Stalin angrily smashed his iconic pipe on the forehead of Deputy People's Commissar of Defense and People's Commissar of Navy Smirnov who was standing opposite the desk. Blood immediately seeped out and flowed down his forehead, but Smirnov did not dare
He took out his handkerchief to wipe it, and soon blood flowed all over his head and face.
"Comrade Smirnov, the Political Bureau of the Central Committee handed over the great Red Army fleet to you, hoping that you can lead it to make great achievements and win the battle against the traitors in the Far East and their lackeys in South China. But what is the answer you gave me? Shameful
Ah! The entire army was wiped out! Not only did the Caspian Fleet lose its own ships, but it also lost all the battleships and transport ships supported by the Red Sea Fleet, as well as three divisions of Red Army soldiers!"
Stalin roared loudly in Russian with a heavy Georgian accent, his anger making even the entire Kremlin tremble.
Seeing Smirnov standing there tremblingly and without saying a word, Stalin became even more angry and asked loudly: "Comrade Smirnov, do you have anything to explain to the Central Committee?"
Smirnov raised his head and said aggrievedly: "But - Comrade Stalin, I am just executing your order. It was you who asked the entire Caspian Fleet to dispatch and capture Krasnovsk at all costs. The Caspian Fleet only has this
I don’t have enough money, so I can only mobilize warships from the Red Sea to strengthen the Caspian Sea Fleet through the Don River, Lenin Canal, and Volga River. But even under such circumstances, we still failed..."
"Pursuing responsibility is completely shirking responsibility!"
Stalin walked back and forth in front of Smirnov, talking like a barrage of bombardments:
"I asked you to launch an attack on Krasnovsk, but I didn't ask you to act without aircraft cover. Is the South China Army that easy to fight? They taught Japan, the world's third largest navy, a lesson in China's offshore waters. Even its aircraft carriers
It was bombed and sunk, let alone our small destroyer fleet! This large-scale sea-crossing operation must mobilize a large number of fighter planes to cover it from the air in order to be successful. Like the Caspian Sea Fleet, it was me who rushed in and died.
Did I ask you to do it?"
"This is the responsibility of the naval commander who is specifically responsible!"
Smirnov continued his defense: "Comrade Stalin, I am just the People's Commissar of the Navy. The people specifically responsible for mobilizing and commanding operations are the commanders and political commissars of the fleet. I only need to convey the orders of you and the Supreme Command. I am in Moscow, and they
How do I know?
"Since the year before last, our navy has carried out a large-scale purge among middle- and high-level officers, including the three commanders-in-chief of the Red Army Navy, all fleet commanders, and 90% of the captains have been arrested and shot. Now those who are promoted are
It is really not surprising that grassroots naval cadres with little combat experience should fail like this!"
Stalin stopped and laughed angrily: "So, you blame me?"
"Don't dare!"
Smirnov saw the ferocious look in Stalin's eyes like a jackal, and knew that it would be difficult for him to escape this time, so he simply calmed down and said in one breath:
"Comrade Stalin, since you ordered the start of the purge within the Soviet government and the Red Army, our Red Army has lost all military district commanders, 90% of military district deputy commanders and chiefs of staff, 80% of division-level commanders, and one-third.
The commander of the regiment was accused. Middle and lower-level officers suffered heavy losses, and technical personnel were not spared. In the Air Force alone, more than 5,000 pilots were purged, and the foundation of the army was greatly damaged.
"In order to make up for these losses that cannot be made up in the short term, a large number of low-level officers were promoted beyond the level. Yesterday's platoon commander became a regiment commander, and a battalion commander became a division commander or even a corps commander. Various three-month or six-month crash courses
The army is flooded with trained military cadres. By the beginning of this year, only 7.1% of Red Army commanders had received higher military education, 55.9% had received intermediate education, 24.6% had graduated from crash courses, and the remaining 12.4% had not received any education at all.
Any military education.
"The situation of the Caspian Fleet, which suffered a disastrous defeat this time, is similar. The fleet commander Ivanov was just a gunboat captain before. Since the Caspian Fleet commander, political commissar and staff have all been purged, almost all the captains of the destroyers and gunboats have also been purged.
We have lost everything, so we are taller among the short ones.
Then, this Ivanov became the commander of the Caspian Sea Fleet. This commander, who had never even touched a book, saw that almost all the senior commanders of the Red Sea Fleet were purged, and actually set his sights on the position of commander of the Red Sea Navy.
Is this considered a pioneering work of our great Soviet Red Army?
"In addition, all of our air force is used to support operations on the northern front. There is not a single fighter plane in the entire Caucasus and Ukraine. May I ask Comrade Stalin, where can I find fighter planes that can cover the fleet's cross-sea operations? And even if there are, according to our
The performance of fighter aircraft is
Is it a rival to the Chinese fighter planes? I know that in the sky west of the Ural River, our air force has had several secret battles with the Nanhua Air Force's fighter planes, and failed every time. Even the main force of the air force performed so weakly.
What should be used to cover the attack of the Caspian Fleet?
"Now that the battle in the Central Asian theater has been launched, Marshal Kulik has captured Ares, the hub of the Central Asian Railway and the Caspian Sea Railway. The Supreme Command requires us to capture Krasnovsk within three days and support the warehouse from the west.
