206

Episode 206: Battle of Moscow (7)

October 25, 1942

outskirts of moscow, ussr

"done. stop."

"uh? "Don't we still have to dig more?"

"Are you digging a tunnel? That depth is enough. There's still a while until meal time, so get some sleep. You must sleep when you can. "If you don't want to regret it later."

Sergei, who had been a foolish private like the child soldiers in front of him a few months ago, was now a sergeant with the air of a veteran who had experienced many hardships.

The Red Flag medal hanging on his military uniform and the beard that had grown significantly due to not shaving for a long time made him look older and more experienced than he actually was.

In an unnamed small town on the outskirts of Moscow, about 10km from Red Square, Sergei's company dug a trench and waited for the Germans.

In the center of Moscow, the sounds of gunfire and gunfire continued. The noise of the battlefield continued day and night.

Veteran soldiers like Sergei had long since become accustomed to gunshots and gunshots, but the newly enlisted soldiers seemed to be not so, reflexively flinching at the sound of even slightly louder gunshots.

"Aren't you scared of Comrade Sergeant?"

A boy soldier with a wart on his chin asked, rolling his eyes.

"me? Of course it's scary. "I'm just like you, man."

"But it doesn't look scary at all."

"I just got used to it. "You guys will become calm like me in just a month."

There was no guarantee that he would survive even after a week, let alone a month, but Sergei didn't bother to say anything.

Unlike other veteran soldiers, he did not tease new recruits about how many days they would survive on the battlefield.

He himself had almost died several times on the battlefield, but he was not sure he would survive longer than the new recruits.

Sergei just stayed quiet because he wasn't confident he would survive for long, but that didn't seem to be the case in the eyes of the recruits.

The child soldiers believed that Sergei, who did not tease or show off to new recruits like other sergeants, was someone they could trust, so they followed him even more.

I felt like I could somehow survive if I was with him who was quiet and not frivolous.

At that time, the bombardment suddenly began. Sergei, who had been through enough artillery fire, immediately lowered his posture.

"Don't stand still and quickly bow your head!"

The bombardment lasted about 10 minutes. After a round of artillery fire swept through, Sergei opened his closed eyes. There was silence everywhere.

I felt like I would have to wait a little longer for my hearing to return to its original state.

Considering that the bombardment usually lasts from 30 minutes to over 2 hours once it starts, this bombardment was particularly short.

However, the damage caused by the bombardment was by no means easy.

Outside the trench was nothing short of hell.

Smoke rising from everywhere, the smell of gunpowder stinging your nose, and the cries of wounded soldiers desperately crying out for help.

"OMG! "Aaaah!"

"Mommy!!!"

"medic!"

Some soldiers died instantly when shells hit the trenches directly. However, they were among the lucky ones.

Those who were not so lucky were dying painfully, looking at their bodies split in half and their internal organs spilling out.

While soldiers were pulling out buried comrades and carrying wounded soldiers, officers were running around the trenches and screaming.

"The enemy will come soon! "Don't leave your seat!"

"Except for the soldiers carrying the wounded soldiers, all other personnel must carry ammunition! There is no time!"

Sergei went out of the trench to deliver ammunition at the order of the platoon commander. However, he was forced to go back into the trench because of the German tanks that soon appeared.

"It's the Germans! "Ready for battle!"

Oh my, that's too fast! Sergei clashed his teeth with the German army that had suddenly appeared filling the horizon.

Panzer IV tanks, which looked like Japanese samurai armed with armor, were approaching with their main guns upright. The legs of the child soldiers trembled when they saw the tanks.

"······Huh?"

But something unexpected happened. At a distance of about 1km from the trench, the tanks suddenly took a detour.

They were not the target of the German attack. The bombardment just now was just a preliminary measure to drive out enemies that might be in the village, but the real goal was different.

"Where are they going?"

"Can't you see it? "It's heading toward Moscow."

The German army's procession, led by Panzer IV, passed through the village and continued towards Moscow.

Since the enemy showed a flank, launching an attack now could have resulted in significant damage, but the Soviets did not do so.

Not only was there not a single tank in the village, but if they caught the attention of the enemy for no reason, they, who were barely made up of infantrymen, would be finished.

The company commander had no intention of taking risks, and neither did the soldiers.

Even the political officers just watched the tanks heading toward Moscow with bated breath.

***

Moscow, the brain and heart of the Soviet Union and the capital of the world revolution, was now on fire.

"You guys there!"

"Where are you coming from?"

Smersi patrolling among the rubble of the bombed-out building pointed their guns and shouted at them to stop.

