I Became Stalin?!

Chapter 68

Regardless of the situation on the Western Front, the German army in the East was in a state of disarray.

With the German army’s retreat from the Southern Front, the Northern Front was engaged in reorganizing its front line.

The Northwestern Front was practically in a state of collapse due to the fall of Pskov and successive delaying battles. 

Although General Batutin succeeded in rebuilding the Northwestern Front, which was on the verge of falling apart due to his excellent command skills, it was inevitable that his troops were exhausted and their equipment lost.

“General Konev, you are to take command of two field armies under the former Northwestern Front.”

“Thank you! Comrade Secretary!”

Some of the intact units of the Northwestern Front were assigned to Ivan Konev’s Northern Front. 

Konev took control of not only some of the reinforced Northwestern Front but also two newly reinforced field armies, becoming the second largest front after Zhukov’s Southern Front.

However, as he had to manage too wide a front, Konev extensively reorganized the command system of the Northern Front.

First, the troops of Dongkareliya, who were facing the Finnish army that had come down slowly following the Soviet army’s retreat, were moved from the direct control of the Northern Front to the independent control of the 7th Army.

In Ladoga’s western Karelia sector and the northern front of Leningrad, the 14th Army was deployed, while in the swampy area from the south bank of the Neva River to the Luga River, the 23rd and 21st Armies were stationed.

To defend Novgorod, it was necessary to deploy not only the 8th Army, which belonged to the Northwestern Front, but also the newly reinforced 32nd Army and the 11th Army cooperating with Narva.

Now, the defense of northern Russia was entirely on his shoulders.

And a letter arrived at Stavka.

“Manneheim?”

The contents of the letter were something he had never imagined. 

Negotiations with Finland? Was he planning to give all of Karelia to Finland?

In the last war, that is, in the Winter War, Finland under General Boro-silov inflicted heavy losses on nearly one million Soviet troops with a force ratio of nearly 3:1, turning them into frozen corpses in Siberia.

In the end, after suffering huge losses of 70,000 men or 20% of its entire force and surrendering with a miserable result of handing over Vyborg and Karelia’s industrial zone, they cooperated with German fascists and entered into another war with Soviet Union.

From his position where he had to deploy a massive force of two field armies in Karelia to stop them, negotiating with Finland to turn this force against German army was appreciated by front commanders… but how could he make such a choice?

The secretary he knew didn’t even want to give up an inch of land.

And if Finland gave up both East and West Karelia? 

Leningrad, which can be considered as Soviet Union’s second most important city, would fall under Manneheim’s jurisdiction as a vassal of Charr’s white dictator in Finland.

However, orders were orders. 

For him, it was more important to stop the German Northern Group Army, led by the brilliant general Manstein, which was advancing.

“Maybe it’s a deception plan.”

It’s easier to tie up the Finnish army as if they were going to give up Karelia now and then reclaim the land after suppressing Germany than to twist an infant’s arm.

The Northern Front Army was already engaged in constant fighting on the front line. It was better to have one less enemy. 

Especially since the Northern Front Army was pushed back to a lower priority in tank allocation due to the German Northern Group Army’s tank power falling to an insignificant level.

***

The Soviet army in the north had to face Germany’s armored forces, which were pushing forward using 76mm guns at Kyeongya Point, newly developed portable rocket launchers, or 120mm and 152mm howitzers.

“Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!”

Sergeant Nikolai cursed at the god and secretary who sent him here while shouting all sorts of swear words. 

Of course, if he had uttered both the secretary’s name and curse words together, he would have faced terrible consequences. Anyway, swearing is a free law.

Several new recruits looked up at Sergeant Nikolai, their platoon leader, with sparkling eyes to witness his legendary rocket launcher shooting skills.

At that time, Nikolai was a private in the Southern Front, and he was stunned to see Sergeant Bolozha, who had earned heroic achievements, run out.

He woke up in a field hospital in Kiyev. He learned what had happened there a little later.

“Private Nikolai, did you destroy three of those new tanks?”

Most of his comrades had died in battle with the German army. 

Sergeant Bolozha seemed to have died as well. 

In that battle where the company commander, platoon leader, and most of the soldiers died, only the best among those who survived in the company was an ordinary sergeant. 

Young Misha survived and reported on the progress of the battle from his own perspective.

“Rocket launchers were fired from the train where Private Nikolai and Sergeant Bolozha were. After that, they ran together… Anyway, it’s certain that those two destroyed the tanks behind them. I don’t know who fired them…”

“That friend is right. We saw them hiding behind the destroyed tanks and retreated.”

“I saw Private Nikolai carrying a rocket launcher around…”

Yes, Sergeant Bolozha assigned Nikolai to carry the rocket launcher because it was heavy, and Nikolai became the heroic owner of the achievement of destroying three enemy tanks for that reason.

Since no one claimed the achievement, Nikolai swallowed his pride and said, “Yes! I did it!”.

Honestly, he felt sorry for Bolozha, but the one who survived had to live. 

And when he became a sergeant… he thought he could impress Maria Ivanova, a nurse.

His comrades who were sent to the hospital with him, including his ‘enemy record’ and political officer Semm? had no idea where he was.

Maybe he didn’t die…? Misha trailed off.

Anyway, for that reason, he was promoted to sergeant and became a member of the Northern Group Army at some point as his original unit was reorganized.

The battalion commander introduced him to his soldiers as a rocket launcher gunner with tremendous skills, and instead of reuniting with his long-awaited Maria Ivanova, he was sent to the cold north to aim his rocket launcher at German tanks.

Most of the artillery operated by the northern front was 76mm guns. 

They were weak compared to 120mm howitzers, 152mm guns, or 203mm guns. 

The 76mm gun was too weak to be effective against German tanks, which were new and heavy, and it was so heavy that it only burdened the soldiers’ backs.

