Iron Cross

Unlike the Eastern countries, the Russian People's Liberation Army claims to be sworn in with the Bolsheviks. The Eastern countries at most want to dig up some territory and wealth, but the Russian People's Liberation Army wants to dig out the Bolsheviks at their roots - this leaves Stalin with no room for compromise. , we can only bite the bullet and fight. The problem is that the current headquarters of the Russian Liberation Army is clearly located in Rostov. The high-flying flag seems to be mocking the incompetence of the Red Army. How can this not make him angry and annoyed?

"Comrade Stalin, I have the latest situation to report to you." Hearing the voice behind him, Stalin knew that it was Molotov who was coming. He sighed, motioned for the other party to sit down, and waited patiently for the other party to speak.

"The current situation has changed dramatically. The British submitted a note to us after suffering heavy setbacks in the campaigns in North Africa and the Middle East: First, because they need to make up for their own losses, they will reduce the support of heavy equipment, especially aircraft, tanks, and anti-aircraft guns. The Americans are responsible for filling the required gaps; secondly, the current situation in the Persian war is very unoptimistic. The 10th Army commanded by General Wilson is retreating steadily and is likely to suffer a complete defeat. They are eager for us to launch an offensive in the direction of northern Persia. , to contain the German power; third, the JW-51 fleet will set off from Iceland on January 26 to deliver supplies to us. There are a total of 13 transport ships, but there are only 90 tanks and 67 aircraft on them, and none of them are The latest models, others are mainly logistics supplies and industrial products, without any fuel; fourth, Britain's oil source has been cut off by Germany, and the UK requires us to carry fuel on the RA fleet returning empty ships in the future to make up for the gap. "Molotov's mood was obviously not high, and this note obviously made him very angry.

The Arctic route generally refers to Iceland to Arkhangelsk in the Soviet Union. The code of the fleet departing from Iceland is PQ, and the code departing from the Soviet Union is QP. PQ has been numbered until 18. Due to the heavy losses of PQ-17, the corresponding code was later Changed to JW and RA respectively. In real history, the JW-51 fleet set out from Iceland to the Soviet Union at the end of 1942. However, due to the misappropriation and delay of materials by the British, the JW-51 fleet not only departed a month late, but also reduced the scale of transportation. . In fact, Churchill even wanted to hand over the JW-51 supply task directly to the Americans, but the situation in the Middle East was tight. He expected the Red Army to help him at a critical moment. In order to convince the Russians to work hard, he had no choice but to bite the bullet and hand over the JW-51 to the Americans. 51 was sent out, and the tanks loaded on them were all M3 Stuarts, General Grants, etc., and the aircraft were basically Hurricanes. He was not willing to give one of the latest Spitfire 9s.

"What do you think?"

"Although it is very unsatisfactory, there is no doubt that the British are telling the truth." Molotov pondered for a while and did not choose to add fuel to the fire. Instead, he said frankly, "The British Eighth Army lost 300,000 troops, and the Tenth Army lost 10 It seems that the 10,000 troops cannot be saved. The British army is already small. After losing these 400,000 troops, I think they urgently need to rebuild 5-6 armored divisions. The British ambassador bluntly stated that he is asking the United States. Instead of forcing them to provide equipment that is not in line with the times, it is better to rely on American products. At the same time, it is reasonable to ask us to provide oil. The major crude oil producing areas in the Middle East are now controlled by the Germans..."

"But where is the aid from the Americans?" Stalin's face was very unhappy, and his voice suddenly raised an octave, "The Persian route is blocked, and the Arctic route cannot send much stuff because of the British's own needs. I can do all of this. I understand Churchill, but what’s going on with the Americans? The supplies and help they promised have not been delivered since November. Are they going to let American supplies fly over now?”

"The Americans have stated that they will increase transportation efforts on the Far East route - now that the main force of the Japanese navy is not in the Pacific, they think it will be safer, although it is a bit far away."

"It's not just a little bit, it's a lot! If you include the days of departure from the US port for the Pacific route, it will take at least 2 months to finally get it to us."

"The U.S. Ambassador said that in order to make up for it, the United States is going to send three months of supplies at once - to make up for the debt that was promised to us in November but has not been fulfilled at once. The size of the fleet will exceed 40 transport ships, and the transportation will be completed. After that, all these ships will belong to us.”

"What's the price?" Contrary to Molotov's expectation, Stalin did not react with much joy, but directly asked other questions.

"Well..." Molotov hesitated, "They want us to send troops to the Middle East to attack the Germans - at least to drive the German troops out of Iraq and Persia, and not to let the Germans get oil comfortably."

