Chapter 853 The Final Battle—Peace Is Imminent? (First Update)
Stalin's order eventually became Order No. 197 of the Red Army Supreme Command (1943), which is roughly the combination of Order No. 270 in 1941 and Order No. 227 in 1942.
There are two main contents: one is that no retreat is allowed without orders from superiors; the other is that surrender is not allowed at any time, otherwise the person is a traitor and his family will be deprived of benefits and rations - in the Soviet Union, this means that survival will become quite difficult!
However, in the eyes of Comrade Stalin, now the Red Army has really reached the time when it has to fight desperately. Because if the Red Army cannot win the Battle of the Junction and the Battle of Smolensk, then even if Zhukov temporarily lifts the siege of Leningrad and sends some supplies and reinforcements into the city. Leningrad may still become Petrograd soon... because the siege of nearly a year will not be without sequelae. According to Zhdanov's report, the morale of Leningrad is now scattered, a bit like 1917.
It's just that the Bolsheviks and the Russian empress have switched positions. 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 "unsteady elements" who were driven out of Leningrad in the past few months have now gathered under the banner of the empress (otherwise where can they go to eat?), and many of them have joined the White Army-the children of those who participated in the February Revolution and the October Revolution in 1917, now kneeling at the feet of the Russian empress for the sake of stuttering!
Obviously, expelling them is the right choice... The people of the second capital of the Soviet Union are not as reliable as imagined.
If Leningrad is surrounded again and the German army approaches Moscow at the same time, it is normal for a riot to occur in Leningrad. And if Leningrad turns against the enemy during the Battle of Moscow, the morale of the people of Moscow is likely to collapse.
In addition, once Leningrad becomes Petrograd, it is equivalent to closing the door to negotiations between the Soviet Union and Germany.
In fact, Stalin now does not want to fight Germany to the end - it seems that he can't win!
All he wants is a peace that can explain the past. It is okay to cede a little land in the west, but the border before the Soviet-Polish War in 1939, especially the left bank of Ukraine, must be preserved. Otherwise, Stalin will be the eternal sinner of Russia!
So Stalin's calculation is actually "peace", not "delay". Because he knows very well that Leningrad has a high probability of falling. And once Leningrad becomes the capital of the Russian empress, then restoring the Russian Empire will become the first choice of the Germans...
Therefore, Stalin dare not "drag" out a peace, but can only hope to "fight" out a peace.
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 favorable to the Soviet Union. It doesn't matter even if the Red Army suffers heavy losses in the battle of the junction... Because the Red Army's losses are confidential, the German command cannot fully grasp them. They know that only their army was defeated, which will prompt them to lower the negotiation price.
Moreover, Stalin felt that if he "gave up" half of Ukraine and half of Belarus, the Germans would have already had enough. They dominated most of Europe, took over the oil-producing areas in the Middle East, and Africa was also the sphere of influence of Germany, France, and Rome. It would not be a big problem to control most of India - it was simply a revolutionary mass of serfs for 18 generations who robbed the Tsar's Winter Palace. The gold, silver, and treasures could not be loaded into several carriages. Why didn't they quickly flee to Western Europe to live a life of luxury? Were they waiting to be caught and hanged by the Tsar's guards?
Therefore, in Germany, which "became rich overnight", there must be many people who want to stop while they are ahead. 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 we launch the assault as scheduled tonight?"
"Yes!" Pavlov raised his wrist to check the time and said, "Comrade General Secretary, the offensive of the 1st and 2nd Tank Armies of the Red Army on the Gomel front will begin in 20 minutes. We will deploy more than 1,500 tanks and assault artillery to crush the German defense line without mercy."
"Very good! Tell Comrade Golikov and Comrade Mekhlis to capture Gomel at all costs and push the front to the east bank of the Dnieper River!"
Stalin gave two final instructions and left the operations 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 of 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 significant progress.
This shows that the peace talks between the Soviet Union and Germany have been recognized by the Hitler government - it is no longer a peace negotiation between the Soviet Union and the German military.
