**Chapter 830: The Era of Global Ebullition (8)**

By the third day of the war, news of disaster for the Soviet Western Front arrived in succession; several armies had been encircled by the Wehrmacht. The greatest shock the surprise attack brought to the Red Army was not the timing, but the sheer number of German troops attacking simultaneously and their tight coordination.

In various Red Army sand-table simulations, the German offensive force was estimated at around two million; the Red Army believed that even if they couldn't achieve a decisive victory, they could at least stall the advance. But once war broke out, the Wehrmacht's strength was far greater than imagined.

When the Red Army used more troops and equipment than planned to counterattack the German spearheads, they found that the advancing forces' numbers and equipment surpassed their own. The counterattacking units were crushed in a single wave by superior enemy forces.

Worse still, the Soviet Air Force's performance in actual combat fell far short of plans. No matter how many air units were sent up, the Wehrmacht maintained a firm grip on air superiority. After every shrill scream of a Stuka dive-bomber, Soviet tanks would be left in ruins. Occupying the heights of the air, the Germans launched fierce attacks on Soviet armored clusters and logistical depots, making sorties by frontline Red Army tank crews synonymous with suicide.

When Stalin received these reports, he fell into a state of absolute fury. Aside from ordering the front to hold at all costs, he had no other commands for the moment.

On the seventh day of the Soviet-German war, the Western Front submitted a report to Stalin requesting a retreat.

In the Kremlin, Stalin roared, "Tell Pavlov that if he cannot hold, let him die!"

Kirov had been trying these past few days to get definitive news about the previous Western Line of defense from the Red Army. But he didn't dare inquire too openly; he was, at best, the future leader of the CPSU, while the current leader was Stalin. Kirov's job was to execute Stalin's orders and complete his arrangements. Politically, if Kirov proposed a view differing from Stalin's, it would constitute a split within the party.

But the situation had reached a point where Kirov believed the war's progress had diverged from Stalin's vision and instead closely mirrored the direction He Rui had sent messengers to describe. Kirov felt he should perhaps tell Stalin this, but seeing the leader's violent behavior, he lacked all confidence in his ability to dissuade him.

By the ninth day, more than half of the Western Front's troops were encircled. Two armies had been essentially annihilated, and the army headquarters requested a breakout.

More terrifyingly, reconnaissance indicated the Germans had completed a massive encirclement of the Western Front, which had insisted on head-to-head confrontation. Reinforcements were indeed rushing to the front, but Kirov felt the war situation had truly reached the point where retreat had to be considered. Over these nine days, the Red Army had been nothing if not heroic, with epic bloodbaths occurring on many battlefields.

The Wehrmacht didn't dig in their heels just because they were blocked on a few battlefields. Instead, they maintained their own tempo, continuously launching breakthrough tactics to encircle one Soviet unit after another that was holding its position.

On May 30, Stalin had just woken up in his office when his secretary said, "General Secretary, Comrade Kirov requests to talk with you about the war situation."

Stalin felt exhausted and feebly waved his hand. "Let him in."

Moments later, Kirov entered the office. Before Stalin could speak, Kirov voiced his opinion. Initially, Stalin's emotions didn't fluctuate much as he had just woken up. But he grew angrier the more he heard, especially when Kirov suggested considering preparations on the previous Western Line—having units retreat in stages to the relatively complete defensive lines and using them for defense. Stalin finally roared, "The Red Army must never retreat! We must fight to the end and crush the Germans!"

Kirov knew that Stalin at this stage could not accept the suggestion of retreat, as the Red Army had only suffered heavy losses and hadn't been routed. But this was a matter of strategic judgment. According to He Rui's judgment, the Red Army should have placed intercepting forces in tiers within 200 kilometers of the border, exhausting the German offensive tempo through layers of resistance.

When the Wehrmacht attacked, the Soviets should conduct targeted counterattacks. The purpose would not be to annihilate the Germans, but to delay their tempo through these actions, preventing them from driving inward with irresistible force.

