Chapter Ninety-Eight

Central Asia and the Far East were always Stalin's focus, especially Central Asia. Baku's oil was the focus of the Soviet Union's strategic materials, and although Sino-Soviet relations were now relaxed, they were previously a life-and-death rival in Siberia. Due to their respective strategic needs and interests, there was a brief period of peace.

Tashkent is the bridgehead for the defense of Central Asia, and in line with the principle of not stimulating the squadron, the Tashkent garrison has only one corps. Intelligence shows that the Chinese garrison in Andijan and Ferghana also has only one army. The détente at this stage was not a reason for the USSR to relax the defenses of Central Asia, and Stalin ordered the construction of a large number of fortifications in Tashkent, built according to the standards of the fortresses.

The existence of the demilitarized autonomous region serves as a mutually acceptable strategic buffer zone. For a long time, the intelligence services of both sides did not give up the struggle for this area, and the Soviet Union has always had a stronger sense of existence in the demilitarized zone, after all, it has a strong foundation. The chaos that took place in the demilitarized autonomous region came as a deep surprise to Stalin. There are no decent troops in this area, they are all armed in some places, and they do not dare to leave this area at all. But this time, the self-government of the demilitarized zone was defeated and expelled by a coalition of local armed forces, some of whom dared to attack the idea of the Soviet Union and ambushed many places along the railway, causing the railway to be interrupted.

This incident alerted Stalin that the Soviet Union's strategic focus was on Europe, but the threat from Europe was not too strong at the moment, but the threat from Asia was more direct and ferocious. Stalin suffered a loss in Siberia at the beginning, and if he hadn't excelled in the Soviet-Polish War, he would have been taken down by the Cheka long ago. It was also thanks to the terrible level of Trotsky's political struggle, and the mistake of not being able to wait to eliminate Lenin's influence, that Stalin had a chance.

"We need to be wary of Chinese ambitions for Central Asia and even West Asia, especially Central Asia. Once the Chinese launch an attack on Tashkent, our Central Asian army will be in danger of being denied backup. As soon as Central Asia is lost, Chinese bombers can fly over the Caspian Sea, and the oil field of Baku will be in a sea of fire. The base camp should think about strengthening the forces of Central Asia, especially the defense of Tashkent. "Marshal of the Soviet Union Hatutchevsky has expressed his opinion, and it has not yet been turned against him, and there is still room for him to speak.

"The Chinese are equipped with a large number of new weapons, and the quality of their aircraft, tanks, anti-tank weapons, self-propelled guns is above our army. The intelligence departments should find a way to find out the situation in this regard, otherwise the Chinese imperialists will launch an attack on our army. We don't know enough about the enemy, and we will suffer on the battlefield. "The commander of the Far Eastern Military District, Blyukhel, put forward his opinion that this one will also be purged in the purge, but it is not the time yet.

Others don't say, Hatuchevsky and Blyukhel. Definitely a great general in the Soviet army. In particular, Hatutchevsky, known in history as the "Napoleon" of the Soviet army, was one of the most talented military strategists. However, he came from an old aristocracy, which was probably the key to his purge. The strategy of great depth proposed by Hatutchevsky was fully verified in the later wars, and many famous generals of the Soviet army were influenced by him.

As early as 1931, Hatutchevsky strongly advocated the mass production of high-quality tanks with 76.2 mm guns. Equip armored units. On the basis of his above-mentioned proposals, the Soviet Union began to develop the T-34 tank. In addition, the development of a Soviet military jet engine was first proposed by Tukhachevsky in November 1932. His construction of this yì on the development of the Soviet Air Force. In particular, improvements in technical equipment have played a driving role.

"We must be wary not only of Chinese imperialism, but also of Germany in Europe, which began to rearm after Hitler came to power. It is necessary to pay attention to one point. There was a long period of military cooperation between Chinese imperialism and Germany, shortly after the end of World War I. Bob, a well-known German general, led a team of elite officers to visit China secretly, and soon after, a large number of German companies began to cooperate with Chinese companies. Compared to Chinese imperialism, we are indeed lagging behind in some respects. According to the latest intelligence, Chinese imperialism has been able to independently build more than 50,000 tons of battleships. After Japanese imperialism announced its withdrawal from the Washington Naval Treaty, it is not difficult to foresee that Chinese imperialism will also withdraw. When the time comes, the contradictions between China and Japan will undoubtedly intensify, and we can make full use of this. "The intelligence chief, the murderous demon king Yezhov, followed up in time and diverted his attention slightly.