But there are some bad news. First, the Russian empress and the White Russian forces have also been frantically active during this period, writing large amounts of blank checks to the leaders of the Junker officer group. Secondly, the content about the "Katyn Forest Massacre" suddenly appeared in Swiss newspapers in the past two days.
Mrs. Kollontai believed that this was most likely a conspiracy jointly created by the German royal family and the Russian empress, who wanted to create obstacles to the Soviet-German peace talks through a completely fabricated massacre...
"Damn it! Katyn Forest is now a battlefield! If I had known this would happen, I should have sent those Poles to Siberia." After listening to Molotov's report, Stalin remembered that Katyn Forest, the place where the Polish anti-German revolutionary group was buried, had now become a battlefield repeatedly fought between the Soviet and German armies. Once the soldiers on both sides dug trenches, it would be easy to find the dead buried underneath.
"Why didn't our people report the discovery of the bodies?" He then muttered again.
"Our people are all very politically conscious, so they can't find them." Molotov replied respectfully.
Stalin thought about it and felt that this was true. The Red Army soldiers had been educated by the Party for many years, and of course they would not be deceived by illusions...
"This is not a problem," Stalin lit his pipe, took a puff and said, "The Germans don't care how many Poles died! In fact, no one cares about these... We just need to deny it."
Molotov frowned slightly. The Germans would not care, but now the German emperor is also the King of Poland. This issue... is still a bit complicated.
Stalin continued to instruct: "The next few days are the key to a breakthrough in the peace talks! Mrs. Kollontai's status is too low, and I am afraid she is not enough to represent the Soviet Union to reach an important treaty."
Molotov understood what Stalin meant and immediately said: "Comrade General Secretary, how about I go to Switzerland in person?"
"Okay, you go in person." Stalin nodded and said, "Let Mrs. Kollontai arrange it first, and try to get you to meet with Prime Minister Hitler and Hessmann."
"I think Mrs. Kollontai can arrange a meeting," Molotov said, "but it will take a long time to reach an agreement." To achieve peace, we may need to make some concessions..."
"The Soviet-Polish border before 1939 cannot be given up!" Stalin said carefully, "India can not mention it... This is our bottom line. As long as we win the battle at the junction, a peace treaty with the Soviet-Polish border as the future Soviet-German border should be reached. So the next few days and weeks will be quite critical for the Soviet Union."
...
"Swish, swish, swish..."
As the earth-shaking shrill screams sounded, the days of peace on the Gomel front were instantly broken. Major Schwarzenegger, the commander of the 5th SS Tank Destroyer Battalion, who had just finished dinner and was patrolling the position with three company commanders, turned his head and looked at the place where the whistle came from. I saw countless red and orange lights filling the night sky, flying towards the front position of the 5th SS "Viking" Division at a very fast speed.
"Rocket launchers! Damn it, the Soviets are going to attack! I knew they were going to attack!" He immediately shouted.
The Soviet offensive was not without any signs. At least Major Schwarzenegger stationed on the Gomel front had already noticed the signs - before the offensive, the battlefield must be shielded, only in this way can the attacking troops and artillery be mobilized in place. Starting from May 7, the Soviet troops on the Gomel front became very active, frequently attacking the reconnaissance troops sent by the 5th SS "Viking" Division. In order to avoid unnecessary losses, the commander of the Viking Division, General Herbert Gillet (the current Viking Division is still a special existence, with a large organization, and is actually a military-level cluster, so there is an SS general as the commander of the division) had to shrink the fire search curtain, 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 noticed the opponent's offensive intention. However, he did not intend to strike first, but was ready to fight a defensive counterattack.
So during the daytime of May 8 and May 9, the three armored grenadier regiments, two armored grenadier battalions and one "assault brigade" under the Viking Division were all busy building fortifications.
Major Schwarzenegger's tank destroyer battalion, the armored regiment of the Viking Division (normally the armored grenadier division only has one armored battalion, while the Viking Division has one armored regiment) and the anti-tank gun battalion (equipped with the powerful Pak43 88mm anti-tank gun) were concentrated near the city of Gomel, ready to reinforce the front at any time.