Stalin was indeed furious.

When the new owner of the Lubyanka Square, the new leader of the Cheka, Yenov, walked into the Kremlin, the senior officials of the Politburo and the General Staff were all there. I didn't have time to pat the ass as usual, when I heard a roar explode in my ears. "Why? Why hasn't the situation been opened up yet! You are committing a crime against the motherland and the people! It's a joke with millions of Red Army! This is a grave mistake, and you are ruining a successful battle! The Party Central Committee and the people are doing their best to ensure military supplies! How many people did not have food for the sake of victory? And you, is this how you repay the motherland and the people? Is that it, looking at the land of the Soviets, encroached on inch by inch by greedy imperialism?! ”

Yenov shrunk his neck and hid behind Mikoyan. From his point of view, Stalin glared at the officials, his pupils were red and his voice was hoarse, his fingertips were almost frozen on the Eastern Front, even his beloved pipe was thrown aside, and gray soot was splashed everywhere. Yenov was not stupid, he knew that Stalin was thoroughly enraged! More than 5 million square kilometers of land suddenly disappeared without warning! Not to mention this ** of the Red Empire, even ordinary Slavs cannot tolerate it. More subtly, Stalin was a Georgian, and the real Slavs would have easily placed the blame for the loss of their homeland, as Lenin had done last time he signed the Brest Pact. In the end, the civil war massacre, the Holodomor, the dispossession of property, the murder of Red Marshal Tukhachevsky, and the launching of the Great Purge will all be linked. So if this counterattack fails again, then a volcano could be ignited! The Baltics, Armenia, the Cossacks, the Ukrainians, and many other peoples, and even the failed Finland could come back to bite again!

Everyone in the office knows this, but no one will say it. People like Motolov knew better in their hearts that it had not been for Katyn and the wrong Polish policy, which led to the separation of the USSR from the Western world. With the current situation, as long as Britain and the United States are in a stalemate, they will accept the Soviet Union without hesitation. But what about now? The road is not broken, and the United States still maintains a diplomatic channel with Moscow, but in the middle is an almost impassable Poland.

That damn Yang Qiu! Damn Katyn! And damn Ivanmir! Damn Beria! Budyonny cursed the four names in his heart. He is the chief of the General Staff, and he has the unshirkable responsibility to take a step forward: "Comrade General Secretary, the situation has not yet reached the worst. Comrade Vasilevsky's Khanty-Mansiysk Front has pinned down a group of Chinese armies, and the railway line from Omsk to Petropavlovsk has been blown up by our partisan comrades. Now Comrades Rokossovsky and Lukin have surrounded Petropavlovsk in the north-western two directions, and the Ukrainian Third Army under his command has also advanced 50 kilometers to the east, successfully crossed the Ishim River and is attacking Rosinskoye and Yavlenka. The Siberian Front, commanded by Lukin, was following them and was making a detour south of Petropavlovsk. ”

"And what about Sarekopa? And what about the Irgiz salient? Budyonny still had to save face, so Stalin softened his tone a little, picked up his pipe again, knocked off the ashes, and stuffed Havana tobacco. Budyonny paused, the biggest problem now was the southern front, so he needed to think about the wording. But Zhdanov, who was anxious to know the situation of the battle, did not give him a chance and asked: "Comrade Budyonny, the general secretary is asking." ”

"I hear you." Budyonny would not sell his account, and after a cold reply, he continued: "The progress in the Sarecopa area is not going well, and this is mainly because of the presence of the Irgiz salient. Without capturing this, Comrade Kirponos's Ural Second Front would not be able to penetrate deep into Arparek, otherwise it would be very dangerous to be attacked from three sides by the Chinese from Atbasar, Arkarek and Irgiz. So I have already ordered Comrade Zhukov to lead the Crimean Army Group to support Comrade Malinovsky, and he will definitely recover the Bulge as soon as possible. ”

"As soon as possible?!" A yin and yang voice sounded from the side. Yenov saw that Mehris's unlearned guy had come out of the crowd. As soon as he appeared, everyone frowned, and Budyonny was even more fierce, with a posture that he couldn't pull out his gun. It can be seen that everyone has no good impression of this guy who loves to make small reports. But Mekhlis, however, did not seem to see the angry gaze and was more than happy to present himself in front of Stalin. Lunge walked to the front, picked up the baton and pointed at the salient, with a posture of pointing at the country: "Here, here!" Comrade Marshal, the General Secretary and the Party hand over to you a complete front, the 1st Ukrainian Army, the Southwestern Army, the 48th Army of the Moscow Center, and the 5th Tank Army! With such a powerful force, but it was delayed for two weeks in this place where there is no danger, and now the Crimean Army Group is going to continue to be transferred there, don't you think someone should stand up and take responsibility?! And why let Zhukov go? If it weren't for his last defeat, how could we have lost Petropavlovsk. ”

"And who do you think is responsible?" Budyonny glared at him in a strange way.

"Who else? Comrade Malinovsky, of course. As a commander, he must be responsible! Mekhlis turned his head and suggested to Stalin: "General Secretary, Malinovsky should be removed immediately!" Someone else will take command. ”

"Villain!" Yenov couldn't stand it anymore. He knew that Malinovsky had accused him of being uneducated and fond of making small reports, so this guy had always held a grudge. But I didn't expect to take revenge at this time. "What a fool." Yenov muttered in his heart, the military obviously will not remove a commander of the front army for a little setback, isn't it boring to bring it up like this. Sure enough, Budyonny immediately went berserk, and with a shake of his beard, he wanted to teach Mehris a lesson.

