"Yangchun, what do you think of the Eastern Front? I had already promised MacDonald and Hitler at the Alexander Conference that the fight would start on the Eastern Front in September, where do you think it would be better? ”

Chang Ruiqing carefully read the "Xingyue No. 3 Plan" sent by Lin Zuoda page by page, and then handed it to Wang Junhao, chief of the General Staff, to read, and asked Lin Zuoda about his views on the battlefield on the Eastern Front. In fact, Bai Chongxi, Wu Shi, Wang Junhao, and Zhao Zhen all gathered in Chang Ruiqing's office today not for the "Xingyue No. 3 Plan" sent by Lin Zuoda, but to find a target for war on the Eastern Front.

"Prime Minister, subordinates ......" Lin Zuoda groaned slightly, although he served in the Middle East, he did have his own views on the overall shape. The subordinates think that we should do it in Central Asia! ”

"Central Asia!?" Bai Chongxi was stunned for a moment and asked rhetorically, "Why?" Don't you know that our railway to Sanjiang is not yet fully connected, and we cannot maintain too many troops in Outer Xinjiang and Central Asia? ”

Lin Zuoda smiled slightly, shrugged his shoulders and said: "Gong Jian, my subordinates have studied the transportation of the Lanjiang Railway, the Ili River and the Ili Highway, and think that it is enough to support 500,000 regular troops and 1 million militias to fight in Central Asia and Outer Xinjiang, and these forces are enough for us to launch a large-scale battle in Central Asia." Moreover, the subordinates believe that it is in our best interest to start a war in Central Asia at the present time. ”

"Oh?" Chang Ruiqing has been studying the situation on the Eastern Front since returning from Alexander, but he never thought that it would be most advantageous to start in Central Asia, so he was surprised: "Why? ”

"Attack it unprepared!" Lin Zuo raised his voice. He strengthened his tone and said: "For a long time, China's northern and northwest national defense ideas have been to attack in the east and defend in the west, and to garrison heavy troops in the northeast and Mongolia. The Soviet Union's Eastern Siberia was the main target of the attack, and in the northwest, it adopted a defensive and contractionary posture, and was ready to abandon the northern and outer provinces north of the Tianshan Mountains at any time. The Soviet Union's thinking on the defense of the Eastern Front was similar to ours, and they deployed heavy troops in Central Asia, ready to attack our northern and outer frontiers at any time, and at the same time prepared to abandon the Far Eastern Republic in the event of an unfavorable situation.

Originally, the way of thinking between us and the Soviet Union was already well known to everyone, and there was no secret to speak of. Even since the end of 1930, the Soviet Union has implemented a series of tactics to deceive the truth by showing the truth from the false. Didn't really deceive us either. However, with the full-scale outbreak of world war and the large-scale offensive of the Soviet Union in the Middle East, India, and the Balkans, their deployment of troops at home will inevitably change dramatically. Because the forces of the Soviet Red Army were not infinitely powerful. Their technical equipment is even more limited, and they can only be assigned to a few of the most important aspects. For example, the Middle East, the Balkans, and the Polish-German border.

According to reliable information, the Soviet Union formed a total of 38 tank armies before the war, and now 9 tank armies have been put into the Middle East theater. And in the Battle of Kuwait, it was heavily damaged by our 1st Armored Cavalry Corps. For its part, the Romanian side reported that the numbers of seven tank corps had been identified. And on the frontal battlefield of Poland, the Soviet Red Army would have deployed at least 10 to 15 tank corps ......"

"Then there is the possibility that 7 to 12 tank armies will be deployed on the Eastern Front." Wang Junhao reminded: "If 7 of them are attached to the Central Asian side, one of our armored cavalry corps may not be able to deal with it!" ”

"No, there won't be so many, at most 3-4 tank armies." Lin Zuo shook his head and said: "It is impossible not to deploy tank armies in the Far East and the Baikal region, especially the Baikal region, which must be defended by the Soviet Union. Trotsky could tolerate the temporary loss of the Far Eastern Republic, but he must block us on the Baikal line, and must not allow us to go west along the Trans-Siberian Railway and seize Western Siberia. ”

"Even if there are not many tank armies. But there will always be no shortage of infantry armies, right? Chang Ruiqing said with a smile.

