"However, the strength of the Far Eastern Front and the Central Asian Front is insufficient, the Far Eastern Front has only 800,000 troops, and the total strength of the Central Asian Front is less than 1 million." Shaposhnikov had a worried look on his face.

He was right that the present Far East and Central Asian Fronts did not have the capital to engage in a decisive battle with the Chinese Defense Forces, and that in Moscow's original plan, the Soviet Union should attack the Middle East, India, and the Balkans only in September or October 1932. By then, the cold winter in Siberia was approaching, and the Chinese would not have had time to attack in 1932 anyway. Therefore, the Red Army High Command transferred part of the forces of the Far Eastern and Central Asian Fronts to the Western Front for backup, but now it is clear that some plans cannot catch up with the changes.

The conference room suddenly fell silent, everyone's eyebrows gradually tightened, everyone knew that now was not the best time to fight a decisive battle with China on the Eastern Front, and the Middle East, India, and the Balkan battlefields had not yet decided the final victory. If we add a Far East and Central Asian theater on the Eastern Front, then the Soviet Union will have to bear the cost of 5 million-level campaign cluster operations at the same time, and the frontal battlefield of Poland and Germany may also start at any time! If such a situation really arises, it will be a general showdown between the GC camp and the capitalist camp! Even Trotsky, who had always acted decisively, could not make up his mind for a moment, and pondered for a long time before he spoke: "Comrades! Now is the most critical time of the world revolution, the Red Army's performance on the Eastern Front is a matter of success or failure for the cause of GCISM, and if we show weakness to China on the Eastern Front, then Germany will most likely launch an attack on Poland. Therefore, we must use the invincible iron fist of the Red Army to teach Chinese imperialism a hard lesson, and let the entire capitalist camp see the strength of the Soviet Union! ”

Listened to this. It was clear to everyone that Trotsky was trying to bluff Germany on the Eastern Front. However, most people did not approve of such a strategy, among them was Shaposhnikov, a veteran of the Red Army who shook his head and said: "Take risks." It's too risky...... The Far Eastern Front had only 800,000 men and a front of nearly 3,000 kilometers to defend, and if it was not known in advance the direction of the enemy's main attack, there would be no way to inflict heavy losses on the enemy. Moreover, if the enemy launches a medium-sized offensive, the most likely main direction of attack will be the eastern section of the Amur River, and the number of troops mobilized will most likely exceed 300,000. Without using 400,000 Red Army, it is simply impossible to hit the other side. But if 400,000 people were placed on the eastern section of the Amur line. What if the Chinese launch an offensive in the middle or western section of the Amur and cut off the Trans-Siberian railway line? The 400,000 Red Army was about to fall into siege......

It would also be too dangerous for the Central Asian side to attack China's outer and northern frontiers with 1 million men, where there are at least 300,000 Chinese regular troops. There are also about 1.5 million militiamen, at least one armored cavalry corps and 500 aircraft, and the Central Asian Front has no chance of winning at all. In the event that both the Central Asian and Far Eastern fronts are in trouble, then Germany will probably attack Poland in advance! ”

Trotsky's brow furrowed. Shaposhnikov's opinion is justified. The Red Army did not have the strength to simultaneously strike at the Chinese invading armies in the Far East and attack China's northern and outer frontiers. There is only one key point to choose, but should we choose to defend the Far East with all our might, or give up the Far East to attack the northern and outer frontiers? Thinking of this, he looked up at Vatsettis and Tukhachevsky.

The two Trotsky's military advisers were also frowning and pondering, and Vatsettis was the first to reply: "Comrade President, I propose to abandon the attack on China's outer and northern regions, and at the same time increase the forces in the Far East. ”

"I do not agree with such an approach," Tukhachevsky said, with the diametrically opposite opinion: "The Far Eastern Front and the Baikal Front faced an enemy of more than 2 million thousand. And with the expansion of the squadron, the number will further increase. Other words. The fall of the region east of Lake Baikal is only a matter of time. If we do not have the strength to take care of both the Far East and Central Asia, then we should also abandon the Far East and ensure the offensive on the Central Asian front. ”

"Isn't there a way to do both?" Although he knew that the abandonment of the Far East was a necessary step towards the complete victory of the world revolution, Comrade Trotsky was still a little reluctant. After all, the loss of territory is ironclad evidence of defeat, and it is difficult to say how much the enemy is annihilated on the battlefield.

