Chapter 191: Tehran Conference (3)
"It is safer to choose the Balkan Peninsula to open a second front." In fact, today's routine negotiations had already begun during breakfast, and Brooke still insisted on Britain's established policy. "The German deployment there is even weaker, and we have the advantage of the navy. Most importantly, opening a second front can liberate the entire Mediterranean from the hands of the fascists and ensure that our shipping routes are not threatened."
"Sir Brooke," Yuri did not have breakfast. He just sat at the dining table and smoked. After listening to Brooke's words, he said, "Moscow understands your country's concerns and acknowledges that maritime strategy has always been the core of your country's development. Therefore, the safety of waterways is also your primary concern. But the problem is that it is still a war period. Even if we control the Balkan Peninsula, the Mediterranean waterway is not safe. Not to mention the Mediterranean, no one can guarantee the safety of the Red Sea and the Suez Canal."
After a pause, he continued, "So, we must defeat Germany, force them to surrender, and strive to restore peace. Choosing to land in the English Channel area will be very beneficial for us to end the war as soon as possible."
No matter what kind of rhetoric is the most powerful in any form of negotiation? Without a doubt, it is data, accurate and detailed data, and Yuri has sufficiently accurate and detailed data in his hands.
"If the Allies choose to land in the English Channel and open up a second front, they will be able to tie down at least 60 German divisions," Yuri took out a document from his briefcase and placed it on the table in front of him. "This is accurate intelligence obtained by our intelligence department. After the Right Bank Ukrainian Campaign , the Germans are withdrawing troops from Western Europe to the East, trying to reorganize and further strengthen their Southern Army Group. There is no doubt that this will have a serious impact on a series of established strategies of our Soviet Red Army. Therefore, we hope that the Allies can complete the work of opening up the second front as soon as possible, at least before the middle of next year."
After saying that, Yuri pushed the document in front of Lehi and added, "This is the battle plan we have formulated for the next phase of the Eastern Front campaign. If the goals of this phase of the campaign can be achieved, we will advance the front to Poland and Romania before the middle of next year. Of course, the premise of advancement is the opening of the second battlefield."
Leahy took the document. In his opinion, after several days of negotiations, the Soviets were finally willing to come up with something real, and this so-called real thing was the Soviet Union's next operational plan.
Holding the document in his hand, Leahy opened the title page and read it carefully. Although his expression was always calm, he was actually shocked deep down in his heart. This battle plan reflected a large-scale, even unprecedented, large-scale battle plan. If the Soviet battle plan could really achieve its goal, then the German Army's current relatively complete Center Army Group would suffer a devastating disaster. After suffering such a heavy loss, it would be difficult for them to even pose an effective military threat to the Soviets on the Eastern Front.
That's right. What Yuri handed over to Lehi was the continuous battle plan proposed by him and approved by the Supreme Command. In the Soviet Red Army's combat plan, this would be the core combat plan for the entire first half of 1944. The Soviet Union's industry, transportation, and military had been preparing for this large-scale battle since a month ago.
According to the combat plan of the Soviet General Staff, in this strategic battle, the Soviet Red Army will deploy nearly four million combat troops, nearly 7,000 tanks and self-propelled artillery, nearly 6,000 combat aircraft, and tens of thousands of artillery and mortars.
Leahy read the battle plan in its entirety and tried to remember its main contents as much as possible, then handed the plan over to Brooke.
Compared to Lexi, Brook looked more carefully and took longer, he even forgot to eat breakfast.
In Brooke's eyes, this battle plan reflects not only the optimistic outlook for the war and the Soviets' strong confidence in defeating the German army in the war, but also the Soviet Union's current strong military strength and war mobilization capabilities. Undoubtedly , this cannot be the entire Soviet Union's existing military strength, and it is likely to be only half of their war strength, or even only one-third or one-quarter. It seems that after three years of brutal war, the communist Soviet Union has grown into a terrifying war beast. At least in terms of the British military strength, it is vulnerable to this beast.
"According to the agreement reached by the foreign ministers of the three countries at the Moscow Conference," Yuri continued as Brooke looked through the battle plan, "we have made concessions. Comrade Stalin has followed the spirit of the agreement, dissolved the Communist International, and accepted the proposal to declare war on Japan in the shortest possible time after the end of the Great Patriotic War. The purpose of these concessions is to continue to maintain the alliance between the three countries in order to end the war and restore peace as soon as possible. However, these concessions will also be the last compromise we can make. Before rushing to Tehran in advance this time, Comrade Stalin made a clear request that the second battlefield must be opened, and the location can only be chosen in the English Channel area. If the Allied forces cannot fulfill this promise, then we will choose the second plan."
