188

Episode 188: Toward Victory (1)

August 23, 1942

USSR Moscow Kremlin Palace

"You had a hard time coming this far, Comrade Zhukov."

Zhukov bowed his head to Stalin, whose expression and tone of voice were not at all like his words.

"I am simply grateful to Comrade Secretary General for his generosity."

"Thank you. "I don't really know what my comrade has to thank me for?"

Stalin said. Upon hearing those words, Zhukov lowered his head even further.

"Comrade Secretary General gave me many opportunities, but I failed to live up to Comrade Secretary General's expectations."

"I guess you know."

"yes. Therefore, if Comrade Secretary General gives me any punishment, I will gladly accept it."

"Did you really mean what you just said?"

Stalin glared fiercely at Zhukov with extremely suspicious eyes. Zhukov's blood froze at the sight of his fierce eyes, but his mouth was already open.

"Yes, Comrade Secretary."

"Nevertheless, I was planning to hold my comrade accountable for his mistakes."

Stalin stood up and approached Zhukov.

As Stalin approached, Zhukov could smell the strong scent of Herzegovina flor (Герцеговина Флор).

This luxury cigarette, meaning 'flower of Herzegovina,' was one of Stalin's few luxury items.

I smoked so much that my clothes smelled so strong that I felt like I was smoking right next to the boat.

"Are you prepared?"

"Of course, comrade. "I will accept any punishment."

Silence continued for a long time between the two.

It was Stalin himself who broke the thin ice-like silence.

"······ha ha ha."

"······."

"Yes, you must be this strong. "Then wouldn't he be able to be called a general of the Red Army?"

Stalin put his hand on Zhukov's shoulder.

"Be honest. "I was very angry at the indecent behavior my comrade showed me, but I still decided to give him a chance."

"Thank you, Comrade Secretary General."

Zhukov could not let go of tension as Stalin's words and actions were completely unknown.

Fortunately, punishment was avoided, but Stalin's words were not over yet.

"Comrade Zhukov. "I plan to entrust the defense of Moscow to you, comrade."

"Yes, Comrade Secretary."

"Comrade, do you have a cool assessment of what the chances are of being able to protect Moscow from the German fascists? "Please answer honestly."

The possibility of protecting Moscow from the German army.

After thinking for two seconds, Zhukov came up with a number that was as compromised as possible in his own way.

"I think it's 60%."

"The reason is that?"

"Because we have an army and a people who support that army with an indomitable will that the German fascists do not have."

"That sounds good, but I want to hear clear evidence."

"There are several layers of friendly defense lines between Smolensk and Moscow. Even for the German army, it would take a considerable amount of time and material to break through all those defense lines and reach Moscow. and······."

"and?"

"Rasputitsa begins in mid-October."

"aha. "There it was."

Rasputica. The magic of nature that can only be seen in the Soviet Union, where the ground turns to mush.

In the face of Rasputitsa's magic that devours everything, including people and trucks, even the German army, whose specialty is blitzkrieg, has no choice but to slow down its advance.

It would take even more time to break through all the layers of defense.

If we continue to deploy our troops and devote manpower and material to the defense of Moscow while Rasputitsa is holding back the Germans, it is possible to turn Moscow into a huge fortress by the beginning of winter.

And with the support of General Dong, they deal with the German army, which has accumulated fatigue from repeated advances and battles. That was Zhukov's plan.

"Can you really protect Moscow from the Germans?"

"If my prediction is correct, it is quite possible."

"hmm."

Stalin had more to say, but he repeatedly opened and closed his fingers as if he couldn't think of them.

"Okay. But comrade, keep this one thing in mind. This is the last time I will show mercy to my comrade. "I hope you don't disappoint me this time."

"······I will keep this in mind."

Considering the precedents so far, it was quite a miracle that Zhukov was alive right now.

Considering how many generals, including Kuznetsov and Pavlov, have been executed by firing squad for failing to fulfill their duties, he too could have been taken to the firing squad.

Didn't even the world's Beria end up on the firing squad like the countless victims he had shot?

However, Stalin not only kept Zhukov alive, but also entrusted him with the enormous task of defending Moscow.

If the defense of Moscow is successful, Stalin will continue to hire him.

But if he fails to protect Moscow, he will no longer live to see the sun.

Zhukov doesn't know, but Stalin spared him on a whim.

Although he experienced failure several times, there were few generals in the Soviet Army as capable as Zhukov, and the fact that excessive purges reduced the number of useful generals beyond what was necessary was a decisive reason for his postponement of Zhukov's purge.

