Chapter 726: Questions that Touch the Soul

The happy life of GCism was very short-lived for the GCist fighters of the Soviet Red Navy. The prosperous city, free fish and meat (in addition to the three meal coupons, American workers organized by the USO gave free fish and meat to the Red Army soldiers on Chelsea Pier every day), rich gifts, and of course the enthusiastic American girls, will become part of the beautiful memories and accompany them through the difficult years to come.

On November 28, 1942, after staying in New York for more than ten days, four Soviet-class battleships and two Kronstadt-class battlecruisers were installed with American sea search radars and communication equipment. Now the ships of the Red Navy's Atlantic Fleet will form the Allied Atlantic Combined Fleet together with the ships of the US Atlantic Fleet and the British Home Fleet.

And on the 29th, it was the time for the Allied Atlantic Combined Fleet to escort the NR21 fleet (New York-Reykjavik) to sail out to sea. The NR21 fleet is the largest escort fleet since the beginning of the World War, with a total tonnage of more than 250 10,000-ton cargo ships, cruise ships and oil tankers. The various cargoes carried on these ships exceeded 800,000 tons, and the number of American officers and soldiers on board reached 108,000.

According to the plan, after leaving the Port of New York, the NR21 fleet would immediately sail northeast, reach the Arctic Circle route with high winds and waves and no sunlight, and then go directly to the Port of Reykjavik in Iceland. Then the fleet would be divided into two, one part would sail to the Port of Murmansk in the Soviet Union; the other part would stay in Reykjavik first, and then go to Belfast in Ireland and Fort William in Scotland in batches.

The reason for this arrangement is that the Port of Belfast and Fort William are under the control of German aircraft, and now the nights there are only long and the days are short, not reaching the level of "polar night". If the Americans do not want their ships to be sunk in the port by the German remote-controlled gliding bombs, they can only sail according to the weather - sail into the Port of Belfast and Fort William when the weather is not good.

Of course, "sailing according to the weather" is only a stopgap measure. The list of goods shipped to the UK this time includes a large amount of high-octane aviation fuel and P-38, P51 and P47 fighters that have just begun to equip the US military.

As long as these fighters are deployed in place, even if they cannot regain air supremacy over the entire battlefield, they are still enough to cover the two ports of Belfast and Fort William.

Therefore, this NR21 fleet can be said to be extremely critical to the ongoing European war.

Considering the capabilities of the German spy network and the efficiency of German reconnaissance submarines, the probability of the NR21 fleet not being discovered by the Germans is almost zero. Therefore, there is no other way to ensure the safety of the fleet, but to send out the main fleet to escort it.

So Comrade Bulganin, an old generation of proletarian revolutionaries, can finally breathe a sigh of relief temporarily. At least before returning to New York victoriously from Murmansk, he does not have to worry about the GCist fighters being re-educated by capitalism.

However, when the Allied Atlantic Combined Fleet sailed towards the Arctic Circle route, Comrade Bulganin's headache appeared again.

This time, it was the "American Political Commissar" McCarthy who gave him a problem.

"What!? The pastor wants to board the Soviet ship? Absolutely not allowed!" Bulganin heard the request of Comrade McCarthy relayed by Gromyko, and almost immediately ordered the comrades of the Special Department to arrest him-the pastor is an anti-G revolutionary! How can anti-revolutionaries board Soviet ships? What are they trying to do? Are they openly promoting anti-revolutionary ideas?

"Comrade Political Commissar, it is necessary for the pastor to board the Soviet ship." McCarthy, a reactionary, was not afraid of Bulganin at all. Instead, he said confidently, "Because there is a high possibility of fighting during this voyage. Considering the strength of the German fleet, it is very likely that American or British ships will be sunk. If this happens, should Soviet ships participate in the rescue?"

"Of course we should participate in the rescue." Bulganin answered without hesitation.

Britain, the United States and the Soviet Union are allies now! How can we stand by and watch them die?

"Then what should we do if the wounded are seriously injured and difficult to treat?"

What to do? Die! Bulganin thought: Death is inevitable in war...

"What about the soul?" McCarthy asked with a smile. "What about the soul?

Soul?

This is a question that touches the soul!

When Bulganin heard the question translated by Gromyko, he was stunned for a moment and didn't know how to answer. As a materialist, Comrade Bulganin certainly did not admit that the soul is immortal after death. This is feudal superstition!

But Americans believe it!

McCarthy had a sacred and inviolable expression on his face, as if he was a priest, and said: "The body dies, but the soul is immortal. The priest can guide the soul of the dead to ascend to heaven and return to the almighty God."

