The Rise of the Third Reich

"Comrades, the current situation shows that the victory of the Great Patriotic War depends on the gains and losses of the communist fortress in the Caucasus, not the gains and losses of the city of Moscow. Because Moscow is just an isolated city of little value, and the Caucasus region owns 70% of the Soviet Union of oil production capacity, and is also close to the Middle East, the oil production center of imperialism. If the operation of the communist stronghold in the Caucasus can be successful, we can send the fire of national liberation and communist revolution to the entire oppressed Middle East. The people of various countries in the Middle East will rise up against imperialist colonial rule, and the imperialist oil supply will also be exhausted in a very short period of time..."

At the Palace of Socialism in Chelyabinsk (the seat of the Bolshevik Party and Government Bureau of the Soviet Union), it was Khrushchev who had just returned from India who was constantly preaching about the importance of the stronghold of socialism in the Caucasus.

He is now a popular candidate to succeed the communist cause, because the situation of the Indian revolution is relatively good. Due to the weakness of the National Congress Party headed by Gandhi and Nehru, the banner of the Indian Revolutionary National Revolution also fell into the hands of the Indian Bolshevik Party, and the revolutionary climax came.

The Indian Front, jointly commanded by Timoshenko and Khrushchev, swept through northwest India in the first few months of 1944. In mid-April, it also liberated Lahore, the capital of Punjab Province, which is just over 400 kilometers away from Delhi. This is the political center city in India after Delhi in history. The Mughal Dynasty established its capital from 1525 to 1707. Here it is. The liberation of this city seemed to mean that the Indian revolution was reaching its climax.

However, the purpose of Khrushchev coming to Chelyabinsk from Lahore was not to report on the good situation of the Indian revolution, but to discuss with his comrades the serious situation of the Soviet-German war.

The political bureau members present at the meeting (Stalin was absent) were stunned when they heard that Khrushchev was the first to speak at the beginning of the meeting and also touted the stronghold of communism - the content of the political bureau meeting. It is usually determined in advance, and there is rarely a "surprise attack". However, Stalin's political bureau members were quick to think and immediately understood what Khrushchev meant.

"Comrade Khrushchev is right," Molotov, who chaired the meeting instead of Stalin, immediately echoed Khrushchev. "The fortress of communism in the Caucasus is indeed more important than Moscow. Without it, our cause will face difficulties." Failure. As long as the Caucasus is held, the Germans will not be able to mobilize enough troops to attack the Volga-Ural area in 1944. This is of great significance for us to evacuate the Volga-Ural industrial area and wait for a fundamental change in the Pacific battlefield."

His eyes swept around the conference room, and the expressions of surprise and surprise had disappeared from the faces of the committee members present, replaced by expressionless faces.

"I propose," Molotov considered his words, "that the political situation adopt a resolution to reestablish the Revolutionary Military Committee and ask Comrade Stalin to concurrently serve as Chairman of the Revolutionary Military Committee. In addition, in view of the fact that the current war has turned into a civil war, all Russia should be purged The *** and the Extraordinary Committee for Sabotage should also be restored..."

The Revolutionary Military Council was the supreme commanding body of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army established during the last Soviet-Russian Civil War. The Chairman of the Revolutionary Military Council was Trotsky. However, the chairman of the Revolutionary Military Commission in Soviet Russia was different from the one in a certain eastern country later. When Trotsky served as chairman of the Revolutionary Military Council, he rarely stayed in Moscow. Instead, he traveled to various important battlefields and took command personally. In fact, the chairman of the Revolutionary Military Commission in Soviet Russia is similar to the commander-in-chief or general political commissar of the Red Army.

Now Molotov's proposal to reestablish the Revolutionary Military Commission has a double meaning. First, the Revolutionary Military Commission is the commanding organ that leads the Soviet-Russian civil war. The current Soviet-German war is transforming into a Soviet-Russian civil war, so it is naturally necessary to reestablish the Revolutionary Military Commission.

Secondly, the chairman of the Revolutionary Military Committee should go to the most important and decisive battlefield to supervise the war... This is the practice left by Trotsky. Once Stalin becomes the chairman of the Revolutionary Military Committee, he can follow the practice of his mortal enemy (already dead enemy) Trotsky and leave Moscow for the bastion of GC communism in the Caucasus.

This is actually relieving Stalin!

In addition, during the Soviet revolution, the All-Russian Extraordinary Committee for the Purge of Terrorism and Sabotage, which was referred to as the Cheka, complemented the Revolutionary Military Committee!

Now that the Revolutionary Military Council has been restored, the Cheka, which has boundless power, will naturally be restored - compared to the NKVD, the Cheka had even more boundless power.

As for the Cheka organization, of course it must be controlled by Stalin's confidant Beria or someone else whom Stalin fully trusts!

