189

Episode 189: Toward Victory (2)

August 31, 1942

New Fuhrer's Residence in Berlin, Germany

"On the one hand, it's strange. "Why did you propose strengthening now?"

"Isn't it because you have some faith in it?"

"Maybe it's because they are confident that they can soon turn the tide."

I don't know the exact reason why the ceasefire was announced only now, not when the friendly forces' counterattack had begun, but I couldn't control my excitement at the fact that the opportunity to end the war had come.

"What do you plan to do?"

"Shouldn't we meet first and hear what they have to say? "Secretary Ribbentrop, didn't the Soviet Union say we can decide the date and location as we please?"

"That's right."

It was clear that the Soviet Union was sincerely committed to a cease-fire, as it allowed us to set the date and location, which were one of the most important elements of the meeting.

If I still had the time, I wouldn't have done that.

"Of course the location should be Germany, right? Please set the date as early as possible. Within the first week of September. "I think it would be better to meet quickly if possible."

"All right."

"Mr. Fuhrer, do you really want to listen to what the Bolsheviks are saying?"

Goering said: He seemed convinced that the Soviet Union's proposal for talks was a trick by Stalin.

"exactly."

"Wouldn't they be able to use the meeting as an excuse to propose a ceasefire during the meeting? In this case, I am concerned that various problems may arise in our troops' operations."

"Don't worry about that. Why don't I think about that possibility too? "The ceasefire talks will proceed, but the war will continue."

If Stalin thought that he could buy time with the armistice proposal, as Göring feared, he was greatly mistaken.

Unless we really agree to end the war, we have no intention of stopping the war here first.

From the perspective of the friendly forces who must advance as much as possible to reach Moscow before Rasputitsa begins, a truce is a poison and nothing can be harmed.

Therefore, I told Ribbentrop to unconditionally refuse if the Soviet Union requested a few days' ceasefire, citing the talks.

Still, once we had decided to hold a meeting, we had to discuss what we could demand from the Soviet Union.

When the war first broke out, I thought I would be satisfied with only the cession of the occupied territory west of the Dnieper River, but now I think differently.

Since our troops have already advanced to Leningrad and Smolensk, there is a high possibility that Stalin will be pleased if he only demands the western part of the Dnieper River.

"I think it would be appropriate to end it by ceding the Baltic countries, Belarus, and Ukraine and receiving compensation. "What are your opinions?"

"These are too lenient conditions, Mr. President. "It was the Soviet Union that started the war in the first place, so they must pay the appropriate price."

"My thoughts are the same as Marshal Goering."

Göring, Goebbels, Himmler, and others expressed opposition, saying that the terms of the armistice I had considered were too lenient.

This is such a lenient condition. What kind of conditions are they considering?

"The Baltic countries and Belarus have already been completely taken over, and Ukraine will also be taken over by our forces in one to two months. Therefore, I think we should take it to the Caucasus."

Göring's proposal. Goebbels added the condition that materials such as minerals, oil, and lumber should be supplied to Germany free of charge in the same amount as was supplied before the war.

Himmler went one step further and argued that southern Russia should also be ceded.

According to Himmler's claim, the Soviet Union would completely lose the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov. Of course, Stalin would not accept this, so he immediately dismissed it.

In any case, everyone agreed that the Baltic countries, Belarus, and Ukraine alone were not enough, and only Ribbentrop and Weizsäcker agreed with me.

"But isn't there a chance that the Soviet Union will accept all of our demands? Rather, it would only provoke them and increase the enemy's will to fight, causing an unfortunate incident."

"Mr. President, if you do not take this opportunity to make sure that the Soviet Union does not start a war again, they will definitely try to start a war again. And it was the Soviet Union that proposed a ceasefire first, not us.

Isn't the fact that negotiations were concluded first proof that war can no longer be fought? "There is no need for war, so no matter what we ask, they will accept all of our demands."

"If we propose rather lenient conditions, it may give the wrong signal that things are not going well for Germany either."

Uhmmm.

For Germany, which had limitations in terms of weight class, the option of prolonging the war was too risky.

Although the Soviet Union is currently suffering a significant blow, the Soviet Union suffered even greater damage in history and eventually captured Berlin and destroyed Nazi Germany.

In fact, during the German-German War, the Soviet Union proposed a ceasefire to Germany several times, but each time it was canceled due to Hitler's opposition.

If Hitler had accepted the Soviet Union's proposal and ended the war early, the ending of World War II would have been very different from what we know, but Hitler, blinded by his ambition to destroy the Soviet Union and complete Lebensraum, did not accept the Soviet Union's proposal. I refused, and later I hit the ground and regretted it.

But Goering and Goebbels' words were persuasive.

In actual history, the Soviet Union fought Germany with great support from the United States and Britain, and the Baku oil fields remained intact throughout the war.

