Silence, the conference room fell into a long silence.
After a long while, Terauchi Shouichi said quietly: "However, the base camp is indeed unable to mobilize more troops, because the previous reserve forces have been almost exhausted, and the new reserve militia is still being recruited and formed.
I'm afraid it will be difficult to carry out large-scale mobilization in a short period of time."
Juichi Terauchi has just returned from Kanto to inspect the preparatory work, and he has the most say in this matter.
Kanin Gongzaihito and Koiso Kuniaki couldn't help but look at each other. At this point, I'm afraid there is only one way, and that is to transfer the Far Eastern Front Army of Yamashita Tomomi back to Manchuria. Apart from this, there is no other way! But!
The problem is that Yamashita Tobumi's Far Eastern Army is still fighting with the Soviet Red Army in the Siberian battlefield, and they are unable to cope with the situation.
Unless, an armistice agreement can be signed with the Soviet Union in the shortest possible time.
Thinking of this, Xianyuan Gong Zairen announced the adjournment of the meeting, because what happened next had nothing to do with the military, but was entirely a diplomatic matter.
That night, a civil aviation objective took off overnight from Tokyo and flew directly to Vladivostok, which was still under the control of the Soviet Navy. After obtaining permission, it landed at the military airport in Vladivostok, and then opened the hatch to greet the Soviet Union at the airport.
Military guards, Japanese Foreign Minister Hirota Koki and his assistant walked down the gangway.
…
Meanwhile, in the Kremlin in Moscow.
It was already six or seven o'clock the next morning in the Far East, but it was still late at night in Moscow.
Although the night was already deep, Stalin was still awake and was still discussing some military-level issues with Timoshenko, commander of the Northwest Front Army, and the object of discussion was the German army.
In less than half a month, the Netherlands and Belgium surrendered one after another. The German army bypassed the Maginot Line from Belgium and brazenly entered France. After that, the war situation took a turn for the worse. Hundreds of thousands of British and French allied troops were like a group of frightened rabbits.
, and ran away madly in the direction of Guo Keerke.
The British and French allied forces were defeated so quickly that it even exceeded the expectations of the German high command! So much so that the German high command was unable to respond in time. Otherwise, the 400,000 British and French allied forces might not have been able to board the ship from Dunkirk. If so,
In this case, the history of World War II will be rewritten.
Closer to home, the blitzkrieg launched by the German army in Western Europe was sharp beyond imagination. In less than half a month, the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg surrendered, and hundreds of thousands of British and French troops were defeated. This greatly shocked Stalin and the Kremlin.
Suddenly I became nervous.
Although Moscow secretly signed a non-aggression pact with Berlin before the partition of Poland last year, both the head of state and Comrade Stalin knew that this was just a stopgap measure! Although Europe is big, it cannot accommodate two hegemons.
So sooner or later there will be a decisive battle between Germany and the Soviet Union!
The Soviet Union invaded Finland before, and now the German army invades Western European countries, all just to prepare for this decisive battle. The Soviet Union hopes to first resolve the threat in the northwest before going to war with Germany, so as not to fall into the dilemma of fighting on two fronts, and the head of state also
We hope to first resolve the threat from the British and French forces so that we can go all out to fight the Soviet Union decisively!
Stalin originally thought that the German army and the British and French allied forces would fight for a year or two. In this case, the Soviet Union would have enough time to solve the northwest border issue and the Far East issue. However, who could have imagined that under the fierce attack of the German army,
, the British and French allied forces only lasted less than half a month. This is so scary!
Stalin took a deep breath from his pipe, and then asked quietly: "Comrade Timoshenko, do you think it is possible for the war situation in Western Europe to be reversed?"
"It's impossible, Comrade Stalin." Timoshenko shook his head and said, "The defensive focus of the British and French forces has always been on the Maginot Line, and their heavy troop groups are also on the Maginot Line. However, the German army made an ingenious choice
Without a breakthrough from the Netherlands and Belgium, from a strategic level, the British and French forces have already lost."
After a pause, Timoshenko continued: "What's more, there are plains from Belgium to Paris, and the road network extends in all directions, which is very conducive to the advancement of the German armored corps. Therefore, the French army on the Maginot Line has no time to return reinforcements.
Paris, the fall of Paris is inevitable."
Stalin said: "Once Paris is lost, the heavy French troops on the Maginot Line will become a turtle in the urn."
"Yes." Timoshenko nodded and said, "Once Paris is lost, the French army on the Maginot Line will become a turtle in the urn. But what is more fatal is the psychological shock and blow to the French soldiers after the capital is lost.
If nothing else happens, France will surrender soon after the fall of Paris."
"Damn it!" Stalin said bitterly, "Is it because the British and French forces are too scumbag, or is it because the German army is too strong?"
