ps: Seeing that some readers complain about the water, I tell you a joke: I have watched "Tiger Tiger Tiger" many times, and when I was a child, I only liked to watch the air raid that started an hour and a half later. When I read it in high school, I only watched the first hour and a half, thinking that the back was boring......

Although Zhukov did not break it with Vasilevsky, he could feel that the other party and his attitude were the same: the war could not continue like this, it would be the final destruction of the whole of Russia, and he couldn't wait for a decisive battle, and if he won it, this war would win the long-awaited turning point; If you lose, then play it completely, and you can do whatever the final outcome should be, saving you from needless struggles. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

He vaguely felt that it would not be particularly difficult for the people to accept the fact that if they finally lost and surrendered, the peace plan proposed by the Germans was harsh, but it was not yet to the point of being really unbearable, and it was nothing more than asking the Bolsheviks to cede territory and hand over central control to the Russian Liberation Army, which was still Russian no matter how bad it was, and he even believed that the position of the Party and Comrade Stalin could be maintained......

In the midst of his thoughts, Stalin called him by name: "Comrade Konstantin, what are you going to think about this matter?" ”

"I ...... Inclined to agree with Comrade Vasilevsky's plan to lure the enemy deeper, we ......" Zhukov, who was completely unprepared, hurriedly stood up and replied, who knew that just halfway through the conversation, he was stomped on by Kuznetsov next to him, signaling him not to talk nonsense.

Sure enough, Stalin's brows couldn't help but furrow, but he quickly relaxed again, and said in a pleasant tone: "You may have been too concerned about the plan itself to hear the new situation we just discussed. I repeat: Comrade Molotov has just received news that the Americans have completely lost in Africa, and with the exception of a small number of remnants of the defeated army who will flee by plane, the tens of thousands of men and horses they have left there have surrendered, and the Germans have won the victory in the African theater. This news was not only clearly announced through the radio, but also verified by secret channels, and should be true. What are your thoughts on this? ”

Zhukov suddenly felt a cold sweat come out of his back - oh my God, he was actually distracted at the base camp meeting just now! Moreover, Comrade Stalin did not get angry for the first time? No wonder Comrade Kuznetsov wants to step on himself!

"It's a troublesome matter...... "it means that Britain and the United States have completely lost their foothold on the African continent except for South Africa, and South Africa may not be able to hold on to it in the end, and the Americans may retract -- their optimism of using military means to solve the European problem is now clearly in vain, and given that there is no deep hatred between the Americans and the Germans, if there is a new American president, he is willing to let the Americans retract to live on the American continent, And if Germany and the United States could agree on American-Pacific and Euro-African spheres of influence, and they could easily reach a final understanding with the Germans, it would be very dangerous and fatal for us. ”

Stalin raised his eyebrows and asked: "Do you mean that Germany and the United States will secretly make peace?" ”

As soon as these words came out, the atmosphere suddenly became tense.

Zhukov did not directly say yes or no, but said: "Unless Hitler goes crazy, he will not attack the United States, and the Americans will not be able to attack the European continent in the short term, and if the two important countries are helpless against each other, it will be difficult for the war to continue, and there will be a stable state in general...... This means that we are likely to be alone in the future! Of course, the Anglo-Americans are not helping us much now, and they are doing as much as they can - if it were not for their rapid retreat in the Middle East, the flank of the Caucasus would not have been exposed. ”

"That's exactly what I'm worried about." Molotov said worriedly, "The imperialist countries usually fight with each other for colonies and spheres of influence, but once they reach some kind of spoil-sharing agreement, they will collude with each other to deal with us together, and I personally think that Germany and the United States can easily reach a compromise on the basis of a joint partition of the British colonies - the colonies in Africa and the Middle East are given to Germany, and the Far East and Australia and Canada in North America are controlled by the United States, and the Germans can recognize some of the commercial interests of the United States in the African colonies if they are a little smarter. I'm afraid that the big capitalists in the United States will applaud! ”

"Will there be such a change in Germany's policy?"