"Comrade President, there is actually one way to do both." It was Skryansky who spoke as the deputy chairman of the Revolutionary Military Council before he headed the GC International, and who still retains the errand of a member of the Revolutionary Military Council, so he is qualified to attend today's meeting. "We can turn to the Japanese comrades, who have 3 million troops with nothing to do, and we can hand over the Amur defense line to them, so that the Far Eastern Front can concentrate its forces on Chita and Zabaikalsk, and at the same time transfer part of the general reserve to the Central Asian Front......"

……

As the general representative of the Japanese and Japanese Red Army in Moscow, Yasuda Yasuo would report to the International Proletarian Command in the Kremlin almost every day as long as he was in Moscow. However, Trotsky was not often seen, Yasuda had his own office in the Kremlin, which was very secluded and not spacious, and there was a female secretary brought from Japan, that is, Yoshiko Kawashima. Ever since the Japanese Red Army and Red Navy suffered losses in the Korean Campaign and the Battle of Okinawa, his office has become increasingly deserted. He, the general representative, is probably only left with Yoshiko Kawashima for his daily work**.

Today, however, when he walked into the building where the International Proletarian Command was located, he heard a woman calling his name in stiff Japanese: "Comrade Yasuda." ”

Yasuda Yasuo turned his head to see that it was Trotsky's secretary Fodieva, Yasuda hurriedly turned around and greeted the elderly Russian aunt, and then asked: "Comrade Fodieva, is there something wrong?" ”

"Comrade Trotsky, please come to his office."

"Comrade Trotsky looking for me?" Yasuo Yasuda was a little surprised, and Fodieva nodded: "Let's go, let's go up together." ”

Yasuda knew that this woman had a very tight tone and couldn't get anything out of her mouth. So he didn't ask much, just told Yoshiko Kawashima to go to his office first, and then followed Fudieva upstairs with her head down. Went up to the second floor. The two of them walked down a somewhat quiet corridor to Trotsky's office at the end.

The door to Trotsky's office was open, and Tukhachevsky and Skryansky were inside, but the People's Commissar of Labor and Defense Vatsettis was not there.

"Comrade Yasuda, come in and sit."

Without waiting for Yasuo Yasuda to call out the report, Trotsky beckoned him in with a rare politeness, and Yasuda was now wearing a military uniform, so he respectfully saluted the three men inside according to the etiquette of the army. Then he sat down on a teak Western-style high-backed chair, and he didn't dare to sit on his whole buttocks, only half of it.

"Comrade Yasuda. What is the situation of the Japanese Red Army now? What was the morale after the Korean campaign? Do you have the courage and determination to fight again? ”

Trotsky looked very amiable, smiling and looking very kind when he asked questions, but Yasuda, who had spent some time in Moscow, knew it. Trotsky was only able to give his subordinates an extremely difficult task. will come up with such a face.

"The morale of the Japanese Red Army was very high, and after learning of the great victories of the Soviet Red Army in the Middle East, India, and the Balkans, the commanders and fighters of the Japanese Red Army were all gearing up to follow in the footsteps of the Soviet comrades and make contributions to the world revolution within their capabilities." Yasuda's answer was ingenious, and after complimenting the Soviet Red Army, he also emphasized what he could, meaning that Trotsky should consider the weak combat effectiveness of the Japanese Red Army.

