160

Episode 160: Spear and Shield (11)

June 17, 1942

New Fuhrer's Residence in Berlin, Germany

The Northern Army Group's counterattack ended with the recapture of Memel.

On the day that the Northern Army Group's counterattack ended, the Central and Southern Army Groups also launched a counterattack simultaneously and began to drive out the Soviet Army.

The Soviet troops, who had already reached the end point of the offensive and exhausted almost all of their capabilities, were swept away like dust without even being able to put up any resistance.

"It appears that we will be able to drive out the remnants of the Soviet army from all over Germany, Hungary, and Romania within four days."

"good. very good."

I cut a chicken thigh steak with a knife and brought it to my mouth while listening to Franz Lehar's song playing softly throughout the living room.

While I was eating a tofu salad with soy sauce-based dressing and lemonade, Keitel, who was cutting Frankfurter Rippchen (Frankfurt-style pork rib dish), smiled and spoke to me.

"This and this, the look on Stalin's face is worth seeing. "Even after mobilizing so much troops and equipment, we were only able to eat a small amount of land, and now we're ready to vomit it all back up."

"He must have forgotten his lessons in Finland. Or maybe I took Germany too lightly."

"No matter what happens, you're probably regretting it by now."

"And the general named Andrei Vlasov who surrendered this time. Where is he now?"

"They say he is currently being interrogated at the Army Group North headquarters in Königsberg."

Reichenau said as he lifted the flounder meat with his fork to his mouth.

"Tell Marshal Lev to send him to Berlin as soon as the interrogation is over. "Since he surrendered voluntarily, I think he will be a useful friend."

"Yes, Mr. President."

What is going on in the world that you don't know even if you know it?

Who would have thought that a man who was taken prisoner by the Nazi German army in real history would be held prisoner here as well.

Vlasov was a great general who was nicknamed 'the defender of Moscow' by Pravda for his outstanding performance second only to Zhukov in the Battle of Moscow. However, under Stalin's unreasonable offensive orders to break the siege of Leningrad, he attacked Army Group North and was surrounded. It ended.

He could have escaped by plane, but he refused, saying he could not abandon his men, and became a prisoner of the German army.

Vlasov, who was taken prisoner, later converted and founded the Free Russian Army (Русская освободительная армия), but due to opposition from Hitler, who distrusted the Russians, he remained in the rear until the end of the war. When Germany's defeat became certain, he joined forces with the Czechoslovak Resistance and moved to Prague. participated in the uprising.

However, the Czechoslovak resistance betrayed Vlasov as soon as the uprising ended and expelled them from Czechoslovakia.

At this time, Vlasov was able to flee to Spain, but this time he refused, saying he could not abandon his men and surrendered to the U.S. Army, but the U.S. Army handed them all over to the Soviet Army.

Vlasov, who was repatriated to the Soviet Union, was executed after receiving severe torture by the NKVD.

It was an extremely miserable end for someone who was once called the protector of Moscow and revered as a Soviet war hero.

In the real world where the Soviet Union won, he was undervalued as a traitor who fell for the Nazis, but as mentioned earlier, his performance in the Battle of Moscow shows that he had above-average military talent. He was just born in the wrong country.

Hitler, who was steeped in racism, could not make good use of such a great general, but I am different.

Considering Vlasov's abilities, it was too much of a waste to simply have him do paperwork or propaganda activities in the rear.

Since this is a war where the fate of the nation and the entire nation is at stake, it is natural that any resource that can be used must be sucked out to the bone marrow.

"How many Soviet soldiers have been captured by our forces so far?"

"About 70,600 people. "They are all being dispersed and housed in prisoner-of-war camps built within the Polish protectorate."

Even if only one-third of them switch to our side, we will have 25,000 troops.

Even if we only maintain security in the rear instead of setting them up on the first line, an additional 25,000 troops can be deployed to the front line, so we cannot avoid using them if we do not want to.

"How about recruiting prisoners of war to form the army of the new Russia that will overthrow the Soviet Union and replace it? Against the Soviet Union, which has a population of nearly 200 million, Germany has no choice but to fall behind in manpower. So, I think it would be of great help if we recruited volunteers from among the prisoners to form an army."

"That is an excellent strategy, Mr. President."

"I can't help but be amazed by the insight of His Excellency the President."

"Certainly, there will be many people who are dissatisfied with the current Russian system, so I think there will be a lot of applicants."

There was no need to mention Keitel, Brauchitsch, and Reichenau, and among the Nazi Party leaders, Goebbels, who was particularly interested in the creation of the Free Russian Army, expressed his active support.

Himmler did not oppose the creation of the Free Russian Army itself, although he did say that one should be careful as some may deliberately volunteer for spy activities.