"That's it!" Seeing this, Stalin slapped the table fiercely: "This is a military meeting!" "The delay in breaking through Irgiz is actually very annoyed in his heart. According to the counteroffensive plan, only by breaking through Irgiz would Malinovsky be able to quickly penetrate in depth, which would threaten not only Alkarek's flank, but even Rzezikazgan. At that point, the Chinese would have to draw troops south from the heavily armed Ishim River defense line, giving Lukin and Rokossovsky an even greater superiority in forces. Whether a pool of stagnant water can be revitalized or not is all on this protrusion! So at the very beginning, the General Staff handed over three full army groups and one tank army to Malinovsky. Now that the situation could not be opened for a long time, and it was impossible to effectively disperse the more than 100 Chinese divisions on the Ishim River defense line, Lukin and Rokossovsky had to fill it with their lives.

He stood in front of the map and put down his pipe after a long time: "Comrade Budyonny, you immediately send a telegram to Comrade Timoshenko in the name of the Supreme Command, don't be afraid of sacrifice, don't be stingy with weapons and equipment, you must take advantage of the opportunity when China is being dragged down by Japan and Iran, and boldly penetrate into the depth!" Also, send a telegram to Marino. At this point, he paused abruptly and waved his hand vigorously to his own words: "Forget it." Comrade Mekhlis, you personally went on a trip to convey the orders of the High Command to Comrade Malinovsky and Comrade Zhukov. ”

"Okay, General Secretary." Mehris nodded in agreement. But this order made Budyonny and others change color. Stalin turned a blind eye, in fact, he was not confused, he knew that Mechelis was an unlearned villain, but many times, the villain could play an important supervisory role.

Budyonny stamped away, Zhdanov and Khrushchev also left one after another, and as soon as Yenov wanted to mix in the crowd, he was stopped by Stalin: "Comrades Yenov and Motorov stay." ”

Yenov hurriedly stopped and put on a smiling face: "Comrade General Secretary, do you have any instructions?" Stalin didn't look at him first, turned to Motolov, his voice weakened, and he held his forehead with one hand: "Comrade Motolov, what is the international reaction now?" ”

"Britain, the United States, and Free France have sent people to Beijing to negotiate, and when US Secretary of State Hull heard that he had gone to China, it seems that they are also very dissatisfied. Germany and Italy are still on the sidelines, but tensions are in some parts of Southeast Asia and Asia, and Yang Qiu has already sent his prime minister to visit these. Motorov was about to report all the information he had gathered, but he was blocked by a pair of cold eyes, and he quickly stopped his words and said concisely: "Except for Japan, no country or region has submitted an official note. ”

"Yes." Stalin was not surprised at all, and sat down slowly, seemingly calm, but the hand holding the pipe showed green tendons. "Comrade Motolov, do you think we still have a chance to reconcile with Britain and the United States?"

Motorov's heart jumped, and he secretly said that it was not good, could it be said that Stalin had lost confidence in victory? Otherwise, how could there be such an idea? But the idea was rejected again, because as long as the European part was kept, the USSR would not fall. So immediately shook his head: "Comrade General Secretary, the biggest problem for us and Britain and the United States is Poland. Both Britain and the United States certainly wanted to form an alliance with us against the Germans, but Poland was a trap and a dangerous obstacle set by Yang Qiu! "He didn't say it explicitly, but Stalin understood. The Katyn incident in Poland has already made Britain and the United States have some scruples, and even if they can convince Churchill and Britain, the nosy Americans and Roosevelt, who cherishes political feathers, will not agree. What's more, if he formed an alliance with Britain and the United States, Yang Qiu would inevitably be provoked. At that time, even if Yang Qiu was pressured to sign an armistice agreement, he would definitely include Central Asia and Siberia in the treaty. I can't accept it. Written on the treaty creates a fait accompli. Moreover, Britain and the United States can only privately support some leftovers, otherwise it will be tantamount to declaring war on China. Without the containment of the Japanese Navy, it has been expanded, and if you sign it yourself, then a civil war will definitely break out in the country! But if he didn't sign it, Yang Qiu would not have truce, and the threat of force from Britain and the United States would be useless. Because the Chinese Navy, which has expanded to Kiribati and the Marshalls, can easily stick the tip of the knife into Pearl Harbor or even the West Coast of the United States! It's the same in the west, once China falls to Germany, as long as the Strait of Malacca is opened, the troops gathered in the southeast and hundreds of thousands of Persian troops can be blocked in an instant, and Egypt will be completely finished, so the old fox Churchill will not gamble.

Roosevelt and Churchill were both smart men who would never provoke a China that was several times stronger than Japan without dealing with Germany. Thinking of this, his heart ached, and for the first time he regretted signing the Polish affair. But he still understood Motolov's overtones. So far, the real ally of the USSR was only Japan. If it was a regional war, it would be nothing, but now it is a world war, and China can get assistance from Britain and the United States, so for the USSR, an ally is far from enough. After pondering for a long time, he raised his head again: "Comrade Motolov, I have time to care about Spain. ”

Of course, Motolov understood such an obvious hint, and immediately nodded: "I will arrange for you to meet with Foreign Minister Ribbentrop as soon as possible." Stalin didn't say much, turned to Yenov, who had his ears pricked up, with a solemn look on his face: "Comrade Yenov, now is the time for the Party to test your ability to work." You must keep a close watch on those anti-** elements and strictly prevent them from being instigated by imperialism. In addition, it is necessary to strengthen intelligence collection, and our intelligence work during this period is very untimely! And, be sure to find them! ”

They? Yenov, of course, understood.

Ivanmyr and Beria, two time bombs that are still hidden deep in the depths of the Soviet Union.