The Rise of the Third Reich

"Comrade General Secretary, Comrade Yegorov and I both believe that the German "Black Plan" is too conservative and the Germans have overestimated Poland's power... but it can still achieve the goal of defeating White Poland."

When Tukhachevsky and Yegorov reported to Stalin, the great leader of the Soviet Union was also reading a report that made him feel happy - it was sent by Berzin from Crimea.

About 560 tons of gold have been shipped to the Soviet Union!

Moreover, Berzin also asked his agents to steal the relevant receipts - using a subcontracting trick, the Spaniards did not notice at all.

"Now the Spaniards can no longer see their gold, just like they can't see their own ears." Stalin wrote in Berzin's report with a pencil.

This is such a joke that you can't help but laugh.

"Conservative? This is the style of the Germans. They have always been like this." Stalin said while erasing the "joke" he wrote with a pencil, "But as long as you can win, there is no problem in being conservative. So, what do you think? How long will it take for them to regain the right bank of Ukraine and Western Belarus? "

"The Germans are preparing to defeat Poland in six months," Yegorov said. "However, the Red Army General Staff conducted deductions based on the general outline of the "Black Plan." Even if the Poles do not make any mistakes, three months is their limit. ”

In the "Black Plan", the German army would dispatch 1.5 million troops, and Hersman suggested that the Soviet Union mobilize the same number of troops. Poland currently maintains a standing army of nearly 1.5 million people. Once the war breaks out, the Poles have the ability to double the number of troops to 3 million within 3 months, which is equivalent to the total number of Soviet-German coalition forces - nearly double the number in history, mainly because After Poland merged with Ukraine and Lithuania on the right bank, its population also increased a lot. With the assistance of Britain and France, Poland is also able to equip so many troops with relatively sophisticated weapons. In addition, the "Black Plan" plans to defeat Poland in 6 months instead of 1 month, so the Poles theoretically have more time to mobilize.

However, the Polish air force was too weak and could not withstand the attacks of tens of thousands of military aircraft from the Soviet Union and Germany. After losing air superiority, even if the Polish army reaches 3 million, it will only be beaten.

"Is three months enough?" Stalin's eyes shifted from Berzin's report to Yegorov's serious face.

"It's enough," Tukhachevsky said. "If they are willing to adopt a more risky strategy, such as using mechanized troops to conduct a large-scale deep assault, they may be able to achieve a complete victory in one month."

"Maybe in one month, maybe we can't win!" Stalin shook his head. "We have conducted military exercises and war games for large-scale deep assaults many times, but the problem is huge, isn't it?"

Theory is one thing, practice is sometimes another. Historically, the Soviet Union has been hesitant to use tanks intensively for a long time - this is not just a matter of conservative thinking, but it has encountered too many problems in actual use.

Not only did the quality of personnel fail to meet the requirements, but the quantity of equipment and management were also seriously insufficient - the Soviet Union had a lot of tanks, but large-scale offensive operations could not be carried out by just concentrating tanks. Sufficient armored vehicles and trucks are also needed to mechanize or motorize the infantry that follows the tanks.

"Those of you who are deputy people's commissars of defense and chiefs of general staff know about mechanization, you know about tank corps, and you know about pursuing maximum combat effectiveness." Stalin said in an impatient tone, "But when will you understand the country?" What are the difficulties with the people? Tank troops are good and mechanization is good, who doesn’t know?

However, our country's total output is only 120,000 to 30,000 cars a year, and the quality of 20,000 to 30,000 of them is still very poor. How many cars does the entire Workers’ and Peasants’ Red Army have in total? How many mechanized troops can be equipped together? What about other troops? What about the logistics department? Even if it is replaced by carriages, it is impossible. That would require one million carriages and millions of horses... But how many horse farms do we have? Where can we get so many horses? "

With Germany currently producing more than 500,000 automobiles a year, it does not have the ability to fully mechanize its 1.5 million-strong army, let alone the Soviet Union, which only produced 120,000 to 30,000 automobiles? Therefore, in the large-depth combat theory proposed by Tukhachevsky, in addition to the concentrated use of mechanization, it also mentioned the concentrated use of cavalry. But the problem is that the concentrated use of mechanization on a small number of troops will cause most of the troops to lose their mobility - the Soviet Red Army's land forces are all heavily armed troops, and their artillery equipment is extremely heavy, so even the infantry divisions are equipped with many trucks. If these trucks were to be taken away, the troops would have to rely on mules and horses to maneuver.

