Chapter 874 The Red Navy Goes to New York

Alexei Alexanderovich Kuznetsov received a high-level reception in the Kremlin. Stalin personally greeted him at the door of Building 1 of the Kremlin and called him "Dear Alexei" - this name was used in Stalin's handwritten letter to Kuznetsov during the siege of Leningrad.

At that time, Stalin said in the letter: "Dear Alexei, all hopes are on you. The motherland will not forget you!"

Along with this letter, a pack of Stalin's favorite cigarettes was sent to the siege of Leningrad - this was the only handwritten letter Stalin wrote in his life with a gift. It can be seen how much Stalin valued this second-in-command of Leningrad City W.

And today, Beria, Pavlov, Zhukov and Abakumov, who was about to go to Leningrad to purge ***, also welcomed Kuznetsov with Stalin.

After some greetings and pleasantries, Stalin cordially took Kuznetsov's hand and came to a room arranged as a war room surrounded by people - this is a large room with a high roof but poor lighting, with a large sand table in the middle of the room.

The sand table shows the military situation around Leningrad, which seems to be pretty good. Wooden models symbolizing Soviet divisions or brigades are densely placed in and around Leningrad. There are fewer models symbolizing the German army, mainly concentrated in the south, southeast of Leningrad and the north of Pskov Oblast. In the central part of Pskov Oblast, there are many small models symbolizing the Red Army.

At least from the sand table, the troops of the German Northern Army Group are being attacked from the north and south by the Leningrad Front and Kalinin Front of the Soviet Red Army.

"Dear Alexei," Stalin seemed to admire Kuznetsov very much at this time, still using this enviable name, "Although the Soviet Union is facing an extremely severe situation, the situation around Leningrad is getting better... If there is any place that can become a turning point in the war, I think it is near Leningrad." He turned around and asked Zhukov and Pavlov standing beside him, "Isn't that right?"

"Yes, the area around Leningrad is the most promising." Zhukov took over the question and said, "According to the plan drawn up by the Supreme Command, the Kalinin Front and the Leningrad Front will launch an attack on the German Baltic States, the cities of Velikiye Luki and Pskov in Pskov Province in late June, forcing the German troops concentrated in the south of Leningrad to return to support, so as to completely end the threat facing Leningrad."

After listening to Zhukov's introduction, Kuznetsov was slightly stunned and asked back: "The fourth battle of Leningrad has been postponed to late June?"

The instructions he had received before said that it would start in early June at the latest.

"It's postponed," Zhukov replied expressionlessly, "This is to equip our troops with our newest and most powerful Joseph Stalin tanks."

Zhukov was opposed to postponing the launch of the Fourth Battle of Leningrad, and he had a quarrel with Stalin for this. But in the end, he was "persuaded" by Stalin to agree to postpone the launch of the operation to late June to wait for at least 200 JS-2 (Stalin heavy tanks) tanks to equip the troops.

Zhukov was very optimistic about this heavy tank and believed it was a weapon against the German Tiger tank! However, it was a bit too rash to postpone the launch of a campaign in order to wait for 200 tanks.

After all, the Germans' strength around Leningrad will also be strengthened by the delay. According to the current situation, the Germans are mobilizing the Polish Defense Forces to participate in the war against the Soviet Union to make up for their own lack of troops.

In addition, France has recently shown full support for Russian Empress Olga and is likely to send more troops to join the attack on the Soviet Union.

"While waiting for the arrival of the JS-2 tanks," Stalin said in a very calm tone, "we must also conduct a small purge in Leningrad, eliminate the latent reactionaries, and reorganize the army there. So that Leningrad will once again become a strong revolutionary fortress!"

This time it is a "small purge" rather than a big purge, but 20,000 reactionaries must still be arrested. After arresting these people, the loose hearts of Leningrad people will be united, and various reactionary ideas will be restrained, which is very beneficial to the upcoming Fourth Battle of Leningrad.

Before the "small purge" was carried out, the unreliable troops in Leningrad had to be mixed with the troops transferred from outside - Stalin originally wanted to transfer all these "family members of anti-GM elements with guns" out of Leningrad. But there was no troop to replace them, so it was changed to local reorganization.

After completing the reorganization, the troops will participate in the "small purge" together, and after some reorganization, they will be used for offensive and attrition warfare in future operations.

While the troops were being reorganized and cleaned up, the factories and population in Leningrad had to be evacuated as soon as possible. The reliable ones left first, and the unreliable ones left later. In the end, the city would be evacuated to an empty one...

"General Secretary, Comrade Bulganin and Comrade Kuznetsov have arrived."

Stalin had just seen off one Kuznetsov, and another Kuznetsov had arrived with Bulganin, the political commissar of the Red Navy's Atlantic Fleet.