With the two powerful institutions of the Revolutionary Military Committee and the All-Russian Extraordinary Committee for the Purge of Communists and Sabotage, Stalin's control over the Red Army and the remaining territories of the Soviet Union can become more secure.

Then it will be possible to ask him to leave Moscow.

Although letting Stalin leave Moscow will make every political bureau member feel like a thorn in the back, for the sake of the future of the communist cause, everyone participating in today's meeting expressed their support for the restoration of the Revolutionary Military Commission at the first time and asked Stalin to serve as chairman. resolution.

On the night when the political bureau passed the resolution, Khrushchev took the risk and took a Canadian-produced Mosquito night special transport aircraft (actually a modified night bomber) to fly to Moscow, which was heavily surrounded by European coalition forces.

After getting off the plane, Khrushchev immediately transferred to the mysterious "Moscow Metro Line 2" and arrived at Stalin's underground command post in Moscow.

At this time, there were almost no civilians in Moscow, and they had learned the lesson from the previous starvation of Leningrad. The civilians in Moscow were completely evacuated before April 1944, and most of them went to Central Asia. The "Gulag" had a large-scale labor camp in Kazakhstan, with many ready-made facilities and farms. To house Muscovites...

The fighters who stayed in Moscow and persisted in the struggle usually hid underground. There are a large number of underground defense projects in Moscow, and underground bunkers are also scattered along the defense lines outside the city, which can provide the safest residence for Moscow's defenders.

Therefore, Moscow in late May 1944, if viewed from a low altitude, was almost an empty city with few inhabitants. However, there are 1.2 million heavily armed communist fighters hidden underground in Moscow!

However, Stalin, who had the strong city of Moscow and 1.2 million soldiers, did not feel safe at all. Because the army currently defending Moscow is 800,000 fewer than originally planned - according to the original plan, the number of defenders in Moscow City would be as many as 2 million! In addition, there will be more than 1 million mobile troops in the Vladimir Oblast, Ryazan Oblast, and Yaroslavl Oblast outside Moscow Oblast to coordinate.

However, after the "Battle of Moscow Periphery" ended, Stalin only had 1.2 million troops left. In addition, there were less than 700,000 troops trapped in despair in the city of Kalinin. In the Vladimir Oblast, Ryazan Oblast, Yaroslavl Oblast and other places outside Moscow Oblast, there are only less than 500,000 defeated soldiers under the command of the Reserve Front Army. It is impossible to attack the German troops surrounding Moscow and Kalinin City. (coalition forces) pose any threat.

What makes people feel even more desperate is that most of the JS-2 tanks, T-34/85 tanks, A-19 cannons and other heavy anti-tank weapons that were originally planned to be used to defend Moscow were lost in the battle outside Moscow.

Without them, the Soviet army would have almost no weapons that could threaten the frontal armor of E-50A tanks and Jaguar tank destroyers. Even the Tiger H tank with its "shrunk" armor is now enough to run rampant in front of the Soviet army's strongest anti-tank defense position.

So Stalin knew very well at this moment that Moscow's defenses were far from as strong as originally planned. As long as the enemy is determined enough and is prepared to sacrifice hundreds of thousands of lives, he can take Moscow and his own life.

But now, it is not time for Stalin to leave.

While smoking a cigarette, he listened to the political situation's decision conveyed by Khrushchev without saying a word. Stalin was silent for a long time before nodding and said: "As a Bolshevik Party member, of course I obey the political situation's decision and serve as Chairman of the Revolutionary Military Committee."

Khrushchev's originally knitted brows relaxed immediately, with a smile on his face: "This is great, the Soviet Union will be saved now. Then when can you go to the Caucasus? I heard before coming to Moscow It is said that a large armored group of the German army has entered Rostov Oblast and is obviously marching towards the Caucasus.”

Currently heading towards Rostov Oblast is the 2nd Panzer Army belonging to the German Army Group South. The goal of the armored group is the North Caucasus (referring to the north of the Caucasus Mountains), and the attack route is Donetsk-Rostov-Stavropol and Krasnodar. If you count the distance from Donetsk, it is about 450 kilometers. There are prairie along the way, which is an excellent battlefield for the use of tanks and armored forces.

According to the German plan, the 2nd Armored Group Army, which had just received 4 armored divisions from Army Group Center (the original 1 armored division, 3 armored grenadier divisions and 4 motorized infantry divisions), would first clear the north. The grasslands of the Caucasus, and then the 20th Mountain Army and the 1st Parachute Army entered the Caucasus mountains. At the same time, the Middle East Army Corps commanded by General Rommel will also send troops north to the border between Iran and Soviet Azerbaijan to prepare for an invasion from the south.

Stalin took a puff of cigarette and nodded slightly: "Comrade Khrushchev, I will go to the Caucasus at the appropriate time, but before that, I need to stabilize the situation in Moscow. Let this city become The grave of the Germans and Belarusian reactionaries!”