Chapter 446 The Thunderstorm of GCism
It made sense to stop supplying oil to Germany from January 1942. Because the Soviet Union did not give Germany oil for free, but used oil to exchange for German equipment, mainly used to build key equipment used in the "Soviet" class battleships and "Kronstadt" class battlecruisers, such as heavy oil-fired boilers, steam turbines, 4 main gun systems, etc. Before these equipment were obtained, Stalin could not just turn his face, otherwise the huge amount of money invested in the "Soviet" class and "Kronstadt" class projects would be wasted.
"First, tell the British that we will stop supplying fuel to Germany in January next year to give them some encouragement." Stalin said to Molotov, "In addition, explain our position on India to the British: If Britain surrenders to Germany first, then we believe that India should become a sovereign and independent socialist country!"
Stalin's position was true. The main opponent of the Soviet Union was Germany, which had already established hegemony in Europe, not the British Empire, which was only hanging on for life. Therefore, the purpose of the Red Army entering Afghanistan was only to open up the road to liberate India, but not to attack the British Indian Empire through Afghanistan immediately.
In Stalin's plan, the attack on India should take place after Britain surrenders or Germany is defeated. Moreover, the best plan in Stalin's mind is to unite Britain and the United States to defeat Germany, seize Germany's territory in the Middle East, Eastern Europe and the Balkans, and then separate India from the British Empire and turn it into a socialist country.
If this plan is realized, then a super socialist camp including the Soviet Union, China, India, Eastern Europe, the Balkans and the Middle East will emerge. With the population of India and China, the oil of the Middle East, the industry and technology of the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, it is only a matter of time before socialism defeats capitalism.
However, it is not easy to realize this human liberation plan. Although the Soviet Red Army has more planes, tanks and artillery than the Germans, the German Wehrmacht performs much better in actual combat than the Soviet Red Army. This made Stalin dare not act rashly, and also made him very worried about the prospect of a one-on-one war with Germany in the future.
Therefore, Stalin believed that the Soviet Union must join the war with the United States before Germany defeated Britain.
"Kliment Yefremovich," Stalin asked Voroshilov, "Has the Military Committee studied the issue of fighting against Germany?"
The "Military Committee" Stalin referred to was not the "Revolutionary Military Committee" that once held the supreme command of the Red Army. The Revolutionary Military Committee was abolished on June 20, 1934. The command of the Red Army was directly controlled by the Political Bureau, which was actually Stalin himself. The "Military Committee" he was referring to now was an organization composed of 80 members established within the People's Commissariat of Defense.
"Comrade Stalin, we have studied the issue of going to war with Germany," Voroshilov replied, "We believe that there are two prerequisites for starting a war that can guarantee the Red Army's advantage: 1. The German army lands on the British mainland; 2. The British and American Allied Forces land on the coast of Western Europe. The most ideal and safest time to start the war should be between July and August 1942."
Stalin nodded and continued to look at Voroshilov, waiting for his explanation. Voroshilov said: "Since there is no sign of the second state yet, the Military Committee believes that a plan should be formulated first with Germany landing on the British mainland as the background.
Since the Western Front Campaign, Britain has been strengthening its homeland defense and has established 6 army-level army headquarters, 2 independent districts and 1 air defense headquarters. Each army headquarters and independent district has 2 regular divisions and 4 homeland divisions, and the air defense headquarters has 12 air defense divisions. There are also 5-6 armored divisions stationed on the mainland. With a total force of 65-66 divisions and a large number of homeland guards, Britain's defense force is sufficient. If the German landing occurs after 1942, the British army's strength will increase, and there will probably be 100-120 divisions. The Germans must invest the same amount of troops to conquer Britain. Moreover, the British air force and air defense forces are very strong, and the Germans must concentrate most of their combat aircraft to gain air superiority.
In this case, the German defense on the Eastern Front must be empty, which is conducive to our launching a surprise attack!
And the best time to launch a surprise attack is It is scheduled for July-August 1942, because Germany has already controlled the oil-producing areas in the Middle East, but the oil field railways in the Middle East are currently severely damaged, and the waterway from the Persian Gulf to the Mediterranean has not been opened. Therefore, the Germans cannot get enough fuel from the Middle East in the short term. The General Staff of the Red Army estimated that by 1943, the Germans should be able to solve all the problems and significantly increase the oil production in the Middle East. By then, the German war machine will be able to exert its greatest power, and we must defeat Germany before that. "
Voroshilov paused and said, "There are two other reasons for choosing to start the war in July-August 1942: 1. Considering that the offensive may be unfavorable, the Red Army must switch to defense. If the offensive fails, the German army is likely to switch to counterattack in October 1942, but winter will come to the Soviet Union from November, the roads will be muddy, and the weather will be cold, which is extremely unfavorable for the German army to counterattack.