The people they summoned were boys and girls in military uniform.

Wearing uniforms larger than their bodies, they were coming from the front lines where the battle took place.

With the sound of machine guns and gunshots resounding loudly, like roasting beans, the Smersi rolled their eyes and put their fingers on the trigger.

"Tell me your unit and rank."

"You were retreating? "Then, give me permission to retreat."

"doesn't exist? "Are they kidding me?"

"You guys were deserting, right?"

"no! "We are really looking for Wondae-"

"Do not lie! "You reactionary bastards!"

The captain of Smersi judged that about seven child soldiers were running away after being scared by German fascists.

The Smerci, a unit under Stalin's direct command, had the authority to summarily judge deserters or those suspected of being deserters.

The Smersi hanged everyone who looked suspicious to them.

Child soldiers who looked better with a desk and pencil than a uniform and a rifle, civilians who went into battle wearing only an armband, and even officers were once suspected of being deserters and that was it.

"Ahhhh! honey!"

"You come here too, bitch!"

"mom! mom!"

Those designated as deserters, reactionaries, or defeatists were shot to death, and their bodies were hung from telephone poles. The person who wept after seeing the corpse on display also felt the same way.

"Burn this too."

"This too."

"And that too."

Zhukov oversaw the burning of various documents that had not been taken from the Kremlin or had been left behind due to lack of space.

Documents with a red stamp indicating top secret crumbled to black in the scarlet flames.

It was also his responsibility to supervise the demolition of the 'Palace of Soviets', a mega-skyscraper that Stalin wanted to build in Moscow.

Construction of the Palace of Soviets began in 1937 and was scheduled for completion in 1943, but construction was halted due to the outbreak of the German-German War, leaving only the basic foundations in place.

Even if the German-German War had not occurred, it would have been impossible to complete a huge skyscraper reaching 495 meters in height in 1943.

Just before leaving Moscow, Stalin instructed Zhukov to 'clean up after himself.'

"Moscow must not be completely taken over by German fascists. That's Moscow's shame. Thoroughly destroy everything that the Nazis could use as trophies. Do you understand?"

Stalin was pathologically afraid that the unfinished and only partially built Palace of Soviets would fall into fascist hands.

Zhukov thought it was pointless to worry, but in any case, it was the Secretary General's order, not anyone else's, so he had no choice but to follow it.

Both Voroshilov and Shaposhnikov left Moscow with Stalin. But Zhukov remained in Moscow to carry out Stalin's instructions.

Stalin had pointedly instructed him from the beginning, and had once entrusted him with the defense of Moscow and told him that this was his last chance.

Stalin did not tell Zhukov to come to Kuybyshev after completing all his tasks. He simply told me to stay in Moscow and do my duty.

"How far has the demolition work progressed?"

"That commander, comrade…"

"Work is being delayed due to lack of explosives. "We have been scraping up all the explosives in the Moscow area, but there is not enough."

Even if only basic construction was done, the scale was so incredibly large that blowing it up was not common.

Of course, a huge amount of explosives were needed, and even though we collected civilian explosives in addition to military explosives, it was still not enough.

In the first place, it was strange that there were explosives left in the midst of a battle.

"······Hehehehehe."

Dejected, Zhukov smiled bitterly and drank vodka from the bottle. The staff, who knew Zhukov's personality well, stood in fear of what creative profanity would fall from his lips this time.

"Fuck you. "Nothing goes right until the end."

It was not only the Palace of Soviets that Stalin ordered Zhukov to completely destroy to prevent it from falling into the hands of the Nazis.

Everything in Moscow was designated for destruction, including the Lenin Mausoleum where Lenin's body was stored and displayed, the Kremlin Palace where he lived, and the Kremlin Palace, which is a symbol of Moscow.

Destroy everything, not even leaving a single piece behind. That's a much better option than going over to the fascists.

However, there were many things that needed to be destroyed, but there was no means to destroy them.

What kind of comedy is this?

"It's better. "Disarm all the explosives you planted and use them to create traps for the Germans."

"I will deliver it to each unit."

For Zhukov, this was his last place anyway. There was no next time.

The Secretary General entrusted him with the defense of Moscow and told him that this was his last chance.

It would not be difficult for him to get out before Moscow completely falls into German hands.

However, even if he goes to Kuybyshev, only a firing squad will be waiting for him.

Or Gulag.

He had already realized what Stalin had decided to do with him.

Stalin himself said that he would entrust Zhukov with the defense of Moscow, but he interfered and sabotaged Zhukov's plans at every turn, and even deliberately ignored him when he insisted that he should focus on defense rather than offense.