"The world revolution has reached the most critical moment, and the decisive battle between the capitalist camp and the GCIST camp has been formed." Trotsky lit himself a cigar. After taking a few breaths, he said: "The decisive battle is not only unfolding in the Middle East, India, and the Balkan battlefields, but there are already signs of a major war on the Eastern Front. Now the Red Army has three armies on the Eastern Front, namely the Far Eastern Front, the Baikal Front, and the Central Asian Front, with a total strength of about 2.4 million, while the Chinese army has at least 3.3 million regular troops and 2 million militiamen, which far exceeds ours. Moreover, the results of the Kuwait campaign tell me that the combat effectiveness of the squadron has improved significantly compared with 1923, and it surpasses the Soviet Red Army in terms of equipment and training level! ”

Trotsky paused for a moment, then continued: "So the General Staff of the Red Army believes that the 2.4 million men of the three fronts of the Far East, Baikal and Central Asia are probably no match for the 5 million squadrons, and for this we can only turn to our Japanese friends for help. ”

Yasuda Yasuo was shocked, he did not know the real situation of the Kuwait battle before, the Soviet propaganda was that the Red Army had won a great victory, and judging from the abandonment of Kuwait by the Chinese expeditionary force, the situation seemed to be the same. But listening to Trotsky's tone now, the Red Army won a crushing victory at best in the Battle of Kuwait.

As soon as he thought of this, Yasuda pretended to have a surprised expression on his face, and said in a lost voice: "Did the Red Army suffer losses in Kuwait?" How is this possible......"

"The Red Army suffered great losses in Kuwait! More than 10,000 casualties and missing vehicles, nearly 600 tanks and armored vehicles were lost, but the Chinese were still repulsed! Trotsky said calmly: "Now it seems that we underestimated the Chinese before the war, and probably underestimated the Germans." However, the general shape of the world revolution is still in our favor...... The Red Army made good progress in the Middle East, India, and the Balkans. As long as the Chinese attack on the Far Eastern Republic can be crushed, the future strategic initiative will be completely in our hands.

To do this, we need help from the Japanese side. You have already switched to defense in Korea, and after the Battle of Okinawa, the Chinese and British navies are not able to invade the Japanese mainland, so your huge army is useless for the time being, can you mobilize some of them to the Far East to help us defend the Amur River defense line? It doesn't take too much, just transfer 500,000 to the Far East by the end of September and 1 million to the Far East by the end of October. ”

Yasuo Yasuda's heart sank, the Far Eastern Front now has 800,000, and if you add 1 million Japanese troops, it can reach as much as 1.8 million, then it will be much more difficult for the Chinese Defense Forces to seize the Far East.

"But 500,000 to 1,000,000 is too ......," Yasuo Yasuda waved to stop him when he waved his hand to stop him, and Trotsky continued: "The world revolution is a whole, and the annihilation of the Chinese invading army on the Amur line is the same as the annihilation of the Chinese invading army on the Korean Peninsula." Moreover, the Amur River railway is currently the only way for the Soviet Union to support Japan, if the Amur River defense line is lost. The railway along the Amur was cut off! Japan would not have been able to obtain advanced tanks and planes from the Soviet Union, nor would it have been able to obtain the necessary industrial raw materials. Even more troublesome, with this railway. The Chinese can throw enough troops into the mouth of the Amur River, and from there take advantage of the winter ice to cross the Tatar Strait and attack the island of Kata, which is Japan's only oil gathering place and the most important coal producer, and if it is lost, Japan's heavy industry will probably be completely paralyzed, right? ”

Hearing this, Yasuo Yasuda already knew that he had no way to pass the buck. Because Takeda Heng and the Japanese GCD could not care about the gains and losses of the Soviet Far East, the ore reserves in their hands could last for a year or two of war needs. However, the coal of Huatai Island is the cornerstone of Japan's heavy industry, and there is no coal from Huatai Island. Japan's steel mills and power plants will have to close down in less than a month, so that without the invasion of Chinese imperialism, the rule of the Japanese GCD will come to an end!

But he thought about it on his mind, and the participation of the Japanese Red Army in the defense of the Amur River defense line was not completely unhelpful to China. At least he, the general representative of the Japanese Red Army in the International Proletarian Command, would not have been so marginalized as he is now. Soviet military deployment and operations on the Eastern Front. I think I'll all be able to inform Tokyo myself. In this way, the Nanjing side will have more opportunities to know the core secrets of the Soviet Red Army.

