"Mr. Minister, we are now passing through Marshal Hersman Street."

Harry. Hopkins is now sitting in a black Cadillac sedan bound for the Kremlin, flanked by the U.S. ambassador to the Soviet Union, William Hopkins. Bullitt. The sedan was passing through a very imposing street, lined with ornate buildings left over from the old Tsarist era. Now it is occupied by a number of organs, including party organs, people's commissars and Soviet organs, and a very imposing building with a swastika flag and a sickle-hammer flag fluttering side by side - this is the headquarters of the Soviet-German active promotion company in the Soviet Union, and at the same time the Soviet-German Friendship Center is located.

"Field Marshal Hersman?" Harry. Hopkins was stunned, "The Soviet Union also had a Marshal Hersmann?" ”

"No, the street is named after the German Field Marshal Marquis Hersmann." Bullitt told Hopkins that "according to the Bolshevik Party, the German marshal was a great internationalist fighter, an old friend of the Soviet people and Comrade Lenin, an old friend of the Bolshevik Party." ”

"He's a Hammer-like figure?"

Bullitt shook his head and whispered, "Hammer can't compare to him." In fact, he was one of the leaders of the August Revolution in Russia! He escorted Lenin home in 1917 and then single-handedly orchestrated the August Revolution and put Lenin on the throne of Russian dictator! ”

Harry. Hopkins' eyes widened, "I've heard about this, is it all true?" ”

"It's true!" Bullitt smiled, "Fortunately, Lenin died, otherwise the Soviet Union would have fought side by side with Germany." ”

Harry. Hopkins seemed to hear Bullitt's voice, "William, you mean that the Soviet Union will not fight alongside Germany now?" ”

"Stalin won't," Bullitt paused, then shook his head, "he's not the same as Lenin, the two men have completely different ideas." Lenin was the revolutionary leader of all mankind, and Stalin was a red tsar! ”

"The Red Tsar?" Harry. Hopkins smiled, "It's not the same as his image in the United States." ”

Bullitt shrugged, "His image in the minds of the Soviet people is not a tsar, but we foreign diplomats in the Soviet Union know that he is a tsar!" ”

"That's a good thing, right?" Harry. Hopkins asked, "The Tsar was against Germany with Britain and France. ”

"But Britain and France betrayed Russia, and they will not save the Tsar!" Bullitt said in a helpless tone, "Stalin went through that era, he was one of the founders of that period of history!" ”

"It's so unfortunate."

Bullitt spread his hands and said with a smile: "A blank check will not work, if you want to win him over, you have to really come up with something." ”

This is all the aftermath of the Paris Peace Conference! Russia has paid so much, and in the end there is nothing, not even its own land. Stalin would certainly not be fooled by empty checks now, and no matter how much German-controlled land Anglo-American France promised to the Soviet Union, it would be an empty fart for Stalin. If the United States wants the Soviet Union to reduce its oil supply to Germany, then it will do some tangible good.

……

Of course there are no tangible benefits, Harry. All Hopkins brought with the Soviet Union was a letter from Roosevelt and a jar of Virginia's finest pipe wire.

The Red Tsar played with a blue tin can containing pipe wire and listened casually to Bullitt explain Hopkins's intentions in Russian -- the general meaning was that President Roosevelt was very worried about the prospect of Germany dominating Europe, and hoped that the United States and the Soviet Union would join hands to curb German expansion, jointly maintain peace in Europe and the world, and reduce or prohibit the export of oil, grain, and non-ferrous metals to Germany......

"Comrade General Secretary," Harry. Seeing that Stalin did not say a word, Hopkins was very cold, and hurriedly added, "The President of the United States understands very well the idea that the Soviet Union wants to recover all the lost territory, and is willing to support the Soviet Union in recovering the Baltic coastal provinces after the defeat of Germany...... There were territories occupied by the German Empire! ”

This is Harry. The only "favor" that Hopkins was able to come up with at the moment to attract Stalin. However, Stalin still did not show the slightest interest, and after listening to Bullitt's translation, he only said coldly in Russian, with a strong Georgian accent: "Germany is the largest trading partner of the Soviet Union, and the oil, non-ferrous metals, and grain we give Germany are not for free." We got machines, parts for cars and aircraft, engines and main guns for battleships and cruisers from Germany...... These things would have significantly strengthened the defense of the Soviet Union. For the Soviet Union, this was beneficial and equal trade, and it did not violate international law and any resolution of the League of Nations.

