During the time when An Yi left Xinjing for Guangzhou, to arrange a Chinese-style wedding with Lin's twin sisters, and at the same time to check on the public sentiment, the world situation once again underwent dramatic changes.

The outbreak of the Soviet-German War undoubtedly gave a shot in the arm to the British, who had suffered successive defeats in the Middle East and North Africa.

At that time, Churchill had returned to the United Kingdom from Washington. While commanding the defense operations against German air strikes, he was also conducting the war in East Africa remotely. At his headquarters in the northern suburbs of London, he received the news of Hitler's attack on the Soviet Union.

This news was heard on the radio by Thomson, the director of the Prime Minister's Office. Churchill received the report and immediately ran to the radio to listen. Because it was important news, the first round of broadcasts was completed and the radio station replayed it again.

After hearing this, Churchill nodded with satisfaction, then happily hummed a ditty and danced.

For Churchill, there was no greater joy than the outbreak of the Soviet-German war.

Churchill was a veteran in fighting against the Soviet Union. After the victory of the October Revolution, Lenin established the Soviet regime in Russia, and the contradiction between Britain and the Soviet Union quickly became acute. At that time, Churchill, based on the interests of his own ruling group, firmly advocated a strategic approach against the Soviet Union.

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In 1918, Churchill gave a speech during the parliamentary election, calling the Bolsheviks "brutal gorillas" who "will soon drag Russia back to the barbaric period of animal form". He also said that "the essence of Bolshevik theory is regression."

to the Middle Ages." So

, "After defeating the world tiger, the Germans, we can no longer let the gorillas strangle us." He also specially submitted a memorandum to the British cabinet, suggesting "the preparation of a roster of Bolshevik government members" so as not to borrow money at all costs in the future.

punish those people.

In Churchill's eyes, Hitler was the devil, and Stalin was also the devil. He had already come up with the good idea of ​​fighting the devil with the devil. In 1919, Churchill, who was then Secretary of State for War and Air Force, told Prime Minister Lloyd George

Said: "The policy towards Soviet Russia should be very simple. Support Germany and force it to fight the Bolsheviks."

At that time, Churchill had a principle for dealing with relations with Germany and Soviet Russia, which was called "eliminate the Bolsheviks and kiss the Germans." He did what he said and personally participated in the armed intervention against Russia.

As a result, Churchill's dream of kissing the Germans did not come true. As soon as Hitler came to power, he raised the big stick of revenge, and once his feathers were full, he pounced on Britain and France. At this time, Churchill knew that the most dangerous enemy at present was

Hitler. Therefore, under the current ineffective fight against Germany, Churchill began to adopt a foreign policy of uniting the United States and wooing the Soviet Union, and he did not hesitate to make secret flirtations with Stalin.

In his opinion, this kind of flirting is very necessary. It is in line with his strategic thinking of "diversion of trouble to the east" and his good idea of ​​"devil fights devil". When snipe and clam fight, fishermen will benefit, why?

What about enjoying it but not doing it?

The day after the launch of Plan Barbarossa, Churchill delivered a speech in the House of Commons.

"No one has opposed Bolshevism as consistently as I have during the past twenty-five years, and I do not want to take back what I have said. But all this pales in comparison with what is unfolding before our eyes.

All the past, including its sins, its follies, its tragedies, has passed in a flash.

"What I saw before my eyes were Russian soldiers standing on the border of the motherland, defending the land that their ancestors had cultivated since ancient times. What I saw were brutal German soldiers rushing towards them like a pack of hungry wolves. I saw

What is important is that behind these German soldiers, there is a small group of villains who plan and organize this great terror that threatens mankind. Our British Empire has only one purpose, which is to eliminate all traces of Hitler and the Nazi system. We must give Russia and the Russians

All possible assistance.

"Hitler's attack on Russia was just a prelude to his attempt to attack the British Isles. There is no doubt that he hoped that all these actions could be completed before winter came. He hoped that after defeating the Soviet Union, he would defeat the Soviet Union, which combined the power of the United States and Britain.

With the powerful Allied forces, he hoped to repeat his old trick of defeating them one by one with a larger-scale attack than before.

“So the crisis in Russia is our crisis, it is the crisis of the United States and of the rest of the world, just as the cause of the Russians fighting to defend their homeland is the cause of free peoples and free nations everywhere, let us learn from cruel experience

Let’s learn a lesson. Let’s redouble our efforts. As long as we still have breath and strength, let’s work together to attack the enemy!”

Look at the United States.

Before the outbreak of the Soviet-German War, although the Roosevelt administration frequently sent people to contact Moscow, the mainstream media in the United States still criticized the Soviet Union as an accomplice of the Nazis. In fact, since the Russian October Revolution, the diplomatic relations between the United States and the Soviet Union have

It was only opened for the first time seven years ago, but there are still many diplomatic conflicts and relations between the two countries are extremely cold.

