British Civil Servant

Marshal Vasilevsky has been in the Far East for a year. In fact, the Soviet Union is not completely unprepared for the war against Japan. As early as after the Belarusian campaign, the Supreme Command entrusted Vasilevsky to assist the Soviet army along the Heilongjiang River. The coastal and Transbaikal regions were assembled for preliminary calculations to determine the supplies necessary for the war against Japanese imperialism.

Before the Battle of Berlin, the Far East battle plan had been approved by Moscow. After the official surrender of Germany, Vasilevsky was appointed as the commander-in-chief of the Soviet Army in the Far East, responsible for commanding the Transbaikal Front, the First Far East Front, the Second Far East Front and Pacific Fleet.

However, compared with the Soviet Union's ease on land, the sea power it relied on can only be said to be a drop in the bucket. Although Moscow suddenly increased its support for the Far East before and after the Battle of Berlin, the power that the Soviet Union could organize was only able to support 50,000 people. to a landing force of 60,000 people.

Of course, the telegram that arrived at the hands of Marshal Vasilevsky at the same time also showed the base camp's determination to spare no effort. And said that the British fleet in Southeast Asia has arrived at night and will provide support for the landing operation.

For this reason, Marshal Vasilevsky changed his landing plan in the Kuril Islands and set his sights on Hokkaido, the second largest island in Japan. In the Far East Command, Marshal Vasilevsky said to his subordinates. , "If the information is true, the number of Japanese troops in Hokkaido is really not much larger than the defenders of the Kuril Islands. In the battle on the front line in the Pacific, the US military adopted a combat method called island-hopping tactics, which is very difficult for us. In terms of power, it is more important to set clear offensive goals and not waste military power on worthless goals."

The island hopping tactic was a tactic adopted by the U.S. military during its counterattack against Japan. Instead of conquering each island one by one or in sequence, it attacked one by one, thus achieving the actual occupation of the attacked islands and forcing other islands to surrender without a fight. soldier.

So the Battle of Okinawa broke out, but Fraud Island was still under Japanese rule, because Fraud Island was the stronghold of the U.S. military's island-hopping tactics, occupying Okinawa to cut off the connection between mainland Japan and Fraud Island.

When Marshal Vasilevsky learned of Moscow's urgency, he gave up the landing on the Kuril Islands and prepared to replicate the island-hopping tactics of the U.S. military and attack Hokkaido.

"Although the objective conditions are insufficient, comrades don't need to be too anxious. We also have favorable conditions. For example, the telegram from Moscow also explained Japan's remarks for peace. According to the analysis of our diplomatic comrades, Japan's attitude towards our Soviet Union is to avoid the Soviet Union. War for peace, and the attitude towards the United States should be war for peace.”

"Under the existing conditions, the core of the Far East campaign must find a way on the Korean peninsula to supplement the lack of preparations on the front line of Hokkaido. The distance between the Korean peninsula and the Japanese mainland is not far, comrades, please remember a term, the Tsushima Strait. ."

As soon as Marshal Vasilevsky finished speaking, the Far East Command fell into silence for a while. The Ma Strait is the western edge of the North Pacific Ocean, the southwestern tip of the Japanese archipelago, the waters between Tsushima and Ichishima. The Tsushima Strait extends from northeast to southwest, about 200 kilometers long, 40 kilometers at the narrowest point, and the water depth is ignored to 100 meters. The continental shelf is very developed, and the bottom of the gorge is relatively gentle.

That was also the location where the Imperial Japanese Navy defeated the Imperial Russian Navy in the Tsushima naval battle, but for Marshal Vasilevsky, the naval battle decades ago was not what he was talking about.

The next thing is what he wants to say, "Comrade Malinovsky, your mission is to attack Japan's occupation of Korea, and rush to the Tsushima Strait, which is the closest to the Korean Peninsula and the Japanese mainland. You don't care about other things. The Japanese army on the peninsula also collects ships that can cross the peninsula, and decides whether to carry out the next battle according to the progress of occupation.”

"Understood, Comrade Vasilevsky." Malinovsky was born in Osad and is now the commander of the Transbaikal Front. He arrived in the Far East after the end of the European War, later than Marshal Vasilevsky. one year.

After revising the battle plan, Marshal Vasilevsky placed the main target of the Transbaikal Front led by Marshal Malinovsky on the Korean peninsula. Cover the Soviet attack on Hokkaido!

The Potsdam Conference continues without mentioning the impact of Far East Command's revision of the operational plan. Even Alan Wilson was still operating in the dark. Originally, he thought that the issue of the war against Japan was settled and his work was over.

Facts have proved that he, a civil servant in British India, is quite naive when it comes to dealing with black box operations. As long as the black box operation is started once, it will inevitably happen countless times.

Cabinet Secretary Edward Bridges, Alan Wilson's naivety was shattered in two sentences. The official talks at the Potsdam Conference will not end in a day~www.readwn.com~ The private bargaining with the Soviet Union has no reason to end.

Seeing Alan Wilson's surprised look, Edward Bridges explained indifferently, "It was like this during the Munich Conference. The negotiating object changed, and the British Empire was still the party involved."

"But I have nothing to say. Isn't the war against Japan over?" Alan Wilson said with a wry smile, "I can't have a meal with a Soviet woman every day at a wine bar. Isn't this a waste of national resources."

"Yeah..." Edward Bridges recognized Alan Wilson's understanding of wasting national resources and gave him encouragement, but answered this question without changing his original intention, "but we generally call this diplomacy... "

Is this too sophisticated? Alan Wilson was dumbfounded, and said with a sullen face, "Sir Edward, I shouldn't have had too much contact with the Soviets, I still want to improve, I want to improve too much. If at the Potsdam Conference, I secretly had a black box with the Soviets. The matter of the operation, if it is known in the future, may cause trouble for my future."

"All your actions are for the benefit of the British Empire, and all your words and deeds will be archived." Edward Bridges said calmly, "There is no possibility of leakage, and no one can verify it."

"But there's an election coming up soon, what if the next government finds out?" Alan Wilson also knew that such things couldn't be said nonsense, so he deliberately lowered his voice.

"Is the opposition party coming to power? Do you think our respected prime minister and foreign secretary said to the leaders of the initiative and the opposition? You have betrayed the interests of your loyal allies? Rest assured, you are ours." Edward Bridges eyebrows Picking it up, he raised his wrist to look at the time and said, "I've said that you are dealing with the British-occupied area in the past few days, so let's go."