Iron Cross

"How is the British doing?"

"Very bad... Worse than we expected." Beria paused, "Two days ago, on January 13, Rommel, who had received reinforcements, continued to attack. Admiral Wilson's Indian troops were very weak. They had lost the Ahvaz oil fields and retreated to Isfahan in a hurry. The only good news is that the oil fields were destroyed by them. In addition, a German squadron landed in Abbas Port and occupied the port with the German airborne brigade. A group of oil tankers were intercepted on the way..."

"Why are these idiots... Don't sink the ship? Even if the port is blocked, it's fine. "

"All the oil on it is finished oil. The British rushed it from the Abadan refinery. The total amount is about 100,000 tons. They originally planned to sneak to India, but they didn't expect to encounter a German cruiser formation that came to land on the way. "Beria laughed dryly, "Now the crude oil supply bases in Britain are all occupied by the Germans, and the routes are blocked by the Japanese, so..."

"It's really a headache once the supply channel is cut off..." Stalin sighed, thinking of his own supply shortage problem, and sat down on the sofa dejectedly.

In fact, due to the rapid progress of the war in North Africa, the aid channel through Persia began to deteriorate from November. At first, Churchill only misappropriated key equipment, and various materials and raw materials were still available. After the joint fleet broke into the Indian Ocean, this channel was completely closed. After November, the Soviet Union only received more than 100 tanks and more than 200 aircraft. In December, this number dropped by more than half. Since last week, the Red Army's armored steel has been in short supply, and the Americans originally promised to help the Soviets fill this gap. When Stalin said this, he didn't know that the hundreds of thousands of pairs of leather boots and thousands of tons of canned food that should have been given to him had become the spoils of the Germans.

Due to the threat of the Tiger tank, the grassroots have been calling for a complete shutdown of the T-60\\T-70\\KV series production lines and full efforts to ensure the production of T-34. In view of the fact that performance cannot be considered only, a certain number must be achieved. In the end, Stalin did not agree to close the T-70 production line, but only agreed to close the T-60 and KV series production lines (KV-85 is only an emergency product), and concentrate on the production of T-70 and T-34. At the same time, in order to cope with combat emergencies, the production of SU-76 and SU-85 tank destroyers has been increased.

According to Stalin's requirements, the monthly output of T-34 should be no less than 1,500, the monthly output of T-70 should be no less than 500, and the tank destroyer should not be less than 500. At the same time, the trial production and improvement of other new models should not be delayed. However, in fact, the military industry department tried its best, and the monthly output of T-34 only reached more than 1,200, and the monthly output of T-70 barely exceeded 300. Even if the production of SU-76\\SU-85 was added, the total number did not exceed 2,000. On the one hand, the production of T-34 was expanding and recovering, and on the other hand, there was a shortage of various materials and supplies. Although they tried their best to make up for it by simplifying the process and lowering the standards, they still could not achieve the goal. In addition, the losses in the Battle of the Don River were considerable. By the beginning of January, the number of tanks in the Red Army had not increased significantly. Although the military industry department did not say it, Stalin knew it well: the current T-34 and the pre-war T-34 were completely different qualities. If even American armored steel could not be used, I am afraid that the quality and output would be even worse.

At this time, the monthly production of the German Type 4H tank had reached 1,200, the monthly production of the Type 3 assault gun and the Jagdpanzer was 700, and the monthly production of the T-34 in Skoda's hands had steadily exceeded 300, including repair and production. In terms of tank equipment, the German army not only had a quantitative advantage, but also a great quality advantage. If we consider that the later Type 3, which is superior to the T-70 in performance, is gradually withdrawing from the German army's equipment, it is easy to understand why the German army can always achieve a 1:6 or 1:5 result in the armored battle on the Eastern Front.

"Have you figured out the production volume of the Tiger tank?"

"Our comrades didn't get it, but the British and Americans passed on a piece of intelligence to us." Beria smiled awkwardly, "They estimated that the monthly production is between 150 and 170."

"So many?" Stalin was shocked, and then thought of the situation on the front line. Although he didn't want to believe it, he could only accept this fact.

"Do we have a chance to destroy those factories?"

"It's basically difficult. These factories are heavily guarded and well-defended, and it's difficult for outsiders to get in. And there are a lot of fake targets around. The US Air Force carried out targeted bombing on these factories and supporting factories. I heard that hundreds of planes were shot down in a few months, all heavy bombers." Beria showed a helpless expression, "Only once did a few bombs hit the target, and the Germans completely repaired it two days later."

Air raid!