This Kuznetsov was the People's Commissar of the Red Navy and the Commander of the Atlantic Fleet. He was also the Deputy Commander of the Allied Atlantic Fleet, which was to be rebuilt.

The reconstruction of the Allied Atlantic Fleet was agreed upon during talks between Stalin and Hopkins. Bulganin will once again team up with the "American Political Commissar" McCarthy to serve as the political commissar of the Allied Atlantic Fleet, while the commander of the Allied Combined Fleet will be U.S. Admiral Stark - the same man who happened to be the commander of the Allied Forces when the Pearl Harbor incident broke out. Admiral Stark, who stayed as the Chief of Naval Operations, was dismissed from the post of Chief of Naval Operations in early 1942 and sent to Iceland to serve as Commander of the U.S. Naval Forces Europe Command. In early 1943, he successfully commanded the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Europe, and then replaced Admiral Ingersoll in command of the Atlantic Fleet. Now he has become the natural choice for the commander of the Allied Atlantic Fleet.

In addition, the Chief of Staff of the Allied Atlantic Fleet will be Admiral Cunningham of the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom (Canada) who has withdrawn to Canada - the British government in London is currently not recognized by the United States and the Soviet Union.

"Comrade General Secretary," Marshal Kuznetsov, who looked very proud in a straight navy uniform (he was promoted to Marshal not long ago), first saluted Stalin and then reported: "The morale of the Atlantic Fleet is very high. , ready to attack at any time!”

Because the home base of the Red Navy is in Leningrad, now that the city is under siege, the families and agencies of the trapped Red Navy have moved to Molotovsk, so the morale of the Red Navy has been greatly improved.

Moreover, the dispatch of the Red Navy's Atlantic Fleet means being able to go to the United States... Comrades still miss their life in New York very much.

"It's extremely dark in the North Pole now, right?" Stalin frowned and asked, "Can the fleet reach New York safely?"

"Yes." Kuznetsov replied with a smile, "American Admiral Stark has formulated a plan to mobilize the main force of the enemy fleet to cover the Red Navy's dispatch."

"Oh?" Stalin asked with interest, "How are the Americans going to mobilize the enemy?"

"They are preparing to use their main fleet to protrude from the Caribbean Sea to threaten the Guyana-Europe maritime communication line." Kuznetsov said, "If the situation permits, the Americans are also prepared to threaten the Azores Islands."

According to Stark's plan, the main attack of the Atlantic Fleet will definitely lead to the main force of the European Combined Fleet. However, Halsey will not actually fight the main force of the European Combined Fleet. His purpose is only to contain the opponent and draw the opponent as far as possible towards the Caribbean Sea.

"At the same time," Kuznetsov said, "the Americans will also send several escort aircraft carriers and Independence-class light aircraft carriers to form a task force and take the Arctic Circle route to welcome our fleet to break through the Denmark Strait."

After the fall of the British mainland, the United States abandoned its stronghold in Iceland and withdrew all its troops to North America.

The German army then entered Iceland and deployed Ju288 bombers and He219 fighter jets there, but not in large numbers. Because the waters near Iceland have been very calm since the Americans withdrew. Not to mention that the fleets of the United States and the Soviet Union have not been there, and even the submarines of the United States and the Soviet Union have not been seen much, so sending too many planes is a waste.

Kuznetsov added: "The Americans now have a carrier-based high-altitude fighter that can fight against the Ju288. It is launched into the sky using a catapult and a rocket booster. As long as this aircraft is used for the German Ju288 With a few hard hits, our fleet will be able to break through."

Stalin nodded. He knew that it was possible to break through by surprise, but there would never be a second chance!

In other words, it is easy for the Red Navy Atlantic Fleet to get out, but it is difficult to return to Molotovsk.

However, Stalin still had to let the Red Navy's Atlantic Fleet attack, because the Americans showed the power to threaten German hegemony in the Atlantic, which was always more beneficial to the Soviet Union's suing for peace.

Although he was threatened by Hopkins and poured cold water on him by Hitler, peace was still Stalin's current "national policy." Whether it is the activities of the Red Navy fleet in the Atlantic or the upcoming Fourth Battle of Leningrad, the purpose is to create a relatively favorable peace treaty.

Even if this peace treaty does not last for a few years, Stalin is now willing to ask for it. Because in the direction of Ukraine, the Soviet Union is facing a crisis that even gods can't save. The fall of Kharkiv, Donetsk and even Kursk now seems to be just a matter of time.

Once these heavy industrial towns are lost, the Soviet Union's military industrial strength will be greatly reduced. Continuing to fight will only be more detrimental...