I Became Stalin?!

Chapter 73

The Soviet army was eating and supplying much better than the German army, contrary to the actual history and common sense.

There were several factors behind this.

First of all, the Secretary General personally looked after the supply issue and ordered the army to be faithful to the supply, saying that the army should eat well to advance.

The frontline workers did their best to ensure that the supplies could be delivered to the units at the end of the line, in front of the sharp command of the Secretary General.

Well, it wasn’t just a command. 

The NKVD agents directly under Beria raided the frontline units from time to time to check if there were any cases where the officers embezzled the supplies and the soldiers couldn’t eat or wear them.

“This guy is a vicious reactionary who tried to sabotage the Red Army of workers and peasants! Take him away!”

“Aaaah! Please spare me!”

In the process, quite a lot of officers were exposed, and of course they received various punishments according to their crimes. 

The most common punishment was to be assigned as a rifleman in a penal unit, and a special order was given to place them on the front line.

In case of serious crimes, they were publicly executed in front of the soldiers of the unit.

There were two ways of execution: modern and pre-modern. 

The modern way was to use modern weapons, such as machine guns or anti-aircraft guns.

The pre-modern way was to use five cars each, which were also modern products, but it was not very neat, and the soldiers often shouted cruel cheers or shocking screams.

The soldiers who had to clean up after them were usually the latter.

And whether the criminals went to a penal unit or were executed on the spot, their families were sent to the most brutal gulag in Siberia as they were considered spies who tried to sabotage the Red Army.

When these cases piled up to about three hundred cases, and about a thousand people were executed, the officers seemed to calm down on their own.

They couldn’t catch all the bastards who were eating well, but if they caught them all, the army itself could collapse, so even Beria and NKVD didn’t seem to think they would catch all the cases.

But anyway, the biggest effect was shown by America’s help.

***

“Wow! What’s going on today?”

“Hey, today is New Year’s Day!”

The soldiers crowded in front of the mess hall, wondering what was coming out today.

The savory and fragrant smell of grilled meat filled the whole camp. 

The senior soldiers who would normally lie down and order a private to go and see what was coming out today also lifted their heavy buttocks and gathered around to see what was so delicious.

It wasn’t that they couldn’t eat normally. 

If it was a front line where a battle was about to break out, it might be different, but behind the front line, the Soviet military did its best to feed the soldiers well.

It was a great feat to supply enough food for millions of people, but anyway, it was a rule that military cooks had to be scolded from above.

They crossed the Pacific Ocean and came across Siberia with American canned food and preserved food, and with the efforts of Soviet people, soldiers ate well. 

They consumed more meat and calories than Korean army in 2010s.

But humans are adaptive animals, and they always wanted to eat more delicious and more food.

At first, they cheered at the salty and greasy taste of spam, but now some of them complained that it was too greasy and salty, and the demand for chocolate decreased sharply after a massive extraction operation that was evaluated by cigarettes.

In the meantime, the camp was hit by a new product that was pushed by Secretary General.

“Wow! This is…”

“Hmm…!”

The Soviet Union had also tried to introduce hamburgers from America after experiencing them before.

In 1936, Mikoyan, a senior Bolshevik and then Minister of Food Industry who visited America for economic cooperation promotion with America, tasted hamburgers and tried to bring them into Soviet Union. 

People called it ‘Mikoyan Cutlet’.

The mass production and assembly of hamburger patties fit perfectly with Soviet ideal. It was a food that showed revolutionary excellence of organized labor that could be mass-produced and supplied cheaply to workers!

Of course, it was postponed for a while as soon as war with Germany broke out.

Rather than cooking for bourgeoisie one by one with care, it fit well with Russian taste that liked greasy, salty and spicy food because of cold winter. 

It was truly Soviet food!

Secretary General pushed this forward saying “What is good for Soviet Union and working class is proletarianistic, and what is not is reactionary!”

So Soviet bureaucrats contracted with Hormel Company which made spam for Soviet people and soldiers as good comrades-in-arms and secured means to supply large amount of patties needed for hamburgers.

The result was delivered to the whole army quickly by the order of Secretary General who said that all soldiers should enjoy it as a celebration of New Year’s Day and the great war to defend the motherland.

***

The soldiers who saw hamburgers for the first time were confused.

“What is this? What are we supposed to do with this?”

Of course, those who were from cities or had experienced ‘Mikoyan Cutlet’ before easily assembled bread, patty, pickle and cheese, and as humans are adaptive animals, this method spread quickly throughout the army.

“Hmm…!”

Nikolai also learned from Ivan, a quick-witted and smart squad member, how to put this ham… what was it, nowadays they called it ‘Secretary General Cutlet’ between bread and took a bite.

The juice that burst out and the taste of meat that chewed, and the flavor of mayonnaise that filled the mouth! 

He was truly happy. 

He could forget for a moment the extraction that he had to face soon.