In the end, everyone agreed. Göring is away to inspect the prototype flight of the Me264, and Raeder is away to visit the naval base in Stettin, but I think their opinions will not be much different.

Göring rarely objects to what I say, and Leder is a man who has little interest in matters other than the navy.

I will have to have a meeting with Rozaevsky and the leaders of the Russian fascist party soon.

***

June 18, 1942

USSR Moscow Kremlin Palace

The Northwest Front Army, which suffered a huge blow to its military power as well as losing all of the barely occupied territory, was completely pushed back to the German-Soviet border before the start of Operation Uranus.

The Commander-in-Chief of the Northwest Front, Major General Fyodor Kuznetsov, was stripped of his position and summoned to Moscow.

The Western Front and Southwestern Front also slipped on the ice as soon as the German offensive began.

Less than a month after the start of the war, the border between Germany and the Soviet Union returned to its pre-war border.

Pravda completely hid the news of the Red Army's crushing defeat and retreat from the people.

However, just as the palm of your hand cannot block out all the sunlight, the news of the defeat of the country's army was already spreading to the residents near the border.

The Soviet authorities also knew that they could not completely prevent the leak of rumors just by controlling information.

So they thought of a trick. Rather than having the truth revealed, let's lie.

Pravda reported, "The Red Army succeeded in achieving its original goal of destroying the main force of the German army near the border, but suffered considerable damage in the battle with the German army," and Stavka responded by minimizing the damage to friendly forces and protecting the border. He dismissed it, saying it was just a 'relocation of the military to the rear' for defense.

Anyone could see that it was written as a euphemism to mean that they were defeated and retreated by the German army, but the red nobles of the Kremlin felt extreme resistance to expressing the defeat as a defeat.

In order to be free from the responsibility they would have to shoulder if they acknowledged that they had lost the war, they tried to deceive the ears and eyes of the people with nonsense that did not work.

The good news was that their non-prank was still working.

The Communist Party incited the people to say that greater efforts than before were needed to defend the country from German invaders, and carried out large-scale additional conscription throughout the Soviet Union.

The Soviet army, pushed out of Germany, placed its hopes on the Molotov Line built on the border to prevent German invasion, which they had talked about so much.

Originally, the Stalin Line was a huge defense line spanning 1,835 km, starting from the Baltic Sea, crossing Belarus and Ukraine to the Black Sea, but Stalin, who conquered Poland, ordered the Stalin Line to be built on the newly formed German-Soviet border, despite strong opposition from the military. did.

All artillery deployed on the existing Stalin Line was moved to the newly built Stalin Line on the German border, and accordingly, all operational plans drawn up by the Soviet Army were redrawn based on the new defensive line.

Although all previously established operations were scrapped and a huge amount of manpower, materials, and money were spent to build new defense lines, Stalin's war was delayed by almost a year compared to the actual history, so according to history, only the framework was built. The line had some flesh attached as of June 1942.

There are several areas that have not yet been completed, but overall, the Stalin Line was a fairly well-completed defense line.

To break through the Stalin Line, which consists of concrete bunkers, minefields, torch cars, and fixed batteries, the German army would have to make significant sacrifices.

Zhukov paid more attention to the borders of Hungary and Romania, where the Stalin Line had not been built.

The German-Soviet border was relatively safe because it was protected by the Stalin Line, but the only defensive lines along the Hungarian and Romanian borders consisted of a few Tochkas and trenches, and only half of them were completed before the war.

The German army would undoubtedly aim for Hungary and Romania, where there is no Stalin Line.

certainly! Convinced that the German attack would be concentrated on the southern front, Zhukov deployed the main force of his army towards Ukraine and prepared for a decisive battle with the German army.

Stalin did not dispute Tymoshenko and Zhukov's conclusions.

Even to someone who had no background in military science, Zhukov's explanation that they would avoid the powerful Stalin Line and attack in the direction of Hungary and Romania and encircle the Baltic Sea sounded plausible.

That's enough for the defense plan.

Now it is time to discuss the next issues.

The engagement with the German army clearly revealed that there were several problems with the Soviet military's doctrine. The most representative of these was the submachine gun.

Thanks to Kulik's disregard for submachine guns, the Soviet Union made the worst mistake of barely using it even though it had created an outstanding weapon called the PPSh-41.

As a result, the Soviet army had no choice but to be unilaterally pushed back by the German army in infantry firepower, which led to defeat in the battle.

Stalin ordered a significant increase in the production of submachine guns, which had been produced only in small quantities. And landmines too! Since the battlefield was moved to Soviet territory, land mines were indispensable as a means of stopping the enemy's advance.

"Immediately resume production of 45mm guns and 76mm guns. "What our military needs most now is artillery that is cheap and can be produced in large quantities in a short period of time."

Many of the artillery pieces owned by the Soviet Army were destroyed by German artillery and air strikes early in the war or were lost during the retreat.

