Stalin had always fantasized about fulfilling the long-cherished wish of generations of tsars, but now he knew he was wrong.

On the first day of the Chinese offensive, Moscow received several reports on the situation of the Chinese army from the commander of the Siberian Special Military District, Colonel-General Kirponos. They reported that the squadron had launched an attack on the USSR that night. The People's Commissar on duty immediately called to report to Stalin. Stalin was silent for a while and ordered Timoshenko, Zhukov and Vatutin to come to him. When Zhukov arrived, the entire Politburo was already there. Stalin, as usual, paced around the table. When the military chiefs who had been called in came in, he asked, "What are we going to do?" ”

No one answered.

"All units of the border military districts should be immediately instructed to enter the first level of combat readiness." In the suffocating silence, Zhu Kefu finally spoke.

"Read the instructions." Stalin said.

Zhukov read through the draft instructions drawn up at the General Staff. The draft stresses the need for resolute action in accordance with the operational plan for repelling the enemy's attack. After Stalin finished reading it out to the chief of his General Staff, he nodded in agreement: "So be it." ”

When the soldiers returned to make the necessary arrangements, Stalin seemed to say to himself: "I think this is a Chinese provoking us...... Do they dare to start a war? ”

The Politburo members dispersed at around 2 p.m. The shortest night in the capital has arrived. Stalin looked wearily at the silent and deserted streets from the window of his own armored car. He did not know that Chinese planes had already flown in to bomb Soviet cities and airfields, that Chinese tank crews were driving their tanks past Soviet positions, that Chinese generals were looking at their watches more and more often, and that the hands on the dials were approaching the fateful moment. Just as Stalin was about to fall asleep on the sofa in his office in the dacha where he worked and rested, there was a whispered knock on the door. The knock on the door was heart-wrenching, because no one had ever dared to wake Stalin. Maybe the worst has happened. Did he really miscalculate?

Stalin walked out wrapped up in his pajamas. The captain of the guard reported: "General Zhukov has urgent business, please answer the phone, Comrade Stalin." ”

Stalin walked over to the telephone.

"Hello? ……”

Zhukov gave a brief report on air strikes by enemy aircraft on Novokuznesk, Tomsk, Novosibirsk, Omsk and other cities. The Chief of the General Staff asked Stalin again after the report: "Comrade Stalin, do you understand what I mean?" ”

The Supreme Leader of the Soviets made a rapid breath on the phone, and he said nothing.

Stalin was silent. Another unsettling and surprised voice came from the microphone: "Comrade Stalin, do you understand what I mean? ”

He finally understood. The gods of the world can make mistakes, but the cost is immeasurable.

Stalin struggled to ponder the meaning of Zhukov's words, but Zhukov continued to shout into the microphone in horror: "Comrade Stalin, did you hear what I said? Do you see what I mean? Comrade Stalin? Feed? Comrade Stalin ......"

Stalin finally replied in a hoarse voice: "Come to the Kremlin right away." Tell Boskreebeshev to summon all the members of the Politburo......"

Stalin put down the microphone and stood at the table for a minute, his eyes glazed in astonishment, and he glanced at the dial of the old grandfather clock in the corner of the room: the short hand had just crossed 4 o'clock. Stalin subconsciously understood what had happened: something terrible, momentous, tragic for the fate of the country, the people, nature, and the number one man of the great power, had begun. Although he was well aware of the magnitude of the military forces facing off the border, he could not imagine the catastrophic nature of the early days of the war. He knew that the Red Army had many weakness in equipment, operations, and organization, but he could not have imagined, for example, that the borders would be breached less than a day after the start of the war, and that the Chinese tanks would launch a wedge-shaped offensive and rumble through the unsuccessfully set up defensive lines...... Stalin mechanically buttoned up the French shirts that millions of Soviets had become familiar with from countless photographs and portraits, but he could not hear the rumbling of tens of thousands of Chinese artillery bombarding Soviet positions, border posts, and permanent fortifications in the distance. In the minutes he was getting into the car, Chinese bombs were exploding in dozens of cities, announcing the arrival of the largest war in history. Stalin's car, accompanied by two guard cars, was speeding down the empty streets of Moscow toward the Kremlin, just as thousands of Chinese tanks were already ravaging the Russian landscape with their tracks. Having seen forest fires, he knew how swiftly the wind swept a sea of fire into the reckless jungle...... The flames of the Chinese invasion will spread with the flames of death, engulfing thousands of cities, villages and millions of lives.

How dare the Chinese fight on two fronts at the same time? What's wrong with them? Is it really a bunch of crazy people? Stalin could not believe in any case that after the Battle of the Mulberry River and the Battle of the Dragon Triangle, China had effectively eliminated a single front, and was determined to deal with the Russians with the main force, rather than a blitzkrieg, as the Germans had done with France. Stalin's mind was looking for an excuse in his favor: maybe it was just the soldiers being caught off guard by a massive provocation? Maybe this is just Yan Jing wanting to test his strength?

