Chapter 547 Castle (24)

Stalin almost walked away again, but his strong will calmed him down and asked coldly: "How do you plan to surrender?"

"Comrade Zhukov never said he wanted to surrender. He just wanted to cease the war and serve the country and the nation..." Kuznetsov just defended himself when he was shocked by Stalin's roar: "What do you know? Get out!"

Kuznetsov did not dare to say a word and walked away angrily.

The embarrassed Vasilevskiy neither stayed nor left. Looking at the furious Stalin, he didn't know what to say.

"You stay and listen to how Comrade Constantine plans to sell us to the Germans."

"Comrade General Secretary, I do not want to surrender. Any attempt to surrender or enslave us is unacceptable." Now that he had said it, Zhukov simply made it clear, "I am willing to use a Bolshevik and a senior military officer to seek truth from facts. After the Germans solved the problems in the Mediterranean, the Middle East and Africa, they have become far superior to us in terms of strategic situation. They not only have sufficient strategic depth, but also have sufficient resource guarantees - these resources are far superior. It is more numerous and broader than us. The original conclusion that Germany could not fight for a long time due to resource problems no longer exists. Hitler has the power of the entire Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, and we are now fighting against all of Europe.

In terms of military strength, the German army is currently superior to ours in terms of equipment level, training level and cooperation level, and it also has the assistance of a large number of servant armies and puppet armies. Counting these servant armies and puppet armies, they are also smaller in number of troops. prevailed. This caused Hitler's strategic policy to slowly transition from blitzkrieg and quick-decision war to war of attrition and protracted war. The proposal and promotion of the so-called high exchange ratio tactics were actually an extension of this strategic thinking.

Russia's three magic weapons for victory in wars - cold weather, vast territory and the will to fight for a long time - have no obvious effect now. After the cold weather gave the Germans a deterrent in the battle to defend Moscow, they never made any mistakes again. They completely stopped attacking in winter. Starting this year, they did not even fight during the muddy road period, and the combat time was reduced from 12 months to 8 months. Within; although the vast territory has won us depth and room for maneuver, it has also created convenient conditions for the German armored forces to gallop freely. It can be seen from this battle that the Germans will not attack our two wings with solid defense lines at all. The front is focused on the central breakthrough; as for the will to fight for a long time, with all due respect, if even the people no longer exist, what does it matter if there is a will?

I drew attention to the fact that although we were allies with Britain and the United States, both countries had never contributed enough to our cause of resistance. Not only did they fail to deploy military forces to launch an attack and open a second battlefield on the European continent, they were not even able to receive the material assistance they had promised previously. The comrades below all complain that Britain and the United States are using Russia's flesh and blood to fight the Germans' steel consumption. They are taking this opportunity to win opportunities for recovery and growth, and they will pick up the pieces when we and the Germans both lose, achieving the so-called goal of killing two birds with one stone. "

The phrase "kill two birds with one stone" has always been a worry for Stalin. He believed that Britain and the United States sat back and watched the Soviet Union and Germany fight, and jointly weakened and ultimately achieved the dual goals of eliminating National Socialism and Bolshevism.

"Judging from the current actual situation, although this is just a guess, it has been verified by many parties: the total population of the United States is not inferior to ours, its industrial strength is much stronger than ours, and it can easily pull out a force of 8-10 million. They It has been a year and a half since we were directly involved in the war, which should be said to be enough time. How many American soldiers have you seen fighting the Germans so far?

The total population of Britain is about one-third of ours, its industrial strength is close to ours, and it also has vast colonies and dominions for blood transfusion. It is not a problem to form an army of 5 million. In addition to their losses in the French Campaign and the North African Campaign Apart from the 500,000 troops, there were no other major losses, but I still didn't see many British and German troops fighting. Germany exerts more than 90% of its war machine on us.

I don’t know if you have noticed such a change recently: Britain and the United States stopped strategic air attacks on Germany on the pretext of too much losses, and Germany also completely stopped air attacks on Britain earlier - many of these bombers were deployed on the Eastern Front, and Germany broadcast through the radio It has repeatedly spread its willingness to negotiate peacefully with the United Kingdom and the United States, and has repeatedly expressed its respect for the sovereignty and international status of Western European countries. This shows that the two sides have formed a tacit understanding in certain areas. It also shows that the war between Germany and Britain and the United States is a war to compete for spheres of influence and further distribute colonies. It is a common war for interests among imperialist countries, not a life-and-death war for survival. For Britain and the United States, especially the United States, if we can be wiped out by Germany, it is completely acceptable to lose some British interests and colonies..."

