Chapter 1033

"Now, o'shanina, how are you doing with General Marshall? Did he say when Britain and the United States can open up a second battlefield in Europe? "

The three of us came to Molotov's room and sat down on the sofa in the living room of the outer chamber. After Molotov kicked them out, he couldn't wait to ask me.

Before answering his question, I thought about how to call him. It may not be appropriate for me to call him Comrade Molotov directly because I am reporting to him formally. It is better to call him an official post. Considering that he is now the first vice chairman of the people's Committee of the Soviet Union and also a member of the people's Committee of foreign affairs, while we are carrying out foreign affairs tasks, it is obvious that the latter is more suitable. After consideration, I began to say, "comrades of the people's Foreign Affairs Committee, General Marshall said that judging from the current situation, the time for the Allied forces to open up the second battlefield will not be earlier than August 1943." Then I gave a brief introduction to the meeting today.

"After August?" Molotov stood up from the sofa and started walking back and forth in the room. At the same time, he said angrily, "it's too shameful. These damned capitalists, as early as 1941, said that they would open up a second battlefield, but they put it off again and again. They just want to wait for us and the Germans to fight against each other and finally come out to pick up a bargain."

I was originally sitting to report to Molotov. Seeing that he was suddenly angry and was not good enough to sit in his seat, I had to stand up and explain to him: "according to my judgment, the Americans are really preparing to open up a second battlefield in Europe this time. However, due to the fact that at least millions of troops, tens of thousands of planes and two or three thousand ships will be deployed by the British and American sides in this cross sea offensive, it is inevitable that the preparatory work will take a longer time. "

After I finished speaking, khrushiev, who was sitting on the sofa, echoed: "yes, comrade Molotov, I think oshanina is right. If Britain and the United States really want to use millions of troops to attack, the number of weapons, ammunition and various materials they need will be unimaginable. Without a few months, they will not be ready at all."

At this point, he pondered a little for a moment, and then added: "there are only four months between now and August. It is very difficult to gather so many troops and store enough supplies to sustain the war in such a short period of time. So I think the opening up of the second battlefield between Britain and the United States may be delayed, or even delayed until next year. "

"What, could it be put off until next year?" Even though Molotov's brow was frowning more tightly, he kept on asking, "general khrushiev, in your estimation, when will the Allied forces open up a second battlefield in Europe?"

Khrushiev did not say a word. He seemed to be thinking about how to answer Molotov's question.

"O'shanina, you answer my question." Seeing that khrushiev did not answer his question, he pointed the spearhead at me, "tell me, when will the Allies open up a second battlefield?"

I did not expect that Molotov would suddenly ask me again. I could not help but flurried and replied, "I think general khrushiev's analysis is very reasonable. It takes time to gather troops and hoard materials." After that, my mood returned to normal again. I found that I had not finished my words. I quickly added, "moreover, the United States has to send its troops and materials to Britain by sea and air. It takes a lot of time to do these things."

Before Molotov could continue to ask, khrushiev had finished thinking. He asked solemnly, "Comrade oshanina, I want to ask, according to your judgment, does the Allied forces really intend to use millions of troops to open up a second battlefield in Europe instead of sending some British divisions symbolically from Persia to the Caucasus?"

Although I don't know what happened to the British divisions mentioned by khrushiev, I gave him a positive answer: "yes, comrade minister, although I guess the data just now, it should be close to the actual number." After giving out the data of half reduction, I could not help but feel guilty and quickly added, "maybe according to the international situation before the attack, the Allied forces will increase their forces."

"It's not your business to think about whether the allies will increase their forces." After Molotov interrupted me, he asked khrushiev, "Comrade General, what's your opinion?"

When Molotov finished speaking, khluliov slowly replied, "with the existing transportation capacity of the United States, it will take six to ten months at the earliest to transport hundreds of thousands of troops and huge quantities of materials to Britain. When they are deployed, it will be almost February next year. If we add in the time for training and running in the troops, it will take at least two or three months. In this way, the time for the allies to open up a second battlefield will be around May next year. "

After listening to khrushiev's analysis, I can't help but give him a thumbs up. From just a few data I said, he can tell more accurately the approximate time of the Allied landing in Normandy. It's really very capable. Of course, it is also possible that because he has been engaged in logistics for a long time, he can roughly calculate the US military's material transportation capacity and the speed of troops being put into the battlefield.

After listening to this, Molotov did not express his views. Instead, he asked me again, "oshanina, is it true that General Marshall is going to let you participate in the formulation of the landing plan?"

"Yes, comrade member of the people's Foreign Affairs Committee." I replied respectfully, "there is a British expert in charge of planning who is going to Washington tonight. As long as he arrives on time tomorrow, then I can participate in their plan making. "

"Good! If you have any latest progress, please report to me in time. " After these words, Molotov waved his hand to me: "well, comrade oshanina, there's no business for you. Go back to your room first."

I know what they will discuss next may involve top secret, and what they said is not what people of my level can listen to, so without saying a word, I raised my hand to salute them, then turned and walked out of the room.

My room is also on the same floor. Because I have a special mission, the embassy has arranged a single room for me instead of a four person room.

Although the room is small, it has a lot of furniture, a desk and two armchairs, a single bed with dark blue sheets, and an electric light hanging from the ceiling and covered with a white lampshade in the middle of the room.

I lay in bed with my hands behind my head, and it was like a dream to think about what happened today. I met not only Roosevelt and Marshall, but also General Patton, whom I adored most. Even at the meeting, he helped them choose the landing site for the allies to open up the European battlefield.

