Seeing that it was not too late, with the help of a game of Go that had already been laid out on the table, Malenkov temporarily put aside the thoughts that were lingering in his heart, and explained the rules of Go to several old friends concisely and concisely.

Holding a few glass chess pieces in his hand, the general secretary's hand tapped a few sides rhythmically, and he explained and demonstrated while reviewing the basic routines of Go for the audience, and quite patiently pointed at the chessboard and told everyone what kind of situation is more advantageous. In other words, he just wants them to understand that the point of Go is not to blindly kill the enemy, but to analyze and consider the overall board, and this mode of thinking is its essence:

"--Oh, it's like this,"

As he spoke, Malenkov pointed to an open space on the left side of the board surrounded by white chess, "Obviously, in a situation like this, although there are no white pieces in the open space, in terms of shape, we think that white is superior, and this area is also controlled by white. ――The rules aren't difficult at all, are they? ”

"Ah, it looks like it...... I still haven't quite figured it out, though. ”

Beside Malenkov, Beria, who looked at it with a serious face, looked at it for a moment, and shook his head helplessly, perhaps with his careful and logical mind, it was quite difficult to understand this invisible "chess move"; Seeing that the head of the KGB, who was more rational and less emotional, was still a little unclear, Malenkov smiled heartily and explained to him simply:

"Actually, from my personal point of view, Go is somewhat similar to war games at the strategic level; Just like this," he said, his finger poked at the white open space of the board, "even though there was an open space in the middle. But if a military deployment is carried out. Isn't that what it is? No one would be stupid enough to squeeze all the combat units in the center of the garrison area. And it's often deployed along the border, and there is a certain depth, no matter how you look at it, it feels very similar, haha. ”

"Hmm...... There are as many chess pieces available to black and white, and there is a difference between the first move and the second hand, and the existing strength and control area are used as the inference criteria for winning or losing......"

After observing the table for a moment, Suslov nodded with interest, "Hey, I thought it was some kind of magic trick at first. Now that I think about it, isn't it the same as a strategic game! ”

"Aha, that's it."

Hearing Suslov's words, Kosygin, who was sitting opposite, clapped his hands in agreement.

In the low-level game just now, it was obvious that he had an easy hand to gain an advantage over Suslov, and the embarrassment on Alexei's face had long been swept away at this time; The tall prime minister of the Soviet government pointed out on the chessboard with a bit of spirit.

As the one who oversees the whole situation, especially the many intricacies of the vast alliance economy, Alexei is indeed very good at observation and strategic analysis. Seeing several old friends gathered around the table, arguing and arguing on the chessboard with great interest, Malenkov also stared at the huge chessboard on the table with his eyes; As the thoughts unfolded. The horizontal and vertical chess paths on the chessboard seem to have become a criss-crossing transportation network, and what is displayed in front of you is no longer a smooth and orderly board. Rather, it is a vast and vast Eurasian continent......

“…… Ladies and gentlemen, with the help of the chess game in front of us, we might as well analyze and discuss the current situation and the country's next course of action. ”

"Oh? …… Ustinovich, you mean-"

"Hehe, yes."

In the face of Kosygin's thoughtful and cautious question, the general secretary smiled and nodded.

As the supreme leader of the vast Soviet Union, Malenkov's job was to dominate the whole situation; Moreover, the analysis at the strategic level was originally qualitative and focused on overall consideration, and now it is time to share some of the previous ideas and analyze them with the arguments of several people here. So he grabbed some chess pieces from the ceramic chessbowl, arranged the board slightly, and then straightened the wide collar of his nightgown, and began his statement in a calm tone:

"When it comes to the current strategic situation, we must first talk about the causes, that is, the reasons for the outbreak of this world war.

In this respect, Pavlovich's work has been fruitful, and we have already found that the West was equally surprised by the war, including our old enemy, the United States. There are all kinds of indications that the outbreak of the great war was not a premeditated plan, but most likely a conspiracy, which is very useful for our side to formulate a countermeasure; At the same time, however, it is important to realize that ascertaining the causes of the outbreak of the Great War is not of much value in analyzing the trend of the war. ”

Hearing Malenkov's opening remarks, the three people present all nodded in approval, and their views were basically the same as those of the general secretary.

Yes, no matter what the cause of this inexplicable war started, it is now meaningless: once the huge war plane is opened, it is already out of the orbit of the normal world, and unless strong intervention is taken, there is no way to stop this loose horse from going berserk.

"That being the case, there is only one question before us, and that is how can we end the war?

