Listening to Molotov's words, Joseph. Stalin's thick eyebrows furrowed slightly, and he kept smoking his pipe, as if he was thinking.

France's compensation for the losses of the Batumi incident is a trivial matter, and the losses of the Batumi refinery are not too large, but only tens of millions of rubles. The signing of the "Mutual Non-Aggression Agreement" with Japan is not a big deal, and the situation on the East Asian continent is unfavorable to Japan, and if Japan insists on going west and north, Stalin will not be afraid, and he will teach him a hard lesson. What really worries him now is Germany's tendency to contain the Soviet Union.

Germany now proposes to abrogate the Treaties of Versailles, Saint-Germain, Trianon, Sèvres and Lausanne. In Stalin's view, this was not to deal with Britain, but to contain the USSR.

Because the abrogation of the Treaties of Saint-Germain and Trianon meant that Western Ukraine (the Austrian Crown Territory) could be legally incorporated into Germany and the revival of the Kingdom of Great Hungary.

The annexation of Western Ukraine to Germany was, of course, intended to make it a reactionary bastion to contain the Soviet Union.

A Greater Hungary with a population of more than 20 million, including Croatia, Transylvania and Banat, would certainly be Germany's watchdog in the Balkans.

And now, while recognizing the illegality of the Treaty of Bessarabia, Germany has also proposed to consider the current situation in the Bessarabian region!

This meant that Germany was trying to draw Romania into their European Community - which seemed to Stalin very likely, since the surname of King Carol II, who now ruled Romania, was Hohenzollern, a relative of Kaiser Wilhelm.

If Kaiser Wilhelm had reserved some interests for Romania on the Transylvanian question and supported Romania on the Bessarabian issue, Carol II would have probably fallen in favor of Germany.

Germany's proposal to abolish the Treaties of Sèvres and Lausanne was, in Stalin's view, also directed against the Soviet Union. Because these two treaties dismembered the Turkish Empire, the former enemy of Russia. If they were abolished, although the Turkish Empire would not be resurrected, it would still be possible for the current Republic of Turkey to reap huge benefits, such as merging with French Syria to form a federation - such benefits would certainly not be obtained in vain, and would have to come at the cost of Turkey's entry into the German-led military bloc!

As soon as Turkey becomes an ally of Germany, then Iraq and Iran will inevitably follow. The Soviet Union's southward passage to the Middle East and the Indian Ocean would also be completely blocked.

In addition, Germany's repeated statements about its desire to reconcile the Soviet-Finnish war were also aimed at containing the Soviet Union in Stalin's view. The Soviet offensive on the Mannerheim Line had been going on for some time, and although it had not made a final breakthrough, Finland was already showing signs of fatigue. In the end, defeat is only a matter of time, and in this case, what is the purpose of German mediation?

And not to keep the reactionary White Finland? And then turn White Finland into another White Poland to block the socialist Soviet Union from entering Northern Europe!

"Germany's victory on the Western Front is undoubtedly a great victory of socialism over capitalism, a victory achieved through the joint efforts of the two countries and two parties."

Stalin was silent for a long time, but when he opened his mouth, he was full of flowers, as if he were meeting with Comrade Hitler cordially.

He said: "We, the Soviet Union, also participated in the war against British and French imperialism, not only supporting Germany materially, but also sending planes to bomb Syria, dealing a heavy blow to the arrogance of French imperialism, destroying a large number of French air and ground forces, and effectively supporting the German army on the main battlefield on the Western Front. ”

Stalin's remarks at today's enlarged meeting of the Political Bureau were naturally characterizing the campaign on the Western Front -- although the Soviet Union was about to become the target of German containment, Stalin still wanted to maintain a good situation of advancing from victory to victory. The previous line of cooperation with Germany must not be so quickly repudiated, otherwise it will appear that he is not a wise leader enough.

"But we can't be one-sided pro-German in our diplomatic line, and some capitalist countries, such as the United States, are still progressive, and even in many respects the United States is no worse than Germany."

Stalin took a few puffs of his cigarette, and then said: "Therefore, at the next stage, we will focus on the development of friendly relations with the United States...... In the world of the future, it is likely that socialism and capitalism will compete with each other in the field of productive forces, rather than socialism and capitalism competing with each other in the field of productive forces. It is quite possible that there will be a situation in the world in which two or three large socialist countries and two or three large capitalist countries will coexist peacefully. This is a new situation and a new situation that we need to pay attention to! ”

The faces of the members of the Political Bureau in the conference room changed slightly, and Stalin's speech today seems to be very important! The foreign policy of the Soviet Union is about to undergo a major transformation!

And "one-sided pro-German" never existed, and the USSR has always oscillated between Britain, France and Germany. Now Stalin's proposal to "emphasize the development of friendly relations with the United States" and the "peaceful coexistence of the socialist and capitalist powers" has obviously blocked the possibility of forming a socialist axis on the side of Germany.

