Chapter 211 Stalin Was Not Wrong

"Comrade General Secretary, Comrade Yegorov and I both believe that the Germans' "Black Plan" is too conservative, and the Germans overestimated Poland's strength... But it can still achieve the goal of defeating White Poland."

When Tukhachevsky and Yegorov reported to Stalin, the great leader of the Soviet Union was also reading a report that made him happy - it was sent by Berzin from Crimea.

About 560 tons of gold have been shipped to the Soviet Union!

And Berzin also asked his agents to steal the relevant receipts back - using a substitution trick, the Spanish did not notice at all.

"Now the Spaniards will never see their gold again, just like they can't see their ears." Stalin wrote on Berzin's report with a pencil.

This is really a joke that makes people laugh.

"Conservative? This is the German style, they have always been like this." Stalin said while erasing the "joke" he wrote with a pencil, "But as long as you can win, it's okay to be conservative. So, how long do you think it will take to recover the Right Bank Ukraine and Western Belarus if we fight according to their method?"

"The Germans are going to defeat Poland in 6 months," Yegorov said, "but the General Staff of the Red Army has deduced based on the general outline of the "Black Plan". Even if the Poles don't make any mistakes, 3 months is their limit."

In the "Black Plan", the German army will dispatch 1.5 million troops, and Hersman suggested that the Soviet Union mobilize the same number of troops. Poland currently maintains a standing army of nearly 1.5 million. Once the war breaks out, the Poles have the ability to double the number of troops to 3 million within 3 months, which is equivalent to the total number of the Soviet-German coalition forces - nearly double the number in history, mainly because Poland's population has increased a lot after merging the Right Bank Ukraine and Lithuania. And with the assistance of Britain and France, Poland is also able to equip so many troops with relatively sophisticated weapons. In addition, the Black Plan planned to defeat Poland in six months instead of one month, so the Poles theoretically had more time to mobilize.

But the Polish air force was too weak to withstand the attacks of tens of thousands of Soviet and German military aircraft. After losing air superiority, even if the Polish army reached 3 million, it could only be beaten.

"Three months is enough?" Stalin's eyes shifted from Berzin's report to Yegorov's serious face.

"Enough," Tukhachevsky said, "If they are willing to take a more risky approach, such as using mechanized troops to conduct a deep assault, perhaps one month will be enough to win a great victory."

"Maybe one month, maybe not!" Stalin shook his head, "The military exercises and war games of the deep assault have been conducted many times, but there are big problems, right?"

Theory is one thing, and practice is sometimes another. Historically, the Soviet Union hesitated for a long time whether to use tanks in a concentrated manner-this is not just a problem of conservative thinking, but it encountered too many problems in actual use.

Not only did the quality of the personnel fail to meet the requirements, but the number of equipment and management were also seriously insufficient - the Soviet Union had a large number of tanks, but a deep offensive operation could not be carried out by concentrating tanks alone. Sufficient armored vehicles and trucks were also needed to mechanize or motorize the infantry following the tanks.

"You who are deputy people's commissars of defense and chiefs of the general staff only know about mechanization, tank army, and pursuit of maximum combat effectiveness." Stalin said in an impatient tone, "But when can you understand the difficulties of the country and the people? Tank army is good, mechanization is good, who doesn't know?

But our country only produces a total of 120,000 to 130,000 cars a year, and 20,000 to 30,000 of them are of poor quality. How many cars does the entire Red Army of Workers and Peasants have now? How many mechanized troops can be equipped if they are all concentrated? Then what about other troops? What about the logistics department? Even if we use horse-drawn carriages to replace them, it is impossible. That requires one million horse-drawn carriages and millions of horses... But how many horse farms do we have? Where can we get so many horses?"

With Germany's annual production of more than 500,000 cars, it is not capable of fully mechanizing 1.5 million troops, let alone the Soviet Union, which only produces 120,000 to 130,000 cars? Therefore, in the theory of deep operations proposed by Tukhachevsky, in addition to the concentrated use of mechanization, the concentrated use of cavalry is also mentioned. But the problem is that if the mechanization is concentrated on a few troops, most of the army will lose its mobility. The Soviet Red Army is a heavily armed army with too many artillery and baggage, so even the infantry divisions are equipped with many trucks. If these trucks are taken away, the troops can only rely on mules and horses to achieve mobility.

