172

Episode 172: Operation Barbarossa (8)

July 19, 1942

Soviet Borisov

"Everyone, salute the President!"

"Heil Hitler!"

"Sieg Heil."

To the officers of the Central Group Army who raised their right hand in greeting, I responded by raising my right hand halfway.

"It's been a while, Marshal. "I heard you've been through a lot."

"Such hardships are nothing compared to the soldiers on the front lines."

Bork shook his head with a faint smile. After exchanging a few formal words with him, I turned to the next person in line.

"Marshal Kluge."

"Mr. President."

Günther von Kluge. Although he is not well-known behind other famous figures such as Manstein, Guderian, and Rommel, he is also a talented general who played many active roles on the Eastern Front in World War II.

The 4th Army, which he commanded, made a great contribution during the attack on Minsk by blocking the Soviet army's retreat route at the right time and capturing the city.

"I heard that the Soviet soldiers were urinating every night thanks to the Marshal's unpredictable command. "I hope you will continue to wet their blankets in the future."

"WAHAHAHAHA!!!"

"Ah, is it possible?"

Next to Kluge is Senior Captain Walter Model. He is a master general who needs no words and has been called the Fuhrer's fireman and the lion of defense.

"Not long ago, Afbear stole classified information from the Soviets, and there was a mention of a general."

"Is that so?"

"exactly. Do you know what the Russians call a general?"

"I'm not sure?"

The model shrugged her shoulders.

"I heard it's called a meat grinder. The name was given because in front of the 9th Army commanded by the general, all units are like ground meat. "It's not a very fitting name."

"Hehe, that's an honorable nickname."

After conversations with several prominent generals, including Hermann Hort, Georg-Hans Reinhardt, Adolf Strauss, Gotthard Heinrich, and Helmut Weitling, I immediately attended a briefing session hosted by Bock.

"The next target of Army Group Central is Smolensk."

"I guess so. "If you want to go to Moscow, you must pass through here."

Bork explained the process of conquering Smolensk by pointing to the symbols of each unit on the map with a pointing stick.

Reinhardt's 2nd Panzer Group advanced to the south of Smolensk, Hort's 3rd Panzer Group advanced to the north of Smolensk, forming an encirclement, and Kluge's 4th Army and Model's 9th Army advanced inside the city. It goes in.

To get to Smolensk, you must first pass through important strongholds such as Vitebsk, Orsha, Siklov, and Mogilov, but according to our troops' reconnaissance results, the state of the Soviet troops defending those cities was not at all good.

As subordinate units were drafted to defend Smolensk, there was a huge vacuum in power, and the soldiers' morale was low and their armament was poor.

In particular, the problem was that the equipment operation rate was only 60% due to a lack of oil.

Therefore, Bork explained that it is expected that there will be no major problems in occupying those cities.

"Marshal Bork. In your opinion, how long will it take to completely occupy Smolensk?"

"If everything goes as planned, we expect to be able to complete the Smolensk invasion within a month."

One month. It's just the right period. Seeing that all the generals who attended the briefing session, including Kluge, Model, and Hort, nodded and agreed to the word "one month" that Bork said, it was clear that it was not an exaggeration.

After the briefing session, I left Bork's headquarters building and walked around downtown Borisov.

Since the battle had just ended, bullet holes, shell pits, broken walls, and black soot from fires could be seen frequently throughout the city.

Although most of the bodies were cleared away, most of the wreckage remained. It was just placed in a corner so as not to interfere with traffic.

"This is a KV-3."

A KV-3 with a hole in the front of the car body was left abandoned in a corner of the city.

From what I heard, it was said that he was the one who was hit by our own Panzer 4.

He was the one who fired the first shot, but the aim was probably wrong and the shell missed and was hit back by Tank 4. Such poor guys.

In addition to KV-3, there were various types of wreckage.

T-26, BT-7, T-34, KV-2 and so on. Among the wreckage, those that were judged to be repairable and usable were sent to the maintenance depot, while those that were damaged beyond repair were left as is.

After passing the wreckage a little further, a clearing appeared.

In the corner of the vacant lot, local children were playing with darts, and what was being used as a sign was none other than portraits of Stalin and Lenin.

"Hahaha, what do these kids know?"

"I am enjoying to the fullest the freedom that was gifted to me by His Excellency the President."

The model next to me laughed and said.

"Freedom, freedom. I appreciate you saying that, but I wonder if they feel the same way. Rather, I think they think of them as villains who destroyed the city they live in."

"What are you saying? If those kids had thought of us as villains rather than liberators, would they be playing like that now? Although many residents lost their families or homes during the battle, when the friendly forces entered the city, the residents brought flowers and bread. "He thanked us for liberating us from Stalin's oppression."

