17 kilometers south of Chumikan
April 1, 1937
Zhukov was feeling slightly lost amidst all the details he had to worry about. With Voroshilov still in Moscow, probably sulking because he had been forbidden by Stalin from returning to Manchuria to complete the job he had started back in November. Stalin had told Voroshilov that he seemed overworked and should concentrate on his duties as commander-in-chief of the Red Army. Voroshilov had been crushed, but accepted it; Stalin knew of the rivalries between him and Buddenij and had decided to give Buddenij the victory. Zhukov snorted, it was hardly a victory. Buddenij remained in the reserve and Voroshilov was not stripped of his duties as commander-in-chief. Of course, this all had left Manchuria without a theater commander. Snorting again, Zhukov realized that’s where he entered the picture.
Stalin had made Zhukov the theater commander, promoting him to field marshal and giving him broad military and political powers to end the war against Manchuria, even allowing him to settle for an advantageous peace if he determined the situation warranted it. In effect, Zhukov had no real directive save to restore the situation at the very least but beyond that, he was fully independent and Stalin had guaranteed that he would accept any further result. Zhukov appreciated Stalin’s faith in his skill, but he was feeling somewhat overwhelmed by the sudden increase in workload. Besides the strategic and political levels which he had control over, he was still in operational command of his tank army, though admittedly that was really just an armored corps.
Fortunately, Zhukov had an able subordinate in Vasilevskij. He could just let Vasilevskij worry about his part of the grand scheme, and he did indeed do just that. Vasilevskij was a fine strategic thinker and was instinctively able to fit right into Zhukov’s plan without it even having to be made known to him; he simply saw the vast possibilities that Zhukov was trusting him to see. As for Lukin and Shapkin, Zhukov was not impressed with their capabilities. Lukin’s main accomplishment in the theater was to accept the surrender of Tannu Tuva and to reclaim Borzya, and it happened that it was to be a good launching point for Vasilevskij’s offensive. From that moment on, Zhukov knew that Lukin would play second fiddle to Vasilevskij. Shapkin was doing an important job, distracting the Manchurians around Vladivostok. It was not, however, a decisive factor in the campaign and Zhukov doubted the survivability of his division, especially given the Japanese activities.
The Japanese were preparing to land somewhere, but first it seemed that they were attempting to do all the damage they could from the sea. For the most part, this seemed to be raiding convoys between Okhotsk and the land still nominally Soviet around Vladivostok. Five transport ships had been sunk; Zhukov had no more details. He did not know what they had been carrying or whether they were going to or away fro Okhotsk. He merely knew that they were sunk, and he wondered why he really cared.
The Japanese struck at a convoy of some sort.
Zhukov yawned; given the length of the front anybody would think that there was more going on. However, it seemed very reminiscent of the Civil War, during which small units defended enormous distances. So it was in the war against the Manchurians. Zhukov fielded a grand total of eight divisions, which were separated at three corners of Manchuria. The Manchurians likely did not have a much larger army, and they were covering more ground as they did not know where the Soviets would attack until it came. Zhukov smiled, he was going to attack Tynda.
At a glance, it seemed counterintuitive. There were two Manchurian divisions at Tynda compared to the one at Blagoveshschensk and attacking toward the latter would seemingly place Zhukov closer to the important parts of the Manchurian state. However, Zhukov believed in defeating the enemy where he was concentrating and thus the Manchurians were more concentrated at Tynda than Blagoveshschensk. Additionally, occupying Tynda put him into a comparable location as reconquering Blagoveshschensk would, with easy access to Heihe. Thus, Zhukov planned to deceive the Manchurians; they would believe he was attempting to do something other than he was and thus they would fall.
Zhukov launching his attack toward Tynda rather than Blagoveshschensk.
Zhukov stretched and yawned. He wondered where he would stop the campaign, would he take a white peace simply to end the war and face the Japanese threat? Would he allow the full conquest and annexation of Manchuria? Would he arbitrarily cease the campaign somewhere between those two options? He did not yet know.
