Chapter 885 Is Stalin Going to Step Down?

Stalin's orders seemed to be contradictory. On the one hand, he ordered Zhukov to save the imperiled Leningrad at all costs; on the other hand, he ordered Pavlov to prepare to defend Moscow, and said "Moscow cannot become the second Leningrad"... This obviously meant that Leningrad had already fallen!

"Dmitri Grigorievich, what do you think Comrade General Secretary thinks about the fall of Leningrad?"

In the operations room of the Supreme Command, Zhukov, who was a little confused, first sent all the staff out, and then asked Pavlov in a low voice.

"Leningrad can't be defended..." Pavlov also answered in the same inaudible voice, "But no one can order the abandonment of the second capital."

In terms of the ability to understand the intentions of his superiors, Zhukov is really not as good as Pavlov. What he couldn't understand after thinking about it was pointed out by Pavlov in one sentence.

Now is not the time to consider whether Leningrad can be defended, but to consider who will take the blame.

Stalin could not bear the blame, so he was unwilling to order the abandonment of Leningrad.

Zhukov nodded: "I understand, the 6th Tank Army and..."

Pavlov waved his hand to interrupt Zhukov and said: "George Konstantinovich, when it comes to commanding a large army and a decisive battle with the German army, my ability is far inferior to yours. Comrade General Secretary is very clear about this, so he asked you to go to Kalinin instead of Leningrad. I am now only responsible for the work of building the outer defense line of Moscow. In the future, the person who will command the defense of Moscow will definitely be you."

This is actually telling Zhukov that he will not be blamed for Leningrad, because Stalin still needs him to defend Moscow.

Zhukov exhaled lightly, and he also agreed with Pavlov's analysis. He thought: "Stalin must not want to sacrifice two precious tank armies in vain. The reason why he emphasized that all troops should be thrown in was just to show a gesture so that he could shirk responsibility. And the people who should be responsible for the changes in Leningrad are probably Vlasov, Kuznetsov and Abakumov..."

...

"Leningrad can't be defended! Now I have ruined the cause that Comrade Lenin left for us..."

This was the first sentence that Voroshilov, Zhdanov, Molotov, Kalinin, Mikoyan, Andreyev and other members of the Political Bureau in Moscow heard from Stalin after they hurried to the Kremlin.

"This is all my fault," Stalin said coldly, smoking his pipe, squinting his eyes, and looking at the people in the conference room. "I misjudged the situation and launched the world revolution at the wrong time. Moreover, I launched a large purge in the Red Army, causing the Red Army to lose a large number of experienced military strategists... So I should be responsible for the current failure, and I will resign from all my positions."

Ah! ! !

Stalin is going to resign?

Several members of the Political Bureau were dumbfounded.

Stalin's eyes slowly swept over several dumbfounded faces, and then he said coldly: "Before I officially resign from all my positions, I want to recommend Voroshilov, who has rich military experience, to replace me as the general secretary of the party."

Voroshilov, who was in a daze, almost fainted when he heard this. Voroshilov and Stalin have been comrades-in-arms for many years, and he still doesn't know what this gentleman is thinking?

Will he resign? Will he hand over power to others?

Dreaming?

This is a test! If you say something wrong, you will have to see Lenin!

"I can't do it, I don't have the ability, I can't fight..." Voroshilov immediately jumped up from his chair, shaking his head like a wave drum, "And this war was not fought well, I should bear the main responsibility. When the war broke out, I was the People's Commissar of Defense. It was all my fault. I will review to the Political Bureau and I will resign from all my positions."

Another resignation!

Stalin ignored Voroshilov and turned his attention to Zhdanov, the former Secretary of Leningrad State and Secretary of the City. He now handed over his work to Kuznetsov and went to Moscow to recuperate.

When Stalin glanced at him, he jumped up from his chair, "Comrade General Secretary, I should take the main responsibility for the crisis in Leningrad. It was because I didn't do a good job as a secretary... So I want to resign from all positions inside and outside the party."

Since he was going to resign, of course he couldn't take over as a great leader.

"Comrade Molotov... How about you lead the Soviet Union?"

"I, I can't do it. I can't even be the People's Commissar of Foreign Affairs..." Molotov also jumped up. Like the previous two, he first made a deep self-examination and then resigned.

"Then Comrade Kalinin, you can be the general secretary." Stalin asked the white-bearded grandfather Kalinin again.