"I will appoint you, Comrade, as the Deputy Commander of the Moscow Defense Forces as of the current time. I don't know if you know, but the commander of the Defense Command is Comrade Voroshilov. "Please meet with Comrade Voroshilov to discuss the detailed plan."

"yes. "I will definitely live up to Comrade Secretary General's expectations and prevent the fascists from setting even a single step into Moscow."

"Show it with actions, not words. "Just go now."

In this way, Zhukov's life could be extended by at least two more months.

But it was too early to be at ease. If Moscow fell to the Germans, he could not avoid the firing squad.

No matter how much Stalin thought highly of his abilities, he never cared enough about him to spare the life of a leader who had lost his capital to the enemy.

The reason he is alive now is solely because of the abilities he possesses.

If he fails to prove his capabilities this time, Stalin will no longer forgive him.

Therefore, Zhukov had no choice but to risk his life in the defense of Moscow.

Considering the importance of Moscow in the first place, we have no choice but to do our best. Since my life was at stake, I couldn't waste even one minute.

"Comrade Chief of Staff. Where can I take you?"

"I will go straight to see Comrade Voroshilov. "There's no time, so go quickly."

***

After Zhukov left, Stalin summoned Molotov. Less than an hour after the call, Molotov appeared before Stalin.

"Did you call me, Comrade Secretary?"

"Comrade Molotov. "I have some special instructions to give to my comrade."

"What is?"

Stalin hesitated, then made up his mind and opened his mouth.

"Please meet with the Swiss ambassador as soon as possible and suggest that Switzerland take over as mediator in the negotiations with Germany."

***

"It's started again. "Load the armor-piercing bullets."

As the bombardment began, Oskin opened his closed eyes and brought his face to the scope.

Three days ago, the Soviet army launched an offensive against the Axis military encirclement surrounding Kiev.

The goal is to break through the siege and rescue the allies besieged in Kiev.

By concentrating all of their firepower, the Soviet army succeeded in breaking through the German lines outside the encirclement and then defeated the Romanian and Hungarian armies one by one, which seemed like a success, but ended up being a miserable failure.

While the Romanian and Hungarian regiments were biding their time fighting the Soviet army, Kleist deployed the 25th Motorized Infantry Division and the 1st SS Bulgarian Regiment, which had been left out of reserve, to attack the flanks of the Soviet army and, in an attempt to rescue the encircled troops, reversed the siege. The Soviet army, in danger of being defeated, stopped the battle and retreated.

The German army launched a persistent attack on the retreating Soviet army, and in the end, the Soviet army's offensive was halted, leaving behind a disaster in which 40% of the mobilized troops were killed, disappeared, or became prisoners of the German army.

The regiment that Oskin belonged to was greatly affected by the German counteroffensive and was reduced to battalion level, and was now busy defending against the Axis forces' offensive.

Oskin forced open his eyes that kept closing.

Because I couldn't sleep much, my eyes kept closing. When I was first put into combat, I had a hard time falling asleep even when I should have been due to the tension, but now the problem was that I was falling asleep when I shouldn't have.

Fatigue surpasses tension.

Now that the mortar attack was over, it was time for the infantry attack.

"come. Ready to fire!"

The subject of today's offensive was the Romanian army.

The Romanian army, carrying blue, yellow, and red flags, began its attack, shouting shouts that Oskin could not understand.

As soon as the Romanians came within range of their rifles, the Soviets in the trenches began firing.

Tanks that had run out of gas had their bodies buried in the ground and were being used as fixed batteries.

The useless driver and front machine gunner were running as infantry in the trenches outside the tank, and only two people, Oskin and the ammunition operator, were left in the tank to perform their original duties.

Oskin stepped on the launch pedal, aiming roughly at a place where enemy infantry was concentrated.

As the 76mm main gun fired, three enemy infantry somersaulted in the air.

"Hit. "Load the next shell."

"Comrade sergeant. "Now there are only five shells left."

Oskin's face hardened as he heard the ammunition prisoner's crying voice.

"How many shots are left for each?"

"There are three grenades and two armor-piercing shells."

"You're screwed."

The amount is not even enough for one battle.

Oskin had requested supplies yesterday, saying there was not much ammunition, but the company commander's only response was to use the ammunition as sparingly as possible.

Even if they wanted to supply supplies, it was not easy to supply even a single bullet or potato because the Germans had air superiority.

Oil shortages also greatly contributed to the supply problem.

Still, shouldn't they at least be given enough ammunition to fight?

