Chapter 823 Stalin Is Unhappy

If we lose either Leningrad or Moscow, we will be in big trouble. If we lose both, it will definitely be the end of the Red Soviet Union!

There is no disagreement among the people attending the enlarged meeting of the Political Bureau. The main content to be studied at today's enlarged meeting of the Political Bureau is, of course, how to break the siege of Leningrad and defeat the enemy who is trying to invade Moscow.

"Comrade Pavlov, Comrade Shaposhnikov, please tell us about the battle plan." Stalin raised his hand and pointed to the large military map hanging on the wall of the conference room - this is the situation map of the entire Soviet-German battlefield.

From the situation map, the situation faced by the Soviet Union in April 1943 in this time and space seems to be much better than the same period in history.

First of all, the Soviet Union did not lose a large area of ​​land. Compared with August 1939 before the start of the world war, the Soviet Union had almost lost no land. Now the main battle line of the Soviet and German armies is unfolding along the Soviet border in August 1939.

On the central battlefield, the German army occupied Western Belarus, which was originally part of Poland. The frontiers of both sides are currently on the Minsk-Pinsk line (north-south direction) and the border between Eastern Belarus and the Baltic States (east-west direction). Moreover, the German army has been on the defensive in Belarus since the muddy season arrived last autumn, which seems to be a bit of a stop.

On the Ukrainian battlefield on the southern front, the German offensive lasted throughout the autumn and winter until the German army completely occupied Kiev. However, the German army had no intention of crossing the Dnieper River. Even when the Dnieper River was frozen and the defense on the east bank was quite empty, the Germans did not cross the river in large numbers (of course there were small-scale fire reconnaissance). The German goal in Ukraine seems to be only to obtain the right bank of Ukraine, which was originally part of Poland.

The only place where the German army crossed the Soviet border in August 1939 was near Leningrad, and it also surrounded Leningrad. However, the Germans did not intend to attack Leningrad, but only besieged it, as if they wanted to force the heroic people of Leningrad to surrender by starvation.

Of course...it is also possible that the siege is just a bargaining chip!

To be honest, even the far-sighted Stalin is now confused about the real purpose of the Germans.

Because the Germans did not invade on a large scale, and agreed to hold secret talks with the Soviet Union, and also put forward conditions - the Soviet-Polish and Soviet-Finnish borders in August 1939 in Belarus and the Baltic Sea coast would be the Soviet border, and the entire Ukraine would be handed over to German management.

The conditions were of course unacceptable, but the Germans' ambitions seemed to be exposed. They only wanted Ukraine at most, and did not think about destroying the entire Soviet Union.

But at the same time, the Germans supported the former Russian Empress Olga...

So the Soviet Bolshevik Party and Government Z Bureau studied for a long time and finally came to a conclusion that seemed to be the closest to reality - there were huge differences within Germany on whether to destroy the Soviet Union.

The Junker officer group headed by Imperial Marshal Hersmann and Imperial Marshal Schleicher may not be willing to destroy the Soviet Union. Most of them were friends of the Soviet Union before June 1942, and they also gained great benefits from Soviet-German cooperation and Soviet-German trade.

The German right-wing scab forces represented by Nazi leader Hitler obviously hate the Soviet Union extremely. Although these people also use the banner of socialism, their hatred for the Soviet Union even exceeds that of the greedy capitalists!

"According to the judgment of the Supreme Command, the goal of the German Nazi imperialist group in 1943 will be to seize the entire Ukraine, seize Leningrad and Warsaw through a long siege, and advance to Moscow in the middle, but will not launch an attack on Moscow..."

Marshal Pavlov first introduced the Supreme Command's judgment on the German intentions. Among them, the judgment of seizing the entire Ukraine is based on the secret talks between the Soviet Union and Germany. Germany... At least the goal of the German Junker Group is Ukraine, which is very clear. Then what they can't get at the negotiating table may be seized by military means, which is also the practice of the Junker officer group.

And it is certain that the isolated city of Warsaw will be seized by siege, and there is no need to say more. As for the gains and losses of Leningrad, in Stalin's view, it is likely to determine Germany's policy towards the Soviet Union. If Leningrad eventually becomes "Her Majesty's loyal Petrograd", then the demise of the Soviet Union may become Germany's national policy!

On the contrary, the people of Leningrad would rather starve to death than surrender, and the great Soviet Red Army lifted the siege of Leningrad in time, then the Germans would fully realize the invincible resistance will of the Soviet people.

As for the judgment that Germany would advance to Moscow in the middle but would not capture Moscow, it was made by Pavlov and Shaposhnikov after carefully studying the previous battles of the German army.

