After Stalin finished talking about his great idea, he admired with satisfaction the shocked expressions of Timoshenko and Zhukov.

Stalin did not rush the two men, allowing them to slowly digest the shock he brought them.

Zhukov was the first to react from the shock and asked in a sullen voice: "Comrade General Secretary, why do you have such thoughts?" ”

Timoshenko then asked, "It takes a lot of time to temporarily change the battle plan that involves millions of people. What if the Germans suddenly launched an attack on us during this time? The troops in the chaos will not be able to exert their full combat effectiveness, which will lead to very fatal consequences. ”

Stalin had already thought that the two would question their ideas, and instead of being annoyed, he said confidently: "Dear Comrade Timoshenko, the answer to your question is already contained in your question. ”

Without making the two of them wait, Stalin said: "During this time, I thought a lot, carefully analyzed the information sent by the intelligence services, and came up with this idea after careful consideration.

Comrade Timoshenko's question just now contains the time factor of this war, and passively waiting for the Germans to attack us, and then playing a defensive counterattack, is too passive for us in terms of time.

Let's talk about geography, you see. ”

Stalin walked around his desk, pointed to the map on the wall behind his desk and said: "Look at the width of the battle line, from the Baltic Sea to the northern border of Hungary, the distance in a straight line is almost a thousand kilometers.

Look at Hungary and Romania. What does intelligence say about the fact that a large number of German troops have entered Romania? Explain that Romania will also join this war.

The Germans have not yet been seen on the territory of Hungary, but I am sure that in the event of a war with the Germans, the Hungarians will certainly not be on our side.

Counting Hungary and Romania, the length of the front is at least doubled. On a front of two thousand kilometers, we do not know either the timing of the enemy's offensive or the direction of the enemy's main attack.

All of this, we can only guess. When such a war is fought, we are really too passive. It is impossible for us to have heavy troops everywhere on a front of 2,000 kilometers, and we do not have that many troops.

The General Staff under your command had speculated that in the event of an attack on us by the Germans, 240 divisions would be dispatched. 10,000 tanks and 15,000 aircraft.

If, according to the defensive counterattack plan you mentioned, once we misjudge the direction of the Germans' main attack, and let the Germans' armored forces break through our defense line and enter the hinterland of our huge territory, the consequences will be really unimaginable. ”

Stalin finished speaking. Ba Da Ba Da smoked his pipe, quietly waiting for the two of them to ask questions.

Zhukov asked: "How many German troops are there in Romania?" Could it be that they were sent to protect the Ploiesti oil fields? ”

Stalin said: "I had the same idea as you at first, but the latest intelligence shows that the German forces in Romania have far exceeded the power to protect the oil fields. And the fact that our agents found that German vehicles and personnel were often present in towns on the eastern border of Romania speaks volumes. After the outbreak of war, the Germans would rush into our territory from the Romanian border with the Romanians. ”

"Bessarabia, the Romanians definitely want to snatch the Bessarabia region with the help of the Germans." Timoshenko said.

Bessarabia refers to a triangle of 44,000 square kilometers formed by the Dniester, Prut-Danube and the Black Sea. After the seizure of this region by Tsarist Russia in 1812, it was given this name to distinguish it from the remaining territories of Moldova. Later, it changed hands several times in history between Romania and the Soviet Union.

The most recent change of hands was in June 1940. The Soviet Union occupied Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina and merged most of Bessarabia with the Autonomous Republic of Moldavia to form the Moldavian Soviet Republic.

Remembering the feud between the Soviet Union and Romania over the Bessarabia region, Zhukov said: "Romania is also our potential enemy. ”

"No, Romania is an enemy standing in front of us, not a potential enemy." Stalin said.

Seeing that the two did not speak, Stalin said in high spirits: "On a 2,000-kilometer front, I really have no confidence in guessing the direction of the enemy's main attack with experience and information that cannot be judged to be reliable. I also didn't want to fight a passive war, so I decided. We must take the initiative to attack and take the initiative in the war in our hands. ”

Stalin spoke, referring to the map, and in high spirits told Zhukov and Timoshenko about his offensive ideas. After answering a few more questions from the two of them, he said without question: "I have decided that the offensive plan will still be called the original plan, which is called the "Thunderstorm Plan", and the implementation time of the plan is set for 20 May. ”

Rastenburg, East Prussia, Germany. Fifteen kilometres east of Kenchen, in the middle of the forest, there is an anti-aircraft fortress that has been built less than a year ago.

