**Chapter 859: Aiding the Soviet Union (16)**

Zhukov did not raise the issue of the Red Army's insufficient training; he had mentioned it before but chose not to emphasize it now. It wasn't that he didn't care about human lives, but that he simply couldn't conjure up more time. If the battle for Moscow failed, the situation for the Soviet Union would become even more dire. This battle *had* to be fought.

"In the first stage, our army will use the climate and the Germans' lack of a stable front to strike with everything we have at their penetrating units. Once the front stabilizes, we will launch concentrated breakthrough counter-attacks."

Having finished the basic vision for the campaign, Zhukov rose and walked to the map, marking the primary axes of the counter-offensive. Since its founding, the USSR had lacked trucks and had never been able to organize large-scale off-road operations. During the early phases of the war, Soviet truck losses were immense; currently, the counter-attacks in the Moscow campaign could only rely on railway transport.

Stalin and the core leadership listened to Zhukov's briefing and fully accepted the General Staff's plan. It wasn't until one particular request from Zhukov that their expressions changed.

"I request that the Central Committee evacuate Moscow during the battle and that the 20th anniversary celebrations of the founding of the state and the October Revolution be canceled." It was a reasonable request. During the campaign, German aircraft would likely relentlessly bomb the city; staying in Moscow would be extremely dangerous.

When the core members looked at Stalin, they saw a look of absolute determination. The iron-fisted leader wasn't angry, but spoke with firm resolve: "The Central Committee will never evacuate Moscow. And the October Revolution celebrations will proceed as usual."

With that, Stalin lit his pipe, took a few puffs, and continued: "Every unit must send personnel to participate in the October Revolution parade. After the ceremony, the troops will head directly to the battlefield!"

While Stalin's iron hand often caused negative side effects, his resolve to hold the parade in the midst of war truly galvanized the core leadership. With the counter-offensive imminent, the fact that their supreme leader didn't fear death gave everyone a stronger will to win the battle for Moscow.

Zhukov's proposal had been entirely from a perspective of military security; since Stalin decided to proceed with the Red Square parade, Zhukov immediately expressed his compliance. From a morale standpoint, the fact that the Central Committee not only remained in the frontline city but that the leadership led by Stalin would hold the customary parade indeed boosted the Red Army's spirit.

On the morning of November 7, 1942—the 25th anniversary of the October Revolution and the 20th of the Soviet state—a massive parade was held in Red Square. Personnel from 98 infantry divisions, 10 air divisions, and various auxiliary units already near Moscow were dispatched to participate.

This great parade featured no fancy floats, only the square formations of the various units arriving for the battle, marching past Red Square in perfect order. On the reviewing stand, Stalin, Kirov, Mikoyan, Bukharin, Molotov, and other Soviet leaders sat steadily, waving to the armed units passing by.

Stalin had initially required Kirov to remain in a safe location, but Kirov had resisted strongly. He said only one thing: "The one who needs to remain safe is the General Secretary; even if something happens to me, as long as you are here, the Soviet Union will surely defeat the Nazis."

These words moved Stalin deeply, though he showed no outward sign of approval. He simply said calmly, "Comrade Kirov, when we review the troops, you shall stand beside me."

The columns formed by hundreds of units were like a long dragon with no end in sight. Every ten infantry formations were followed by an armored group. The sight of brand-new tanks rumbling past brightened the expressions of the Soviet leaders. Although they had lost tens of thousands of tanks in the early war, Soviet industry was persisting, forging a new "Steel Torrent" for the Red Army.

After the tanks passed, a flight of fighters roared overhead. Like Germany, the Soviet Air Force used the 100-plane "Group" (Daitai/Polk) as its core combat unit.

To coordinate these groups, Germany used the "Wing" (Geschwader). Taking the now-infamous JG 52 as an example, it currently had three groups, not necessarily fighting on the same front. They operated as independent groups across various sectors.

Because of its weaker air power, the USSR had to increase its numbers to maintain operations amidst heavy losses. Thus, they organized the "Air Division" as a unit above the group. For the Moscow campaign, the Air Force had assembled 10 divisions, comprising 40 groups and a total of 4,000 fighters.

Every ten formations, a division of fighters flew over Red Square, prompting the Soviet leaders to look up and point. Wave after wave of troops increased the confidence of the top brass. Despite the massive losses, the Red Army could still assemble such a vast force, and with the Germans now far from their supply bases, the Red Army was fully capable of winning.

