Chapter 210 |
< World War II - River of Fire and Blood (6) >
September 15, 1941
Germany's capital, Berlin, Army General Staff Headquarters
I was putting my head together with Manstein in the Berlin General Staff Headquarters, a room so thick with cigarette smoke it was like a den.
"Minister of Defense.
Judging by your profound~~ insight, are you saying the enemy will attack?"
"Yes, Chief of the General Staff."
Manstein leisurely drew on his cigar.
On the ashtray before him, a mountain of cigars that had fulfilled their duty and been gloriously immolated was piled high.
This man, as far as I know, lived a long and healthy life. He's amazing in many ways.
"I don't doubt your lofty~~ knowledge, Minister, but to be frank, it seems like suicide for them to attack now."
"Yes, tactically speaking, that's true."
Air superiority? The Allied Forces have it.
Artillery power? The Allied Forces have it.
Armored power? Likewise, the Allied Forces have it.
The military's morale? We have a series of victories under our belt, and the morale of the Polish, Ukrainian, and Finnish armies, who are directly defending their homelands, is through the roof.
On the other hand, the enemy's morale has hit rock bottom due to their series of defeats and the efforts of our Ministry of Propaganda.
The only advantage the enemy has is their superior numbers, but we have the Dnieper River.
At a point where they have to cross a river that is as wide as the Han River in some places, their numerical superiority fades considerably.
From a tactical point of view, anyone who attacks now is insane.
"But they will come anyway."
It is the Soviet Union that is withering away in a state of total war, having lost half of Belarus and Ukraine while無理やり mobilizing its forces.
With our propaganda war, the pressure of rocket attacks on Leningrad, and the bombing of their railroads, they know that the more time they buy, the worse their situation will get.
On top of that, the Rasputitsa is coming soon.
And not long after that, winter will arrive. Contrary to popular belief, winter is just as painful for the Soviet Army.
General Winter is Russia's protector only when the invading army is unprepared for it.
We are merely fighting a defensive war from our bases in the relatively warmer regions of Belarus and Ukraine.
Furthermore, we're diligently producing new winter equipment developed with know-how from Finland, so as long as we don't launch an unreasonable offensive in the winter, there won't be any major problems.
If anything, the Soviet Union, with its light industry and everything else in ruins and no Lend-Lease, should be the one to fear its own General Winter.
Therefore, they have no opportunity if not now.
If this were just a strategy simulation game, one could simply avoid a battle with a high probability of defeat.
But since this is reality, a gamble often seems better to people than certain ruin.
"The problem is where and how the offensive will unfold."
The opponent is Georgy Zhukov's Red Army.
In the original history, they were the only opponent who could fight the German Army head-on and achieve a stalemate.
They took a serious blow in Operation Liberation, but the same was true during Operation Barbarossa in the original history.
In the end, it was the latent power of the Soviet Union that managed to stop Nazi Germany in that absurdly disadvantageous situation, even before receiving Lend-Lease. Complacency is forbidden.
Manstein once again leisurely drew on his cigar, blew out a puff of smoke, and opened his mouth.
"They have no choice but to attack across the river. Their goal will be the recapture of Ukraine."
Cross the Dnieper and recapture Ukraine.
It was true that Ukraine still held core industrial zones that the Soviet Union hadn't managed to relocate to the Urals, and above all, Ukraine's Chernozem region was the Soviet Union's largest food supply source.
If an offensive were to come, it would be due to political necessity.
Thinking in terms of grand strategy, it made sense, but…
"What about the assumption that they will come for Belarus?"
Manstein slightly raised an eyebrow and glanced at the Belarusian section of the map.
"Certainly, in northern Belarus, with Smolensk and Vitebsk in their hands, they could launch an offensive without a river crossing, Minister."
Manstein said so, then asked with a slight smile.
"But even if they launch an offensive in Belarus, is there any strategic gain for them?"
That was indeed ambiguous.
If they concentrated their offensive on Belarus, it would certainly be difficult for us to defend, but that region doesn't have the same importance as Ukraine.
