I became Stalin chapter 129

129

Manstein was slowing the advance of the Soviet army through fierce resistance. Unable to build a proper defensive line, Group Northern Army seemed to be trying to block the Soviet Union by sending troops that had been scraped all the way to the bottom into the offensive.

“The scale of the enemy’s offensive is estimated to be corps-level or higher. However, his will to fight is strong… and he could even break through Novgorod!”

“What if I break through? Can you even capture Novgorod? Ha ha ha.”

The army that has reached the end of the offensive must stop. The Soviet army, which had advanced a hundred or tens of kilometers in an instant, began to slow down and then stopped. The Germans defended their escape route, the banks of the Narva River, at the risk of death.

And through an estimated two corps-level offensive, the Soviet army was advancing toward Novgorod by striking the flank in the offensive direction.

Of course, these attacks are not scary. Group Northern Army’s ‘something’ that returned after dumping all the elite combat troops in Leningrad? Konev, commander of the Leningrad Front, swore to me.

“Comrade Secretary-General! Fascists will never be able to escape in comfort! The enemy will bury the bones in Leningrad!”

But there was something I didn’t like. How close can you encircle them? The number of German troops in the encirclement was estimated by the intelligence service to be about 600,000. Perhaps, if they still use their superior air force, they will be able to withdraw manpower by tens of thousands.

30 million? 40 million? The 9th Army of Smolensk, which has been delayed for a while to take advantage of Leningrad’s opportunity, is about 300,000, so it’s just a full blow or a little profit. It’s a bit disappointing to think of it as a criminal offense that even ruined Leningrad as a bait.

“Ummm… Anyway, I wish I could have brought something more…”

I continued to be greedy. In fact, whether 100,000 or 200,000 escapes, heavy objects such as tanks and artillery must be left behind. Considering that the 200,000 Albos who were thus disarmed, and many who were tired and wounded, there are very few who can actually return to the front line.

Now that Rasputica is about to arrive, we should take a break and launch an offensive in the winter to decisively defeat Army Group Central… Is it because the damage is not too small? Anyway, if you think about it, it seems like there must be a graveyard somewhere.

“Comrade General Secretary, if that’s the case, then maybe this is a way…”

“Five! Comrade Vasilebsky!”

Bagal Resonance, Vasilebsky opened his mouth with his distinctive, cautious expression. Every time Vasilebsky made an offer like that, a good idea came to mind.

“It’s not terribly groundbreaking… Now that the United States has succeeded in occupying the Azores, how about asking for a second front on the Atlantic side?”

“You mean the second line?”

Yes. After a bloody battle, the United States was finally able to secure the Azores Islands in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Now that the German defense line, which had lost its submarine and air bases in the Atlantic Ocean, was forced to retreat to the Canary Islands or continental Europe.

So a second wire is possible.

Even though the Soviet Union faced 80% of Germany’s power on the Eastern Front, the remaining 20% ​​was on the Western Front anyway. German forces, drawn from the North African, Italian and French fronts, certainly relieved some of the burden on the Eastern Front.

“It would be nice to have a second front… if there is. to any extent.”

Come to think of it, according to actual history, the North African front should have been sorted out by now.

In November 42, American and British troops landed in French Algeria in Operation Torch. It was deliciously slashed in the back of the head of the German North African Corps fighting the British forces in eastern Libya.

François d’Arlan, governor of Vichy France, betrays his country and cooperates with the Allies. The Allied forces were thus able to advance, and after being surrounded back and forth by Nazi Germany, Rommel was summoned from North Africa. Soon the Germans were isolated and surrendered.

However, here the North African front was quickly terminated, Spain entered the war as an Axis power, and even Britain surrendered.

There was no landing site to make a second front. Spain was a neutral country and the Gibraltar base was in the hands of the British, so in actual history it could land in Italy.

‘It didn’t mean much to any extent.’

What will you do if you get your hands in a bloody battle for control of the Mediterranean Sea? The German army defended the space in the mountainous region of central Italy and stopped it to the end. In the end, he entered northern France by landing in Normandy, liberated Paris, and with Hitler’s shovel, the Allied forces were able to liberate at least half of Germany.

“Where should I open the second wire? I’d love to hear blunt opinions.”

“There are four places I can think of right now. North Africa, England, Spain and France. Aren’t these four places where the United States can land?”

That’s my opinion. But all four are flawed.

“North Africa is already a region that has lost its strategic significance! Will the Americans land there and advance to the Suez Canal?”

“Britain will also mean nothing. Needless to say, we’ll have to do another amphibious assault that inflicts terrible damage. Well, it might be possible if the German army pulls out a lot of reserves to guard against northern France…”

“Spain is blocked from the rest of Europe by the Pyrenees, so we cannot advance any further. Perhaps if the second front is opened there, even if only a dozen divisions form a defensive line, America will have a hard time supplying supplies across the Atlantic!”

There were objections from all over. It was something everyone could think of. Vasilebsky, who had spoken, seemed to begin to ponder again in a gloomy manner.

“France, how about France?”

“France? Isn’t it sandwiched between the German-occupied Britain on the top and the Fascio Spain on the bottom? And there’s no way we can’t think of Hitler as we can think of.”

In fact, any operation would be impossible if you put it that way, but I was the only one who knew why the French landing was dangerous.

As long as Hitler came from the future, we cannot be unaware of the Normandy landings. Conditions and circumstances have changed, but when I heard the story of the 2nd front, didn’t I think of Normandy?

