The defeat of Soviet Russia in the counterattack against Germany did not make Stalin restrain his original arrogant and domineering character. When he was still suppressed by the German army, under the pressure of foreign affairs and when his Far East policy encountered unanimous domestic opposition, he He can still choose to be patient, but now, when the German army has no time to look around, he feels that "it is time to teach those beasts (people's commissars) some lessons and let them know who is in charge of Soviet Russia." (These speeches, scripts are all From "Fornication and Cruelty at the High Level of Soviet Russia" written by Stalin's secret lover Vina), yes, Stalin was not prepared to endure it any longer, whether internally or externally. On the one hand, he made the KGB intensify its activities , began a nationwide campaign to "catch Soviet traitors". At the same time, he required all units to immediately enter a state of first-level combat readiness and be ready to sacrifice themselves at any time to safeguard the territorial integrity of Soviet Russia.
Unlike Truman who had to listen to the opinions of his generals when he convened a meeting, Stalin basically did the talking alone while the others held small notebooks and just took notes.
"... Once the United States and Japan take action against China, it will be our opportunity to regain the Far East. How can we hand over the fertile land in the Far East to the dirty Chinese? Comrade Zhukov, if war breaks out, I want you to organize An expeditionary force, now tell me how many people you need."
Among the several generals attending the meeting, Zhukov had surpassed Timoshenko and other veterans because of his outstanding performance in the Great Patriotic War, and became Stalin's most trusted general. In Stalin's view, recovering the Far East would be remembered in history. He gave this task to Zhukov, which was a gift. Zhukov was the most fiercely opposed among the Soviet generals at the time when it came to exchanging the Far East for China's military assistance. For this reason, Stalin believed that Zhukov You will definitely accept it gladly and even be grateful.
However, the scene he expected did not happen. Zhukov did not respond immediately to his question, but glanced left and right, and then slowly said: "Comrade General Secretary, I thought that even if the United States and Japan jointly fight against China, it would not be possible." Our best opportunity to send troops,."
What Zhukov said is actually a piece of advice. As a general who has done in-depth research on the Chinese army, he clearly knows the gap between the Soviet army and the Chinese army, especially the student army, so he believes that the Soviet army has not defeated the Chinese army at present. With the cost, the most important thing the Soviet military should do now is to strengthen training and wait for the military industry to provide weapons with more advanced performance.
Unfortunately, Stalin's character determined that it was impossible to give him a chance to finish his sentence. Stalin's face immediately changed. He stared at Zhukov with a falcon-like gaze and roared loudly: "It's not the best opportunity to send troops, then you tell me , when is the best opportunity to send troops, wait for the Chinese to immigrate and completely turn the Far East into their land? The Chinese government is immigrating to the Far East on a large scale. Don’t you know about this? Weren’t you the most opposed to the Far East at the time? Was it given to the Chinese? Now you are asked to take it back, and you are timid again. Your courage is only so great." Stalin said, pinching the nail of his little finger with his thumb to make a gesture.
A soldier was described as having courage the size of a little fingernail. There is no greater humiliation than this. Zhukov's face suddenly turned red. However, due to Stalin's consistent lewdness, his face only turned red. It's just red.
Very dissatisfied with Zhukov's disrespectful promotion, Stalin looked at another field marshal and shouted: "Vasilevsky."
Vasilevsky stood up.
Stalin asked directly: "What do you think?"
"Comrade General Secretary, I agree with your conclusion that this is indeed a rare opportunity to take back the Far East."
"Very well, then the task of forming the Far East Expeditionary Force will be left to you, Comrade Vasilevsky. I hope you know that for a soldier, this will be the highest honor."
"Yes, I promise to complete the task."
Unlike Truman, who needed to listen to the opinions of his generals, so the meeting process was slow, the meeting with Stalin in it was basically his word, so the process was extremely fast. It took Truman a long time and a lot of energy to convince his generals. They, but Stalin simply announced a few new appointments, and the Soviet government's Far East policy and even China policy immediately underwent a 180-degree change.
"Zhukov, you shouldn't say that. Don't you understand the general secretary's character?" After the meeting, Vasilevsky and Zhukov walked together and he said to the latter.
Zhukov looked pained: "Vasilevsky, thank you for your concern, but I can't just watch my soldiers die. Do you think you can defeat the Chinese?"
Vasilevsky was silent. Later, he sighed: "However, the General Secretary has made up his mind. My idea is that rather than letting others take command, which may cause a disastrous failure, it is better for me to go. At least, I will be there." When the situation is not right, try to preserve the vitality of the troops as much as possible."
"This is the only way, but this will drag down the country's reconstruction process. In the current Soviet Russia, I think the first task is to rebuild and let the country recover from the trauma of the war. Vasilevsky, you are on the Western Front and in China The military has had little contact, and let me tell you, the Chinese military is not what it used to be. In terms of individual soldier quality, morale, weapons and equipment, it can be said that we have no advantage in any of them."
Vasilevsky was slightly surprised and asked: "The gap is really so big."
"What do you think the German army's combat capabilities are?"
"Very strong."
"But they are completely vulnerable to the Chinese army. You know Guderian, the father of German tanks and armored forces. However, he was actually captured alive by China's second-rate troops."
"You mean the Chinese Far East Expeditionary Force is just a second-rate force."
"The predecessor of the Chinese Far East Expeditionary Force is the Chinese Northwest Army, which is Feng Yuxiang's army. You must know Feng Yuxiang and the Northwest Army. In China, they are not even as good as the Northeast Army."
"Impossible, impossible. If this is the case, then how strong must the student army be?"
"I didn't believe it at first, but this is the fact. You have heard of Zhang Zizhong, the commander-in-chief of the Chinese Far East Expeditionary Force. He was only a tiger general in the Northwest Army before, but looking at his performance in our country's battles , quoting a Chinese proverb, "A scholar who has been away for three days should look at each other with admiration."
"Aren't the United States and Japan the vanguard? China only has so many troops in total."
"Vasilevsky, I had this thought at first, but then I thought of something and I immediately stopped thinking about it."