Struggle in Soviet Russia

Pyongyang, on the banks of the Datong River, is the base of the Soviet Army Military Management Committee in Sinchang-ri.

In the temporary office on the second floor of the small building, Comrade Meretskov, who was sleeping soundly, was awakened by a sudden knock on the door. He turned on the lamp on the bedside table and glanced at the alarm clock. It was less than two o'clock in the morning.

"Boom boom boom..."

The knock on the door sounded again, and this time the rhythm of the sound seemed to be more rapid than before.

Without thinking about it, Meretskov hurriedly rolled over and sat up, went down to the ground with bare feet, and while reaching for the nightgown on the hanger, he raised his voice and said, "Come in!"

Recently, the situation in the Far East has been very tense. Although the soldiers at the grassroots level could not understand this tense atmosphere, as the supreme commander of the Soviet Army in the Far East, Comrade Meretskov is very clear that the alliance and the Conflict between Americans may break out at any time. Although such a conflict is unlikely to develop into a full-scale war, a local military confrontation is very likely.

It is precisely because of this that he moved the headquarters from the alliance to the Korean peninsula in order to control the situation here nearby. In addition, in order not to delay major events, even when he sleeps at night, the door will not be locked, so that his subordinates can wake him up at any time.

As Comrade Meretskov spoke, the door of the office was pushed open from the outside, and a major strode in from the outside.

Seeing that Comrade Meretskov was still wearing the straps on his nightgown, the major came straight to him, and while passing a message to Comrade Meretskov, he said: "Comrade Marshal, Petropav Emergency telegram from Lovesk."

Raising his head and glancing at the major, Comrade Meretskov took the telegram and sent it to him for a look.

Although Comrade Meretskov is not yet fifty years old, his eyes are not very good, mainly because the flowers are relatively strong. In the dim light of the office, he can't see clearly without glasses. content on the telegram.

Frowning, he walked quickly to his desk, found the pair of reading glasses, put them in front of his eyes, and read the contents of the telegram again.

As the major said, this telegram was indeed sent from the Petropavlovsk naval base. It was an emergency telegram. At the bottom of the telegram was the name signed by Colonel Ponomaryov, the commander of the naval base. As for the content of the telegram, it surprised Comrade Meretskov.

According to the telegram, just ten minutes ago, a submarine hunter of the Coast Defence Brigade was attacked by two U.S. B-25 "Mitchell" bombers in the southern waters of the Gavryushkin Islands and reefs. The port side of the hunting submarine was wounded, and two Soviet soldiers were killed on the boat.

Along with this telegram, there was also the radar detection data of the Soviet air defense positions at Cape Lopatka, which showed that the two U.S. bombers had indeed entered the coalition's airspace and had received air defenses. After the warning of the position, not only did it not withdraw from the alliance's airspace, but instead continued to advance into the alliance's airspace with a arrogant attitude, and finally wounded an alliance's submarine hunting submarine in the southern waters of the Gavryushkin Islands.

Colonel Ponomaryov reported to the Military District Command and asked the Military District Command to issue an operational order to the Kamchatka defense area, so that the air force of the defense area could launch operations and repel the invading US fighter jets.

The alliance's deployment of troops in Kamchatka is more complicated, because after the war against Japan in August last year, the troops in the Far East have undergone a series of reorganizations. However, this reorganization is mainly concentrated in Northeast China and Primorsky Krai. , the reorganization work on Kamchatka Island has not yet started. At present, the army forces on Kamchatka Island are mainly commanded by the Kamchatka Defense Zone, while the navy is commanded by the Petropavlovsk Naval Base.

Because of the confusion in the organization, as the commander of the naval base, Colonel Ponomaryov has no air force under his command. If you want to deploy aircraft, you need to issue an order through the Kamchatka Defense Area Command, and the Kamchatka Defense Area Command The commander is Admiral Gniechko.

After reading the telegram, Comrade Meretskov's brows became even tighter.

Obviously, this conflict between the Soviet Union and the United States is completely different from the previous series of conflicts on the Korean peninsula, because those conflicts on the Korean peninsula all happened between the Koreans. To put it bluntly, it was the Soviet Union and the United States. In the "proxy war" between the two sides, no matter how fierce the two sides fight, it is not the Soviets and Americans who are killed or injured.