If the US were to prepare for an amphibious landing, Hitler would probably deploy troops in France to repel the amphibious landing. It is unlikely that a full support will be possible in the situation where the base to support the landing is the snotty Azores, 3,000 kilometers away…

“The main specialty of the Americans is to call the air force, so will the troops who do not receive air support use their strength?”

“… I’m sorry.”

“No. You can’t always offer good opinions.”

Ummm… the loss of England came very painfully. As a base for amphibious operations and strategic bombing, the UK, which was close to the continent and built defenses with a strong navy, was nothing short of the most ideal base. Especially since the German navy was robbed of its actual history.

“Can’t you fly a bomber from an aircraft carrier… ? I wish I could hit the German mainland… Ah!”

In a flash, an idea ran through my head. Yes, I can do this!

“Molotov, you can arrange a hotline with President Roosevelt. And Berry, you should bring with you data on the long-range bombers the United States currently has and the large bombers it is developing. See you in my office in 30 minutes.”

“Yes! Comrade Secretary General!”

“And Comrade Vasilebsky? Thank you very much.”

Vasilebsky looked at me with a blank expression while I was winking with a bang. Whoops, admire my freshness… Hmmmm.

It was as if his mood had improved, and his strength seemed to return to his senile body.

“Comrade General Secretary, how do you plan to use this material…?”

“Shh! Wait a minute.”

[Oh, General Stalin. long time no see. What’s going on this time?]

The hotline with Roosevelt was quickly connected. With the collapse of Britain, America’s greatest ally is the Soviet Union. So the treatment would be better than the actual history. Perhaps because the war had improved, Roosevelt seemed a little less tired.

“I wanted to make a suggestion, so I contacted him like this. President. First of all, I would like to congratulate you on the occupation of the Azores. We, the Soviet people, are truly delighted with the victory of our ally the United States. I look forward to working with the anti-fascist front in the future.”

[Thank you, Secretary. There is still a long way to go.]

right. There is a long way to go. Anyway, that’s not what’s important.

“I agree on that. I have a lot of work to do. That’s why I’m saying… We’ve got valuable information that can strike Germany very effectively, would you like to hear a suggestion?”

[Oh, what kind of suggestion?]

“That’s… a blow to the German mainland!”

Molotov and Beria’s expressions changed strangely. no this dude? What kind of mainland strike is it when you say that you can’t even do an amphibious operation?

You told me to bring the documents about the bombers, so I’ll probably use them, but how do you get to Europe from the high seas of the Atlantic Ocean? Currently, the B-17 Flying Fortress or B-24 Liberator used by the United States does not provide enough range to make a round trip from the Azores to Germany.

Even after seeing it, you immediately call the hotline to the President of the United States and make an offer. It can also be confusing

[No, is there any way to hit mainland Germany?]

“That’s right. The range of the B-17 and B-24 bombers, as far as we know, can be increased to 5,000 km with additional fuel tanks.”

Get the bomber material from the other side of the phone! and a cry was heard. 5000 km is not enough. First of all, the distance from the Azores to Berlin, Germany is about 3500 km. 7,000 km round trip is not a level that can be afforded with minor modifications.

[Oh, yes, it must be something similar.]

“good. The president might think that the bomber’s slightly insufficient range makes it difficult to hit mainland Germany. Are you saying it’s not enough to get a round trip to and from the Azores base in mainland Germany? But there is one way.”

[How is that?]

There were no Doolittle commandos at this time. All American carriers were sunk in Pearl Harbor, so the idea of ​​hitting the Japanese mainland with carrier-launched land-based bombers could not be put into practice in the first place.

Of course, you can’t shake Germany with a few such bombers. Even if hundreds of planes fly up from the base, isn’t that enough for strategic bombing?

“Now, to get back from mainland Germany to the Azores, you have to fly 3500 km. But when we flew south, our allies, Romania and Yugoslavia.”

[…] !]

“Calculating from Berlin, it is about 1200 km. The distance reduced by one third. It can also ensure the safety of the pilots.”

Yes. Rather than bombing Japan and returning to the carrier, the Doolittle bombers went immediately to their allies, China and the Soviet Union. In this case, Japan has changed to Germany, but the basic concept is the same.

The bombers flying from the unsinkable carrier Azores would destroy major industrial facilities and cities in Germany and flee to the Soviet Union or Romania. And in the meanwhile, we eat the falling rice cakes – the planes!

Like the B-29, it would be meaningless if an object that could be bombed across the Atlantic on the mainland of the United States came out, but the B-29 was still in the development stage.

[Ummm… Then the pilots will circle the Earth once and cross the Pacific Ocean and come back. Planes…?]

“I would like to give it back if possible, but I don’t know if Japan will allow it. It will not just require a huge number of bombers, but only the most important industrial facilities in Germany will need to be destroyed.”

[For example, what kind of target do you have in mind?]

“The bottleneck in German industrial production that we found out is the ball bearing plant in Schweinfurt. Also, if we hit and destroy the dam that supplies electricity to the heavy industry complex in the Ruhr area, we will be able to undermine their industrial capabilities!”

[…] good. We will review it and let you know. This is why the secretary-general doesn’t know anything.]

Haha… I don’t know if the other side overestimates our intelligence capabilities. How does Beria know all that? looked at me with a Both Molotov and Beria had their faces full of awe for me.

I told you not to idolize…

I became Stalin chapter 129

|

ToC

|