James Holland

It should never have happened.

I mean, Zhukov is saying to Stalin, we've got to pull back across the Dnieper.

Stalin's going, no, I can't possibly do that.

Stalin's going, no, I can't possibly do that. You can't abandon Kiev. It's like third city in Soviet Union. No way. No, absolutely not. And he goes, we are just going to be overwhelmed. We can't hold this. And he says, either back me or fire me. Back me or sack me. So Stalin sacks him. Obviously, as we know, Zhukov gets rehabilitated in pretty quick order.

Stalin's going, no, I can't possibly do that. You can't abandon Kiev. It's like third city in Soviet Union. No way. No, absolutely not. And he goes, we are just going to be overwhelmed. We can't hold this. And he says, either back me or fire me. Back me or sack me. So Stalin sacks him. Obviously, as we know, Zhukov gets rehabilitated in pretty quick order.

Stalin's going, no, I can't possibly do that. You can't abandon Kiev. It's like third city in Soviet Union. No way. No, absolutely not. And he goes, we are just going to be overwhelmed. We can't hold this. And he says, either back me or fire me. Back me or sack me. So Stalin sacks him. Obviously, as we know, Zhukov gets rehabilitated in pretty quick order.

You can't abandon Kiev.

It's like third city in Soviet Union.

No way.

No, absolutely not.

And he goes, we are just going to be overwhelmed.

We can't hold this.

And he says, either back me or fire me.

Back me or sack me.

So Stalin sacks him.

Obviously, as we know, Zhukov gets rehabilitated in pretty quick order.

And Stalin does learn very quickly thereafter to learn the lessons. But The opening phase of Barbarossa has been a catastrophe. And so as a consequence of Stalin refusing to let his men retreat back across the Dnieper, which is a substantial barrier and would be very difficult for the Germans to overwhelm had they moved back in time. You know, that's another kind of 700,000 men put in the bag.

And Stalin does learn very quickly thereafter to learn the lessons. But The opening phase of Barbarossa has been a catastrophe. And so as a consequence of Stalin refusing to let his men retreat back across the Dnieper, which is a substantial barrier and would be very difficult for the Germans to overwhelm had they moved back in time. You know, that's another kind of 700,000 men put in the bag.

And Stalin does learn very quickly thereafter to learn the lessons. But The opening phase of Barbarossa has been a catastrophe. And so as a consequence of Stalin refusing to let his men retreat back across the Dnieper, which is a substantial barrier and would be very difficult for the Germans to overwhelm had they moved back in time. You know, that's another kind of 700,000 men put in the bag.

And Stalin does learn very quickly thereafter to learn the lessons.