With a low roar, a black Gorky sedan slowly stopped at the red-walled entrance outside the Kremlin. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 When the door opened, a middle-aged man in a heavy winter coat stepped out. He was only in his forties, and under the red star felt hat was a gentle and calm face, and in the face of the vigilant glance of the leader's personal guard, the middle-aged man only raised the brim of his hat slightly to show his identity, and then strode forward quickly.

The central hall of the Grand Kremlin is illuminated with brilliant lights and is extremely dignified and magnificent. However, the middle-aged man, who has been tested politically for a long time, feels an inexplicable aura of danger, as if an astonishing storm is brewing in the house in front of him, which may tear the victims involved in it to shreds at any time. The middle-aged man immediately mustered up his spirits and cautiously approached the conference room where Stalin was about to summon him. He began to quickly calculate whether it was possible for him to be targeted by the blue shirts of the Ministry of Internal Affairs because of something, and if he couldn't do anything, he would try his best to save his family's lives.

"Is it Comrade Mikoyan? Please come in. A familiar voice came through the crack in the door, and the calm tone was not discernible from gloomy or warm. The middle-aged man Mikoyan subconsciously swallowed his saliva and reached out to push the tall purple wood giant door open. To Mikoyan's surprise, several military and political dignitaries, including Voroshilov (People's Commissar of Defense), Shaposhnikov (Chief of the General Staff), and Molotov (People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs), were present. Stalin sat on top of his trademark pipe, but his tawny eyes flashed with anger and ferocity.

Seeing this scene, Mikoyan could not detect that the situation was different. However, he was quietly relieved in his heart, because Stalin's bad mood seemed to be directed at the original colleagues in the conference room, and had nothing to do with him. Mikoyan, who had gained confidence, immediately turned his questioning gaze to Molotov beside him, who had just arrived from the central government office building in Moscow and had no idea what was going on.

Molotov glanced at Stalin cautiously, then lowered his voice and gave Mikoyan a brief explanation.

It turned out that as of yesterday, December 23, the Red Army's offensive on the Finnish front had suffered another failure. Whether it was the Karelian Isthmus on the front, or the eastern wooded area of Lake Ladoga on the flank, all attempts to break through the front were stopped by the Finnish troops. All the participating units of the Soviet army suffered heavy casualties, and at least 100,000 men were lost in a month. In addition, the Soviets lost a lot of heavy equipment, including almost 1,000 tanks and 600 artillery pieces.

Due to the triple depletion of personnel, equipment, and munitions, the four armies of the Leningrad Military District have lost the ability to launch another decent offensive. The commander of the military district, Meretskov, telegraphed to Moscow that the Mannerheim Line could not be broken in a short time; The National Defense Committee, on the other hand, needed to concentrate the Soviet Union's soldiers and munitions throughout the country to fight a war of attrition with Finland.

Mikoyan frowned. He was not a military worker and could not express any opinion on the situation at the front, but with his political sense that he could avoid the purge of 1936~1938, Mikoyan felt that Meretskov's attitude was too politically unreliable. The war waged by the Soviet Union against Finland must be a fait accompli with a decisive victory as soon as possible. Otherwise, the Soviet Union would not only fall into the international accusation, but also completely lose its hard-won image as the "liberator of the oppressed peoples of the world"; It is also difficult to explain the failure of the offensive to the people at home, and in the end it will inevitably lead to a decline in the prestige of the Party Central Committee and the General Secretary.

Today, the Soviet Union is still quite in need of a shiny coat in the international community. Because since the beginning of the 30s, the ice between the Soviet Union and the Western world has been broken, and the capitalist powers such as the United States, Britain and France have carried out commercial cooperation with the Soviet Union; Mikoyan, who was in charge of domestic and foreign trade, knew better than anyone the benefits of these trade contacts to the Soviet Union's national strength.

Whether it's the liberal Americans, the self-proclaimed gentlemen's British, or the romantic-seeking French, their governments and private businesses are chaotic neutrals with a sense of moral purity. If they had found themselves collaborating with a group of vicious and brutal beasts, then even if the great teacher Marx asserted the mercenary nature of the capitalists, those Western countries would still have drawn a line with the Soviet Union in words and deeds, even when modern nationalism was beginning to emerge!

As for the loss of the prestige of the Party Central Committee, Stalin could not tolerate it. What was the purpose of the Great Purge, which had only come to an end since the beginning of this year, to give Stalin absolute power without any restrictions? In today's Soviet propaganda, Stalin has been boasted as an all-powerful genius who can do everything and is all-encompassing, standing proudly at the top of the long history of human civilization. If even a tiny Finland could not be taken now, wouldn't the divine ring that hung over Supreme Commander Stalin immediately fade its brilliance?