Built at a depth of more than 20 meters, the fort is a veritable reinforced concrete castle surrounded by field fortifications and a network of mine-studded teeth.

The fort has a resounding name, "Wolf's Lair".

The Wolf's Lair was a command center built by Hitler to command the impending Soviet-German war.

After the wedding, Hitler spent only ten days of honeymoon with Eva, and then quietly stayed in the wolf's den to command the upcoming war on the Eastern Front.

In the conference room of the Wolf's Den, the commander of the German army, navy, and air force, as well as the national leader of the SS, Himmler, gathered to give Hitler his final plenary report before the start of the war.

Field Marshal Keitel, Chief of the General Staff of the Supreme High Command, said: "The three army groups and the fourteen army groups used in the campaign against the Soviet Union have all been stationed in the departure positions, and the three air units of the Luftwaffe have all been transferred. Thirteen separate aviation divisions of the Waffen-SS and naval aviation were also assigned to their respective army groups. The Navy's Baltic Fleet would arrive in Danzig five days before the start of the war, and they were now ready for battle.

For this campaign, we plan to use 6,600 tanks and assault guns, 7,400 aircraft, 181 divisions, and 3.8 million men, not including the troops of our allies.

We planned to annihilate the main Soviet forces in three to four months in the area west of the Dnieper and Smolensk and in the Baltic states, and to advance the front to Arkhangelsk in the north and to Astrakhan in the south, and then propose an armistice with the Soviet Union. ”

Chen Dao watched Keitel wave the whip in his hand, drawing an arc from Arkhangelsk, which is more than 1,000 kilometers northeast of Moscow, to Astrakhan, which is more than 1,000 kilometers southeast of Moscow, and instantly felt an irrepressible itch on his scalp.

Hitler saw Chen Dao scratching his head incessantly, and asked puzzledly: "Heinz, do you have any thoughts on this plan?" ”

"The only thing I want to ask is, Marshal Brauchitsch, General Halder, is the army ready for the winter clothes of the soldiers and the equipment for winter operations?"

Halder first looked at Chen Dao for a few moments, and then said: "Before the arrival of winter, the main battle of this war will be over, and I do not think there is any need to make such preparations in advance. ”

"I didn't ask you if you needed to prepare, I asked how much you prepared? As far as I know, the Air Force Command has already begun to prepare eight hundred thousand sets of winter equipment. The army is the main force on the Eastern Front, and it will need more equipment, so I hope you can prepare in advance. That's all I said. Chen Dao said.

Hitler said: "Governor Rosen's reminder is quite reasonable, the army command must prepare winter equipment for the front in advance. ”

Halder glanced at Chen Dao dissatisfiedly, and made a perfunctory promise to Hitler.

"The war is about to begin, and the Army Command expects three to four months to end the war. Hermann, Heinz, I would like to hear the predictions of these two prophets, how long will we defeat the Soviet Union? Hitler asked.

Chen Dao didn't speak, and Goering said seriously according to the time that Chen Dao had explained in advance: "Heinz and I have deduced the battle situation on the Eastern Front, and the war on the Eastern Front is expected to be a medium-term war, and the time will be about eighty weeks. But this time refers to our decisive victory, not a final truce. ”

Hitler was eager to ask about the details of the deduction, but saw Brauchitsch and Halder looking at Goering and Chen Dao, and did not hide the dissatisfaction in their eyes.

Not wanting to listen to the quarrel between the two sides, Hitler immediately diverted the topic: "Now that it is ready, let's follow the timetable of the Barbarossa plan, and on May 25, start a war against the Soviet Union." ”

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PS：

1. Start adding more tomorrow, and add one chapter every day until it is equal to the agreed number of monthly tickets.

2. The way to start the war tomorrow is very strange. (To be continued.) )