Stalingrad

i have been re-reading antony beevor's insanely good history of the battle of stalingrad. I had forgotten about the scene in one of the first chapters where a russian pilot spots a twelve kilometer column of german tanks approaching moscow. stalin, incredulous, orders a second plane to verify the report. when the second plane reports the same information, stalin still refuses to believe it. he orders up a third flight. when the third pilot reports that yes, in fact, a twelve kilometer column of tanks is bearing down on moscow, stalin upbraids the pilots' commanding officer for being a panic monger. maybe there is no metaphor in that.