Even if the defense of Moscow had been successful, the probability that Stalin would spare him was extremely low since defeat was already certain.

However, he couldn't just surrender. If he surrendered, his family's fate would be over.

If he, who insisted that all the families of the soldiers who surrendered should be executed because they were reactionaries, actually surrendered to the German army, how would future generations evaluate him?

It would be much better to burn cleanly than to live the rest of your life as a traitor, coward, and fearful.

At least that was the case for Zhukov himself.

***

October 26, 1942

outskirts of moscow, ussr

"I never thought I would see something like this in my life. "It's something we will live to see for a long time."

Manstein, puffing on his cigar, put down his binoculars and grinned.

He was now at the scene of history.

At the sacred site of history, where the proud German Wehrmacht marches toward Moscow, the heart of the Bolsheviks.

As a Prussian soldier, could there be a more glorious moment than this?

"Haha, hahahaha!!"

Even if I just stayed still, I couldn't help but laugh.

On the day the war began, I couldn't help but laugh when I thought of the communists standing in front of the map, glaring at Berlin with solemn expressions.

Stalin, he couldn't even have imagined what it would be like now.

So why did they bring about disaster by messing with Germany? The Fuhrer never wanted to be at odds with the Soviet Union.

Stalin may have thought of Hitler, but in Manstein's view, Hitler had a bold yet quite cautious personality.

He noticed Manstein's sickle plan, which was clearly a gamble, and approved it. Even as preparations for the Soviet Union's invasion accelerated, he refused to launch a preemptive attack and tried to talk with Stalin until the last moment.

If Stalin had not started a war first, the Fuhrer would have maintained cooperative relations with the Soviet Union until the end.

"Does our junior seem to be in a good mood?"

"So, senior, you have the same face as me?"

Manstein smiled at Bock's words and told the captain at the wheel to speed up.

However, even if the speed was increased, Horhi, who was carrying them, could hardly speed up because the ground was so barren. Bork said, clicking his tongue.

"If it weren't for this damn Rasputitsa, we'd be having a party in the Kremlin right now."

"That's right. "We will have to complete the occupation before it snows."

Because Horch was not very fast, Manstein and Bock had no choice but to switch to Sd.Kfz 251.

The lieutenant, who was sitting in front of the radio wearing a headset, took off the headset and said.

"Your Excellency, this is a report from the 1st SS Panzer Corps. "We have just entered downtown Moscow."

Subsequently, the 3rd SS Panzer Corps and the Hindenburg Panzer Corps also reported the same thing.

They said they succeeded in entering downtown Moscow.

***

"Mr. President!"

"There is news from Marshal Manstein that our troops have entered downtown Moscow!"

"Congratulations!"

When the report came that our troops had set foot in downtown Moscow, the Fuhrer's residence immediately became abuzz.

I remained humble even as everyone from Goering to Goebbels, Keitel, Brauchitsch, Jodel, etc. said something.

"This is good news, but the battle is still ongoing, so let's leave it at this. It's not too late to have a real party after the battle is over. Rather, has there been a conclusion as to whether the rumor is true or not?"

Not long ago, our friend received some strange information.

It was information that Stalin had died in a friendly bombing raid.

Originally, rumors of various things circulated on the battlefield, so I didn't think it was a big deal at first.

It's not once or twice that a plausible rumor ended up as a rumor without substance.

What's more, Stalin, who should have been in the Kremlin, died on the front line instead of anywhere else.

Does this make sense based on common sense?

However, as a large number of prisoners giving similar testimony emerged, our soldiers also paid attention to the rumors.

When the number of prisoners who saw or heard rumors that Stalin, who was inspecting the front lines, had died in a bombing raid exceeded a thousand, our troops also paid attention and investigated whether the rumors were true.

"Shortly after rumors spread that Stalin had died, Stalin appeared on television and gave a speech in person. "As a result of requesting Stalin's original speech from the country's top experts, they found no significant difference from Stalin's previous voice."

"There are also testimonies from prisoners who said they saw Stalin appear in Red Square."

"Well, it was a rumor again."

When I grunted, the yodele shrugged.

"But the possibilities haven't completely evaporated yet. "Stalin is really dead, but they may be hiding that fact and using Stalin's double to avoid confusion."

"It makes sense, but it's not a movie and something like that is actually possible. "It's quite possible."

Even I am possessed by Hitler right now, but I cannot 100% guarantee that such a thing could not happen in reality.

In the end, it was a little later that I found out the truth.