"I'm afraid it's because the German army is too strong!" Timoshenko said. "The German army has indeed reached the forefront of the world in terms of military construction and combat concepts!" After a short pause, he continued, "So Comrade Stalin
, we in the Soviet Union may have to make arrangements in advance."
Stalin said solemnly: "We have deployed nearly five million troops on three fronts in a defense depth of more than 500 kilometers from Poland to Ukraine. Isn't that enough?"
Timoshenko shook his head and said: "Comrade Stalin, this is not a question of how deep the defense is or how many troops are deployed, but the external environment! I think we should try our best to find ways to fight against the Germans before all-out war begins.
Create a relatively stable external environment to avoid fighting on two or even multiple fronts."
"Are you talking about Siberia?" Stalin said quietly, "Actually, I have long wanted to stop the war. Due to the destruction of the industrial areas in the Far East and Zaboelga, nearly a million troops in the entire Siberia now have to rely on the fragile Siberian Railway.
The line is used to transport supplies, the losses are too great, and the cost is too high!”
Timoshenko nodded and said, "Yes, the price is too high."
"As long as the Japanese agree, I would rather give them the vast territory beyond the actual control line! Of course, you know this is just a temporary measure. Once the Germans are dealt with, the Soviets will definitely have to turn around and deal with the Japanese in the end!" Stalin
He sighed softly and added, "But the stubborn Japanese may not be willing to agree."
Timoshenko said: "Why don't you send someone to find out what the Japanese are saying?"
"This is the problem!" Stalin shook his head and said, "The Japanese have always been greedy. If we send people to contact them first, they will definitely open their mouths and put forward conditions that we cannot accept. For example, the Far East has not yet been
The areas controlled by the Japanese army and even the entire Siberia were ceded to them."
After a pause, Stalin continued: "Now that the German army is in full force in Western Europe, the conditions Japan imposes on us will only become more stringent! After all, Japan now belongs to the Axis Alliance with Germany and Italy."
Timoshenko nodded and said: "The three major countries of the Axis Alliance basically have their own agendas. Japan may not necessarily consume our Soviet Union desperately for Germany, but it is possible to use Germany's self-respect and take the opportunity to blackmail us, so to speak.
, we really can’t take the initiative to send people to contact the Japanese, Siberia and the Far East, we can only continue to consume like this.”
While the two were talking, the female secretary Anna suddenly walked in with her waist twisted and reported: "Comrade Stalin, we have just received a secret message from the Navy's Far East Fleet Command, and it has been classified as top secret!"
The top secret is a telegram that cannot be borrowed from others and must be translated by Stalin himself.
At that moment, Stalin took the telegram from Anna, opened the safe and took out a small book. Then according to the secret code recorded in the small book, he translated the dots and dashes on the telegram copy paper into a series of Russian letters. Soon,
The telegram was translated and contained only one simple sentence. Stalin was overjoyed after reading it.
Timoshenko lost no time in asking: "Comrade Stalin, what's going on?"
Stalin did not hide anything and directly handed the translated message to Timoshenko.
After reading it, Timoshenko was also overjoyed and said: "Great, Comrade Stalin, I didn't expect the Japanese to be the first to show up. Now we can sign an armistice agreement with the Japanese!"
"Yes." Stalin nodded and continued, "In order to avoid long nights and long dreams, we must designate someone to negotiate with the Japanese as soon as possible. In order to reach an armistice agreement, it is not unacceptable to make some territorial concessions. Anyway, in the end we have to get the money back with interest.
Yes, what does it matter if we make Japan happy for a few years first?"
However, as soon as he finished speaking, the female secretary Anna hurried in again.
"Anna?" Stalin asked, "could it be that the Japanese changed their minds so quickly?"
"No, that's not the case, Comrade Stalin." Anna said quickly, "Comrade Zhukov just sent a telegram, saying that Xu Rui's Chahar Independent Regiment won a great victory in Fengtian and defeated Ishihara Wanji's Seventh Army in one fell swoop.
Army, and then the Japanese Far Eastern Army is likely to be forced to withdraw to Manchuria, and the Far Eastern Front Army will soon have a good opportunity to counterattack."
"So that's what happened." Stalin said, "Tell me, why did the Japanese suddenly change their temper and ask us to negotiate an armistice? It turns out that they suffered a defeat in Manchuria." After a pause, Stalin continued
Said, "But this Comrade Xu Rui is really powerful. He actually defeated the Japanese Seventh Army."
Brother Timoshenko also nodded and said: "Yes, it is this old Seventh Army that has been guarding Chita for a whole year. The reason why our Far East Front is where it is today is all thanks to this Seventh Army! Xu Rui
The defeat of the Seventh Army this time can be regarded as revenge for our Far East Front Army. Thank you to the Chinese comrades!"
Stalin said: "What about armistice negotiations with the Japanese?"