The Rise of the Third Reich

Stalin's order eventually became Order No. 197 (1943) of the Supreme Command of the Red Army, which is roughly a combination of Order No. 270 in 1941 and Order No. 227 in 1942.

The main contents are two: first, no retreat is allowed without orders from superiors; second, no surrender at any time, otherwise you will be a traitor, and your family members will also be deprived of benefits and rations - in the Soviet Union, this meant that survival would become very difficult!

However, in the view of Comrade Stalin, the time has really come for the Red Army to fight tooth and nail. Because if the Red Army cannot win the Battle of Junction and Smolensk, then even if Zhukov temporarily lifts the siege of Leningrad, he will send some supplies and reinforcements into the city. It was still possible that Leningrad would soon become Petrograd... as a nearly year-long siege would not be without its sequelae. According to Zhdanov's report, people in Leningrad are now as disorganized as they were in 1917.

It’s just that the Bolsheviks and the Russian Empress have changed places. Now it is not the Bolsheviks but the reactionary Russian Empress who can bring peace and sufficient food to the residents of that city.

Zhdanov also told Stalin that most of the "non-committal elements" who had been driven out of Leningrad in the past few months had now gathered under the Empress' banner (where else could they go to eat?), and many of them also participated The children of the White Army, who participated in the February Revolution and October Revolution in 1917, are now kneeling at the feet of the Russian Empress because of their stuttering!

Obviously, expelling them is the right choice... The people in the second capital of the Soviet Union are not as reliable as imagined.

If Leningrad is besieged again and the German army approaches Moscow at the same time, it will be normal for a *** riot to occur in Leningrad. And if Leningrad rebels during the Moscow Defense War, the morale of the Moscow people is likely to collapse.

In addition, once Leningrad became Petrograd, it would be equivalent to closing the door to negotiations between the Soviet Union and Germany.

In fact, the current Stalin does not want to fight Germany to the end - it seems that he cannot do so!

All he wants is peace where he can come to terms with the past. It is okay to cut some territory in the west, but the border line before the Soviet-Polish War in 1939, especially the left bank of Ukraine, must be preserved. Otherwise, Stalin would be Russia’s eternal sinner!

Therefore, Stalin's calculation was actually "harmony", not "procrastination". Because he knew very well that Leningrad had a high probability of falling. Once Leningrad becomes the capital of the Russian Empress, restoring the Russian Empire will become the first choice of the Germans...

Therefore, Stalin did not dare to "drag" a peace, but could only hope to "fight" it.

As long as the Battle of the Junction can be won, Smolensk, Minsk and Leningrad will not be lost, and Ukraine's Dnieper River defense line will also exist.

Then the struggle at the negotiating table will temporarily become beneficial to the Soviet Union. It doesn't matter even if the Red Army suffered heavy losses in the Battle of the Junction... Because the amount of the Red Army's losses is a secret, the German high command cannot fully grasp it. They know that only their own army was defeated, which will prompt them to lower the asking price in negotiations.

And Stalin felt that if he "gives up" half of Ukraine and half of Belarus, the Germans will really be full. It dominated most of Europe and captured the oil-producing areas of the Middle East. Africa was also the sphere of influence of Germany, France and Rome. Controlling most of the problems in India is not a big problem - it's like a revolutionary mass of 18th generation serfs robbed the Tsar's winter palace. The gold and silver treasures couldn't be loaded in several carriages, and they didn't quickly escape to the debauchery of Western Europe. Could it be that Are you still waiting to be caught and hanged by the Tsar's Guards?

Therefore, in Germany, which "got rich overnight", there must be a lot of people who want to take it easy. Their Imperial Marshal Hessmann is a typical example...

Thinking of this, Stalin asked Pavlov and Shaposhnikov: "Are the 1st and 2nd Tank Armies in place now? Can they launch an assault as scheduled tonight?"

"Yes!" Pavlov raised his wrist and looked at the time and said, "Comrade General Secretary, the offensive of the 1st and 2nd Red Army Tank Armies against the Gomel front will begin in 20 minutes. We will Invest more than 1,500 tanks and assault artillery to crush the German defense lines without mercy."

"Very good! Tell Comrade Golikov and Comrade Maihelis to capture Gomel at all costs and push the front to the east bank of the Dnieper River!"

Stalin made a few final remarks, left the war room of the Supreme Command, and returned to his office No. 1 in the Kremlin. At the door of Office No. 1, Stalin saw Molotov who had been waiting for an unknown amount of time.

