59

Before the Sun Rises (1) - Free Last Episode

March 6, 1940

Near Lake Ladoga, southern Finland

"For our country!"

"Wow!!!"

This time too, the Soviet army charged in shouting "Ura!" It was a huge number, more than a thousand people.

"Damn them, they're flocking like bastards."

"Why are you doing this again? "It's always happened."

"It's coming, get ready!"

When the Soviet troops came within range, the Finnish troops opened fire.

Rifles, machine guns, and tank guns opened fire all at once, and screams came from the mouths of the Soviet soldiers.

The Soviet army also fired at the Finnish army, and screams erupted from the Finnish army camp.

"Aaaah!"

A soldier whose arm was blown off by a tank gun twisted his body, and flames erupted from the hatch of a tank that had been pierced in the front.

Haiha gritted his teeth.

While the friendly forces in the front blocked the enemies, he sniped at the Soviet troops from the side.

He concentrated his mind to reduce the burden on his allies as much as possible.

The first target was an enemy officer who was on a tank and giving instructions to the tank commander.

After pulling the trigger, Haiha saw that the enemy officer's head was tilted back and immediately selected the next target.

When the officer was hit by a bullet and died instantly, the tank commander quickly entered the turret.

Unlike his fellow snipers, he did not use a high-haul scope at all.

This was because sunlight was reflected on the scope's lens and could reveal the location to the enemy.

He advised his colleagues to shoot with the naked eye instead of using a scope, but they did not listen.

This was because precise sniping was impossible without using a scope.

While Haiha's colleagues were sniping from a distance of 300-400m, Haiha was sniping at the Soviet troops from a much shorter distance of 100-150m.

It had the advantage of being able to aim at the enemy without using a scope, but it also had the disadvantage of being too close to the enemy.

For this reason, when Haiha's colleagues suggested that he instead use a scope and shoot from a distance, Haiha refused.

His idea was that although sniping at an enemy at close range was a risky action, it wouldn't be a big problem if you were confident in your concealment.

Before shooting, Haiha put snow or ice in his mouth to prevent his breath from coming out and pressed the snow around the muzzle with his hand to minimize the snow blowing around when shooting.

Thanks to this thorough personality, he was able to survive until now.

-bang!

"It's big."

A soldier who was charging with an enemy flag collapsed, coughing up blood from his mouth. The T-26 that followed trampled on the body of the fallen soldier and advanced until it was destroyed by an anti-tank gun.

The tank crews attempted to escape from the burning tank, but were swarmed by machine guns.

Good night.

this. Before we knew it, we ran out of bullets.

As soon as he leaned down to reload, several bullets flew over his head.

Haiha, who usually never gets embarrassed, was surprised this time.

what? Have you been discovered by the enemy?

It may have been a blind bullet that flew by accident, but Haiha, who had a lot of experience on the battlefield, immediately took a fighting stance.

He left behind the M28 rifle he used for sniping and picked up the Suomi submachine gun he carried for close combat.

"Uraaaaa!!!"

Sure enough, several Soviet soldiers rushed to where he was.

Holy shit, my location has been discovered!

Haiha immediately aimed his Suomi at the leading Soviet soldier and pulled the trigger.

After seeing a hole in the chest of the enemy soldier who was shouting and running towards him, he fell down and rolled to the left.

After taking a lying down shooting stance, he fired again and killed a couple more enemy soldiers. With three people killed in an instant, the Soviet soldier fell flat.

Haiha did not miss the opportunity and threw a German-made stick grenade. The grenade exploded and three or four Soviet soldiers screamed.

After confirming that there were no more enemies running, Haiha prepared to withdraw.

It was suicidal to remain in the same position while being discovered by the enemy. I have no choice but to jump out quickly.

When he returned to his seat to collect his M28 rifle, a Soviet soldier who had been lying down in the distance jumped up.

Haiha, seeing the grenade in the other person's hand, reflexively fired Suomi.

The enemy was defeated, but the grenade had already been thrown.

The grenade thrown by the Soviet army exploded in the air.

When the grenade exploded, several small fragments hit Haiha's chin.

