Chapter 931 Turning Point (10)

On the evening of June 3, after two consecutive days of consultation and communication, Molotov finally had sufficient communication and exchange of opinions with Ribbentrop on the main terms and reached a consensus - this certainly does not mean agreement, but that the connotation and essence of the problem understood by both parties are consistent, avoiding misjudgment of intentions and unnecessary wrangling. He returned to Moscow without stopping, and immediately saw the anxious Stalin at the General Staff.

In the past 48 hours, the war on the front line continued to deteriorate:

In the direction of Uralsk, the vanguard of the German Weichs Group defeated Malinovsky's vanguard, and the subsequent army continued to advance, forming an encirclement of Uralsk. Although the city was still in the hands of the Red Army, everyone believed that it would not last more than 2 days, and even if it did, it would be useless. The Germans blocked the road here, and the gains and losses of a city would not change the gains and losses of the entire supply line;

In the direction of the Transcaucasus, the German army continued to attack, and released a division of airborne troops in the early morning yesterday. The remaining Red Army was attacked from all sides, almost Collapse, the front line has been completely broken, each fighting on its own, fortunately Chernyakhovsky's main force has almost retreated;

Vatutin and Rokossovsky's two fronts were besieged by three armies, and the German army almost built an encirclement around Stalingrad. Of course, this encirclement has not been closed, but the situation is very critical. There are less than 500,000 troops in the encirclement, but there are more than 900,000 German troops outside;

Yeryomenko, who was reinforced by Chernyakhovsky, could barely maintain the Astrakhan front, but his connection with Stalingrad was basically cut off.

In two days, the Red Army lost at least 150,000 troops - in fact, many of them were lost in the past two days, but they were only counted today. At present, the total strength of the Red Army in the entire southern wing has dropped to only 1.5 million (excluding 350,000 troops in Central Asia). The basic distribution is 500,000 in Stalingrad, more than 600,000 in Astrakhan, 150,000 near Atyrau and the northern shore of the Caspian Sea, more than 100,000 on the eastern shore of the Caspian Sea, about 200,000 in Uralsk, and the remaining troops in the Transcaucasus may be less than 30,000;

The number of Axis troops is nearly 2.2 million, and the basic distribution is: more than 900,000 in Stalingrad, 450,000 in Uralsk, more than 300,000 in the Transcaucasus (including more than 100,000 Iranian troops), and nearly 500,000 in the Astrakhan line. Since the start of the Caucasus annihilation war, the loss has been only over 50,000, and the loss caused to the enemy has exceeded 400,000.

Looking at the situation on the map where the blue flags are stretched everywhere and the red flags are shrunken, Molotov, who does not understand military affairs, also feels his scalp tingling.

When he heard that Zhukov, Rokossovsky and Vatutin were trapped in the isolated city of Stalingrad with their defeated troops, he was so surprised that his eyes popped out: In the eyes of the Germans, these Soviet generals were still good. If they were buried in Stalingrad, what would happen in the future?

Especially when he heard that it would take at least 10-15 days for the three fronts organized by Tolbukhin to go south for rescue, he couldn't help but shout out: "Danger!"

Interrupted by this voice, Stalin realized that Molotov had returned, and reluctantly nodded and said: "You are back at the right time. Comrade Vasilevsky is deploying the defense of Stalingrad."

"Do you think it is possible to hold out until our army's rescue troops arrive?"

"You can hold out, but it will not change the situation." Vasilevsky shook his head and gently pushed the flag with his pointer. "The Germans don't actually need so many troops to surround Stalingrad. 500,000 to 600,000 troops are enough, and the remaining 300,000 to 400,000 will be used for peripheral maneuvers. By then, the enemy troops from Transcaucasus will also swarm in, plus the Kleist cluster near Astrakhan, the enemy still has 600,000 to 700,000 mobile troops to deal with our army, not to mention that the reinforcements from the front must first break through the interception of the two armored armies of the Central Army Group."

"No, there may be more troops than this." Molotov shouted anxiously.

"Hmm?"

"The Icelandic campaign is over, and Britain is in surrender negotiations. It is reported that it has reached an agreement with Germany on more than 90% of the terms. The German troops deployed in Western Europe will further arrive on the Eastern Front."

"Is this possible?"

Deputy Chief of General Staff Antonov added: "It is indeed possible. Diplomats stationed in London sent intelligence that the German army suddenly stopped large-scale air strikes on Britain. They suspected that it was a precursor to the upcoming peace between Britain and Germany. This part of the air force is at least 5,000 aircraft."

Stalin frowned tightly. He certainly understood the opinions of the two chiefs of staff: even if the relief front arrived, it would not be able to resist the continuous flow of German troops. Unless Moscow was abandoned, the Red Army could no longer provide additional troops to reinforce Stalingrad, and Moscow itself was at risk of being surrounded.

