In many cases, peace is not necessarily more costly than persistent resistance. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

If Vasilevsky's strategy continued, the Red Army, of course, could constantly postpone the fateful moment, but in turn avoided a decisive outcome - for better or for worse! Therefore, Zhukov concluded that even if Stalin agreed to a centripetal attack on the north and south, his starting point was not to continue the war, but on the contrary, he was looking for a decent and safe path to peace, and Vasilevsky's delaying tactics were destined not to be adopted because they did not meet political preconditions.

As far as Zhukov was concerned, he actually had an optimal option, which was to immediately take advantage of the existing situation and conditions to quickly make peace with the Germans - because rumors of the British trying to make peace had already spread, and once Britain surrendered, the pressure on the Eastern Front would increase even further. As for the Americans, he did not think that Roosevelt had any ability to fight back, and they themselves at least had to solve the Falklands problem first.

Practice has proved that his conjecture is correct, and Molotov described Vasilevsky with the phrase "qualified chief of the General Staff", which vividly interpreted this "scholarly atmosphere". But apparently there were still different ideas about how to reconcile with Stalin, otherwise he would not have ignored Zhukov's "optimal plan" and chose the suboptimal plan, and still pondered a battle.

"What do the comrades at the grassroots level think about the truce?" Stalin had obtained some public opinion from Beria, but he was still a little uneasy and had to find someone else to confirm it.

"Voices at the grassroots level are complex." Molotov sighed, "Some comrades believe that the war has progressed to this extent, and the chances of the Red Army achieving a military victory are extremely slim, and although it is painful to learn from Comrade Lenin to sign the second Brest Agreement, there is still hope for a comeback, which is more common among leading cadres and officers at or above the middle level; A small group of comrades believe that the war has been fought so far, and it is difficult for us, but the enemy is equally difficult, and if we continue to hold on, the dawn may appear in front of us; A very small number of comrades believed that such a contract could not be signed with the enemy, but that it could no longer be held out here, and suggested that the party and state institutions should be relocated to the Far East and Siberia, and that a part of the Red Army should be divided into pieces and fight guerrilla warfare in the occupied territories -- a strategy borrowed from the example of China, where the Nanking government, after losing most of its elite territory, did not make peace with Japan, let alone have relations with the Japanese puppet regime, but moved to the southwest to continue resistance. ”

According to Molotov's generalization: the first opinion advocates learning from Lenin; The second opinion advocated the study of the Paris Commune, and the third opinion advocated the study of China, although he cleverly avoided his own tendentious opinions.

Stalin turned his gaze to Voroshilov, who replied: "I personally think that the third option is not a good way, the situation in the Soviets is different from that of China, the population of the Far East and Siberia is too small, less than 10% of the total population of the country, and the economic base is too weak to hold out for a long time." Southwest China, on the other hand, is much less developed than the coastal region, but the gap is not as large as ours, and its population density is not low, and the Chongqing regime still has at least 40% of the country's total population at its worst. As for the second option, I think it is necessary to master the strategy of struggle. ”

The so-called strategy actually meant that if Lenin had agreed to a hard fight with Germany by the majority in the party, the nascent Bolshevik regime would immediately become a second Paris Commune. Voroshilov is one of Stalin's henchmen, and his level of war completely disgraces the title of marshal, but his political power and the level of observation and understanding of opinions exceed that of most people, otherwise three of the five generalissimos were purged at first, and another Budyonny is now standing aside, only he is still alive and well, if he didn't have a little level, he would have become a sacrifice of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Stalin nodded, and Voroshilov's opinion was actually clear: the third is not a good idea; The second is a dead end, and the only option is the first.

"It seems that the majority of comrades agree with the first method." Stalin said slowly, "This shows that the secret actions and decisions of the Party Central Committee some time ago were supported by the masses and reflected the fundamental interests of the majority of the people. ”

Molotov and Voroshilov looked at each other, pondered for a moment, and then nodded in agreement.

Seeing the two of them say this, Stalin could not help but breathe a sigh of relief: if anyone understood his words from the surface meaning, he would be an out-and-out fool -- poor Vasilevsky, for example, might fall into it. The implicit intention of this question was to ask these two henchmen: If Stalin made peace with the Axis on behalf of the party and the state, would he continue to enjoy the approval of the majority? Does it not affect the status of the party and the status of the leader?

Therefore, these two men dare to nod their heads after contemplation, and if they nod easily, once the news leaks out and is opposed by groups inside and outside the party, Molotov and Voroshilov will soon be pushed out as scapegoats.

