269

Episode 269: Dark clouds (1)

The war is finally over.

Finally, Europe regained peace.

"Sieg Heil! Main Fürer!"

"Deutsche Weaver Alles!"

"You did it! "Germany did it!"

With the announcement of the conquest of the British mainland and the signing of a peace treaty with the United States, the streets of Germany took on a festive atmosphere every day.

The beer hall was filled with people celebrating the victory, and every night you could see people stumbling around drunk and the police getting embarrassed by them.

Residents of Greenland and Iceland who wanted to go to Denmark were sent home by ship.

Those who chose to remain became the first citizens of the new Republic of Iceland and Greenland.

Now that the war is over, the process of discharging soldiers conscripted during wartime and returning them to their hometowns, homes, and workplaces has also progressed quickly.

Reserve soldiers who were married and had children were the first to receive discharge certificates.

Soldiers who returned to their hometowns with discharge certificates received a warm welcome from the people as soon as they arrived at the station and got off the train.

Citizens looked with envy at the soldiers who returned home as proud sons of Germany who brought great victory to their country.

But not everyone was welcome.

When British soldiers who lost the war were released from prisoner of war camps and arrived in their homeland, what awaited them was not crowds holding bouquets and placards, but a desolate view of cities devastated by bombings.

Soldiers who were liberated according to the agreement with the United States and arrived in the United States did not enjoy the joy of being reunited with their families.

As soon as they arrived in the United States, they were relocated to their original location. War was still in full swing in Asia.

The United States, unable to find any hope in Europe, focused more on the war against Japan to make up for its failures in Europe.

Army, aviation, and naval forces that had been deployed in Europe were all redeployed to the Pacific, and the generals studied strategies to advance to Tokyo as quickly as possible, not to protect Britain from German offensives.

However, not everyone was focused on the Pacific War.

Although the war in Europe was over, some were researching new strategies to prepare for the coming future.

"Welcome. "I heard you had quite a hard time in Europe."

"General Patton suffered more here than me."

"Hmm, hmm. "That's too much praise, Ike."

At Eisenhower's consideration, Patton felt proud that he had taken care of his junior, but at the same time he could not hide his embarrassed feelings.

Despite his struggles, the American army was unilaterally pushed back by the German army throughout the war and eventually withdrew from England as if running away.

Marshall did not reprimand Patton because he was aware that he fought as best he could under limited circumstances.

It was the now-deceased FDR's decision to send troops to Britain without proper preparation, not Patton's.

And it was not Patton's fault that American tanks showed a big difference in performance compared to German tanks.

Patton, who observed the engagement between the American and German troops on the field and was able to understand the strengths of the German army and the weaknesses of the American army, poured out words as if he was letting out his suppressed anger when Marshall asked him to tell him everything he knew.

The German army had many strengths, one of which was its powerful infantry firepower.

"Our military gives 10 to 11 members of the squad an M1 Garand and one or two people a Browning automatic rifle, but the Jerrys give every member of the squad a 'Sturmgewehr 39', a new submachine gun they call an assault rifle. So you can't win in terms of firepower.

The MG40, which they call Hitler's Chainsaw, is not only superior to the M1917 or M1919 used by our troops, but to catch a Tiger with a bazooka, we have to hit the tiger from the side or the back, but the Jerrys can hit it by shooting from any direction with their weapons. It was an unconditional defeat. "I hate to admit it, but their weapons are several levels above ours."

There was resentment in Patton's voice.

If he had the same weapons as the enemies used, he wouldn't have been pushed out so cruelly.

Marshall listened with a serious expression to Patton's angry words.

Although the firepower problem among infantry is significant, the performance of tanks is even more serious. The M4 Sherman used by the U.S. military was no match for the Tiger and Panther.

The Jumbo Sherman with reinforced armor and the Super Sherman with a 90mm gun were better than the Shermans with 75mm and 76mm guns, but it was still difficult to place them on the same level as German tanks.

The only tank that could compare to the Tiger and Panther in terms of armor and firepower was the M26 Pershing, but it had the fatal flaw of low reliability.

Because of these shortcomings, many Pershings were abandoned on the battlefield and suffered the humiliation of being captured or outflanked and destroyed by the Germans.

