Chapter 869 The Leningrad Issue (Second Update)

"Comrade General Secretary, the situation in Leningrad is still very critical. The German troops have not withdrawn from the city. The south of Leningrad is still controlled by the German troops, and the Red October Railway has not been restored to traffic.

Moreover, the intelligence department also reported that the Polish reactionary military group headed by Sikorski defected to the German emperor under the pretext of the Katyn Forest incident and was appointed commander of the Polish Army. It is estimated that he will soon lead the Polish army into our territory to fight. It is very likely that Used on the Leningrad battlefield as cannon fodder. At that time, the Germans may use the Polish White Army to carry out offensive operations.

In addition, the Empress of Belarus is now stationed in Tsarskoe Selo on the outskirts of Leningrad, where at least 400,000 bad elements expelled from Leningrad are gathered..."

The person who was reporting to Stalin was Zhdanov, secretary of the Leningrad Region and City. He was also a member of the Political Bureau and the Military Commissar of the Leningrad Front. The decision to expel hundreds of thousands of people from Leningrad to save food rations was made by him and seemed very necessary at the time. But now there are serious sequelae... Leningrad has become a city for the families of communists.

But the families of communists cannot live in a big city like Leningrad! They had to leave, to distant Siberia or Central Asia.

In the Soviet Union, moving the residence registration from the second capital to Siberia was definitely a severe punishment.

"The population of Leningrad must be evacuated immediately," Stalin immediately made a decision, "because the city is likely to be surrounded again! In addition, many factories in Leningrad must also be evacuated to Siberia."

The evacuation plan that Stalin is talking about now actually has little to do with the changes in the composition of Leningrad citizens. Not only Leningrad must be evacuated, but Kharkiv and Donetsk, and indeed Moscow must also be evacuated. A large number of people will be relocated, and a large number of factories will be relocated.

These are all necessary measures for the Soviet Union to persist in a long-term war!

In addition, taking advantage of this opportunity to evacuate the population in the western region, the pace of construction in Siberia and Central Asia can also be accelerated. The State Planning Commission is making plans to build a large number of factories in Siberia and Central Asia. Litvinov, the ambassador to the United States, has received instructions to begin negotiations with the United States on the issue of "leasing" machinery and equipment.

Of course, the families of communists who moved out of Leningrad were different from those who were evacuated from Moscow. They have no chance to return to Leningrad... When the war is over, the Soviet government will move people from other places to Leningrad.

After all, the glorious second capital of the Soviet Union cannot accommodate so many family members of communists - and they are not ordinary family members of communists, but family members of White Russians!

After hearing Stalin's order, Zhdanov said with some embarrassment: "Comrade General Secretary... the situation in Leningrad is very delicate now, and people's hearts are floating. I am worried that a sudden evacuation of the population may cause chaos."

"Confusion?" Stalin seemed not to understand, "What chaos?"

"Riot!" Zhdanov gritted his teeth and said, "Some people may resist the relocation!"

There are 300,000 armed family members of communists in Leningrad...and this is not the worst!

“In addition, during the siege of Leningrad, the Leningrad internal affairs department also uncovered many treason cases!” Zhdanov said, “Some unsteady Leningrad militiamen or cadres attempted to defect, and some Some people secretly communicated with Bairu outside the city."

"Didn't these people all be arrested and shot?" Stalin knew these things. The Leningrad Siege was a very desperate thing, and many people did not stand the test. Some people sneaked out of Leningrad and defected to Belarus, while others secretly communicated with Belarus outside the city and prepared to act as internal agents.

The dispatched agency of the NKVD in Leningrad did not betray the trust of the party and the people. During the days when the city was under siege, it cracked more than ten cases of terrorist groups and tens of thousands of people were shot. They They are all communists, not suspects, so they should be shot instead of deported!

But people who know something about the Soviet Union's troubles all know that the Soviet NKVD has always focused only on quantity and not quality when it comes to capturing communists.

Therefore, many of the people who were shot were not at all. At the same time, there were many real elements lurking in the city of Leningrad, panicking all day long.

"The principle of our party has always been to never wrong a good person and never spare a bad person!" After understanding that "there are no good people" in Leningrad, Stalin explained the party's policy while smoking his pipe.

"However, we still need to talk about some struggle strategies. We cannot push all the enemies to a dead end at the same time." Stalin frowned and said, "In Leningrad, we should first concentrate our efforts on attacking a small group, so that we can defeat them. The enemy's leadership core can also deter other reactionary elements with evil intentions. As long as they are afraid, the next step of relocating the population will be easier."

