Chapter 1597: Soviet War Capital
If Europe is not in chaos, Japan will not have the confidence to launch a southward strategy. This also requires consideration of two variables: the United States and East Africa. There is no need to think too much. Even if Japan wants to deal with the United States and East Africa, it will only put these two countries last.
As for Japan not being an enemy of the United States or East Africa, this situation is simply impossible. Japan's ambition is to dominate the entire Far East, and neither the United States nor East Africa will allow such a large area to be completely controlled by Japan.
The relationship between Japan, the United States, and East Africa is similar to that between the Soviet Union and Germany. There is no possibility of peaceful coexistence, and war is only a matter of time.
The Japanese government was also very clear about this situation. They understood that the United States, East Africa, and the Soviet Union would not allow Japan to rule the Far East, so they had to prepare various contingency plans to deal with these three countries.
From this perspective, the pressure Japan faces now is far greater than that of Germany. If Germany can deal with the European forces, it is very likely to keep East Africa and the United States out of Europe.
It’s just that in the past, Germany was unable to conquer Britain, which led to the United States using Britain as a springboard and cooperating with the Soviet Union to give Germany the final fatal blow.
At present, Japan’s most achievable strategic goal is to capture the South Pacific, seize the two choke points of the Strait of Malacca and the Strait of Sunda, and then engage in long-term dealings with East Africa.
As for the two enemies, the United States and the Soviet Union, Japan can only hope that the enemies will make mistakes. For example, the United States is afraid of war, and the Soviet Union is dragged to death in Europe by Germany. There is no buffer space between the two countries and Japan. The Soviet Union itself is a neighboring country of Japan, and the Pacific Ocean between the United States and Japan is also a big hole that cannot be blocked.
Therefore, East Africa has become the easiest one to deal with among Japan's three major threats, at least from a geopolitical perspective.
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Among the world powers in 1935, only East Africa and the United States could still sit back and watch the situation develop. Other countries were actively looking for allies to deal with the sudden changes in the international community.
There is no doubt that Japan can only choose Germany, because Germany and Japan have no conflict of interests, and both countries have to deal with the threat of the Soviet Union, and they are the most ideal partners for each other.
Compared with Japan, the Soviet Union's situation was very embarrassing. Japan could still choose to cooperate with Germany, while the Soviet Union could not find a loyal ally in the entire world.
After Germany annexed the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Soviet Union's anxiety continued to rise. In order to cope with the pressure from Germany, the Soviet Union could only do three things: first, to obtain as many strategic buffer zones as possible; second, to speed up the support of pro-Soviet regimes in Europe; and third, to continue to strengthen the construction of the rear military industry.
The Soviet leaders were well aware that the country's major industrial areas were concentrated in Moscow, Leningrad and Ukraine in the European part, and were extremely vulnerable to being occupied or destroyed by the enemy in the early stages of the war.
The industries of these three places can be said to be almost under Germany's nose. In this time and space, Germany itself expanded part of its territory to the east after World War I. At the same time, Poland was also a vassal state of Germany.
This also means that the security issue in Moscow, the capital of the Soviet Union, is more prominent than in the past.
St. Petersburg was even less safe. The German Navy was not a strong enemy that the Soviet Union could deal with. If a war broke out between the two countries, St. Petersburg might be the first to be hit by Germany.
The situation in the Ukrainian region to the south is equally grim. After Germany annexed the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Germany could deploy more troops in the south. Moreover, the Ukrainian plains were indefensible. Germany also had many vassal states, including western Ukraine, and the Ottoman Empire might also turn to Germany.
Therefore, Ukraine faces national defense pressure from both land and sea, needless to say on land.
The threat on the sea is the Black Sea. Now the channel connecting the Black Sea to the Mediterranean is in the hands of Germany's ally, the Ottoman Empire, and Germany has also obtained the Austro-Hungarian Navy. The combination of the two means that Germany may attack the southern Soviet Union from the direction of the Black Sea.
This is not the full extent of Germany's military pressure on the Soviet Union.
Moscow, USSR.
Joseph pointed to the map and said, "The situation in the west of our motherland has completely deteriorated. We are not just facing a Germany that has become even more powerful after annexing Austria-Hungary, but a reactionary imperialist group with Germany at its core."
"This group includes the Ottoman Empire, Poland, Lithuania, Romania, the puppet government of western Ukraine, Bulgaria, and many other countries."
"From the Caucasus to Crimea, to Odessa, Belarus, and finally to the Baltic coast, along a 3,000-kilometer border, we face the threat and oppression of this huge imperialist military bloc."
