On March 7, the other two Turkish infantry divisions near the border were completely eaten by the Red Army, and the main forces of the Red Army were all transferred to the territory of Azerbaijan, and the troops were directed towards the Baku Peninsula. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 infoThe Bolsheviks and partisans who were lurking in the area responded, and within a few days nearly 2,000 men joined Chernyakhovsky's unit, not only replenishing their forces but also acting as guides for the Red Army.

Although the Bolshevik Party had a mediocre population in the Transcaucasia, it was much better than Central Asia, and the Turks, after occupying Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia, did not fulfill their promise of autonomy, but tried to recover and incorporate them into their own territory.

In such a situation, both Chernyakhovsky and Zhukov believed that the time was ripe for the implementation of the "Mercury Project......

At dawn on March 9, when it was snowing lightly near Baku, a Turkish soldier on duty suddenly said to his companion: "Look...... ! ”

"Where? Are you dazzled? Is it that the Russians have been calling you in the past two days and you are so scared that you are unsettled? ”

"You're not afraid?"

"What's there to be afraid of? German armored forces have been dispatched, they can beat the Germans? ”

As soon as the words fell, the two suddenly noticed that large clusters of snowflakes began to fall in the sky, and then looked at the ...... Damn, this is a snowflake, this is a parachute, the Russians are airborne!

The Central Asian Special Airborne Army, composed of more than 10,000 troops from the 1st, 3rd, and 5th Brigades of the Airborne Forces, and commanded by Major General Zatevakhin, deputy commander of the Airborne Forces, set out from Astrakhan and landed directly on the Baku Peninsula south of the Turkish army's blocking line. Cherniakhovsky seized the opportunity to attack fiercely, and under the flanking attack of the airborne troops, the offensive group had cut through the Turkish defense line by the evening of March 10, not only successfully eliminating the two Turkish divisions in front of the assault, but also planting the red flag on the Baku oil fields.

"Comrade Stalin, Comrade Stalin......" In the evening of the same day in Moscow, Kuznetsov called to report the situation, "I didn't disturb your rest, did I?" ”

"Nope. You say, how is the front line fighting? ”

"Comrade Zhukov sent a telegram that our army was advancing smoothly as planned, and with the help of the Special Airborne Army, a total of 6-7 divisions of the Turkish army were encircled, annihilated, and defeated, with less than 60,000 casualties of its own, and Baku has now been successfully recaptured! I also got some fuel there! ”

"Baku? It's true? He stood up in disbelief, and his voice became high-pitched, "How's the oil field?" Does it work? ”

"It's true! Comrade Chernyakhovsky himself is in the oil field area. However, it is said that the damage is still very serious, and only a small part of the facilities can barely operate, which is 500,000 tons per year. At present, we have more than 200,000 troops in Transcaucasia, although daily supplies can still be maintained, but ammunition and heavy equipment are relatively lacking, and they must be replenished, and they may face a counterattack by the German, Turkish and even Iraqi troops at any time, and they urgently need new forces to enter the battlefield." Comrade Vasilevsky was judging where reinforcements could be drawn. ”

"Okay, you guys discuss it first, and I'll go to the Supreme Command right away."

"The current situation is more dangerous, although our army has entered the Transcaucasia and controlled a corner of the country, it is difficult to keep up with the follow-up material and troop replenishment, and I am afraid that there will be a bitter battle. On the north and east shores of the Caspian Sea, at least 150,000 troops should be left to meet the rear of the attacking troops, and the offensive cluster should also reserve a part of the troops to deal with the counterattack of the Iranian and German coalition forces behind it, and the troops that can really be put into the attack are probably less than 150,000 people.......

The total strength of Chernyakhovsky's offensive group and the Malinovsky Independent Army was about 650,000, and the actual available force was about 450,000, excluding the 200,000 troops left behind to connect the main forces of Zhukov in Central Asia and the main forces of the three armies on the southern flank. A total of 50,000 were lost during the march and attack on the eastern shore of the Caspian Sea, and nearly 60,000 were lost in the landing battles and in the battles with Iran and Turkey after the landing, and the actual available troops were only 340,000, and even if the more than 10,000 airborne troops who were put into the battlefield were added, it was only 350,000 when the battle was full. If the 150,000 defending troops on the eastern shore of the Caspian Sea are eliminated and the 50,000 left behind the attacking cluster, the number of troops that can be put into the offensive is indeed less than 150,000, as Vasilevsky said.