2. Considering that the oil-producing areas of Baku, Batumi and Grozny are likely to be bombed by the German Air Force after we go to war with Germany, we must reserve enough fuel before the war begins..."
When Stalin heard this, he suddenly frowned and interrupted Voroshilov: "We now have 15,000 combat aircraft, which is more than the combined number of combat aircraft owned by Germany, Britain, the United States and Japan! And we also have 15,000 combat aircraft." Are the excellent MiG-3, Yak-1 and Lager-3 fighter jets not enough to resist the German bombers?”
The MiG-3, Yak-1 and Lager-3 are all cutting-edge fighter jets from the Soviet Union. The Soviets themselves have seen that they are enough to compete with the German BF-109 and Fokker Zero. Moreover, by 1942, the Soviet Union's old fighter jets will be replaced by new fighter jets such as the MiG-3, Yak-1, and Lager-3. By then, these cutting-edge fighter jets will also have a huge advantage in numbers, and there will be no reason to fight. But a German plane.
Voroshilov quickly explained: "Comrade General Secretary, although the performance of our fighter jets is superior enough, we cannot guarantee the occurrence of unexpected situations, so we need to reserve more fuel and speed up the Second Baku (referring to Volga-Ural Oil and Gas) area) development.”
Seeing that Stalin's brows still did not raise, Voroshilov added: "And we will also send out bomber groups to destroy the oil fields in Kirkuk and Khuzestan."
"There are also the Ploiesti oil fields in Romania!" Stalin instructed. "These major oil fields controlled by Germany must be destroyed as soon as possible after the war... Do we have such a capability?"
Destroying German-controlled oil fields is undoubtedly the best way to combat Germany's war potential. But achieving this goal will be difficult for the UK. Because the UK mainland is nearly 2,000 kilometers away from the Ploiesti oil field, while the distance from India to the Khuzestan Oil Field and the Kirkuk Oil Field are about 2,000 kilometers and 2,500 kilometers respectively. This has almost reached the limit of the combat radius of existing long-range bombers, and no fighter aircraft can escort them.
Therefore, in Stalin's view, the task of destroying Germany's oil production capacity could only be accomplished by the Soviet Union, which was relatively close to the Ploiesti, Khuzestan and Kirkuk oil fields.
Voroshilov said: "We now have TB-3 heavy bombers, SB-2 and SB-3 light bombers and Pe-8 heavy bombers. The performance of the Pe-8 is comparable to the world's most advanced heavy bombers. . In addition, the MiG 5 twin-engine long-range fighter currently under development and expected to be put into service in 1942 is sufficient to undertake the task of escorting the bomber group. Therefore, by the second half of 1942, we will have the ability to destroy the Ploiesti oil fields and bases. capabilities of the Irkuk and Khuzestan oil fields.”
"TB-3 is too old," Stalin continued to give the highest instructions. "It cannot complete the bombing mission. We must speed up the production of Pe-8 to ensure that we can destroy the oil fields controlled by the Germans as soon as possible."
"Yes, Comrade Stalin," Voroshilov replied, "We will definitely speed up the production of Pe-8."
Stalin then instructed: "In addition, four Soviet-class battleships and two Kronshtadt-class battlecruisers must also enter service before July 1942. They should be attached to the Northern Fleet to ensure that the North Atlantic shipping lanes are not cut off by Germany. ”
Because Germany already controls Iran and has formed an alliance with Japan. Stalin believed that the only external waterway left by the Soviet Union was the North Atlantic, so it must be guaranteed with all its strength. And 4 Soviet-class ships and 2 Kronshtadt-class ships can obviously complete this task.
"I will definitely instruct the Red Navy to speed up the progress." Voroshilov promised, but he was not sure in his heart. Because the construction of these six warships started in the shipyards in Leningrad and the Black Sea. It may not be completed by the first half of 1942, and I'm afraid there won't be time to go to Murmansk.
"Very good," Stalin nodded with satisfaction, "Now we can start making specific plans. Let's call the code name of the plan 'Thunderstorm'. This will be a violent storm of world revolution that will sweep across Europe! Remember! , the plan must be kept absolutely secret, and the Germans cannot be aware of it... This will be a sudden thunderstorm of GC doctrine!"