In the unlikely event that Belarus falls, supply issues aside, their path to push into Poland is blocked by the vast Bialowieza Forest.
To move south and attack the West Bank of the Dnieper, there are swamps in the way.
All things considered, its strategic value is significantly lower than Ukraine's.
"…I feel like our positions have been reversed."
Me looking at the tactical situation, and Manstein looking at the strategic one?
"Hahaha! That you recognize the efforts of this Manstein, who strives to emulate even a fraction of your amazing insight, is truly overwhelming!"
"Ah, yes…"
I half-heartedly ignored him and glanced at the Belarusian side.
It was true that from a strategic value perspective, concentrating the offensive on Belarus would only make the capture of Ukraine more difficult.
The reason it still bothered me, was it because the Polish Army and Sergeant Karina Juhlińska were there?
That Clemens guy.
Making me worry for no reason…
"Still, as per the operation plan, you have the reserves ready to be dispatched if an enemy offensive hits Belarus, right?"
"Haha, of course, Minister!"
Our defensive strategy is simple. The Army Group North, Center, and South are entrenched on the front lines, while the Mobile Army Group waits at the intermediate base in Kiev, ready to be committed as reserves in response to the enemy's offensive.
We may be outnumbered, but we have no restrictions on our railroad operations.
It's a plan that capitalizes on the Mobile Army Group's specialty of high-speed movement, even driving under their own power if necessary.
Clemens is part of that group, too…
"…I'll trust you and the Army, Chief of the General Staff."
"Leave it to me, Minister! Don't you know me? Didn't Operation Liberation clearly show you that the Soviet Army is no match for us? Hahaha!"
Damn it, that just makes me more anxious.
I narrowed my eyes at Manstein, who was steeped in his own self-importance.
The enemy, perhaps because they had been so heavily bombed, had completely withdrawn their armored units to the rear area.
They'll probably depart from their headquarters in Kursk, where rail transport is easy. It's a ploy to use the Soviet's characteristic echelon tactics to hide the main thrust.
It would be nice to have more concrete intel…
The intelligence network that Director Canaris and the Abwehr had painstakingly established while Beria was purged and Stalin took control of the NKVD was being uprooted wholesale as soon as Andropov took over the NKVD.
I have no memory of the name Andropov.
I don't know where a person like that popped up from. In any case, it's an objective fact that we have the upper hand in the war situation, but…
"Please, just don't be complacent-"
"Minister, Your Excellency Chief of the General Staff! A report from the front!"
A staff officer ran in and handed over a telegram.
The content of the telegram was simple.
It reported that the Soviet Army had begun preparations for a river crossing across the entire East Bank of the Dnieper, and that their armored units, which had been on standby in Kursk, appeared to have been deployed in large numbers to the riverbank.
Simultaneously, there was also a report that offensive preparations were observed in the direction of Belarus.
"Hahaha, they're really coming! As expected of you, Minister! Your foresight is almost prophetic! This Manstein is simply amazed!"
Well, of course they'd come, they're on the verge of withering away otherwise.
I replied half-heartedly.
"Yes, yes… Your prediction also hit the mark, Chief of the General Staff."
"Hahaha, it's only natural! They had no other choice!"
An offensive across the entire front.
Typical Soviet echelon tactics. Even with the river on our side, an offensive of this scale means we have no choice but to pour in our reserves and fight with all our might.
"I ask for your utmost preparedness."
Finishing my words, I glared at the operation map.
It was clear that them crossing the river for an all-out offensive was the very situation we had lured them into, the one we most desired.
…But why do I feel so anxious?
---
September 15, 1941
The Soviet capital, Moscow – The Kremlin Palace
NKVD Chairman Yuri Andropov and Chief of the General Staff Alexei Antonov were waiting for General Secretary Stalin to review their report.
"Excellent, absolutely excellent. Comrade Andropov. Not a single one of those despicable German spies is left."
"Thank you, Comrade General Secretary!"
The biggest reason the General Secretary had come to trust Andropov was that he was continuously catching Abwehr spies.
