May 17, 1939, Moscow, Kremlin. Pen, fun, and www.biquge.info

"Comrade Voroshilov, I think you should know what's going on in Mongolia." Stalin summoned Voroshilov, who was the People's Commissar of Defense, to his office and asked the question as soon as the marshal came in.

"The Japanese army has entered the border of the Mongolian People's Republic and has clashed with the Mongolian army."

Stalin held his big pipe, took a puff of his cigarette, and nodded: "That's right, according to the intelligence of the Mongolian side, the Japanese army has gathered tens of thousands of troops and is preparing to invade the Halaha River region of the Mongolian People's Republic. ”

"So what should we do? More weapons and munitions for the Mongolian People's Army? ”

"How? According to the Soviet-Mongolian Mutual Assistance Agreement, we should send troops to the front line to support the Mongolian people and resist the aggression of Japanese imperialism. ”

"It's just an ordinary border conflict, do we need to send troops in?"

Stalin dragged his pipe in one hand and pointed to the map in the other, and said: "Krim, it seems to me that the real strategic intentions of the Japanese army are aimed at us. They want to occupy the Haraha region of Mongolia as a springboard for the next step in invading the Far East of our country, and then realize their 'northward plan'. ”

"Plans to go north?"

Stalin took out a document from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and said: "That's right, there is intelligence that there are plans within the Japanese Kwantung Army to invade Siberia. Since our country was located north of the Japanese-occupied area, the Japanese army would attack northward, so it was called the 'Northern Advance Plan'. ”

"The Japanese army is so rampant! Occupied Manchuria, broke out a full-scale war with China, and attacked the Soviet Union! I don't think they're going to die! ”

"So, we are going to send troops to the Halaha region (Nomenkhan) to assist the Mongolian People's Army. There to repel the Japanese attack and protect the Far East of our country from invasion. ”

Voroshilov thought for a moment and said, "Joseph, what do you think about letting the 11th Tank Brigade go to the Harakhar area and block the Japanese attack?" ”

"Yes, but this brigade doesn't have enough troops."

"Should the 36th Motorized Rifle Division be mobilized? From Ulan-Ude to the Harahar region? ”

"That's right, in addition to the transfer of the 11th Tank Brigade and the 36th Motorized Rifle Division, the headquarters of the 57th Special Army in Mongolia will be moved from Ulaanbaatar to Tamchag Prague, which is only 125 kilometers from the Haraha River. In addition, it is necessary to mobilize air force units to constantly monitor the movements of the Japanese side. ”

"Yes! I'm going to prepare. Notify the 57th Special Army. ”

At this time, Stalin suddenly thought about the personnel problem. "By the way, who is the commander of the 57th Special Army?"

"It's Colonel-General Nikolai Vladimirlovich Fekarenko (Николай_Владимирович_Фекленко)."

"I remember this person as a member of the Central Committee, and I can be trusted, but I still want to appoint another member of the Central Committee with command ability to serve as the military commissar of the 57th Special Army, and go to help and restrain him."

Military commissar? What position does this come from? In fact, it is what we call a political commissar.

In the USSR, the powers and status of the commissar were somewhat different from those in our country. In the units of the Soviet Red Army, the military commissar/commissar was a political worker sent by the party, who was often transferred to the unit from the local party and government departments, and was also the supreme commander in the unit, holding the highest actual power, and the commander and staff had to obey him.

Where there are military commissars, there are military councils. In the Soviet Army, the Military Council was a very special existence, and usually the commissar, commander, deputy commander, chief of staff, and the director of the political department were members of it.

In the entire committee, the largest person is the military commissar appointed by the party, who is actually the chairman of the committee, who holds the supreme command of the troops.

Before the Battle of Stalingrad, the power of the commissar in the army was supreme, and even the commander and chief of staff of the troops were subject to the commissar. When necessary, the political commissar can also take over the command of the head of the unit, and can even jump the commander and give an account to the higher authorities after the battle is over.