To make matters worse, Germany already possesses a large number of tanks that are more powerful than the Pershing, such as the Panther II and Tiger II.

The Sherman was sufficient against the tin-like tanks that the Japanese army rolled, without having to go all the way to the Pershing, but in Europe, even the Pershing was not enough.

Even though the war with Germany is now over, there is no guarantee that a war with Germany will not happen again.

"So we need bigger and more powerful tanks than we have now. "That's the only way we can blow away the Jerrys!"

"I understand."

Unlike the excited Patton, Marshall remained calm throughout. However, he also agreed on the need for a tank that was more powerful and reliable than the Pershing.

Arnold of the Army Air Corps sounded similar to Patton.

We need a more agile and powerful fighter plane than now! The bombers owned by the United States, such as the B-17, B-24, and B-25, were no different in performance compared to its ally Britain or its enemy Germany, but they were not fighter planes.

In particular, the damage suffered by that damn jet was indescribably terrible.

There is a long way to go. A sigh came out of Marshall's mouth as he took the order form.

Fortunately, the United States had enough funds, manpower, and time to turn even seemingly excessive orders into reality.

With Wallace's approval, the United States proceeded with the development of new weapons to counter Germany's war machine.

In preparation for the next war with Germany, which may someday occur.

***

September 12, 1943

New Fuhrer's Residence in Berlin, Germany

With the end of the war with the United States, complete peace came to Germany.

Germany's top priority now is economic recovery.

… … I thought it was

Until I received SD's report.

After finishing Professor Schacht's 7-hour long lecture on the 'German Economic Revival Project', I was leaving the conference room to have dinner when Schellenberg came to me saying he had something to report.

"Is it urgent?"

"I can't say it's a relaxed issue."

"Then, is it to the extent that I can report and receive it after eating, or is it to the extent that I need to report it right away?"

"I think you can take it after you finish eating."

"Right. Well then, I will eat first and then receive a report. I haven't eaten anything in 7 hours, so I'm very hungry right now. Would you like to join us?"

"Thank you, but I have already eaten, so if you invite me next time, I will definitely attend."

"is it? I understand. "Let's go by ourselves."

During the meal, I suggested Hawaiian pizza and kimchi gratin, but Schacht and Punk didn't even listen.

Anyway, they are like these tasteless Germanic tribes. How delicious these are.

After eating, I went to the office and Schellenberg was waiting for me. I sat down on a chair and carefully looked at the report Schellenberg handed me.

Perhaps because my eyesight was getting worse, the letters seemed blurrier than before. I need to get a checkup and new glasses in the near future.

The report Schellenberg gave me contained internal trends in the Soviet Union.

The war in Russia ended with Germany's great victory and the establishment of Free Russia, but spies inserted into the Soviet Union by SD and Afwehr continued to send us various types of information.

Blood was blowing in the Soviet Union right now.

It didn't feel surprising or shocking because it was something that was expected from the beginning.

In a dictatorship, it is natural for a dictator who loses a war to feel threatened by his authority, and it is very common for him to select suitable scapegoats, blame them, and then kill them to maintain his power.

A representative example is that after the end of the Korean War, Kim Il-sung purged the Yanan faction, the Soviet faction, and the South Korean Labor faction by blaming them for defeat in the war, and then seized absolute power.

However, even after winning the war, Stalin judged that they were a danger to his power and purged the generals who had contributed in the war.

Even Zhukov was almost taken to the Gulag, but barely escaped with his life.

However, here, the war could not be won and the country suffered the most crushing defeat in Russian history.

Naturally, Stalin would have been convinced that his authority had been damaged, and he would have thought that the only way to alleviate this was through purges.

For the health and longevity of one's power and life.

"Anyway, isn't this a good thing for us? "They won't be able to pay attention to Germany while they kill and kill each other."

"Maybe that's why Free Russia seems to have strange imaginations."

"… … "A strange imagination?"

no way… … ?

***

The Second Brest-Litovsk Treaty barely managed to quell Germany's anger, but Stalin's crisis was now real.

The war that he insisted on and started with his own decisions ended in one of the worst crushing defeats in Russian history.

As a result of the defeat, the Soviet Union lost all of its valuable land in the West to Germany, and Germany established its own puppet regime on the land it had taken from the Soviet Union.