Stalin laughed, looking genuinely pleased for the first time in a while.
"It is thanks to Comrade Andropov's great performance that we could adopt this operation plan. Comrade Zhukov is finally doing his job properly."
The echelon offensive across the entire front, stretching from the Dnieper to Belarus, was the Soviet Army's smokescreen.
The Soviet Army's real main thrust was Belarus, and most of the armored units from Kursk had already completed preparations to move to Smolensk by rail, awaiting only the order.
"To think we'd use the same trick those German bastards used against France and turn it right back on them.
Hahaha…"
Of course, the German Army wouldn't be fooled by a simple smokescreen, so the echelon offensive across the Dnieper theater would actually be carried out.
However, many of the armored units deployed on the East Bank of the Dnieper were fakes, camouflaged with cardboard to look like tanks, similar to what the Germans had used during Operation Winter Storm.
Swallowing dryly at the sight of the cheerful General Secretary, Antonov cautiously asked.
"Then, Comrade General Secretary, Comrade Zhukov's request is…"
They had to execute echelon tactics across the Dnieper theater, but the armored units had been diverted, leaving them with almost none.
If they pulled out the infantry as well, the Germans would not be fooled. Therefore, Zhukov's request was to commit the armies of Voroshilov and Budyonny to the offensive unit in Belarus.
Stalin fell into thought for a moment. The loyalty of the military was questionable.
Voroshilov and Budyonny's armies were not only reserves to be committed in the unlikely event the front collapsed, but they had also been positioned to warn the front armies against any rash actions.
So, under normal circumstances, it would be right to save those armies until the very end, but…
"Comrade General Secretary, as you know, the morale of the front armies is low due to the malicious propaganda of the Allied bastards. Here, we must commit an army that has preserved its strength as much as possible to strike where they least expect and raise the vigor of the Red Army."
At Antonov's words, Stalin stroked his mustache.
The justification was impeccable. At least from a tactical and strategic perspective, there was no reason to reject this request.
However, even though Antonov was the general Stalin favored most in the military, the unceasing suspicion always displeased him.
Stalin glanced at the phantom of Trotsky, who stood quietly in a corner of the room, watching him.
The phantom said nothing. It just watched him silently with a displeasing smile.
Stalin turned his gaze to the young man with glasses and a perpetually cool-headed face, Andropov.
"Comrade Andropov, what are your thoughts?"
Andropov seemed to think for a moment, then gave a polite bow to Stalin and answered.
"The Rasputitsa is coming soon, Comrade General Secretary. To refresh the atmosphere of the Union before then, it is necessary to do our best in this offensive."
Stalin nodded, inwardly satisfied.
Andropov did not offer him special flattery or make lip-service appeals to trust the military.
He only gave advice based on the current situation, and only when Stalin asked for it.
That aspect, rather, pleased the General Secretary.
Merkulov, who had been in the NKVD before him, had found nothing suspicious about Andropov…
He was far better than Khrushchev or Molotov, who only ever flattered and groveled.
Stalin turned his eyes back to the operation plan.
When he first heard Zhukov's plan to concentrate the offensive on Belarus, Stalin had been inwardly displeased.
This was because Belarus had almost no immediate strategic value. However, Zhukov, who had been subdued for a while, had passionately persuaded him with his characteristic arrogant posture.
-In this situation, the possibility of crossing the river and recapturing Ukraine is almost zero, Comrade General Secretary! If we are to launch an offensive, what we urgently need is not a strategically vital point where success cannot be guaranteed, but a victory that will wash away the defeatism that now stains the Union!
Zhukov also had a plan to 'attrite' the armies whose loyalty to the Party was questionable due to the influence of the Allied propaganda war, using the echelon tactics to hide the main thrust.
It was a very Zhukov-like plan, one that suited the General Secretary's tastes.
The nation was in a crisis, facing defeat after defeat.
Now that things had come to this, the Soviet Union could no longer worry about casualties.
The bloated army, conscripted and with low morale, was itself accelerating the Soviet Union's ruin.
If they lost the war, Stalin and the Union were finished anyway.
