The German Army Group North attacked Leningrad with great success, and the Soviet Red Army was seriously weakened, but the heroic defenders of Leningrad finally held back the frantic German offensive. Until the end of September, under the command of Zhukov and the heroic and fearless resistance of the Soviet Red Army and the Soviet people, several fronts in Leningrad finally entered a stable stalemate. During the siege of Leningrad, most of the tsar's palace and other historical places outside the city were destroyed after looting.

Many factories, schools, hospitals and other civilian infrastructure were destroyed by air strikes and long-range artillery, and about 7000 to 10000 inhabitants of Leningrad died every day during the most difficult and brutal period. Zhukov later wrote in an article: "All of us who participated in the September battle for the defense of Leningrad went through many difficult days. But our troops finally crushed the enemy's plans. Thanks to the unprecedented tenacity and mass heroism of Soviet soldiers, sailors and rank and file officers, and the tenacity and steadfastness of commanders and political workers, the enemy encountered insurmountable obstacles in the way of attacking Leningrad.

By the end of September, the intensity of the fighting on all sectors of our front had noticeably weakened, and the entire front had stabilized. The famous political commentator Salisbury, in his book Nine Hundred Days, wrote about the period when Zhukov commanded the Leningrad Front: "If the Germans were stopped, they had served their purpose and bled them. How many of them were killed in those September days, no one can say at any time.

There was a stream near Uritsk, stained red for days with the blood of German soldiers. "Was it Zhukov's will that stood in the way of the Germans?" He was terrible in the days of September, and there is no other word but 'terrible' to describe him. "Zhukov and the defenders of Leningrad accomplished the most difficult task, they held Leningrad, and the immediate threat to the city was eliminated".

Like another time and space, Leningrad was under siege by the Germans. Zhukov's situation became even more severe, as his army had to deal with not only long and brutal defensive battles, but also air raids, artillery bombardment, and even worse hunger. ……

While Zhukov commanded the troops to stabilize the front with great difficulty, the Soviet army was defeated in the Far East. Ishihara personally commanded the armored cluster of the Kwantung Army, and drove straight into the army with lightning speed, breaking through several lines of defense of the Soviet army in succession, and besieging the important town of Chita in one fell swoop. As a result, the Japanese Kwantung Army successfully cut off the Trans-Siberian Railway, the main communication artery between the Soviet Far East and Europe, and the Soviet Far East suddenly became an isolated island.

In order to save the defeat, the Soviet Far Eastern Front immediately organized troops to carry out a counteroffensive, and the Soviet Belga Military District also invested a certain number of troops to cooperate in the operation. But it is a pity that the Japanese Kwantung Army, which has been planned for a long time, is no longer the Kwantung Army in the Zhang Gufeng Incident and the Battle of Nomenkan, and with the dual blessing of powerful armored clusters and clever tactics, it quickly disintegrated the offensive of the Soviet army.

The war situation in the Far East took a sharp turn for the worse, and Stalin saw that there was nothing to do, so he could only order the Soviet Far Eastern Front to break through and withdraw to the Irkutsk region, and join forces with the Belga Military District to organize a new defensive line on the spot.

The Japanese Kwantung Army, on the other hand, seized the opportunity to pursue the victory, and in just over a month, it conquered the vast and boundless Far East regions such as the northern part of Sakhalin, which had been coveted for a long time. Ishihara, on the other hand, became famous again, and in just over two months, he expanded the territory for the Japanese government and obtained almost the entire Far East. The Japanese Emperor Hirohito was once again so excited that he immediately issued an edict of commendation "regardless of his previous suspicions" to vigorously commend the achievements of the Kwantung Army, and Ishihara was naturally promoted to the rank of field marshal.

It's just that Ishihara Waner didn't obey the order after all, and he always made a very bad start again, and Hirohito was naturally angry about it. Although Hirohito did not immediately unload the mill and kill the donkey this time, and used the knife against Ishihara Waner and the Kwantung Army, a seed of distrust was planted deeply. During this period of time, however, the Burma theater was exceptionally calm, not only did no major fighting occur, but there were no small local frictions, and China and Japan were very tacitly engaged with each other, and there was no intention of making a big move at all.

Jiang Qiang's side naturally "turned his ears to what was going on outside the window" and held back his strength to go all out to reorganize the armed forces for war, frantically expanding the troops and training them with high intensity. At the same time, Jiang Qiang did not fall behind in the construction, expansion, and defense system construction of the industrial zone in northern Myanmar. So far, the industrial projects aided by the US government, coupled with the industrial system set up by Jiang Qiang himself, have completely formed a scale and complete system in Myanmar.

