According to the theme of this meeting of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the CPSU, which was to make arrangements for the personnel of the garrisons and administrative authorities after the occupation of Manchuria and Inner Mongolia in China, in Stalin's view, the war in the East would soon come to an end.

The Japanese Kwantung Army was surrounded by the troops under Zhukov's command in a small area, and it was only a matter of time before the entire army was annihilated, and according to Zhukov's report, the war in the Far East could be ended by 15 April.

And Tang Qiuli's troops, which are huddled in the area of Saiyin Shanda in southern Outer Mongolia, are about to face the attack of more than one million troops of the Outer Mongolian Front Army on all fronts; perhaps, with his cunning, with the combat effectiveness and equipment level of the independent division units, Tang Qiuli can support the Japanese Kwantung Army for a period of time, but it will not exceed the end of April this year, if the Chinese and his troops do not retreat to the territory of China, they will face the fate of annihilation.

If Tang Qiuli chooses to retreat to China, then Vasilevsky's troops will naturally pursue and dispel the Chinese's illusions about Outer Mongolia once and for all, and there is no need for any reason to occupy Manchuria smoothly.

The comparison of the forces of the Soviet Union, Japan and China clearly showed that in the face of absolute strength, any conspiracy and trickery would have nothing to hide, and the integration of Inner and Outer Mongolia into one was another dream that moved Stalin's heart in addition to his ambition to turn Northeast China into Yellow Russia.

From the perspective of the strategic geographical location of Outer Mongolia and Inner Mongolia, if the two Mongolias are merged into one, the Soviet Union will be in an absolutely favorable strategic situation for China, and the Mongolian region will become a big bow full of tension, and the direction pointed by the arrow is the Pingjin region and the Shandong Peninsula region, which are the most densely populated military, political, economic, cultural, and populated regions in northern China, where there is not only vast and fertile land. There was also a natural but excellent ice-free harbor that made Stalin's eyes hot.

If the dream came true, the Soviet naval fleet would not have to be aggrieved to shrink into Vladivostok, a corner of the Sea of Japan, but would be free to enter and exit the Pacific Ocean and compete with the Americans and the Japanese for supremacy in the Pacific. Thrilled and excited.

Although it will take a few days before the end of the war, the overall situation has been decided, victory can be expected, and arrangements have been made as soon as possible. You can also free up your hands and turn your attention back to Europe. The Germans have always been reassuring. Although there is a "Soviet-German non-aggression pact", the vast majority of the main forces of the German army are pinned down by the British and American forces in the British Isles, and the war will not happen for a few years, but what about later. That German Führer Hitler had a fanatical desire for territorial expansion that was not inferior to his own!

Originally, the personnel and military arrangements for Manchuria and Inner Mongolia were based on Stalin's present position. However, the political situation is a very delicate thing, and the various factions within the Central Committee of the CPSU have shown great interest in the two regions, and even with Stalin's own monstrous power, they cannot ignore the interests of the factions within the party.

In the brutal political struggle within the party, Stalin, who stood out, was a veteran and knew this well, so this political bureau meeting was a game and shuffle of the interests of various factions within the party, and in the name of studying the problem of the war in the East, in fact, it was to determine the distribution of the interests of each faction and decide the question of whose cake would fall on the two pieces of cake in Manchuria and Outer Mongolia!

Stalin squinted his eyes and smoked his pipe one after another, and the aroma of Mobique yellow flower tobacco permeated him, setting off the face of the supreme leader of the Soviet Union so that the other members of the political bureau could not see the leader's expression clearly.

In fact, Stalin was observing, observing more than a dozen members of the Political Bureau, talking and laughing there, and exchanging ideas in a relaxed and comfortable manner, but with the keen observation of politicians, he could see that on the surface, the members of the Political Bureau who were harmonious and full of comrades were actually already tense in their hearts, and even the slightest smell of gunpowder could be smelled in the topic.

This is what Stalin needed, and if it was not easy to get, would it be cherished! Every qiē is his own gift, and there is still a meeting in a few minutes, Stalin hurriedly sorted out his thoughts, the interests of all factions in the party must be comprehensively considered, the military department, the Cheka department, the diplomatic system, the government affairs department, and the party affairs department, can be evenly interested, but it must not be a monopoly, Stalin looked at everyone, and his brows couldn't help frowning slightly.