Except for one tank that was accidentally hit by a shell and could no longer move – and was still firing its machine gun and cannon – the light artillery could not stop the enemy’s tanks.

The battalion commander assigned several rocket launcher shells to Nikolai, a sergeant who had even received an enemy combatant medal for his skills as a rocket launcher gunner. 

Now he was in danger of having to shoot rockets to avoid enemy machine gun fire.

“Maria Ivanova, please…!”

Maria Ivanova, who knows where she is now, has become a goddess of victory in his heart. 

He imagines her voluptuous breasts doing this and that every day. 

He doesn’t know if the goddess will ever see him, but he shouts “Charge!”.

“Charge! Ura! Ura!”

“Ura! Ura! Ura!”

The artillery fire was stopping, and now it was time for the infantry to charge.

As Sergeant Bolozha had done, he gave the order to charge to the platoon and fired three rockets.

“Wow!”

Surprisingly, the rocket hit the side of the new enemy tank that was standing still. 

How long had it been since the metallic sound of “kong” was heard? The new tank exploded. Bang!

Flames burst out from inside the enemy tank’s turret, and no one escaped. 

To be precise, they just hung there on top of the turret while burning. 

The soldiers who saw it screamed in amazement.

“As expected! Our heroic platoon leader comrade!”

Nikolai ran past the soldiers who were cheering him on.

Take cover, take cover. 

These new recruits didn’t know anything but were happy. But there was more than one enemy tank and machine gun.

“Everyone take cover! Take cover!”

If Sergeant Bolozha were here, he would have added a colorful imagination about swearing or his mother’s sex life, but Nikolai wasn’t that kind of person. 

The new recruits heard his voice and quickly lay down, firing their rifles or throwing grenades. 

Oh… I’m better than I was in my new recruit days?

A private who followed him, whose name was still unclear… Shasha! 

That’s right.

“Hey, Shasha! Give me a rocket!”

“Yes, sir!”

He loaded the next rocket. Shasha was pretty good at shooting, so he was sticking to the back of the turret, spewing smoke and giving the Germans one bullet at a time.

Yeah, thanks… It’s a burden if someone else is too interested. The next target is… something a little easier. That No. 3 tank…

“Hey!”

A German soldier who was rushing in the middle of nowhere got caught in the path of the rocket and was covered in blood. Nikolai felt sick because it was the first time he had seen a rocket hit a person. 

Damn it. 

And it seemed like the rocket’s trajectory was off, and it couldn’t hit the tank and exploded.

He didn’t destroy any more tanks that day, but first impressions are important to everyone. 

The platoon members who saw him destroy one new tank each were spreading rumors about Nikolai, an enemy combatant medalist and sniper, and now it seemed like there wasn’t anyone in his battalion or even division who didn’t know him. 

The battalion commander promised to promote him to sergeant.

“Damn it…”

As he left the battalion commander’s quarters, he muttered to himself. 

He didn’t care about being promoted or anything else; he just wanted to be taken out of this freezing place where he felt like he was going to die.

He received winter gear and boots earlier than anyone else. 

Most officers didn’t even bother to criticize soldiers who wore priestly robes, as they did with heroic soldiers who had won medals.

But this winter’s cold seemed to penetrate his bones. 

Even though he was wearing thick woolen socks from America, he couldn’t feel his toes.

“Hey, Shasha. You did well today.”

“Ah! Thank you, battalion commander! You’re really amazing!”

You’re the amazing one. You shoot really well, don’t you? He called the platoon members together, teasing each other. He tried to light a small fire, but the cold wind made it difficult.

“Damn it, this hot chocolate is gone.”

The upper ranks provided quite a bit of sweet and greasy food, probably because it was a cold area. 

What do American pigs eat to grow like that? He was now obsessed with bacon from America.

“America, America is really great!”

It’s not as great as our Soviet Union. 

To make something so delicious… I remembered drinking Coke at the hospital where I was sent. 

On a day like this, hot chocolate made by melting chocolate was better than Coke, but anyway it was great!

“Can’t someone light this fire?”

“Yes, sir. I’ll do it… Hahaha.”

One of the platoon members rummaged through his waist and pulled out a lighter.

“Wow, is that a German lighter?”

The platoon members were all amazed. Ivan bragged and laughed as he clicked the lighter and showed off its shining silver gloss.

“I ‘received’ it from fascist prisoner soldiers, but it’s very useful.”

“If something like that comes up later, give me one too. Wasn’t your name Ivan?”

“Oh no, sir. If you just attach my lifeline, I’ll give you one.”

Everyone laughed out loud. 

They survived another day. 

They drank hot chocolate and saw another amazing lighter.

Although the sergeant’s salary wasn’t anything special, wouldn’t it be nice to get something like that when he became a sergeant? 

There were some soldiers who secretly traded watches looted from German soldiers’ garages, but Nikolai wasn’t particularly interested in watches right now.

“Ah, have you tried this?”

“What’s that?”

“This… what was it called… ma…”

Ivan took out a jar with a few pieces of fluffy bread-like substance. 

That friend is very useful. 

Where did he get all of that?

Anyway, while Nikolai was being transported, he roughly learned how to read the American alphabet.

“Ma… shi… melosha? (The Cyrillic letter Ш is ‘sha’. I mistook it for W.)”

“Oh! I think that was the name. They said you can eat it like this with chocolate or stick it in a tree and roast it over a fire.”

“Wow, is this really delicious?”

The sweet taste that melts in your mouth was alive in the topic that looked like bread. It’s different from the rich sweetness of chocolate or the sweet and sour taste of candy. 

Ah… Is this happiness? He was happy today.

“Hail to the Soviet Union! Hail to the alliance with America! May great friendship last forever!”