"How are your peace talks with Ribbentrop? Will the Germans suddenly change their minds and raise their conditions? ”

"The conditions of the Germans are there, at least not yet." Molotov added, "On the contrary, Ribbentrop repeatedly assured me that Hitler had no intention of completely destroying the Bolsheviks, much less of liquidating the main leaders, but that he wanted a Europe with the Soviets excluded and Germany at the core, with the same values, ideology-formations and political structures, which he waged in order to eliminate his rivals who posed the greatest threat to him." He said that in the future, the two Russians will be independent, and Vlasov's puppet regime will be absorbed by him into an integrated Europe, and as for us, it will be completely independent. ”

"It's not that he doesn't want to destroy us, it's that he doesn't want to pay a higher price, unless he plans to fight for another 2-3 years and kill 2 or 3 million Germans." Stalin sneered, "The reason why he is willing to make peace with us is because he believes that we no longer pose a threat to Germany at present, and he must concentrate on dealing with the United States before he can fulfill his dream of world hegemony." ”

"This is where we can take advantage of it." Voroshilov immediately added a dog-legged sentence.

"Send a telegram to Comrade Zhukov asking him to return to Moscow and settle down, and the countries of Central Asia recognize their independence, and they are all Tatars anyway." Stalin waved his hand indifferently, "Ask him to immediately deploy a plan of operations, my goal is to use four fronts and 1.4 million troops to carry out the offensive plan of the north-south advance, to threaten the enemy but not to fight with the enemy, to make Hitler aware of our strength, and to force him to accept the change of terms in our favor." ”

"Do you need Comrade Meretskov to assist him?" Some time ago, when the opinion was solicited in private, it was Meretskov who was closest to Zhukov's concept, so Voroshilov had this question.

"No need, continue to ask the Chief of the General Staff for assistance, and the overall campaign will be presided over by Comrade Konstantin." Stalin paused, "the cluster on the northern front is under the command of Meretskov, and the cluster on the southern front is under the command of ......"

Speaking of this, he suddenly got stuck, he thought that the commanders of the several fronts in the south were not very good, and for a while he couldn't pick out the commander he liked, and the Baghramyan recommended by Zhukov last time was even more of a mess.

Molotov coughed and reminded: "It's still Comrade Vatutin, Yeremenko is too bad-tempered, Comrade Rokossovsky is too slippery, and Comrade Malinovsky and Tolbukhin are not qualified, but he must be appointed with a smarter chief of staff, and the political commissar must also be more competent." ”

"This is a good proposal, the chief of staff will put Comrade Sergei Matveevich Shtemenko in the post and the political commissar in the post of Comrade Khrushchev."

Voroshilov nodded again and again: if it was before, everyone rushed to this kind of position, but now the situation is not good, everyone is a little afraid of the situation, and these hot positions have become afraid - no one wants to become Timoshenko's second.

Molotov asked: "What would you like to change the content of the contract?" ”

"First, it is necessary for the two regimes to jointly issue a declaration stating that they will jointly follow the idea of national self-determination, and at the same time, within Russia, in line with different understandings of the socialist road, the Mensheviks and the Bolsheviks should explore and build separate states, both of which recognize themselves as independent components of the Soviet Union regime and as a whole, and that Russia (Bangladesh) and Russia (Brazzaville) should be called separately in foreign dealings; Second, the border between the two countries shall be subject to the existing Line of Actual Control, with a 200-kilometer security zone, which can be garrisoned by German troops, but the total number of German troops shall not exceed 1 million, and the duration of their presence shall not exceed 5 years, and the number of relevant foreign troops in the Menshevik regime shall not exceed 300,000; Third, the Menshevik regime had an independent legal, military, and economic system, and no customs duties were levied on trade between the two sides. Fourth, the total strength of the Menshevik regime did not exceed 500,000, and the Bolsheviks did not exceed 3 million; Fifthly, the total size of the Soviets' reparations to the Axis shall not exceed 10 billion marks, to be paid over 30 years, to be apportioned between the Mensheviks and the Bolsheviks at a ratio of 1:6, with no claims from each other......"

Stalin uttered more than 10 opinions in one breath, and judging by the uninterrupted rhythm, it is clear that they have been brewing for a long time: some are clarifications of previously vague contents, some are interpretations of previously avoided contents, and some are additions and adjustments.

Molotov also did not argue whether the revision of these terms could be approved by the German side, because negotiations have never been about simple politics and communication, the key lies in strength and status, if the Red Army played a momentum on the battlefield, even if it could not achieve a decisive victory, he was sure to get better terms, so he nodded briskly: "Then I will first use this revision as a blueprint and continue to negotiate with the Germans to confuse the line of sight and cover the development of our army." ”

The other two applauded this, apparently unaware that the Battle of Dawn had been launched less than 20 hours earlier...... (To be continued.) )