It was not only the two empires that fell into a state of agitation, but also the Red Tsar in Moscow.

There have been frequent contacts in the Kremlin recently, especially after the Japanese army moved south, and the Soviet high-level officials have paid great attention to it. First of all, the Japanese army surrounded Singapore and seized Malaya in just over a month, and also controlled the Dutch East Indies and Malaya, defeating more than 100,000 British troops. This was followed by anxiety and anger at Japan's decision to allow China to use the Sunda Strait. What is even more disturbing is that China actually sent a fleet of nearly 90 large cargo ships to Saudi Arabia just before the Japanese army moved south, and a fleet with two aircraft carriers even arrived.

"General Secretary, this is a photo taken secretly by Saudi comrades." Beria carefully pulled a stack of photographs from her file bag. Stalin has had a bad temper lately, and problems such as Finland and the Baltics have always plagued the red dictator. Zhukov lost two provinces in Afghanistan in a row, resulting in more than 100,000 Soviet troops having to retreat to Herat, making China one step closer to Iran. The signing of the Sino-Iranian oil agreement and the southward movement of Japanese troops could be seen as the prelude to a world war, at which a fleet that broke into the Persian Gulf became a sore for the Soviet Union. In the face of the aggressive Yang Qiu, it's strange that he has a good temper. "General Secretary, it has been made clear in a preliminary investigation that there are a total of 2 Sichuan-class aircraft carriers with 206 aircraft, as well as 3 cruisers and 4 destroyers that entered the Persian Gulf. In addition, 1 heavy cruiser, 2 light cruisers, 2 supply ships and 6 destroyers went to Djibouti, France. This is a fleet of 84 10,000-ton ships that arrived at the same time. This is a new type of vessel with large hatches on the sides that allow vehicles to enter and exit directly. Look, the five that came out of the front were all Type 31 tanks, and the one in the back should be a new model, and from the analysis of the thickness of the canvas sleeve, the caliber of the tank gun was between 80 and 90 mm.

This one is important!

This person's name is Jiang Fangzhen, a second-class general. Former president of the National Defense University of China. He served for 15 years and is the author of a number of military books. He was the first to put forward the theory of air-ground integrated warfare that appeared last year, and half of the senior generals in the current squadron are his students. Now his job is military adviser to the president. He was very active after arriving in Saudi Arabia, having met with the Saudi royal family more than a dozen times, and after Japan went south, he stayed in Tehran and Istanbul for four days each, and signed ore purchase agreements with the two countries.

In addition, Japan's telegram to us said that a second group of 51 transport ships had passed through the Sunda Strait 10 days earlier, also destined for the Persian Gulf. Moreover, the comrades in Paris have confirmed. China began to organize the evacuation of expatriates and students from Europe, with destinations in the United States and Saudi Arabia, respectively. Comrades in the United States also sent telegrams saying that they had received information that the Chinese ambassador to the United States had purchased more than 20 large gas refrigerators, 650,000 tons of grain, and a large amount of beef and mutton and gauze medicines. Two sets of ammunition production lines and shipbuilding equipment purchased from France are also being shipped to the shipyard invested by China in the port of Jeddah on the Red Sea. Two thousand Chinese workers and four thousand Saudis are stepping up construction, expanding the number of docks and docks, and building oil storage tanks. In the past week, the number of transport planes between Hofuf and Kashgar has increased to 400, and the Saudis say it is just a normal rotation of oil workers. Judging by these signs. China is using procurement and air transportation from other countries to strengthen its reserves in Saudi Arabia, and it is likely to be ready to stay in the Persian Gulf for a long time after losing Malacca. ”

Beria's explanation was very careful, and the meaning behind each photo was spoken. On the photo or majestic battleship. Dense trucks and tanks, or the expanding port of Jeddah, made Stalin sit on pins and needles. The more I listened, the more gloomy my my face became, and I was even more angry that Japan did not blockade the strait according to the agreement. In the end, he even stood up angrily: "Why didn't Japan block the strait?" Didn't they already defeat the British Far Eastern Fleet and sink two more battleships? ”

Beria just wanted to speak, and Voroshilov, who was next to him, stepped forward: "Japan replied. They haven't taken Singapore yet, and their supply lines are too long, so they'll have to wait a few more months. ”

"Nonsense, this is a serious breach of contract and irresponsible!" Stalin slapped the table angrily. You know, across the street from Saudi Arabia is Iran. He is already worried about Sino-Iranian oil cooperation, and now China is suddenly stockpiling weapons and supplies on a large scale in Saudi Arabia, plus the number of aircraft carriers exceeds 500, which in his view is a preparation to intervene in Iran and even attack the Caucasus. Iran was a bulwark of Central Asia that the Soviet Union must protect, otherwise it would not have signed an agreement with Iran when the Soviets had just been established to ensure that Britain and France would not fall to Britain and France. It is true that Iran has not fallen to Britain and France now, but Reza Khan, the idiot, has been subjugated by the oil dollar little by little, which makes him very resentful.

