In late March, the grass grows in the south and north of China, and the willows and peach trees turn red and green. The ice and snow in North China and Northeast China begin to thaw, and the breath of spring is coming. In Moscow, in Europe, although the sun is shining brightly, it is located in a high latitude area.
, everywhere is still covered with ice and snow, plain white.
Moscow, the Kremlin, the Cathedral of Our Lady is dignified and solemn, the Ivan the Great bell tower is covered in silver, and the five towers are inlaid with agate red stars, which is spectacular. The conference hall is packed with seats. The Subu National Congress is in progress. Due to Central Asia
Bad news came frequently from the region, the representatives were not in a high mood, and the conference hall was silent.
After Molotov, Chairman of the People's Committee, announced the opening of the Congress, some ceremonies were carried out according to the procedures, and then it was time for Stalin to make a report. Deafening applause suddenly broke out in the venue.
Because he was in the middle of the war, Stalin wore a marshal's uniform. At this time, he was both the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Soviet Union and the Supreme Commander of the Soviet Red Army, integrating the power of the party, government, and military. Stalin approached the light yellow podium and put down his speech.
, looked around at the delegates, and applauded in harmony with the delegates' applause. After a while, he pressed his hands down and motioned for the delegates to sit down. After the venue calmed down, he said calmly:
"Comrades, holding another national conference in such a short period of time is because our party and our Soviets are facing a life and death test. In the West, the Germans are sharpening their knives and have already annexed Austria and the Czech Republic, aiming for their next prey.
Once Poland was annexed by Germany, the Nazis, who extremely hated the Bolsheviks and the Soviets, would inevitably extend their claws to the Soviet Union; the East and the Far East were divided
The separatists are aggressive and have occupied the front line of the Ural Mountains, and can push their forces towards Moscow at any time; in the southeast, Central Asia is being invaded by the Chinese, and large areas of territory are being lost. The Soviets have reached the most dangerous time, and we
We must take action immediately, give up any illusions, and work together to completely defeat our enemies!" Stalin said sonorously and forcefully.
There was silence in the venue, and everyone was listening carefully to Stalin's speech.
After the National Congress, the Soviet Union will officially enter a wartime system, all original economic development plans will be suspended, and everything will revolve around the war. The Soviet Central Committee has ordered that all scientists, engineers and skilled technicians
workers, issued an amnesty order exempting them from any responsibility, requiring them to put aside their ideological baggage and devote themselves with the greatest enthusiasm
Get into work and design and produce the aircraft, artillery, tanks, and ships that the Red Army urgently needs. The entire Soviet Union will carry out general mobilization for war, and an army of 10 million will be organized. The next step is to train and go to the front line. The Soviet Union 100%
Eighty percent of the industry, energy, and raw material bases are in Europe. Once the entire population is mobilized, the energy that can be generated is extremely astonishing.
After making the report, Stalin took a black Volga car out of the Kremlin and went to a training base outside the city to inspect the training of the troops that were about to leave for the front line. Marshal Voroshilov, People's Commissar of Defense, and Commander-in-Chief of the Moscow Military District, Bu
Marshal Jonny, Commander-in-Chief of the Red Army
Chief of Staff Shaposhnikov, Deputy Chief of General Staff Vasilevsky, Chairman of the People's Committee Molotov, and Minister of Internal Affairs Beria followed. In addition, there is another surprising person, that is, Stalin's special
Zhukov, commander of the Leningrad Military District, requested to attend.
Zhukov is not tall, has broad shoulders, and a small face, but his big chin is particularly prominent. There is a deep groove in the middle of the bottom of the mandible, which divides the muscles of the chin into two parts. He is a member of the Russian Communist Party and has served in the cavalry regiment.
Commander, brigade commander, division commander, corps commander, deputy director of cavalry, graduated from the advanced training class for senior leaders at the Frunze Military Academy.
In the training base covering an area of thousands of acres, all the commanders and fighters participating in the review raised their hands and saluted Stalin. Stalin solemnly returned the salute.
At a glance, tanks were lined up on the snow, standing in rows, like small hills, and artillery pieces with their heads raised high into the sky. The trees in the distance were covered with silver, and a few birds flew into the sky. Following.
At the command, the Red Army soldiers jumped on the tanks and quickly started to move across roadblocks and narrow bridges, shooting and destroying moving targets.
Stalin was very satisfied with the performance and went to watch the artillery training.
The commander of the artillery regiment waved a small red flag and ordered "get ready". The artillerymen held the bombs, loaded the guns, and pulled the gun ropes in an interlocking, tense and orderly manner. Amidst the sound of "shooting", fire erupted from the muzzles and the shells flew out.
, hitting the target five thousand meters away, the fire was shining and the smoke was billowing.