"It won't be too much." Lin Zuo folded his fingers and calculated: "According to intelligence, the total strength of the Soviet Red Army will not exceed 10 million now. Among them, at least 1.5 million will be accounted for by logistics organs, headquarters organs, arsenals, internal security and border troops. The navy and air force together are at least 500,000. In other words, the field troops of the Soviet Red Army amounted to 8 million people at most. At present, 2.5 million to 3 million have been put into the Middle East, India, and the Balkans, and of the remaining 5 million to 5.5 million people, at least 2 million will be deployed on the Western Front to defend against Germany, and another 500,000 will be used as general reserves, and at most 3 million will be able to really be used to confront us. ”

"3 million is not a lot." Zhao Zhen shook his head and said: "By the beginning of September, we have only 3.25 million available army field troops, deducting the 100,000-strong Chinese Expeditionary Force and the 150,000-strong Siamese Front, and the rest is only about 3 million. ”

"But we have an overwhelming advantage in both the air force and the armored forces, and there are nearly 2 million militia in the northwest to help in the war." Lin Zuo said with a big smile: "In the face of overwhelming air superiority and armored assault forces, the 3 million Soviet Red Army, which is slightly less than ours, is simply vulnerable. And what we really need to worry about is not the combat effectiveness of the 3 million Red Army, but the severe cold weather in Siberia and the possibility that the Soviet Red Army will adopt the tactics of exchanging space for time.

The subordinates believed that in the event of a full-scale offensive by our troops in the direction of Mongolia and Manchuria, the Red Army in the Far East would most likely flee without a fight and retreat to the Baikal line. If the Baikal area can no longer be defended, they will continue to flee westward, and at the same time destroy the railways and infrastructure along the way, and use the method of clearing the wilderness to delay our westward advance...... Considering the enormous depth of the eastern part of the Soviet Union, the poor transport infrastructure and the harsh climatic conditions, if we do not penetrate too deep into the enemy's territory with a large number of enemy living forces, it is very likely that we will run out of offensive momentum and reach a stalemate in a region far from our borders. In this way, the Soviet Union will be able to contain our main forces with a small number of troops, and thus be able to invest a large number of troops in Europe, the Middle East, North Africa, South Asia and other theaters. ”

Chang Ruiqing glanced at Lin Zuoda and said in a deep voice: "Do you think Trotsky really has the determination to give up the entire Far Eastern Republic?" ”

"Yes!" Lin Zuoda nodded, and replied neatly: "Prime Minister, haven't you noticed." Was Trotsky commanding this war from the height of the world? For him, the whole world is a game of chess, and the Far Eastern Republic is nothing more than a very unimportant region that can be abandoned at any time. ”

"Makes sense. It is impossible to decide the final victory or defeat of the war in Eastern Siberia! Bai Chongxi nodded appreciatively. If I were Trotsky, I would have chosen to abandon Eastern Siberia for the time being, concentrating on the decisive battle with Germany on the Western Front. ”

"But Trotsky is not sure of a victory over Germany," Chang Ruiqing sneered, "so he adopted the strategy of pulling people in, wanting to tie the Middle East, India, and the Balkans to his chariot." If he achieves this goal, he can get at least more than 15 million cannon fodder, even if there are no advanced weapons, it will be enough for us to drink a pot! ”

"Prime Minister. You're quite right! Lin Zuo said loudly: "My subordinates think that this is Trotsky's strategy!" As long as Trotsky was able to 'liberate' India, the Middle East and the Balkans, and then install the Red regimes in those countries, he would have a steady stream of cannon fodder. Take it to the battlefield in Central Europe and fight the Germans to attrition! Even if he exchanges 5 Indian A3 for 1 German, he can win this war!

So as a very clever strategist, he would not lightly abandon this strategy, which was most likely to allow the Soviet Union to win the world war. Even if we temporarily occupy the entire Far Eastern Republic! ”

Chang Ruiqing nodded secretly in his heart, this Lin Junshen, who has undergone formal and strict military education, may have a better overall view than the one in history, right?

