his own.
After a deafening noise, Vasilevsky was thrown out of the car, and the car fell crookedly on the side of the road. The adjutant struggled to get out of the car, and his injuries were not serious. So he climbed up to Vasilevsky as fast as he could, lifted him up and kept shouting "Marshal."
Vasilevsky slowly opened his eyes at this time, his vision was a little blurry at the time, and his consciousness was not very clear. After seeing the situation, the adjutant hurriedly asked, "Comrade Marshal, where are you uncomfortable?" Vasilevsky, however, endured severe pain and said, "I'm fine." ”
At this time, the driver who caused the accident limped over, and his injuries were not very serious. When the driver learned that he had hit Marshal Vasilevs, he ran in panic to Vasilevsky, pulled out his pistol and handed it to him: "Comrade Marshal, shoot me, I deserve it!" ”
As a result, Vasilevsky returned the pistol to him in pain, and said solemnly: "What are you doing, go back and report to your superiors about this incident." ”
Vasilevsky later returned to the command post, and upon examination he learned that he had broken two ribs and had to lie in bed for two days. The news quickly reached the commander of the driver's unit, a captain.
Originally, the commander wanted the captain to go to the battlefield to "atone for his sins", but after learning that Vasilevsky had been hit not lightly, he ordered the captain to be sent to a military court for the crime of "almost killing" the Soviet Marshal Vasilevsky.
When Vasilevsky heard about this, as a field marshal, he interceded vigorously, and finally spared the captain from punishment. In fact, Stalin certainly liked Vasilevsky's "sheep" character!
The Soviet supreme commander once laughed at Vasilevsky: "You command such a big army, and you are not bad!" But you yourself, you may never have even been bullied by a fly. ”
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="75" > "fell out of favor" after Stalin's death, he was always a "wise and foolish" man. </h1>
After the end of World War II, Vasilevsky served as Minister of the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union. It was only after Stalin's death in 1953 that Khrushchev came to power and was demoted to deputy minister of defense. But soon, Defense Minister Zhukov approached Vasilevsky for a conversation, and Zhukov asked: Do you have any interest in writing memoirs?
Marshal Zhukov
Zhukov's words made Vasilevsky come back to his senses for half a day: he should have "voluntarily resigned." So in 1959 Vasilevsky retreated to the second line until his death in 1977, at the age of 82.
Perhaps, among the many famous generals of the Soviet Union in World War II, Vasilevsky's name should be ranked behind some people. However, war is, after all, the touchstone of commander-in-chief's talent! During the Soviet-German war, many people were replaced by Stalin, but he has always been reused and promoted by Stalin, and has experienced many cruel tests on the Soviet-German battlefield.
Vasilevs in his later years
In the Battle of Stalingrad, Vasilevsky sat on the front line and eventually achieved a brilliant victory. Here are a few words as an appraisal of The life of General Vasilevsky: he was an extremely excellent officer of the General Staff, who may seem "mediocre" in the eyes of some, but who has proved to be a wise man of "great wisdom and foolishness" has always been.
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