The method he mentioned is actually very simple, it is just like carrying out a big purge. The Great Purge is not a one-time “wash”, but a gradual process. Each time a small part is washed away, a target is usually set in advance, such as 5%, so that most people will take chances and become extremely compliant. After several 5% cleanings, the enemies you wanted to eliminate were almost wiped out.

Oh, actually they were not completely wiped out! Because of the great Patriotic War... Due to the losses in 1942 and the huge losses that are happening now, the Soviet Red Army is now in urgent need of replenishing soldiers and officers.

Therefore, the political requirements for the Red Army officers and soldiers are also constantly decreasing. Many communists who should have rotted in the labor camps are now recruited into the Red Army and have a chance to start a new life.

Of course, the families of the 300,000 armed communists in Leningrad cannot all be sent to Siberia.

"The militia in Leningrad should be transferred out in batches, disbanded and incorporated into the various units of the Red Army." Stalin continued. "This work should be completed before the elimination of communists."

First, transfer the troops that may be infiltrated by communists, and then carry out the anti-counterrevolutionary movement... Stalin's art of struggle is still very sophisticated.

After arranging the handy anti-counterrevolutionary work, Stalin began to discuss with his comrades in the Supreme Command the military issues that gave him a headache - the communists in Leningrad were easy to deal with, but the Germans and White Russians outside Leningrad were not easy to deal with.

"Comrade Zhukov, tell me what you think." Stalin named Zhukov. The former commander of the Kalinin Front replaced the weak-willed Shaposhnikov as the Chief of the General Staff of the Red Army a few days ago. Shaposhnikov was changed to Deputy People's Commissar of Defense and Dean of the Military Academy of the General Staff... In fact, it was a sinecure.

"Okay." Zhukov stood up and walked to a large map that took up almost a wall, then took the long pointer from a staff member and pointed to the Leningrad-Smolensk line on the map.

"Comrade General Secretary," Zhukov said, "the current situation on the Soviet-German battlefield is that the German army is concentrating its forces to attack our Southwestern Front, while our Central Front, Leningrad Front and Kalinin Front (commandered by Fezuninsky) are under less pressure and are still in a relative advantage on some battlefields."

Since the main attack target of the 1st Panzer Army (reinforced by the 2nd, 24th and 60th Panzer Corps) has shifted to the left bank of Ukraine, the Soviet Southwestern Front is now under great pressure.

At the same time, the German armored clusters in the center and north have become weak. The 3rd Panzer Army and the 4th Panzer Army used in the center have only 3 armored corps in total (5 armored divisions plus 5 armored grenadier divisions).

And near Leningrad on the north, the German Army's Northern Army Group did not even have a German armored division, only 3 armored grenadier divisions, 1 Hungarian armored division and some White Russian armored units.

Zhukov went on to say: "Since the enemy's central and northern routes have been weakened, the Kalinin Front still controls part of the Pskov-Volkloki railway line. The Central Front also still controls the city of Smolensk, where it is engaged in a fierce battle with the main force of the German Central Army."

"That means we can fight a battle near Leningrad or Smolensk to annihilate the main force of the German army?" Stalin listened to Zhukov's introduction and immediately became a little motivated.

"It is impossible to annihilate the main force of the German army," Zhukov would not speak in accordance with Stalin's intention, "because our Kalinin Front and the Central Front of the Leningrad Front do not have many tank troops."

This statement vaguely blamed Stalin, because it was Stalin who constantly drew tank armies from the northern and central routes to fight the junction battle.

"Moreover, the Germans also have an overwhelming air superiority, which greatly limits our offensive operations." Zhukov said, "Therefore, the success we can achieve around Smolensk and Leningrad is to force the enemy back to relieve the crisis in Leningrad and Moscow." Stalin nodded repeatedly. Zhukov's proposal this time was very much in line with his wishes. Because the crisis in the Left Bank of Ukraine would not immediately threaten the rule of the Bolshevik Party in the Soviet Union. The crisis in Leningrad and Moscow could lead to the demise of the Bolshevik Party. As long as the Bolshevik Party did not face the crisis of national extinction, the Soviet Union would have bargaining chips at the negotiating table in Switzerland. "Comrade Zhukov, how are you going to force the German troops around Leningrad and Smolensk back?" Stalin asked with interest. "First launch a feint attack into the Baltic territory, and then concentrate our forces to attack the German Northern Army Group around Leningrad." Zhukov said, "As long as we can repel the Northern Army Group, the German armored group that broke into the vicinity of Smolensk will appear isolated, and its logistics will become difficult (because it cannot restore railway transportation), and retreating from the vicinity of Smolensk will become an inevitable choice."