But now the Soviet Union not only does not have land leases, but to make matters worse, it is also short on oil.

There is a possibility that a ceasefire was concluded because war was truly no longer possible.

However, as Goebbels said, if lenient conditions were presented here, it could have caused the enemy to misjudge the situation of the war.

Should we end the war immediately and achieve peace in the immediate future, or eliminate future troubles even if it means continuing the war?

After much thought, I decided to follow the latter.

Although it was important to end the war quickly, it was also quite dangerous to leave the Soviet Union with the power to start a war.

Even if it meant prolonging the war a little longer, it was a beneficial choice for the future of Germany and Europe to use this opportunity to physically castrate the Soviet Union so that it could never attack Germany again.

Above all, what if the war had just ended and the Soviet Union turned to the Far East to make up for its failures in Europe?

In this case, an unexpected disaster may occur.

In order for that to happen, as everyone said, we must make it impossible for the Soviet Union to attempt war itself.

There was one more issue that needed as much attention as the ceasefire talks.

The attack on Leningrad.

Leningrad, the former capital of Russia, the political, economic, and cultural center of Russia, and a window to the Baltic Sea, was the second most important city in the Soviet Union after Moscow.

If such an important city named after Lenin were to fall, it would have dealt a political and military blow to the Soviet Union and could have shaken the morale of the Soviet people to their core.

In this way, the Soviet Union also devoted considerable effort to the defense of Leningrad. Currently, the city was completely surrounded by our troops, but because Leningrad's defenses were so strong, our troops were having great difficulty in advancing.

Even though the current German army, unlike in actual history, is armed with heavy tanks such as Panther, Tiger, and Broombear.

However, our allies had a secret weapon. That's right...

"Marshal Leder. "I can look forward to it this time too, right?"

"Of course, Mr. President. When has the Navy ever disappointed you, Mr. Fuhrer? "We will definitely do it this time too."

The army generals who were deprived of credit by Leder's confident and arrogant remarks did not hide their displeasure, but none of them said that the Navy's help was unnecessary.

In their opinion, naval support was essential for the speedy fall of Leningrad.

***

September 1, 1942

USSR Moscow Kremlin Palace

"Comrade Secretary General, Germany has responded to the proposal."

As expected, Germany responded to the Soviet Union's armistice proposal. With this, you have passed the first hurdle. Stalin asked as he struck a match and lit a cigarette.

"What is the date and location?"

"The meeting location is Breslau and the date is September 6."

As expected, the location was Germany.

It was natural, but since the Soviet Union had said in the first place that they could set the date and location as they wanted, there was nothing they could say.

Still, it was fortunate that the date was early.

This was proof that Germany was sincere about the cease-fire talks with the Soviet Union.

The decisive reason why Stalin hastened the ceasefire with Germany was the crushing defeat of the Allies at Dieppe.

When the formation of Britain's second front, which he believed in, ended in a miserable failure, Stalin gave up hope in Britain and decided to conclude a truce with Germany before the war situation worsened.

The Soviet Union would have been able to survive only by signing a peace treaty when it had at least one more thing to spit out.

While Stalin was preparing to defend Moscow, he was also immersed in the preparations for the armistice talks.

The fact that the Soviet Union was holding ceasefire talks with Germany was a top secret known only to a few people in the Soviet Union, including Stalin and Molotov.

If it became known that a ceasefire was being planned, it could have a serious impact on the morale of the military and the people, and it would have been the same as Stalin admitting that he had lost the war.

Therefore, Stalin kept the armistice plan a top secret and, as usual, gave strict orders to his generals to come up with measures to stop the German army, while later discussing with his aides the extent to which he should make concessions to Germany.

"Comrade Molotov. The fate of the Soviet Union depends on you. "Keep this in mind and follow the talks."

"Yes, Comrade Secretary."

This was what Stalin usually said, but Molotov did not ignore what Stalin just said.

Stalin, annoyed by the sight of Molotov repeatedly bowing his head with a determined expression, waved his hand and ordered the congratulations.

I had a meeting scheduled for an hour later, so I wanted to be alone and quiet until then.

Just as Molotov was about to leave, an NKVD major appeared with a telegram in his hand.

The moment I realized what the words on the telegram meant, a chill ran down my spine and cold sweat rolled down my face.

"this······."

***

As of September 1, 1942, the Soviet Baltic Fleet was virtually annihilated.

After the German-German War began, the Baltic Fleet was pushed by the German Navy and was busy running away.

The Baltic Fleet's strategy of avoiding engagement as much as possible and concentrating on conserving power was not wrong, as fighting head-on against the German Navy's overwhelming power was tantamount to suicide. However, fighting could be completely avoided by simply running away. Their thinking was a pathetic illusion.

The German Navy doggedly and steadily hunted the Baltic Fleet.