Bai Chongxi glanced at Chang Ruiqing. Walked to Lin Zuoda's side. said: "Let's not talk about the overall situation of the world, the Germans don't have to worry about us, they are not so easy to deal with." Let's talk about the Eastern Front, according to what you said, the Soviet troops in the Far East will definitely run away as soon as they hit it...... Are we sure that we will fight the Soviet army in Central Asia? Won't they run? ”

"The Soviet army in Central Asia will not flee lightly," Lin Zuoda said with certainty: "Because contrary to the situation of the Soviet army in the Far East, the Soviet army in Central Asia has always been deployed in an offensive state. Because the Soviets always believed that they had an overwhelming advantage in the Central Asian direction, they were the natural attackers. Basically, there is no need to think about defense, let alone arrange a strategy of exchanging time for space. If there is no careful planning beforehand. If you want to escape when the battle situation is unfavorable, then it is not a space for time, but a collapse of the whole front, and under the pursuit of our mechanized troops and cavalry troops, you can only annihilate the whole army! Moreover, the geography of Central Asia is different from that of Siberia, which is a springboard into Persia and then south to India, and if the east of the Caspian Sea is owned by us, then the rear roads of the Soviet Middle East Front and the Indian Front will be severely affected. The Baku oil fields on the west coast of the Caspian Sea were the most important oil extractors of the Soviet Union, and Trotsky could never tolerate Baku being under the wēixié of our Air Force bombers.

Therefore, in the event of an emergency in Central Asia, Trotsky would certainly have drawn reinforcements from Europe, the Middle East, India, and other theaters, so as to reduce the pressure on Germany and Britain, and as long as they could win in the European theater, the large areas of Eastern Siberia and Central Asia would not be in our pockets?

As for the question of whether the North-Western Front had the strength to defeat the Soviet Central Asian Front, the subordinates believed that the results of the Kuwait campaign would give us an accurate answer. Compared with our Northwestern Front, the Soviet Army in Central Asia did not have any advantages at all, and was even in a clear weakness!

Why is this the conclusion made? Because the Battle of Kuwait showed that the Soviet Red Army was far less powerful than we imagined, and their tank forces were nothing to show for themselves; Their air force is outdated and fundamentally vulnerable to the Air Force of our national defense force, which has advanced fighter jets; Their anti-tank combat capabilities are similarly backward, and the 37mm anti-tank guns, which have long been eliminated by us, are still the main force of their divisional anti-tank weapons, and it is impossible for them to pose any wēixié against our Type 31 tanks, let alone Type C tank destroyers. Therefore, the subordinates believed that the large-depth offensive tactics, which were regarded as the magic weapon of the Soviet Red Army, could be used against themselves, especially the Soviet Red Army in Central Asia! Because as a secondary battlefield with the least danger, it is impossible to obtain first-class troops, equipment, generals, and adequate supplies. ”

Lin Zuoda took a baton and pointed to the three operational clusters of the Central Asian Front of the Soviet Red Army marked on the map, and raised his voice: "According to the information currently available, the troops of the Central Asian Front of the Soviet Union are mainly divided into three battle clusters, one of which is located east of the Kazakh hills and is used for the northern Xinjiang region of our country; the other, located between Lake Balkhash and the Tien Shan Mountains, is used to wēixié the outer province of our country; The last one is located in the Kyrgyzstan region at the southern foot of the Tien Shan Mountains. It is used for the southern line of the Outer Frontier Province and the Southern Xinjiang Province. These three battle groups are between 300 and 1,000 kilometers apart, and lack communication with each other, in fact, constitute three independent heavy army groups. The total strength of each group should not exceed 500,000, which is basically the same as the number of our army's regular troops in the three Xinjiang regions. Taking into account the huge superiority of air and armored forces that our army has, we could completely crush the 500,000 Soviet Red Army in a short period of time with 500,000 Wehrmacht! That is, it is possible for us to break each of these three Soviet clusters, at least one of them......"

Lin Zuoda's analysis continued, and at this moment he was completely immersed in his own thinking, completely ignoring the excited expressions on the faces of Chang Ruiqing, Bai Chongxi and the others.