According to his intentions, the staff officers quickly deployed the assuming of troops, and Stalin looked at the map and began to hesitate again: the Turkish army in the Transcaucasia still has at least 10-150,000 troops, and the Germans do not have it at present, but it is easier to transfer 10-150,000 troops from the South Caucasus. He calmed down and did not express his opinion for a while, and asked: "What does Comrade Konstantin mean?" ”

"The Northern Front appropriately relinquishes a little territory and shortens the line of defense; On the southern flank, one army group will be drawn from each of the three fronts in the direction of Stalingrad to form a supplementary front army of 300,000 men to resist the Black Sea line, and then 25-300,000 troops from the 350,000 troops currently encircled outside the Black Sea will be transferred across the Black Sea to Transcaucasia, and if necessary, another 100,000-150,000 troops will be squeezed out of the defensive cluster in Central Asia......"

"Wait......" Stalin asked hesitantly, "his present layout is different from the plan for Mercury that he originally described as I did - at that time he clearly said that he would fight the German Central Asian Army Group and mobilize the German troops on the southern front; And then it was also inconsistent with what was reported a few days ago, to fight a dozen Turks and mobilize Germans to help. ”

"Yes, it's not the same. The original plan was completely unworkable after the Germans hid in the Ferghana Basin, and the second step plan could have been taken, but judging from the strange posture of the German army some time ago, the Germans wished that we would fight the Turks, and maybe they would not save us if we overturned the sky, so Comrade Zhukov proposed the second amendment...... "Vasilevsky's whip slowly crossed the map," to increase troops, materials and supplies to Transcaucasia, let the troops advance northward, hit the Caucasus passes, and then fight with Comrade Yeremenko, Comrade Rokossovsky's two fronts were advancing north and south, Comrade Chernyakhovsky was attacking north from the Caucasus Mountains, and the troops of Comrades Yeremenko and Rokossovsky were attacking south, striving to eat at least one German army group near Grozny, turning the tide and restoring the southern flank to the level of about last summer......"

"And then?"

"Peace!"

"No, no, no, I mean, what's next in a situation where you win and eat a German army group?"

"Peace! This is what Comrade Zhukov insisted on wholeheartedly, and I also agree with this viewpoint. Vasilevsky said sincerely, "If we can fight this situation, it is almost the limit of our military force, and he thinks that it is better to make a decent peace with Germany......

Stalin was a little unhappy: "How does he want to get along?" ”

"The South Caucasus is to cease fire along the Line of Actual Control, and after the occupation of the Transcaucasus, with the exception of the Baku oil field, which will be jointly developed by the Soviets and Germans in the future, the rest can be established under the actual protection of Germany, and through this concession in exchange for the German side to retreat on the central front and retreat to the west bank of the Volga River." Vasilevsky explained, "In this way, we will be able to get back half of Baku, all of the Grozny and Volga industrial areas in the future, recover at least 10 million people, and with the recovery of all Central Asia, the situation of the party and the state will be much better." ”

Stalin was a little unhappy, and he was still begging for peace like this, and he felt that he could not get over this hurdle in his heart, but it did not come out on his face -- Comrade Konstantin was also doing his best for the party and the country, otherwise what would he do so desperately?

He casually asked, "What if I lose?" ”

"If you lose, you have to negotiate peace." Vasilevsky's face was gloomy, "If we lose, it means that we don't have any mobile forces and elite troops, so we can only negotiate peace on German terms: retreat to the east of the Ural Mountains, and hand over all the west to the Mensheviks, and prepare to develop Siberia and the Far East with peace of mind in the future. ”

Hearing such an unpleasant topic, Stalin's face stiffened and suddenly became gloomy, but he still patiently asked Vasilevsky: "In your judgment, what is the probability of the former result?" ”

"No more than 30% is expected."

"What about failure?"

“60%！”

"Is there any other choice?"

"Withdraw the troops to the eastern shore of the Caspian Sea, and then return most of the troops to the central battlefield to see if they can hold on after the German spring campaign begins in April." Vasilevsky said with a blank face, "I think the retreat now is closer to chronic asphyxia......"

"You!"

"What Comrade Zhukov said is quite reasonable, this is the last desperate fight of the Soviets, winning, striving for a decent peace condition; If you lose, you will die completely, and you will do whatever you want; Other than that, everything else is a waste of time. It doesn't do anything other than help the Americans. Oh yes. Vasilevsky suddenly remembered something, "The 30 freighters provided by the United States have passed the inspection of the Japanese side today, and this time the other side did not make any more bad moves, and the rest of the 12 ships were detained, and the rest will be released, and after they are unloaded, they will return to us with the empty ships and people, and then we only need to return the 18 ships to the Americans, and there are still 12 ships that can be kept for our own use." Some comrades came up with the idea of using these ships to transport industrial equipment and some weapons and equipment that we do not need to China and the Chinese comrades to exchange raw materials and agricultural products, and the Japanese side should provide security and escort services at a service fee of 25 percent. ”

"One day I'm going to kill these yellow-skinned little boys!" Stalin angrily threw down a sentence and left, "You prepare a plan first, and submit it to the Politburo for discussion tomorrow, I alone say it is not ......"

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