"If war breaks out, the industrial areas in the eastern part of the empire will likely be destroyed. Therefore, we must immediately make urgent adjustments to the Soviet Union's industrial layout."
"Transfer the industries of eastern Ukraine, Moscow, and Leningrad to the industrial areas in the heart of the Soviet Union, with a focus on developing industrial areas such as Siberia and the Urals."
The fact that this difficult decision was made showed the Soviet Union's deep and real concern about the pressure from Germany.
It directly interrupted the normal process of the Soviet Union's economic development and caused a major change in the booming Second Five-Year Plan, which directly affected the fate of hundreds or even thousands of key Soviet industrial units.
The factories of some military-industrial enterprises and key civilian enterprises that were originally under construction may be shut down directly, and even the machinery and equipment that have already been in operation may be dismantled and transported to industrial areas in the east for reorganization.
Joseph continued, "Not only that, in order to prevent a possible imperialist attack on the Soviet Union, the Soviet Union must select a war-ready capital in the rear in advance as a backup to Moscow. If Moscow falls into trouble, the war-ready capital will immediately assume most of the capital's functions."
The Soviet Union's advantage is that it has extremely superior strategic depth. It is even frankly said that the Soviet Union's strategic and territorial depth ranks first in the world.
Even East Africa, the United States, the Far East Empire, Brazil and other countries with similar land areas are far behind the Soviet Union. These countries can only be ranked in the second tier in terms of strategy and territorial depth.
Taking the United States as an example, the potential enemies of the United States mainly come from the east, that is, the European powers or East Africa, and the core areas of the United States are concentrated in the northeastern United States. From the east coast of the United States to the Great Lakes, there is almost no favorable terrain for defense, and the North American Great Plains in the middle are even more indefensible, and the environment in the west is a bit too harsh.
East Africa is not much better in this regard. Although East Africa's land area is second only to the Soviet Union and ranks second in the world, East Africa's industry and population are concentrated in the middle area.
In general, the territory of East Africa is more distributed north-south than east-west, but the main threats to East Africa come from the Indian Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean. Therefore, if a maritime power attacks the mainland of East Africa, it can concentrate on attacking the territory in the middle part of East Africa.
Of course, East Africa's national security is still much stronger than that of the United States. First, East Africa has a large land area. Second, East Africa's terrain is more complex than that of the United States, with many plateaus, canyons and mountains.
The Far Eastern Empire has a relatively advantageous strategic depth of territory. Its Guanzhong Basin and Sichuan Basin can serve as wartime centers to continue organizing the national resistance movement.
However, the strategic depth of the Far Eastern Empire's territory is only slightly stronger than that of East Africa, and there is still a big gap with the Soviet Union.
Finally, there is Brazil. Brazil is a country with a large area and there is indeed a lot of room for maneuver in the interior, but Brazil does not have much sense of participation in the international community.
Apart from these countries, the other countries are completely unremarkable.
However, it is worth mentioning that among the above-mentioned countries, the geographical location of the East African capital is the least likely to be considered as a war-ready capital. After all, Rhine City itself is located in the most central position in East Africa.
The Soviet Union's Moscow is located to the west, too close to Germany, the United States' Washington is located to the east, Nanjing of the Far Eastern Empire is extremely unsafe, and Brazil's Rio de Janeiro is likely to become a front line during wartime.
As for the East African city of Rhine, it is already in the rear when it comes to facing foreign enemies, no matter whether the enemies come from the Indian Ocean or the Atlantic Ocean. As for the southern part of East Africa, there is only the extremely weak country of South Africa, while the north is a group of rotten fish and shrimps, which pose no threat to East Africa.
However, it is difficult for other major countries to replicate the experience of East Africa in selecting the capital's location. For example, the Soviet Union's population and cities are concentrated in Europe. For the sake of economic development and national control, choosing Moscow is the best option at the moment.
The population and economic center of the United States are also unevenly distributed, so it is more advantageous to choose eastern cities.
The situation in the Far Eastern Empire is more complicated. There are many cities to choose from, but basically they are just the cities that have existed in history.
However, one thing is certain, no matter where the capital of the Far Eastern Empire is located, it is best to choose the edge of the Huanghuaihai and lower Yangtze River plains, a large area that is almost continuous in terms of topography.
The Huanghuai Plain and the lower Yangtze River Plain are actually one and the same. The division between the two is mainly based on climate and vegetation, but there is no doubt that this division does not make much sense in military terms.
