Chapter 425 Spring Awakening (1)

Fighters are roaring, tanks are roaring, and artillery shells are roaring...

On March 29, 1943, the meander of the Don River once again witnessed a large-scale battle. The German armored forces that came from afar began to encircle three Red Army groups that were desperately fleeing towards Stalingrad. Although the number of the Red Army was as high as 200,000, But they completely lost organized resistance and counterattack. They only knew how to rush towards Stalingrad in a swarm. The thought in everyone's heart was the same: escape! Escape to Stalingrad and you'll be saved.

"Führer, if the war goes well, I think the second phase of the 'Spring Awakening' campaign can be launched on time at 0:00 on April 3..." Manstein reported to Hoffmann confidently.

"Well done, but before the second phase begins, I plan to add some more ingredients to Stalin to tease this great tyrant."

"Funny?" Manstein seemed to find it difficult to understand that the head of state used such frivolous words to describe him.

"Send a report to Berlin and tell Minister Goebbels that the time has come to launch Plan Zero and the truth of the matter will be announced immediately."

"Yes!" Dargos immediately executed the order.

No one understood what this meant, but twenty minutes later, Goebbels's sonorous and powerful voice, pre-recorded, rang on the radio:

"The German government officially announced: ...Recently, while repairing bombed railways, roads and other projects in and around Smolensk, our Wehrmacht soldiers unearthed a large grave containing many officers and soldiers, and related corpses All were wearing Polish military uniforms. It was confirmed by the post-mortem examination of the international commission organized by our side and the confessions of the captured Russian internal forces. These officers and soldiers wearing Polish military uniforms died in the spring of 1940. They were all killed by Stalin after being captured by the Red Army. Most of them The victim was tied hand and foot and shot from the back of the head. The scene was extremely cruel and shameless... In order to correct the international audiovisual situation and avoid taking film footage, photos, etc. out of context, we are willing to invite the international community, especially representatives of allied countries and representatives of the Polish government-in-exile, to come forward. Come and observe. The scene is currently under strict protection and remains as it was at the time of the incident..."

With non-stop broadcasts throughout Germany and Europe, the news soon reached London and Moscow.

"Mr. Prime Minister, the Germans have issued major news involving our citizens and soldiers. Don't you express your opinion on this?" After receiving such news, the Prime Minister of the Polish government in exile, Wladyslaw Sichols, was in London. Key immediately called Churchill.

"Mr. Prime Minister, I sympathize with the suffering of the Polish people, but this is obviously a conspiracy, a German conspiracy to sow discord between the allies."

"The intentions of the Germans are insignificant. I don't expect Hitler to be kind. I just want to know whether the British government has its own independent position on this matter."

"This..." Churchill pondered for a moment, "Can we investigate this matter after the war is over? At the moment we should focus on dealing with the Germans."

"I would also like to be so calm, but my duty, my mission and my pride as a Pole prevent me from doing so."

"What do you want to do now?"

"I would like to ask the International Red Cross to conduct an on-site investigation and ask the Russians to submit a formal report on the whereabouts of those Polish officers who were 'exiled' to Russia." In his answer, he emphasized the word "exile".

"Well, don't be impulsive and don't express your opinions to the media until I communicate with Mr. Stalin."

"Comrade Stalin, it's bad, those bodies have been found." Beria rushed into Stalin's office, looking a little anxious.

"Why are you panicking?" Stalin narrowed his eyes. "Let the propaganda and diplomatic departments issue a statement: This atrocity was committed by the Germans, and Germany is now trying to blame others."

"Is this possible?" Beria was doubtful.

"If Churchill would rather believe the Germans than us, there's nothing to say. As for those Polish dogs, let them yell."

Churchill's attempt to calm the matter had no practical effect. He only received routine, official answers from Moscow. Early the next morning, the BBC issued a statement from the Polish government-in-exile: "...We are accustomed to the lies of the German propaganda machine and are aware of its hidden purpose in publicizing this matter. However, in view of the extensive and detailed reports by the Germans on the situation in Poland, After discovering the bodies of tens of thousands of Polish military officers in the Katyn Forest in Molensk, and asserting that these officers were killed by the Soviet authorities in the spring of 1940, we believe that it is necessary for an authoritative international agency to investigate these "mass graves" and investigate all the mass graves. to verify the incident.”

Molotov reported the situation to Stalin with a gloomy face. The latter seemed very unhappy, not only because Churchill failed to stop the actions of the Polish government-in-exile, but also because the situation coming from the front was very bad. Zhukov made the decision that Stalin had made. He agreed in principle with Le's decision to engage the German army, but the fact that he was about to lose three armies made him very angry.