Stalin, who saw this scene through the telescope, nodded slightly, stepped forward to shake hands with the commanders, and encouraged: "I hope you will annihilate more enemies when fighting on the Eastern Front, so that our infantry casualties will be smaller!"
The commanders responded in unison: "Serve the Soviets!"
After the inspection, on the way back, Stalin asked Zhukov what he thought of the current war situation.
"Comrade Stalin, please forgive me, with a mobilization order, tens of millions of soldiers can be recruited overnight, but it is even more difficult to recruit tens of thousands of officers with actual combat experience of lieutenant colonel or above! We
There are big problems in our troops. Nowadays, in many divisions, regimental commanders were only company and platoon commanders, and many corps commanders were only regimental and battalion commanders, without commanding large corps.
In addition to being ideologically positive and politically strong, they are more accustomed to obeying wars and never command operations based on actual conditions. Moreover, in the army, internal affairs committee members and political commissars have too much power, resulting in army chiefs being uncreative and copying past battles.
Experience, if things go on like this, I don’t think we can win the battle against the Far East and Chinese troops.”
Stalin was furious and wanted to explode, but when he thought about it carefully, what Zhukov said was indeed the main problem facing the army at present. As the saying goes, when the army is in danger, we miss good generals, when the country is in chaos, we miss good ministers, and those who can speak uprightly by their side have already been
It had been ruthlessly cleaned. If Zhukov was "clicked" away again, no one would probably remind him again. Thinking of this, he asked the driver to stop, and then said to Zhukov:
"You go back first, I will come to you when necessary. Now you should take good care of the Leningrad Military District, from Moscow Eastern University, Frunze Military Academy, Tolmachev Military and Political Academy, and Comintern Military Engineering School
, Leningrad School of Communications, Kiev Army
Military academies such as military schools select a group of qualified lieutenant officers and focus on training them, and then select a group from staff officers and grassroots commanders for advanced tactical training. We take a multi-pronged approach, and first train the commanders
We’ll talk about it after we’ve cultivated it, do you understand?”
"Yes, Comrade Stalin!"
Zhukov nodded solemnly, then opened the door and walked out.
...
The Kontsevo villa where Stalin lived is in the southwest of Moscow. It is surrounded by towering walls and dense woods. There are no other buildings within a few kilometers of it, but there is the sound of forest waves from time to time. He got out of the car and walked into the door of the villa and passed the huge stone screen.
The corridors slightly ahead are thick and thick, the walls are clean, the two camphor wood doors are thick and sturdy, and the rooms inside are spacious and practical.
Stalin came to the study. Because his wife had committed suicide and the children had been sent out to be supervised by special personnel, the whole house seemed very deserted. Sitting down at the desk, he took out a carved pipe, pinched a few pinches of tobacco leaves from the cigarette case, and put it into the pipe.
, struck a match, lit the tobacco, and took a puff, Zhukov's words rang in my ears, and I couldn't help but think deeply.
"The morale of the military is currently unstable. It seems that the 'Great Purge' has really damaged the vitality of the army..."
Stalin remembered very clearly that during the "Great Purge", five marshals of the army, navy and air force, Tukhachevsky, were executed. After Yegorov was imprisoned in Gugra, he was rescued by another marshal, Blyucher.
, and both of them belong to the category that must be purged; in the "Great Purge",
All the second-level army commanders were killed, fifty of the fifty-seven army commanders were killed, and one hundred and fifty-four of the one hundred and eighty-six division commanders were executed... After counting, a total of officers above the lieutenant colonel level were killed.
After killing more than 5,000 people, no wonder Zhukov said that there are no middle- and high-level commanders who can fight.
"well……"
Stalin picked up the pipe and put it in his mouth. He sucked it, but there was no smell of smoke. He smoked again, but there was still no smell of smoke. He took out the pipe and saw that the tobacco leaves inside had burned out at some point. He shook his head and smiled bitterly, so he had to shake off the ashes.
He took out another tobacco leaf from the cigarette case, filled the pipe, and was about to light it. Secretary Poskrebyshev delivered the documents, and used a lighter to light the tobacco leaves for Stalin, then turned around and went out.
After Stalin finished smoking, he stepped on the plush carpet to the window and thought carefully:
"The civil strife in the Soviet Union, the division of the Far East, the Chinese invasion of Central Asia, and the expansion of Germany's power to the east to threaten the borders of the Soviet Union are what all Western countries, including the United States, are happy to see. We have no way of forming an alliance with Britain, France, the United States and other countries.
, it is also impossible to form an alliance with Poland, because not long after the success of the October Revolution, Poland invaded the Soviet Union together with more than a dozen imperialist countries..."
Stalin felt that the Soviet Union had reached a critical moment, and continued to think: "Now that the Soviet Union has been trapped in the battlefields of the Eastern Front and Central Asia and cannot extricate itself, as long as it can delay Germany's war against the Soviet Union, under certain conditions, it can shake hands with the devil.