The unified dynasties of the ancient Far East Empire all had to control this vast area, even those with Nanjing as their capital. In other words, Nanjing was the only city in the south that could effectively control the vast plain area of the Huanghuaihai and lower Yangtze River basins.
Unless the southern regime does not consider unifying the north, just like the Southern Song Dynasty established its capital in Lin'an.
Of course, there were exceptions to this rule among unified regimes ruling the Huang-Huai-Hai Plain and the lower Yangtze River Plain, such as the many dynasties that established their capitals in Chang'an. However, even with their capitals in Chang'an, most of these dynasties adopted a dual-capital system, with Luoyang as the eastern capital. This was the case during the Western Zhou, Western Han, and Tang dynasties, all of which controlled the Guandong region.
The Huanghuaihai and lower Yangtze River plains are the largest political and geopolitical blocks of the Far Eastern Empire and the only core areas of population and economy. Therefore, the unified regime of the Far Eastern Empire must set its capital within this block.
As for why it is the edge area of this plate, it is because of the safety of the capital itself. After all, only the edge of this plate has dangerous places, such as Beijing, Jinling and Luoyang.
To some extent, this is also why Yecheng and Handan during the Warring States Period became ancient capitals.
However, in modern times, the Far Eastern Empire has to consider one more condition, that is, the need for sea power. From this perspective, the Far Eastern Empire’s navy is weak, so the locations of Peking and Nanjing are very unfavorable to the Far Eastern Empire.
However, if the Far Eastern Empire wants to move towards the ocean in the future, the capital can only be chosen from these two cities. Peking is located in the Bohai Bay, which can be used for attack or defense, and its conditions are much better than those in Nanjing.
Let's get back to the topic. Now, the Soviet Union has to choose a war-ready capital, and the options are quite diverse, such as Kazan, Sverdlovsk (Yekaterinburg), Kuibyshev and other cities.
Joseph said, "Regarding the location of the war-ready capital, I think it shouldn't be too close to Moscow, but not too far either. This will facilitate military mobilization across the country in the event of a subsequent war. At the same time, this area should be a transportation center, and ideally have a strong industrial base."
"The Ministry of National Defense should focus on identifying a suitable city to serve as the Soviet Union's strategic rear command center. At the same time, based on this, they can also select another city for record keeping."
The fact is that two cities were selected to serve as wartime capitals, which also shows the extent to which the Soviet Union was forced by Germany.
Soviet Defense Commissar Voroshilov said: "I think Kazan is the most suitable. Kazan is 800 kilometers away from Moscow, which is not too far. It has convenient transportation and a good industrial base."
Kazan has always been a major city in the Soviet Union, starting from the Tsarist era. As for transportation, both land and water transport are very convenient. When East Africa stole gold from Kazan, they took advantage of Kazan's water transport conditions.
At this time, Soviet General Staff Officer Yegorov mentioned: "If that's the case, Kuibyshev also meets the requirements. Kuibyshev is only 200 kilometers farther from Moscow than Kazan. At the same time, it is closer to the Ural Mountains, making it easier for us to dispatch resources to the rear."
At the same time, he also said: "And I think the extra 200 kilometers has another advantage, that is, in future wars, the role of the air force has become prominent. With the development of the current aviation industry, Kuibyshev is safer than the former. These 200 kilometers may become a distance that the German Air Force cannot overcome in the future."
Since General Staff Officer Yegorov mentioned this, someone countered, "If you consider advances in aircraft technology, then Sverdlovsk is clearly safer. The distance from Moscow to Sverdlovsk alone is over 1,700 kilometers, while the maximum range of most of the world's most advanced military aircraft barely exceeds 2,000 kilometers."
"Therefore, Sverdlovsk is clearly more suitable as a wartime capital. It has the most reliable security. It is also the main hub connecting the east and west of the motherland, and its own security is very reliable."
That being said, 1,700 kilometers is obviously too far away. After all, it is not 1,700 kilometers from the Soviet border, but 1,700 kilometers from Moscow. If Sverdlovsk is designated as the capital, it basically means that the European part of the Soviet Union is finished.
Therefore, Joseph said: "Sverdlovsk is too far away, but it can serve as the second war-ready capital. If Moscow and the first war-ready capital fall, Sverdlov will be the last line of defense of the Soviet Union."
"As for the first war-ready capital, I think we should choose Kuibyshev! After all, Kuibyshev isn't as famous as Kazan in history. If we build Kuibyshev in secret, perhaps it can achieve unexpected results."
As a war-ready capital, it is obviously best for the enemy to know about this place as late as possible, and Kazan has been a relatively famous city in the Soviet Union since ancient times.
(End of this chapter)
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