These words were tantamount to an ultimatum. This was the negotiation strategy for today. The combat plan was put forward to demonstrate the current military strength of the Soviet Union, while the so-called second plan was a direct threat. Its purpose was to tell the British and American representatives that in addition to continuing to fight the Germans to the end, the Soviet Union could also choose to negotiate with the other side.
Yes, this is a naked threat, a threat based on peace with fascism. This threat is immoral, but very effective. Moreover, when it comes to issues concerning national interests, morality is simply irrelevant.
Would the Soviets make a separate peace with Hitler? From a realistic point of view, the possibility was not high, but the problem was that no one dared to take this risk. Otherwise, the United States and Britain would not have provided so much assistance to the Soviet Union in the past three years. Their greatest hope was to let the Soviets and Germans fight to the point of mutual destruction or even mutual destruction.
The most crucial point is that the Soviets seemed to have started negotiations with the Germans. According to reliable intelligence obtained by American intelligence personnel, Soviet Foreign Minister Molotov had met secretly with German Foreign Minister Ribbentrop two weeks ago. Although no one knew what they talked about, it was easy to trigger some bad associations.
Although Brooke and Churchill had the same views on how to deal with the Soviet Union, and both were die-hard anti-communists, Brooke's ideas were relatively more realistic. It was precisely because of his existence that many of Churchill's stupid decisions were prevented during World War II.
Brooke believed that the Soviet Union was indispensable in the current war against Germany. If the Soviet Union really made unilateral peace with Germany, or even formed an alliance to turn enemies into friends to some extent, it would be a disaster for the Allies. Therefore, when the Soviet Union played its last threat card, Brooke felt that Britain should make appropriate concessions on the issue of opening up a second front. Of course, Britain could also take this opportunity to put forward some conditions to the Soviet Union, such as the resolution of the Iranian issue, the post-war pattern of the Balkan Peninsula, and so on.
Yuri was not sure about the process of the meeting of the Big Three in Tehran in his previous life, but based on his understanding in this life, a series of specific issues had actually been basically finalized before the Big Three gathered in Tehran, or at least a basic framework had been established.
During these days in Tehran, Yuri needed to send the results of the negotiation talks to Moscow every day, and then receive the latest instructions from Moscow. When the next meeting came, he would express Moscow's attitude in his own way.
To be honest, Yuri found this kind of puppet-like job very boring. Sometimes, he even felt that he should not have come to Tehran in the first place. None of the jobs here were suitable for him and his days here were a pure waste of life.
It must be said that Yuri still doesn't understand how important this seemingly mundane job is. This is mainly because his previous jobs were all in the military system, and they were on the front lines of the war. Even after returning to Moscow, he was engaged in the formulation of combat plans, which had little to do with government affairs. It is a big transition for soldiers to join politics, and it is not so easy to implement, especially for those soldiers who directly command battles on the front line.
So, what was the point of Yuri's negotiation work in Tehran? He was just doing behind-the-scenes work, so what was the importance? For his future career, this was at least a qualification, and as an important member of the delegation accompanying Stalin to Tehran to attend the international conference, if Yuri could eventually reach an agreement in the negotiations, it would definitely make him more successful in Stalin's eyes, which was obviously more important than anything else.
In addition, through the negotiations with Lehi and Brook, Yuri's name naturally attracted the attention of the top politicians in Britain and the United States. In Lehi's subsequent evaluation, Yuri was a "calm and tough person."
On November 28, just as this dry and cold month was about to pass, the first round of negotiations of the Tehran Conference was completed. On the afternoon of the same day, Stalin's transfer flight arrived in Tehran, and then he stayed in the Soviet Embassy. Two hours later, US President Roosevelt arrived in Tehran. After a brief meeting with British Prime Minister Churchill at the British Embassy, he also stayed in the Soviet Embassy. The US Embassy was located in the suburbs of Tehran, and its security could not be guaranteed. Therefore, after preliminary consultations, Roosevelt finally chose the Soviet Embassy as his destination.
