The Adversary

     General Georgy Zhukov had no illusions about his adversary, the Wehrmacht as he was presenting his annual report in the Kremlin. He knew that the situation at the front was extremely intense with the enemy already taking control of Kiev and looking set to take control of Moscow at least by February next year. He knew that his boss Comrade Joseph Stalin was not happy with the progress of his troops. After all the enemy had performed well against his own ill-equipped army and the enemy also enjoyed air superiority with the mighty Luftwaffe roaming over the skies of the USSR. As Zhukov said to Stalin, " Comrade, we have faced heavy losses early on mainly because of the enemy's superior tanks and air power. But we have enough resources to bounce back!" Stalin, however, was not that optimistic, he replied, "And how do you plan to bounce back Comrade General? Where are our tanks? Where is our air force? Leningrad is under siege! Kiev has fallen! And Moscow will fall any day now! What have you done comrade to stop our adversary?" 

    Zhukov knew that the Red Army was in a real fix in front of the highly well-trained adversary. He knew he could offer no solution to Stalin except optimism. He also knew only optimism would not be enough to save his life as Stalin unhappy with his progress may order him to be executed by the NKVD. Zhukov, therefore, was extremely worried. He was not only worried about the invasion but also about his life. He had to find a way to defeat the Wehrmacht, the most feared adversary of the USSR. However, talking about defeating the Germans and actually defeating them was a very different ball game altogether. He knew that if the USSR had to survive, Moscow had to resist against the might of the German Army and emerge victoriously. But he did not know how to do that. Although the USSR had undergone military modernization under Stalin, it had never faced anything like the Wehrmacht before. The most worrying problem for Zhukov was the superiority of the Luftwaffe and its advanced fighters and bombers. Therefore Zhukov knew that the USSR was perhaps against its toughest enemy ever, an opponent which posed a far greater danger to the USSR compared to all its previous foes.

    Stalin was also thinking, he was thinking, " Making that pact with Hitler was my biggest mistake ever. I should have stopped him in Poland. I should have understood that he would betray me!! Now with Moscow under attack and Leningrad under siege, my reputation as a leader is under siege!! If I lose Moscow and I have to shift my capital to somewhere else, some political commissar may try to pull off a coup!" Therefore both the men were thinking entirely different things as they sought to protect their country from a so-called invincible invader. In fact, one thing was clear in the minds of both these men, it was that no amount of invocation of rhetoric would help against this attacker, as the Red Army had no shortage of men, all they needed was equipment that could put a fight against the might of the German tanks.

    However Zhukov suddenly began smirking to himself, Stalin was very annoyed by this, he said, " And what makes you laugh General? Do you find the situation extremely funny?" Zhukov hiding his smirk said, "Forgive me Comrade Stalin, But don't you see that winter is slowly arriving here. Already the Germans were facing problems in the monsoon season when their tanks could not move in the mud. Imagine what they will face now?" Now a smile also emerged in Stalin's face and he had a twinkle in his eye, he said, " Ah! I think Comrade General, we may have found a way to defeat our invincible adversary."