Ishihara nodded and said, "Yes, after the China Incident, China has become a quagmire for the empire. The Red Party and the Eighth Route Army in North China are like a group of blood-sucking worms, constantly sucking the blood of the empire. Now the empire not only cannot obtain resources in North China,
On the contrary, Manchuria is still needed to supply North China, so my suggestion to Your Majesty is to find ways to change this situation."
The man hummed, looked at Ishihara and said, "What do you think of Okamura Neji's plan?"
Ishihara lowered his finger and said, "Shandong is an opportunity, and I think I can support it."
The man sighed, "Just do it, I will support it."
This person is Prince Kanin Gong Zaihito. It was because of his acquiescence that Ishihara Kanji was excluded from the staff. As Hirohito's great-uncle and a representative of the royal family and the military, he had a very high prestige in the Japanese army.
Many things in Okamura Neiji's plan this time were done in the audience before, but now they have to be put on the stage. Even Kanji Ishihara, who has gained Hirohito's trust, must get his support.
"Knock, knock, knock," the Japanese-style sliding door was pushed open, and a Japanese guard held a telegram and said, "Report, emergency telegram from Europe."
Ishihara Wanji took it over and looked at it, and shouted in surprise, "The Soviet Union attacked Finland?"
"What?" Prince Xianyuan Palace Zairen was also surprised.
Ishihara Wanji saw other places. He looked at Prince Kanin Gong Zaijin and said, "The peace war between Germany and Britain and France is about to end."
Prince Kanin Gong Zaijin was stunned for a moment. He thought about it for a while and then he understood. He couldn't help but admire Ishihara Wanji's strategic vision and nodded in agreement with him.
On November 1, 1940, the Soviet Union concentrated 23 infantry divisions, more than 2,000 tanks, 4,000 artillery pieces, and thousands of aircraft to launch a surprise attack on Finland. It mobilized more than 1,000 troops and bombed the Finnish capital on the first day.
Finland's national population is only 4.4 million, and the national standing army is only 32,000. Although the army expansion before the war increased to 100,000, they were all new recruits, and the gap in strength was huge.
--Moscow
In a conference room, a huge map was hung on the wall, with three or four huge arrows pointing to Finland.
A Soviet officer was introducing the war situation to Stalin, who was holding a pipe.
"There are four main battlefields between our army and Finland, namely the Karelian Isthmus, the northeast of Lake Ladoga, the central border and the Besamo area.
The most important battlefield among these four areas is the Mannerheim Defense Line in the Karelian Isthmus. It has been carefully built by the Finns for ten years. According to intelligence and feedback from our front lines, it consists of three lines of defense with a depth of about 90 kilometers.
The composition of the zone. Each defensive zone relies on natural obstacles such as swamps and lakes, and has more than 600 permanent launch fortifications and civil and wooden fire points, as well as nearly 800 underground bunkers, which are connected by trenches and communication trenches. In the main defense zone
There is a 20 to 60 kilometers deep support zone in front of the main defense zone. Anti-tank and anti-infantry mines, anti-tank stakes, anti-tank ditches and anti-tank cliffs are widely set up in front of the main defense zone and in the support zone. It is extremely strong." said the officer.
It was Meretskov who was the commander of this battle.
Stalin waved his pipe and asked, "You told me before that we could end the war in Finland within three to ten days. Do you mean there is something wrong now?"
Meretskov felt that the hairs on his back stood up. The great purge in the Soviet Union, which had recently begun to show its end, had once again reached a climax. No one knew whether he would be taken away tomorrow or not.
The people even more didn’t know when they would be able to come back. Meretskov looked at Stalin and saw that he didn’t look too angry, so he said, “The Finns have a strong sense of resistance, although they only have less than 40,000 people.
Army, but it’s already November, the weather is too cold, and a quarter of Finland’s land is in the polar regions, so it’s very difficult for the troops to advance.... The battle may take longer than expected.”
Stalin frowned and asked, "How long will it take?"
Meretskov closed his eyes and said, "It may take a month."
Stalin smoked his pipe, looked at the map, and said nothing.
