Page 159 - The Chief Culprit

120 y e Chief Culprit

Zhukov moved air bases to the very borders, with one hundred—sometimes two hun-
dred—planes in each location. Zhukov moved hospitals, supply bases, command posts to the
borders. Zhukov moved to the border thousands of tons of ammunition, fuel, and spare parts
for tanks and planes.
Zhukov forbade almost all use of radio communication. Zhukov kept his plans in
complete secrecy, and very few people in the Red Army knew what was to be done. Upon
the surprise enemy attack, all this had catastrophic consequences. All of Zhukov’s activity
in 1941 has been attributed to a series of mistakes and miscalculations. But these were not
mistakes. In 1941, he was preparing against Germany exactly what he had prepared in August
1939 against the Japanese army at Khalkhin-Gol.