The 1938 Soviet-German Non-Aggression Pact, the Soviet attack on Finland from October last year to March last year, and the subsequent annexation of the three Baltic countries made the Soviet Union lose the hearts of the United States. In addition, the Soviet Communist International

organization, and still incited trade unions to organize strikes during the general mobilization of industry in the United States. In addition, the anti-war propaganda in the Communist International newspapers and periodicals caused Americans to drift away from Russia, except for the few liberals who were most sympathetic to the Soviet Union.

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But the Soviet-German War changed everything.

On June 25, the third day after the Soviet-German war broke out, following Churchill’s remarks on aid to the Soviet Union the previous day, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Sumner Wells also publicly stated that “any force is welcome to join forces to oppose Hitlerism”

, no matter where these forces come from." Subsequently, the Soviet Union's frozen assets in the United States during the Finnish War were unfrozen, and within the first two weeks of the outbreak of the Soviet-German war, a small amount of goods began to be loaded on ships and shipped from the United States to the Soviet Union.

On July 1, after receiving a positive response from Hopkins, the U.S. special envoy who was urgently sent to the Soviet Union to coordinate the war against Germany, Roosevelt ordered: "immediately transport a large amount of aid supplies to the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics." However, even though he had the world's greatest

Even the most determined will cannot produce a large amount of weapons and equipment overnight. After all, the US military itself currently lacks sufficient weapons and equipment. Therefore, it can only transport a small portion of what was originally designated to the United Kingdom to the Soviet Union to support it.

Soviet war.

When the Soviet Union purchased goods from the United States, they initially paid in cash, but as the situation on the battlefield deteriorated sharply, the Soviet ambassador to the United States began negotiating some form of credit with the United States.

In a letter to Stalin in late July, Roosevelt wrote: "In order to eliminate financial difficulties, arrangements will be made immediately so that munitions worth one billion dollars can be handled under Lend-Lease. If the Soviet government agrees, I recommend

This debt does not bear interest, and the Soviet government can begin to pay the debt five years after the end of the war, and repay it in full within the next ten years."

Stalin agreed to Roosevelt's proposal. Subsequently, after negotiations with diplomats, Roosevelt declared in a statement issued on August 15: "The defense of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics is extremely important for the defense of the United States" and ordered the Lend-Lease Supervisory Office

Eduard Stettinius "transferred defensive munitions to the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics under the Lend-Lease Act".

By this time, the relations between the Soviet Union, the United States, and the United Kingdom were on the right track. However, both the United States and the United Kingdom were worried that the Soviet Union would not be able to withstand the attack of the powerful German army. At this time, the aid supplies provided were still pitiful, and they could only pass through the Arctic Ocean.

The transportation mission can be completed when the route reaches Murmansk on the Kola Peninsula in the northern Soviet Union. If the Soviet Union wants to truly receive U.S. aid in large quantities, it must prove it with victory on the battlefield.

On the Soviet side.

In response to the German attack, Stalin announced the establishment of the National Defense Committee on July 3, which would centrally control all leadership powers. The decision to initiate unification peace talks with the Far Eastern Soviet Republic was also made after discussions by the National Defense Committee. The committee's earliest decision

Its members included Stalin, Molotov, Voroshilov, Malenkov and Beria. Later, in order to allow the two million Far Eastern Army to fight without reservation, Lyushenkov and Yegorov were added.

On the day the National Defense Committee was established, Stalin delivered a radio speech, issuing an urgent mobilization to the Soviet military and civilians, and proposed a strategic deployment to completely defeat the German fascist invaders.

Stalin pointed out in his speech that the German fascist attack on the Soviet Union was related to "a question of life and death for the Soviet state, a question of life and death for the people of all ethnic groups in the Soviet Union, and a question of whether the people of all ethnic groups in the Soviet Union enjoy freedom or become slaves." He called on the Soviet people to take urgent action

Rise up and join the Red Army to defend the motherland bravely, defend every inch of Soviet territory, and fight to the last drop of blood to defend the cities and villages of the Soviet Union.

Stalin said that the current war between the Soviet Union and German fascism is not only a war between the two armies, but also a great war between the entire Soviet people against the German fascist army. The Soviet people's Patriotic War will fight for independence with the people of Europe and the United States.

, the struggle for democracy and freedom came together to form a united front against fascism.