Stalin's mood was a little out of control, and just as he picked up his pipe, an officer opened the door and brought a document to be signed. Because of the scolding he heard inside, the officer was a little nervous, and accidentally knocked over the inkwell when he presented the document. Seeing the thick black ink dripping on Stalin's trousers, the officer's face was suddenly frightened, his whole body trembled, and he couldn't even speak. Stalin was very dissatisfied when he saw that he was frightened like this: "Do you think that Comrade Stalin only has one pair of pants?" ”

The officer's face turned even paler, and Stalin did not bother to look at him, signing this unimportant document and driving him out. But after this episode, Stalin also gradually calmed down, smoking a cigarette and keeping his eyes wandering back and forth between Tehran and the Caucasus. Beria and Voroshilov looked at each other, guessing that he was worried that China would threaten the security of the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus, and Baku if Saudi Arabia gained a foothold. Especially Georgia, which is the hometown of Comrade Stalin! Voroshilov, chief of the General Staff of the Soviet Army, who has always taken Stalin's will as his supreme order, immediately said: "General Secretary, from the photos and intelligence analysis of Comrade Beria just now, the Chinese army soldiers have not yet been stationed on a large scale, so I think that Iran should be won over immediately. Iran's Northern Railway can go directly to the Strait of Hormuts, and the BF109 fighters we purchased from Germany have also been trained for half a year, and the pilots are very enthusiastic about fighting, and by deploying them here, we can use this advanced aircraft to cut off the air connection between China and Saudi Arabia, so that even if they have more supplies in Saudi Arabia, it is useless without soldiers to use them. ”

These words went to Stalin's heart, after all, no one wanted their hometown to be threatened. At this time, he suddenly remembered Tukhachevsky's plan to go south, which said that he would preemptively control the Strait of Hormuz and Karachi, India, so that it could not only bring the Soviet Union the coveted warm water port, but also prevent China from entering the Persian Gulf, and also make Britain dare not encircle and suppress the Soviet Union all over the world. It's a pity that no one knows whether Stalin regretted it. But Beria sensed his concern for the Persian Gulf.

"General Secretary, it is only a matter of time before Japan completely defeats the British forces in the Far East, and China will definitely not let Japan control the strait for a long time, because without the strait, it cannot freely enter and exit the Indian Ocean, so it took advantage of Japan's failure to go south to deploy an airborne division on Sumatra Island, just to fight for control of the strait in the future. So now is the best time to fight for Iran, if China attacks Malaya and Sumatra to seize the straits, it can transport more soldiers to the Persian Gulf, if Herat is also lost. They will be able to use the Iranian Northern Railway to make a detour back to our country, the Caspian Sea and the Caucasus. ”

"That's right." Stalin nodded, but was still hesitant in his heart.

To win over Iran is to attack Iran and overthrow the regime of Reza Khan, which is tantamount to offending Britain, which has troops in Iran and Iraq. He was not afraid of England, but Germany was never reassuring. After the signing of the Soviet-German Secret Treaty, although it won Hitler's trust by increasing the export of resources to Germany, the Soviet Union still maintained 2 million troops in the European direction, and it was afraid of turning its face. Send troops to Iran now, in case Britain instigates Germany to tear up the treaty. Will the vast expanse of Ukraine and Belarus become a second Czech?

When Stalin was in a dilemma, the phone on the desk suddenly rang. After picking up the phone with a blank face, Motolov's voice came from the other end. A moment later, Beria and Voroshilov noticed that Comrade General Secretary, who had just been with a serious expression, was actually smiling.

What's wrong?

Stalin put down the phone. He slammed his pipe hard and said happily, "Very well, the Japanese have begun to attack Singapore." "Great." Voroshilov applauded, although his military qualities were really not flattering. But I also know the importance of Singapore. As long as the Japanese army captures Singapore, the probability of Beijing intervening in the war will be much greater.

Instead, Beria noticed the anomaly, believing that there must be something else. Otherwise Stalin would not have been so happy. Sure enough, after a pause, Stalin said: "The call just now was from Comrade Motolov, and in addition to this news, he told me another thing." The German envoy Ribbentrop was about to come to Moscow, and he wanted to talk to us about the Polish question. Comrade Beria, you must take care of everyone and prepare well for this matter, and then let Comrade Zhdanov personally greet him. ”

Beria's eyebrows jumped wildly, Germany was going to attack Poland!

You know, according to the previous secret treaty, Germany was willing to cede half of Poland and the three Baltic countries to win the trust of the Soviet Union. And Britain and France are allies of Poland, as long as Germany does it, it will be tantamount to completely offending Britain and France, so who can care about Iran's life or death?!

Voroshilov stood on the side and saw that both of them became jubilant, and at first he didn't understand what was going on, until he thought about what he had just said, and then he came forward and said excitedly: "General Secretary, do you have any instructions for the comrades of the Caucasian Front?" ”

"Hmm." Stalin was satisfied with Voroshilov's cleverness, and his tone became decisive, saying: "To tell the comrades below that it is a very important matter to win over Iran, and you must arrange this matter yourself." Let the comrades see clearly that this is an imperialist conspiracy to flank us from Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia. These conspiracies were crimes against the Soviets, crimes that threatened the territory of the great Soviet Union. Twenty years ago, they took advantage of the chaos at the beginning of the Soviet establishment to loot our machinery and equipment on a large scale, and with the help of British and American imperialism, they unilaterally invaded our territory! The massacre of the soldiers of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army and loyal members of the Soviet Party illegally annexed the beautiful Vladivostok, the rich East Siberia, and the herds of cattle and sheep in East Kazakhstan, Almaty, and Andijan. Now the black hand of the Chinese is trying to reach into the Caucasus and Caspian regions of our country, which is unforgivable!

To mobilize the forces of the Caucasus and the Caspian Sea, it is necessary to make it clear to every commander and fighter that they are facing an evil, cunning, and unscrupulous enemy. All GC Party members must immediately take action, mobilize the masses, and do a good job in fighting a war to defend the security of the country's hinterland. ”

In the midst of his resounding speech, the black ink on Stalin's trousers was particularly eye-catching...... (To be continued.) )