Why can the commissar be so strong? So much power? Because Stalin himself was not a new general with a military background. Before the Great Purge, there were many officers in the army who opposed Stalin, had certain ties with Trotsky, and had bad records, so Stalin increased the power of the military commissar to restrain and monitor the officers.

In the event of any rash action by an officer, the commissar could pull out the head of the unit at any time. Therefore, in the Soviet army, the military commissar is the highest chief.

However, many of these political commissars, especially those at the level of group armies and front armies, were transferred from local party organizations, and were generally secretaries-level figures, who had not received much military training before, and could not fight at all.

After the Battle of Stalingrad, Stalin finally realized the importance of officers and knew that political commissars who did not understand military affairs could not serve as commanders of troops, and the rights of military commissars were weakened.

"Kerim, which member of the Central Committee do you think is competent for the job of the military commissar of the special army?" Stalin asked Voroshilov.

"I think Comrade Viradimo Manturov is the most suitable for the post of military commissar."

Stalin again heard the young man's name. During these months, Manturov had already carried out important work that attracted Stalin's attention, including work on the construction of a large military-industrial complex in Novosibirsk, as well as the construction of a tractor plant, a food processing plant, a metal processing plant and oil fields.

Originally, there was nothing special about these constructions, and they were also being built in Kharkov, Leningrad, Chelyabinsk, Sverdlovsk (Yekaterinburg) and other places.

However, what is special is that these industrial facilities have applied the epoch-making production technology introduced by Manturov, an industrial engineer of the 21st century, which has greatly increased production efficiency and industrial output, and the results are very remarkable, attracting the attention of the central government and other places.

These technologies and Manturov's achievements soon spread throughout the central and local governments, and engineers from all over the country rushed to Novosibirsk to study and study, and began to apply them to local production lines, which increased the industrial production capacity of the Soviet Union in a short period of time and laid the foundation for the logistics supply of the Soviet Union in World War II.

"Manturov? Why do you think he is suitable for the position of military commissar? Stalin asked.

"He is the secretary of the Novosibirsk Regional Party Committee, which is relatively close to Mongolia, and it is easier for him to take office. Moreover, he also has a certain degree of study of military strategy and tactics, has unique views on China's military and industrial construction, and is very loyal to the party, and can not only play the role of surveillance, but also have the ability to command the army and make appropriate strategic arrangements. ”

Stalin took a puff of his cigarette and said with a smile: "You are his father-in-law, of course you will speak for your son-in-law." ”

In fact, Manturov recommended himself to Voroshilov when the border conflict broke out between Japan and Mongolia, saying that if the Soviet Union intervened in this war, he would find a way to get himself to the position of political commissar of the 57th Special Army.

However, although Voroshilov was Manturov's father-in-law and admired his father's military talent, he would not casually push this young man with no military experience to the battlefield, and he had to have some ability, otherwise he would be suspected by Stalin and he would not be happy, after all, war is a major matter of human life.

Therefore, he prepared a test for Manturov and had a military discussion with him, and it turned out that Manturov's military level was above his own (in fact, Voroshilov's military level was not very good), so he was willing to agree to his son-in-law's request.

"Joseph, I do think he is fit for the commissar. Apart from him and Comrade Xia Jianko, I could not find a more suitable member of the Central Committee for the post of political commissar of the 57th Special Army. ”

Stalin nodded and said, "Well, it doesn't hurt to give him a chance." As far as I know, he has made quite a few achievements in handling logistical construction and in the party's ideological education and propaganda, and I believe that he should be able to cope with the work of political guidance and logistical handling in the army.

He is the secretary of the Novosibirsk Regional Party Committee, close to Mongolia, and has a good understanding of the situation there.

But he was still too young, and I was a little hesitant to let him be military commissar. In any case, the situation in the Far East is not too complicated, and our military strength is relatively sufficient, and the chances of victory are relatively large. Then give him a chance to serve as a temper, confer the rank of divisional political commissar, and let him increase his military experience. ”

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