Khrulev and I had a sumptuous dinner in Yumashev's office, and immediately after a sumptuous dinner, an impromptu military meeting was held. In addition to the three of us, the meeting was attended by the commander of the base, the two deputy commanders of the Pacific Fleet, the military commissar, the chief of staff, the chief of logistics, and the commander and political commissar of the Fifth Fleet.

Everyone who came to the military meeting, apparently knowing Khrulev, walked through the door, first glanced at Yumashev, and then walked up to Khrulev, greeted him cordially, and briefly reminisced about the past. Although everyone had a surprised expression on their faces when they saw me standing next to Khrulev, no one took the initiative to greet me.

Seeing this, Khrulev hurriedly greeted them: "I'll show you, this General Oshanina has just returned from the United States with me. ”

Except for the commander of the base and the deputy commander of the fleet, who was a vice admiral, the rest of the commanders who came to the meeting were all with the rank of major general, and after listening to Khrulev's introduction, they raised their hands to salute me and said politely: "Hello, Comrade General. ”

When Yumashev saw that the crowd was almost coming, he beckoned everyone: "Sit down in your place." ”

Since Khrulev had the highest rank here, he was seated in the middle of the table, with Yumashev, the commander of the fleet, sitting on his left hand side, and me on his right hand side.

Once everyone was seated, the meeting did not begin immediately, but waited for the beautiful sailor, who laid in front of everyone teacups with silver saucers and a pitiful plate of sugar cubes.

As soon as she left, Yumashev, who was sitting across from me, sat up straight. To his colleagues and subordinates, he said, "Comrades. I've gathered you all here today. First, to welcome General Khrulev who had returned from the United States, and secondly, to talk to him about providing us with adequate supplies. ”

Even before the meeting began, Khrulev and Yumashev had communicated about the supply of the Pacific Fleet, and although they sat close to each other, they were still trying to avoid eye contact because they had a big disagreement over the number of supplies.

After Yumashev's opening remarks, Khrulev said with a bit of reluctance: "Comrades, on the issue of the supply of the Pacific Fleet. Commander Yumashev and I had a discussion before the meeting. I just want to ask you, how much do you need to be satisfied? At the end, he unconsciously raised his voice to express his dissatisfaction.

A silence ensued.

I turned my gaze to Yumashev, who was churning the cup of tea in front of him with his head down, clanging long teaspoons against glasses.

Seeing that everyone present bowed their heads and did not speak, Khrulev glared at Yumashev sternly, and then said in a calm tone: "Comrades in the Navy, what do you think. You can tell me the truth. If you don't tell, how do I know what's going on? ”

With his encouragement. The lieutenant general, who was sitting on Yumashev's right hand, stood up. I glanced up at him and remembered that this tall general, with a slightly darkened face, was the deputy commander of the fleet, named Frolov.

After he stood up, he said to Khrulev with a sincere attitude: "Comrade Minister of Logistics, I think that the amount of supplies that we have proposed to our superiors that need to be supplied is accurate, and there is nothing that exceeds the standard. ”

After hearing what he said, Khrulev couldn't help but sneer twice, and gently tapped his finger on the table and said: "Comrade Deputy Commander, I want to ask you, are you the Navy or not the Army, and in the list of supplies reported this time, there are actually 100,000 Mosin Nagant rifles, 30,000 Bobosha submachine guns, 10,000 light and heavy machine guns, 2,000 anti-tank guns, and millions of grenades. ”

At this point, he took a sip from his teacup, and then said, "There are about two thousand light infantry mortars, ranging from 37 mm to 82 mm. At the same time, at least 100 T-34 tanks were requested. When I first saw this list, I was taken aback, I thought it was to prepare to arm an army group, but who knew that it was the supply equipment that your Pacific Fleet applied for to me. Tell me, General Frolov, what the hell is going on? ”