From bullets, grenades, and daggers to aircraft, tanks, and artillery, to all kinds of military supplies and civilian necessities such as food and clothing, the Burma Theater can already do it by itself. After several months of frantic expansion and training, the Burmese Liberation Army under Jiang Qiang's command has expanded to 600,000 regular troops in five group armies, plus 30,000 special forces, 20,000 air forces, 10,000 navies, and 150,000 local garrisons, and the total strength of Jiang Qiang's Asian People's Liberation Army has swelled to 750,000.

Of course, Jiang Qiang will not be satisfied with the 750,000 troops, and military training institutions such as military academies and militia reserves will still operate at full capacity, constantly increasing the reserve of soldiers in the Myanmar theater. In addition, the 31st Army and the 22nd Army were also restored to 60,000 and 70,000 troops respectively.

If we add more than 150,000 people from the 5th, 6th, 66th, and 71st armies of the national army, and more than 20,000 people from the red regime, the total strength of the Chinese expeditionary force in the entire Burma theater has reached 1.05 million. As for weapons and equipment, there is no problem with individual weapons, especially Jiangqiang's regular army, which has completed the most luxurious standard equipment configuration as early as possible.

It's just that in terms of heavy artillery, tanks, armored vehicles, self-propelled artillery, anti-aircraft guns, motorcycles, transport vehicles, and other technical equipment, it is not possible to completely keep up with it in a short period of time, but it does not matter, the most important thing at present is to train troops, anyway, there will be no major war in the Burma theater in a short period of time, and it is completely too late to wait for the fresh release of technical equipment while training.

The Burma theater is expanding and expanding at a rapid pace, and the situation is getting better day by day, and all sides are moving in the direction of good and hope. Of course, Japan's Burmese troops, which are indecent on the territory of Thailand, will not be idle. Okamura Ninji, who was under great pressure, began to conscientiously manage the "Maginot Line" after taking office, and devoted himself to building the Thai-Burmese border into an impregnable wall to ensure the security of the Indochinese Peninsula and the Malay Peninsula.

In the past few months, 50 divisions have already been formed in Korea and Taiwan, and the 12 veteran divisions and regiments that have been replaced by the Korean Army and the Southern Army, plus the other 38 divisions, have all arrived in Thailand. As a result, the size of the Burmese army has directly swelled to 52 divisions and regiments, and the total strength has exceeded the 1 million mark. A record number of 1 million troops comparable to the Kwantung Army!

In addition, in terms of fortifications, Okamura Ninji forcibly requisitioned and forced the Thai government to mobilize hundreds of thousands of laborers through coercion and inducement, and built more than 10 large military fortresses and countless pillboxes and underground passages on the Thai border, which is more than 300 kilometers long. Relying on these large military fortresses and countless pillboxes and underground passages, Okamura Ninji will build a chain of three interlocking fortifications.

Halfway through the project, Okamura Ninji couldn't help but become proud, and wrote in a report to the Japanese army base camp: Once the Thai border defense line has been fully formed, the Burmese army will be enough to ensure the security of Thailand and Indochina, and even if the Chinese Expeditionary Force dispatches 2 million troops, it will be impossible to break the Thai border defense line. However, it is clear that Okamura Ninji is really thinking too much. How could Jiang Qiang do a loss-making business, if it was not necessary, he would never have paid a huge sacrifice to gnaw on such a worthless hard bone.

The main purpose of Jiang Qiang's frenzied expansion of military strength in Burma was not to use Burma as the fulcrum of the Southeast Asian battlefield and to break through Japan's Southeast Asian occupation zones one by one, as the Americans expected, but to occupy this strategic place, digest and absorb war resources, and prevent a worse situation from happening. ……

Throughout the world, the Axis alliance was in a good situation, while the anti-fascist alliance was depressed and demoralized. Influenced by the Soviet battlefield and the North African battlefield, many British politicians also began to talk about surrender, openly declaring that a decent surrender to the German army was an acceptable and wise option.

White House, Washington, USA. President Roosevelt urgently summoned Secretary of State Hull, Army Chief of Staff Marshall, Chief of Naval Operations Stark, White House Chief of Staff Raisi, and other senior generals to discuss countermeasures. When everyone arrived, President Roosevelt said straight to the point: "I don't need to say how dangerous the current situation is, and everyone knows very well.