However, horse production became a problem after agricultural collectivization. There were not so many horses in the Soviet Union. Because the collective farms will not raise excess horses, the horses needed by the army cannot rely on the agricultural support of the entire country, but can only rely on the state horse farms to provide them. However, it is a very complicated problem to increase the production of horses in state-owned ranches. This involves pasture, feed, labor and a large amount of investment, as well as the adjustment of the entire five-year plan, and even reducing the ration supply of the Soviet people in order to feed the extra horses...

When Stalin talked about "mechanization", his mood became a little bad, and he didn't want to see the faces of two "aristocratic officers" who were aloof and separated from the masses. Just as he was about to send them away quickly, Tukhachevsky spoke again without opening his eyes.

"Comrade Stalin," Tukhachevsky frowned, "I think the Germans may be deceiving us!"

"Deception?" Stalin looked up at Tukhachevsky, "You think they won't attack Poland?"

"No, they will definitely attack," Tukhachevsky said, "because only by defeating and controlling Poland can Germany be connected with the Baltic and East Prussia. Moreover, Germany cannot be self-sufficient in agricultural products, even if it is merged The Baltic Republic still needs to import more than two million tons of agricultural products every year, and Poland is a major exporter of agricultural products.”

“Then they will swallow up western Belarus and right-bank Ukraine together?”

"This is impossible. Western Belarus and right-bank Ukraine are too far away from the German mainland." Tukhachevsky said, "Comrade General Secretary, what I mean is that the "Black Plan" given to us by the Germans is very likely to be false. . The style of play in "The Black Plan" is completely opposite to Germany's long-standing military mechanization policy..."

"Okay, okay," Stalin said very impatiently, "Comrade Tukhachevsky, I understand what you mean... You still think that the party's military line is wrong and does not follow the opinions of the French bourgeois militiaman Charles de Gaulle. , to establish a small but sophisticated mechanized professional army, but took the route of a large-scale people's army!"

"This..." Tukhachevsky was stunned and wanted to explain a few words. Yegorov's face changed drastically - Stalin mentioned the "party line", which was a life-threatening matter in the Soviet Union!

"Comrade Stalin and Comrade Tukhachevsky support the party's military line. He just, just thinks that the Germans are deceiving us..." As Yegorov spoke, a very bad feeling suddenly rose in his heart. A premonition - Stalin originally disliked "military experts" like himself and Tukhachevsky, but now he used the "party line" to make matters worse...

"So what?" Stalin glared at Yegorov, "I want Western Belarus, I want Right Bank Ukraine, Comrade Lenin also wants to destroy White Poland! The Germans can help us achieve our goals, so they are not deceiving us! As for them What does it matter how we fight?”

Stalin emphasized his tone, "Even if the Germans used large-scale mechanized troops to defeat Poland, it does not mean that the party's military line is wrong! Because the Soviet Union has the national conditions of the Soviet Union! We do not have so many cars to mechanize the army! No Just not!”

…

"Comrade Tukhachevsky, let's admit our mistake to Comrade Stalin. On the issue of mechanization of the army, we were a little too eager to get things done."

Tukhachevsky and Yegorov left the Kremlin together. Tukhachevsky was fine, but Yegorov seemed to be desperate. As soon as he got into the car, he whispered to Tukhachevsky.

"Admit your mistake?" Tukhachevsky raised his eyebrows. "We were not wrong! The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army must establish a strong mechanized assault force, otherwise we are likely to be attacked by Germany after the fall of Poland! This concerns the Soviet Union The survival of the country, on this issue, I must stick to the right line! "

"Oh my God, what are you talking about?" Yegorov frowned tightly.

"" is a matter of life and death for the Bolsheviks. All the makers and supporters of the "wrong line" will step down... And in the era of the Great Purge, a charge of "supporting a reactionary military line" is enough to make a person A general with great military exploits became a prisoner of his subordinates and even lost his life.

"This is not a question of the route, this is not a question of the route!" Yegorov said in a solemn tone, "Comrade Stalin did not deny the benefits of mechanization. The problem is that we cannot rush for quick results. When the country is in difficulty, we as soldiers should be considerate. "

Tukhachevsky said: "Why not rush? In two years at most, Poland, the buffer state between the Soviet Union and Germany, will disappear. By then we will be face to face with the mechanized and air superiority German army! If we can't If we overcome all difficulties and establish a strong mechanized army in time, our cause will be in danger of failure! As a Bolshevik strategist, we must seek truth from facts on this issue!"

The two Soviet marshals who were having a conversation certainly never thought that what they said had been written down by their driver, and Comrade Stalin would soon be able to read the report...