The Soviet People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs came to report to him on the secret negotiations in Geneva. Mrs. Kollontai, the Soviet ambassador to Switzerland, met with German Foreign Minister Ribbentrop a few days ago. Although no agreement was reached, it was still a considerable progress.

This shows that the peace negotiations between the Soviet Union and Germany have been recognized by Hitler's government - it is no longer a peace negotiation between the Soviet Union and the German military.

But there is some bad news. First of all, the Russian Empress and the Belarusian forces are also going crazy during this period, writing large amounts of bad checks to the leaders of the Junkers Officer Group. Secondly, in the past two days, content about the "Katyn Forest Massacre" suddenly appeared in Swiss newspapers.

Mrs. Kollontai believed that this was most likely a conspiracy created by the German royal family and the Russian Empress, who wanted to create obstacles to the Soviet-German peace negotiations through a completely fabricated massacre...

"Damn it! The Katyn Forest is now a battlefield! If I had known it would be like this, we should have sent those Poles to Siberia." After listening to Molotov's report, Stalin remembered the Katyn Forest, where the Polish anti-revolutionary group was buried. The place has now become a battlefield repeatedly fought over by the Soviet and German armies. Once soldiers from both sides dug trenches, they would naturally easily find the dead buried underneath.

"Why didn't our people report the discovery of the body?" he muttered again.

"Our people have very high political consciousness, so we can't find it." Molotov replied respectfully.

Stalin thought about it and felt that this was also the case. The Red Army soldiers had been educated by the party for many years, so of course they would not be fooled by illusions...

"This is not a problem," Stalin lit his pipe and took a puff. "The Germans don't care how many Poles died! In fact, no one cares about this... We just deny it."

Molotov frowned slightly. The Germans would not care, but now that the German Emperor is also the King of Poland, this issue... is still a bit complicated.

Stalin continued to instruct: "The next few days will be the key to achieving a breakthrough in the peace negotiations! Mrs. Kollontai's status is too low and she may not be able to reach an important treaty on behalf of the Soviet Union."

Molotov understood what Stalin meant and immediately said: "Comrade General Secretary, how about I go to Switzerland in person?"

"Okay, you go there in person." Stalin nodded and said, "Let Mrs. Kollontai make arrangements first and try to get you to meet and talk with Chancellor Hitler and Hessmann."

"I think Mrs. Kollontai can arrange a meeting," Molotov said, "but to reach peace, we may still need to make some concessions..."

"The Soviet-Polish border before 1939 cannot be surrendered!" Stalin considered and said, "The Indian side does not need to mention it... This is our bottom line. As long as we win the joint war, the Soviet-Polish border will be the future of the Soviet Union. A peace treaty on the German border should be reached, so the next few days to weeks will be very critical for the Soviet Union."

…

"咻咻咻咻..."

As the earth-shaking piercing screams sounded, the calm that had lasted for many days in Gomel was instantly broken. Just after dinner, Major Schwarzenegger, commander of the 5th SS Tank Destroyer Battalion, who was inspecting the position with three company commanders, turned his head and looked towards the place where the roar came from. I saw countless red and orange lights filling the night sky, flying towards the forward position of the 5th SS "Viking" Division at extremely fast speeds.

"Bazooka! Damn it, the Soviets are going to attack! I knew they were going to attack!" He yelled immediately.

The Soviet attack was not without any signs. At least Major Schwarzenegger stationed on the Gomel front line had already noticed the signs - the battlefield must be shielded before the attack. Only in this way can the attacking troops and artillery be mobilized in place. Starting on May 7, the Soviet troops on the Gomel front became obviously very active, frequently attacking reconnaissance troops sent by the 5th SS "Viking" Division. In order to avoid unnecessary losses, the commander of the Viking Division, General Herbert Gillette (the current Viking Division is still a special existence, with a large organization, is actually a corps-level cluster, so there are SS General (who served as the division commander) had to shrink the fire search screen, which actually gave the battlefield to the Soviet army.

Of course, the SS general who was ordered to command the Viking division was not a fool. He also sensed the opponent's offensive intentions. However, he did not intend to strike first, but was preparing for a defensive counterattack.

So during the day on May 8th and May 9th, the three Panzergrenadier regiments, two Panzergrenadier battalions, and one "Assault Brigade" under the Viking Division were busy building fortifications.

Major Schwarzenegger's tank destroyer battalion, the Viking division's armored regiment (usually the Panzergrenadier division has only one armored battalion, and the Viking division has one armored regiment) and anti-tank gun battalion (equipped with the amazingly powerful Pak43 88mm anti-tank guns) were concentrated near the city of Gomel, ready to reinforce the front line at any time.