This is the word Stalin is most reluctant to hear at the moment. The General Staff has warned more than once that Baku may be bombed by German planes. This has become the biggest hidden danger in his mind-without American armored steel, the T-34 will be less in quantity and worse in quality. If there is no oil in Baku, half of the Soviet energy sources will be gone.

"I know everything you reported. Pay close attention to all movements in the direction of Turkey. Persia can be solved by military means, and Turkey must rely on political means. Now call Comrades Molotov and Zhukov over."

"Comrade Constantine, can we launch a large-scale offensive in Persia to drive away the Germans?" As soon as Zhukov came in, Stalin asked him a difficult question.

Zhukov thought about it carefully and shook his head: "I'm afraid it will be difficult."

"What do you need? Troops? Equipment? Aircraft? I can arrange all of these for you, and the troops on the Don River front line can also be withdrawn and arranged in this direction." Stalin said anxiously, "Now the Germans are holding their knives against us. The feeling in my stomach is worse than that of Rostov."

"Comrade Stalin, your judgment is correct, but it is really difficult militarily unless we can get help from Turkey." Zhukov walked to the map and explained it to Stalin in detail, "From the information I have, Iraq is currently The German commander in the Persian direction is Rommel. He now has 3 armored divisions and 2 paratrooper brigades - all very flexible and prestigious troops with strong combat effectiveness. At the same time, they are assisted by tens of thousands of Iraqi troops. , This means that the German army not only has a reliable rear, but also does not have to worry about its own logistical supplies. From the terrain point of view, most of the Middle East area west of Persia and the German army currently occupied is plains and deserts, which is very conducive to armored force operations, and where we are. The Transcaucasus and northern Persia are surrounded by mountains - the poor road system means that we cannot quickly deploy troops, and if we can only deploy light infantry divisions - they will not have too strong offensive capabilities. "

Facts have proved that Zhukov's judgment was correct. Although the decision to dispatch 150,000 troops to Persia was issued a week ago, so far, except for the original garrison when Persia was divided with the British army, the leading troops of the Red Army have just passed Taburi. Shi, it is still more than 500 kilometers away from Tehran and more than 800 kilometers away from the Ahvaz oil field group. If the German army stays around Ahvaz, the two sides may not be able to exchange fire by the end of this month.

"Is it feasible to attack Mosul first?" Stalin asked, pointing to the Mosul oil fields 350 kilometers southwest of Tabriz. "If we can occupy this place, we can basically achieve our goal."

"It is very difficult. There is a Viking division guarding it, and maybe an Italian paratrooper brigade and 10,000-20,000 Iraqi troops. We have to dispatch at least 60,000-70,000 troops and more than 300 tanks to have any hope. When these troops are in place, Germany Human reinforcements are coming again. The British and American estimates of the speed of German seaborne reinforcements through the Eastern Mediterranean are now 2 armored divisions or 4 infantry divisions per month." Zhukov said with a wry smile, "We once asked if we could interfere with or delay them. The United Kingdom and the United States expressed their inability to do anything. Malta now has too much to take care of itself, and the German troop mobilization does not necessarily have to take the Italian route. It can completely be shipped to Haifa in the Eastern Mediterranean through the Greek port for landing - taking this route is faster and more convenient than shipping from Italy. "

Stalin finally understood why Zhukov had been emphasizing the need for "Turkey's help" just now. If Turkey was on his side, it could use aircraft to bomb the German transport fleet departing from Greece, and at the same time, it could quickly obtain dozens or even millions of Turkish With the support of the army, they can use their superior strength to overwhelm the German forces in the direction of Mosul without fighting.

He turned around and asked Molotov: "How is the contact with Turkey through third-party channels? What conditions do they require before they are willing to join the war?"

The latter shook his head: "It's not ideal. The Turks ask for a high price - the north wants the territory of Transcaucasus, including our Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan, and the south wants the Mosul area."

There is no need to ask about such conditions. Stalin will definitely not agree. He is a Georgian. Did he wake up and become a Turkish citizen? Of course, Turkey also has its reasons. Turkey lost a large area of ​​territory in the previous Russian-Turkish wars, and it is right to find some back now.

"What do the Turks want to do? Have territorial ambitions for us?" Stalin sneered, "They are so overestimating their capabilities."

"Comrade Stalin, I think this actually means refusing to join us - just because we can't refuse." Molotov thought for a while, "The United States offered $500 million to buy Turkey's neutrality."

"Roosevelt is so generous. He would rather spend 500 million US dollars than send us more equipment." Stalin stared at Molotov, "Please contact the United Kingdom and the United States and be sure to increase the supply to us, otherwise the Soviets will It won’t be long.”

"In addition..." He turned to Zhukov and said, "Formulate a relatively reliable plan to see where our defense line in Persia is more suitable - to keep Baku no matter what."