"I think it's likely." Molotov added, "I wonder if your comrades are aware of the fact that the Germans are sparing no effort to promote the propaganda of the European Union, which is very deceptive. The French did not lose much except for a few warships, merchant ships, and supplies to Germany - Alsace and Lorraine had been ceded to France after Germany's defeat in the last war, and even the French working class admitted that Germany's attitude towards France was much better than France's attitude towards Germany! In addition, the capitalists in France, Belgium, Spain, Portugal, and the Netherlands are all producing commodities and supplying materials according to Germany's requirements, and Germany pays for them with part of the mark bonds and precious metals, which objectively plays a role in stabilizing society and solving unemployment, and is very deceptive to the people. Although the Bolshevik Party there carried out propaganda and exposure, it did not work very well. ”

In fact, the reason why the industrial giants and consortia of Western European countries are willing to accept the mark bond as a means of payment is that, on the one hand, Germany has won successive battles on the battlefield, and the mark bond is very credible and strong, and on the other hand, Germany has proposed to transfer the oil supply and part of the shares in the Middle East, and said that it can be paid with the mark bond, which is very attractive to the capitalists -- in recent times, oil exploration companies have drilled many new oil wells in the Middle East, and the prospect supply is more than 100 million tons per year. Everyone expected a piece of the pie in the development of the oil fields, and there was no concern about the Germans' ability to pay.

What's more, the German side also hinted that it will restart the construction of the 3B railway in the future (the German version of the Belt and Road - One Road, if you are interested, you can Baidu), that is, the Baghdad railway will be extended to Egypt and deep into the Arabian Peninsula, then Europe and the Middle East will be very closely connected, Eastern Europe's grain and minerals, Middle East oil, Western Europe's industrial products can rely on the railway to shuttle back and forth, plus part of the developed North African territory, a common market with a population of 5-600 million and an area of 1500-20 million square kilometers is easy to form, The thought of such a vast market prospect made the far-sighted capitalists tremble with excitement - whoever produces military products for Germany now will have the opportunity to take a share in railway engineering and in the common market as a whole.

The atmosphere of the meeting suddenly became awkward, and only Vasilevsky vaguely felt that something was wrong: Zhukov did not talk about military issues, but instead pointed fingers at political matters, and vigorously spread the "imperialist conclusions" and "the theory that the Soviets are difficult to support alone." If he was wrong, it would be an out-and-out mistake -- he was very proud of his old partner.

However, Comrade Stalin seemed to be unconscious, and after a moment stood up and said: "Comrade Konstantin has stood very high in looking at the problem, and he is really looking at the military issue from the perspective of the overall situation and strategy. If we lose, not only will half-hearted countries like Britain and the United States completely lose their fighting spirit, but the people of the world who love peace, uphold justice, and resist fascist rule will be discouraged. The times have given the Party and the Red Army a different mission -- we are fighting for the future and tomorrow of all mankind, and this requires that the whole Party and the whole army must unify their ideological understanding to this height, avoid all noise and interference, counterattack them with the greatest strength, and thoroughly smash the fascist dream! This crucial battle can only be won, not lost. ”

"So, I decided," he ......said, glancing majestically at the venue, "that the enemy must be dealt a heavy blow, whether they attack Moscow or Stalingrad, we must resolutely repel it, and any idea of giving up, compromise, or wavering must be rejected!" It is necessary to fully demonstrate the indomitable and fine style of the Soviet people and the Bolshevik Party, and to let the people of the world know that only the Soviets played a mainstay role when Britain and the United States failed, compromised, and retreated. This impression is not only useful for changing the situation of war, but also for the future world pattern.

As for the specific campaign arrangements and tactical directions, I hope that the General Staff will have a better response plan, give full consideration to all kinds of unexpected factors, and have a variety of contingency plans. I agree in principle with the present disposition of forces and the disposition of the campaign - if the enemy attacks mainly in the direction of Moscow, the Central Front will join the Moscow battlefield; If the enemy is attacking mainly in the Stalingrad direction, the Bryansk Front will reinforce the southern front. The front-line commander may strike the enemy using any tactic he deems necessary. ”

The meeting ended quickly, and although Stalin did not give guidance on the specific course of the campaign, both Zhukov and Vasilevsky understood his thoughts: the loss of Moscow or Stalingrad was unacceptable - the former undermined political stability, the latter militarily.

As for why they did not express their opinions on the specific command policy, they could also guess the reason: the general secretary had repeatedly intervened directly in the war situation with poor results, and the last time he had heard Rokossovsky's statement that he had lost one more army group, and Voroshilov's opinion that he needed oil extraction equipment, he had lost more than half of his army group by intervening in the Grozny retreat, and earlier he had forced his troops to cross the river and attack without waiting for the Don River to freeze completely, and as a result, he had lost two army groups in vain.

Although this intervention did not turn the tide of the war, if it were not for this kind of indiscriminate command and interference, the Red Army would now be able to have at least 4-5 more group armies, and almost one front army would have squeezed out the strength of the army. Stalin himself may have realized this, so he decided not to interfere with the front-line command this time, let them fight, and his attitude towards Zhukov and Vasilevsky was extremely gentle. (To be continued.) )