However, horse production has become a problem after agricultural collectivization. The Soviet Union does not have so many horses. Because collective farms will not raise extra horses, the horses needed by the army cannot rely on the agricultural support of the entire country, but can only be provided by state-owned horse farms. And it is a very complicated problem to increase the production of horses in state-owned ranches. This involves pastures, feed, labor and a large amount of investment, as well as the adjustment of the entire five-year plan. It is even necessary to reduce the ration supply of the Soviet people in order to feed the extra horses...

Stalin's mood became a little bad when he mentioned "mechanization", and he didn't want to see the faces of the two "aristocratic officers" who were high above and out of touch with the masses. Just when he was thinking of sending them away quickly, Tukhachevsky spoke again.

"Comrade Stalin," Tukhachevsky frowned, "I think the Germans may be deceiving us!"

"Deception?" Stalin looked up at Tukhachevsky, "You think they won't attack Poland?"

"No, they will definitely attack," Tukhachevsky said, "because only by defeating and controlling Poland can Germany be connected with the Baltic and East Prussia. Moreover, Germany cannot be self-sufficient in agricultural products, even if it is merged The Baltic Republic still needs to import more than two million tons of agricultural products every year, and Poland is a major exporter of agricultural products.”

“Then they will swallow up western Belarus and right-bank Ukraine together?”

"This is impossible. Western Belarus and right-bank Ukraine are too far away from the German mainland." Tukhachevsky said, "Comrade General Secretary, what I mean is that the "Black Plan" given to us by the Germans is very likely to be false. . The style of play in "The Black Plan" is completely opposite to Germany's long-standing military mechanization policy..."

"Okay, okay," Stalin said very impatiently, "Comrade Tukhachevsky, I understand what you mean... You still think that the party's military line is wrong and does not follow the opinions of the French bourgeois militiaman Charles de Gaulle. , to establish a small but sophisticated mechanized professional army, but instead took the route of a large-scale people's army! "

"This..." Tukhachevsky was stunned and wanted to explain a few words. Yegorov's face changed drastically - Stalin mentioned the "party line", which was a life-threatening matter in the Soviet Union!

"Comrade Stalin and Comrade Tukhachevsky support the party's military line. He just, just thinks that the Germans are deceiving us..." As Yegorov spoke, a very bad feeling suddenly rose in his heart. A premonition - Stalin originally disliked "military experts" like himself and Tukhachevsky, but now he was talking about the "party line"...

"So what?" Stalin glared at Yegorov, "I want Western Belarus, I want Right Bank Ukraine, Comrade Lenin also wants to destroy White Poland! The Germans can help us achieve our goals, so they are not deceiving us! As for them What does it matter how we fight?”

Stalin emphasized his tone, "Even if the Germans used large-scale mechanized troops to defeat Poland, it does not mean that the party's military line is wrong! Because the Soviet Union has the national conditions of the Soviet Union! We do not have so many cars to mechanize the army! No Just not!”

…

"Comrade Tukhachevsky, let's admit our mistake to Comrade Stalin. On the issue of mechanization of the army, we were a little too eager to get things done."

Tukhachevsky and Yegorov left the Kremlin together. Tukhachevsky was fine, but Yegorov seemed to be desperate. As soon as he got into the car, he whispered to Tukhachevsky.

"Admit your mistake?" Tukhachevsky raised his eyebrows. "We were not wrong! The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army must establish a strong mechanized assault force, otherwise we are likely to be attacked by Germany after the fall of Poland! This concerns the Soviet Union The survival of the country, on this issue, I must stick to the right line! "

"Oh my God, what are you talking about?" Yegorov frowned tightly.

"" is a matter of life and death for the Bolsheviks. All the makers and supporters of the "wrong line" will step down... And in the era of the Great Purge, a charge of "supporting a reactionary military line" is enough to make a person A general with great military exploits became a prisoner of his subordinates and even lost his life.

"This is not a question of the route, this is not a question of the route!" Yegorov said in a solemn tone, "Comrade Stalin did not deny the benefits of mechanization. The problem is that we cannot rush for quick results. When the country is in difficulty, we as soldiers should be considerate. "

Tukhachevsky said: "Why are you not in a hurry? In two years at most, Poland, the buffer state between the Soviet Union and Germany, will disappear. By then we will be face to face with the mechanized and air superiority German army! If we can't If we overcome all difficulties and establish a strong mechanized army in time, our cause will be in danger of failure! As a Bolshevik strategist, we must seek truth from facts on this issue!"

The two Soviet marshals who were having a conversation certainly never thought that what they said had been written down by their driver, and Comrade Stalin would soon be able to read the report...