The decisive battle against the Third Reich

"The question is how to change it?" Stalin said angrily: "We have done all our efforts! We just have to put a gun to Churchill's head to make them change everything!"

This is actually the long-standing "appeasement" policy of Britain, the United States, and France. It started before World War II, that is, to support Germany after its defeat in World War I and to support Japan. Even Germany and Japan clearly had the intention of launching a war. They also turned a deaf ear. Their plan was to direct the disaster of war to other countries, especially the Soviet Union. At the last critical moment, Britain, the United States, and France would take action to make it the savior of the world again.

The Maginot Line was actually part of this "appeasement policy."

Britain is an island country and has a strong navy and air force, so it doesn't worry that dirty water will be poured out on Britain when Germany becomes stronger.

The United States in America is similar.

The most worrying thing is France, which is adjacent to Germany to the west, so France built an impenetrable "Maginot Line" on the border between the two countries. The implicit meaning is: attack others, don't look here. .

It's just that the "appeasement policy" of Britain, the United States, and France was a bit out of control. They didn't expect that the "Maginot Line" would be so vulnerable. After becoming stronger, Germany first attacked them and destroyed them in just one month. France, and then a large-scale bombing of Britain across the English Channel.

Now, it is time for the United Kingdom and the United States to finally get over their hardships, because the "dirty water" has finally flowed to the Soviet Union, and they are not willing to let the Soviet Union escape so early.

After thinking about it, Vasilevsky said: "Comrade Stalin, so I think we need to make some gestures!"

"Posture? What do you mean?" Starling asked.

Vasilevsky couldn't help but hesitate. He was not sure how Stalin would react if he made this suggestion, because if this suggestion was rejected, he might even be labeled a "traitor to the motherland." .

But in the end Vasilevsky decided to tell Stalin because now it was time to say something.

"Comrade Stalin!" Vasilevsky pointed at the map and said: "If we abandon Stalingrad, we will have the Volga River as our defense line in the east and the Don River as our defense line in the north. There will basically be a stalemate between us and the enemy!"

Starling nodded.

Vasilevsky was right, it was very difficult to cross the river to launch an attack, even for the Germans.

In this defense line formed by the Don River and the Volga River, there is only a gap of about 100 kilometers in the Trukoban area, but if the Soviet army deploys heavy troops there... In addition, Germany also suffered heavy losses in Stalingrad and lost its offensive. kinetic energy, so the battle situation will soon cool down.

"Then it's time for us to negotiate with the Germans!" Vasilevsky suddenly said such a sentence.

Stalin couldn't help being stunned when he heard this, and looked at Vasilevsky with a fierce look in his eyes.

Zhukov next to him jumped up as if he had been pricked by a needle and shouted: "What? Negotiate with the Germans? This is not negotiation, this is surrender, it is rebellion... You shameful traitor..."

Stalin, on the other hand, seemed calmer. He stopped Zhukov with a pipe in his mouth: "Let Comrade Vasilevsky finish, Comrade Zhukov!"

Vasilevsky couldn't help but feel numb, because he knew that if Stalin acted so calmly, it would be time for him to become truly angry, just like he was getting information that Stalingrad was about to be lost.

Therefore, if his suggestions did not satisfy Stalin, what would happen next would be unimaginable.

"That's it, Comrade Stalin!" Vasilevsky took two seconds to regain his composure: "I am by no means proposing surrender, but we should consider one issue, that is, although the United Kingdom and the United States do not want us to surrender so early, We escaped from the German attack, but we also don’t want us to fall in front of the Germans!”

At this point, Vasilevsky paused to watch Stalin's reaction.

Starlin said nothing and nodded slightly.

"So!" Vasilevsky continued: "Although we cannot hold the United Kingdom and the United States at gunpoint to make changes, we can make some gestures to make them make changes! What I mean by negotiation is to make changes. attitude……"

"I don't agree with this!" Zhukov objected: "We have always emphasized that we must fight the Germans to the end. On the other hand, there have been many voices in the army that are similar to negotiating with the Germans or surrendering. If we If it is not stopped, the morale of the army will collapse, especially if Stalingrad falls. This situation will be more serious. At this time, we have to negotiate with the Germans, which will cause a huge blow to our army. By then Germany People don’t need to negotiate at all, he can defeat us directly!”

What Zhukov said makes sense. Stalin issued Order No. 227 to stop such negative thoughts. But if Stalin was negotiating with Germany at this time...

"We don't need to let the army know, Comrade Zhukov!" Vasilevsky said: "That is a political strategy between countries!"

"Don't the Germans know how to propagandize?" Zhukov retorted: "They will use this as a weapon, an ideological weapon more lethal than tanks and airplanes!"

…

The two argued for a while, and found that Stalin was sitting very quietly on his chair, silent, so they did not dare to argue any further.

The office was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop, and their heartbeats were beating rhythmically with the "click-click" and "click-click" sounds of the pendulum of the wall clock.

After a while, Stalin said: "I think we should proceed from two aspects at the same time, the political level and the military level. On the political level, we must force Britain and the United States to join this war and make them realize that they can no longer do this. Stand idly by and watch..."

Vasilevsky couldn't help but breathed a sigh of relief when he heard this. He knew that Stalin had agreed with his statement.

"At the military level!" Stalin glanced at Zhukov and said: "We must do a good job in the ideological work of the army, continue the implementation of Order 227, and never allow the emergence of capitulationist ideas. In addition, we must prepare for defense and defend The two defense lines of the Don River and the Volga River must never be allowed to be breached by the Germans! "

There is no doubt about the importance of this point, which is the basis for political negotiations with Germany.

"At the same time!" Stalin added: "We must also be prepared for a counterattack!"