"Now that you have finally remembered this?" Stalin said unhappily, "You want to use these supplies to make us work for them? Do you know what Comrade Konstantin and Vasilevsky's attitudes are towards this matter? "

Molotov remained silent. The latter two had repeatedly stated in previous meetings that it was not feasible for the Red Army to launch a large-scale offensive in the Middle East - the weak logistics supply support system simply could not support a large army operation, and with the same number of people Even with slightly more troops, the Red Army is no match for the German army at all, unless it can bring the Turks in.

There was an embarrassing silence in the office. After a long time, Molotov heard Stalin speak slowly and in a very soft voice: "How is the contact with the Bulgarians? What kind of armistice does Hitler want?" condition?"

At this time, Molotov realized that Comrade Stalin summoned him today for this matter. He hesitated and said: "According to the opinions conveyed by Bulgarian Tsar Boris III, the price of the Germans is very high: first, we must recognize it unconditionally. The independence of those 'Eastern countries'; the second requirement is that we compensate 100 billion Reichsmarks for military expenses, which can be offset with precious metals, agricultural products, minerals and oil; the third requirement is that we retreat 400 kilometers back from the existing actual military demarcation line, Give these places, along with the territory already occupied by the German army, to the Russian Liberation Army and establish an independent country - as for the land we lost, the Germans encouraged us to attack Afghanistan and India and gain land from there to make up for it.”

After saying this, Molotov raised his head cautiously, fearing that the supreme leader would be furious and take his anger out on him.

As a result, Stalin fell silent again. He was obviously thinking about some issues. It took a long time before he was heard to speak: "Continue to negotiate with the Bulgarians: We can admit the first point - these countries joined the Soviet Union later anyway. ; We cannot admit the third article. We suggest that the land of the Russian people should still be returned to us. As a concession, we can increase the compensation to 200 billion imperial marks and promise that our deployed troops west of the current front will be less than 1 million in the future; as for the Russian Liberation Army... …”

As soon as he said these words, he immediately put on a ferocious face and said with gritted teeth: "They are our sworn enemies, and they will never be allowed to appear on Russian soil. Didn't Hitler lay down many enemies in Africa?" Big territory? Can they be moved there - if the Germans really like them that much."

"Comrade Stalin?" Molotov felt that he could no longer keep up with the supreme leader.

"Why, do you think I have betrayed the party and the country by surrendering?" Stalin cast a sidelong glance, which made even veteran Molotov shudder.

"That's not what I meant, I meant...meaning..." He stuttered several times, failing to complete the words that followed "I mean...".

"I know what you are thinking." Stalin sighed and put on a pleasant expression, "I have no choice but to do it. In my position, I must plan for the long-term interests of the party and the country. Do you think Britain and the United States will win in the end?"

"This..." Molotov hesitated. It was difficult to answer this question.

"You can't answer it, can you? In fact, I can't answer it either." Stalin smiled bitterly, "Whether it is in terms of production, navy, resources, or population, the Allies are firmly ahead of the Germans, but why are they always being criticized? Fighting under pressure? There must be a reason, which is that our understanding of war is not in place and our tactics and strategies are not in place. We urgently need a chance to make adjustments. If the Germans can win the final victory, then make peace now. It will definitely be much better than being forced to sign an alliance in the future; if the Americans can achieve final victory, then why should we be afraid of signing such a clause now? Comrade Lenin resolutely signed the "Bulletin" with Germany under tremendous pressure from the entire party? I didn’t understand the Treaty of Leicester, and even expressed my fierce opposition. I probably don’t need to explain how the situation developed later. Now the same situation is before us again, but Comrade Lenin is no longer here. You said, What should I do? Should I escape or take over this important task? Moreover, the Americans have repeatedly asked the Germans to surrender unconditionally. Don’t you think there is a big problem? This means that we should shed blood!”

"You are recognized by the whole party and the people of the country as the most outstanding, wise and greatest leader, the most loyal successor of Comrade Lenin, and the only hope to lead us to victory. Now that Comrade Lenin is no longer here, your opinions will naturally be the most important. allow."

Stalin did not answer the question - he had heard this kind of flattery many times. He was obviously not in the mood to enjoy such explicit flattery at this time. After thinking about it for a while, he added: "Contact the U.S. Ambassador immediately. If the U.S. If I can convince Turkey to join the Allied camp, or at least make Turkey promise to provide us with the logistics and supplies we need for combat, I am willing to dispatch a front army of at least 500,000 people to fight in the Middle East. Otherwise, the most I can do is ensure that North Persia is not occupied by the Germans. ”

"I understand, I'll do it immediately."