In this regard, there was a consensus in the Committee that the capitalist world as a whole still prevails and that none of our actions can be divorced from this reality. The original strategy of completely defeating the West in a world war and destroying the last bastion of capitalism in one fell swoop can be said to be completely unrealistic; At present, China's operational objective should still be to do its best to maintain the existing strategic balance of power, strive to end the war at a relatively reasonable price, and win more time and opportunities for long-term development after the war.

Do you have any new ideas on this, guys? ”

"Well, 'with the goal of ending the war,' I personally have always been in full agreement."

With Malenkov's inquiry, Semyon Suslov tapped his fingers twice on the armrest of the sofa and bowed his head slightly in response.

Not long ago, at a meeting with Marshal Sergei Gorshkov of the Red Navy at the Ministry of Defense, he discussed this issue in person: in the face of Suslov's inquiries on behalf of the Presidium of the Soviets, the marshal bluntly told him that "with the composition and size of the equipment of the Red Navy, it cannot compete with the US Navy in the open sea."

As for the United States, the "last bastion of capitalism," if it does not have a powerful ocean-going navy, the so-called "defeat in one fell swoop" can only be empty talk.

In the not-so-distant old era, under the pressure of Marshal Dmitry Ustinov, the former Minister of Defense, who was enthusiastic about his work but only liked the army, there was a shallow fault in the construction of equipment in the seventies and eighties; It was only when this old gentleman finally met Marx in 1984 that Gorshkov was able to sort out the complex relationship between the military-industrial system, appoint a large number of elite generals to do great things, and built 63 Type 956 and Type 1155 missile destroyers (of which six were exported to China and two were not delivered), nine Type 1164 missile cruisers, 28 new-generation Type 949A (Oscar II) attack nuclear submarines, and dozens of conventionally powered nuclear submarines during the 12 years he presided over the Red Navy. As well as a total of three Type 1143.5/6/7 heavy aircraft-carrying cruisers (two more are under construction) and a large number of military auxiliary vessels, the total tonnage of the Red Navy has almost doubled compared to 1984!

However, even so, in the face of the US Navy, which still ranks first in the world in terms of total tonnage of warships and especially has a strong ocean-going combat capability, the Red Navy, which ranks second in the world, is still unable to defeat the maritime forces of the Western world in one fell swoop due to the lack of large ships such as aircraft carriers and amphibious warships.

In addition, due to the natural disadvantage of geography, the four fleets of the huge Red Empire are separated from each other and difficult to mobilize and coordinate with each other; After the outbreak of the Great War, the Soviet Black Sea Fleet was besieged in the Black Sea, and it was difficult to do anything about it.

The harsh geographical shape cannot be changed for a while.

However, if the war continues for a long time, the Red Navy, even if it launches more warships, will not be able to break out of the strait and replenish the war consumption of the other three fleets; Not only that, but the maintenance and repair of the ships of the three fleets are also unsustainable due to the loss of shipyard support, which is very unfavorable for a long-term protracted war.

All in all, whether it is because of problems left over from history or limited by congenital geography, ocean-going operations are not a pragmatic choice for the time being. Since there is no hope of attacking North America directly, how to rationally face this sudden outbreak of world war and exchange the smallest price for the greatest victory is a difficult problem that the leaders of the Soviet empire must face.

“…… Our navy, frankly speaking, has too many constraints, and it is difficult for it to break out of the encirclement of the West and complete its combat mission. And speaking of the Black Sea, the current situation in the Caucasus theater of operations will not show signs of a complete change for a while-"

"Well, yes, the key is still the Caucasus."

Following Suslov's train of thought, Malenkov took a sip of refreshing mineral water and continued his analysis:

"Recently, I've been thinking about the situation in the Caucasus.

For today's world war, if we simply use the analogy of Go, it can be said that the Caucasus theater is the focus of the current contention between the enemy and us, and it is also a rich piece of 'robbery' for both sides to fight with all their might. The problem now is that this 'land of robbery,' or 'war between soldiers,' comes from our territory, and although fighting a war at our doorstep can occupy a favorable time and place, there are also many other troubles and scruples.

After experiencing the great advance of Europe at the beginning of the war, NATO, which was the first to start the war and was regarded as the first to hold the black, was chased by us all the way, and obviously lost its first-mover advantage; However, in the Caucasus, the offensive and defensive forms of the enemy and the enemy have been reversed, and our side, which is in a defensive position, is like a white chess piece in the back, barely supporting in the face of the tide of attacks from the West. (To be continued......)