"Liberation from oppression. "That doesn't feel bad."

Czechs and Poles would be shocked to hear this, but surprisingly, for Belarusians, we were their liberators.

Yesterday, a ceremony to establish the government of the Republic of Belarus was held in Minsk. The name of the first president of the Republic of Belarus was Radaslaw Astrovsky. He is a friend who also served as the head of the Belarusian Central Council (Беларуская цэнтральная рада), a puppet state set up by Germany in the real world.

Today is the day when a formal government was established in Belarus, but the agreement between Germany and Belarus was already concluded long ago.

Germany recognizes and supports Belarus's independence, and Belarus actively cooperates with Germany's war effort.

On the surface, Germany and Belarus are equal, and although Germany recognizes Belarus's freedom and does not infringe on it, this is only according to the treaty. Everyone who knows Belarus is a puppet state of Germany.

As it achieved independence with Germany's support, Belarus had no choice but to do as Germany told it to do.

Still, what makes us better than the Soviet Union is that we recognize Belarus as a separate and independent country, and as long as we maintain a pro-German stance, we will get away with anything we do inside.

From now on, you won't have to be dragged away like a dog by the NKVD for saying one wrong thing, and the collective farms have been dismantled, so I think this is enough.

In addition to Belarus, Lithuania and Latvia also had their exile governments return to their capitals and officially declare independence.

Estonia could not yet declare independence because its territory was still in the hands of the Soviet Army, but since friendly forces had entered Estonia, it would soon follow in the same footsteps as the previous countries.

The 'Forest Brothers', anti-Soviet partisans of the Baltic countries who continued their armed struggle against the Soviet Union, became independent as the Lithuanian and Latvian armies, respectively.

"As deploying troops to the front line is our top priority, we are using the Belarusian police and militia consisting of locals as auxiliary personnel for our troops, but the effect is much better than expected. First of all, since I am a local, I can communicate with the residents and am familiar with the surrounding geography."

As Bork spoke, he pointed his finger at Belarusian police officers standing guard alongside army police.

In fact, during World War II, Germany received a lot of help from the Belarusian police in the process of arresting and massacring Belarusian Jews.

The fact that local auxiliary personnel actively cooperated with the Nazis' Holocaust policy was not unique to Belarus, as the same thing happened in Ukraine and the Baltic countries.

"Besides them, there are many other 'hibies' who are helping our troops in many ways."

Hiwi is an abbreviation for Hilfswillige, which means 'voluntary collaborator' in German, and referred to auxiliary personnel made up of Soviet prisoners of war or local people.

The Nazis, who despised the Slavs by considering them an inferior race, actually actively used these Hibis as interpreters, workers, and even combat soldiers.

For example, the German 6th Army deployed in the Battle of Stalingrad had over 50,000 Hibis, which was 25% of the total strength of the 6th Army.

Although the detailed number of Hibiscus varies depending on the source, it is said that approximately 600,000 Hibis served under the German army, either voluntarily or involuntarily, until the end of the war.

I also actively used these Hibis to supplement Germany's manpower, which was losing out to the Soviet Union.

Since there were no actual massacres committed by the Nazis and no unfair treatment of prisoners, a significant number of Soviet prisoners of war converted and became Hibiscus.

Heydrich reported the other day that the total number of Heavies in the Wehrmacht and the SS was estimated to be 390,000.

Even though it has been less than two months since the war began, 390,000 people have been converted. This can't be anything other than very encouraging.

After all, if you live a good life, everything will come back to you.

***

July 20, 1942

Webelsburg Castle, Paderborn, Germany

"The President has finally realized! "The army that will lead Germany's future is not the old Wehrmacht, but the talented people of the SS!"

Himmler was in a very good mood recently.

It was inevitable that one of his long-held wishes had finally come to fruition.

From 1932, when Hitler came to power, Himmler worked hard to expand the influence of the SS.

His ultimate goal was not simply to seize power, but to make the SS, of which he was the leader, an irreplaceable and indispensable group in Germany.

Just as he placed the police under the SS, Himmler wanted to merge the Wehrmacht into the SS and turn the SS into an army of the German people, or national army.

However, Himmler's ambitious plan ran into difficulties from the start.

Naturally, the Wehrmacht did not sit idly by and watch as the 'rootless' SS took over their food bowl and did everything to thwart Himmler's plans to expand the SS.

Hitler also had no intention of turning the SS into a monster on par with the SA and causing unnecessary friction with the Wehrmacht.

After wiping out all anti-Nazi factions within the Wehrmacht through the second Night of the Long Knives, Hitler increased the size of the SS, but only within the range acceptable to the Wehrmacht.

However, as the war broke out, the SS's position changed.