The soldiers in the parade felt a great sense of peace seeing the top leadership remain calm and composed in Red Square. They didn't expect the leaders to charge the front lines with them; they just didn't want the Kremlin to be empty while they were defending the city.

Since General Secretary Stalin and his close comrades remained in Moscow, the soldiers felt the imminent battle held meaning.

The participating units carried wartime weapons—not those specially prepared for a parade, but the ones they were actually using. These weapons were not loaded, not because the leadership feared the troops, but because ammunition was only distributed during the final preparation phase before entering the battlefield.

As the soldiers left Red Square, those units that had already received orders awaited the return of their parading personnel, immediately drew their supplies, and began moving toward their assigned sectors. Learning that Stalin remained at the helm in Moscow, the battle enthusiasm of the frontline troops reached a fever pitch.

Word soon reached the He Rui government. Inspecting Shenyang in the Northeast, He Rui remained unmoved. Stalin often seemed a bit "cute" and wishful when facing real war, but the man never lacked courage. As long as he wasn't personally directing large campaigns, he was a capable and responsible leader.

The Northeast had once been China's premier industrial zone and remained one of the most important today. The war economy had filled its core cities with momentum. Countless orders arrived like snowflakes, and the factories in the industrial cities ran day and night.

Shenyang had always been a modern city, and it had now undergone a comprehensive municipal upgrade. The city's lighting system had been strengthened; even now that it was dark, the streets were brilliantly lit. Even at night, transport vehicles shuttled back and forth, delivering vast quantities of materials to the factories.

Inside the office of the Northeast No. 1 Heavy Machinery Plant, He Rui finished reading the report and asked his entourage, "Have our troops at the border been withdrawn?"

"We received a telegram; they have withdrawn. And the joint Sino-Soviet inspection team has conducted a special check," an aide replied hurriedly.

The non-stationing agreement for the border stipulated that each side dispatch monitors to the other's territory to form a joint inspection team. This was hard to announce to the public, as it might trigger a nationalist backlash. After all, having foreigners monitor troops within one's own borders easily looks like "selling out" to a nationalist.

Yet it had to be done. Trust cannot be built with words alone. Just as when the US and USSR reached their nuclear agreement in history, they dispatched personnel to each other's production and storage sites for monitoring.

Because both had made plans to destroy the other's military and cities with nukes, neither wanted an accidental spark to trigger a catastrophe.

Now, the USSR had essentially stripped the Far East of troops, sending all new levies to the west to ensure the survival of the Eastern Front. Consequently, their wariness of China had increased. Believing they could defeat Germany independently, the negotiations for WPLA aid had stalled. China had no choice but to withdraw the units originally intended for the USSR from the border.

The entourage was clearly dissatisfied with the Soviet demands. After describing the troop movements, the aide looked at He Rui, wanting to hear his view. He Rui understood their feelings and knew that even with his prestige, he couldn't directly oppose Chinese nationalist sentiment. The best way was not to say anything, allowing the emotion to subside naturally. Nationalist sentiment's positive side was the desire to resist pressure and ensure a better life for the people; it couldn't handle provocation and had to be handled with extreme calm.

With the military arrangements discussed, He Rui began his scheduled inspection. The plant's flagship products fell into two categories: hydraulic oil presses of over 1,000 tons and processing equipment.

Engineers and technicians worked in three shifts. The factory head introduced the current schedule: "Chairman, our primary focus is on producing 3,000-ton oil presses for vehicles and 5,000-ton ones for military components..."

Military industry is the most advanced because the combat environment is complex and intense. Taking bearings and gears as an example, their required strength is at least 20% higher than for a heavy tractor, yet their volume must be smaller.

To achieve this, materials alone aren't enough; large hydraulic presses are required. Components forged by a 5,000-ton press have uniform internal density and high strength. But producing such machines is a technical feat and requires massive investment.

The high-strength aluminum alloys and other alloy components used in Chinese fighters require 10,000-ton hydraulic presses. Four-engine heavy bombers even more so. And the shipbuilding industry also had massive demand for such parts. While applications seemed widespread, only a powerful industrial nation could afford the investment and have sufficient demand.