To avoid the dilemma of the Soviet Union fighting bitterly with the Far East, China and Germany at the same time, while Britain, France, and even the whole world watched from afar."
Stalin thought along this line of thinking: "Yes, under certain conditions, we can seek peace with Hitler. But how to convey this message? Litvinov, the People's Commissar of Foreign Affairs, is a Jew and has a British wife, Litvinov
My husband has always hated Germany and was at war with Britain and France... He has to be replaced, but who should he replace? Of course it is Molotov!"
Thinking of this, Stalin returned to his desk, took out a copy of the documents brought by his secretary, and read through it. This is the list of arrangements for the various tasks of the National Party Congress. Once he makes a decision, the meeting will be completely in accordance with his decision.
meaning, execute it meticulously.
"Litvinov's diplomatic work is all about implementing the instructions of the party and the government. The reason why he currently seems to be leaning towards Britain and France is not his personal behavior, but a manifestation of collective will. Now remove Litvinov
Husband, many people will have ideas. Of course, to play the big game of diplomacy well, we must always consider the overall situation and make local sacrifices, which is also common."
Stalin thought like this, picked up a ballpoint pen produced by the Chinese government from the pen holder, moved the pen tip to the list, placed a cross on "Litvinov", and then moved it to Molotov, repeatedly
A circle was drawn on the ground.
"With this change, Hitler will change his view of us, and we can also gain time and make necessary preparations to crush any enemy attack..."
Stalin thought like this, slowly put down his pen and picked up the phone: "Comrade Molotov... you come to my house right away, yes, right now..."
Not long after, Stalin saw Molotov, Chairman of the People's Committee, arriving and stepped forward to greet him.
Molotov had sparse hair, a round face, a short beard, and a pair of oval gold-rimmed glasses. His eyes were sharp and bright. He was presiding over the National Congress and was a little surprised by Stalin's sudden summons. After seeing Stalin, he hurriedly
He stepped forward and shouted fervently: "Comrade Stalin..."
Stalin stretched out his hand, shook Molotov's hand, pointed to the sofa next to the desk, and said, "Sit down and talk." He sat down first, then picked up the folder on the desk and handed it to Molotov:
"It's just been delivered, you should take a look at it first."
Molotov took the folder and sat down. From Stalin's slightly different behavior from the past, he felt that something new had happened. Over the years, everyone around Stalin had developed a habit: Stalin would not let him
If you know something, you will never ask; if you are not allowed to see it, you will never see it.
Molotov opened the folder. It looked like it was a secret intelligence from Germany. It said that Hitler had recruited people to formulate a plan to attack Poland. The details needed to be carefully examined. After reading, Molotov handed the folder to
He returned it to Stalin and said: "Hitler's ambitions are too great..."
Stalin nodded and changed the subject: "Recently, we have been involved in a war with the Far East separatists and the Chinese. In fact, we all know that Central Asia is also dominated by the Far East Republic. Without the support of the Far East, the Chinese would not dare to enter an inch of the Soviet Union.
Territory. The original battle plan we formulated was to attack first
Pain for the Chinese and don't let them participate in the civil war in the Soviet Union, but judging from the current situation, the Chinese, who have been strengthened by the Far East, are not so easy to deal with. What happened in Semipalatinsk and Ust-Kamen
The combat incident is proof. After this National Party Congress, we need to adjust our strategy on the Eastern Front.
"At the same time, Germany was aggressive on the Western Front. They signed international treaties with Italy and Japan, targeting the Soviet Union. To this end, we have negotiated with Britain and France on the conclusion of an anti-aggression mutual assistance treaty, but so far,
There is still no progress. From this, it is not difficult to see that Britain and France are standing aside and trying to throw Poland out as bait to encourage Hitler to pounce on us."
At this point, Stalin asked Molotov for his opinion: "Comrade Molotov, what do you think about this? Please talk about it."
Molotov thought about what Stalin said and said cautiously: "We should make the greatest diplomatic efforts..." His words touched on the focus of the problem: "The urgent need is to do a good job in Germany..."
Stalin took up Molotov's words: "Because of this, I just made a difficult decision to let you serve as People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs concurrently, replacing Litvinov, to express the attitude of our Soviet Central Committee."
Molotov was very surprised: "Me?" He said eagerly: "Comrade Stalin, please think again..."
Stalin strengthened his tone: "What, do you question my decision? For the Chairman of the People's Committee to concurrently serve as the People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs shows that we attach great importance to diplomatic work!"
"Okay! I will obey the organization's decision."
Molotov immediately softened and began to think about how to put pressure on the Chinese government in diplomatic work to force Anjiajun to withdraw from Central Asia.