How do you fight when you run out of ammo? Fighting the enemy with your bare fists?

Running out of shells wasn't just Oskin's problem.

Most other tanks also ran out of ammunition, so they only used coaxial machine guns or the tank commander opened the hatch and fired the PPSh-41.

In Oskin's case, the co-axial machine gun was broken and only the main gun was firing.

And since there were only 5 shells left, I had to shoot as sparingly as possible.

The Romanian army probably decided that it would be difficult to break through the Soviet defense line with infantry alone, so they deployed tanks.

The Renault R35 light tank was not a very threatening opponent, but neither was the Panzer IV.

The Type 4 Tank G, equipped with a 75mm 48 caliber main gun, was quite threatening as it could penetrate the T-34's armor with a single hit.

But the Romanian tankers did something stupid.

They made the mistake of exposing the thinly armored side of the turret in order to suppress the machine gun seat in front of the enemy.

Oskin did not miss the opportunity.

He aimed at the side of the enemy's turret and fired the main gun as soon as the gunner finished loading.

"Good!"

When the armor-piercing round hit, the armor on the side of the turret split into several pieces and a flash of light erupted.

In Tank 4, where half of the turret had been blown off, the driver and operator opened the hatch and came out.

To avenge his comrade, another Tank No. 4 appeared and rushed towards him, firing guns. The gunner pushed the last remaining armor-piercing round into the chamber.

"Loaded! "This is the last time!"

As it was the last armor-piercing bullet, Oskin aimed with great care.

He aimed for the front of the turret, which had thinner armor than the hull.

The front armor of the tank 4 was 80mm, but the turret was only 50mm.

As a result, German tankers added spare tracks to the hull and turret to reinforce the insufficient armor and used them as increased armor, which turned out to be quite useful in actual combat.

Naturally, the tankers of the Axis powers, who learned how to operate the No. 4 Panzer from the German army, also attempted to strengthen the armor by attaching spare tracks.

Tank No. 4, which Oskin was targeting, also had spare tracks installed on its hull and turret.

Oskin waited until the enemy came close to ensure he could penetrate.

Meanwhile, Panzer 4 opened fire, but the shells slipped on the curved turret armor of the T-34.

If the shell had penetrated the armor, Oskin's body would have been shattered, but Oskin was lucky.

When the distance to the enemy was sufficiently narrowed, Oskin gained confidence and stepped on the launch pedal.

"Hit!"

Tank 4 retreated, emitting smoke from its turret.

Another T-34 fired at the retreating Panzer 4, destroying its tracks.

When even the tracks were destroyed, the tank crews abandoned their battered tanks and fled. The Romanian army's offensive was halted and peace returned to the front.

There are now zero shells left on Oskin's tank. At that moment, an order to withdraw came from the division headquarters.

Permission had not been granted so far due to the ban on retreat, but the corps concluded that the current defense line could not be maintained in its current state, so the decision was made to move troops to the second defense line in the rear.

When the withdrawal order was given, the soldiers left the trench without any hesitation.

Oskin also left his favorite tank and joined the ranks heading to the rear.

The defensive line abandoned by the Soviet army fell into the hands of the Romanian army, which launched a re-attack two hours later.

As time passed, the Axis siege network surrounding Kiev became stronger, and the Soviet army moved further away from Kiev.

On August 26, Smolensk fell. The Soviet army fled, taking about 300,000 prisoners.

The German army printed leaflets announcing the fall of Smolensk and distributed them in Kiev.

The effectiveness of the leaflets was so evident that two regiments of Soviet soldiers surrendered just two hours after they were distributed.

On August 28, the final Soviet offensive to break the Kiev siege began.

On August 29, the Soviet offensive was halted with 100,000 casualties.

On August 30, German and Axis forces - Romanians, Hungarians, Albanians, and Croats - launched a major offensive.

August 31st.

Kiev fell.

And on the same day.

Another big news was delivered to the new Fuhrer's residence in Berlin.

"Stalin...suggested strengthening?"

"Yes, Mr. President. "I'm on my way after hearing directly from the Swiss ambassador."

Ribbentrop's face was flushed red, and there was a faint tremor in his voice.

The Soviet Union offered us peace through Switzerland.

He even added that we should meet as soon as possible, but decide on a date and location in Germany.

I was so surprised that I almost dropped the glass I was holding.

The Soviet Union is proposing reinforcement. There was no sign of anything like that, so I was giving up a long time ago.

The opportunity to end the war is now just around the corner.

I couldn't control my body shaking.