Stalin, who liked to listen to what others said first, saw that what he said was almost done, and then he said in his characteristic tone of indifference: "Since the capitalist economic crisis, the strength of Chinese imperialism has not weakened, but has taken the opportunity to obtain a large number of technologies and new opportunities from the United States. Judging from past history, the hatred of Chinese imperialism towards the Soviet Union has not changed, and if it were not for the question of Chinese imperialism's own strength, they would not have raised any Sino-Soviet friendship. The comrades are quite right, it is true to strengthen the military forces of Central Asia and the Far East, and at the same time to be careful not to excessively provoke Chinese imperialism. ”

"We can deploy our troops in depth, 300 to 500 kilometers away from the front line." What did Hatu say about the cordial ambush, as a marshal from the old aristocracy, his loyalty to the Red Army was not bad at all, but he was also an exception.

The Andijan fortress had a fatal weakness, that is, it was backed by the Pamirs, and the logistical supply could only rely on the railway from Ili in Xinjiang to Almaty. In other words, the Soviet Union's Central Asian Railway artery, opposite Tashkent, the Andy Railway Talas Town, is about the same, and it is an important node on the railway artery. There is a problem in both places, that is, the position is relatively prominent, and the depth of defense is basically absent.

An armored train stopped in the small town of Talas, standing on a high place and holding up a telescope, the commander of the Northwest Military District, Leng Yu, could see the criss-crossing fortifications of the Soviet army. The distance from Talas to Taraz is less than 60 kilometers, and two small towns stand opposite each other, and the Chinese and Soviet armies have turned this 50-kilometer area into a death zone with more than 3 million mines. Landmines alone were not enough to show that both sides were on guard in this area, and each pulled countless barbed wire fences and dug trenches, plus large areas of reinforced concrete fortifications. All in all, attacking from either side will hit a fortified fortress headlong.

Out of their own security considerations, China and the Soviet Union built a large number of fortifications and planted countless mines in the border provinces of Central Asia. Instead, the border trade between the two countries had to take a long detour, in the demilitarized zone of the Ferghana generation. This is the current state of Sino-Soviet relations, mutual distrust and mutual defense.

"Spicy next door!" Lin Yun, who was standing beside Leng Yu, came out with a sentence of Xuancheng, but Leng Yu, a native of Wuhu, could understand it, frowned and said: "Just this fortification, if you want to take it down, it will take ten days and eight days." At the beginning, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs didn't know how to talk about it, and the town that was close at hand couldn't take it. ”

"The Soviets are not stupid, behind Taras is the Andy Railway, Andijan is on the waist of Tashkent, and people are not allowed to return one?" Xu Chongzhi's affection is not very high, I don't know how many times he has traveled on the Central Asian line over the years, and every time he can feel the deep vigilance and hostility of the Soviet Union on the other side.

"Now that the Soviet Union is in the midst of a rebellion, it is very difficult for the Red Regime to carry out intelligence work. We don't know much about the Soviet army, but Soviet intelligence officers are very active in our country. Those people in the MIA don't know what to eat, so they can't go on like this. "Lin Yun has a relative of Fang Jianxiong, and he is not so particular about speaking, and he dares to say anything when he thinks of it. The other two directly pretended not to hear, and continued to look at the other side with binoculars, and after a while, the guards came to report, and the three of them got into the car and continued their journey.

"It is necessary to increase the amount of material reserves in Andijan, and I think that no matter how much the fortifications are repaired in the small town of Talas, it will still be difficult to hold on to the ruthlessness of the Soviet army. We must prepare for the worst, and once the war breaks out, Andijan must be mentally prepared to hold on for at least half a year. All the 155 howitzers that were eliminated by the military district were brought to Andijan and Taras. We had to guard against the Soviets preemptively. "Xu Chongzhi is a more pessimistic character, thinking about the bad in everything. Lin Yun was just the opposite, crooked his mouth and said: "I think we will definitely attack first, Fu Shuai's military thinking has always emphasized preemptive strikes, and offense instead of defense." ”

Leng Yu poured a basin of cold water very unceremoniously: "You are taking it out of context, where is the heavy army group of the military region?" In the second line of Almaty and Ili. Can you guarantee that in the event of a war in the future, we will attack first? During the Civil War and the Qingdao War, which time was I busy and didn't defend first? In the war in Europe, when our army fought against the German army in France, didn't it also defend first and consume the enemy's sharpness and then counterattack? Also, in the Siberian Campaign, didn't Lao Qi first defend and consume the Soviet army's sharp energy, and then took advantage of the opportunity of the Ob River thawing to ruthlessly pit the Soviet army's river-crossing troops? Offense is important, defense is even more important. As a commander, you have to not only attack back, but also defend and retreat. I remember that when I was in the teaching team, Fu Shuai said that it was more difficult to retreat than to attack. ”

"In fact, the most worrying thing is the choice of the Soviets' attack time, if it is chosen in winter, the heavy snow will close the mountains and cut off the back road, once the railway line is cut off, the Andijan fortress will really fall into an isolated situation." Xu Chongzhi hurriedly changed the topic, lest the cold rain have to train people again. It's strange to say, Leng Yu's requirements for Lin Yun are very strict, probably related to the fact that the old background of the mountain division under Lin Yun is a special operations division.