The Rise of the Third Reich

"Comrade General Secretary, the situation in Leningrad is still very critical. The German troops have not withdrawn from the city. The south of Leningrad is still controlled by the German troops, and the Red October Railway has not been restored to traffic.

Moreover, the intelligence department also reported that the Polish reactionary military group headed by Sikorski defected to the German emperor under the pretext of the Katyn Forest incident and was appointed commander of the Polish Army. It is estimated that he will soon lead the Polish army into our territory to fight. It is very likely that Used on the Leningrad battlefield as cannon fodder. At that time, the Germans may use the Polish White Army to carry out offensive operations.

In addition, the Empress of Belarus is now stationed in Tsarskoe Selo on the outskirts of Leningrad, where at least 400,000 bad elements expelled from Leningrad are gathered..."

The person who was reporting to Stalin was Zhdanov, secretary of the Leningrad Region and City. He was also a member of the Political Bureau and the Military Commissar of the Leningrad Front. The decision to expel hundreds of thousands of people from Leningrad to save food rations was made by him and seemed very necessary at the time. But now there are serious sequelae... Leningrad has become a city for the families of communists.

But the families of communists cannot live in a big city like Leningrad! They had to leave, to distant Siberia or Central Asia.

In the Soviet Union, moving the residence registration from the second capital to Siberia was definitely a severe punishment.

"The population of Leningrad must be evacuated immediately," Stalin immediately made a decision, "because the city is likely to be surrounded again! In addition, many factories in Leningrad must also be evacuated to Siberia."

The evacuation plan that Stalin is talking about now actually has little to do with the changes in the composition of Leningrad citizens. Not only Leningrad must be evacuated, but Kharkiv and Donetsk, and indeed Moscow must also be evacuated. A large number of people will be relocated, and a large number of factories will be relocated.

These are all necessary measures for the Soviet Union to persist in a long-term war!

In addition, taking advantage of this opportunity to evacuate the population in the western region, the pace of construction in Siberia and Central Asia can also be accelerated. The State Planning Commission is making plans to build a large number of factories in Siberia and Central Asia. Litvinov, the ambassador to the United States, has received instructions to begin negotiations with the United States on the issue of "leasing" machinery and equipment.

Of course, the families of communists who moved out of Leningrad were different from those who were evacuated from Moscow. They have no chance to return to Leningrad... When the war is over, the Soviet government will move people from other places to Leningrad.

After all, the glorious second capital of the Soviet Union cannot accommodate so many family members of communists - and they are not ordinary family members of communists, but family members of White Russians!

After hearing Stalin's order, Zhdanov said with some embarrassment: "Comrade General Secretary... the situation in Leningrad is very delicate now, and people's hearts are floating. I am worried that a sudden evacuation of the population may cause chaos."

"Confusion?" Stalin seemed not to understand, "What chaos?"

"Riot!" Zhdanov gritted his teeth and said, "Some people may resist the relocation!"

There are 300,000 armed family members of communists in Leningrad...and this is not the worst!

“In addition, during the siege of Leningrad, the Leningrad internal affairs department also uncovered many treason cases!” Zhdanov said, “Some unsteady Leningrad militiamen or cadres attempted to defect, and some Some people secretly communicated with Belarus outside the city."

"Didn't these people all be arrested and shot?" Stalin knew these things. The Leningrad Siege was a very desperate thing, and many people did not stand the test. Some people sneaked out of Leningrad and defected to Belarus, while others secretly communicated with Belarus outside the city and prepared to act as internal agents.

The dispatched agency of the NKVD in Leningrad did not betray the trust of the party and the people. During the days when the city was under siege, it cracked more than ten cases of terrorist groups and tens of thousands of people were shot. They They are all communists, not suspects, so they should be shot instead of deported!

But people who know something about the Soviet Union's troubles all know that the Soviet NKVD has always focused only on quantity and not quality when it comes to capturing communists.

Therefore, many of the people who were shot were not at all. At the same time, there were many real elements lurking in the city of Leningrad, panicking all day long.

"The principle of our party has always been to never wrong a good person and never spare a bad person!" After understanding that "there are no good people" in Leningrad, Stalin explained the party's policy while smoking his pipe.

"However, we still need to talk about some struggle strategies. We cannot push all the enemies to a dead end at the same time." Stalin frowned and said, "In Leningrad, we should first concentrate our efforts on attacking a small group, so that we can defeat them. The enemy's leadership core can also deter other reactionaries with evil intentions, so as long as they are afraid, the next step of relocating the population will be easier."