"Comrade Minister, allow me to say a few words." The military commissar of the Pacific Fleet stood up from his seat, lifted the round-framed eyes on the bridge of his nose, and said with a kind attitude: "Since the outbreak of the Great Patriotic War, our Pacific Fleet has successively transferred 140,000 officers and men into various naval infantry brigades to participate in the defense of Moscow, the Battle of Stalingrad, the Battle of the Caucasus, the defense of Sevastopol, and the defense of Leningrad and the Arctic region. ”

Hearing about this glorious deed of the Pacific Fleet, a smile appeared on Khrulev's face, he nodded at the other side, and said softly: "You go on." ”

After obtaining Khrulev's permission, the military commissar continued: "After so many units have been withdrawn, we have recruited and trained the newly formed units in the local area, so that the newly formed units will use the numbers of the units that have been transferred to the Western Front and will be stationed in the defense areas of the original units. However, since these troops have long been removed from our organization, they have not been able to receive any logistical supplies, not only have no weapons and ammunition, but they also have no food and uniforms, but they are still actively preparing for war with full enthusiasm to prevent a surprise attack by the Japanese against us. ”

The military commissar's remarks reminded me of the 355th Battalion that rescued us, and although the soldiers were dressed in neat naval uniforms, the weapons in their hands were old-fashioned, almost all of which were the rifles that the Russian army was equipped with during the First World War. When I think about it, I don't think Yumashev's request is too much.

I turned my face to look at Khrulev to see how he reacted to this. But he frowned, staring at the teacup in front of him, his fingers constantly tapping lightly on the table.

Khrulev did not speak, and no one dared to speak. Even the deputy commander and the military commissar, who had finished speaking, sat back in their places and looked nervously at Khrulev, waiting to see what he had to say.

Seeing that the room fell silent again. I coughed softly. Then he whispered to Khrulev: "Comrade Minister. I think that before discussing the reasonableness of the materials requested by the Pacific Fleet, you can ask Commander Yumashev to tell us about the situation in the fleet. ”

My words lit up the eyes of Khrulev, who was pondering, and he turned his head to look at Yumashev and said politely: "General Yumashev, can you tell us about the current situation of the Pacific Fleet. ”

When Yumashev, who was already worried, heard Khrulev say this, he immediately raised his head, threw a grateful glance at me, and then stood up and briefed Khrulev about the situation of the fleet: "The Pacific Fleet is composed of two detachments of surface ships. Four submarine detachments, a torpedo boat detachment, several separate ship brigades, a number of aviation units and corps, coastal defense forces and weapons, communications services, rear services, etc. After the outbreak of the Great Patriotic War, the fleet remained on constant readiness, and in order to deal with possible invasion by the imperialist state, the fleet coordinated with the army units to strengthen the anti-landing defense of the coastal zone. ”

"I know all of that." Khrulev waited for him to finish. Said slowly: "But what does all this have to do with the fact that you want so many supplies?" That's right. The situation just mentioned by your military commissar is very important, and after I go back and study it with the comrades of the departments concerned, I will replenish your new troops with the necessary weapons and equipment as appropriate. ”

"Great, that's great. Thank you, thank you, Comrade Minister! Yumasev rubbed his hands together in excitement when he heard that Khrulev had agreed to his request. After a while, he asked tentatively: "In addition to the material replenishment of the Marine Corps, what about the ships, I don't know when the ships aided by the American allies will be replenished to our fleet?" ”

"What, you still want ships with American aid?" Khrulev's original smiling face immediately became serious again, and he said angrily: "It's not that you don't know that our shipbuilding bases are almost all in Ukraine, and now they are all occupied by the Germans, so our ships can only be repaired and repaired." Priority should be given to replenishing the ships aided by the United States to the Baltic Fleet, which has suffered the greatest losses. And you, it is estimated that you will have to wait until next year to get some minesweepers or landing craft. ”

"Minesweepers and landing craft?!" Yumashev couldn't help but feel a little anxious when he heard Khrulev say this, and he said emotionally: "What do we want these ships for?" You know, the Germans are still far from us, we can't go around the Arctic Ocean and land in Germany, right? ”

