"Comrades, in addition to the logistical and communications issues raised by Comrade Zhukov, we have to consider a number of other conditions. Pen %Fun %Cabinet www.biquge.info "Manturov, the youngest person in the room, suddenly sold his son.

"On what terms?" Stalin shifted his gaze to Manturov, and somehow Stalin always felt that this young man had amazing vision and insight, and his opinion always attracted Stalin's attention.

"Political conditions."

"Political conditions?" As soon as they heard the word "politics," everyone in the audience began to be confused. In the High Command, only Stalin, Manturov, Molotov, and Voroshilov, who was absent from the meeting (commanding the war in Estonia), had a bit of political acumen.

Zhukov, Shaposhnikov and Timoshenko were all purely military men, not interested in politics, and rarely considered political factors, rarely thinking about problems from a political point of view, and even Stalin and Molotov were mistaken, thinking that the "political factor" that Manturov was referring to was political work in the army.

"Yes, we have to think about politics." Manturov thought for a moment, sat up straight, and said: "But the political factors I am referring to are not the political work within the Red Army, but some political problems in the German occupation zone.

I think everyone knows that the area occupied by the Germans today is the extent of our old national border. These regions were liberated by us only in 1939-1940 and incorporated into the territory of the Soviet Union.

In less than two years, we have carried out a great deal of work in these areas, including political work, ideological work, development, construction, and economic work, which has effectively improved the quality of life of the local people and promoted the development of the local economy, culture, and even the environment.

But in these areas, our Soviet Union government has been ruling for less than two years, and although we have invested a lot of resources in these areas, these efforts have not had the desired effect because of the short period of time in which the rule has been made.

Although the quality of life of the people of western Ukraine and the Baltic coastal regions has been greatly improved, and our economic and construction work has been supported, the local nationalist and separatist ideas have always been relatively strong.

Since we liberated Western Ukraine and the Baltic states, the local nationalists have always regarded us as their enemies, as their aggressors, and at the same time as their liberators, helping the German invading army in various ways, hoping that their *** separatist movement will be supported by the Germans.

Because of the weak foundation of our control and the fact that the local people did not have sufficient knowledge of Soviet socialism, the political and educational work we carried out there was too short, and the prevailing ideology in the area was still dominated by nationalist and separatist ideas.

In those areas, the idea of nationalism, or the idea of secession or independence, has existed for many years and is deeply ingrained in the minds of the people. Those nationalist elements tried to take advantage of such a situation and the psychological condition of the people to carry out incitement, and they achieved certain results.

In just one month, Estonian nationalists have incited tens of thousands of separatists to take part in the Battle of Narva and attack our defenses in Narva together with the fascist invading army that they are liberators.

Despite the fact that our First Marshal - Comrade Voroshilov commanded well and successfully repelled the enemy's attack and eliminated tens of thousands of Estonian separatists, we still could not relax our vigilance against the national separatist forces.

If we rashly launch a counteroffensive against the three Baltic states, Western Ukraine or Poland, I am afraid that the local nationalists will greatly hinder our operations.

They may provide intelligence to the Germans, they may help the Germans build fortifications, they may destroy our logistics by blowing up railways, or even killing logistics personnel, destroying warehouses, etc., and they may even organize national separatist forces to launch an attack on the great Soviet Red Army, causing unnecessary losses. ”

Manturov's words are certainly true, these problems exist, but how can they be solved? What does it have to do with the timing of the counteroffensive if it is not solved? After listening to Manturov's analysis, these questions arose in Stalin's mind.

"Vladimir Fedorovich," Stalin affectionately called Manturov by his name and patronymic, but there was a puzzled look on his face, "in that case, why didn't we launch a counteroffensive against these areas as soon as possible?"

In this way, we will be able to liberate these regions as soon as possible, restore the rule of the Soviet Union over these regions, and consolidate the basis of our rule, so as to ensure that our next move will not be sabotaged by the national separatists. ”

"Comrade Stalin, if the Germans really consider themselves liberators, then we must counterattack as soon as possible. But now, the Germans did not see themselves as liberators, they saw themselves as conquerors, and they wanted not only to conquer the land, but also to turn the people of the land into their own slaves.

In their view, the Germanic peoples were the highest people, and the other peoples, including Ukrainians, Latvians, Estonians, Poles, and Lithuanians, were inferior peoples.

These people, living in the German occupation zone, will not receive the so-called national liberation at all, they will only be abused and assimilated by the Germans. The atrocities of the Germans in the occupied territories, I think everyone is aware of. As long as we give the Germans enough time to commit enough atrocities in those areas to provoke the people to revolt, it will not be too late for us to attack. ”

After listening to Manturov's opinion, Stalin also felt that there was some reason, which would not only solve the national problem in these regions, but also avoid unnecessary losses for the Soviet Red Army, killing two birds with one stone. "Comrade Manturov, you have a good point. Now we are doing our best to improve our logistical supply and communication systems, and to prepare resources for the counteroffensive.

After a while, when we have perfected our communication system and logistical supply, and the people of the occupied territories are eager for our liberation, we will launch a counteroffensive against the fascist invading army and regain our territory in one fell swoop! ”

However, in this way, it will be at the expense of the local people to sit idly by and watch the Germans commit evil acts against innocent people, and it will be the people who will ultimately suffer. But in any case, in order to avoid unnecessary casualties of the Soviet Red Army, in order to awaken the people in the occupied areas, this was the only way.