He did not continue to express his opinions on military issues, but asked Molotov: "How is the negotiation going? How high is the price the Germans are asking?"

Molotov immediately recounted the main terms, and everyone fell silent, feeling very heavy.

The terms are of course very harsh, but some of them are not unacceptable.

For example, the 2 million troops. Vasilevsky privately reported that 2.5-3 million troops were needed. Although there are only 2 million troops now, I heard that Vlasov's Russian Liberation Army was limited to about 1 million, and the Germans stationed 1 million troops. 2 million troops are still enough. If it doesn't work, it won't be difficult to use the Internal Affairs Police and the Red Guards to arm another 500,000.

Although 300 million tons of crude oil is a large number, it was the Soviet Union's 8-year production before the war. Moreover, the Germans agreed to pay in 20 years. In a sense, the compensation requirement was lower than Stalin's expectations;

In Stalin's eyes, frivolous things like the European Union and the United Nations are not important, and international treaties are even more useless in his eyes - as long as there is strength, anything will do;

The coexistence of East and West Russia was something he had agreed with from the beginning, but now it has been further clarified and solidified.

The only problem is the national border - not only does the entire national border have to be retreated to the east of the Ural Mountains, but a large area of ​​Central Asian territory cannot be preserved. This makes everyone feel uncomfortable, but it seems a bit unreasonable to start a war over this line. After all, the Red Army is now completely unstoppable.

Vasilevsky wanted to speak, but Stalin unexpectedly spoke first: "What are the Germans going to do before they are willing to cease fire on the spot?"

"Hand over Moscow or Stalingrad completely, and all Caucasus troops will retreat north of the Volga River. When will the retreat be completed, when will the ceasefire occur? During the retreat, the German army will promise not to fire on the retreating troops."

"What about Comrade Vasilevsky's judgment?"

"This... depends on the determination of the party." Vasilevsky sighed, "From a purely military point of view, retreating from Stalingrad cannot change the strategic situation. It can only effectively preserve these more than 1 million troops; if To continue the war, these more than 1 million troops are indispensable; of course, by staying in Stalingrad we can inflict heavy damage on the enemy, although we will inevitably retreat step by step."

Stalin pondered for a moment and issued two key orders: "First, Comrade Tolbukhin's front troops should not move south from Moscow for the time being; second, the Stalingrad issue and the terms of the peace talks await the decision of the Communist Party meeting tonight." "After that, he left the General Staff. Molotov kept hinting with his eyes that as an old partner for so many years, Stalin understood this tacit understanding.

When no one was around, Molotov reported the specific situation and his personal judgment, and then whispered: "Ribbentrop revealed an unconfirmed news. Yakov is in a prisoner of war camp. The other party also gave him a few photos and then said he could be released early."

Stalin looked at the photo and his eyes twitched a little, but he quickly suppressed his emotions: "How was Comrade Yakov captured? Is there any evidence from other witnesses? Did he do anything that betrayed the country or betrayed the country after he was captured? Do you have any thoughts of betraying the party?”

"This... probably doesn't exist."

"We must carefully prove it, and we must not let go of any clues." Stalin sighed, "At such a critical moment in the negotiations, the Germans suddenly made a move. It is difficult for people not to think of some conspiracy."

"How about letting him come back first? The Germans don't have any additional conditions."

"No!" Stalin waved his hand and said in a stern voice, "It is true that he is my son, but he has no privileges over others, and there is no reason to come back quietly at this moment. If you do this, what will happen to other cadres and the masses? Look at us? I would rather the Germans release a few comrades as commanders first. We must have an overall and strategic perspective, and we must consciously sacrifice for the cause of the revolution and the party. We cannot accept any practical problems that fall on us. Not that fragile!"

"Yes, that's what you criticized." Molotov accepted the criticism sincerely, without any displeasure on his face.

He raised the problem and suggested how to deal with it. It was up to Comrade Stalin how he dealt with it and how he considered it. It was certainly justified to criticize himself for specializing, but he did not regret the suggestion because it was the only correct way to deal with it. Otherwise, in the future, Jako When my husband came back, he still didn’t know how Stalin should hate him. He knew that Comrade Stalin had spared no effort to train the eldest son. The reason why he was captured was the result of being put into the army for training. The second son Vasily was a playboy. Although he held the title of ace pilot, anyone who knew the inside story would understand. This identity is actually very watery. The youngest daughter Svetlana was loved by all, but she was always at odds with Stalin. It was said that she was obsessed with a 40-year-old film director, which made Stalin very angry. It was just that the political and military situation was too tense and he could not spare more time. Pay attention to this. If we want to talk about a successor, Yakov is undoubtedly the most suitable.

At the *** meeting, Molotov elaborated on the main clauses one by one, and re-explained his own amendments and objections raised by the other party.

After the report, everyone fell into silence, and the conference room was eerily quiet...