Haiha collapsed in his seat, feeling extreme pain.

It felt like a heated iron ball was rolling around in my mouth.

The blood pouring from the wound dyed the eyes bright red.

Because the pain was so severe, Haiha could not come to his senses.

I wanted to yell, but because my jaw was broken, all that came out was a sound of deflation.

Every time he took a breath, broken teeth and pieces of bone flew out and landed in his eyes.

Perhaps because of the pain, it was now difficult to even stand. Maybe it was because I lost too much blood.

Haiha's consciousness gradually became blurred.

He lost consciousness when he heard someone running towards him, shouting his name.

***

Haiha didn't die.

Half of his face was disfigured after being hit squarely by a grenade fragment, but he was safely rescued by his colleagues and transported to the rear.

On the day that legendary sniper Haiha was wounded, a Finnish negotiator arrived in Moscow and began negotiations with the Soviet Union.

The Soviet Union, which had already won the war, showed a stubborn attitude in negotiations.

Despite the efforts of the Finnish negotiators, there was no change in the Soviet Union's attitude.

To make up for the losses suffered in the war, Stalin planned to gain everything he could.

Even while negotiations were going on in Moscow, Soviet troops continued to advance under Stalin's orders.

In order to gain even the slightest advantage in negotiations, Stalin pushed his soldiers into limbo without the slightest hesitation.

In the end, Finland had no choice but to cry and agree to the conditions presented by the Soviet Union.

On March 12, the Moscow Peace Treaty was signed.

According to the treaty, Finland had to cede the industrial center of Karelia, eastern Lapland, the Ryvac Peninsula, and islands in the Gulf of Finland, including Vipuri, the country's second largest city, and lease the Hanko Peninsula to the Soviet Union free of charge for 30 years.

Finland did its best, but it suffered tremendous damage, losing 11% of its territory and turning the entire country into ruins from Soviet air raids.

However, the Soviet Union was not without damage.

Although the war was won, 127,000 soldiers were killed and 189,000 were injured, making the casualties far greater than Finland.

Despite the government's extensive propaganda, the reaction of the Soviet people was cold.

This war caused great trauma to the Soviet Union, to the extent that it was openly said that the land acquired from Finland was a cemetery to bury soldiers who died in the war.

The Winter War, which lasted 105 days, ended in vain, leaving indelible scars on both countries.

***

March 15, 1940

New Fuhrer's Residence in Berlin, Germany

"In the end, it turned out as His Excellency the President expected."

Kaitel looked at me with awe, as if I were a god.

Not only Keitel, but also Göring, Himmler, Heydrich, and Brauchitsch, as well as everyone in the conference room, looked at me with respect.

This winter war went as I predicted, and no one questioned what I said.

"No one in Germany can match your insight!"

"That's amazing, Mr. President!"

"That's too much praise. This much could be known to anyone with even the slightest sense of observation."

I pretended to be humble, enjoying the admiring looks from my subordinates.

"We suffered great damage in the war with Finland, so there is no need to worry about the Soviet Union for the time being. We just need to think about how we can defeat Youngp. Admiral Leder?"

Leder found Norway on the map and pointed with his baton.

"Norway is a neutral country, but it is also a country that exports iron ore produced in Sweden to Germany. The problem is that Britain and France are focusing their attention on Norway due to the Finland issue.

Norway already offered its merchant fleet to the UK in November last year and has been receiving ongoing calls from the UK government to stop exporting iron ore to Germany. "If Norway joins the Allies, Germany will not only have its iron ore imports cut off, but will also suffer great hardship as it will be trapped by Britain's strong blockade like it did during the last war."

The expressions of the generals who were listening to Leather's explanation darkened.

Everyone vividly remembers how much Germany suffered due to the British blockade during World War I, so just lifting the blockade baton made people feel excited.

Even with a force far superior to that of the current Cryx Marine, they were unable to prevent the British Navy's blockade. Can they prevent the British naval blockade with an even weaker navy? There is no way.

Although it now possesses an aircraft carrier, which it did not have in its original history, there is no way it can break through Britain's maritime blockade just because it has one additional aircraft carrier. What if the aircraft carrier was a helicarrier?

