288

Episode 288: The End of the Apocalypse (1)

1944.

The new year has begun.

"Tank, forward!"

"let's go! "It's progress!"

A loud gunshot announcing the start of a new year.

The sound of a tank engine.

Even the enthusiastic shouts of the infantry.

The German army, which had been waiting until the right wing was devastated by a single nuclear launch and the enemy fell into chaos after its command system was destroyed, attacked at once, showing a driving force commensurate with the wait.

Hitler instructed Manstein that if any corps commander or division commander who was blinded by military discipline violated his instructions and brought soldiers into the heavily radioactive Right Wing, he must be shot.

You can only surround the right wing, but never enter!

Manstein delivered the Fuhrer's orders to each unit in the Ufa area.

"Until the Fuhrer gives permission, if anyone dares join the right wing, I will kill him with my own hands! "Do you understand?"

"yes!"

"Your Excellency Marshal. "Then what is the plan for allowing a small scouting party to enter the city?"

Write it. An oblivious staff member raised his hand to discuss an opinion, but then lowered his tail after receiving Manstein's cold gaze.

"Is what I said funny?"

"… … no."

"Didn't you hear what I just said?"

"I heard."

"I heard it, but why are you asking?"

"sorry."

"If I'm sorry, will my military service end?"

"no."

The President strongly advised people not to go near the Ufa until two weeks before the concentration of radioactivity, which has a fatal effect on the human body, decreases and normal activities become possible.

It explains one by one the pain that radiation-contaminated humans suffer and slowly die.

A cold sweat ran down my face as I imagined the sight of babies being born across Germany without my knowledge or with missing arms or legs due to radiation contamination.

If they win the war and get hit by the weapons they made, not only will there be no such shame, but Germany's future will become very bleak.

Manstein had no interest in seeing in the newspapers that it was a big deal because there were many deformed children or that hospitals were full of patients complaining of symptoms of radiation exposure.

"I say it again. Never, ever enter the right wing. Anyway, there are only dead rebels and soon-to-be-dead rebels on the right now. So there is no need to be impatient. Do you understand?"

"yes!"

***

Generals across the front did not know what was happening on the right.

But what was certain was that the right wing was destroyed and no news was heard of it.

Even the life and death of the secretary is unknown.

"Are you safe, Comrade Secretary General?"

"I do not know. "No response whatsoever."

Is the Secretary Dead or Alive? In the Soviet Union, where all power was concentrated on Stalin, Stalin's whereabouts were a matter of utmost importance, with the fate of the country at stake.

Even though we desperately tried to contact the right wing, there was no reply.

The Soviets on the front soon learned that they had nothing to worry about on the right.

"Report from the 32nd Corps! "Enemy offensive begins!"

"The 7th Rifle Corps defense line has been breached! "This is an all-out offensive by fascists!"

"Damn it! Damn it!"

"Why now… … !!!"

The German army's full-scale offensive began.

Because the right wing was blown away by a single nuclear weapon, the Soviet troops on the front line could not receive even a single soldier, a gun, or a single bullet.

Ufa was not only the capital of the Soviet Union, but also the place to control, manage, and supervise the movement of all materials and troops sent to the front.

But since that place was blown away, there was no way it could be supplied to the front lines.

Even if we fight while receiving proper supplies, we cannot guarantee victory. Contact with the rear has been cut off, and even supplies no longer arrive.

There is no way we can win.

At best, it is best to slow down the fascists' advance even a little.

And the price was destruction.

The volley of artillery fire from the Hornise self-propelled guns shook the earth and shattered the Soviet troops trapped in trenches and personal shelters or buried them alive. Once the bombardment was over, it was the turn of the infantry and tanks.

There was a tank division consisting of T-26 and BT light tanks, not T-34 or IS, but it was mana.

The Soviet army fought fiercely, but the enemy was strong enough to put their fighting spirit to shame.

Even the 4th Panzer, which was returned to the 2nd and 3rd rank divisions around the time the Second German War broke out, was extremely threatening to light tanks.

Moreover, the Panther and Tiger, which were larger than the No. 4, had heavy armor, and had high firepower, were truly monsters on the road that there was no way to deal with.

Using the rhythm of the sound of enemy bullets hitting and breaking armor, the tank crews fired up their main guns and dealt with the obstacles blocking their way.