"But we Bolsheviks do not believe in God and the immortality of the soul!" Bulganin pointed out calmly.

McCarthy shrugged and said: "Comrade Political Commissar, I know you are atheists, so the priests on the Soviet ships will not preach to the Soviet sailors. You can be absolutely assured of this."

Can you be assured?

At this moment, Gromyko suddenly remembered something and whispered to Bulganin: "Comrade Political Commissar, our people may also board British and American ships! And... the medical ships following the fleet are all American ships!"

Of course, the Soviet Atlantic Fleet also had a hospital ship that went to New York, but Admiral Ingersoll, commander of the Allied Combined Fleet, found during his inspection that the equipment on the Soviet medical ship was too poor and the medicines were insufficient. So he immediately asked for improvements - of course, the United States helped to improve it and put the equipment and medicines on the Soviet medical ship.

This is a good thing, so Bulganin did not refuse. But the modification of the medical ship takes some time, so there is no medical ship among the Soviet ships that are attacking now...

Gromyko said again: "Comrade Political Commissar, our political cadres must board the American medical ship to prevent American pastors from poisoning the hearts of the martyrs who are about to die."

Bulganin has a headache! How can a joint operation cause so many troubles? First, they were bombed by sugar-coated bullets in New York, and finally they went out to sea, and then the problem of the soul came... If he did not agree to the American pastor boarding the Soviet ship, then the Soviet political workers would probably not be able to board the American ship. In this way, the Soviet martyrs may be "supercharged" to heaven by American pastors.

This involves the principle of no immortality, and it might lead to a wrong line!

Bulganin did not dare to make a decision on his own, and could only send a telegram to ask Comrade Stalin in Moscow.

...

When Bulganin's telegram was sent to the Kremlin, Comrade Stalin was annoyed about the Ukrainian affairs.

It turned out that at the beginning of the muddy season, the Supreme Command headed by Stalin took it for granted that the German army would stop the offensive - in fact, this judgment was not entirely wrong, and Germany did stop the offensive on the Belarusian battlefield. The world's most powerful armored force stopped near the border before the Soviet-Polish War in 1939. So the Red Army Supreme Command drew troops from Ukraine and Belarus to strengthen the Kalinin Front to ensure that the front could launch the Leningrad Relief War in December.

However, it was not expected that the German Wehrmacht, which was reorganized from the Ukrainian Defense Force, launched an offensive in the muddy season, which caught the Southwestern Front off guard. The commander of the front, Timoshenko, has been dismissed and investigated for losing territory one after another, and his rank of marshal has also been lost. He is undergoing a deep inspection in the small black room of the General Political Department in Moscow these two days.

However, Timoshenko's inspection could not stop the enthusiasm of the Ukrainians to regain their homeland, and there were actually many reactionaries in Ukraine who cooperated with the Ukrainian puppet army of Germany, provided them with various logistical assistance, and even directly participated in the battle, so the situation on the Ukrainian battlefield was still a mess!

But Stalin now has no way to withdraw too many troops to support Ukraine. Because the muddy season has passed, the muddy ground in Belarus has begun to freeze, which is conducive to the advancement of mechanized troops, so the Minsk-Smolensk line must be strengthened.

And the operation to rescue Leningrad is also imminent, and it is impossible not to fight. More than 2 million people in Leningrad are starving! If the siege is not rescued as soon as possible, even if you have a Leningrad household registration, you may betray the revolution. There will be big trouble at that time!

Therefore, Stalin could only issue a strict order to the new Southwestern Front Commander Lieutenant General Kostenko and Military Commissar Burmistenko, asking them to keep Kiev and Nikolayev at all costs, and to ensure that the German army did not cross the Dnieper River.

"Comrades, do you think the US's request is reasonable?" Stalin took out Bulganin's telegram at the Political Bureau meeting, "Can we allow religious activities to resume on Soviet territory?"

Navy ships are floating land. If American pastors can hold religious ceremonies on Soviet naval ships, it means that religious activities have returned to the Soviet Union after many years.

But today Stalin specifically mentioned "Soviet territory", which obviously has other intentions!

The Political Bureau members present and the senior generals attending the meeting can all hear a little bit of the secret. However, this issue is too sensitive, and no one dares to say anything.

"I think it's possible!" Stalin glanced around the conference room with a sharp gaze, and then said lightly, "Although we Bolsheviks do not believe in religion, there are still many people who believe in religion in the Soviet Union, including many working people. Therefore, religious belief is a force that can be used by us, and it may also be used by the Russian traitor Empress Olga. And my opinion is that we should unite all the forces that can be united! Including Americans and Soviets who believe in God."