When Germany granted the status of an ostensibly independent country, numerous ethnic minorities under Soviet rule reacted sensitively.

The Soviet Union, especially Stalin, persecuted, relocated, and massacred ethnic minorities throughout Russia without discrimination.

Stalin's oppressive rule took a huge toll on the independence and nationalism of ethnic minorities in the Soviet Union.

Fearing oppression and massacre by the Soviet Union, ethnic minorities kept quiet and adapted to reality, but the victory and defeat of the German-German War ignited the spirit of resistance that remained in their hearts.

Look at Ukraine, the Baltic states and the Caucasus.

Like the Kazakhs, Uzbeks, Kyrgyz, and Bashkirs, they too have been severely oppressed by the Bolsheviks.

However, they did not lose sight of their desire for independence until the end and were able to become independent with the help of Germany.

Is there anything we can't do?

We too can become independent! We can become independent, establish our own government, and enjoy our freedom!

The puppet states established in the eastern territories conquered by Germany stimulated the desire for independence of numerous ethnic minorities remaining in the Soviet Union.

Graffiti and posters insulting Stalin and the Communist Party began appearing on the streets throughout the Soviet Union, including in Siberia, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan.

The distribution of books banned by the Soviet authorities and flags prohibited from being possessed also became active.

Stalin announced this as a serious act of treason that threatened the safety of the Soviet Union and the people, and ordered the Red Army and NKVD to thoroughly subdue, search out, and execute them.

The Smersi and NKVD, who had been hellbent on executing deserters and civilians in the rear throughout the war, began to roam around again, and in the process, innocent people were executed or sent to the Gulag.

Soviet prisoners of war who chose to go to the Soviet Union instead of Free Russia were no exception.

They were released from the POW camp and upon arrival in the Soviet Union were subjected to intensive interrogation and torture by the NKVD.

The dead were buried in the ground, and those who survived the torture were sent to the gulag.

The entire Soviet Union began to be stained with blood again.

The people in the rear were more afraid now than during the war.

Even during the war, the NKVD conducted searches and searches, but it was not as severe as this.

Workers were needed in factories in the rear to make rifles and cannons for soldiers on the front line, and as the front line began to push back, Smersh and the NKVD were sent to the front to hunt down the increasing number of deserters.

Thanks to this, the people in the rear were able to live in peace, except for the hunger caused by the meager food rations due to the war.

But not now.

After the war ended, the guards who had been sent to the front again went to the rear, creating a mass of innocent victims.

Screams continued in the prison, interrogation room, and torture room that had been converted into a basement. The floor of the firing squad was soaked with blood.

Even the generals could not escape the bloodshed.

During Stalin's war, he minimized the mistakes he made and began to eliminate those who could pose a danger to his power one by one.

"Semyon Tymoshenko. "I will arrest you on charges of treason against the country and people."

"Take it away!"

"Not me! "I said no!"

Tymoshenko, who had no choice but to be defeated by the German army due to Stalin's absurd orders and interference, was the first victim.

Starting with Tymoshenko, numerous officers were arrested by the NKVD at dawn or in broad daylight and dragged away like pigs to the slaughterhouse.

Officers who had committed mistakes in the war and had been reprimanded or demoted were the first to be eliminated.

Next was the turn of officers who had not made any contribution, and third were officers who had made contributions on the battlefield and received medals or promotions.

The blood of the people was always needed to hide the leader's misdeeds.

More blood was needed than this. Because only then could he protect his power, his life, and his wealth.

The bloody wind blowing in the Soviet Union stimulated more nationalists, contrary to Stalin's intentions. As the repression by the Soviet authorities became more severe, nationalists resisted more fiercely.

Now, they did not stop at putting up crude posters made in the corners of houses and factories in quiet alleys in the middle of the night, like before, and writing propaganda slogans calling for resistance.

Nationalists threw Molotov cocktails and bombs at the Communist Party headquarters.

They planted bombs on the tracks of the Red Army's private trains, attacked food convoys heading to Kuybyshev, and armed themselves by killing soldiers and capturing their weapons.

And, the newly established Russian government in Moscow also carefully observed the series of processes.