The Soviet Army, which was suffering from the loss of usable artillery, desperately needed artillery that was cheap and could be produced in a short period of time rather than expensive, high-performance artillery.

The ZiS-3 76mm light field artillery, whose production had been halted due to Kulik's opposition, received high scores in cost, performance, and productivity, and mass production was resumed.

Although the 53-K 45mm anti-tank gun was inadequate against heavily armored German tanks, it was found to be cheap, easy to produce, and suitable for infantry support, so production resumed.

On the other hand, it was decided to discontinue production of the M-60, which was expensive, took a long time to process, and had many difficulties in operation due to its excessive weight.

Production of the F-22 was also discontinued due to cost and productivity issues.

Lieutenant General Vladimir Sudetz, Commander-in-Chief of the Soviet Air Force, asked Stalin for permission to install rear seats back on the IL-2.

The IL-2 needed a rear seat to protect the rear from enemy attacks more desperately than additional fuel. Stalin also approved this.

Production of the T-34, which had been discontinued with the advent of the T-43, also resumed.

The T-43, which had numerous problems in actual combat and had poor productivity, was discontinued, and all materials and manpower allocated for mass production of the T-43 were returned to the T-34.

After discussion, it was decided to stop mass production of KV-2 and KV-3. The cost-effectiveness of the two tanks was too low to rely on firepower alone.

"Comrade Secretary General. "I'm referring to the issue of mounting an 85mm main gun on the T-34, which you previously ordered."

Stalin, who was frowning throughout the meeting as he was dissatisfied with everything, showed interest in what Voroshilov said.

"What happened? "Have you got the results?"

"yes. Currently, the prototype has been completed and only testing remains. And the 203mm self-propelled howitzer has also been completed and is undergoing testing."

"That's a good thing. It is difficult to deal with the German fascist tanks with only the 76mm guns mounted on the current T-34 and KV-1. And Comrade Molotov. "How did the meeting with the British ambassador go?"

Molotov, who had been singled out by Stalin, had no trouble dealing with Stalin's irritation and anger, which had become increasingly frequent recently.

Then he opened his mouth with a smile on his face.

"Yes, Comrade Secretary. From the British Ambassador... .."

"… ..exactly?"

As Molotov finished speaking, the corner of Stalin's mouth twitched. Only then did Stalin smile for the first time, as if he had relieved himself.

"It's a little too late, but I'm glad to hear that now."

***

The British Empire, a country where the sun never sets, suffered a huge blow to its pride from France and Malaya.

Prime Minister Churchill worked diligently to restore the wounded pride of the British Empire.

He sent the navy to protect India from Japanese invasion and defend its maritime rights in the Indian Ocean.

And they did whatever they could to keep Germany, whose influence in Europe growing day by day, in check.

Even though it pricks my conscience because it is deceiving the people... .The creeping bitch. Churchill firmly believed that even if the method was a little difficult, it was something that had to be endured because it was for the good of the British Empire and world order.

He firmly believes that the people will have the same thoughts as him, and that even if they disagree now, they will all understand later.

However, I had no idea that the Soviet Union, which decided to put pressure on Germany, would be a big muscle.

Even in Finland, I was anxious because my weight class did not suit me, but I believed that things would have changed a little since two years had passed.

However, in his view, the Soviet Union seemed to have changed little compared to two years ago. No, looking at the results alone, I thought he had actually regressed.

During the Winter War, they continued to advance steadily and put pressure on Finland, but here the mainland was in danger of being attacked.

Although they were ideological enemies, Churchill, who had joined Stalin's hand over a common enemy called Germany, hit his forehead.

I can't believe I have to fight the Germans with those idiots.

An ordinary leader would have changed his mind here and taken a step back, but Churchill was far from ordinary.

who is he Isn't this a man who created enemies because of two battleships, attacked a neutral nation that was standing still, and claimed to isolate Britain diplomatically, but then passed the blame to others and went around claiming he did nothing wrong?

Although Churchill was angry at the Soviet Union's pathetic fighting ability, he did not give up his goal of war with Germany.

Even he, who seemed so far from common sense, acknowledged that it would be difficult to go to war with Germany, at least with only the Soviet Union as an ally.

He sought an ally to fight Germany alongside Britain.

You don't have to fight well. Anyway, there is no army in Europe that will fight against the German army.

All that was needed was a meat shield to disperse the German army's power a little and divert Berlin's attention.

"Nice to meet you, Mr Prime Minister. "It's been a long time since I last saw you."

"The last time we saw each other was five years ago."

British Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden and Badoglio smiled and shook hands.

"We have plenty of time, but I have a lot of questions, so please understand if I get straight to the point."

"Would it be possible?"

"What business does the British Foreign Secretary have in Italy?"