It was already early morning in the Moscow Kremlin, but the spacious conference room on the second floor was still brightly lit. Countless staff officers from the headquarters were running back and forth, and dozens of generals and marshals with medals on their chests were working hard in front of desks and maps.
Thinking hard. There is a small office at the end of the conference room. The area of this office is not large, only more than 20 square meters. At this time, Stalin is sitting here arranging work. In front of his desk are General Zhukov and Marshal Budyonny.
Two top leaders of the General Staff.
Stalin was a paranoid person. A person with a paranoid personality is called persistence in good words, and unrepentant in bad words. He usually goes all the way to the dark side of things he believes in, at least in his attitude towards China.
That's it.
This evening, Commander Vasilevsky of the Siberian Front sent a telegram. Today, the Chinese side dispatched more than 50 B17 heavy bombers to bomb the Soviet position 100 kilometers in front of Kyaktu City, killing more than 1,000 Soviet troops.
More than 3,000 people were killed and injured. This was the first large-scale bombing of the Soviet army by the Chinese side since the signing of the armistice agreement between China and the Soviet Union.
Stalin quickly received Zhukov's report, and Stalin, who was on high alert for China, immediately held a military meeting overnight to observe the development of the situation and discuss countermeasures.
Stalin's pipe, which never left his hand, was gently knocked on the corner of the table. After clearing away the remaining ash, he stuffed tobacco into it, "Comrade Zhukov, Comrade Vasilevsky sent a telegram today, China
The air strikes against us are becoming more and more frequent, and the scale has evolved from single or double bombing by tactical bombers to bombing by large formations of heavy bombers. This afternoon, they sent heavy bombers to attack Kyaktu.
They carried out bombings, and our fighter planes also engaged in a fierce air battle with them. Now Comrade Vasilevsky requires us to send no less than 300 new Yak fighter planes to reinforce Siberia. Do you have any objections?"
"Comrade Stalin, the Chinese have been sending planes to violate our volleys and provoking us in recent times. This is something we will never tolerate. We should fight back immediately and send powerful reinforcements to strengthen West China."
The power of Comrade Levsky." Budyonny straightened his back and said in a resolute tone.
"Comrade Zhukov, what do you think?" Stalin turned to ask his deputy chief of staff.
"I don't think it is a good thing to continue to increase troops to Siberia." Zhukov still insisted on his consistent position, "The Chinese army in Siberia is only about one million now. This is still the protection of Alexei, a remnant of Tsarist Russia."
] Including the number, and our troops in Siberia have reached 1.5 million. I think this is enough. If we continue to increase troops there, we will inevitably mobilize European troops. This is very unwise.
."
"But the Chinese have more than one million troops stationed in their Mongolia and Xinjiang provinces. They can reinforce Siberia at any time. If a war breaks out, we will not have the advantage at all. Comrade Zhukov, I understand your vigilance against the Germans.
But at least for now, the Germans are still staying in southern Poland to bask in the sun, but Chinese planes have bombed our Kyaktu. Don’t you know which direction needs troops more?” Budyonny asked why Zhukov was
It's puzzling that the Germans are so wary.
Seeing the two sides arguing with each other, Stalin felt helpless. His two chiefs of general staff coincided with each other on the issue of dealing with the Eastern and Western fronts. Zhukov never concealed his wariness against the Germans, but Budyonny was.
He hated China even more in the east. On this issue, Stalin could not say who was wrong on either side, but the biggest problem of Soviet Russia at present was the shortage of troops. As of the beginning of 1941, the Soviet Union had a total of more than 4 million troops, including three
One million are deployed in the border areas of Belarus, Ukraine and Siberia, and more than one million are deployed in places centered on Moscow. In another time and space, the weak China has no ability to pose a threat to Soviet Russia.
The only Japanese with any strength were defeated by Zhukov in the Battle of Nomenkan, and could only stay in the three eastern provinces. Stalin only deployed less than 500,000 troops in the Far East and had millions of elite troops.
The Japanese Kwantung Army was suppressed, and Stalin could calmly mobilize troops to meet the German offensive. However, in this time and space, the Soviet Russians were not only beaten by the Chinese government and lost their city and territory, but were also forced to fight on both the east and west fronts at the same time.
A large number of troops were hoarded, so the shortcoming of insufficient troops was immediately exposed.
"Comrade Budyonny, it is because the Chinese are making trouble in Siberia that I conclude that the war in Siberia in the past few months may not be serious, but the silent Germans are the big problem. And according to the
According to news from Europe and various sources, the timetable for the German attack on our country has actually been determined, from June to July. I suggest that our country should carry out partial mobilization in the western region and quickly form thirty to fifty infantry divisions.
