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Chapter 2622 Churchill's Speech

Although Sokov was not sure what had happened that prevented the Soviet army from participating in the Victory Parade held in London in June 1946, once his superiors notified the cancellation of the trip to London, he and Yakov would need to continue training the troops and be ready to go at any time.

As the soldiers would inevitably get injured during the high-intensity training, the superiors specially arranged a five-member medical team to treat the soldiers. Sokov took the opportunity to ask his superiors to arrange Asiya to join the medical team. His request was quickly approved and Asiya successfully became a member of the medical team. Together with Sokov, Asiya lived and ate in the barracks every day. As for Luna at home, she could only ask Asiya's mother Nina to take care of her.

Just after a week of training, Sokov suddenly received a call from Zhukov: "Misha, what are you doing?"

"I'm at the training ground, supervising the training of the reference troops." After Sokov finished his brief report, he asked tentatively, "Comrade Marshal, what can I do for you?"

"Leave the training to Lieutenant Colonel Bezikov," Zhukov said hastily. "You and Yasha come to my office immediately. I have something important to discuss with you."

Sokov naturally did not dare to neglect Zhukov's order. He quickly called Bezikov over and told him, "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, General Yakov and I are going to Marshal Zhukov. You will be responsible for the training ground."

"Don't worry, Comrade General." Bezikov replied with a serious expression: "I will supervise the training of the officers and soldiers."

When Sokov and Yakov left, Asiya caught up with them and asked curiously, "Misha, where are you going?"

"Marshal Zhukov called me and said he had something important to discuss with me and Yasha, and asked us to report to him immediately."

"Comrade Marshal is looking for you. Is there something important?"

Sokov was not Zhukov's worm, so how could he know what the other party wanted to talk to him about? Hearing Asiya's question, he shook his head and said with a wry smile: "I don't know what it is for now, but from the tone of Comrade Marshal's speech, he seems to be very anxious, so we have to rush over as soon as possible."

"Then you have to be careful." Asia warned: "After this is over, remember to come back early."

"OK, all right."

On the way, Yakov curiously asked Sokov: "Misha, what do you think Marshal Zhukov is looking for us so anxiously? Why?"

Although Sokov didn't know why Zhukov called him, he had a bad feeling in his heart. He felt that if he met Zhukov today, the troops' trip to London to participate in the military parade might be ruined. Hearing Yakov's question, he answered cautiously: "Yasha, Marshal Zhukov didn't say. But I guess it should be related to the military parade."

"Since it's related to the military parade, Marshal Zhukov should come to the barracks." Yakov asked puzzledly: "He called us over in such a hurry, and after listening to our report, he still has to go to the training ground in person to check our training results."

The two came to Zhukov's office and found that there were not only Zhukov, but also Vasilevsky, Rokossovsky, Konev, Malinovsky and others. Seeing so many marshals in the office at once, Sokov and Yakov were a little stunned. What happened that brought so many marshals together?

After a moment of distraction, Sokov and Yakov stepped forward side by side and saluted Marshal Zhukov: "Comrade Marshal, we are here on orders, please give us your instructions!"

Zhukov pointed to the sofa by the wall and said indifferently: "Please sit down first. I will tell you what's going on later."

Before the two men sat down, they raised their hands and saluted the other marshals, greeted them, and then sat down on the sofa designated by Zhukov.

Rokossovsky raised his hand to check the time and said to Zhukov, "George Konstantinovich, it's almost time, let's start."

Zhukov nodded, picked up the phone on the table, dialed a number, and said into the receiver: "This is Zhukov, let him in."

While Zhukov was on the phone, Rokossovsky came to a waist-high radio on the wall, bent down and turned it on. Soon, a voice came from inside, and Sokov was surprised to find that the voice coming from the radio was speaking English.

Sokov looked at Zhukov in surprise, wondering, "What's going on with Marshal Zhukov? Why did he think of asking me to listen to the English broadcast?"