But this time the situation is different. According to the statement on the telegram, the conflict this time is that the American plane crossed the border into the airspace of the alliance, and after being warned, not only did not withdraw immediately, but continued to the alliance. Deep into the airspace, in the process, one of the Alliance ships was damaged.

What is this behavior?

Obviously, there is only one answer, and that is provocation, naked provocation!

Then, the second question arises again. In the face of this level of provocation, what should the alliance party, or the coastal naval area, do?

Comrade Meretskov did not think for too long, and in accordance with the principle of political correctness, he made a quick decision.

What is political correctness? From the perspective of Comrade Meretskov, the so-called political correctness means that his position is highly consistent with that of Moscow. Political correctness.

On the issue of friction between the interests of the Far East and the United States, Moscow's recent position is very clear, that is, to maintain limited friction with the United States, and to ensure that the conflict will not escalate under the condition of creating certain pressure on the other side. As for the ultimate goal, It is to force the Americans to make concessions to the alliance on the issue of the Korean peninsula or Hokkaido.

Now that the American planes are provoking within the airspace of the Union and have damaged the ships of the Union, Comrade Meretskov, as the commander of the Primorye Naval District, has the right, without the permission of Moscow, to make To react to this act of aggression, and it is not only his right but his duty.

After a brief thought, Comrade Meretskov put down the telegram in his hand, grabbed the phone on the table, shook the handle, and made a call.

He did not get in touch with the commander of the Kamchatka defense zone, General Gniechko, as Colonel Ponomaryov suggested, but directly dialed the division headquarters of the 128th Division of the Mixed Aviation, and contacted the division commander, Colonel Ye Lieming, and told him Direct orders were given to the division to send their fighter jets to fight the two U.S. fighter jets that had invaded coalition airspace.

The 128th Division of the Mixed Air Force, which belongs to the Tenth Air Force Army under the command of Admiral Zhigarev, is stationed in Petropavlovsk. Its fighter jets departed from its own airport and arrived in the southern waters of Gavryushkin Island. It only takes about ten minutes, and it is the most suitable unit for combat.

According to the order issued by Comrade Meretskov, the division's task is to find two U.S. fighter planes, forcing them to land on the territory of the Union, or to find an opportunity to fight and shoot down or damage one of its planes. It must be noted that Comrade Meretskov's request was to wound or lose one aircraft, not to shoot down both.

After issuing this order, Comrade Meretskov immediately issued a combat readiness order to the troops of the entire military region in the name of the military region command, requiring all front-line troops to be ready to fight at any time.

After these two things were done, Comrade Meretskov called Moscow. He needed to inform Moscow of what happened here, and then Moscow would deal with the Americans.

Of course, as the commander of the Coastal Naval District, and at the same time, he is also the top front-line commander against the Americans. Comrade Meretskov also has the right to directly protest against the Americans. At least, he can use the top commander of the Soviet army stationed in the DPRK. identity, protested to the top commander of the US military stationed in the DPRK, and asked the other party to explain the conflict in the waters off the Gavryushkin Islands and reefs.

But in addition to Comrade Meretskov's cautious and cautious character, he has recently faced a lot of trouble, and some people have attacked him for Vlasov, saying that he is close to the traitor of the alliance. Although such criticism is unlikely to have any effect, and Comrade Meretskov believes that he can withstand any kind of investigation, it is always right to be as low-key as possible in these eventful times.

It was three o'clock in the morning when Comrade Meretskov's telegram reached Moscow. That night, Comrade Stalin met with the leaders of Romania and Bulgaria, and chatted with Victor for more than an hour. However, instead of staying up late, he fell asleep at twelve o'clock. Therefore, after Comrade Boskrebyshev got the telegram, he did not wake up Comrade Stalin immediately, but contacted the people in the General Staff and Comrade Zhdanov who was on duty at the Central Secretariat that night. .

Comrade Boskrebyshev wanted to see if the matter was serious enough. If it wasn't that serious, he wouldn't have to disturb Comrade Stalin to rest. After all, according to Comrade Stalin's habit, when he didn't stay up late, he would Usually, I get up at 7:00 in the morning, only four hours before and after, etc. It seems to be nothing.

However, Comrade Poskrebyshev was obviously overly optimistic, because less than half an hour after the first telegram arrived, the second telegram arrived. This telegram was also sent by Comrade Meretskov. He reported in the telegram that the two U.S. fighter jets that invaded the Union's airspace were both shot down over the Kuril Islands.