Chapter 313 Socialism Does Not Declare War

"woo woo woo woo……"

The air raid siren sounded again in the center of Batumi. Comrade Serov, who was convening an emergency enlarged meeting of the party committee to deploy the mobilization and defense work of the entire autonomous republic, glanced at the column of smoke rising straight into the sky outside the window.

That was an oil depot burning at the Batumi refinery! There may have been millions of gallons of gasoline or other oil burning, and all the fire brigade in Batumi was helpless. And this huge smoke column has now become a target for imperialist bombers. Even at night, imperialist bombers can find their targets.

There were a few timid committee members in the conference room who wanted to get up and go to the air-raid shelter, but Serov saw them and gave them a hard look.

"Continue the meeting!" he said. "The enemy's target is the oil refinery, not the party committee building. We are seizing the time now to discuss plans to strengthen firefighting forces, organize worker camps and build city fortifications as soon as possible... We are close to Turkey here. We must be prepared to resist the Turkish invasion force!”

In addition to strengthening firefighting, the other two tasks were deployed by the Georgian Party Committee. Now no one can guarantee that after the bombing, thousands of Turkish reactionary troops armed to the teeth will not cross the border to attack Batum! Therefore, the Georgian Party Committee urgently instructed Serov to cooperate with the border guards as much as possible to protect Batum.

At the same time, the People's Commissariat of Defense also urgently mobilized 2 infantry corps, 1 cavalry corps and 2 tank brigades to reinforce the newly established Caucasus Front in accordance with Stalin's instructions. It also urgently dispatched a fighter jet equipped with LaG-3 fighter jets. The aviation regiment was transferred from the Finnish battlefield to Georgia.

Molotov, who also served as the People's Commissar of Foreign Affairs, was also ordered to send messages to the Soviet embassies in the United Kingdom, the United States, and Germany to ask them to find out the attitudes of all parties. At the same time, Molotov also made an emergency appointment with the ambassadors of Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States, who had "no knowledge" of the air strike on Batumi, and inquired about the situation.

"The Turkish ambassador really seemed to know nothing and was completely stunned." Molotov said at a political bureau meeting in the Kremlin. "Both the British ambassador and the American ambassador were very shocked, but they both hoped that the Soviet Union Able to maintain restraint and calm..."

"Restraint and calmness?" Stalin hummed and said, "If Manchester and New York are now next to each other, can the British and Americans still exercise restraint and calmness? This is the aggression of French imperialism against the Soviet Union, and it is an aggressive war! The Soviet people Never give up, we must put the red flag in Paris this time!”

Stalin said harsh words and turned his eyes to Voroshilov, the sweaty People's Commissar of Defense.

"Comrade General Secretary, two heavy bombing aviation brigades are ready to attack," Voroshilov said. "The Turkish capital Ankara and Damascus in French Syria are both within the combat radius of heavy bombers."

Soviet heavy bombers, like their fighters, were showing their age. At present, the heavy bombardment of the Soviet Air Force is still TB-2 and its improved TB-3. There are as many as 6 heavy bombing aviation brigades, with a total of nearly 1,000 old four-engine heavy bombers.

In the early 1930s, these four-round bombardments could be said to be a powerful force that deterred imperialism. But by 1940, these old-fashioned aircraft, which were slow, weak in firepower and could not fly high, had little use for them. Even if it attacks at night, it can easily be shot down by the opponent's ground firepower and night fighters.

However, it was not Maozi's temper not to fight back when being bombed. Stalin could only be tough on this issue, otherwise the comrades below would have other ideas.

"Go up and bomb Damascus tonight!" Stalin issued the order - the Syrian people will now lie down and be bombed. But there was nothing we could do about it. Paris was too far away and Soviet planes couldn't reach it.

Voroshilov asked in a low voice at this time: "Comrade General Secretary, do you want to contact the Germans and send a few heavy bombing aviation brigades to bomb Paris?"

Taking off from German territory, Paris can be reached. But Stalin asked coldly: "Should we send a few more mechanized armies to attack France together with the Germans?"

Shouldn't it be sent? Voroshilov saw something wrong with Stalin's face and didn't know how to answer.

"How are the losses at the Batumi refinery?" Stalin changed the topic.

"Comrade General Secretary," Molotov, who serves as Chairman of the People's Committee, replied, "the situation is relatively serious. A large oil storage tank was hit, causing a fire, and the factory may be bombed a second time."

The second wave of bombings has begun, but the Kremlin has not yet received reports. Since the first wave of bombing detonated oil storage tanks, Batumi's oil refinery has now burst into flames and has become a very high-profile target. Now the French LeO-451 bomber can drop bombs at an altitude of more than 6,000 meters. Except for the Lager-3, there is no fighter in the Soviet Air Force that can fight at such an altitude (the theoretical ceiling of the I-16 exceeds 6,000 meters, but because there is no closed cockpit, pilots who reach this altitude will suffer a lot) . Even the LAG-3 can theoretically fly very high, but its performance drops drastically when it reaches high altitudes, and it is prone to stalling, which is very dangerous.

