Struggle in Soviet Russia

The Volga River, Stalingrad.

The footsteps of spring have followed the quietly flowing Volga River to visit the hero city that is under reconstruction early, because the entire city is named after the leader. Therefore, the city of Stalingrad, for the alliance, has a very special meaning. After the meat grinder-like defense campaign ended, the city quickly entered and exited the reconstruction process. Now, after two or three years, the city has basically recovered its former prosperity, except for a few who deliberately stayed. Beyond the memorial, the traces of the war have faded throughout the city.

The train consisting of nine carriages dashed past the steel bridge across the Volga River, and the billowing steam filled the surface of the big river, blurring the sight.

In the fourth compartment of the train, Victor took his eyes back from the window, picked up the cup of coffee on the table in front of him, took a sip, and then turned his attention back to the document in front of him.

At this moment, the train he was on was not bound for Stalingrad. Its final destination was nearly 100 kilometers away from Stalingrad. That place was called Kapuskin Yar, which was used exclusively by the Union. Proving ground for rocket launch tests.

On this train, in addition to Viktor, there were some great figures from Moscow, such as Comrade Bulganin, Comrade Beria, and Comrade Malenkov. The purpose of their trip to Kapuskin Yar is to participate in the "R-3" rocket launch test that will be officially carried out tomorrow morning, and to forward the good news of the success of the test to Moscow in time.

Like the previous nuclear weapons test, this rocket launch test is also not allowed to fail, because before Victor and the others left Moscow this time, the relevant news has been announced. Now, it is estimated that the whole world knows that the Soviet Union is engaged in a whole In an unprecedented rocket test, scientists involved in the development will launch a rocket from Kapuskin Yar into the Caspian Sea, 170 kilometers east of Astrakhan.

If this launch plan is successful, it means that the alliance has a ballistic missile with a range of up to 1,000 kilometers. According to the current public data, this rocket, code-named "R-3", has a payload of up to 1,530 kilograms. , the thrust is more than 20,000 kilograms, and the lift is as high as 40 tons. Considering its effective range of up to 1,000 kilometers, if the alliance deploys it in the area east of Berlin, then the entire Western Europe will be within its striking range.

The most important thing is that, according to the news released by Moscow, the alliance is currently further developing the "R-3" improved rocket, which will have a range of up to 3,000 kilometers and a payload of up to 3,000 kilograms. In other words, such a rocket, from If the eastern region of the alliance is launched, it will be able to deliver a three-ton nuclear bomb to any place in Europe, that is, the entire Europe will be within the nuclear strike range of the alliance.

Victor knows very well what kind of uproar it will cause in the world once the news is announced. Needless to say, the alliance will become a threat to the whole world in the first place, and the United Kingdom and the United States will speed up the speed of convergence and regard Moscow as their common enemy. .

If it was in the past, Victor would not have paid much attention to such an issue. After all, this kind of thing has nothing to do with his work, but the situation is completely different now. After taking over the work of the Central International Department, his focus of work has been on Moved to the foreign affairs side, therefore, after the announcement of this news, its subsequent reaction is closely related to the work that Victor is in charge of.

From a personal standpoint, Victor is not in favor of the Alliance to announce the news of the rocket test as soon as possible, let alone the improved "R-3" that is still under development. In terms of research and development, we can maintain a certain low profile, develop secretly, and do not make a big deal.

The reason why Victor has such a claim is naturally based on its basis, the most important of which lies in the complex relationship between the United Kingdom and the United States.

At present, the relationship between the United Kingdom and the United States is still more on the side of struggle and less on the side of cooperation. As for the reason, as mentioned earlier, the British do not want to give up the glory of their empire on which the sun never sets, let alone give up their Colonial and traditional spheres of influence in the Middle East, Asia, and Africa clashed with American ambitions, so neither side wanted to back down, and the struggle started.

At present, the contradictions between the United Kingdom and the United States are mainly concentrated in the Middle East, while the contradictions between the alliance and the British are mainly concentrated in Europe, especially the Balkans. As for the contradictions between the alliance and the United States, they are concentrated in the Far East. Especially in East Asia.

Based on this, for the time being, the three parties cannot talk about who will join forces with whom. Almost all of them are fighting each other, but in general, the ties between Britain and the United States are still much closer.