In fact, it was not Meretskov who was selected by Stalin as the commander of this battle at the beginning, but Marshal Shaposhnikov, the chief of staff. His plan objectively considered the combat capabilities of the Finnish army and the special conditions of the battlefield.
Its core idea is to concentrate the powerful forces of 45 divisions and prepare to fight an intense and arduous war that will last at least several months without the direct involvement of the West.
Stalin was not satisfied with this plan at all. Germany's series of victories over Czechoslovakia and Poland made him feel that this plan was full of defeatism. What made Stalin even more uncomfortable was that this plan secretly said that because
The decline in combat effectiveness of the Soviet army during the Great Purge and the lack of experienced commanders and fighters made Stalin very dissatisfied. This is why Stalin changed the battle plan and chose Meretskov, who claimed to only need three days, but now Meretskov
But Kokov also told him that it would take at least a month, which made Stalin begin to worry about the real combat power of his Soviet army.
In fact, one of the major reasons for the war against Finland was that the domestic purge made Stalin feel panic within the party, and he hoped to rely on this war to attract domestic attention, so he was still able to accept the increase in combat time.
After a long while, Stalin smiled and said, "It's okay, just do it with all your strength. I know that our comrades in the Red Army are extremely brave. In addition, there are many Red Party members in Finland. Although they are excluded from the army, they
We can still unite and put pressure on the Finnish government. It would be great if we can get them to join us like the three Baltic countries."
Meretskov nodded in agreement, but smiled bitterly in his heart. According to the Soviet-German treaty, after dividing Poland, the Soviet Union could annex the three Baltic countries on its own. In the face of the overwhelming military power of the Soviet Union, these three countries did not initiate force.
They resisted, established Red Party governments and joined the Soviet Union. But before the people of these three countries could breathe a long breath, the Great Purge began in the three countries. Countless people were arrested and imprisoned, and more people were exiled.
After Siberia's labor reform, its number was estimated to be close to two million in later generations, and the total population of the three countries at this time was only seven million.
This is also the reason why Finland resisted so resolutely. In their view, the Soviet Union was the real aggressor.
——Finland Command
The Commander-in-Chief of the Finnish Army, Mannerheim, was 62 years old at this time. He was facing an extremely severe war situation. Although a week before the war started, he smelled the smell of war and urgently expanded the army. Finland already had a sound
The reserve system of the People's Liberation Army expanded to 100,000 troops in one week, but there was a severe shortage of weapons. The entire army only had about 100 anti-tank guns, with only enough ammunition for 2 months, and only enough artillery shells for 3 weeks of combat. The air force was also insufficient.
There are only 30 bombers, 56 fighters, and 59 reconnaissance aircraft.
Mannerheim walked slowly around the headquarters, thinking about how to repel the Soviet attack.
"Report!"
"Come in!" Mannerheim said externally, and a guard handed Mannerheim a document.
Mannerheim took it and read it. It was an emergency military expansion document. It was planned to expand the army by another three hundred thousand within half a month. But there were still people in Finland, so where should the weapons come from?
The only option left was to ask for help from Britain and France. Mannerheim let out a long sigh. Finland was originally a small country, and its combat philosophy was that once the Soviet Union invaded, it would rely on resolute resistance to buy time, and then ask for foreign aid.
Mannerheim looked to the southwest. Will Britain and France agree to his request? You know, at this time, Britain and France are confronting Germany on the German-French border. As for asking Germany for help on the other side, haha, Mannerheim shook his head.
, who doesn’t know that the Soviet Union and Germany are in an alliance? It would be nice if Germany didn’t join in.
Mannerheim raised his head again. He knew that even if he had to rely on foreign aid, the prerequisite was that he could persist until the foreign aid arrived. He looked at the map and saw the Mannerheim Defense Line on the main battlefield. Others didn't know it, but he knew it very well.
The details of the Mannerheim Line of Defense. In fact, the Mannerheim Line of Defense was not as strong as advertised. Many bunkers were made of log structures, and the gaps between the forts were large. However, he believed that the Soviet army was not aware of these weaknesses.
He began to plan a counterattack based on this place.