If you, the United States, want to impose trade sanctions on Germany, it should do so through the League of Nations, not through secret room diplomacy to make promises that simply cannot be kept. This seems to be exactly what your President Wilson is against! ”

Harry. Hopkins furrowed his brow, "Maybe we can buy some or all of the oil you export to Germany." ”

"With what?" Stalin asked.

"Dollar cash!" Harry. Hopkins replied immediately. Americans have dollars, but it is difficult to say whether you can buy what you want with American dollars.

The Red Tsar shrugged indifferently and said: "Then can I buy a battleship with 406mm caliber guns from the United States with these dollars?" ”

There are three battleships with 406mm guns in the US Navy, all of which are battleships of the "Colorado" class. There are 4 ships under construction and 8 ships ready to start, all of which are very powerful battleships.

Stalin now wanted to get one of them as a "first phase" for the United States to win over the Soviet Union. Of course, he will not reduce the amount of supplies sent to Germany because of this.

Hopkins knew it wasn't possible. If Stalin had offered to get the Baltics, Lithuania, Western Ukraine, or even East Prussia after the defeat of Germany, President Roosevelt would not hesitate to agree (in the form of a secret agreement).

But it was impossible to supply the USSR with weapons of this class battleships, and Congress simply could not pass it. Moreover, once Roosevelt approved such a deal, his "three consecutive terms" would almost be in vain -- because the anti-Soviet forces in the United States were far stronger than the anti-German forces!

Seeing that Hopkins didn't say a word, Stalin put the blue tin can in his hand on the table and said: "Mr. Minister, now Germany is helping us to build Soviet-class battleships, and now there are four of them. It could be completed by June 1943. In addition, through our long-term cooperation with Germany, we have established a strong industrial system and become the world's third industrial power. And recently, with the cooperation of Germany, most of the lands of right-bank Ukraine and Western Belarus were liberated. ”

He looked at Hopkins, "This is a true friend!" And you ......" Stalin shook his head, raised his hand and made a send-off gesture.

……

"Comrade Molotov, where would Hitler want to meet me?"

Sent Harry away. After Hopkins, Stalin summoned Molotov, who had just returned from Germany, in the same office.

"Hitler wants to meet you in Riga." "Then they jointly issued a Riga Charter, which focused on the abolition of all unequal treaties and the liberation of the colonies of Asia, Africa and Latin America." ”

"Singing high-pitched?" Stalin's pipe was already filled with tobacco from Hopkins, and he was lighting a fire and smoking. "And what about the conditions for us to enter the war?"

"They didn't mention it," Molotov frowned, "I don't think the Germans necessarily need us to go to war." ”

Molotov's analysis is very accurate! In fact, neither Hitler nor Hersmann believed that the Soviet Union was needed at this stage, as long as the Soviet Union continued to act as a friend of Germany.

"They really don't need to!" Stalin took a puff of his cigarette, "We know very well that Britain and France cannot beat Germany at all now!" ”

The Soviet Union and Germany have been traditional partners for 20 years, and their military and industrial cooperation is very deep. Stalin, of course, knew how strong Germany was! Moreover, he also knew that Germany had been preparing for war 20 years earlier, and that its reserves of oil and non-ferrous metals should be very abundant, and now it is mostly just pretending to be short of oil to paralyze imperialism.

Moreover, Stalin, through the Third International, had a complete grasp of the situation in France - the French people were not at all able in this session! Britain may still be able to hold out for a few more years under the German submarine blockade. But the French were bound to quickly succumb to the German bombardment.

Therefore, Stalin believed that Germany did not need to throw a large number of ground troops into France at all, as long as it mastered air superiority, and then bombed Paris, Lyon, Marseille and other places for 6-12 months, France would definitely surrender under the white flag.

The rest of the UK is still a fart!

Moreover, the heavy losses of British merchant ships in these two months, Stalin was also clear (there were also Bolsheviks in the British seamen's union), and the losses of more than 300,000 tons a month were almost the same as in 1917, how could this be fought? Unless the Soviet Union was able to help Britain, France and Germany fight a ground war.

Isn't this just as stupid as the tsar? Even if it wins in the end, the USSR must be exhausted and simply does not have the strength to participate in the partition! The Tsar who had done such a stupid thing had already been executed, and Stalin did not want to follow in the footsteps of Nicholas II.

Stalin took a puff of his cigarette and said: "Therefore, we must now have the intention of liberating the vast number of people in the colonies of Asia, Africa and Latin America in the event of the collapse of British and French imperialism, and this is also a problem that needs to be resolved at the Riga Conference." He thought for a moment, and then accentuated, "Is it that if we don't go to the world war, how much can we get?" (To be continued.) )