Marshal Lick's offensive, besides choosing an assault without air force, is there any other way we can help the ground forces occupy Krasnovsk?"
The more Stalin listened, the more serious his face became. When Smirnov finished speaking, he said slowly: "Comrade Smirnov, since you know the dangers of the Great Purge, why are you still sparing no effort to implement it in the navy?"
Red Army Navy Commander Orlo
My husband and later Viktorov were all pulled off the horse by you, and a large number of your old subordinates were also pushed to the guillotine one by one. If I made a mistake, wouldn't it be because I had ulterior motives like you?
Are there people pushing it behind the scenes?”
Having said this, Stalin shouted to the door: "Comrade Beria, come and take Comrade Smirnov away. I think it is necessary for him to go to the Ministry of Internal Affairs to reflect on his mistakes!"
Beria entered in response, followed by four staff members from the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
Smirnov, whose head and face were covered with blood, gave Stalin a complicated look, then turned around and left.
Beria picked up the blood-stained pipe from the ground and handed it to Stalin. Stalin looked at the blood on it with disgust and threw it into the garbage bag next to his desk.
"Smirnov's incompetence, which led to the navy's disastrous defeat, must be resolved! I don't want to hear discordant voices outside!"
Stalin's words rang in the ears of Beria who left respectfully. He didn't look back and walked straight out of the door. For some things, you just need to understand the intentions of your superiors, and there is no need to ask for details.
...
Central Asian Theater, Ares.
After once again exaggerating the so-called victory, Marshal Kulik summoned relevant army generals for an emergency meeting.
"Comrade generals, our opponents are more cunning than loaches. Since launching the offensive campaign, we have not even touched a hair of our opponents. Since we do not have an air force, we cannot know where our opponents are. Now we are facing
I hope everyone can speak freely about the difficult decision between going south and going north."
Kulick said straight to the point.
Following the lessons learned by former Southern Front Corps Commander Stern, all the generals sat there with sullen faces, motionless, and the conference room was deserted.
Kulik's disappointment passed over the faces of the group army commanders, cavalry and infantry division commanders, the headquarters and the political and staff staff of each army, and finally fell on the face of the Fourth Group Army Commander Dotseziko: "Doseziko
Comrade Zico, come and share your opinion!"
Dotseziko stood up straight, with a shy look on his face: "I'm sorry, Comrade Marshal, I don't have any opinion. Before I became the commander of the group army, I only served as the battalion commander. Although I accepted the six-month training
Officer training, but I haven’t figured out many things yet. When it comes to fighting, I’m more used to obeying.”
Although he said this, Dotseziko was muttering in his heart: Only a devil dares to express an opinion. If what he says is wrong, why don't you just "click"? It's better to pretend to be an idiot who doesn't understand anything, which is even worse.
Able to preserve oneself.
Kulik smiled bitterly and asked Dotseziko to sit down, then looked at the others, who all greeted him with evasive glances.
"Comrade Mehlis, what do you think? You are the political commissar of our Central Asian Theater. You must have good suggestions." Kulik named him again.
Mehlis stood up with a confused look on his face: "Comrade Marshal, I am only responsible for the political and ideological work of the army. I am really not good at other things. As everyone knows, I used to be the editor-in-chief of "Pravda" at the regimental level.
, and was later promoted to director of the General Political Department of the Red Army. At the beginning of this year, he went to Central Asia to serve as political commissar. He has never been in charge of the military, so...I'm sorry, I really don't have any good suggestions."
After that, Kulik named several more people, all of whom were evasive. In desperation, Kulik had no choice but to express his personal thoughts:
"Although we don't know where the enemy is, we can make judgments based on the current strategic situation. To the north is Turkestan (today's Turkestan), backed by the Karatau Mountains. In addition to the mountains, it is surrounded by the next door, the desert, and only Sir Syr.
There are oases along the river, which is very unfavorable for the supply of large troops. Moreover, according to our army's superior strength, it is impossible for the opponent to fight us decisively in the desert and Gobi areas without solid defense.
"Tashkent in the south is the political, economic and cultural center of Central Asia. It has many rivers and lakes, a superior irrigation system, rich products, developed agriculture, and convenient supply nearby. Moreover, those rivers can be used as natural defenses to resist every step.
Our attack.
"In addition, another main force of the enemy is resisting the attack of our southern front corps in the Leninabat and Andijan areas. If the enemy in Tashkent fails, it can also go south to join the Chinese army in the Leninabat area. Since ancient times, the division of troops has been as follows
It is a big taboo for military strategists. With our opponent's rich combat experience, it is impossible for us to make such a low-level mistake.
"To sum up, I think our opponent must have gone south to the Tashkent area. What we have to do now is to leave a small number of troops, concentrate the main force, attack southward with all our strength, liberate Tashkent in one fell swoop, and then bite the enemy in the butt and completely defeat them.
Its annihilation!”
The generals present were all smart people, and they all agreed with Kulik's opinions, praising the entire combat plan as being very forward-looking, with sufficient arguments and detailed reasons, and a good grasp of the opponent's mentality. It was a genius plan.
Subsequently, a combat plan that was full of loopholes and ignored the beginning was passed bizarrely, and the Soviet army in Central Asia took another step closer to destruction.