The method he mentioned is actually very simple, it is just like carrying out a big purge. The Great Purge is not a one-time “wash”, but a gradual process. Each time a small part is washed away, a target is usually set in advance, such as 5%, so that most people will take chances and become extremely compliant. After several 5% cleanings, the enemies that were wanted to be eliminated were almost wiped out.

Oh, actually it wasn’t completely wiped out! Because of the Great Patriotic War... Because of the losses in 1942 and the huge losses that are happening now, the Soviet Red Army is now in desperate need of replenishing its men and officers.

Therefore, the political requirements for the Red Army officers and soldiers are also declining. Many communists who should have rotted in the labor camps are now recruited into the Red Army and given the opportunity to start a new life.

Of course, not all of the 300,000 armed communist families in Leningrad can be sent to Siberia.

"The militiamen in Leningrad City will be mobilized in batches and dispersed into various units of the Red Army." Stalin continued. "This work should be completed before the *** elements are eliminated."

First transfer the troops that may be infiltrated by communist elements, and then carry out the elimination of counter-revolutionaries... Stalin's art of struggle is still very clever.

After arranging the smooth counter-revolutionary work, Stalin began to discuss with his comrades in the Supreme Command the military issues that troubled him - the *** elements in Leningrad were easy to deal with, but the ones outside Leningrad The Germans and Belarus are not easy to deal with.

"Comrade Zhukov, tell me what you think." Stalin named Zhukov. The former commander of the Kalinin Front had replaced the weak Shaposhnikov as the chief of general staff of the Red Army a few days ago. And Shaposhnikov was changed to Deputy People's Commissar of Defense and Dean of the General Staff Military Academy...actually just an idle job.

"Okay." Zhukov stood up and walked to a large map that took up almost an entire wall. Then he took the long pointer from a staff officer and pointed at Leningrad-Smolensk on the map. First-line areas.

"Comrade General Secretary," Zhukov said, "the current situation on the Soviet-German battlefield is that the German army is concentrating its forces to attack our Southwest Front Army, and at the same time our Central Front Army, Leningrad Front Army and Kalinin Front Army (the commander is Fedyuninsky) It faces less pressure and is still at a comparative advantage on certain battlefields.”

As the main target of the 1st Panzer Army (reinforced by the 2nd, 24th and 60th Panzer Corps) shifted to left bank Ukraine, the Soviet Southwest Front was now under extreme pressure.

At the same time, Germany's armored clusters in the center and north became weaker. The 3rd Panzer Army and the 4th Panzer Army used in the center had only 3 armored corps in total (5 armored divisions plus 5 panzergrenadier divisions).

Near Leningrad on the northern route, the German Army Group Northern did not even have a German armored division. There were only 3 Panzergrenadier divisions, 1 Hungarian armored division and some Belarusian armored units.

Zhukov continued: "Because the enemy's central and northern roads have been weakened, the Kalinin Front still controls part of the Pskov-Velkoluki railway line. The Central Front also still controls the city of Smolensk and is in There was a fierce battle with the main force of the German center army."

"That means we can fight a battle to annihilate the main force of the German army near Leningrad or Smolensk?" Stalin suddenly became more energetic after hearing Zhukov's introduction.

"It is impossible to annihilate the main force of the German army," Zhukov would not follow Stalin's intention, "because our Kalinin Front, Leningrad Front and the Central Front do not have many tank troops."

This statement vaguely blames Stalin, because it was Stalin who constantly transferred tank armies from the north and center to fight the joint battle.

"Moreover, the Germans also have overwhelming air superiority, which greatly limits our army's offensive operations." Zhukov said, "So the success we were able to achieve around Smolensk and Leningrad was to defeat the enemy. Force a retreat to relieve the crisis in Leningrad and Moscow.”

Stalin nodded repeatedly. Zhukov's proposal this time was very much in line with his wishes. Because the crisis in left-bank Ukraine will not immediately threaten the Bolshevik Party's rule in the Soviet Union. The crises in Leningrad and Moscow could lead to the demise of the Bolshevik Party.

As long as the Bolshevik Party is not in danger of national subjugation, the Soviet Union will have a bargaining chip at the Swiss negotiation table.

"Comrade Zhukov, how do you plan to push back the German troops around Leningrad and Smolensk?" Stalin asked with interest.

"First launch a feint attack into the Baltic territory, and then concentrate our forces to attack the German Army Group Northern around Leningrad." Zhukov said, "As long as we can repel Army Group Northern, then the German troops that broke into Smolensk will The armored group would become isolated and its logistics would become difficult (since rail transport would not be restored), and a retreat from the vicinity of Smolensk would become inevitable."