Struggle in Soviet Russia

Chapter 618: Politburo

It was not too late for Victor to come in. Comrade Vasilevsky's explanation should have just started. Therefore, Victor didn't sound like he was struggling, and he didn't have any difficulty in understanding it.

The dividing line between the Soviet Union and the United States on the Korean peninsula is the 38th parallel north. Considering the situation on the Korean peninsula, the military confrontation between the two countries in the middle of the peninsula should be very long, and the reason why Comrade Vasilevsky chose The Scang-ri area is the target location for military operations, mainly because there is no U.S. military deployment in the area south of Sicang-ri, which is the edge of the U.S. Line of Control, Chuncheon-Gapyeong-Inlan-ri. Security and defense is a South Korean police force.

According to Comrade Vasilevsky’s introduction, the South Korean police force stationed in the Chuncheon-Gapyeong-Inlan-ri area is the 127th Mixed Brigade of the former Japanese Army in Korea. After the Americans surrendered, after a simple reorganization and transformation, they became the South Korean police force today, and the uniforms they wear have not even been changed.

The General Staff obviously wanted to launch a military operation against the Americans on the Korean peninsula, but Comrade Vasilevsky still knew what it meant to be restrained. The surrendered Japanese army was targeted. The reason for this is because as long as the U.S. military is not directly attacked, the war between the Soviet Union and the United States will not break out directly. In addition, the Japanese army as a direct attack target is obviously much weaker in terms of operational difficulty. When facing the Japanese army, the Soviet army had full confidence.

Comrade Vasilevsky's opinion is that the North Korean garrison stationed in Uncheon-ri can be armed and deployed to the border line of Renlan-li, looking for opportunities to provoke military friction with the Japanese army in Renlan-ri, and then , the Soviet troops in Shichangli can join the battle in time, and use two to three days to capture Chuncheon and Jiaping equally.

Once the Soviet Army's combat objectives at this stage are successfully achieved, then Moscow can have a good talk with Washington.

Don't underestimate Chuncheon, Gapyeong, and Renlan-ri, the triangular area near the thirty-eighth line, where the water network runs vertically and horizontally. The Bukhan River and its tributary, the Zhaoyang River, are all in this area. From Chuncheon to Seoul, there is less than a total of One hundred kilometers, and you can also go down by boat. Even if the war is not smooth, the Soviet army only needs to blow up the embankment of the Zhaoyang River, and it is estimated that Seoul can be turned into a swamp country. Therefore, the strategic position of this area is actually very important.

Victor listened to Comrade Vasilevsky talking by the window, but he could not agree with the radical plan of the General Staff.

To be honest, with the current Soviet military's temporary lead in rocket delivery technology, Americans may indeed be able to feel a certain pressure, but the problem is that the economic situation of the alliance is indeed not optimistic, and Moscow needs at least a five-year plan. Time to lick the wound and recuperate, instead of thinking about another war, even if it's just a local war.

Although a country is strong, it will perish if it is warlike. This is a wise saying that applies everywhere.

The most important thing is that at present, the United States has not reached a unified opinion on the issue of relations with the Soviet Union. Although the Truman administration tried to take radical measures to strengthen the confrontation with the alliance, its policies were inconsistent in both chambers and the Pentagon. Therefore, it is not a shrewd decision for the alliance to choose to show an aggressive diplomatic stance at this time and threaten Washington with war at every turn.

If possible, Victor would prefer to maintain a situation where the Soviet Union and the United States cannot break through. The two sides can quarrel and curse each other, but directly using military means as a tool to threaten each other is not the best choice. Make both sides go further and further on the road of confrontation - of course, as a traveler, Victor knows that confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union is inevitable, but in terms of the alliance's own interests, the longer this day drags on, the obvious Moscow is more favorable.

It took about ten minutes for Comrade Vasilevsky to express the opinion of the General Staff. All in all, the General Staff hoped to use a limited military operation to show Moscow's tough attitude, thus forcing the United States People make concessions on the issue of the Korean peninsula or Hokkaido.

The attitude of the General Staff is very clear. From the perspective of the national military security strategy, the Korean Peninsula or Hokkaido is very important to the security interests of the alliance in the Far East. The Americans, as the "ally" of the alliance, must be concerned about Moscow's security. Given enough understanding and concessions, if the Americans refuse to make concessions, then Washington is deliberately threatening the security of the alliance in the Far East.

