Chapter 95 Our People

Marshal Wasilevsky had been in the Far East for a year, and in fact the Soviet Union was not completely unprepared for the war against Japan; as early as the end of the Battle of Belorussia, the Supreme Command entrusted Wasilevsky with the task of proceeding with the preliminary calculations for the build-up of the Soviet Army along the Heilongjiang River, the Primorsky area, and the Trans-Baikal region, and of determining the supplies necessary for the war against the Japanese imperialists.

Prior to the Battle of Berlin, the Far Eastern Campaign Plan had been agreed to by Moscow, and after the formal surrender of Germany, Wasilevsky was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Soviet Army in the Far East, with command of the Zabaikal Front, the First Far Eastern Front, the Second Far Eastern Front, and the Pacific Fleet.

But compared to the Soviet Union’s ease of movement on land, the sea power relied on can only be said to be a drop in the bucket, although around the time of the Battle of Berlin, the Moscow side suddenly increased support for the Far East, the Soviet Union was able to organize the strength of the force, but also only able to support the size of the landing force of 50,000 to 60,000 people.

Of course the telegrams that reached Marshal Wasilevsky at the same time showed the determination of the main camp to do whatever it takes. The British fleet in Southeast Asia had already arrived by night to support the landing operation.

For this reason, Marshal Wasilewski changed the landing plan in the Thousand Islands and focused on Hokkaido, the second largest island in Japan. In the Far East Command, Marshal Wasilewski said to his subordinates, “If the information is true, the number of Japanese troops in Hokkaido is not much more than that of the defenders of the Thousand Islands. In the midst of the fighting on the Pacific front, the U.S. Army has adopted a method of combat called island-hopping tactics, and for our own stretched maritime forces, it is more important to set clear offensive objectives and not waste military power on worthless targets.”

Island-hopping was a tactic employed by the U.S. military during the counter-offensive against Japan, where instead of attacking each island one by one or in sequence, they attacked them one at a time, thus achieving both a tangible occupation of the island they were attacking and forcing the other islands to give up without a fight.

So while the Battle of Okinawa broke out, Swindle Island remained under Japanese rule, because Swindle Island was the stronghold that the U.S. Army had skipped over with its island-hopping tactics, and the capture of Okinawa cut off the link between the Japanese mainland and Swindle Island.

Learning of Moscow’s eagerness, Marshal Wasilevsky abandoned the landing on the Thousand Islands and prepared to replicate the adoption of the U.S. Army’s island-hopping tactics by attacking Hokkaido.

“Although the objective conditions are insufficient, comrades do not need to be overly anxious, we also have favorable conditions, for example, among the telegrams from Moscow, but also explains Japan’s talk of peace. According to the analysis of the diplomatic comrades, Japan’s attitude toward our Soviet Union is to avoid war and seek peace, while its attitude toward the United States should be to seek peace with war.”

“Under the existing conditions, the core of the Far Eastern campaign, to think of ways on the Korean Peninsula, to supplement the lack of preparation on the Hokkaido front, the Korean Peninsula and the Japanese mainland is not far away, please comrades remember a term, Tsushima Strait.”

Marshal Wasilewski’s words just fell, the Far East Command in the middle of a moment of silence, the Tsushima Strait is the western edge of the North Pacific Ocean, the southwestern tip of the Japanese archipelago, Tsushima Island and Ikki Island between the waters. Tsushima strait extends from northeast to southwest, about two hundred kilometers long, the narrowest place forty kilometers, water depth ignorance to one hundred meters. The continental shelf is very well developed and the bottom of the strait is relatively gentle.

That was still the site where the Imperial Japanese Navy had defeated the Imperial Russian Navy in the Battle of Tsushima, but for Marshal Wasilewski, a decades-old naval battle was not the purpose of what he was about to say.

What came next was what he had to say, “Comrade Malinovsky, your mission is to attack Japanese-occupied Korea and rush all the way to the Tsushima Strait, the closest point between the Korean Peninsula and the Japanese mainland, and leave everything else alone. Wipe out the Japanese forces on the peninsula, and at the same time collect the ships on the peninsula that can cross the sea, and based on the progress of the occupation in deciding whether or not to proceed to the next stage of the operation.”

“Understood, rule Wasilevsky.” Malinovsky, born in Ossad and now commander of the Trans-Baikal Front, had arrived in the Far East after the end of the European War, a year after Marshal Wasilewski.

After making changes to the operational plan, Marshal Wasilewski placed the main objective of the Trans-Baikal Front, led by Marshal Malinovsky, on the Korean Peninsula. Covering the Soviet attack on Hokkaido!

Not to mention what the Far East Command’s modifications to the operational plan would entail, the Potsdam Conference continued. Even Allen Wilson is still operating in the dark, originally he thought that the issue of the war against Japan was determined, his work is over.

Facts have proved that he, a civil servant in British India, is still relatively naïve in dealing with the issue of backroom operations, backroom operations such things as long as the beginning of a time, it is bound to be countless times.

Edward Bridges, the Cabinet Secretary, shattered Allen Wilson’s naivety in two words; as long as the formal talks at the Potsdam Conference were not over, there was no reason for the private bargaining with the Soviet Union to end.

Seeing Allen Wilson’s astonished look, Edward Bridges blandly explained, “That’s the way it was at the Munich Conference, when the object of negotiation changed and the British Empire was still a party.”

“But I don’t have anything to say, isn’t the issue of the war against Japan finished?” Alan Wilson laughed bitterly, “It can’t be with a Soviet woman, every day against the dinner and wine tasting. This is not a waste of national resources.”

“Yes ……” Edward Bridges recognized Alan Wilson’s understanding of wasting the country’s resources, and gave encouragement, but did not change his mind to answer the question, “But we generally call this diplomacy ……”

That’s a little too worldly, isn’t it? Alan Wilson cried and laughed, and said bitterly, “Sir Edward, I shouldn’t have had too much contact with the Soviets, I still want to progress, I want to progress too much. If at the Potsdam Conference, the matter of my secret backroom operations with the Soviets is known later, it may cause trouble for my future.”

“Everything you do is for the benefit of the British Empire, and everything you say and do will be filed.” Edward Bridges said unhurriedly, “There is no possibility of there being a leak, and no one will be able to check it.”

“But there’s an election coming up, what if the next government finds out?” Alan Wilson also knew that this kind of thing couldn’t be talked about, and deliberately lowered his voice.

“It’s just the opposition party coming to power, right? Do you think our honorable Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary, to the initiative and the leader of the opposition party said? And betraying the interests of a loyal ally himself? Don’t worry, you’re one of us.” Edward Bridges raised an eyebrow and lifted his wrist to check the time saying, “I’ll say you’ve been handling the British Occupation for the last couple of days, get going.”