……

"Sir. This is the result of the General Staff diagram of operations and war games. ”

Chang Ruiqing took a report of the General Staff from Chen Xinrui and read it carefully. The content of the report is a diagram operation and wargame deduction made by the General Staff to simulate the situation of the Sino-Soviet war at the end of September 1932, and the plan adopted by the squadron is not one, but three. The first is that the General Staff has formulated an old plan for many years, attacking in the east and defending in the west; the second is the decisive battle plan for Central Asia designated according to Lin Zuoda's ideas; The third is the third proposal put forward by Lieutenant General Liu Mingzhao, director of the Training Department of the Army Headquarters, whose main idea is to make a feint attack on the eastern route, lure the enemy on the western route, and fight a decisive battle on the outer frontier. The case was clearly a combination of the advantages of the first and second options.

"Brother Yaoru. I think there is still a lot to be gained in Liu Mingzhao's third case. Wang Junhao, who came in with Chen Xinrui, pulled a chair and sat opposite Chang Ruiqing, and then began to comment endlessly: "The Central Asian Front of the Soviet Union always has about 1.5 million, while the regular army under our Northwest Front is only 500,000, and the militia does not have much mobile combat ability...... Although the Soviet army was divided into three battle clusters, it was 1 to 3 after all, and even if it could win, it would definitely suffer heavy losses. Or do it in the east, and show weakness in the west. Trotsky had suffered defeat in the Far East, and he would have found a way to get his ground back in Sanjiang, otherwise where would his face as a revolutionary prophet go? ”

Chang Ruiqing nodded, this Liu Mingzhao, who proposed Case No. 3, is also a great god of history, born in the Sichuan Army, and turned out to be Xiong Kewu's subordinate. Because his name Liu Mingzhao also wore a pair of iconic log-framed glasses, he was not excluded from the reserve by the Baoding Department, and was also escorted to study at the French Saint-Cyr and the French Army Staff College, and is now a senior staff officer of the Army Command, and Bai Chongxi's confidant Liu Fei is known as the two major staff officers of the National Defense Force. Since it was a plan proposed by Liu Dashen, it must not be wrong, but Chang Ruiqing was still a little uneasy.

"Xinrui, go and invite Minister Liu."

Today, Liu Mingzhao was on duty at the command center of the Ministry of National Defense, and within five minutes, he was led into Chang Ruiqing's office by Chen Dafu.

"General B, please be seated." Chang Ruiqing pointed to an armchair that had just been set out on the opposite side and said with a smile: "Your third case, Chief of Staff Wang, Chief of Staff Wang, and Commander-in-Chief Zhao have all studied it, and I think it's very good, but there is a problem...... The third case gave up the initiative in the Northwest Battlefield. It was an offensive of 1.5 million Soviet Red Army, and the terrain of the outer provinces was not conducive to defense, it was a salient. It was surrounded on three sides by the territory of the USSR. ”

Liu Mingzhao habitually lowered his glasses, and his face still had a standard general staff elite calm expression, and said lightly in a Sichuan accent: "It is precisely because Outer Xinjiang Province is a prominent department that it is sure to use 500,000 people to repel the 1.5 million people of the Soviet Red Army." Because of the existence of this salient, the Soviet Red Army would definitely use the tactics of encirclement in great depth. However, the topography of Outer Frontier Province is close to Lake Balkhash in the northwest and the Tianshan Mountains in the south, and it is not a terrain for large-scale offensive operations. The only areas that could be accessed by mechanized troops were the southwest and northeast sides. The Soviet mechanized cluster will certainly cut in from the northeast of the outer Xinjiang salient and cut off the communication between China's outer Xinjiang cluster and the northern and southern Xinjiang regions. ”

"What if they attack the northern frontier directly from the north of the Tianshan Mountains and attack in the direction of Dihua?" Chang Ruiqing asked: "If we concentrate the 500,000 main forces of the Northwest Front on the outer frontier, then the defense of the northern frontier will inevitably be empty, and the Soviet Red Army only needs to defeat Dihua to put the main force of the entire Northwest Front into its pocket." ”

Liu Mingzhao shook his head and said with a smile: "If before the Korean Campaign and the Kuwait Campaign, this possibility existed, but now...... I'm not worried that they would dare to let their kind of tanks with very bad legs and feet go 700 kilometers to fight Dihua without air superiority. ”