April 1, 1937
Zhukov was feeling slightly lost amidst all the details he had to worry about. With Voroshilov still in Moscow, probably sulking because he had been forbidden by Stalin from returning to Manchuria to complete the job he had started back in November. Stalin had told Voroshilov that he seemed overworked and should concentrate on his duties as commander-in-chief of the Red Army. Voroshilov had been crushed, but accepted it; Stalin knew of the rivalries between him and Buddenij and had decided to give Buddenij the victory. Zhukov snorted, it was hardly a victory. Buddenij remained in the reserve and Voroshilov was not stripped of his duties as commander-in-chief. Of course, this all had left Manchuria without a theater commander. Snorting again, Zhukov realized that’s where he entered the picture.
Stalin had made Zhukov the theater commander, promoting him to field marshal and giving him broad military and political powers to end the war against Manchuria, even allowing him to settle for an advantageous peace if he determined the situation warranted it. In effect, Zhukov had no real directive save to restore the situation at the very least but beyond that, he was fully independent and Stalin had guaranteed that he would accept any further result. Zhukov appreciated Stalin’s faith in his skill, but he was feeling somewhat overwhelmed by the sudden increase in workload. Besides the strategic and political levels which he had control over, he was still in operational command of his tank army, though admittedly that was really just an armored corps.
Fortunately, Zhukov had an able subordinate in Vasilevskij. He could just let Vasilevskij worry about his part of the grand scheme, and he did indeed do just that. Vasilevskij was a fine strategic thinker and was instinctively able to fit right into Zhukov’s plan without it even having to be made known to him; he simply saw the vast possibilities that Zhukov was trusting him to see. As for Lukin and Shapkin, Zhukov was not impressed with their capabilities. Lukin’s main accomplishment in the theater was to accept the surrender of Tannu Tuva and to reclaim Borzya, and it happened that it was to be a good launching point for Vasilevskij’s offensive. From that moment on, Zhukov knew that Lukin would play second fiddle to Vasilevskij. Shapkin was doing an important job, distracting the Manchurians around Vladivostok. It was not, however, a decisive factor in the campaign and Zhukov doubted the survivability of his division, especially given the Japanese activities.
The Japanese were preparing to land somewhere, but first it seemed that they were attempting to do all the damage they could from the sea. For the most part, this seemed to be raiding convoys between Okhotsk and the land still nominally Soviet around Vladivostok. Five transport ships had been sunk; Zhukov had no more details. He did not know what they had been carrying or whether they were going to or away fro Okhotsk. He merely knew that they were sunk, and he wondered why he really cared.
The Japanese struck at a convoy of some sort.
Zhukov yawned; given the length of the front anybody would think that there was more going on. However, it seemed very reminiscent of the Civil War, during which small units defended enormous distances. So it was in the war against the Manchurians. Zhukov fielded a grand total of eight divisions, which were separated at three corners of Manchuria. The Manchurians likely did not have a much larger army, and they were covering more ground as they did not know where the Soviets would attack until it came. Zhukov smiled, he was going to attack Tynda.
At a glance, it seemed counterintuitive. There were two Manchurian divisions at Tynda compared to the one at Blagoveshschensk and attacking toward the latter would seemingly place Zhukov closer to the important parts of the Manchurian state. However, Zhukov believed in defeating the enemy where he was concentrating and thus the Manchurians were more concentrated at Tynda than Blagoveshschensk. Additionally, occupying Tynda put him into a comparable location as reconquering Blagoveshschensk would, with easy access to Heihe. Thus, Zhukov planned to deceive the Manchurians; they would believe he was attempting to do something other than he was and thus they would fall.
Zhukov launching his attack toward Tynda rather than Blagoveshschensk.
Zhukov stretched and yawned. He wondered where he would stop the campaign, would he take a white peace simply to end the war and face the Japanese threat? Would he allow the full conquest and annexation of Manchuria? Would he arbitrarily cease the campaign somewhere between those two options? He did not yet know.
Crap, and I thought we had a chance.