Stalin walked through the entrance reserved for him, went upstairs into his office, and as he walked through the reception room, he hurriedly said to the pale-faced Bosrebeshev: "Please come at once......

The members of the Politburo and the alternate members crept in, no one spoke, and Stalin did not greet those who entered.

There was an unpleasant silence in the room. The people invited by Poskrebeshev sat down at the table: Andreyev, Voroshilov, Kaganovich, Mikoyan, Kalinin, Szvernik, Beria, Malenkov, Voznevsky, Shcherbakov. When Molotov entered the house, he felt that not only Stalin, but also the entire "top of the party" were watching him nervously. The People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs walked up to his seat and squeezed out a few words in a hoarse voice: "The Chinese political axe has declared war on us. Molotov glanced at the piece of paper in his hand and added: "Chinese has a standard excuse in form: China decided to preemptively prevent the offensive ...... that our country is preparing"

The silence seemed to grow thick and sticky. Stalin sat down at the table and glanced at Molotov, who suddenly remembered that it was in this room half a year ago that Molotov had confidently reported on his return from Berlin: "Germany is seeking our support in the struggle against Britain and its allies." Their confrontation should be waited for to sharpen. Chinese restlessness...... One thing is clear - they are afraid to fight on two fronts at once. I think we have time to consolidate the border in the east. Be extra careful, though, because we're dealing with a barbaric country......"

Stalin glanced at Molotov again, but this time with a fierce look. The uneasiness in my heart grew stronger. Stalin felt that he had been brazenly deceived. Perhaps, for the first time in years, he felt overwhelmed and underconfident. The "leader" has become accustomed to the fact that things are going according to his will. He didn't want his submissive comrades to see his weaknesses. Everyone was waiting to hear his views and instructions.

Zhukov spoke, breaking the embarrassing silence.

"Comrade Stalin, will you allow a report on the situation?"

"Say it."

First Deputy Chief of Staff, Lieutenant General Vatutin, walked into his office. He briefly reported on the situation, in which there was little new information, and after heavy shelling and air strikes, large forces of the Chinese army invaded Soviet territory in many areas of the northeastern front and east. Many of the border detachments, confronted by the huge Chinese war machine in the first battle, sacrificed, but did not abandon their positions. China's air force is constantly bombing airfields. The General Staff also has no other, more specific material at the moment. All of the people present in the office did not even anticipate how rapid and tragic events would be.

Stalin was clearly somewhat overwhelmed and angry with everyone. He was worried about the unpredictable future. On the first day of the war, members of the Politburo spent almost a day and night in his office, waiting for news to come from the border. They only occasionally go out to make phone calls, drink tea, and move their bodies. Everyone rarely spoke, secretly hoping that this was only a temporary setback. No one doubts that the Chinese will be hit back as they deserve. The party's top leaders may have argued that fierce fighting in the border areas would last a week or two. For a certain period of time the war could be positional warfare until the Red Army gave the aggressor a retort of destruction...... In Malenkov's folder was a draft order of the General Political Propaganda Department - "The tasks of political propaganda in the Red Army in the near future". The order was drafted after a meeting of the General Military Council and Stalin's speech to the graduates of the Military Academy on May 5, 1943. The "leader" clearly hints that war is inevitable in the future. It is necessary to prepare to "unconditionally crush imperialist China." According to Stalin's instructions, the order (which he finally failed to approve before the outbreak of war) stated:

"The new conditions in which our country finds itself and the international situation in which unforeseen events are pregnant require that we have revolutionary determination and be ready to turn to a devastating offensive against the enemy...... Propaganda, agitation and education in all its forms should be carried out with one purpose — to train all personnel politically, spiritually and militarily to prepare for a just, offensive and invincible war...... It is necessary to cultivate in all personnel the extreme hatred of the enemy, a strong desire to fight the enemy, to be ready to defend our homeland on the enemy's territory, to deal a fatal blow to the enemy......"

In addition to Malenkov, Danov also read the draft order. In the final analysis, the question was not in the order, but in the confidence of the Politburo leadership in the ability of the USSR to defeat any attack and crush the aggressor. The order was drawn up in the spirit of Zhukov's strategic deployment plan for the Soviet Armed Forces, which was submitted to Stalin in May. The plan also spoke of the need to "get ahead of the enemy and crush the enemy's main forces on the territory of the former Siberia." The General Staff and the General Political and Propaganda Department believed that "defense can only be short-lived: the troops prepare for the offensive, repel the enemy's advance and turn to the offensive", so that in the first day or two after the outbreak of the war, the leadership of the party and the army did not have the idea of a catastrophe at all. It is as if disaster has long been ruled out.