Kalinin did not stand up immediately, because he could not stand up at all - not because he was scared by Stalin's proposal, but because he was really old and sick (he had cancer). He needed someone to support him when he came to the meeting. What kind of great leader was he? "Comrade Stalin," Kalinin said, although he was old and sick, his mind was very clear. He knew that he had to say a few fair words today. "As an old Bolshevik, I want to make a severe criticism of you!" Criticism? So bold! Everyone stared at Comrade Kalinin, waiting for him to criticize Stalin. Kalinin said: "Today you have destroyed the collective leadership system of the party. This is a serious mistake!"

Stalin nodded humbly, while the comrades continued to look at Grandpa Kalinin.

"As we all know, the Bolshevik Party is not a party with an arbitrary leader, but a party with a complete democratic process that can pool the wisdom of the entire party for major decisions." Kalinin continued in a hoarse voice, "So every member of the party Major decisions are the crystallization of the wisdom of the entire party and cannot be decided by any party leader alone. This is a system that has been created since the time of Lenin and has been well followed until today. But Comrade Stalin, you just said that. Violating this system, you took all the responsibility for the temporary military failure on yourself, as if you alone made all the major decisions of our party. This is a very wrong behavior that cannot be tolerated by all comrades in the party. behavior. Comrade Stalin, you must make a profound self-examination.”

high! It’s really high!

Several political bureau members looked at the senior Kalinin with admiration.

Stalin nodded very sadly and criticized himself: "Comrade Kalinin is right. I will review my mistakes."

Kalinin looked at the party's Organization Minister Andrepov again, "Comrade Andrepov, do you need to give Comrade Stalin a demerit?"

"Need..." Andrepov immediately continued, "Comrade Stalin, you are never allowed to resign again. This is something that all comrades in the party cannot allow."

Stalin once again said modestly: "I withdraw my resignation and I will not make the same mistake again in the future."

Now only Mikoyan, who is in charge of foreign trade, has not expressed his position, but no one thinks that he will oppose Stalin - he is also a revolutionary from Georgia, Stalin's fellow countryman and confidant.

"Comrades," Mikoyan spoke at this time, but he did not criticize Stalin anymore, "I suggest that the political situation conduct collective self-criticism on the current difficulties facing the party and the country."

This means that everyone has a responsibility, and everyone has a share in making mistakes along the line.

"agree!"

"agree!"

"I support Comrade Mikoyan's suggestion!"

"..."

The political bureau immediately held a vote and passed it unanimously!

"In addition," Mikoyan continued, "we should also try to negotiate peace with the enemy to prevent the glorious city of Leningrad from falling into the hands of the enemy. If necessary, we can consider ceding Eastern Ukraine and Eastern Belarus."

Now no one dared to take a stand immediately. Eastern Ukraine was too important to the Soviet Union as it was the center of the coal, steel and machinery industries.

If the Soviet Union loses Eastern Ukraine, it will be difficult for the Soviet Union to supply itself with coal. How can it have a strong industry?

"This is a difficult decision," Stalin said in a gloomy voice at this time, "but I believe that we have only temporarily lost Ukraine. As long as we can learn lessons and rearm our arms with the support of the United States, I believe we will recover soon. German imperialism will not stop its expansion after acquiring Ukraine and Belarus. They will also fight the United States, which will bring them huge losses and disasters. So in the near future, we will definitely do so. Recover all the lost ground... We must also carry out some necessary reforms, which is the key to the survival of the Bolshevik Party!"

Mikoyan's suggestion quickly turned into a resolution of the political situation, and on the morning of June 14, Hersman learned of the Soviet Union's latest peace conditions - Hersman's goal had been achieved!

But now he has no way to immediately propose an end to the war with the Soviet Union, because the chaos in Leningrad is still continuing and has signs of getting worse.

"Marshal Reich, if we can't take Leningrad, how about we agree to the Soviet Union's peace proposal?"

In the Ministry of Defense building at 73 Wilhelmstrasse in Berlin, Hitler, who was attending an emergency meeting of the headquarters, expressed his position at the beginning of the meeting.

"Okay." Hersman already knew Hitler's thoughts - it would be difficult for him to resist the temptation to disintegrate the Soviet Union, a huge fruit of victory.

"How is the Leningrad front now?" Hitler then asked, "Can it be taken?"

"It's not a big problem to capture the outer perimeter of Leningrad," Hersman said. "Last night, three more Soviet infantry regiments defected... Obviously, part of the Soviet army in Leningrad City is disintegrating. We don't know now. What's the situation in Leningrad?

However, on the Volkhov River battlefield southeast of Leningrad, the Soviet resistance remained tenacious. If we really want to fight the Soviet Union to the end, we must have plans for a two-front war and a protracted war. "