Stalin remained silent, while Vasilevsky was deeply shocked: Only Comrade Stalin had always lectured and "taught" senior cadres within the party. Unexpectedly, today Zhukov reversed course and began to lecture the General Secretary - the latter actually still I can't say many objections.

“To sum up, the idea of ​​​​truce negotiations is based on four reasons:

First, we are temporarily at a military disadvantage, and the relevant gap cannot be eliminated in the short term. We need more time than the Germans to gain a breathing space;

Second, the Germans have lowered their tone. Hitler recently did not talk about the annihilation of the Bolsheviks, let alone the annihilation of the Slavs. He even changed his policy towards the Jews and expressed his intention to negotiate with us through other channels. This shows that There are objective conditions for armistice negotiations;

Third, although the contradiction between Germany and Britain and the United States has eased, it is still possible to intensify on the premise that Britain and the United States have not yet recognized German hegemony. I want to use this contradiction to push Hitler to turn around and attack Britain and the United States;

Fourth, because of us, Eastern Europe and a group of puppet countries are forced to obey the Germans. If the armistice negotiations remove this pressure, they will have conflicts with the Germans, and even Italy may be shaken - these allies of Hitler No one in the slave country sincerely watched the Germans dominate Europe..."

Stalin remained silent, and Zhukov simply continued speaking in one breath.

“As for the specific content of the armistice negotiations, of course the party and the general secretary must grasp the overall situation, but I personally believe that the following points cannot be shaken:

First, the socialist system remains unchanged. Our control area may be smaller in the future, but the system must be retained;

Second, the party’s leadership position must be maintained;

Third, the General Secretary is beyond reproach as our leader;

Fourth, we can commit to reducing military strength, but this should not affect national survival and self-defense capabilities.

On this basis, it is only a trivial matter for us to cede some territory and compensate for some materials, let alone treason. Many of the occupied territories now are former union republics that joined the big family when the Soviet Union was formed. They are now seeking independence because of Germany's power. We have to respect their choice for the time being; and even if Russian territory is ceded, it will still belong to Russia. In the hands of the People's Liberation Army, although they are puppets of the Germans, they are still Russians after all... If they allow Germany or other countries to occupy these territories, they are traitors, not us.

This is an opportunity in any case, and just as Comrade Lenin did in 1917, as long as the Germans ultimately fail, these ridiculous agreements will not be fulfilled. We can't defeat the Germans now, but with the strength of the Russian People's Liberation Army, I can wipe them out with just one front army in the future.

As for the temporarily lost territory, we can make up for it from the Far East, India, and Afghanistan. I believe Hitler would also like to see this. "

Stalin listened to Zhukov's words with a stern face at first. When he heard the words "the system remains unchanged, the leadership of the party remains unchanged, and the status of the general secretary remains unchanged", his expression relaxed slightly.

"Are you done?"

"That's it, Comrade General Secretary, my words may not sound good to you, but they are indeed my true thoughts and have nothing to do with others."

"Comrade Constantine, your idea is very naive, do you know? Is politics that simple?"

"I know not, so I hope you will lead us to overcome the temporary difficulties. This temporary bow is not surrender, nor is it a betrayal of our lofty goals and ideals. It is just a strategy and expedient. It is a necessary twist and turn on the road ahead, and it is an important step to achieve success." "The setbacks on the eve of the great victory," Zhukov said excitedly, "Revolution is never smooth sailing. We had the failure of the 1905 Revolution, the failure of the February Revolution, and finally won the victory of the October Revolution; on the road to building socialism On the other hand, there will also be difficulties of this kind..."

"I understand. I will consider what you said. Now you can find a way to block the hole in the central battlefield first." After Stalin said these words, he hurried away.

It took a while after Stalin left before Vasilevsky reacted as if he had woken up from a dream, and gave Zhukov a thumbs up: "You are awesome, you dare to teach the general secretary!"

Zhukov sighed: "Perhaps I will die without a burial place in the future."

"Isn't that serious?" Vasilevsky said hesitantly, "I think what you just said is right. I am too obsessed with military operations and I don't see the problem far enough or high enough."

"So, do you think he listened?"

Vasilevsky lowered his head and thought for a while: "I can't tell, but at least it will be touching."

Convinced that after Stalin left, Kuznetsov, who had been hiding not far away, sneaked back to the scene. When they met, he asked anxiously: "How will Comrade Stalin criticize you later?"

Vasilevsky briefly told the story, leaving the other party dumbfounded and unable to close his mouth for a long time.

"If something happens in the future, if you two are capable, please help me take care of my family. In addition..." Zhukov looked around and made sure no one was eavesdropping. He said, "Keep your distance from me as much as possible. Don't Being implicated.”