Chapter 880 Rumors

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"Send the fleet!"

Hersmann quickly made the decision to send the main force of the European Combined Fleet to deal with the US fleet (Halsey's 3rd Fleet) that broke into the Atlantic from the Caribbean Sea.

"Tell Marshal Lütjens," Hesmann said to Raeder, "The fleet should bring more fighters, because the strength of the US surface ships is not as good as ours, and they will inevitably choose air strikes... This is our chance to use Fw-190T and Fokker Zero to severely damage the US carrier-based aircraft force! Even if we can't sink the aircraft carrier, as long as we can shoot down a considerable number of US carrier-based aircraft, it will be a very valuable victory."

Hersmann's analysis makes some sense. Although the Americans have 2 or 3 Iowa-class battleships, the number of super battleships in the European Combined Fleet far exceeds that of their opponents, and there are also 4 powerful missile cruisers and 12 V-type missile boats (modified from T-series torpedo boats) and T-series torpedo boats that can launch "Lance torpedoes".

Therefore, the European Combined Fleet is fully confident in the fleet decisive battle. While the European Combined Fleet is fully confident, the US Atlantic Fleet is not.

Therefore, the fleet decisive battle cannot be fought.

So most of the battles that can be fought are sea and air battles, and in this regard... Hersman knows that the European Combined Fleet has always had the problem of insufficient attack capabilities of carrier-based aircraft against surface ships!

Because there has been no development of torpedo attack aircraft, and for a long time, it has relied on shore-based aviation with Ju288 and remote-controlled glide bombs as the core for air anti-ship operations, so the anti-ship capabilities of the carrier-based aviation of the European Combined Fleet are actually insufficient.

Moreover, with the large-scale equipment of various high-performance radars, high-performance carrier-based fighters, Bofors and Oerlikon anti-aircraft gun systems, the air defense capabilities of the surface fleet are now improving as fast as the anti-ship capabilities of carrier-based aircraft.

In the past few months, the European Combined Fleet has organized many sea and air combat exercises. In each exercise, the simulated attack carrier-based aircraft group suffered heavy losses under the joint attack of the fleet's air defense firepower and carrier-based fighters!

Therefore, the top leaders of the German Navy and Naval Aviation came to the conclusion that the carrier-based aircraft group could not defeat the surface fleet with powerful anti-aircraft firepower and many high-performance fighters.

On this basis, the German Navy Command and the European Combined Fleet Command proposed the "all-fighter configuration" aircraft carrier combat mode.

This means that the aircraft carrier should carry more fighters or simply configure all carrier-based fighters, so that it can take advantage of the air attrition war.

At the same time, these carrier-based fighters assigned to the aircraft carrier should also have the ability to carry bombs and attack, which can damage the enemy's aircraft carrier and make it lose the ability to take off and land carrier-based aircraft.

Once the enemy aircraft carrier loses the ability to take off and land carrier-based aircraft, the shore-based Ju288 can launch Fritz-X remote-controlled glide bombs and Hs293 missiles/remote-controlled glide bombs to deal a devastating blow to the enemy fleet.

In fact, the European Combined Fleet's operations in the Atlantic are no longer a simple confrontation between ships or aircraft, but a confrontation between combat systems!

While Hersman chaired an emergency meeting attended by the heads of the Navy, Air Force and Naval Aviation, and decided to send the European Combined Fleet to find the US fleet for a decisive battle, Leningrad, more than 700 kilometers away, was immersed in an indescribable weird atmosphere.

A terrible and unstoppable rumor suddenly spread among the defenders in Leningrad and the outer defense line (referring to the Soviet defense line).

There are three main contents of the rumor. First, the higher-ups no longer trust the people of Leningrad, so they decided to launch a special purge in Leningrad, and anyone with a little problem will suffer!

Second, most of the residents of Leningrad will soon lose their beloved household registration because they have overseas connections and have become family members of anti-GM White Russians. Once the special purge is completed, the people of Leningrad will begin to migrate to Siberia and Central Asia... and will never come back!

The third rumor was that even Red Army soldiers like Kaminsky who had come out of the labor camp were spread in, saying that those who had problems and the Red Army would soon be transferred to the most dangerous front line to serve as cannon fodder and be consumed in the brutal battle... Whether it was the "anti-GM family soldiers" in Leningrad or the "labor reform soldiers" from Siberia, they would have the same fate!

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"Investigate thoroughly! The rumors must be thoroughly investigated, the source of the rumors must be found, and they must be dealt with seriously! At the beginning of the Fourth Battle of Leningrad, no anti-GM rumors will disturb the people and the army of Leningrad. This is absolutely not allowed... Snap!"