The German army now rarely attacks fortified cities. Warsaw is under siege, Leningrad is also under siege, and Minsk is simply ignored. In the Battle of Poland and the Battle of the Western Front, the German army almost had no examples of attacking heavily fortified cities. Pavlov and Shaposhnikov both believed that the German army seemed to be afraid of the huge casualties that might be caused by attacking fortified cities.

The only exception was the Battle of Kiev, which was heavily guarded. But the German troops attacking Kiev were mostly Western Ukrainians from Lviv, not Germans. No matter how heavy their casualties were, it would not harm the Germans, but would be beneficial to the Germanization of the entire Right Bank Ukraine and Western Ukraine...

Marshal Pavlov continued, "Therefore, after research by the People's Commissariat of Defense and the General Staff, it was believed that in 1943 the Red Army should adopt a deep defense posture east of the Dnieper River to deal with the large-scale offensive that the German army might launch. At the same time, the Kalinin Front should be strengthened, and the second Leningrad Relief Campaign should be launched with this front as the main force.

In the middle, fewer troops can be used for defense, and fortifications should be built near the city of Moscow."

"Build fortifications near the city of Moscow?" Stalin suddenly interrupted Pavlov, "Is this necessary?"

"Comrade General Secretary, this is just a preventive measure," Pavlov explained immediately, " It was also a strategy to deter the Germans. As long as the German High Command knew that Moscow was a strong city, it would not easily march towards Moscow..."

"Why can't we stop them in Minsk and Smolensk?" Stalin took a few puffs of his pipe, his face darkened a little. "Since last June, when we anticipated that Germany would invade and launched a preemptive attack, we have been mobilizing and transferred hundreds of thousands of troops back from the Far East. Isn't there enough force to stop Germany far away from Moscow?"

Now the vigorous world revolution has become...preventive preemptive, and the Soviet-German War has also turned into a great patriotic war.

While the propaganda caliber was gradually changing, the Soviet government was also doing its best to expand the Red Army. Because the German army did not penetrate deep into the Soviet hinterland and occupy large areas of densely populated land. Therefore, the Soviet government has more favorable conditions than in history in mobilizing and expanding the army. In addition, the United States also provided a large amount of assistance to help the Soviet Red Army recover quickly.

So by the spring of 1943, the Red Army was even stronger than when the World Revolution broke out in June 1942... no, it should be the Preventive Patriotic War. The Red Army's troops on paper had long exceeded 12 million, and it had organized more army groups, corps and divisions, and the scale of its mechanized forces was also larger.

Moreover, the Red Army's tank forces were now equipped with a small number of KV-85 heavy tanks that were enough to fight Tiger tanks, and the number of T-34/57s was increasing, and they had already formed a scale.

The Soviets also borrowed the idea of ​​Germany using tank chassis to produce turretless assault guns/tank destroyers, and in late 1942 and early 1943, they produced two powerful self-propelled artillery, SU-122 and SU-85.

After the thawing of the port of Vladivostok, the Americans transported 500 M4 medium tanks, 500 M10 tank destroyers, 300 M7 self-propelled artillery and tens of thousands of various models of cars to the Soviet Union through the North Pacific route. Now all these American-aided weapons and equipment have arrived in Moscow and distributed to several newly built tank armies.

However, the Red Army has not become stronger in all aspects than before June 1942, and the strength of the Red Air Force is now a bit weak.

Because after the muddy season last autumn, the battle between the German Air Force and the Red Air Force is still going on fiercely. In addition, the German Air Force also adopted the "fuel tank tactics" on the Eastern Front, using the long range and excellent low-altitude maneuverability and ground attack capabilities of the Fokker Zero D series to severely repair the "short-legged" Soviet fighters. The Soviet Red Air Force suffered heavy losses in the past few months and lost a large number of excellent pilots.

However, Stalin still believed that the Red Army was strong enough to defend the enemy outside the country, so there was no need to take actions in Moscow that might shake the people's hearts. For example, mobilizing millions of people to dig trenches and repair trenches outside the city... This almost admitted that Moscow would be attacked and the Red Army was retreating on the front line!

"And we should also defend the Dnieper River line," Stalin then mentioned the Ukrainian battlefield, "Comrade Pavlov, I noticed that you mentioned deep defense, I think you know what that means?"

"Comrade General Secretary, this..." Pavlov gritted his teeth and said, "Our strength may not be enough to defend the Dnieper River, we need to exchange space for defense..."

"Defend where?" Stalin seemed very unhappy, "Are we going to fight the Germans in the Donetsk industrial area and Kharkov? Is that the place to fight? If Kharkov and Donetsk fall or are bombed to the ground by artillery, how much steel, coal, and electricity will we lose... Do you know this?"