Just as he was puzzled, the tightly closed door opened, and Malenkov walked in with a captain officer, smiling and said to Zhukov: "Comrade Marshal, the translator is here."

Zhukov nodded slightly to Malenkov, pointed to the radio in the corner, and said to the captain: "Comrade Translator, please translate for everyone what is said on the radio."

The captain walked to the radio, bent down to listen to the voice coming from it, and then began to translate: "On March 1946, 3, that is, today, former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, who was visiting the United States, was delivering a speech entitled "The Pillars of Peace" at Westminster College."

When the others heard this, their expressions were quite natural. But Sokov's heart was like a storm. He finally understood why the Soviet army's reference troops were not able to go to London to participate in the victory parade. It was because Churchill made a serious unfriendly statement to the Soviet side in this speech, which angered the Soviet side. As a result, the Soviet troops that were originally scheduled to participate in the London Victory Parade did not appear in London. The British side could only use the reason that the Soviet army was dissatisfied with the order of appearance and refused to participate in the parade to fool the general public.

The captain continued to translate: "... from Szczecin on the Baltic Sea to Trieste on the Adriatic Sea, an iron curtain has been drawn across the European continent. Behind this iron curtain are the capitals of all the ancient countries in Central and Eastern Europe - Warsaw, Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Budapest, Belgrade, Bucharest and Sofia. These famous cities and the surrounding populations are all within the Soviet sphere of influence. All of them, in one way or another, have not only fallen under the influence of the Soviet Union, but are also increasingly controlled by Moscow."

Hearing this, Konev raised his hand and slapped the table heavily, cursing: "Damn British, you actually compared the boundary between two political influence areas to the 'Iron Curtain', it's simply outrageous." But Malenkov snorted coldly and said, "Marshal Konev, in fact, the Iron Curtain is not Churchill's original idea. As early as a year ago, Germany's Propaganda Minister Goebbels said: 'If the German people lay down their arms, according to the agreement between Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin, the Soviets will control eastern and southern Europe, including most of the empire. On the large tracts of territory controlled by the Soviet Union, an iron curtain will soon fall, and all the countries behind the iron curtain will be massacred.'"

Zhukov said to Malenkov with a stern face: "Comrade Malenkov, please tell us why Churchill gave such a speech?"

Malenkov nodded and continued, "With the defeat of Germany, the whole of Eastern Europe is under our control, which frightened Churchill. That's why he made such a speech, advocating an alliance between Britain and the United States, and the English-speaking nations to unite and fight against the expansion of our 'Iron Curtain'."

Sitting on the sofa, Sokov was thinking silently: Churchill's "Iron Curtain" speech officially kicked off the Cold War. In the next three years, the United States made three major moves in succession - first launching the "Truman Doctrine" and the "Marshall Plan" in 1947, and then leading the establishment of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in 1949.

The main idea of ​​the Truman Doctrine is that the United States should take on the responsibility of leading the world, helping free nations and fighting against the Soviet Union's totalitarian regime.

The Marshall Plan was to help Europe recover from the trauma of war and revive its economy. It was the practice of the Truman Doctrine in the economic field. They believed that as long as poverty was eliminated, the totalitarian system could be strangled at its roots.

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization, or NATO for short, is the military practice of the Truman Doctrine, with the goal of countering the threat of the "Iron Curtain" to European and North American countries.

In response to the three-pronged attack by the United States, the Soviet Union also took tit-for-tat measures. First, in politics, it established nine national party and worker intelligence bureaus; in economics, it launched the "Molotov Plan" and established the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance; in military, it concluded bilateral alliance treaties with Eastern European countries and established the Warsaw Pact Organization in 1955 to counter NATO.

But these things happened a year later and had little to do with the present moment. Sokov was only concerned about how Zhukov and others would react after listening to Churchill's speech and what measures they would take.

