The Rise of the Third Reich

It made sense to interrupt the supply of oil to Germany starting in January 1942. Because the Soviet Union did not give Germany oil for free, but exchanged oil for German equipment, which was mainly used to build key equipment used on the "Soviet" class battleships and "Kronshtadt" class battlecruisers, such as heavy oil burning Boilers, steam turbines, 4 main gun systems, etc. Before these equipments are obtained, Stalin cannot fall out of favor, otherwise the huge funds invested in the "Soviet" class and "Kronshtadt" class projects will be wasted.

"First tell the British that we will stop supplying fuel to Germany in January next year to give them a little encouragement." Stalin said to Molotov, "In addition, we will explain our position towards India to the British: If the British Surrender to Germany first, then we believe India should become a sovereign and independent socialist country!”

The position put forward by Stalin was true. The Soviet Union's main opponent was Germany, which had already established hegemony in Europe, not the British Empire, which was hanging on for dear life. Therefore, the purpose of the Red Army entering Afghanistan was only to open the way to liberate India, but it was not to immediately attack the British Indian Empire through Afghanistan.

In Stalin's plan, the attack on India was supposed to occur after Britain surrendered or Germany was defeated. Furthermore, Stalin's best plan was to unite Britain and the United States to defeat Germany, seize Germany's territory in the Middle East, Eastern Europe, and the Balkans, and then separate India from the territory of the British Empire and turn it into a socialist country.

If this plan is realized, a super-socialist bloc including the Soviet Union, China, India, Eastern Europe, the Balkans and the Middle East will emerge. With the populations of India and China, the oil in the Middle East, and the industry and technology of the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, it is only a matter of time before socialism defeats capitalism.

But it is not easy to realize this human liberation plan. Although the Soviet Red Army had more aircraft, tanks, and artillery than the Germans, the German Wehrmacht performed far better in actual combat than the Soviet Red Army. This made Stalin afraid to act rashly, and it also made him very worried about the prospect of a one-on-one war with Germany in the future.

Therefore, Stalin believed that the Soviet Union must enter the war with the United States before Germany defeated Britain.

"Kliment Yefremovich," Stalin asked Voroshilov, "has the Military Commission studied the issue of war against Germany?"

The "Military Commission" Stalin referred to was not the "Revolutionary Military Commission" that once held the supreme command of the Red Army. The Revolutionary Military Commission was abolished on June 20, 1934. The commanding power of the Red Army was changed to be directly controlled by the political situation, which was actually Stalin himself. The "Military Commission" he now refers to is an 80-member body established within the People's Commissariat of Defense.

"Comrade Stalin, we have already studied the issue of war against Germany," Voroshilov replied. "We believe that there are two prerequisites for starting a war that can ensure the advantage of the Red Army: 1. German troops land on British soil; 2. British and American coalition forces. The ideal and safest time to land on the coast of Western Europe should be between July and August 1942."

Stalin nodded and continued to look at Voroshilov, waiting for his explanation. Voroshilov said: “Since there is no sign of the second state yet, the military committee believes that a plan should first be formulated against the background of Germany’s landing on British soil.

Since the Battle of the Western Front, Britain has been strengthening its homeland defense and established 6 army-level army headquarters, 2 independent zones and 1 air defense command. Each army headquarters and independent zone has 2 regular divisions and 4 local divisions. There are 12 air defense divisions under the jurisdiction of the Air Defense Command. There are also 5-6 armored divisions stationed on the mainland. With a total strength of 65-66 divisions and a large number of homeland guards, the British defense force is sufficient. If the German landing occurred after 1942, the strength of the British army would increase, probably to 100-120 divisions. The Germans would have to invest the same amount of troops to conquer Britain. Moreover, the British mainland's air force and air defense forces are very powerful. The Germans must concentrate most of their combat aircraft to achieve air supremacy.

In this case, the German defense on the Eastern Front will inevitably be empty, which is conducive to us launching a surprise attack!

The best time to launch a surprise attack is between July and August 1942, because Germany currently controls the oil-producing areas in the Middle East, but the oil fields and railways in the Middle East are currently severely damaged, and the waterway from the Persian Gulf to the Mediterranean has not been opened. . Therefore, the Germans will not be able to obtain enough fuel from the Middle East in the short term. The Red Army General Staff estimated that by 1943 the Germans should be able to solve all problems and significantly increase oil production in the Middle East. By then Germany's war machine will be able to exert its greatest power, and we must defeat Germany before then. "

Voroshilov paused and then said: "There are two other reasons for choosing to start the war from July to August 1942: 1. Taking into account that the attack may be unfavorable, the Red Army must switch to defense. If the attack fails, the German army will have a very good chance. It may be possible to switch to a counterattack in October 1942, but winter will come to the Soviet Union from November. The roads are muddy and the weather is cold, which is extremely unfavorable to the German counterattack.