After expressing the attitude of the General Staff, Comrade Vasilevsky walked to a chair not far away and sat down silently. Despite the position of the Red Army system he represented at the moment, on such an occasion, He also did not have many opportunities to speak, and he did not have the qualifications to express his position.

What happened next was that the members and comrades of the Politburo expressed their opinions one by one. In this session, Comrade Mikoyan was the first to express his attitude. He did not directly express his attitude, but asked a Victor Victor first. I also really want to know: Since the General Staff thinks that the Chuncheon, Gapyeong, and Inlan-ri triangles are very important to the military security of South Korea, then after making it a target of capture, why does the General Staff judge that the Americans are losing their money? After the effective control of the area, will not choose to escalate the conflict?

Since Comrade Mikoyan asked this question, his attitude is actually clear: he does not oppose a limited military confrontation with the Americans on the Korean Peninsula, but the scale of the conflict must not be too large, let alone get out of control, to put it bluntly That is, he believed that a full-scale military conflict between the Soviet Union and the United States could not be triggered.

To the question raised by Comrade Mikoyan, Comrade Vasilevsky gave several answers. For example, the alliance has an advantage in nuclear deterrence; the United States has different opinions on the issue of confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union; After more than four years of war, there has been a clear anti-war sentiment in the United States, which will once again trigger a war between the Soviet Union and the United States, which will arouse dissatisfaction in the United States and so on.

Judging from this answer, Comrade Vasilevsky and the General Staff clearly have carefully considered this question beforehand, and the answers given by him can all make sense, but such an answer, Obviously, the comrades of the Politburo cannot be satisfied, because what he summed up is only subjective, with strong conjecture.

What the comrades in the Politburo need is the most reliable and effective plan, not a plan that may go wrong at any time.

Therefore, following Comrade Mikoyan, Zhdanov, Malenkov and other comrades who expressed their positions later all believed that the plans of the General Staff still needed to be carefully considered, and that direct military actions were likely to lead to serious consequences and must be handled with caution.

When Comrade Vasilevsky spoke, Viktor kept taking notes. Later, when the comrades of the Politburo expressed their personal opinions, he briefly recorded everyone's speeches. For Victor, this kind of urgent Politburo meeting to solve emergencies is actually a very rare learning opportunity, because only at this time can it be seen that every comrade in the Politburo is responding to the situation. How to think and solve problems during certain emergencies.

At the same time, if you observe carefully, you can also appreciate the unspoken rules of the members of the Politburo when discussing certain issues.

Just like this time, in the face of Comrade Vasilevsky's advice, why was Comrade Mikoyan the first to speak out? Victor thought that this was because Comrade Mikoyan's position in the Politburo was not high, just in the middle.

Discussions like this that require a personal statement are obviously not suitable for Comrade Stalin to take the lead in expressing his position. Otherwise, he has already made a statement. Are others following his opinions or opposing his opinions? If you follow his opinion, then the discussions in the Politburo will become "one-sentence talk". It is enough for everyone to just look at Comrade Stalin's attitude. What else are they discussing? If it is against his opinion, then... In short, Comrade Stalin's statement must be put to the end.

And old comrades such as Kaganovich, Zhdanov and Andreyev are of course not suitable to stand up directly. That would be a big blow to the old comrade's personal prestige.

As for young comrades like Malenkov and Beria, who have just joined the Politburo for a short time, it is not suitable for them to take the lead in expressing their position. Although the Politburo is not a place to talk about seniority and seniority, basic comity still needs to be talked about. , Therefore, even though Malenkov, Beria, and Kosygin are not low in the party, their speeches in the Politburo are still low, after all, their rankings are also low.

There is still one person who did not come today, that is Comrade Khrushchev who is far away in Ukraine. However, as the first secretary of the Ukrainian Central Committee, he is often absent from Politburo meetings.

While writing the record, Viktor walked away for a while and thought about an interesting "little question". Since Comrade Kalinin has passed away, who will take his place and successfully enter the Politburo? As far as Viktor is concerned, he thinks that there are quite a few qualified people, such as Comrade Popov, Secretary of the Moscow State Party Committee and Secretary of the Municipal Party Committee, such as Comrade Ponomarenko, the First Secretary of Belarus, and the State Planning Commission. Chairman, Comrade Voznesensky, etc.