Light tanks with thin armor did not need to use armor-piercing shells. Even if they simply loaded and fired grenades, Soviet tankers could not guarantee their survival.

As a last resort, they threw firebombs and anti-tank grenades, but the results were not satisfactory.

As soon as they stand up to throw Molotov cocktails at the tank's engine, the German soldiers escorting the tank are hit by assault rifles and turn into a hive.

Even if you were lucky enough to stop an enemy tank with a Molotov cocktail, you could not stop the rushing waves of steel by barely destroying one or two tanks.

-Tata tata!!!

The assault rifle burst into flames, and the boy soldier who was struggling to resist by shooting the Mosin-Nagant collapsed.

"Surrender!"

"Drop your weapons!"

As the Germans urged them to surrender in broken Russian, the Soviet soldiers came out of the trenches hesitantly.

I didn't know if they would let me live even if I surrendered, or if they would shoot me all to death, but I was at least certain that if I continued to resist, I would die.

"Ha, look at these guys."

"There are only old people, children, and women."

The German army held out its tongue at the miserable sight of the Red Army. How can you give a gun to an 11 year old and a 70 year old man?

This is why communists... … .

"What are we going to do with these guys?"

"What should I do? "I have to hand it over to the next generation."

"Only one squad remains, and everyone else follows me. Advance!"

In actual history, Vasily Chuikov, the hero of the Battle of Stalingrad and the man who carried out fantastic maneuvers in Operation Bagration, could not do anything.

The right wing disappeared with a huge flash of light, supply was cut off, and the enemy was attacking without stopping.

He stared at the map like a test taker who believed the answer would be in the example sentences, but he couldn't see the answer.

Even at this moment, enemy shells were falling.

The light bulb on the ceiling also swayed with the vibration of the ground. It was a major who broke the heavy silence.

"Comrade Sangjang. "We don't have much ammo left."

"What about spare ammunition?"

"We've exhausted everything."

Is that so? Chuikov's last words did not reach the ears of the staff. It was so small that I didn't even realize he had said it.

The major made up his mind and spoke out the words he had been swallowing for so long.

"There is no chance for our troops to win. No, it wasn't there long ago."

"so?"

"You must surrender."

surrender.

A major uttered a word that no one had dared to utter out loud.

The faces of the command staff turned white, but they could not take back what they had already said.

"Any further fighting will only lead to the death of our soldiers. "Fighting against the German army with a unit comprised of the elderly and wounded was an impossible mission from the beginning."

The major, who looked 10 years older than his original age due to his randomly growing beard, decided to say something he had never been able to say before.

Veterans of the Red Army became wounded, killed, or stooges of the fascist army during the war of attrition.

In order to rebuild the Red Army, Stalin randomly recruited the weak who would have been exempt from conscription in peacetime, and even drove wounded soldiers who still needed to be treated in hospitals to the front lines.

This is no longer war.

This is madness. Collective madness.

"Further sacrifices are meaningless. Surrender is the only way to save our soldiers."

"so… … Let's surrender?"

"That's right."

Chuikov took Tokarev out of his holster and aimed it at the major's forehead.

"Tell me again. what? surrender? "Surrender!"

Chuikov was a master, but he was by no means a virtuous general. He more faithfully followed Stalin's command not to take a single step back than anyone else.

He mercilessly shot deserters, relegated units that failed to carry out their assigned missions to punishment units and used them as cannon fodder, and poured out his troops generously to complete the mission.

He didn't even care how many casualties there were in battle.

His only concern was not whether his soldiers would survive or not, but whether they could complete their mission or not.

Because of this, Chuikov caught Stalin's attention and was promoted to lieutenant despite the defeat.

For him, surrender was something that could never happen.

"What do you think those dirty fascists will do to this country? They will completely plunder and destroy this country! "And yet you want to surrender?"

Although his life was at stake, the major did not back down. He steadfastly expressed his convictions as if he wanted to go as far as he could.

"So what is the reason to keep fighting? What has this country done for its people? Didn't they throw the people into despair, conscript even the elderly and children, and push them to their deaths? "Why should we fight for a country like this?"

"Shut up! "You reactionary bastard!"

"You're the one who needs to shut up! This country has become corrupted because of people like you! "What kind of country is this that claims to be for the people but puts them in pain and drives them to their deaths?"