2. Considering that the oil-producing areas of Baku, Batumi and Grozny are likely to be bombed indiscriminately by the Luftwaffe after our war against Germany, we must reserve sufficient fuel before the war begins..."

When Stalin heard this, he suddenly frowned and interrupted Voroshilov: "We now have 15,000 combat aircraft, which is more than the combined combat aircraft of Germany, Britain, the United States and Japan! And we also have 15,000 combat aircraft." Are the excellent MiG-3, Yak-1 and Lager-3 fighter jets not enough to resist the German bombers?”

The MiG-3, Yak-1 and Lager-3 are all cutting-edge fighter jets from the Soviet Union. The Soviets themselves have seen that they are enough to compete with the German BF-109 and Fokker Zero. Moreover, by 1942, the Soviet Union's old fighter jets will be replaced by new fighter jets such as the MiG-3, Yak-1, and Lager-3. By then, these new fighter jets will also have a huge advantage in numbers, and there will be no reason to fight. But a German plane.

Voroshilov quickly explained: "Comrade General Secretary, although the performance of our fighter jets is superior enough, we cannot guarantee the occurrence of unexpected situations, so we need to reserve more fuel and speed up the Second Baku (referring to Volga-Ural Oil and Gas) area) development.”

Seeing that Stalin's brows still did not raise, Voroshilov added: "And we will also send out bomber groups to destroy the oil fields in Kirkuk and Khuzestan."

"There are also the Ploiesti oil fields in Romania!" Stalin instructed. "These major oil fields controlled by Germany must be destroyed as soon as possible after the war... Do we have such a capability?"

Destroying German-controlled oil fields is undoubtedly the best way to combat Germany's war potential. But achieving this goal will be difficult for the UK. Because the UK mainland is nearly 2,000 kilometers away from the Ploiesti oil field, while the distance from India to the Khuzestan Oil Field and the Kirkuk Oil Field are about 2,000 kilometers and 2,500 kilometers respectively. This has almost reached the limit of the combat radius of existing long-range bombers, and no fighter aircraft can escort them.

Therefore, in Stalin's view, the task of destroying Germany's oil production capacity could only be accomplished by the Soviet Union, which was relatively close to the Ploiesti, Khuzestan and Kirkuk oil fields.

Voroshilov said: "We now have TB-3 heavy bombers, SB-2 and SB-3 light bombers and Pe-8 heavy bombers. The performance of the Pe-8 is comparable to the world's most advanced heavy bombers. . In addition, the MiG 5 twin-engine long-range fighter currently under development and expected to be put into service in 1942 is sufficient to undertake the task of escorting the bomber group. Therefore, by the second half of 1942, we will have the ability to destroy the Ploiesti oil fields and bases. capabilities of the Irkuk and Khuzestan oil fields.”

"TB-3 is too old," Stalin continued to give the highest instructions. "It cannot complete the bombing mission. We must speed up the production of Pe-8 to ensure that we can destroy the oil fields controlled by the Germans as soon as possible."

"Yes, Comrade Stalin," Voroshilov replied, "We will definitely speed up the production of Pe-8."

Stalin then instructed: "In addition, four Soviet-class battleships and two Kronshtadt-class battlecruisers must also enter service before July 1942. They should be attached to the Northern Fleet to ensure that the North Atlantic shipping lanes are not cut off by Germany. "

Because Germany already controls Iran and has formed an alliance with Japan. Stalin believed that the only external waterway left by the Soviet Union was the North Atlantic, so it must be guaranteed with all its strength. And 4 Soviet-class ships and 2 Kronshtadt-class ships can obviously complete this task.

"I will definitely instruct the Red Navy to speed up the progress." Voroshilov promised, but he was not sure in his heart. Because the construction of these six warships started in the shipyards in Leningrad and the Black Sea. It may not be completed by the first half of 1942, and I'm afraid there won't be time to go to Murmansk.

"Very good," Stalin nodded with satisfaction, "Now we can start making specific plans. Let's call the code name of the plan 'Thunderstorm'. This will be a violent storm of world revolution that will sweep across Europe! Remember! , the plan must be kept absolutely secret, and the Germans cannot be aware of it... This will be a sudden thunderstorm of GC doctrine!"