"Comrade Commander, please don't get excited." I saw that Khrulev was so excited that he was about to get angry, so I hurriedly rushed ahead of him and said to Yumashev: "Don't underestimate the minesweepers and landing ships, these are all new ships of the American army. The reason why it is necessary to equip you with the Pacific Fleet is not for you to land in Germany, but for the purpose of landing on some islands of the imperialist Japanese countries one day in the future. ”

Khrulev was surprised when he heard me say this, but he did not speak, but looked at me quietly. Although Yumashev also wanted to know the specific situation, he probably felt that he couldn't ask, so he glanced at the deputy commander of the fleet next to him, Frolov.

Frolov, who understood his understanding, asked me with a smile: "General Oshanina, I would like to ask you where you heard about the military operation to land in the Japanese kingdom in the future. The source of the message, is it reliable? ”

"Of course it is reliable, General Frolov." To his question, I politely replied: "The Japanese state, along with Germany and Italy, belong to the evil Axis powers, and after we defeat Germany and Italy, the next thing we will have to deal with is the Japanese state." And the mission of your Pacific Fleet, in addition to disrupting the enemy's sea transport, is to assist our land forces in landing on the territory of the Japanese nation. ”

Although my words were brief and not detailed enough, the naval commanders understood everything I had said, and there were expressions of joy on everyone's faces.

The atmosphere in the room became much more relaxed as I spoke. Khrulev turned his head and asked Yumashev: "Do you have any other difficulties?" ”

"Yes, Comrade Minister." Although Yumashev and Khrulev are old friends, the conversation between the two at the moment did not call each other's real names and patronymics, "The vast majority of the ships of our fleet only have enough fuel for half a month, and the base number of artillery shells is only one-third of what the regulations stipulate. Once the Japanese state launched a surprise attack on us, with our existing strategic reserves, it would not be able to support us for a few days. ”

After listening to Yumashev's words, I couldn't help but be scared out of a cold sweat. I just saw the dense warships in the harbor, and I was still thinking to myself that if the fleet of the Japanese invaded north, it would definitely be beaten by Yumashev. But at this moment, I knew that I was taking it for granted, that the Soviet Pacific Fleet was just a giant that looked formidable, but in fact it was so weak that it would fall down with a bang as long as that little man of the Japanese country stabbed it gently. The whole process of the battle is estimated to be easier than the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese state.

"Haven't you been supplied from the arsenals of the Far East for so long?" Khrulev was also frightened by the current situation of the Pacific Fleet, and he asked puzzledly: "Do you know that two hundred kilometers to the west of you, there are quite a few arsenals that produce naval guns and ammunition?" ”

"You're right, Comrade Minister." Yumashev said with a sad face: "Although the arsenal is constantly producing guns, artillery, mortars, mines, shells, bullets, etc., but the entire Western Front is constantly depleting, and these produced munitions must be supplied to them first. And our Pacific Fleet, like the Far Eastern Front, belongs to the strategic reserve, and as long as a war does not break out between us and the Japanese countries, then our supplies will always be very limited. ”

"I see, General Yumashev." After listening to Yumashev's words, Khrulev did not raise his voice and said: "I really don't understand what you are reacting to. After all, our attention is now focused on the Western Front, and Hitler's madman is the first target we have to deal with, so the attention to the Far East is not so high. In this regard, I apologize for my mistakes in my work, to you and to the comrades of the Pacific Fleet. With that, he stood up and bowed deeply to the commanders present. None of the commanders present dared to continue to sit in their positions, but they all stood up and straightened up to salute Khrulev.

After Khrulev finished bowing, he put his hand on the edge of the table and said to everyone with a serious expression: "Comrade commanders of the Pacific Fleet, please forgive me for my previous negligence in my work. After I go back this time, I will definitely explain this situation to the Supreme Command, and ask them to adjust the distribution plan of US aid materials, and at the same time give priority to meeting the needs of the front line, and also increase the sufficient military supplies for you. (To be continued.) )