Hearing Mikoyan's worries, Molotov sighed in a low voice and said with a bitter face: "Isn't that so? The current diplomatic situation is not in our favor, and Germany is the only country in the world that is on our side. The League of Nations announced the expulsion of the Soviets from it, and the United States, Britain, France, and other countries had begun drafting economic sanctions against the Soviets. Starting next year, the Ministry of Trade, which you are in charge of, Comrade Mikoyan, will have to suffer again, because it will be difficult for us to count on our customers from the original Western countries, whether it is exporting or importing. ”

"Boom." Suddenly there was a crisp sound in the room, but it was Stalin who slammed the bottom of his pipe on the table. Mikoyan, who was excited in their hearts, immediately stopped whispering and turned their gaze ahead without squinting. Under the gaze of the crowd, Stalin spoke slowly in a deep voice: "Our military operation against Finland has suffered a shameful defeat. The Red Army, which had absolute superiority, did not make any substantial progress after four weeks of fighting! Comrade Shaposhnikov, have you learned from the current failures how exactly the Red Army should fight in order to destroy the lowly moles of Finland? ”

Faced with Stalin's forcibly suppressed angry eyes, the General Staff Shaposhnikov felt bitter in his heart. He did not advocate waging war in the winter at all, and was given a lecture by Stalin for this, but now that the war situation has really been lost, Stalin is the first to find himself. However, Shaposhnikov also understood that Stalin could only point the finger at himself, the chief of the General Staff with whom he had argued. Because the opening of the war against Finland at the end of November was decided by Stalin himself, and was unanimously seconded by the army top brass headed by Voroshilov. If Stalin held Voroshilov accountable, wouldn't it be tantamount to admitting that there was something wrong with his decision-making in the first place?

Although Shaposhnikov very much wanted to put this black pot back on Stalin, he silently accepted Marshal Tukhachevsky's voice and smile that will forever become history.

"I have carefully analyzed the battle reports of the various army groups on the front line for almost a month. In Karelia, where the terrain is peculiar, our army did encounter a number of previously unforeseen difficulties. The Finns' infantry tactics and will to resist were outstanding, and they were not at all the same as the Franco National Army that our army met in Spain. ”

Shaposhnikov froze and said carefully: "However, although the enemy is more cunning and tenacious than we thought, this is not the root cause of the failure of our offensive. Our senior commanders made serious mistakes in the course of the operation, which directly led to the huge superiority of our troops in forces and equipment, but they did not give full play to the results they should have. If there is a firm core of command, the stalemate at the front will certainly be broken. ”

"I agree with Comrade Shaposhnikov. Comrade Meretskov was incapable of coping with the vicious and vicious enemy army, and he betrayed the trust placed in him by the Party, the state, and Comrade Stalin, and inflicted heavy damage on socialism. I think it is necessary to send a more suitable comrade to lead the Red Army in the North and reverse the current situation. Voroshilov was the first to react and immediately echoed his words.

At this time, the Soviet army had already suffered a setback in its offensive, and it was necessary to give an explanation to the outside world no matter what; Then, while Stalin's authority has not yet been damaged, throwing Meretskov as a scapegoat is the most harmless way for Stalin. The leader's decision was completely correct, and the Red Army soldiers were equally brave and good at fighting, and it was this commander's inability to affect the three armies that caused the advance at the front to be delayed. What's more, as the commander of the theater of operations, Meretskov was already inescapable of taking responsibility for the failure of the offensive.

As for the casualty figures, it's not for Moscow to dress up? In the Soviet Union, where the media was the mouthpiece of the government, there was simply no such thing as a democracy that could not hide casualties!

After Voroshilov finished speaking, Molotov and others, who had come back to their senses, fell into the well one after another; All the defeats at the front turned out to be the fault of Meretskov and the commanders of several army groups. Seeing that the anger hidden in Stalin's eyes gradually subsided, everyone couldn't help but praise Shaposhnikov in their hearts. The old colonel of the tsarist army was able to survive the numerous storms of the Great Purge without falling, and indeed he had his wisdom and means.

"Well, who will take over from Comrade Meretskov in command of the Northern Operation?" Stalin spoke again. Faced with the leader's much gentler look than just now, Voroshilov began to beat the drum because of his weak heart. He knew that his military level was several grades worse than Meretskov's, and commanding an army was already the upper limit. If Stalin had ordered his generals to command these four or five hundred thousand troops, it would have been really hard to ride a tiger! (To be continued.) )