"This bastard is real!"

A gunshot rang out and the major's body fell backwards.

Chuikov, who had summarily executed the 'defeatist', turned around. Smoke was still coming out of the muzzle.

"There can be no surrender! Comrade Secretary General told me not to take a single step back! But surrender!"

Chuikov was holding a pistol and screaming like a madman, while the officers at the headquarters stared in fear.

No one refuted what he said, but neither did anyone agree with what he said.

The officers looked at the red blood spreading across the command center floor.

Chuikov was embarrassed when there was no response. To hide his embarrassment, he gave the command in a louder voice than before.

"If you retreat, you will die by my hands! Everyone fight to the death! "Fighting until the very end is for the country and the people."

As the gunshot rang out, Chuikov's words were cut off.

He looked in bewilderment at the red flower spreading across his chest, but soon his legs gave out and he sat down.

I tried to speak, but instead of words, blood spurted out.

A second gunshot rang out and Chuikov's body fell completely to the ground.

"Fuck you, fuck you. "If you're going to fight, fight alone."

"Stalin's little bastard."

"It's better to stick to the fascists than to lose."

***

The news that the heartland of the Bolsheviks, Ufa, had been transformed into a land of death soon spread throughout Europe and the world.

"Dear German people! We bring you the news that a new bomb created by our brilliant scientists has reduced the enemy's capital to ashes. This new bomb, called the atomic bomb, has a force equivalent to 15,000 tons of TNT, and the bomb was successfully detonated, burning the heart of the Bolsheviks."

Goebbels briefly explained to the public the existence and power of nuclear weapons, according to a manuscript prepared in advance. People listening to the government's emergency radio broadcast were shocked.

A bomb that can burn down an entire city with one shot. Could such a bomb exist in the world?

But it was good anyway. It would be a problem if the enemy had such a bomb, but it would be a different story if the bomb was owned by Germany.

The emotions that came after the surprise were joy and excitement. The enemy's capital has been destroyed and the Soviet army is being pushed back by the Wehrmacht's massive offensive across the entire front.

The end of the war is not far away.

The complete unification of Europe was at hand.

"I won! "We won!"

"Sieg Heil! Sieg Heil!!"

"Heil Hitler!!"

"Yaaaa!!!"

The war was not officially over, but people acted as if it was.

The streets were overflowing with people shouting Sieg Heil, and all the church bells rang.

"I can't not have a drink on this nice day!"

"For Germany!"

"Long live His Excellency the President!"

The beer hall was crowded with people who gathered to celebrate the victory.

People clinked their glasses and toasted to Adolf Hitler, the leader who brought Germany great victory, and the owners of beer halls and restaurants shed tears of joy for the Führer, who gave their country the honor of victory and themselves a bundle of money.

Veterans who took to the streets wearing World War I military uniforms, with tears in their eyes, paid tribute to the Führer's grace for bringing great victory to their country.

The energetic boys who could not enlist because they were too old wailed and pounded the desk with their fists.

If he had been just one year older, he would have been able to be at the scene of victory!

Even though the war was almost over, young people wishing to enlist lined up in front of the recruiting station.

Regardless of whether the Wehrmacht or the SS. Women wishing to enlist in the female army also lined up and headed to the recruiting station.

"It's all over."

"Now no one can stop Hitler and the Nazis... … ."

Not all Germans cheered the brilliant victory.

Supporters of the Social Democratic Party and the Communist Party, which had been forcibly disbanded by the Nazis, stared coldly at the crowd who were cheering and chanting the name of the Führer.

In order to save their lives and that of their families, they pretended to be ordinary heads of families and ordinary people with no interest in politics.

In these days, if you go around openly showing your anti-Nazi and anti-Hitler tendencies, you are likely to be lynched by citizens and killed before you are arrested by the Gestapo.

"Raise your flag! Prepare your ranks tightly!

The assault troop marches at a quiet and composed pace.

Comrades killed by the Red Front and traitors

"Become spirits and march together in our ranks."

"Soldier, comrade, keep pace, comrade.

Go forth under the guns!

Comrades, we must all come together.

"For our country toward glory!"

The military song sung by those who were intoxicated by the lingering sound sounded to them like a dirge signifying Germany's eternal winter.