At the enlarged meeting of the Leningrad Municipal Party Committee on June 10 (including some members of the Leningrad Front Party Committee), Kuznetsov, the acting secretary of the Leningrad Municipal Party Committee and the Military Commissioner (Political Commissar) of the Leningrad Front, flew into a rage and slapped the hard tabletop of the conference table!

Now the Fourth Battle of Leningrad has begun, and the news from the front is not very good. The German army began its offensive on June 8 and advanced more than 40 kilometers to the southeast in just two days. Now the front line has been pushed to the banks of the Volkhov River.

And outside Leningrad, the situation has become very tense. The front-line troops reported that the German army on the opposite side has become active and frequently attacked to compete for the vacuum zone in the center of the two armies' fronts. Anyone who knows a little about military affairs knows that this is a sign that the enemy will launch an attack.

In addition, the guerrillas in Leningrad and Pskov provinces also sent terrible news: a large number of French and Polish troops are coming, and there are also a large number of siege heavy artillery among them!

This means that Leningrad City is likely to be attacked in the near future.

The army outside the city is gathering, but the people in the city are in turmoil, and rumors are spreading. How can Kuznetsov, a loyal fighter of GCism, not be angry?

"Comrade Abakumov!" Kuznetsov named the head of the Leningrad branch of the People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs, "The internal affairs department must take the rumor incident seriously! I suggest that this round of special cleansing can start with tracking down the rumor spreaders. We must use this opportunity to enforce discipline, boost morale, and severely arrest a group of anti-GM elements!"

"Special big purge" is of course a rumor... There is no "big" at all! Moreover, the target was not particularly high. The total number of anti-GM elements was only 5%. Considering the current situation in Leningrad, it was really small.

"Comrade Secretary, the Internal Affairs Department will guarantee to exceed the task!" Abakumov was also unambiguous and immediately expressed his position - the Internal Affairs Department always exceeds the task, which is much better than the Soviet Red Army... If they can also exceed the task, all mankind will be liberated now!

"Not only must the task be exceeded, but it must be completed as soon as possible!" Kuznetsov said loudly, "Because the special cleansing work is a prerequisite for the city of Leningrad and the Leningrad Front to complete a series of glorious tasks assigned by the party.

If the internal work is not cleaned up, then all work will be destroyed by traitors and spies, and Leningrad may even fall to the enemy!"

His words must be right in the Soviet Union, because history has proved that the Soviet Union is a country full of traitors, spies, and labor scabs... and he himself later became an object that needed to be purged!

After explaining the task of the special cleansing, he turned the topic to "a series of glorious tasks assigned by the party".

"Comrade Popkov," he said to the new mayor of Leningrad, "the evacuation of the population and the relocation of factories must be accelerated and started immediately after the special purge is completed. 90% of Leningrad's unarmed personnel must be relocated to Siberia and Central Asia within one month!"

The evacuation of the population was not so urgent, but the fighting on the Volkhov front was tight, and the German Army Group North received a large number of reinforcements. So the Supreme Command believed that Leningrad was likely to be besieged again in the near future!

Therefore, the evacuation of the population is a top priority.

Moreover, most of the evacuated Leningrad citizens will of course take root in Siberia and Central Asia and devote their lives. Their Leningrad household registration will definitely not be kept... unless it is replaced with the Russian Empress's Petrograd household registration!

Therefore, this work must be carried out after the special purge, when everyone is progressive in thought and active in performance. According to Kuznetsov's experience, it is likely that there will be a gratifying scene of everyone scrambling to sign up to go to Siberia.

Kuznetsov was actually very confident about the cleansing and population migration in Leningrad, because he knew the citizens of Leningrad too well. What made him a little unsure was the cleansing of the army... With the war approaching, is it really appropriate to carry out the cleansing? Will there be a mutiny? If someone in the army resists with force, then the entire cleansing activity will be in trouble!

He looked at General Vlasov, the commander of the Leningrad Front, who came to attend the meeting, and asked: "Comrade Commander, there will be no problem with the cleansing of the front, right?"

Vlasov looked a little sad, sitting there smoking one cigarette after another. To be honest, he was unsure about the current situation, because he had never encountered such a serious situation.

"It should be... no problem." Vlasov thought for a long time and gave an uncertain answer - he really didn't know whether there was a problem or not. If it were replaced by Yakir, Uborevich, Belov, Fedko and other experienced revolutionaries who had served as leaders of the Military Commission during the Civil Revolutionary War and organized many purges and suppressions of anti-GM elements, they would definitely be able to deal with the current complex situation in Leningrad with ease.

But Vlasov was only a junior officer during the Civil Revolutionary War, and he had been in military service since he joined the revolution, and he had never presided over even a single purge.