**Chapter 839: World People's Liberation Army (7)**

In the fifteen minutes Molotov spoke with the People's Commissar for Commerce, he felt his impression of China being struck by a considerable shock. Compared to several prior instances, Molotov felt this one was particularly violent.

During the Russian Civil War, Molotov viewed China as a declining nation. After the Northeast government effectively defeated Japan in 1923, he realized China was still a great power with the strength to match.

By the time the Sino-British war of 1927 ended with Britain ceding Upper Burma and Assam, Molotov saw the He Rui government as a powerful elite administration. This government possessed significant governing capacity, and China already had the ability to threaten the eastern Soviet Union.

With the Sino-French economic cooperation of 1928, Molotov believed China had seized the opportunity and would inevitably grow stronger.

In June 1942, the Asian Allied Forces captured the Hawaiian Islands. Molotov had to admit China possessed formidable war strength. The capture of Hawaii relied on naval and air power, not the absolute numerical superiority of the Chinese Army.

This meeting made Molotov realize that Chinese industrial technology had, unknowingly, fully surpassed the Soviet Union's. For a long time, Molotov believed China's most advanced technology was purchased from France through their cooperation.

The Commissar for Commerce, however, told a different story: Chinese civilian technology was more advanced than France's. Pellet fuel was a relatively new product in China, reportedly aimed primarily at mitigating the smog caused by coal burning in rural areas. As China rapidly industrialized, the smog problem grew more serious by the day.

What truly astonished the Soviet trade officials were the various electronic products suddenly becoming popular in China—small in size, with simple components. Because the USSR had no similar products, their earlier proposals to import the technology had been politely declined by China. Thus, the USSR hadn't introduced these products and continued using its own vacuum-tube devices.

Molotov tried to confirm once more: "Even after China refused our request for technology transfer, we couldn't complete reverse engineering after buying their products?"

The Commissar gave a clear answer: "Yes. we spent a great deal of effort on reverse engineering, but we simply couldn't figure out the core Chinese technology. Chinese civilian goods suddenly abandoned vacuum tubes and began using entirely new electronic controllers. These controllers can be used in various electronic products, and their control capacity and precision are simply not comparable to vacuum tubes."

Having said this, the Commissar pulled a palm-sized box from his bag, plugged in a pair of headphones, and handed it to Molotov. Molotov took it and looked it over, unable to understand what this box-shaped object with buttons was for.

Under the Commissar's guidance, Molotov put on the Chinese-made lightweight headphones. They were extremely light, seemingly containing no steel. While surprised, Molotov found the padding on the earpieces felt like kidskin—very soft and delicate.

Pressing the play button, the new Soviet song *Katyusha* played in the headphones. Compared to the phonographs common in the USSR with their large horns, the sound quality in the headphones was much better.

Halfway through, Molotov took off the headphones with a sense of lingering interest and looked again at the box that could play music, still unable to see the trick. This device was world apart from a gramophone; there was simply no comparison.

The Commissar stopped the music, opened the lid, and removed a cassette tape. He then demonstrated the device's radio function and its ability to record and play back using tapes.

Suppressing his emotions, Molotov asked a question: "How much does one of these cost?"

"Half a month of your salary; the tapes are extra," the Commissar replied.

Molotov found his first reaction was actually a desire to buy one. In many instances, he needed to record things. And this device was perfectly suited as a gift for his wife and children.

Once the instinctive impulse faded, Molotov realized this equipment was practically of military grade. He pressed further: "Is this a civilian product in China?"

"I believe Chinese officials certainly use such equipment. However, as long as one has money, this product can be bought freely in Chinese stores." The Commissar added, "This is just one of many Chinese commodities."

"Is this product representative?" Molotov asked.

The Commissar replied bluntly: "If you go to the Air Force, they will tell you that Chinese aircraft contain no vacuum tubes. According to teardowns by the technical departments, the electronic components used in Chinese planes are similar to those in this player."

Molotov didn't pursue these questions further; he needed time to digest these latest feelings. Staying alone in his office for ten minutes, he was forced to truly realize that China had indeed surpassed the Soviet Union in every field—and very likely surpassed America, Britain, France, and Germany as well.

As People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs, Molotov had to adjust his view of prior Chinese actions based on this new understanding. When He Rui warned the USSR before the war that a conflict was likely and "unreasonably" claimed Soviet war preparations were deeply flawed, Molotov had thought China had obtained information from within Germany through some channel.

If one accepted that China possessed technology that fully surpassed the USSR's, that warning changed its flavor. It became a case of China truly believing Soviet military strength had significant defects and was fragile before the Chinese military.

Thinking this over, Molotov felt only a slight sting to his pride; his overall outlook tended toward optimism. The reason the USSR had been so reluctant to cooperate with China was largely because they didn't want to be tied to the Chinese war machine and controlled by them. Having hundreds of thousands or millions of Chinese troops fighting within the USSR would place immense pressure on the Soviets.

