The Rise of the Third Reich

In the western suburbs of Moscow, near Stalin's Kontsevo villa, on a huge, seemingly empty grassland, many senior generals and senior party cadres in straight uniforms had gathered. All the people were surrounded by the fatherly leader who was short in stature, had a mustache, wore a green woolen uniform, and had a pipe in his mouth.

Suddenly, a harsh motor roar came from nowhere. The fatherly leader looked towards a road passing near the meadow. Only a burst of black smoke was seen, and then there was the sound of tracks crushing the ground. The black smoke was getting closer and closer, and after a while, the father-in-law leader saw a soldier in a green uniform, wearing a strange hat, and his hands seemed to be resting on something. With the bumps, the tank under the soldier also appeared in Stalin's sight. The first thing that appeared was a black, large-caliber artillery piece. Mounted on a large, somewhat outrageous steel turret painted green. Then the steel hull under the turret appeared in Stalin's sight!

"Comrade General Secretary, you see the most powerful tank in the world - the KV-2!"

Marshal Voroshilov also stood next to Stalin, his back stooped so as to look as short as Stalin. With a smile on his face, he said to Stalin in a respectful tone: "This tank has a total combat weight of 52 tons, is equipped with a 152mm caliber cannon, and has an armor thickness of 30-110mm. Its firepower is greater than any other tank in the world. The other tanks are more powerful, and its armor is enough to withstand any known foreign anti-tank gun..."

What is on display is a KV-2 heavy tank! It and the KV-1 heavy tank, which is equally strong but has slightly weaker firepower, are the masterpieces of Voroshilov's son-in-law, Kotin, the chief designer of the Kirov Factory, Voroshilov Factory and the Bolshevik Factory Design Bureau.

"Is it more powerful than the two tanks that the Germans are secretly developing?" Stalin asked leisurely, squinting at the tanks coming ahead.

Although the Panzer 5 and Panzer 6 tanks being secretly developed by the Germans were kept secret, they could not be hidden from Stalin, who was well-informed. However, Stalin only knew that Germany was going all out to develop two levels of tanks, 45-ton and 55-ton tanks. As for the specific technical data and development progress, he did not know.

What Stalin didn’t know, Voroshilov certainly didn’t know either. The People’s Commissar of Defense of the Soviet Union thought about it and replied: “At least they are comparable, but their two tanks are still under development. It won’t be finalized until next year. It will probably take until 1943 for it to be put into production and equipped with a large number of troops. By then, we should have produced 2,000 KV-1s and KV-2s..."

"3,000!" Stalin emphasized, "It must be completed before August 1, 1942! The number of KV-2s shall not be less than 600."

"Okay, I will definitely convey your highest instructions to the Kirov Factory, the Voroshilov Factory and the Bolshevik Factory."

Voroshilov quickly patted his chest and reassured. Of course he knew what day August 1, 1942 was - it was the planned "World Revolution Day", the day when the world revolution began!

According to the "Thunderstorm Plan" formulated by the People's Commissariat of Defense of the Soviet Union, 5 million Soviet Red Army troops will embark on a journey to liberate all mankind in the early morning of this day. They will launch the most violent offensive on the vast battlefield from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea, supported by 15,000 tanks, assault artillery and 15,000 various aircraft.

The KV-1 heavy tank, KV-2 heavy tank and T-34 medium tank are one of the key factors for the success of the "Thunderstorm Plan".

"In addition, high-performance fighters and bombers such as the MiG-3, Lager-3, Yak-1, IL-2, Pe-8 and MiG-5 must also become red before August 1, 1942. The main force of the Air Force.”

Amidst the huge roar of the KV-2 tank motor, Stalin issued his second highest directive, which was about the upgrading of air force equipment.

The Soviet Union now has several high-performance fighters and bombers. Among them, the MiG-3 is a high-altitude fighter. According to the Red Air Force's idea, it can be used to restrain the Bf-109 and Fw-190. The Lager-3 and Yak-1 focus on dealing with the Fokker Zero at medium and low altitudes. The IL-2 is responsible for ground attack, attacking German armored groups from the air. The Pe-8 is a heavy bomber responsible for long-range bombing of German oil facilities in the Middle East, Romania and other places, destroying Germany's war potential. The MiG-5 is a long-range fighter that escorts the Pe-8 throughout the entire journey.

There are KV-1, KV-2 and T-34 on the ground, and there are a lot of advanced aircraft such as MiG-3, Yak-1, Lager-3, Pe-8, IL-2 and MiG-5 in the sky. There are also powerful Soviet-class battleships and Kronshtadt-class battlecruisers at sea. Stalin felt that the great Soviet Red Army had enough power to liberate all mankind... However, the strength of imperialism was still very strong. If the imperialists of Britain, Germany, Italy and Japan joined forces, the cause of human liberation would be a bit uncertain.