"Will production be seriously affected?" Stalin asked in a calm voice.

Molotov nodded, "It may stop work for a few months, but the impact on the national economy will not be particularly large."

Batumi Oil City is a large oil processing plant that was expanded based on the legacy of the Tsarist Russia era and introduced German machinery and technology during the first five-year plan. It can process several million tons of oil every year, accounting for about 50% of the Soviet Union's domestic oil processing volume (not as much as 70%, because the Soviet Union was an iron curtain country, so Britain and France did not know about the existence of the Second Baku Oil Field and Ufa Oil City). If it cannot be started for a few months, the fuel supply in the Soviet Union will naturally be tight, but it is definitely not as serious as Britain and France imagined.

Stalin lit his pipe and thought while smoking, "What is the purpose of the French bombing Batumi? Are they preparing to invade southern Russia? I don't think so... Their purpose is to make us reduce our oil exports to Germany. Perhaps 500,000 tons of oil exports per month is indeed a bit too much. Now our own oil base has been bombed by France, and the losses are relatively serious, so there is no way to continue to supply crude oil at the standard of 500,000 tons per month."

"Comrade General Secretary," Mikoyan, a member of the Political Bureau in charge of domestic and foreign trade, asked, "Then how much crude oil should we supply to Germany every month?"

Stalin exhaled a circle of white smoke, thought for a while, and said: "Stop the transportation for one month in April, saying that the reserve oil depot was bombed. Starting in May, it will be reduced by half, and 250,000 tons per month... In addition, Germany is required to process 250,000 tons of crude oil for us every month starting in May."

This is a request that Germany cannot refuse if Germany still wants to win over the Soviet Union as a friend.

Stalin glanced at Molotov and said, "Tell the Americans about this... If the United States does not want us to stand on the side of Germany, it should take some action."

Crude oil cannot be used directly. If Germany processes 250,000 tons of crude oil for the Soviet Union every month, then they will have to process 250,000 tons less, and the Soviet Union will also sell 250,000 tons less crude oil to Germany. This means that the French bombing has partially achieved its goal.

"Comrade General Secretary," Molotov, who also served as the People's Commissar of Foreign Affairs, asked at this time, "Do we want to declare war on France now?"

France bombed the Batumi refinery, which is a naked act of war. In theory, war should be declared.

"Declare war?" Stalin snorted, "That is part of bourgeois international law. We are a socialist country. Do socialist countries need to declare war when they go to war?"

Molotov exhaled lightly. It is easy to declare war but difficult to cease war. It is easier to manipulate a war without declaring it. If a war is declared openly, it will have to fight to the death. And once France is declared, can we still live in peace with Britain? If war is declared with Britain, then we can board the German ship directly... Of course, it is not impossible to board the German ship, but the problem is that the conditions have not been negotiated yet.

Stalin paused and said: "Comrade Molotov, you should go to Berlin immediately to discuss the issue of the Soviet Union joining the war with the Germans."

Molotov became nervous again after hearing this, and looked at Stalin and asked: "Comrade General Secretary, what conditions should we put forward?"

It is definitely not good for the Soviet Union to discuss joining the war with Germany at this time, but it is not possible not to discuss it. Who knows whether the "armed conflict" with the French will escalate step by step?

Stalin said: "The Red Army will enter Finland, Russian Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Turkey, French Syria, Iraq and Iran. In addition, the liberation of the Indian people should also be the responsibility of the Soviet Union."

Molotov nodded. To be honest, such conditions are not harsh. After all, the participation of the Soviet Union is equivalent to ensuring that Germany can win the world war!

But if the Soviet Union's demands were really met, the entire Middle East oil-producing area and Romania's oil fields would fall into the hands of the Soviet Union. And after occupying Russian Poland, the Soviet Red Army could directly threaten Germany's core headquarters, so it was unlikely that Germany would accept these conditions.

"Comrade General Secretary, if Germany does not accept these conditions," Molotov asked carefully, "then is there a second or third option?"

Stalin took two puffs of cigarettes, thought about it and said, "We can discuss it slowly... Don't refuse anything, don't agree to anything, unless Germany accepts our conditions.

In addition, we have to ask for technical assistance. Our aviation technology is already backward, and we ask Germany to transfer the relevant technology of BF-109 and Fokker Zero. Only in this way can we protect the oil-producing areas of Baku, Batumi and Grozny. Otherwise, if the French bomb a few more times, we will have no oil to supply Germany!"