On July 10, the Soviet High Command was reorganized into the Supreme High Command, with Stalin as chairman. Since the Far Eastern Republic had expressed its willingness for peace, in order to stabilize the rear, Stalin gave the Far Eastern Republic two seats. Therefore, in addition to the historical Moloch, the members were

Tov

, in addition to Timoshenko, Budyonny, Voroshilov, Shaposhnikov and Zhukov, it also included Yegorov and Lyushenkov, with nine members. Stalin served as chairman of the National Defense Committee,

He was also the Chairman of the Supreme Command and became the Supreme Commander of the Soviet Union.

While diplomatic and political activities were going on frequently, the large-scale Soviet-German war was also going on fiercely, and the war was getting more and more intense.

At the beginning of the war, Hitler used an unprecedented six million troops to form four fists, and attacked the Soviet Union rapidly and violently from the four directions of north, center, south and Asia. From north to south, Leningrad, Moscow

, Kiev and Baku are all under unprecedented pressure.

The Soviet Union was ill-prepared and rushed into the battle, resulting in many defeats.

The German mechanized troops were advancing at a speed of almost fifty kilometers per day. After Stalin issued the order to resist resolutely, the Soviet Red Army quickly adjusted its forces and fought tenaciously against the fiercely attacking German troops. At this time, both sides entered the battle at the same time every day.

Not a few divisions, corps, and corps, but dozens of divisions, dozens of corps, and several army groups.

These heavy soldiers faced each other tit for tat, refused to give in to each other, beat each other, and bit each other. Their momentum was like a raging tide, thousands of horses galloping, and thunder. The heavy soldiers on both sides fought hard at the contact point, and the result was corpses everywhere.

Rivers of blood flowed. Wherever the war went, smoke billowed and fires burned, immediately turning it into ruins.

On the front, the two sides were wedged into each other, breaking through each other, stretching and contracting each other, forming a staggered situation. However, neither side had the slightest intention of giving in. One group army was defeated, and another or several other group armies surged forward.

.This is an unprecedented battle of strength and perseverance.

All the way to the north, German Field Marshal Rittel von Loeb's combat group, with Heppner's 4th Armored Corps as the center, Kussiler's 18th Army as the left wing, and Boucher's 16th Army as the right wing.

With the support of the First Air Force, the attack was launched from Königsberg in East Prussia to the general direction of Daugavpils-Pskov-Leningrad.

Loeb's initial task for the 4th Armored Corps was to completely capture the two bridges on the West Dvina River outside Daugavpils and occupy Daugavpils.

For this reason, Manstein's 56th Panzer Corps and Reinhardt's 41st Panzer Corps started a race to advance. Manstein led the 56th Panzer Corps, throwing away the left and right wings, and went straight in, four

After covering 320 kilometers in one day, the 8th Armored Division was the first to arrive outside Daugavpils on June 27.

Brandenburg, the commander of the division, asked the German soldiers to use four captured Soviet vehicles to disguise themselves as retreating Soviet wounded soldiers. They deceived the Soviet bridge defenders and completely captured the bridge on the West Dvina River.

The two bridges enabled the main force of Army Group North to successfully cross the wide West Dvina River and capture the city of Daugavpils.

The fall of Daugavpils completely exposed the Pskov-Leningrad line to the German army due to the loss of natural barriers.

Stalin could no longer suppress his anger and ordered the dismissal of General Kuznetsov as commander of the Northwestern Front. He was replaced by Major General Sobinnikov, commander of the Eighth Army, and appointed Lieutenant General Vatutin as chief of staff of the front.

.However, the new command structure of the Soviet army was still unable to reverse the situation of the war. The German army continued to rush towards the Soviet army like a tide. The passive Soviet army not only had no power to fight back, but also did not even have the ability to parry.

On July 2, the German army occupied Riga, the capital of Latvia.

On July 5, the German army broke through the Soviet defense line from Latvia to the Russian border, and then occupied Pskov, which the Soviet army had abandoned, on July 10, opening the door to Leningrad. Leningrad

The two southeastern and Karelian armies of the Finnish Army in the north also launched fierce attacks on the Soviet Northern Front in the direction of Petrozavodsk and Vyborg respectively at the end of June. Leningrad was in Germany.

, in the middle of a pincer attack between the two Finnish armies from the north and the south.

Marshal Voroshilov, who was appointed at the critical moment, urgently mobilized millions of Leningrad residents and built three lines of defense around Leningrad day and night. The outermost one was centered on the city of Luga and started in the south from Shim on the west bank of Lake Ilmen.

Sk, stretching along the Luga River, north to the Luga River outlet

Kingisepp, the Luga defense line with a total length of about 300 kilometers, and deployed four infantry divisions and three militia divisions on this defense line. Considering that the Finnish army's combat effectiveness in the north is relatively weak, Voroshilov also

Six divisions and one brigade were transferred from the Northern Front to strengthen the defense along the Luga River.
To be continued...