"Therefore, we must strike first before Norway joins the Allies. If we occupy Norway, we can not only push the British maritime blockade from the North Sea to the Norwegian Sea, but also ensure a stable supply of iron ore.

Above all, it will be possible for the Navy to advance into the Atlantic Ocean through Norwegian ports, and based on this, we will be able to efficiently carry out a war of trade destruction against Britain."

Although the goal of the invasion of Norway was to create a foundation for the navy to operate, the supply of iron ore imported through Norway was very important to the army and air force, so Göring and Brauchitsch listened carefully to Leder's words.

Unlike actual history, the Altmark capture incident did not occur, but the Wehrmacht viewed Norway with semi-suspicion because Norway had provided its national merchant fleet to Britain.

Leder, along with Rosenberg, was already in constant contact with Quisling and working hard to gather information for the invasion of Norway.

He had visited me before, emphasizing the necessity of occupying Norway and asking me to approve the operation.

"I therefore request approval of the plan to invade Norway, Mr. President."

This was his second request for approval.

"That was an excellent explanation, Admiral."

"That's too much praise."

"However, the admiral's request cannot be granted."

As soon as the words of rejection came out of my mouth, my stomach started to tremble.

Among them, Leather was the most embarrassed.

"No, why? "I am certain that Norway is Germany's lifeline."

"I understand what the admiral is trying to say. But if he attacked Norway, the entire Norwegian people would turn into enemies of Germany. In order to win a war, you have to reduce your enemies to the minimum and increase your allies to the maximum. But if you do that, won't the enemies increase even more?"

"Mr. President, with all due respect, Germany has already turned the Czechs and Poles, as well as the British and French, into enemies. "What would change if we turned only 3 million Norwegians into enemies?"

I also strongly agree with Leder's argument that Norway must be taken over.

However, that doesn't mean they have any intention of taking over Norway by invading it.

They've done well with the Czech Republic and Poland so far, so why are they suddenly doing this to Norway?

So even if we don't invade, our British people are going to tie us up with Norway on their own.

"Calm down your excitement, Admiral. Could it be that I am doing this just because I am afraid of resistance from the Norwegians?"

"?"

"There is no need for us to attack Norway. If we wait until the British attack Norway first, Norway will try to ally with us on its own."

"······yes?"

Raeder doesn't know, and neither Keitel, Göring, or Himmler know, but there is one fact that only I know.

Operation Wilfred.

It is a simple and ignorant plan to completely block Norway's export routes by flooding the Norwegian territorial waters with mines.

The person who created this plan was none other than Winston Churchill. If you were to choose the best prime minister of the UK, Churchill would definitely be in the top rankings.

As if Operation Wilfred was not enough, Churchill also set up an additional operation called Operation R4, which was a plan to deploy the Marine Corps to destroy the Narvik port and all the railroads leading to it.

In fact, Britain even brought marines on warships to carry out Operation Wilfred and Operation R4, but the operations were canceled due to Germany's invasion of Norway one step ahead.

In other words, one way or another, Norway is going to be invaded by another country. If Britain is planning to attack Norway anyway, there is no need for us to go first!

"The UK is probably thinking similarly to us to take over Norway. They will attempt to attack Norway or take appropriate military action approximately between early and mid-April. "It won't be too late even if Britain attacks Norway first before taking action."

In this case, it is inevitable that the Narvik port will be devastated by the British army's attack, causing a disruption in the supply of iron ore for a while, but considering the troops and materials needed to turn all of Norway into an enemy and suppress Norwegian resistance, it is cheap.

And since there are still enough iron ore stocks imported from China and the Soviet Union, we can last at least five months.

Are you sure you can't repair a port in 5 months?

Perhaps because he accurately predicted the progress and outcome of the Winter War, Leather accepted my instructions without comment.

Nazi Germany's planned invasion of Norway was changed to a plan for German troops to deploy if Norway requested support from Germany.

The Army's Senior General Nikolaus von Falkenhorst and General Eduard Dietl participated in planning the operation together with Raeder.

"What would you like to name the operation?"

"Let's do Weserübung (training on the Weser River)."