After layers of delay, as the German supply lines stretched and reached the Soviet solid fortifications, the Red Army could then leverage the advantage of their vast territory to attack German weak points. This would maneuver the Germans, continuously exhausting them, eventually using the Soviet advantage in manpower and military production to wear them out completely, before a final counterattack to destroy them.

At this stage, however, Stalin was like a bull facing a red cloth, directing the Red Army to attack the Germans head-on. But the combat zone was too close to Poland; while the Wehrmacht suffered significant losses, those of the Red Army were even greater.

At this moment, Kirov mustered all his courage and said, "General Secretary, can we consider another strategy? If you oppose it, I will continue to execute your orders unswervingly. If you are willing to consider defeating the Germans through another strategy, then let us discuss it. May we?"

The seriousness of Kirov's speech calmed Stalin's emotions somewhat. He nodded. "We can discuss it."

Seeing that Stalin was aware of what he was doing, Kirov shared his view. Initially Stalin didn't object violently, but as the discussion entered the more substantive stage—that the Soviet Union must temporarily cede some territory to trade space for time—Stalin's expression went from displeasure to rage. He bellowed, "Kirov, that is impossible, absolutely impossible. Soviet land is for defeating the enemy, not for the Red Army to retreat through! And tell me, where do you plan to retreat to? If the situation continues to be unfavorable, are we to keep retreating? Just where do you intend to stop!"

Kirov did not persist. He was now certain of Stalin's bottom line: never choose retreat when victory was still possible. Even if the possibility of such victory was minuscule, Stalin would persist. In He Rui's strategic judgment, there was no possibility of the Soviet Union defeating the Wehrmacht on the border. Thus, Kirov gave up his effort to persuade Stalin, as this bottom line was fundamentally opposed to He Rui's strategy. As a Politburo member who had chosen to support Stalin firmly, Kirov had no choice that involved negating Stalin's ideas.

"General Secretary, I will do my utmost to execute your arrangements," Kirov replied with a heavy heart.

Seeing Kirov yield, Stalin's anger dissipated significantly. He asked in a heavy tone, "Kirov, do you believe the Red Army cannot defeat the Germans?"

Kirov immediately denied it. "No, I believe victory will surely belong to us!"

"Then do you believe we cannot defeat them on the border?" Stalin asked again.

This time, Kirov was speechless. Personally, he certainly hoped the Red Army could cut through the Germans like a hot knife through butter. But he was facing reality, not personal hope. Kirov believed he didn't understand military matters and couldn't make a judgment.

Seeing Stalin staring at him, Kirov could only answer, "General Secretary, I believe only the Red Army leadership can answer that question."

Stalin was a bit surprised; he had expected Kirov to stick to his guns. Since Kirov had given up his persistence, Stalin didn't push further. He said to Kirov, "Kirov, go to Central Asia. See how the factory production is going there."

Kirov didn't see this as an exile and replied immediately, "General Secretary, I'll prepare to depart now."

Watching Kirov's back, Stalin's thoughts were complex. Sending Kirov to the industrial zones east of the Urals effectively stripped him of his voice at the center. But among the choices Stalin could trust, Kirov was the best. If it were someone else, Stalin wouldn't know what they might get up to. And with Kirov's status and influence, he could indeed solve many problems in those industrial areas.

On May 31, during the frontier battles, the Western Front held its established positions and launched counter-strikes and counter-attacks to prevent the German Fascists from driving deep into Soviet territory. However, they truly couldn't hold out against the superior German spearheads. The Western Front headquarters strongly requested permission to retreat. They expected a refusal, but to their surprise, Stalin conditionally agreed.

The condition was that the Western Front could abandon Minsk and its fortified region, but they had to continue resisting west of Minsk and could not retreat further.

The Western Front felt as if they had received a royal pardon and immediately executed the retreat. Just before the German encirclement was complete, the Western Front retreated north. During the withdrawal, they blocked the German units trying to cut off their rear, ensuring a corridor for the retreat.

On the German side, Hitler restrained an explosion of anger when he learned the Wehrmacht had failed to annihilate the Soviet Western Front. The war so far had truly shown him Soviet strength. German equipment had been upgraded, but facing the T-34, the Panzer IV's 50mm gun could at best penetrate its armor from the side or rear. Only the Tiger tank, equipped with the 75mm gun, could barely pierce the T-34's frontal armor.