Beginning in Poland, the Waffen-SS divisions in France, Italy, Yugoslavia, and Russia performed better than any other division in the army and received enthusiastic support from the German people.

Not only the Fuhrer, but even the generals of the Wehrmacht, who had a strained relationship with the SS, could not stop admiring the performance of the Waffen-SS on the battlefield.

Himmler did not miss the opportunity and sent a message to the Fuhrer.

The longer the war, the more divisions and elite units with excellent combat skills are needed.

Didn't the President see it too? The sight of the elite SS divisions ruthlessly slaughtering the Bolshevik invaders!

Hitler, swayed by Himmler's persuasion (though it was more of a plea than a plea), finally allowed Himmler to greatly increase the size of the Waffen-SS as he desired.

Although the Army's Brauchitsch expressed his opposition, it was possible to pass safely thanks to the inclusion of personnel such as Göring, Keitel, Reichenau, Leder, and Guderian, excluding Brauchitsch.

During the recruiting process, there was a considerable amount of cost involved in providing entertainment and small gifts, but since I got what I wanted, it was not a loss-making business.

This gave Himmler the right to organize up to 20 Waffen-SS divisions.

In order to supplement the number of personnel due to the increased size, there was no choice but to lower the SS enlistment standards, which had been strictly maintained until now, but it was good.

Since the SS aims to be a national army anyway, wouldn't it be good propaganda that it is open to all German citizens?

"But we must not be satisfied here. Until the war ends, we must not be complacent and pursue development endlessly! Only then will the SS be able to be reborn as a true army of the German people!

Everyone, think about it. Future Aryan warriors wearing SS uniforms, guarding the borders, defending Germany's territory, women and children from Germany's enemies. And the sight of Aryan descendants paying homage to our temples! "What a beautiful and noble future this is!"

Unlike Himmler, who went on a tirade full of excitement, the high-ranking SS generals who attended the meeting seemed uninterested in the glorious future of the Aryans that Himmler advocated.

Dietrich yawned openly, Eicke dozed off, and Hausser picked his ear with his little finger.

I flew in from the front line in a hurry because it was a very important meeting, and I never thought I would end up listening to a pseudo-lecture like this.

Among the SS, only Inkvart, Daluge, Berger, and von dem Bach listened attentively to Himmler's lengthy speech, while the rest desperately hoped that this tiresome meeting would end quickly.

Even Heydrich, the actual second-in-command of the SS.

"… .With this, we will end today's meeting. Heil Hitler!"

"Heil Hitler!"

Finally, the meeting that was like torture came to an end. Heydrich, freed from the pseudo-speech, stood up with a relieved expression on his face.

"Heydrich, you will stay for a moment. "I have something to discuss separately."

"I understand, Your Excellency SS Imperial Leader."

Fuck. Heydrich cursed inwardly. I thought we were finally liberated!

The conference room door with the Siegel mark, the symbol of the SS, closed tightly, leaving Himmler and Heydrich alone in the large conference room.

Heydrich hated this place more than the battlefield filled with blood and the smell of gunpowder.

I vomited every time I saw all the runes carved on the ceiling, walls, and floor, as well as the SS's unique emblem, Schwarze Sonne (Black Sun), which Himmler designed himself.

A man who is old enough to be old, and the leader of the noble SS, is doing something occult.

What kind of strange things are happening?

If Germany's enemies even knew about this, the image of the SS would be downgraded from a powerful elite army to a group of occult fanatics who enjoy playing soldiers.

It's a shame because the intelligence power of Britain and the Soviet Union is not that great.

"I have heard about SD's recent activities. Very good. "Your help was great in raising the status of the SS."

"thank you."

"So, I'm thinking of sending SD to the Middle East and India after the war is over."

"yes? "Why?"

"That is to find relics of the ancient Aryans. I feel like sending an exploration party right now, but winning the war is the priority right now, so I have no choice but to wait patiently. "I'm still busy with the formation of a new Waffen-SS division and the development of new weapons."

"No, so why bother using SD…" ."

"Of course, with SD's excellent information capabilities, wouldn't it definitely yield good results in research and collection of relics? Even if we win the war, Germany's future cannot be said to be bright as long as the people do not have proper knowledge of the history of the Aryans. Do you want to let our descendants live without knowing about the glorious history of our ancient ancestors?

There is no future for a people who forgets history! "We need to know our history!"

Heydrich was then forced to listen to Himmler's lecture on Aryan history for ten minutes.

Himmler, who finally received a confirmation from Heydrich, was satisfied and sent him away.

Heydrich, who was in a good mood, walked down the stairs with his feet strong.

That incompetent idiot is the leader of the SS Empire. How deplorable is this.

I guess I'll have to do something quickly. Before the SS is forever reduced to a soldiering group of occult fanatics.