Malenkov did not continue speaking, but said to the captain: "Comrade Captain, your mission has been completed and you can leave."

At this moment, Churchill's speech had ended, and there was not much point in the captain staying as an interpreter. He raised his hand to salute everyone present, then turned around and strode out.

"Okay, Comrade Malenkov, there are no outsiders here." After the captain left, Zhukov asked Malenkov with a stern face: "Tell me, how should we respond to Churchill's speech?"

Malenkov slowly expressed his opinion: "I think Comrade Molotov, the People's Commissar of Foreign Affairs, should send a note to Britain, strongly condemning Churchill's speech that damaged our country's image and asking him to formally apologize to our country in public."

"Comrade Malenkov, have you ever thought that it is impossible for Churchill to make such radical remarks during his visit to the United States without informing the US in advance?" Zhukov explained his point of view to Malenkov: "Even if our country sent a diplomatic note asking Churchill to apologize, I am afraid we will not get any response. I think we should take tougher measures."

"Marshal Zhukov, I wonder what tough measures you plan to take?" Malenkov asked.

"We will mobilize the troops deployed near the actual contact line between us and the Allies to start large-scale military exercises and use force to deter the Allies." Zhukov said solemnly, "Another point is to express our demands to the British. If Churchill does not apologize, then our army will not participate in the victory parade in London in June this year."

Hearing Zhukov's words, Rokossovsky interrupted and said, "Comrade Marshal, the two people in charge of the review are Misha and Yasha. Should you listen to their opinions?"

Facing Rokossovsky's reminder, Zhukov could not help but frown slightly, but his brows soon relaxed, and then he turned to Sokov and asked: "Misha, tell me what you think, do you think we should participate in the victory parade in London?"

"Comrade Marshal." Hearing Zhukov's question, Sokov stood up quickly and answered respectfully: "I think our country may not be able to participate in this military parade."

"Misha, I know that in order to participate in the London parade, you and Yasha are now living and eating in the barracks, supervising the training of the participating troops every day." Zhukov looked at Sokov and said, "If it is suddenly announced that you can't participate in the parade, do you think those officers and soldiers will be disappointed?"

"Disappointment is inevitable, Comrade Marshal," Sokov replied solemnly, "but Churchill has just made extremely unfriendly remarks to our country. If we do not take some measures to boycott and protest, the British and Americans will think that our country is weak and can be bullied, and they may even intensify their efforts to deal with us in the future. Therefore, refusing to go to London to participate in the Victory Parade is a tough attitude on our part."

"Misha, have you ever thought that even if our troops do not go to London to participate in the victory parade, it will not have any impact on the British side?" Konev interrupted.

"You are right, Marshal Konev." Sokov looked at Konev and said, "Whether it is the diplomatic note sent by our country or the boycott of this victory parade, the impact on Britain is extremely limited. At best, it can only show our attitude, but this is enough. The military exercises proposed by Marshal Zhukov will show our military strength to the British and American allies and let them understand that our strength is far stronger than they imagined."

"Misha, you are right. Our troops cannot participate in the victory parade in London this time. This will be an action for us to boycott Churchill's speech." After saying this, Malenkov turned to Zhukov and reminded him, "Comrade Marshal, I think this matter is of great importance. Should we report it to Comrade Stalin immediately?"

"That's right, that's right." Zhukov nodded and said, "In a few days, an important meeting will be held. Such an important matter must be reported to Comrade Stalin. Maybe he will bring it up for discussion at the meeting."

"Let's go to his office now without further ado." Malenkov was probably worried that Zhukov would not want to go, so he emphasized, "This matter is of great importance. It is inappropriate to report it over the phone, so we'd better go to the Kremlin to meet Comrade Stalin in person."

Zhukov agreed to Malenkov's proposal and said to the people in the room: "Comrades commanders, Malenkov and I will rush to the Kremlin to meet Comrade Stalin immediately. You all go back first. I will contact you if there is anything."