Furthermore, the Red Army had the KV heavy tank. Its armor was thick beyond imagination. On the second day of Barbarossa, a single KV tank engaged in fierce combat with a German column in Lithuania. To take out this one KV-2, the Wehrmacht lost six trucks, twelve artillery pieces, four tanks, and an 88mm gun.

When the Germans thought the KV-2 was finished and went to check their success, they found that of six 88mm shells, only two had penetrated; they also confirmed seven shallow dents left by 50mm shells, while 37mm shells hadn't even left a mark. Just as the German soldiers finished their inspection and climbed onto the KV-2, the turret began to rotate. The soldiers had to run alongside the turret to avoid being hit by the machine gun. Finally, German engineers pried open the turret hatch and tossed in several grenades to kill the crew, ending the battle.

Although German reports later claimed the KV heavy tank had extremely poor mobility and was unsuitable for field operations, and Hitler agreed, the Soviet advantage in tank production made his mood very sour. The USSR could produce even more powerful tanks in the future. The German advantage could very well be ground down bit by bit by the Soviets.

But there was some good news. Heydrich, with his startling organizational ability, had dispatched a large number of laborers and technical workers to take over and begin fully repairing the railways within Soviet-occupied Poland. After ten days of work, they had actually repaired over 200 kilometers of track, allowing some supply trains to reach the vicinity of German rear positions, where trucks could then smoothly transport the supplies to the front.

Furthermore, the US had softened slightly on declaring war on the USSR. Secretary of State Hull stated that if Germany could provide enough evidence, the US could indeed consider declaring war based on the situation.

On this matter, Hitler felt the US had seen the proclamations issued by the Asian Allied Forces and believed the Soviet Union might very well join them. If that happened, the US would have to declare war. Once the US did, it meant the USSR would no longer have any chance of allying with America to change the world order. Germany would have solved its strategic crisis in Europe. If the US declared war, Germany could then demand more American technology to speed up cooperation.

He Rui's view was similar to Hitler's. Anti-Soviet forces in the US were strong, and even Roosevelt couldn't overturn that immediately. In any case, He Rui had made his suggestions to the USSR before the war; while the Soviets wouldn't be grateful now, they would seriously consider joining the Asian Alliance. This move proved China's friendly attitude and reduced the concerns of Soviet nationalists regarding China.

Of course, the USSR could also choose to fight the Fascist bloc alone. If they chose that and could truly pull it off, He Rui would be happy to see it. If the Soviets held out on their own, China wouldn't have to spend massive sums to support them. That money was value given by the hard work of the Chinese people; spending less was naturally better.

Currently, more of He Rui's attention was focused on the Indian Ocean rim. In his proposed New World Order, the basis of trade was that the Chinese Yuan (CNY) would not follow the gold standard. The Yuan was just a piece of paper, or some numbers in an account. What gave value to that paper or those numbers was the labor of the people of all nations.

During the pre-war economic crisis, China's strongest production sector was shipbuilding. It drove a series of industries, maintained millions of jobs, and produced tens of millions of tons of shipping. Previously, those ships had completely saturated domestic routes; as soon as the war began, they were suddenly insufficient.

After driving out the foreign colonizers, Chinese merchant ships immediately replaced their fleets, beginning trade between China and the various liberated colonies. This seamless commercial trade indeed stabilized the colonial economies and provided a foundation for political reform. However, it also changed China's domestic industrial structure. For instance, the domestic jute industry suffered a devastating blow.

Jute from the Indian and Bengal regions was of high quality and produced in massive quantities. After China absorbed the Indian jute that originally went to Europe, domestic production found no market. Fortunately, the domestic textile industry had risen and could satisfy the people's demand for cloth. The influx of Indian and Bengali jute only affected the side businesses of hundreds of thousands of Chinese farmers who continued to grow it—still within controllable limits.

There were many positive effects as well. Britain had forced India to grow long-staple cotton. China's massive imports of Indian cotton solved the shortage caused by the disruption of the long-staple cotton trade between China and the US.