If necessary and conditions are right, the possibility of establishing an anti-German alliance with the United States and Great Britain cannot even be ruled out!

Of course, the Soviet Union's asking price was quite high, and the Anglo-American offer could not be made for the land of Central and Eastern Europe and the Balkans, which were under German control and had to be seized at the cost of the blood of millions of GCIST fighters.

"Comrade Molotov," said Stalin, who was silent for a moment, "sent a telegram to Comrade Litvinov (ambassador to the United States) asking him to ask the American government for the latest fighters and aircraft engines." ”

"Okay." Molotov immediately wrote down Stalin's orders in his notebook - Stalin's request was not to turn to the Anglo-American demand, but only to test the temperature of the water.

If even new fighters and engines are not sold, then there is nothing to talk about.

"Also," said Stalin, taking a few more puffs of his cigarette, "Comrade Molotov, you personally led the team to Geneva. Emphasis was placed on the abrogation of the Bessarabia Treaty, the Finnish armistice, and the Soviet-Japanese non-aggression pact with Germany. ”

Molotov asked: "Comrade Stalin, how should Germany answer if it makes a request to conclude an alliance treaty?" ”

Stalin pinched his pipe and thought for a moment, then shook his head and said: "This is impossible, now they will not form an alliance with us, they will only think about containing us." ”

……

"Two marshals, the Soviets fought badly on the Mannerheim Line, didn't they?"

On the special train to Switzerland, Hitler suddenly asked about the Soviet-Finnish war.

Hersmann and the sick Marshal of Hamstein glanced at each other.

Hammestein has always been an important figure in the Schleicher-Hersmann gang and was thus able to serve as chief of the General Staff for a long time. However, he is a little old, and his health has not been good. These days, because he was too tired to be the commander-in-chief of the Western Front, he suffered a small stroke at the end of the French campaign, and it was not until the beginning of June that he recovered some.

However, his age and physical condition were obviously not suitable for the post of chief of the general staff, so he was succeeded by Hersman. This time the old marshal went to Switzerland in the name of a member of the peace delegation, and it was actually Kaiser Wilhelm who made him stand out.

However, Hitler, who knew little about military affairs, respected Field Marshal Hamannstein very much, and regarded him as a great soldier comparable to Moltke (they both defeated France), so when it came to military matters, the old marshal could still fool Hitler.

"Leader," said Harmanstein, "was not a terrible Red Army, and it was normal to lose 100,000 or more lives in a breach of such a strong and dangerous position as the Mannerheim Line." ”

"But you have lost only 35,000 men in your conquest of Belgium and France." Hitler said.

Losses on the Western Front have been calculated, with about 20,000 killed and about 15,000 seriously wounded and missing. Another 100,000 people were not seriously injured and could return to the barracks, which would not be considered losses.

The Germans are hanging! Hersmann was tempted to tell Hitler this, but he finally analyzed it very seriously: "Leader, the setbacks of the Soviets on the Mannerheim Line were mainly due to their lack of technical weapons for attacking the fortresses, such as super-caliber artillery. At the beginning of the year, we sold them a few large Berthas, but we didn't give them many shells. They ran out of shells during the attack on the Polish fortress of Brest, so they had to bombard the Mannerheim Line with 305mm cannons. The Finns also had artillery of the same caliber, so the Soviet Red Army suffered heavy casualties, but they were able to defeat the Mannerheim Line in the end. ”

"And the terrain of the Carrelian Isthmus is very precarious, and there is no room for detours." Field Marshal Hamannstein and Hersmann had similar opinions on the issue of dealing with the Soviet Union -- they both could not fight without fighting, because after all, the Soviet Union had a large number of people and a harsh environment, and it was uncertain that it would fight.

"But some people say that Stalin's purge seriously damaged the combat effectiveness of the Soviet Red Army, which is why they fought so hard in Poland and Finland."

Hitler said that he did not know where to hearsay. Hersman shrugged with a smile and said: "Leader, Stalin's purges did damage the combat effectiveness of the Soviet Red Army to a certain extent, but it is not a small number of officers and soldiers that determine the combat effectiveness of a country, but the will to fight of the entire nation. The French had good officers, no one took them and shot them, and they were well armed. But the spirit of the whole nation has collapsed, and people are no longer willing to sacrifice their lives for the country one after another. But in the Soviet Union, the situation was completely different, the Russians had always been militant, and Soviet propaganda brainwashing had strengthened their fighting spirit. They will not collapse in the face of setbacks, as in France, but will fight us to the end. ”

"So, what are we going to do with the Soviet Union?" Adolph. Hitler asked.

Hersman whispered, "Contain! (To be continued.) )