In this case, it was better to grind down the Red Army to inflict great damage on the Allied Forces, cut down their will to fight, and lessen the burden on the Union.
Stalin decided to suppress his nagging suspicions, at least for a while.
Though he had openly opposed his order to retake Ukraine, to suspect the man who, after being forced to launch an offensive, came up with a plausible second-best option seemed excessive.
Besides, if they were to try any reckless action, there was Andropov's NKVD, Merkulov watching Andropov, and his own direct-controlled SMERSH.
"Very well, do it. I will issue the order to Comrades Voroshilov and Budyonny."
"Thank you, Comrade General Secretary!"
Stalin glanced at the phantom of Trotsky, who still wore that infuriating smile.
I will not be captured by that cursed specter. I will not be toyed with by a vicious devil who, even in death, wishes for me to be destroyed by my own suspicions.
At this point, it was victory or death.
---
September 18, 1941
Western Soviet Union (Northern Belarus), near Minsk – Allied Army Group North Frontline
In the encampment of the Polish Army's 4th Infantry Division, 21st Infantry Regiment, the 'Children of Warsaw,' mealtime was in full swing.
"What's for army rations today?"
"Yes, Sergeant! Potatoes, sausage, and pasta!"
"Ooh- give me two sausages."
At the playful grin and words of Sergeant Karina Juhlińska, the mess cook, who had been looking at her with admiration, stuttered and became flustered.
"Ah, I can't do that, Sergeant. These are German supplies, so we have almost no extras…"
"Relax, kid, it was a joke. Give me a big one."
With skilled hands, the mess cook poured canned pasta into her mess tin, picked out a visibly large sausage and potatoes, cooked them, and handed them to Karina.
"Here you are."
"Nice job, thanks.
Keep up the good work~"
Karina quickly stuffed the sausage into her mouth and chewed voraciously.
'Ah, meat! It's the best, no matter when. Thrilling.'
Karina suddenly recalled her meeting with that big shot from the Allied Forces, the German Vice-Chancellor, or was he the Minister of Defense now? Anyway, she remembered him.
The way he had offered her meat with an uncertain look, it was so obvious who had told him to do it that she had laughed.
The Schweinshaxe or whatever that Major Fleck had made for her was incredibly delicious…
Karina finished chewing the sausage and picked up her fork.
Just as she stuffed her mouth full of pasta and was soaking a potato in the pasta sauce, a deafening roar reached her ears.
Her nerves, which had been relaxed by the happy meal, instantly tensed, and she dropped what she was eating, grabbed her rifle, and shouted.
"Get down!"
"Uwaaaah!"
Amidst the panic-stricken soldiers who had been in the middle of their meal and only snapped to their senses at Karina's shout, artillery shells rained down on the encampment.
For a while, vibrations and explosions echoed, and as it quieted down a little, Karina and the Polish soldiers shot back to their feet.
"Aaargh, aaargh-!"
Regrettably, not everyone was able to get up unscathed.
"Attack, it's an attack!"
"To your positions!"
"Wiwat Polska!"
As everyone moved busily, Karina spotted a first private screaming with blood pouring from his leg and approached him.
"My, my leg, my leg- Ugh!"
The first private, who had just been slapped across the face, looked stunned as she dragged him behind a building, tossed him there, and pulled medicine and a bandage from her gear.
"It's not even severed.
Did your hands fly off just because your leg is hurt?! Disinfect it and stop the bleeding yourself! If you don't want them to cut off your leg later!"
"Y-Yikes, yes, yessir, Sergeant!"
Normally, she would have treated him herself, but a single glance showed this was not that kind of situation. The sounds of artillery continued unabated.
Karina left the private and stood up, brushing the dirt and dust from her rifle's scope.
"Sigh, where did all the higher-ups who said it wouldn't be fierce here go."
As she sighed lightly and raised her weapon, the familiar grip of her trusty Kar98k rifle calmed her.
Whatever happened, her job was clear. Kill the enemy, protect her comrades.
That was all.
The battle for Minsk, the fiercest engagement of the war, thus began.