……

"Based on the information currently available. It is almost certain that China will launch a medium-sized offensive campaign in our eastern region by the end of this year, as promised by Chinese Premier Chang Ruiqing at the Alexander Conference to the leaders of Britain and Germany. A few days ago, both the Japanese intelligence services and the Far Eastern Front discovered that there had been an abnormal movement in the squadrons in Manchuria and Mongolia. The Japanese side reported. The total strength of China's Northern Front has increased from 25 corps in June this year to 35 corps, of which 8 have been found to be armored corps. The Far Eastern Front reported a noticeable increase in the number of incursions of the Chinese Air Force into the airspace of our Far East, and also dispatched light bombers to repeatedly attack the Amur railway (historically absent. built along the north bank of the Amur River). All indications point to it. Chinese revisionism is planning a military invasion of our Far Eastern Soviet Republic......"

On the same day that Lin Zuoda flew back to the port of Jeddah, at an enlarged meeting of the Kremlin's Revolutionary Military Council, the Chief of the General Staff of the Red Army Tukhachevsky also raised the difficult problem of "defending the East". This is a problem that is an incomparably headache for all members and alternate members of the Revolutionary Military Committee present here. Although the progress of the Soviet Red Army on various battlefields is relatively smooth at present, the Red Army's stalls are indeed a bit large. Even with the supposedly tens of millions, the current strength seems to be somewhat tight, and as of mid-August, the number of the General Strategic Reserve in the hands of the Revolutionary Military Council of the Soviet Union was less than 1.5 million.

Not only the forces of the Soviet Red Army had already been sent to various battlefields, but even many members of the Revolutionary Military Council. They are all leading their troops. In the empty conference room, only a few people remained, including Trotsky, Vatsettis, and Tukhachevsky. It was under these circumstances that Shaposhnikov, a veteran of the Red Army who graduated from the Military Academy of the General Staff of Tsarist Russia, was elected to the Revolutionary Military Council and served as Vatsettis' deputy. Deputy People's Commissar of Labor and Defense. He looked at the vast eastern part of the Soviet Union on the map and asked in a deep voice: "Comrade Tukhachevsky, how big is a medium-sized offensive campaign?" How many troops will the Chinese commit? ”

Tukhachevsky also wanted to know about this question, but the Soviet and Japanese intelligence services were not yet so powerful. He shook his head and whispered: "Comrade Shaposhnikov, I beg your pardon, I have no way to answer your question, because there is no specific information in this regard. ”

"That is, a medium-sized offensive campaign is just a conjecture of the General Staff of the Red Army?" Shaposhnikov asked.

"It's a conjecture, but it's not an unfounded conjecture." Tukhachevsky did not get angry at the old-timer's questioning, but patiently explained: "It is now the end of August, and the Chinese's offensive will not be ready until late September at the earliest, and in less than two months, the Siberian region will enter a harsh winter." At that time, the squadron, accustomed to the warm climate of the south, will have a hard time adapting to the cold of Siberia, and we will beat them with the help of the old grandfather in winter. So...... As long as the Chinese high command is not stupid, it will certainly not launch a large-scale offensive at the end of September, and their military operation is likely to be tentative. The real offensive was to begin in the spring of 1933. ”

Shaposhnikov nodded, he also did not believe that the Chinese would attack Siberia when winter was approaching, and the cold there was indeed not something ordinary people could imagine. Not to mention the Chinese living in warm regions, even Russians who are accustomed to cold climates, how many are willing to run to Siberia in winter?

"Comrade Tukhachevsky, does the General Staff of the Red Army have any advice to deal with?" Trotsky asked with a deep groan.

"Comrade Chairman, the General Staff has drawn up relevant plans very early." Tukhachevsky said unhurriedly: "Our eastern defense plan has always revolved around China's attack on the Far Eastern Republics. According to our plan, if there is a large-scale attack on the Far East, we should decisively abandon it, and if the scale of the enemy's attack is not large, we should deal a heavy blow! At the same time, the Central Asian Front was supposed to launch an offensive against the enemy's weakly defended provinces of Outer and Northern Xinjiang in retaliation for China's invasion of the Far East. I think such a solution is still applicable today. "The fastest reading novel is the big juggernaut, read the book, welcome to log in.kanshu.la Read the full article!