Melkulov gave a picture of the current situation in the three Baltic states, Western Ukraine, and Western Belarus, much as Manturov had imagined. Pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info

After the German occupation of these areas in 1941, nationalists in the local area (especially in the three Baltic states) began to cooperate with the Germans, hoping to gain the favor and identity of the Germans and achieve national independence with German support.

However, the Germans were not impressed by this, and although they accepted the assistance of the national separatist militants and won victory after victory with their help, they never agreed to the conditions of the nationalists, which caused their dissatisfaction.

Even so, the nationalists did not end their cooperation with the Germans, who fought alongside the German army, often as cannon fodder on the battlefield. Others joined the SS and formed several Waffen-SS units of Estonians, Latvians or Lithuanians to fight for the German fascist regime.

However, with the defeat of the German army on the Eastern Front, the German army, which has never been able to break through the Manturov Line, has not achieved its goal of plundering Ukraine's food resources and Caucasus oil and gas resources.

In addition, the shortage of resources in Germany continued unabated, and as the German army increased, the food supply needed by the army also became scarce, so the Germans had to consider plundering more resources from the occupied areas to ensure the operation of German industry and the daily needs of the German army and people.

However, as a result, resources in the occupied areas have become more scarce, the livelihood of the local people has been greatly affected, and some factories have stopped operating because there are not enough raw materials. Many German troops forcibly requisitioned grain from the occupied areas, which caused dissatisfaction among the local peasants and even caused famine in some areas.

In addition, as the German soldiers spent more and more time on the battlefield, and the number of recruits accounted for more and more proportions, some of the recruits who were not very well disciplined began to commit all kinds of atrocities against local women and even children, including **, which caused the indignation of the local people and greatly reduced the image of the German army in the eyes of the locals.

Judging from the current situation, if the Soviet army launches a counteroffensive against Western Ukraine and the three Baltic countries, the local people should not make any resistance to the Soviet army, but they may not welcome the arrival of the Soviet army, and may even take advantage of the Soviet-German melee to pursue independence and establish a nationalist government in some "blank areas".

Such a result is obviously not acceptable to the Soviet government, so the Soviet army will not attack the three Baltic countries and Western Ukraine for the time being, and when the Soviet army's logistics capacity is sufficient, the local people are even more disgusted with the German army, and it is not too late to act on the side of the Soviet army.

And what about Finland? The Finns have always had a special hostility towards the Soviet Union, which they regarded as the most threatening enemy since the Soviet-Finnish war in 1939, and an attack on Finland now would certainly provoke a revolt from the local population.

To make matters worse, the Germans did not commit any atrocities against the Finns, nor did they take too many resources from Finland, nor did they arouse the perception of Germany among all Finns (except for the Jews in Finland).

Therefore, whenever the Soviet army fights Finland, it will encounter resistance from the local people, but if it is delayed until the winter of 42, the Finnish soldiers who are adapted to fighting in the cold and snow will have a geographical advantage.

Judging from the current logistical carrying capacity of the Soviet army, it is still possible to support a large-scale campaign against Finland, and the number of troops, artillery, guns, aircraft and tanks can still have an absolute advantage in front of the Finnish army.

However, no matter how great the superiority of the Soviet army is, the intelligence work must still be done well, otherwise it will cause a lot of unnecessary sacrifices, cause countless families to lose their beloved children, and also cause a lot of labor loss, which will affect the post-war economic development.

"How's it going on in Finland?" After hearing about the situation in Western Ukraine, the three Baltic states, and Western Belarus, Manturov turned the subject to Finland.

Merkulov and Yakov were also prepared for this, after all, they were engaged in intelligence, and they also learned from their own channels that the Supreme High Command had decided to attack Finland.

Melkulov glanced at Yakov and motioned for Yakov to report on the intelligence work on the Finnish side.

Seeing the eyes of his superiors, Yakov immediately understood what the other party meant, and then shifted his gaze to Manturov and said: "At present, the Finnish people do not have a very good perception of the Soviet Union and regard us as aggressors. At the same time, their government is still actively preparing for war against our country, which is widely supported by the Finnish people.

However, after the repeated bombing of our Soviet Air Force, Finland's military industrial plants have been greatly damaged, the production of some military industrial enterprises has come to a standstill, many factories and warehouses that supply/store military supplies have also been greatly damaged, the ports of Hanko, Helsinki, and Turka have also been bombed, many port facilities have been lost, and many cargo ships have been sunk.

The impact of our bombing on Finland is enormous, and Finland's ability to support the war has been greatly affected, but we cannot underestimate the enemy, after all, they are still allies of Germany, and they have also received several batches of weapons and supplies from the Germans, as well as dozens of BF109 fighters. ”

Manturov also had a slight understanding of what Yakov said, and the Soviet army's strategic bombing campaign against Finland was originally proposed by him, and the fact that the Finnish Air Force got BF109 fighter jets also happened in history, and it is not surprising that it happened in this world.

The Soviet Air Force's strategic bombing of Finland undoubtedly played a pivotal role in the war effort, but Manturov placed more emphasis on intelligence than on tactical and strategic arrangements.

"How is the infiltration and intelligence gathering work of the People's Commissariat for State Security in Finland?" Manturov asked bluntly.

"Now it is going well, and our comrades have recruited a lot of intelligence officers in Finland and provided us with a lot of valuable information. Some intelligence agents have infiltrated the Finnish army and have provided us with a great deal of information about the deployment of the troops.

At present, we have a rough idea of the direction of the deployment of the Finnish army, as well as the location of some fortifications, pillboxes, and artillery positions......"

I have to say that Yakov is really material for intelligence work. At Manturov's suggestion, he took advantage of the fact that Finnish Jews hated Germany and took some Jews who served in the Finnish army for his own use, becoming the main intelligence gathering force of the Soviet Ministry of State Security in Finland.

The Finnish Jewish community is not small at all, and there are Jews in all classes, professions, and even in all units of the army. The knowledge of these Jews was spread across all levels of Finland, and the information provided to the Soviet army was not only comprehensive, but also invaluable.