He didn’t smoke, but they gave him cigarettes anyway from above, so he could use them as a medium for various exchanges.

“Hey, here’s a pack of cigarettes I promised you.”

“Oh! Hahaha…”

This time, he was able to get a generous spoonful of supply mayonnaise on top of Secretary General Cutlet from a famous cook in the camp who was in trouble for a pack of cigarettes.

‘Ah, I wish every day was like today.’

He sincerely wished.

According to the company commander comrade, the great Secretary General comrade loves the soldiers so much that he wants them to eat this cutlet once a week… Well, it was fine anyway. 

He thought it was too extravagant to eat such a tremendous thing every week.

This was a battlefield, and it seemed unreasonable that the food, which should be poor, was better than at home.

“Comrade platoon leader! Comrade platoon leader!”

“Hmm?”

He was chewing a big bite and trying to enjoy the flavor a little more, when a familiar voice called him.

What is it, Ivan? What’s going on? 

He looked at him with a hint, and Ivan quickly told him his purpose.

“The company commander is calling you!”

“Uh…”

Ah… He had to go quickly when an officer called him.

He was a decorated heroic soldier, but he was still a sergeant, and the company commander was a lieutenant. 

He wanted to enjoy the cutlet for one more second, but unfortunately it was time to part with it.

‘Ah, Secretary General, please let us meet again! In the name of the great Secretary General, ah… um… Soviet hurrah!’

Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah!

He swallowed the last bite of cutlet and prayed for the long life of Secretary General and the success of the operation.

“Hoo…”

He arrived in front of the company commander’s barracks. 

The rich and thick aftertaste of mayonnaise in his mouth made him regretful, but he wanted to hear what was so important and sneaked in.

“Oh! You’re here!”

“Yes, Sergeant Nikolai Petrov!”

The company commander was smiling. Oh… Was that good? 

It was better than being angry, but it was still ominous. 

No, in the first place, there was nothing good about being involved with an officer and a soldier. 

Unless he had the same powerful authority as an officer.

“Can you read, write and do arithmetic?”

“Excuse me? Um… I can do a little.”

“Really?”

‘Why are you asking me this?’

He would be among the better ones among rural soldiers, but he probably couldn’t do as well as urban soldiers who had been educated. 

He had learned to read and write and do arithmetic while he was in the hospital for a while, but his hardened head didn’t absorb these complex things well.

He could barely read down the letters now, but he still had to read complex words one by one.

“I want to recommend you for officer training. What do you think?”

Nikolai could only be surprised.

“Me? Are you talking about me?”

“Yes! A soldier like you who is excellent and brave should be able to command others from a higher position, don’t you think?”

“But I…”

“Well, you can learn to write and do arithmetic if you study hard! You already have a medal, so you’ll get a lot of points. If you can’t do it right away, you can apply after a few months.”

…An officer?

He had thought that he might be promoted to corporal or sergeant someday. 

The junior officers were as consumed as the frontline non-commissioned officers, and their positions were filled by soldiers who survived the war.

He had been promoted to sergeant by taking someone else’s position, and he doubted himself if he had the qualifications to be a sergeant or platoon leader. 

He was barely keeping up with them, but an officer?

“Think about it. Learning to write and do arithmetic will be beneficial in the end.”

“Yes! Thank you!”

The company commander gave him some writing utensils and two or three books stained with dirt and sent him out again.

He said thank you with a bewildered expression, but Nikolai couldn’t figure out what to do.

‘Can I be an officer?’

The officers he had seen were mostly… He felt sorry to say this, but they were incompetent. 

They had the power to push soldiers into death, but they were not ready to join them. 

Political commissar? 

Except for Semyol who disappeared somewhere, they were not much different.

The current company commander was a pretty good person. 

He gave enough support to competent – or so people believed – soldiers and offered such an opportunity. 

The problem was that Nikolai himself was not as competent as the company commander or other soldiers believed.

‘An officer, what kind of officer should I be?’

He hadn’t even thought about who would give him rice cakes yet, but Nikolai already thought about various things. 

He imagined himself wearing a uniform and proudly showing off his officer rank insignia.

But it didn’t suit him very well.

Of course he didn’t want to die. 

He wanted to survive and go back home safely. 

Wouldn’t his chances of dying decrease if he became an officer? 

Nikolai had such a thought for a moment. 

Those damn officers who sent other soldiers to die instead of themselves.

He shook his head vigorously and entered the barracks where his squad members were. 

They were discussing when they could eat Secretary General Cutlet again and welcomed Nikolai with a loud noise.

“Wow! Comrade platoon leader!”

“Come on, let’s bet on when this will come out next!”

He gave a hollow laugh. 

He might be turned into meat by a shell or a machine gun while attacking tomorrow. But he didn’t need to close his eyes to the happy and hopeful tomorrow.

“Huh? But wasn’t Nikolai comrade supposed to be extracted the day after tomorrow?”