The Indian region and other independent areas had far too many industries; as the world's largest single market, China had to open up to them. Similarly, with its already complete industrial chains, China gained vast markets by fully satisfying the needs of these countries and regions.

This wasn't "maintaining war through war," but common prosperity. The reason He Rui dared to challenge both Europe and America simultaneously was that he believed this economic circle could generate enough resources to sustain the war. As for that wretched place called Europe, leave it to the World People's Liberation Army to liberate.

The immense power of economy is not something an individual's will can sway. China was not the only one benefiting from the New Order; through cooperation with China, Japan obtained far cheaper and more stable raw materials from the bulk commodity markets than before the war. By exporting goods and components, Japanese companies could sell production volumes that far exceeded pre-war levels. Japan had enjoyed such a boom during the First World War and was now even more adept.

Even if the Japanese didn't understand the principles behind it, they could feel the reality of the prosperity through their mortgaged apartments, the higher salaries they received each month, and the abundant goods in the markets. In letters from home, while families of Japanese soldiers on the front were worried about their safety, these people—used to being poor—all encouraged their relatives to win the war.

So while the war in the Hawaiian Islands was brutally cruel, Japanese morale remained at a very high level. Especially since Japanese casualties were lower than American ones, it led the Japanese to believe victory was inevitable.

Ever since heavy bombers could take off from more distant airfields to attack Hawaii, the Japanese frontline airfields had focused entirely on fighters. The pressure on the US increased sharply. Worse still, the Japanese had built temporary airfields on five islands besides Midway. Thereafter, every island in the Hawaiian chain began to come under Japanese attack.

By June 6, the US could finally no longer hold out in Hawaii. On that day, the Japanese completed temporary runways on six islands in one go, bringing the number of islands capable of supporting fighters to eleven. The Japanese Air Force's heavy bombers were no longer primarily performing bombing missions but were instead executing air-drops. Consuming ten tons of aviation kerosene and aircraft life just to drop ten tons of fuel to the front—something Japan wouldn't even have dreamed of before was now reality.

Admiral Yamaguchi Tamon, Commander of the Combined Fleet, ordered the fleet to move north, preparing for a decisive battle with the main carrier force of the US Pacific Fleet.

At the same time, the US Pacific Fleet Command confirmed that Japan was heavily attacking Kauai, the westernmost of the Hawaiian Islands, clearly intending to seize it. Once Kauai was lost, Japan could station a large force there—not just air units, but a large army. Thereafter, the US forces in Hawaii would go from having the advantage to being at a disadvantage. To prevent the capture of Kauai, the US carrier groups were also moving north of the Hawaiian chain.

Admiral Nimitz, commander of the carrier groups, knew well that a massive carrier battle between the US and Japan was imminent. Whoever won this battle would win the advantage for the coming period.

However, Nimitz was personally pessimistic. Once the Pacific Fleet's carrier groups suffered heavy losses at Hawaii, the Chinese carrier groups would surely rush there immediately for the next major battle. For the US carrier groups to win then, they would have to defeat the Japanese carrier groups in this upcoming battle at minimal cost. Such a thing... one could only pray to God for.

On June 10, every ship in the US carrier groups held prayers. The US Navy specifically transported Puritan ministers, Christian bishops, and clergy of other faiths to preside over religious ceremonies. Conversely, the Japanese Navy also held pre-battle rituals.

The clergy on the American side presided over the ceremonies with an unprecedented level of piety. Representing their churches, they prayed to God for victory and called down curses upon the enemy, assuring the US personnel that if they fell in battle, they would enter heaven immediately.

On the Japanese side, all fleet members received small charms sent from various folk religious sites by their families. There were also "hundred-blessing" shirts hand-sewn by their families and headbands inscribed with "Long-lasting Martial Fortune."

On the afternoon of June 10, both sides discovered traces of the other's fleet.

At 4:28 AM on June 11, carrier-based planes took off from the decks, completed their formations in the sky, and headed toward the location of the enemy carriers.

Wars are mostly fought on battlefields accepted by both sides; at this moment, both the US and Japan knew this battle was unavoidable. Once it was over, a new page in the Pacific War would be turned.