In the world, except for the slightly better battlefield in Burma, all the allied battlefields are extremely unoptimistic, and there has even been a large-scale surrender to the enemy, as well as the surrender of the enemy. It can be said that the anti-fascist alliance is likely to have the worst-case scenario, that is, it will fall apart, and if that happens, the United States will be unable to stand alone and will only suffer in the end.

We are convening a meeting today for one thing, and that is how the United States should respond to the current grave situation! If you have anything to say, you must negotiate an effective countermeasure today! "Roosevelt was really anxious to get on fire, and the role of the American firefighters played very well, and they did their best, but they couldn't rely on the send-offs, pits, and performances of their teammates.

America's industrial and war machines are running at full speed, but they are still running out of power, and the Allied camps in the battlefields of the world are retreating, wailing, demoralizing, and showing signs of imminent total collapse in many regions. Although the current weather is not too cold, President Roosevelt's words are like a bitter cold wind blowing in winter, and the temperature in the conference room has dropped sharply by more than ten degrees.

Everyone's expressions were tense, and their faces looked extremely ugly, but the American mainland was currently holding its ground, although the Japanese Combined Fleet had been cruising in the waters off the west coast, seriously threatening the security of the west coast, and making it impossible for the Pacific Fleet to recover. However, under the frenzied violence, the total strength of the US armed army has rapidly increased from a pitiful 100,000 before the war to 5 million now, and the security of the homeland has been completely guaranteed.

In addition, the air force force also expanded rapidly, and although the Japanese Combined Fleet was extremely ferocious, it could no longer attack the port cities on the west coast as frantically as it did at the beginning. Although the United States is safe, the overseas Allied battlefields are somewhat beyond the reach of the whip, and the global war situation is declining step by step. “……”

There was a long silence in the conference room, and everyone was silent, not because they didn't want to answer, but because Roosevelt's tone was too high for them to answer. If they really had any good idea that worked, they would have suggested it to Roosevelt a long time ago, how could it be delayed to let the president hold an emergency meeting to discuss countermeasures? Seeing that everyone was silent and refused to take the initiative to speak, Roosevelt's brows couldn't help but wrinkle, a room full of capable people, but none of them could come up with decent constructive ideas, which was not a good sign.

After waiting patiently for a while, Roosevelt could only order his troops and ask Leahy, a White House counselor, "Leahy, what are your opinions and ideas?" "Okay, I'll say a few words!" was named by the president, and Raisi could only say some immature ideas for everyone to refer to together: "The current world situation is indeed dangerous, and the situation on the battlefields of the Allied forces is not optimistic.

However, we now have limited strength and cannot do everything, so we must choose a key breakthrough point to exert force, turn the disadvantage into an advantage, and then form a local advantage with a point breaking surface, so as to drive the whole situation to flip! "That's right, contradictions have priorities, we must be selective, and we must make reasonable trade-offs to reverse the decline!" Although Leahie's speech was actually equivalent to not saying anything, but there was a topic to continue to talk about, Roosevelt could only be a dead horse as a live horse doctor, nodded and then asked: "So, at which key point do you think we should concentrate our efforts?" ”

"There are currently five main Allied battlefields!" Lechillo groaned: "First of all, let's talk about the battlefield on the Eastern Front in Europe, although the Soviet Union is currently in a very difficult situation, the Soviets are very resilient, and they are not only holding Leningrad steadily, but also the Caucasus and Stalingrad are also very tenacious. The Germans, as strong as they were, tried their best, but the harsh winter was coming, and it was impossible for Germany to end the Soviet-German war before this winter.

In other words, at least until May next year, the Soviet Union should not be destroyed by the Germans, so this battlefield can be completely ignored for the time being. After a pause, Leahy emphasized in an accentuated tone: "Of course, there is another prerequisite here, to send enough strategic materials to the Soviet Union, so that they can survive this harsh winter, and can accumulate more strength in this harsh winter." Roosevelt nodded: "This is no problem at all, in the past few months, Jiang Qiang's Huaxing Trading Company has successively transported more than 6 billion dollars of materials to the Soviet Union, which is enough for the Soviet Union to survive the cold winter!"

However, to be on the safe side, we will continue to deliver aid as planned, so as to ensure that the Soviets are in the best possible position to resist the Germans and deplete the strength of the Axis Alliance. "The Persian Gulf supply line had to be detoured from the Cape of Good Hope in Africa, and its range was much larger than that of the North Atlantic, which had previously been less delivered because German submarines were so rampant. And now, due to Jiang Qiang's intervention, this route has naturally become fragrant and sweet, and has become the main artery for blood transfusion to the Soviet Union.