"Churchill, an anti-Bolshevik, has relapsed into his old habits. He should be sobered up."

"What do you want to do?"

"Cut off diplomatic relations with the Poles and declare that in the future we will not recognize the position of this government as representing the Polish people."

"Americans may be unhappy with this."

"Just because of a government-in-exile?" Stalin smiled contemptuously, "My anger towards the United States has never subsided, let alone Britain. Where are the promised supplies? Where is the equipment? If the fight continues, I would rather cooperate with Hitler. The worst is for us. To fight in India and the Far East.”

Molotov was stunned for a moment, then said nothing, nodded silently and went out. Shortly after he left, Stalin summoned Vasilevsky again.

"Do we have to give three armies to Manstein?"

"This is not a gift. In fact, they can't escape." Vasilevsky understood all of Zhukov's arrangements. Although he had great doubts about this plan, he could not answer this question according to Stalin's wishes now. Ghost It is known whether the word "send" will become Zhukov's crime in the future - if it is, it must be fatal.

"But Comrade Rokossovsky initially reported to me that two armies were surrounded and the other could retreat."

"This is just his one-sided statement. Even so, he admitted that two armies cannot escape. As for the third one, even if it escapes the encirclement for a while, there is no guarantee that it will not be overtaken by the enemy in the subsequent battles - some things boil down to the root cause It’s not about what we say, it’s about what the reality should be.”

The second half of Vasilevsky's words almost made Stalin go crazy on the spot, because the tone sounded too much like a satire on the "Katyn Forest Incident", but he knew that the other party did not mean this, so he suppressed the attack and only He explained: "Comrade Constantine hopes that you will go to Stalingrad to coordinate."

"What about himself?"

"He was to act as invisible front commander for Rokossovsky."

"But……"

"Now the Germans have launched a fierce attack on us. Whether it is military or political, we must resolutely fight back." Stalin explained in a very serious tone, "You can satisfy whatever resources and troops you want. But one thing must be done - give the Germans a hard blow, even if we pay a little more!"

Vasilevsky wanted to say that he had not reached an agreement with Zhukov on the direction, objectives and plans of the campaign, and that he had other considerations about the overall campaign, but Stalin quickly blocked what he wanted to say with the next sentence, "In At such a critical moment, every senior party cadre must use his party spirit to ensure that he devotes all his strength and wisdom to fighting the enemy. Different opinions and ideas can be discussed, but they cannot go against the overall goal. "

Vasilevsky knew that he could not talk any more. Comrade Stalin was obviously stimulated. What was important now was action. As for how to act, we should wait until he and Zhukov reach an agreement. Now it seems that Comrade Zhukov's political sensitivity Not a tiny bit taller than me.

"Did Stalin reply?" Churchill asked British Foreign Minister Eden with a haggard look on his pipe. He had been having a very difficult time recently.

"Answered, he informed us and the United States that Russia was ready to break off diplomatic relations with the Polish government-in-exile - because the regime listened to fascist slander."

"What?" Churchill stood up in confusion, "Isn't this just a trap for the Germans?"

"There is no way." Eden said distressedly, "The Russians don't want to admit that they did it, the Poles don't believe that it was the Germans, and public opinion and the media are focusing on this matter, and the German radio stations are broadcasting every day We are broadcasting news, even if we want to downplay it.”

"What is President Roosevelt's opinion?"

"He called on Stalin to maintain unity among the allies and jointly fight the enemy. But the Russians obviously did not listen to this opinion. I would say that in the final analysis it was caused by mutual distrust between the Russians and the Poles."

Churchill thought: It is natural to distrust each other. Russia had partitioned Poland three times with Prussia and Austria in history. When Poland became independent after World War I, it retaliated against the weak Russia, but counter-retaliation soon came - the Battle of Poland. When it launched, Russia stabbed Poland hard in the back. According to his idea, as long as the Russians admit the matter in private and just blame Yezhov (head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Beria's predecessor, who has been executed) or someone else, that will be it. With the United Kingdom and the United States coordinating the situation, the Poles would not be so stupid as to continue to confront the Russians. Unexpectedly, the wishful thinking ended up being ruined.

"Use my name to send a personal telegram to Stalin: Even if the Polish government is stupid enough to listen to Germany's accusations, there is no time for quarreling between the allies now. We must defeat Hitler first..."

"Will this work?"

"I just have to give it a try."

Churchill's efforts failed. In the early morning of April 1, the TASS news agency announced that the Soviet Union had severed diplomatic relations with the Polish government-in-exile and "does not recognize it as a representative of the Polish people."