Why, Petroshilov has not yet arrived, he is a banner of the military, this chief of the General Staff has been somewhat slacking off recently, and at a meeting for a while, he is going to knock on it, Stalin beckoned an assistant and whispered in his ear: "Call the General Staff and ask Comrade Petroshilov if he is already on the way to the meeting, and the tone should be tactful!" ”

The assistant respectfully agreed, and was just about to leave, when the door of the conference room was pushed open, and Marshal Petroshilov, the belated chief of the General Staff of the Soviet Army, and a lieutenant general crashed into the conference room.

Stalin's brows furrowed unabashedly, and he was secretly angry in his heart, "This Petroshilov is becoming more and more unruly, the political bureau meeting is late and not to mention, so reckless with a strange lieutenant general, is a small lieutenant general qualified to participate in a meeting of this specification?" ”

However, Stalin soon found that his chief of the General Staff was very strange today, his face was pale, his eyes were full of panic, Stalin was just about to ask, Marshal Petroshilov, ignoring the other members of the Political Bureau, greeted him affectionately, rushed to Stalin in a few steps, his lips trembled, and preemptively said: "Comrade Stalin, the General Staff has received reports from various military districts in the western border areas that at dawn today, the German army has invaded our borders on a large scale, and war has broken out!" ”

"Click!" Marshal Petroshilov's words were like a scorching thunder that suddenly sounded in the clear sky, and it slammed into the heads of these members of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union who were chatting and laughing, shaking their heads dizzy, their ears roaring, the Venus in front of them was chaotic, and their hearts were blank!

The expression on Stalin's face suddenly stiffened, the pupils of his eyes dilated infinitely, his pipe was in his mouth, he forgot to take a puff, his mind was temporarily broken, and Petroshilov's words were still echoing in his ears.

After a while, Stalin seemed to wake up from a sleepwalking illusion, and this blank space in his thinking seemed to be very long and very short, "Comrade Petroshilov, is this news true?" Have you checked? Stalin asked in a dry voice, and took the pipe from his mouth, but his hand trembled violently.

At this time, the members of the Political Bureau of the CPSU, who were numb to the thinking of this terrible news like a thunderbolt on a sunny day, relieved themselves one after another, and Comrade Stalin's question was exactly what they wanted to ask, and they all turned their eyes to Petroshilov with questioning and frightened eyes.

Marshal Petroshilov's face was so pale that there was no trace of blood, "Comrade Stalin, comrades, the news is absolutely true and reliable, the General Staff has received several urgent telegrams from various military districts on the western border, the Germans have launched an attack on us, and the war has broken out, this is Comrade Shirponosky, the head of the Operations Department of the General Staff, he will report some specific situations to Comrade Stalin and the politicians!" He said with a sweat on his head.

When Lieutenant General Hilponosky was reporting, the sound of the silence and wheezing in the entire conference room was clearly audible, and the atmosphere became more and more depressing, like a layer of dark clouds intertwined with thunder and lightning, permeating the hearts of the members of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.

Lieutenant General Hilponosky's voice stopped, wiped the sweat on his head, and collapsed, such a meeting of the standard, for an army lieutenant general, the aura was too depressing, especially in the face of the great leader Comrade Stalin, he even forgot about the outbreak of war for a while!

There was silence, an unbearable silence, and all the members of the Political Bureau of the CPSU who attended the meeting, including Stalin, did not doubt that the Germans had attacked the USSR, that the war had broken out in full force, and that the troops of the various military districts in the western border regions were not in a good situation!

The frozen air, still broken by Stalin, was the first to return to normal, "There is no doubt that the war broke out, the Germans treacherously launched a full-scale attack on our Soviet Union, and the war befell the Soviet people without us knowing it, and we must face it!" ”

"The most important thing I need to know now is how many forces the Germans have, where the offensive is advancing in those directions and areas where the offensive is mainly on the western border, where is our troops, where are they now, are they fighting? I hope that the General Staff will be able to come up with these most important situations that need to be grasped at the moment! ”

Under the gaze of Stalin's falcon-like gaze, under the gaze of his colleagues, who can eat people, Marshal Petroshilov, the chief of the General Staff, almost fainted, and secretly cried out in his heart, "God, if I had known these circumstances, the report just now would not have been so general and simple, and I would not have let Hilponosky show his face, but I did not know anything about the war on the western border, like all the giants here. ”

"In addition to the dozens of urgent telegrams in my hand, as the chief of the General Staff, I know no more about the battlefield situation than any one person, but Comrade Stalin's problems are all that the General Staff should grasp!"

(To be continued)(To be continued......