Fortunately, today's imperialism is not monolithic. It seems that Germany, Japan and Italy are joining forces to fight against Britain and the United States. This was an opportunity for the Soviet Union and an opportunity for the people of the world to stand up and take charge. Of course, Stalin was not willing to miss it.

However, Stalin was a very cautious and fatherly leader. Before the United States officially went to war with Germany, the "Thunderstorm Plan" was always just a plan. Even if Germany and the United States went to war, Stalin would not necessarily lead the Soviet Union to join, because the United States and Germany are separated by the Atlantic Ocean after all. If Britain falls, it will be difficult for virtue to reach its opponents, and the war between Germany and Germany will become a battle between Roosevelt and Hitler. If the Soviet Union joins at that time, it will be a one-on-one challenge to Germany... Even if it can win, it will only serve as a stepping stone for the Americans!

Therefore, the prerequisite for Stalin to truly implement the "Thunderstorm Plan" was that in addition to the United States' participation in the war, the United Kingdom did not fall.

In addition, Stalin wanted to blackmail the United States severely before joining the war. For example, the trucks in the Soviet Union are not large enough. Now there are about 1 million trucks in the country, and many of them still have quality problems. If we want to support an army of 5 to 6 million people to liberate the people of Europe, 500,000 to 600,000 trucks are necessary. There is no way to solve the problem of so many trucks by requisitioning civilian vehicles, because almost all civilian trucks are used in production. If hundreds of thousands of trucks are suddenly reduced, the national economy will have a big problem.

Moreover, there is not much flexibility in the domestic supply of horses in the Soviet Union now, because they are all produced according to plan. No collective farm would raise horses more than planned. This was not allowed. Therefore, the People's Commissariat of Agriculture will not be able to produce millions of horses to replace hundreds of thousands of cars in the short term.

So these hundreds of thousands of cars can only be obtained from Roosevelt... The United States must provide at least 250,000 trucks!

And with so many planes, tanks, battleships and trucks, the Soviet Red Army's oil consumption during wartime must have been astronomical. But the Soviet oil-producing areas and oil industry centers are now in danger from the German Air Force! The French bombing of the oil city of Batumi in 1940 was a wake-up call. The Soviet Union must not take it for granted that it would not be attacked by the enemy for the second time.

Therefore, Stalin also decided to reserve at least 15 million tons of fuel before the war began, and at the same time speed up the development of the second Baku. And this also requires help from the United States... The United States must provide sufficient oil mining and refining equipment, and also need to provide a batch of high-quality fuel for the Soviet Red Air Force to use.

In addition to trucks, oil equipment and fuel, Stalin also wanted American aircraft engines and advanced fighters and bombers to further enhance the strength of the Soviet Red Air Force. Because the role of the air force in this war has reached a decisive point! The German Air Force seems to have many very advanced fighters, but the air is actually the place where Stalin was most worried.

While Stalin was watching the KV-2 tank, on the other side of the Atlantic, President Roosevelt of the United States, the beacon of democracy, was holding a cigarette and frowning as he read a list of aid with a big mouth!

This list was not sent by Churchill, but by Litvinov, the Soviet Ambassador to Washington, to Secretary of State Hull.

And what Stalin wants is aid, not renting anything... because the fatherly leader has no intention of paying it back! Now it is U.S. imperialism that is begging the Soviet Union. Why should the Soviet Union want "Lease"? This should be a free gift from the United States.

"250,000 trucks, 10 million tons of various fuels, oil mining and refining equipment worth 500 million US dollars, and 10,000 aircraft engines... God! Was Stalin a gangster? How could he be like this?"

Roosevelt was horrified by the demands on the list—which in reality were only a drop in the bucket for the United States. But the problem is that Stalin refused to "borrow", but wanted the United States to "give" it. How could the U.S. Congress approve giving away billions of dollars worth of stuff to the Soviet Union? Don’t even think about such a thing!

U.S. Commerce Secretary Hopkins replied half-jokingly: "President, Stalin was actually a robber. He once robbed a cash transport truck when he was young."

"No wonder!" Roosevelt shook his head repeatedly, "But our United States is not that unlucky cash truck. I can't give Stalin what he wants. This is not possible."

"That's not a problem," Hopkins shook his head and said, "Stalin will accept the name 'Lease', and he won't repay it anyway... But before the Soviet Union joins the war, we can 'Lease' so many things To the Soviet Union? Do we have a reason to do this?”