Distant Moscow Red Square, in the Kremlin.

Stalin's life secretary, Beshev, knocked lightly three times on the door of Stalin's bedroom, then held his breath and carefully listened to the movement inside the door.

The general secretary was busy until four o'clock in the morning before returning to his lodgings to rest, and now he has slept for less than four hours, and it is irrational to disturb his sleep.

Marshal Timoshenko was still waiting outside, and Beshev had to knock on the door of Stalin's bedroom.

There was no sound in the door, and Beshev was about to knock again, but the door opened silently, and Beshev's hand almost knocked on Stalin's nose.

Hurriedly hiding his hands behind his back, Beshev said respectfully: "General Secretary, Marshal Timoshenko said that there is an important military situation to discuss with you, and he wants to see you immediately. ”

The bedroom door slammed shut, and when it opened again, Stalin stood in front of Beshev in a crisp military uniform.

After freshening up, after seeing Marshal Timoshenko, Stalin split his head and asked: "Is it Zhukov or Kuznetsov?" Good news or bad news? ”

"Good news from Kuznetsov that the 10th Mechanized Army and the 22nd Army have already approached the Stalin line by forcing a march and are able to launch an offensive against the German 1st Panzer Army today."

"This is the news I already knew last night, no, this morning, and you just want to tell me this old news?" Stalin said with a straight face.

Marshal Timoshenko ignored Stalin's ugly face and continued: "Just now, Kuznetsov sent me good news that in the operational area where the 10th Mechanized Army and the 22nd Army were about to attack, there was a city called Pustoska. ”

As he spoke, Timoshenko took out a military map and spread it on his desk, pointing out to Stalin the location of the city of Pustoshka.

"According to reliable information, Heinz von Rosen is in the city right now."

Stalin's head had not yet fully awakened from his slumber. I didn't think about the true meaning of the name Heinz von Rosen for a while, and the sentence "Who is Heinz von Rosen?" I almost blurted it out, but I forcibly swallowed it back.

"You're talking about the Polish governor? Marshal Goering's brother-in-law, the young man who married Hitler to a pair of sisters? Stalin asked.

"It's him, the young man who was nicknamed 'Your Excellency Brother-in-law' by the German military and political circles."

Stalin raised his hands and stroked his big back, and the residual sleepiness in his eyes swept away.

"Is this news reliable?"

"Very reliable. Here's how it happened. Timoshenko handed Stalin a telegram from Kuznetsov, detailing how two Soviet officers had been received by Chen Dao.

"I think this is an opportunity for us to negotiate with the Germans in exchange for Yakov if we can capture him alive." Timoshenko said.

Thinking of his eldest son, Stalin felt a pain in his heart.

According to the information sent by the Soviet spies in Germany, he had confirmed that Yakov had been captured, but there was no news of Yakov's capture in the German media. It was very unexpected.

It must have been Yakov's refusal to cooperate with the Germans, who must have tortured him with all sorts of inhuman punishments and wanted to force him to become a traitor・・・・・・

"If we can capture him alive, of course, it will be in our favor, it will give us some propaganda advantage, which can be a serious blow to the morale of the Germans. It's just that he's going to stay in that city like an idiot, waiting for us to capture him alive? ”

"We're going to have to fight for it. The key depends on the speed of the movement of the troops. Timoshenko said.

"That's right, opportunities are always earned by yourself. Order Kuznetsov to speed up his actions and capture him alive as much as possible, and if he can't be captured alive, he can be killed. ”

・・・・・・

East Prussia, Wolf's Lair.

Hitler's office door was pushed open. Goering's rounded figure appeared in Hitler's sight.

"Herman, our little guy can surprise us wherever we are, and Russia is no exception. You see, this is a very long telegram that he just sent back, and the content of the telegram is divided into two parts. You take a closer look. ”

Goering flipped through the telegrams.

"Operation Ring Ring" ・・・・・・ Iron Cross Act・・・・・・ I can't keep up with this kid's train of thought, it's just that this Ring Ring battle plan is too dangerous, and I don't agree with letting him take this risk." Goering said.

"I think the same way, I will order him to withdraw from the battlefield." Hitler said.

"From what I know about Heinz, even if you personally give the order at this time, he is likely to have a heart attack, angina pectoris, or other diseases, saying that he can't fly, and he can't travel long distances, in short, he will find all kinds of excuses to stay on the battlefield, unless our army command gives an order."

"Huh? Could it be that the orders of the Army Command are more effective than mine? When did their relationship become so good? Hitler asked in surprise.

Goering coughed dryly, looking a little embarrassed.

"It's not that they have a good relationship, but it depends on what kind of orders the army command gives. Before leaving, Heinz said that he would go to the Eastern Front this time, in addition to supervising the execution of orders by the nearest army, and the most important thing was to return with the rank of army general. Therefore, if you want him to come back, it is very simple, and let the Army Command promote him to the rank of general. ”

Hitler: "・・・・・・ this kid・・・・・・・ this kid is becoming more and more like you, I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing." ”

Goering said: "If you really want him back, it's not impossible, I've got a way here, you can try it." ”

"Just try, as long as he can come back. Let's talk about this "Iron Cross Act", Heinz and I have vaguely mentioned it before, to break the narrow aristocratic blood culture in Germany, break the class solidification, break the Junkers' monopoly on Germany, especially the army's power, now it seems that this "Iron Cross Act" should be the first card he played, I must cooperate with him, I have informed Goebbels to come here, I will implement the first draft of this bill as soon as possible, and then cooperate with the "Ring on Ring" plan to implement. In short, we want to use this plan of Heinz to destroy half of the Russians on the northern front in one fell swoop and clear the way to Leningrad. ”

"Okay, I'll get back and immediately call someone to arrange for Heinz to return to the rear." Goering said as he got up and took his leave.

Returning to the Air Force Command's station in the Wolf's Lair, Goering immediately gave the order.

"Find me Colonel Spelberg, the commander of the DreamWorks force, and ask him to report to me, I have an important task to give him." (To be continued.) )