Time travel! Regrets will never happen again!

Chapter 195 Fight or Surrender 3

As for the Soviets, they are the most special among the three countries and are the party that least wants to see China win.

They inherited the Tsarist Russia's ambitions for the Far East and have always regarded China's vast grasslands and rich Northeast as their sphere of influence.

However, historical turning points made their wish come to nothing. Tsarist Russia lost in the competition with Japan, especially the Northeast region was eventually annexed by the greedy Japanese. This result made the Soviets feel resentful.

Now, on the European battlefield, although the Soviet army has gained the strategic initiative, the German army still has strong combat effectiveness, making the Soviets dare not relax at all.

At this time, Stalin kept urging the US and British Allied Forces to open a second front in Western Europe, because he knew that the situation in the Far East was already precarious, and if no action was taken, the consequences would be disastrous.

Judging from recent events, the actions of the Chinese seem to indicate that they are eager to recover the lands they lost in the past, especially in the grassland areas, where they have shown strong determination and action.

This series of actions undoubtedly made people see the Chinese people's firm belief in recovering lost territory.

However, the Chinese people face two key directions for their next strategic choices.

On the one hand, if they decided to move south and join forces with the main forces of the National Government in the Yangtze River Basin, they would have the opportunity to retake the Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions that had been occupied.

Considering the current strength of China's mechanized corps, this goal is not out of reach.

But on the other hand, if they chose to continue northward, capture Shanhaiguan, and use large-scale armored corps to advance across the Northeast Plain, they would face resistance from the Kwantung Army.

The Kwantung Army today is much weaker than before, and they are unlikely to pose much of a challenge to China's mechanized corps.

As a senior Soviet military and political figure, Malenkov was well aware of the tremendous combat effectiveness of mechanized corps under air superiority.

He understood that this advantage would make the Chinese army more proactive and lethal on the battlefield.

Therefore, no matter which strategic route the Chinese choose, they need to carefully weigh the pros and cons and make adequate preparations.

At the same time, the international situation will also have an impact on their decision-making, which requires careful response.

Although the Chinese armored forces are much smaller than the Soviet Union, who can guarantee that they will not further expand their armored forces? At present, it is not the equipment problem that limits the development of Chinese armored forces, but the shortage of professional talents.

However, they have begun to actively address this issue and have taken appropriate measures, and it is expected that this situation will be significantly alleviated in the next two years.

Once the main force of the Soviet Red Army is tied down on the European battlefield and the Chinese army successfully drives the Japanese invaders out of its own territory, the Chinese, who have tasted the sweetness of victory, may become interested in the weakly defended Soviet Far East.

Who could predict whether their generals would get carried away and try to regain the land they had lost? How would the Soviet Union respond to this situation? What would the attitude of the Allies be?

Of course, Malenkov firmly believed that with the powerful combat effectiveness of the Soviet Red Army, these weak Chinese people would never be able to become the opponent of the Soviet Army.

But by then the entire Far East region would have been destroyed. Once the Soviet army entered China, the United States and Britain would definitely join the dispute between China and the Soviet Union.

So this time Stalin sent Malenkov to find out the true thoughts of the Chinese government and to communicate with the special envoys from the United States and Britain.

In fact, Kaishen is also feeling uneasy now. He knows very well that the current situation in the north has little to do with the National Government. Although the Fifth War Zone has sent hundreds of thousands of troops to join, that is just icing on the cake.

The real fighting was carried out by the 78th Group Army, while the Central Army of the Second War Zone was basically taken away by Wei Lihuang to rebuild the First War Zone.

As for the remaining former Shanxi-Suiyuan Army, it has long been merged and reorganized into the 78th Army Group, and even Yan Xishan has abandoned it. Now he only holds the empty title of provincial governor and concurrently serves as a deputy of the Northern Front Committee.

However, this so-called Northern Front Committee was not actually recognized by the National Government and the Ministry of Military Affairs. It was just an illegal organization established by the northern faction without authorization.

Of course, such a phenomenon is not uncommon in China today, although under the united front of the War of Resistance, all factions should be under the unified command of the central government.

But in fact, the performance of some local factions in the War of Resistance was ambiguous, while others made great efforts.

The central government usually handles such small private actions according to the specific circumstances. If some smaller warlords dare to jump out and provoke, the central government will naturally take action to rectify them without hesitation.

As for powerful factions like the 78th Army Group and the Guangxi Clique, the central government must think carefully before taking action.

After all, the 78th Army not only does not receive a penny from the central government, but it even has to support the central government in return.

Especially during this decisive battle in North China, even the logistics support for many of the Central Army troops in the Fifth War Zone and the First and Second War Zones was entirely the responsibility of the 78th Group Army.

Moreover, Kaishen also knew that the 78th Army did business with the United States, Britain and even Germany, especially the sale of medicines and cutting-edge weapons, which gave the 78th Army the confidence to reject the central government.

But this time he was right. Although the 78th Army had its own little thoughts, it was still willing to cooperate with the central government's strategic deployment. After all, everyone is Chinese, and only by pointing a gun at the outside world can the problem be solved.

Overall, this meeting was a diplomatic victory for the Chinese central government. Of course, this respect was gained based on strong strength.

Not only did the Americans agree to provide another $2 million interest-free loan, but they would also provide $5000 million in military equipment.

The British were not to be outdone and offered a £5000 million interest-free loan and £2000 million worth of military equipment, and expressed their willingness to help China train pilots.

As for the Soviets, they said they would continue to provide aid materials to China and send technical experts to guide the modernization of the Chinese army.

These promises undoubtedly gave a great encouragement to the Chinese central government and proved that China's status on the international stage is gradually improving.

Of course, all this is inseparable from the heroic performance of the 78th Army on the battlefield and the powerful strength behind it.

In addition, various countries also hope that the expeditionary force can intensify its attacks on the Japanese troops in Burma and strive to reopen the Burma Road as soon as possible so that they can transport more supplies into China.

This will not only help alleviate the domestic shortage of materials, but more importantly, it will strengthen ties with the international community and enhance the country's image.

Faced with such expectations, the 78th Group Army expressed that it would actively cooperate and devote all its efforts to the battle.

Another thing that made him even happier was that at the invitation of President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill, he would soon go to Cairo to attend a meeting between the Allies.

This was the first collective meeting of the heads of state of the major constituent countries after the establishment of the Allied Powers, so Kaishen wanted to gain greater respect in front of his allies.

After the meeting, he immediately convened a meeting of the Military Commission, hoping that the North China Expeditionary Army could be completely resolved before he attended the meeting.

At the same time, it would be best to have another bigger victory to cheer yourself up.