Recognizing Chinese power now could actually reduce the pressure on the Central Committee. With such formidable strength, China still hadn't allied with Germany, which meant they truly hoped to cooperate with the USSR. As a high-ranking member of the CPSU, Molotov believed that if the roles were reversed and the USSR held such an advantage, it likely would have made a completely different choice.

With this judgment, Molotov felt the pressure in his heart ease sharply. He and the top leadership had most feared that China would take advantage of the continuous Soviet defeats to "rob a burning house" and make various malicious demands. Robbery and kicking someone when they're down were Russian diplomatic traditions.

According to Soviet research on China, the Chinese possessed an unusual moral arrogance in their foreign relations and wouldn't engage in such behavior—especially when China held the advantage. That being the case, Molotov only needed to show China sufficient respect and politeness to obtain adequate support.

Before departing for China, Molotov gave a report to the Central Committee, laying out his logic. The Committee had lost many members but continued to function normally. Hearing Molotov's line of thought, the members were quite skeptical. Molotov's overall idea was simple: go to China and say to He Rui, "The Soviet Union faces a massive external threat and hopes China can provide [specific] aid to help us defeat Nazi Germany."

This request seemed too much like wishful thinking, so Kirov, who had rushed back from the Urals, asked: "Commissioner Molotov, do you think we need to propose the goals for which the help is required?"

Molotov wasn't very confident about the proposal for achieving a certain goal, yet he replied firmly: "If we cannot propose some clear goal to China, we will have no way to demand that Chinese troops leave the USSR after reaching a certain level of success."

The Committee members naturally thought that using Chinese reinforcements in such a simple manner would be great, but they all felt it was unlikely.

Looking at their expressions, Molotov said: "If China wanted to seize Soviet land, they could easily have allied with Germany. Since they have consistently refused to do so, it proves they have no intention of seizing our territory. Of course, there is one possibility: that after China builds its New World Order, it will go to war with the USSR separately. But I believe the probability of that is very low."

The members fell silent for a moment. Molotov looked at Kirov, who had just returned today, with a sense of emotion. Given Kirov's character, if he had remained in Moscow, he likely wouldn't have supported this round of internal purges.

Furthermore, according to plans seized from some of the conspiracy groups plotting to overthrow Stalin, they didn't care about Kirov's moderate attitude; they believed that as Stalin's successor, Kirov had to be eliminated first. Only by completely depriving Stalin's line of its heir could he be thoroughly overthrown.

If Kirov had stayed in Moscow, his safety might not have been guaranteed. But this raised another possibility: that Stalin had already decided on the internal purge when he sent Kirov to the new industrial zones in the Urals. In Russian tradition, Tukhachevsky and his lot had caused such damage to the Red Army that they *had* to be purged. Otherwise, it would be impossible for the group represented by Zhukov to smoothly take over command.

Stalin saw it this way, and so did Tukhachevsky's side. If they didn't want to be purged, they had to get rid of the Stalinist faction first.

While Molotov was lost in thought, Kirov looked at Stalin. Stalin stopped smoking and said, "If Comrade Molotov is willing to take responsibility, I believe we can try."

Molotov was not intimidated and immediately declared, "I will do my absolute best."

Authorized by the Central Committee, Molotov departed for China immediately. As soon as his plane landed at the Beijing airport, the Soviet Ambassador to China rushed up and thrust a telegram into his hand. Looking at the Ambassador's somewhat ashen face, Molotov even wondered if something had gone wrong at the Kremlin.

Opening the telegram, he saw it read: The Southwestern Front has begun an all-out breakout; the operation has suffered catastrophic losses.

While this meant the Southwestern Front might be annihilated, to Molotov, it was far less dangerous than the Kremlin being taken over by conspirators. Handing the telegram back to the Ambassador, Molotov ordered, "When is the meeting with Chairman He Rui scheduled?"

"The Commissioner can see Chairman He right now," the Ambassador replied.

Molotov felt He Rui likely already knew about the Battle of Kiev. He steadied himself, judged for a few seconds, and made a decision: "To the embassy first. I must contact Moscow."

Arriving at the embassy, Molotov immediately made contact. The news from Moscow left him with a heavy heart: Marshal Shaposhnikov, former Chief of the General Staff, had passed away.

Marshal Shaposhnikov had not been on the purge list; he had stepped in as Chief of the General Staff while ill after both Tukhachevsky and Zhukov had been removed. Recently, due to his poor health and the string of disastrous battle reports, the Marshal had been overcome with rage and entered a critical stage of emergency treatment. His death could not have been an assassination; before Molotov left, it was understood the Marshal was merely clinging to life.

Originally the CPSU had intended for Molotov to seek aid from China; now the Central Committee formally ordered him to negotiate the formation of an anti-fascist alliance. Molotov's work was now centered on building this alliance.

Molotov inquired about the Southwestern Front's breakout; the answer was simple: "A small number of units have managed to break through."

