The counterfactual reaches beyond ships into the politics of the communist bloc. Mao could accuse later Soviet leaders of insufficient revolutionary commitment because they had not led the original revolution. That line would be much harder to use against Stalin, whose revolutionary credentials and personal authority were entrenched. A leader's survival could therefore change alliance dynamics as well as military procurement.
Notable Point · 4:19-4:57
How Stalin's survival could alter relations with Mao
A longer-lived Stalin would deny Mao Zedong one of his later arguments against Soviet leaders: that they lacked first-generation revolutionary authority.