I think it's funny to think of the British general Morgan I'll see tomorrow. It was after repeated weighing that the British and American commanders eliminated the Constantine Peninsula and Calais, and finally decided to land in Normandy. My analysis today has brought the time for the two countries to formulate the "overlord plan" ahead of schedule. I don't know if the landing operation will be advanced on the basis of the plan?

I thought Marshall would send someone to take me to the war hall the next morning. I didn't expect that after Molotov and khluliov left home one after another, I still didn't wait for Marshall to send me an interpreter.

When I had nothing to do, I just wandered around the embassy, chatted with levinov and his embassy staff, and learned about the local conditions and customs of Washington. I even said to one of the female staff that we would go shopping on the day of her rest.

As it was getting late, just when I didn't have any hope of going to the war hall, a staff member came to my room and said that a US officer was looking for me outside.

When I followed the staff out of my room and came downstairs, I saw the interpreter waiting outside. Seeing me appear, the interpreter trotted up to me, raised his hand and politely said, "Hello, general, chief of staff Marshall ordered me to take you to the war hall."

When I heard the translator say that, I was overjoyed. I didn't expect that I could take part in such a major historical event. So after I raised my hand to return the gift, I politely said, "please lead the way ahead."

As soon as I entered the war room of the war hall, Marshall brought a few people to meet me. I saw that Barton and Pug went to school, and there was a tall, thin old man in a British uniform with a moustache, who should be today's protagonist, lieutenant general Morgan..

After Marshall's introduction, I know that the old man standing in front of me is really lieutenant general Morgan. After shaking hands with him, we all came to yesterday's table and sat down. As soon as I was seated, Marshall handed me a stack of papers and said, "general o'shanina, this is the Normandy landing plan made by Sir Morgan. Do you have anything to add?"

I took it, glanced at it, handed it back to Marshall, and said apologetically, "I'm sorry, General Marshall, I can't understand the English documents."

Marshall was dumbfounded, then apologized to me and said, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, general oshanina. I forgot you don't understand English. Well, let me give you a brief introduction to the landing plan. What do you think? "

When I nodded my head, I began to talk about it. Although my English level is not too long, there are too many military terms in Marshall's plan that I can't understand at all, so I can only rely on the translation behind him to fully understand what he said.

His plan is exactly the same as what I know: "the Allied forces are going to land with three divisions on the beaches of Omaha, king and Juno between kalantan and Caen, and parachute two brigades behind the enemy. The second echelon consists of eight divisions, which will occupy Cherbourg in two weeks. "

After seeing Marshall put down the document, Morgan sighed and said helplessly: "the biggest problem in our plan is the port problem. In other words, before we occupied Thurberg, how to solve the logistics supply of landing forces? We should know that in May and June in Normandy, there were strong winds and strong waves, and the landing beachhead alone could not guarantee the logistics supply. "

After listening to Morgan's worries, I laughed and said, "Sir Morgan, since there is no natural port, we will build an artificial port. Now the United States or the United Kingdom will complete the construction of accessories, and then transport them to Normandy to assemble them. "

"Artificial port?" After listening to the translation, Morgan repeated the word, then slapped it on the table, startling Marshall. But instead of apologizing to Marshall, Morgan gave me a thumbs up and said, "genius, genius, general o'shanina, you are a genius." After finishing these two sentences, he looked at Marshall and said excitedly, "Mr. chief of staff, if there is an artificial port, the supply problem that we can't do anything about will be solved." After hearing this, Marshall nodded, turned to me, looked at me with approval, and asked modestly, "apart from the port, do you have any supplement to the landing plan ahead?" If he asked me this for the first time, he was more or less perfunctory. Now he sincerely asked me for advice. Facing Marshall's modest advice, I said that since I had borrowed general montbarton's ideas, it would not be a big deal to borrow Eisenhower's views on the "overlord plan". Thinking of this, I took a sip of the coffee in front of me and took the opportunity to recall the difference between the planned version and the landing version. After thinking about it, I put down my coffee cup, laughed at Marshall and Morgan, and then said, "Dear General Marshall, sir Morgan and General Patton, to tell you the truth, this landing plan is well done. If it is carried out according to the rules, it will definitely win, but the final price will be not small." Barton, who had never said a word, couldn't restrain himself any longer. He interjected: "general o'shanina, can you give me your opinion on the modification of this landing plan?" I nodded, and then said, "first of all, the front of the attack is too narrow, and there is not enough shock force in the initial attack. I think the first echelon should be increased from three divisions to five divisions. At the same time, the front of landing should be correspondingly expanded, and the landing beachhead should be increased from three to five, and the beaches of Utah and sword should also be added. The number of airborne troops of the two brigades is too small to do anything in the enemy's rear, so it's better to put in two or three divisions at one time. " When I talked about the changes, Marshall, Barton and Morgan all wrote them down quickly in their notebooks. From their expressions of nodding while recording, I know that they must very much agree with this amendment. After all, what I told them was the final version of the "overlord plan". After recording what I said, lieutenant general Morgan closed his notebook, bypassed Marshall and Barton, came to me, reached out his hands to me and said with emotion, "general o'shanina, thank you very much for your amendment. Compared with your plan, my plan is full of holes. While expressing my sincere thanks to you, I also feel deeply glad that you are our ally, not our enemy, otherwise you will become a nightmare for the soldiers of our two countries. "