He Rui finished his tour of the heavy machinery plant, speaking with night-shift workers before heading to the tank production line. The staff there were quite proud: "Chairman, the Soviets have already handed over production of those T-34 components to us. They've even requested aid for their own production lines."

He Rui sensed their reservations about such thorough aid to the USSR. He only nodded in silence. To him, the USSR was not a threat, and Russia even less so. Aiding the Soviets now only increased the post-war insecurity of Europe.

From a realist perspective, the USSR defeating the Nazis actually destroyed the possibility of a powerful Western European bloc. While a weakened Germany might dream of a Franco-German core, history proved that a Europe deprived of world hegemony would only continue to decline.

Furthermore, in the current world, China was not waiting until the 1970s for colonies to become independent; it was thoroughly crushing the global colonial system in the 40s. Europe would lose thirty years of direct exploitation and another half-century of invisible economic colonialism. This was a lethal blow to Europe.

If the USSR wasn't strong enough, Europe might have the courage to oppose China's global liberation. Only a powerful USSR would force European nations to unite in the face of an immediate threat from the east.

This was the cold logic of realist politics. Like the discussion in Japan before their surrender in history: some soldiers wanted to resist to the end. The opposition asked one question: "If we surrender now, the US and USSR will fight for hegemony in Korea. If we don't, it will be Japan that becomes the battlefield! Gentlemen, which do you choose?"

The inspection schedule was dense. In Shenyang, He Rui visited leading enterprises across various sectors, learning that the proportion of orders for Soviet aid had jumped from 23% to 65% in recent months, with signs of further increase.

In other words, with current policy, Northeast China would become the "great rear" of the Soviet-German war, providing a continuous stream of products to the USSR.

The results satisfied He Rui. As he walked out of a meat processing plant, the sight of pigs being stunned by electricity and hung on assembly lines gave him a bit of a shock—not that he hadn't seen such things, but the scale of life meeting its end struck him.

Before he reached his car, He Rui felt a slight dampness in the air. He reached out and felt cool droplets. Rubbing his hands, he confirmed it was a fine rain, not snow. But having spent so much time in the Northeast, he knew it wouldn't be long before the rain turned to flakes. The days of heavy snow were coming.

He headed for the train station, bound for the "Motor City" of Harbin, to see the production of heavy trucks. One of the main reasons the USSR couldn't defeat Germany immediately was the lack of heavy trucks—equipment necessary for sustained combat capability.

While "spiritual atomic bombs" could raise combat power to impressive levels—proving that "the song of humanity is the song of courage"—only powerful equipment allowed that courage to be translated into actual results.

In Moscow, the leadership had received reports from the border inspection teams confirming China had truly withdrawn its troops 500 kilometers from the border. Most felt a mix of joy and concern, but Stalin breathed a long sigh of relief.

He could not allow his strategic judgment to be proven wrong; if China had suddenly turned and invaded, it would have been his greatest humiliation!

Certain that his rear was truly safe, Stalin finally ordered the Moscow campaign to proceed in full.

In mid-November, heavy snow began to fall in Moscow. After days of non-stop blizzards, the snow lay nearly a meter deep. To avoid detection by the Luftwaffe, units cleared paths along the shortest routes using the simplest of tools: horse-drawn rollers. They set up diversion points, built snow banks 2-3 meters high along the roads, and painted vehicles white, making them hard for high-altitude reconnaissance to spot.

On November 13th, the German Chief of the General Staff, Halder, convened a meeting of corps chiefs of staff at Army Group Center headquarters and issued the "1942 Autumn Offensive Order." Army Group Center concentrated 51 divisions for the task. The frontal assault was assigned to von Kluge's 4th Army; to its left, Hoth's 3rd Panzer Group and Hoepner's 4th Panzer Group were to encircle Moscow from the north and west respectively. Thus, the 3rd and 4th Panzer Groups redeployed to the northern line near Kalinin and Volokolamsk; their units bypassed the Istra reservoir and took Klin and Solnechnogorsk. On the right, Guderian's 2nd Panzer Group encircled from the south, breaching the Tula line but being delayed for hours by a single Soviet company.

Through stubborn defense and multiple counter-strikes in late November and early December, the final German attempt to break into Moscow was bankrupted. Though often in a state of crisis, the Red Army finally held out and exhausted the Wehrmacht.