The battleships Okchavryskaya Revoluchya and Mara, which were at least a decent force in the Baltic Fleet, were sunk under the Baltic Sea by the German Navy's legendary U-boat ace Günther Prin.

Most of the few remaining cruisers and destroyers were sunk or damaged by the joint operation of the German Navy and Air Force, and the Baltic Fleet's current remaining strength consists of a few torpedo boats and two destroyers under repair.

The Soviet Navy's next battleship, the Sobietsky Soyuz, is being built with great care, and only the hull has been completed.

Of course, it was impossible to attack a battleship that was far from completion with all its might.

Their odds of winning a fight against the German Navy's large fleet off the coast of Leningrad were equivalent to a cheetah's ability to hunt an adult elephant.

The German Navy mobilized three of its nine battleships (12 including the Deutschland class) to attack Leningrad.

Former French Navy battleship Richelieu, renamed Friedrich der Große (Frederick the Great), Scharnhorst, upgraded with 38cm main guns, and finally, Europe's largest battleship Tirpitz.

There was some criticism within the Navy that it was a waste to mobilize three golden battleships to deal with one city, but the Fuhrer's special order was that the presence of battleships with high firepower was necessary to break through Leningrad's iron-clad defense line. These three battleships were sent to Leningrad under the direction of Raeder, who judged that a great deal was needed to strengthen the position of the Navy, which had fewer opportunities to be active than the Army and Air Force.

When the 'Baltenflot Fleet', consisting of the German Navy's only Deutschland-class armored ship, Atmiral Scher, eight Le Hardy-class destroyers ripped from the French Navy, and transport ships, appeared off the coast of Leningrad, the fate of Leningrad was decided. It was no different.

The three battleships and Atmiral Shea targeted Leningrad with their heavy guns. Their primary target is the debris of the Baltic Fleet anchored in the port.

"launch!"

Two destroyers and a small torpedo boat, which was undergoing repairs due to damage to its engine room and bow due to the Stuka attack, were unable to block the 38cm gun shells fired by the battleships.

All remaining ships of the Baltic Fleet anchored in Kronstadt Port on Kotlin Island were engulfed in flames and sank, making the Baltic Fleet completely disappear into history.

The coastal batteries on Kotlin Island were also completely helpless in front of the 38cm naval guns.

The soldiers of the coastal battery fought as hard as they could, but the shells they fired did not do any damage to the battleship.

Waltenflot's fleet poured shells out of range of the coastal batteries until they all fell silent.

Luftwaffe bombers from Feniki also participated in the attack on Kotlin Island.

The Waltenflot fleet, including all the coastal batteries, headed toward Kotlin Island. And the soldiers were placed on the island.

"Now it's our turn!"

"Let's go out! Let's go and make an example!"

Soldiers of the Army and Navy ground forces, crammed into transport ships and converted whaling ships, ran wild as soon as they set foot on land, wandering around Kotlin Island, which was devastated by artillery fire and bombing.

Hatcher, who landed on Kotlin Island in a transport ship, also moved with the infantry and provided firepower.

In preparation for the German army's landing, the Soviet army deployed as many as 15 tanks and armored vehicles on Kotlin Island.

This was a measure taken in consideration of the importance of Kotlin Island, as the number was considerable compared to the size of the island, but unfortunately, the armored vehicles deployed on the island were already treated as obsolete items, such as the T-26 and BA-20.

Six T-26s running along the road encountered a Hatcher and were completely destroyed.

The T-26's 45mm main gun could not even make a scratch on the Hatcher's frontal armor, and the Hatcher's 75mm armor-piercing bullets penetrated the thin armor of the T-26 front and back, destroying the vehicle behind it.

By the time the sun set, Kotlin Island had completely fallen into German hands.

***

"German troops land on Kotlin Island?"

"That's right. "We are currently engaged in a battle with the island garrison. It is said that they will not be able to hold out for long because they are at full strength."

Lieutenant General Leonid Govorov, commander of the Leningrad Defense Command, felt like the sky was falling.

The landing of the German army on Kotlin Island, which served as a wall protecting Leningrad, meant the fall of Kotlin Island, and the fall of Kotlin Island meant that Leningrad was completely exposed to attack from the sea.

The expressions on the faces of Tymoshenko and Vasilevsky, the commanders of the Leningrad Defense Command who were meeting with Govorov, also darkened.

By tomorrow, the German fascist army will land in Leningrad.

Since all land routes leading to Leningrad were blocked, supplies could not be brought in from outside, so the city had to hold out only with the supplies remaining until the German blockade was lifted.

There was plenty of ammunition left, but the problem was food.

Since people must eat to fight, Tymoshenko and Vasilevsky were discussing the issue of food distribution.

But now that discussion has become meaningless. The city was about to fall before all the food in Leningrad was used up.