Cope with possible sudden changes." Zhukov is indeed the best general in Soviet Russia at the same time. Although he once suffered a big loss at the hands of Su Tong, his insight into the country's strategic situation has been sharpened after several years of war in Siberia.
Very sharp.
As soon as Zhukov's proposal came out, Stalin and Budyonny couldn't help but ponder. The western region is the most densely populated and economically prosperous place in Soviet Russia. Once the mobilization order is issued, it will not only cause a great sensation in the world, but also have a negative impact on Soviet Russia.
It had a great impact on the economy. The consequence was that Stalin had to carefully weigh it.
After thinking for a while, Stalin smiled bitterly and said: "Comrade Zhukov, have you ever considered the consequences of putting the country on a state of war readiness for an uncertain piece of information? This will cause great losses to our country. Once the mobilization order is issued,
, countless workers had to leave factories to pick up rifles, and countless students had to leave schools to pick up military uniforms. Have you calculated the losses caused during this period?"
"Of course I know." Zhukov said proudly: "But I also know that if we are not prepared, once Germany starts war with us and we rush to fight, the losses will be even greater. The situation is already so serious, if we don't respond
If we take measures, we will be the sinners of the country."
"Comrade Zhukov," Budyonny slapped the table and stood up and shouted: "What do you mean? You mean that Comrade Stalin and I are both unqualified leaders?"
As soon as Zhukov's words came out, he knew it was bad. Wasn't this sentence a curse on a monk and a bald donkey? If Stalin was angered, the day would not be far before he went to the concentration camp in Siberia to report. Zhukov immediately stood up.
He quickly said: "I'm sorry, Comrade Stalin, I didn't do it unintentionally."
"Comrade Zhukov, please sit down." To their surprise, Stalin was not angry. The pipe in his hand was still smoking faintly. Although his eyes were still open, the focus of his eyes did not change.
Where did he go? After hearing Zhukov's apology, he just said lightly: "Comrade Zhukov, your concerns about the Germans are reasonable, but our situation is not critical enough to require partial mobilization, right? The Germans really want to
It won’t be too late for us to make arrangements if there is any move.”
Zhukov sighed secretly and stopped talking.
Facing the aggressive momentum of the German invaders, if Stalin did not notice anything, it would be an insult to the Soviet intelligence agency and Stalin's IQ. However, considering that their own response measures were not sufficient, the Soviet government and Stalin still hoped to do their best to
To avoid or delay the breakdown of Soviet-German relations in order to buy more time for war preparations. In order to buy more time, Soviet Russia tried its best to express its sincerity for peace, continued to deliver goods in accordance with the trade agreement between the two countries, and refuted it in newspapers and radio
Those predictions of an imminent war between the Soviet Union and Germany were for this purpose. In his heart, Stalin hoped to postpone the timetable of the war by one to three years.
Stalin stood up, walked to the bed and opened the curtains. He looked at the bright sky. He turned around and was about to say something to the two of them when the door was suddenly pushed open and a young staff officer stumbled in.
When he came in, his originally handsome face turned gray-white.
Seeing his subordinates being so rude, Budyonny couldn't help but change his face. He was about to scold the officer, but the officer spoke first: "Comrade Stalin, Marshal Budyonny, it's not good, the Germans have launched an attack on us.
"
At three o'clock in the morning on June 22, 1941, the sky was dark and the earth was still sleeping. More than a thousand German light single and twin-engine bombers sailed through the dense fog in the uninhabited swamps and
In the forest area, they unknowingly invaded the Soviet airspace. At 3:15, the German bombers swooped down from a high altitude and rushed towards the pre-reconnaissed Soviet airport. Hundreds of small bombs fell from the sky together in a black mass, falling on the ground.
Neatly parked among the fighter jets on the airport. Hitler's "Barbarossa" plan to fully invade Soviet Russia began to be implemented.
The Germans mobilized 190 divisions, 3,500 tanks, and more than 5,000 aircraft to launch a massive attack on Soviet Russia on a 1,800-kilometer-long front from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea.
The Soviet Union was caught off guard and was beaten back again and again. The Soviet Air Force, which was unprepared on the first day of the war, suffered heavy losses. Sixty-six airports in the Western Border Military Region were attacked by air. The Soviet Air Force was the first in the war.
About 1,200 aircraft were lost that day, 800 of which were lost at the airport.