In another room in Finland, a Finnish Red Party meeting had just ended. The meeting decided to completely sever relations with the Soviet Union and the Red International, join the Finnish army, and resist the Soviet invasion. Stalin was prepared to rely on the Finnish Red Party to disrupt the situation in Finland.
The idea was stillborn before it even started.
--Paris
"Oh! What does Stalin want to do? Damn it, can't he not cause trouble? This Red Party devil! They should all report to hell!" Daladier said, throwing down the intelligence.
"We must make a decision now, should we support Finland or watch Finland become the second Poland?" Chamberlain, who went to Paris specially, said to Daladier.
Daladier immediately said, "Support! We must support it. We missed Austria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, and now we can't miss Finland! We must do something to tell the world that we will compete with the Soviet Union."
The German Alliance will fight to the end!"
Chamberlain touched his beard and said, "Although Finland is close to the sea, it is the Arctic Ocean. It is impossible to provide large-scale support to Finland through anywhere. Moreover, we have already made a choice with Germany. I do not support declaring war with the Soviet Union."
"He also has land territory." Daladi waved his hand and said, "And it's not that we have to choose with the Soviet Union, but the Soviet Union is Germany's ally. If we don't attack them, sooner or later they will attack us!"
"But Norway and Sweden are both neutral countries." Chamberlain was not optimistic about Daladier's idea.
"It's because they are a neutral country!" Daladier said. "If we really go to war with Germany, it will probably become the second European War. If we don't fight it for three or four years, we may not be able to finish it. Then resources are extremely important. Germany
There are not many overseas territories. The raw materials for its steel industry mainly come from the Soviet Union, Norway, and Sweden. The Soviet Union is an ally of Germany. We have nothing to do, but if we can force Norway and Sweden to join us, it will weaken Germany from the root.
Fighting power!"
Daladier's vision was very far-sighted. He had already foreseen that the war with Germany would be a long war. In the later stages of the war, what was actually fighting was national power and resources, and Germany was a country that lacked resources.
Therefore, Germany must be strangled from this aspect.
Chamberlain shook his head and said, "This is difficult. Neither Norway nor Sweden will enter the war casually. Especially if they may fight Germany."
Dara said decisively, "Things that are just talked about but not done will never succeed. If we do it, we still have a chance."
Chamberlain sighed and said, "Okay, I will find a way to support you."
Daladier actually knew that Chamberlain was under great pressure due to the previous appeasement policy and the current sit-in war. He said gratefully, "Thank you very much. Please believe me. History has proven that our approach is extremely far-sighted."
Chamberlain picked up his hat, nodded and smiled, "I hope so. I'll take my leave now. I'm sorry to talk to you."
Daladier quickly stood up and sent him out.
After Chamberlain returned to England, Churchill, who had been appointed Lord of the Admiralty, waited outside his office for a long time.
Chamberlain knew that Churchill was waiting for him. He took a long breath, shook his head and walked into the office. He motioned for Churchill to come in and said, "What's the matter? Churchill?"
Churchill immediately said, "The Soviet Union has begun to attack Finland. Do we still want to sit down?"
Chamberlain took Daladier's statement and said, "France is ready to form a coalition with us to support Finland through Sweden and Norway."
Churchill laughed when he heard this and said, "This is the best news I have heard in these days. So how much military equipment are we prepared to provide them?"
Chamberlain shook his head and said, "Why provide equipment? We are preparing to organize the first batch of 30,000 people to enter Finland to help in the war."
Churchill was startled and said anxiously, "Are you crazy? How can you directly send troops to pass through Sweden and Norway? This will involve them in the war. They will definitely not agree! And what Finland lacks now is not soldiers.
!But a weapon, a weapon!!"
Chamberlain asked in confusion, "Does Finland have no weapons? I remember that Finland's industry is also pretty good."
Churchill said anxiously, "Finland originally had less than 40,000 troops, but now it has suddenly expanded to 400,000. How can they prepare more than ten times the weapons used by the army? Forget about rifles, Finland is definitely in short supply of aircraft and cannons.
The most important thing to do now is to transport weapons and ammunition to Finland by sea, so that Sweden and Norway will support us. But if the army enters, they will never support us!"