The port of Murmansk in the Soviet Union is located in the northeast of the Kola Peninsula, bordering the Kola Bay in the Barents Sea. It does not freeze all year round, and it is the only ice-free port in the Arctic Circle. As long as the Soviet Union can hold this port, there will be no danger of being cut off in terms of strategic materials. "That's fine!"

As for the Southeast Asian battlefield, because the Chinese Expeditionary Force won the victory in the Battle of Burma, it has gained a firm foothold and has become the biggest highlight on the world's anti-fascist battlefield "Well, we have indeed taken a good move in the layout of the Burma theater!" President Roosevelt put a rare smile on his face and continued: "Burma's industrial base is fully operational, and the Asian battlefield will soon have a great improvement, which may be the key point of success or failure for our allies!" ”

At this time, Army Chief of Staff Marshall was also interested, and immediately said: "In this way, we can now look for a breakthrough in the Burma theater!" After a pause, the corners of Marshall's mouth curled slightly: "Didn't the British resolutely disagree with opening a second battlefield in Europe?" Roosevelt heard what Marshall meant, and immediately asked, "General Marshall, what do you mean?" ”

"In the African battlefield, the strength and weapons of the Allied forces, compared with the German-Italian coalition forces, are actually not at a disadvantage, and even have a certain advantage!" Marshall changed his words and said: "But there is one thing we must admit, that is, the combat experience and fighting will of the Allied Army are obviously inferior to the German army led by Rommel!"

This has led to our very passive situation in the North African battlefield, if it were not for the German-Italian alliance army being constrained by the long supply lines and difficult supply, I am afraid that the North African battlefield would have been completely defeated! Therefore, the North African battlefield is very critical and very dangerous, and we must find a way to break the deadlock and gain the initiative as soon as possible, otherwise the slightest unexpected situation will cause a catastrophic collapse of the North African battlefield. Hearing this, Roosevelt had already understood what Marshall was thinking, but he quietly continued to ask, "So, what do you mean?" ”

Marshall said very seriously: "Your Excellency, what I mean is that there are not many soldiers, the newly formed army of the United States needs time to grow, and the British army has no way to serve as a sharp knife on the frontal battlefield, and it is still reluctant to defend with all its might, and it is undoubtedly a fool's dream to open up the situation." Therefore, we need a sharp knife, and we need an elite force with rich combat experience and tenacious combat, such as the Chinese Expeditionary Force, preferably the elite of the Asian Liberation Army of Myanmar under Jiang Qiang! ”

"Send Jiang Qiang's Asian Liberation Army to the North African battlefield?" Roosevelt was not surprised by this answer at all, but he was not optimistic at all, and frowned: "This idea is indeed very good, but General Marshall, do you think Jiang Qiang will agree?" As a politician, Roosevelt was still very observant and insightful about human affairs, although he had never met Jiang Qiang, but from various materials and information, he had an extremely clear understanding of Jiang Qiang's temperament.

At the same time, Roosevelt also knew very well that Marshall's idea was actually killing two birds with one stone, and it was not simply because the situation in the African battlefield was precarious, and if Jiang Qiang's Asian People's Liberation Army could attack with all its might, it was very likely to turn the situation around in a short time. There is another important reason for this, that is, Jiang Qiang's growth speed is really terrifying, from a small director of the Tianjin Police Department to run the poor and remote Zhaoyuan County, in just 5 years, he has grown into a behemoth with strong military strength and economic strength.

Not to mention that the chairman of the NPC Standing Committee has long been full of jealousy and threats against Jiang Qiang, and now even Roosevelt, Marshall, and other high-level US officials feel deeply uneasy about the Asian People's Liberation Army and the Huaxing Trading Group Company under Jiang Qiang. Needless to say, the Asian People's Liberation Army (PLA) not only occupied the Shandong Peninsula under the noses of the Japanese, but also drove the Japanese out of the land of China with the help of Wang Yizhe. And it continues to grow and develop, and can also annihilate 500,000 Japanese elite troops in the Burma battlefield thousands of miles away.

This combat strength and achievements are enough to prove that Jiang Qiang's Asian People's Liberation Army has the strength and heritage to win the title of China. Huaxing Trading Group has long developed into a rich business empire, not only in many industries in the United States, but also in the entire Americas and Asia. In addition, what worries Roosevelt and others the most is that Jiang Qiang has gathered countless scientific and technological talents and industrial technical talents, and has even surpassed the United States in some fields. If Jiang Qiang is allowed to continue to grow like this, what kind of situation will it be?