With his understanding of the USSR, Molotov knew this couldn't be taken as good news. With hundreds of thousands of troops breaking out together, any single path would involve tens of thousands of men. Once a gap was truly opened, the troops would pour out in a torrent. That only a small number had succeeded meant the breakout had failed, or at least had not yet succeeded.

Molotov was right. At this point, fewer than half the units of the Southwestern Front were still capable of a breakout. And among these, the number of tanks leading the way was very small. The total number of troops in various breakout groups was around 300,000, but the tanks still operational numbered fewer than 300, and they were scattered across different units, completely unable to be used in a concentrated manner.

Having seized the sky, the Wehrmacht was relentlessly bombing Soviet logistical depots and transport lines. Stuka dive-bombers had dealt massive losses to the Red Army armored units during previous breakout attempts. After bombing various targets, the Stukas and other propeller planes didn't rest but continued searching the battlefield for Soviet trucks and attacking operational trains.

With transport capacity thoroughly destroyed, Soviet units found themselves either with tanks or with fuel, but rarely with both. After all, the tanks that had fuel had been sent out to fight and were subsequently destroyed by the Germans.

Of the fewer than 300 tanks used in this breakout, at least 120 had their fuel carried to them by small Red Army units walking under the cover of night. German propeller fighters would swoop down and strafe any large Red Army formation they saw during the day. In severing supply and communication lines, the Wehrmacht was extremely thorough.

Outside the encirclement, the Red Army continuously used armored units and tactical air power to strike the German ring. But the German jet fighters possessed a generational advantage over the Red Army's planes. Even though the Soviet fighters' appearance had now fully adopted the Chinese layout and their combat power was much stronger than in another timeline, it still couldn't bridge the gap.

At this moment, the Luftwaffe's JG 52 had just seen its 47th "super-ace" reach 100 kills. To balance this issue, the German General Staff had again raised the requirements from a month ago; back then, any pilot with 100 kills automatically received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross.

Due to the disparity in aircraft on the Eastern Front, the General Staff had now decoupled the Knight's Cross from the number of kills. If they didn't, it would greatly demoralize ordinary German pilots.

In the sky, Soviet fighters were being shot down in a stream—this was no longer combat, but a massacre. Only when the USSR sent air units flying Chinese J-10s into battle did things change slightly. However, even as strong as the J-10 was—approaching the parameters of German jets in many areas—it couldn't turn the tide. This was because the training time for these Soviet pilots had been too short; even with Chinese instructors giving their all, one month wasn't enough for the pilots to fully master the new aircraft.

Though these J-10s couldn't beat the German jets, they finally had a fighting chance against German propeller planes. Even so, the struggling Soviet Air Force remained unable to break the German aerial defense.

On the ground, the 5th, 21st, 38th, and 26th Armies of the encircled Southwestern Front—five armies in total—held out desperately in their pocket. Stalin's stirring speeches, broadcast through loudspeakers, echoed across the battlefield.

Without fuel or ammunition, Red Army soldiers fixed bayonets and launched repeated, valiant charges by the battalion against German tanks, artillery, and machine guns, attempting to break the encirclement and retreat eastward. Yet flesh and blood were no match for steel; under the shelling, strafing, and crushing of German tanks, the Soviets died or were wounded by the tens of thousands. Aside from a few units that managed to escape, the main force remained trapped.

By July 21st, the Southwestern Front's breakout had completely failed. The remaining forces were fragmented into six isolated defensive pockets by the Wehrmacht, completely losing contact with one another.

Even as the Red Army continued to fight on, anyone with a correct understanding of the situation knew the Southwestern Front was doomed.

Meanwhile, in the Wolf's Lair in East Prussia, Hitler and his senior officers were happily watching the war's progress. In the original plan, the Wehrmacht hoped to reach the area east of the southern Urals within six months, completely destroying the Trans-Siberian Railway to prevent large-scale Chinese aid from reaching the USSR.

From the current stage, the offensive was proceeding very smoothly. After annihilating the Soviets at Kiev, the Southern Group could drive straight east. The Axis had already begun the siege of Crimea. In Reichenau's view, they didn't even need to capture the peninsula yet; as long as they destroyed the Soviet Black Sea Fleet and besieged the fortress, they could ensure German supplies could arrive via the Black Sea shipping routes.

Hitler noticed Göring's mood was not high. After the meeting ended, he spoke with him privately. Göring didn't hide it: "My Führer, a jet fighter has been shot down."

Hitler was shocked. Those dozens of pilots with over a hundred kills were now Germany's national treasure; the General Staff had been repeatedly asking the Air Force to transfer them back to Germany as instructors to train more jet pilots. The loss of even one super-ace was a massive loss for the Wehrmacht.

Seeing Hitler's expression turn solemn, Göring added, "The one shot down was a pilot who had just recently transitioned to flying jets."

Hitler said nothing, but his expression silently signaled: "Go on."