Just imagine, if at this time, the alliance announced the news of the successful development of the rocket, claiming that it already has the ability to deliver nuclear bombs long-range and ultra-long-range, then the nuclear balance that has just formed between the United States and the Soviet Union will obviously be in the first place. Time is broken, especially for the British. Considering the ultra-long range of the rocket, the entire British Isle will be shrouded in the nuclear shadow of the alliance. In order to ensure their own safety, the British will mostly choose to reconcile with the United States.

Don't think that the British are ignorant of current affairs. In fact, whether it is the Labour Party or the Conservative Party, after the devastation of World War II, the British political elites are very aware of the current situation in the United Kingdom. Whether Churchill or Attlee, Everyone knows that the glory of the so-called "Empire on which the sun never sets" can no longer be maintained. The reason why they are still resisting is because ordinary people in the UK cannot see this clearly, and they are still immersed in the dream of the British Empire. At this time, no matter who actively wakes them up, they may lose all their political capital.

Therefore, the Labour government led by Attlee can only bite the bullet and fight with the Americans. What he needs is not really to maintain the hegemony of the UK, but to win the public opinion in the UK. But as long as the Labour government is given a reasonable step, such as the strong threat shown by the coalition, the British government is likely to quickly turn and completely bow to the Americans.

This is how Western politics works, at all times.

Therefore, Victor is not in favor of announcing the news of the rocket test too early, because it will inevitably bring variables to the alliance's diplomatic environment.

However, Victor also knew that no matter his ideas or suggestions, it was impossible to change the ideas of Comrade Stalin and his staff, because the decision to announce the news of the rocket test was decided by the entire Politburo after discussion. All members of the Politburo, including Comrade Stalin, voted in favour.

Why?

The reason is very simple. At present, the alliance and a series of countries, including the United Kingdom and the United States, have complex conflicts of interest. What Comrade Stalin wants to see is that after the news is released, the United Kingdom and the United States can be forced to solve a series of problems. Make concessions to the league.

So, what kind of conflict of interest does the alliance have with the UK and the US? A brief list: In Europe, the alliance and the United Kingdom have conflicts of interest in Greece, Albania, and the United States and the United States in Austria and other countries; the alliance opposes the British establishment of a large radar station in Iceland to monitor the Red Navy’s actions; in Asia, the alliance and the United States Conflicts of interest on China, the Korean peninsula and Japan; conflict of interest with the UK on Turkey, etc.

Before that, the Americans took advantage of the first to develop nuclear weapons and carried out nuclear blackmail against the alliance on certain issues. Now, the alliance has the first-mover advantage in the means of delivering nuclear weapons. Therefore, the reverse nuclear blackmail has become inevitable. s Choice.

Any first-mover advantage based on nuclear weapons is a strong foundation for a country. In fact, as Comrade Stalin’s assistant in the Central Secretariat, Victor also learned a piece of news that felt terrifying, that is, with the Rocket technology is becoming more mature, and the alliance's military has a tendency to be belligerent. On the issue of dealing with Turkey, some people even advocate that the Black Sea Fleet will take the initiative to attack the port of Sariyer in the Bosphorus Strait, if the Turks do not do it. If the concession is to be withdrawn, then choose one of the three Turkish port cities of Luleburgaz, Pendik, and Ereli to carry out a nuclear strike, thereby forcing the Ankara government to surrender.

There is no doubt that the soldiers are a strong barrier to defend the country, but to be honest, many times, the thinking of soldiers is also dangerous, and the way they think about problems is radical most of the time.

Recently, the alliance, together with the governments of Romania and Bulgaria, has frequently put pressure on Turkey to release the right of passage through the straits to the alliance. Concession, every time the alliance put forward the request of the "quartet talks" on the Black Sea coast, the Turks asked to join the British side - the Ankara government was very cunning, they knew that the British could not allow the alliance to freely enter the Mediterranean Sea, after all that It will have a subversive impact on the UK's geopolitical interests, so they pulled the UK into the Quartet in order to shift the pressure on the shoulders of the British.

The document in Victor's hand is the minutes of the "Burgass Talks", and the so-called "Burgeas Talks" are the five representatives of the alliance, Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey and the United Kingdom, held in Burgas, Bulgaria. , but this time the talks lasted for four days without any practical results.