The reality was that although the Soviet leadership had received information from various sources about the imminent Chinese attack, it did not take the steps that undoubtedly should have been taken: it did not bring the border troops into combat readiness. If in the case of the mission of Order No. 1, then its issuance was at least a day and night late. Stalin and those around him did not understand (and the soldiers did not dare to explain to him in detail: Timoshenko was afraid of the "leader" at all) that war readiness was a temporal parameter with no room for flexibility. The time it takes for a division to go from being alerted to emergency mobilization, concentration, marching and occupying a designated defensive position is between 4 and 20 hours. For example, in the Siberian Special Military District it takes an average of 4 to 23 hours. And the General Staff did not begin to issue Order No. 1 until 0:20 on April 1. The military districts received it at 1:20 a.m. The commander and the command then study the documents together and draw up the necessary orders and instructions. Again, this takes 1 to 1. 5 hours. In fact, there is less than one hour left for the units to carry out this order.

Many divisions were urgently mobilized only after bombing and shelling by Chinese aircraft. The troops and corps began to move towards the designated area, and generally speaking, before they reached the designated area, they encountered a Chinese tank column on the way, and were forced to go into battle on the march. The squadron did everything to disrupt Soviet communications and paralyze the command. All of them did not expect at all that the Chinese rapid assault group would be able to penetrate 50-60 kilometers deep into the territory of the USSR by the end of the first day...... The troops of the second line were constantly attacked by the Chinese air force as they marched towards the border. The Chinese Air Force has mastered air supremacy from the very beginning. The troops were greeted by a steady stream of refugees. Communications were cut off. The commanders did not understand the situation. The area in which the Corps was ordered to advance had already been occupied by the enemy, and the Chinese army had already achieved the effect of taking it by surprise tactically, tactically, and even strategically. The enemy did not achieve the effect of political surprise, but because of Stalin's criminal miscommand, the troops were put in a position where even the most adventurous intentions of the Chinese army command could be fulfilled.

Stalin walked around his office nervously, unaware that the Chinese High Command was betting on a fierce wedge offensive by Chinese tanks deep into Soviet territory, leaving Soviet units behind him. Mobilization efforts in many states have been disrupted. In the first day or two, more than 200 depots of fuel, ammunition, and other military supplies, as well as many military hospitals, fell into the hands of the enemy. Confusion and lack of firm command dampened the morale of the troops. War Report No. 1 of April 1, 1944, signed by the Chief of Staff of the 4th Army, Colonel Sandalov, stated: "The infantry was depressed and the defense was not stubborn because of the incessant and indiscriminate bombardment. It is often up to the commanders of the corps, starting with the commander of the group army, to stop the haphazard retreating detachments, sometimes entire units, and let them turn around and go back to the front, but these measures, sometimes even with the use of weapons, do not have the desired effect. ”

Stalin, on the other hand, had been waiting for comforting news......

In the early morning of April 1, when the question of who was to tell the people about China's attack, everyone naturally looked at Stalin, but Stalin unexpectedly refused. He didn't even think about it, and simply refused. He was disheartened and did not know what to say to the Soviet people, because he had been educating the people that there would be no war, and even if there were, the enemy would be crushed on his own territory, etc., and now he had to painfully admit that at the very first moments of the war they were suffering defeat.

The question of deciding who will address the people is in the early hours of the morning. At that time, no one in Moscow knew that "at the very first moments of the war we were suffering defeat." About war and the threat of war is often spoken to the people. They are also preparing for war. But the advent of war was still unexpected. Stalin in many respects it was not clear how the events on the border would develop. It is more likely that he did not want to say anything to the people until he had figured out the situation. Prior to that, at least in the 30s, Stalin had never taken significant actions when he could not figure out what effect a major step would have on his position. He always excludes risky actions that can shake his prestige and shake the prestige of his leaders.

The next morning, after deciding that Molotov would address the people and acknowledging the need to declare mobilization in the 14 military districts, Stalin did not realize the scale of the tragedy and demanded that the soldiers "crush the invading enemy with a devastating blow."

Stalin did not hear the victory report, he was apprehensive, even panicked, but he secretly retained confidence, he believed that in two or three weeks he would punish the Chinese, and only then would he "show up" in front of the people, and only four or five days later Stalin was shocked and lost, and only then did he finally believe that the invasion posed a mortal threat not only to the Soviet Union, but also to him, the "wise and invincible leader".

Many decisions were taken during the day. Stalin recovered from his initial confusion and depression. But there was always a thought in his mind: his comrades-in-arms must have thought of his mistakes with reproach in the office today. He even thinks that they have developed doubts about his ability to see everything. It's just unbearable! The thought that people (and not just here, in the Kremlin) might doubt his wisdom, his ability to perceive everything, and his consistent correctness is unbearable......

(To be continued)