I became Stalin chapter 20

Episode 20 (Partial Edit)

I had never thought about it, but ‘I’ was surprisingly old. No, should I say that the generals are young?

I was five years younger than my father who thought he was an old man because of his majestic mustache.

Zhukov and Konev were 18 and 19 years apart, respectively, so they were almost like nephews… He was about ten years older than Stalin’s son, Yakov Dzhugashvili.

As far as Ivan Chernyakhovsky, the youngest commander of the Front Army in actual history, was the same age as Yakov! Considering that Jacob became a German prisoner of war when he was a captain, the commander was ten years older than the captain.

Somehow, they were young. It was also full of vigor. And he had confidence in his abilities.

Compared to the actual history of losing 5 million, the loss so far has been estimated to be around 1 million. Was it about 1/4 of the loss compared to the actual history of losing 20,000 units of armored power and air power?

Perhaps the generals think it’s because of their abilities quite a bit. I did just that. ‘I’ avoided taking full-scale command thoroughly, and brought the knowledge I knew and the collected knowledge to good use, just like the Ministry of Intelligence brought.

It was the generals who took command based on this information. But what about providing information, recruiting, training, organizing and assigning vast populations, while adequately supplying thousands of supplies? That’s what ‘I’ and the bureaucrats under his command were doing.

So I was kind of worried.

“Just before Rasputiza arrives, they will have to drive them out of the defense they are holding on to. Having retreated from the defense they have built, they either retreat back and forth endlessly to avoid unfavorable engagement with their allies, or they dig trenches in the mud and build their positions. You will have to endure endless consumption.

If you want to impose even greater damage on them, now is the right time!”

Without realizing I was lost in thought, Cyrponos was speaking loudly in front of the other attendees. Unlike places such as Army Group Northwest, which had lost many of its armored forces, and Army Group North, which is turning Leningrad into a space fortress while driving its armored forces to other fronts, the South was constantly replenishing its forces.

The Southern Front, which dealt with Nazi Germany’s 800,000 Army Group Confederates and 300,000 Romanians, had nearly 2 million troops and nearly 9,000 armored vehicles, mostly light tanks.

In addition, up to 160,000 two field armies being organized in Zaporozhe, a large city on the Don River. Preparations for the splendid debut on the battlefield of Operation Depth were being completed step by step.

Zhukov and Kirphonos ranted to me. The operation was perfect. The Red Army, which did not lose all its veterans in the early stages, was much more disciplined than at this point in actual history, and had a fighting spirit.

From personal armaments to artillery firepower, from armored power to aircraft power—although it had no air superiority—at least it was better than actual history. Although he gave Zhukov in lieu of wealth to advanced doctrine… What is this slenderness that stimulates every corner of the head?

‘Zhukov is too dangerous’

Stalin inside me whispered like that when I was alone. A defeated general threatens the survival of the nation, while a victorious general threatens the survival of the regime.

I never doubted Zhukov’s abilities. But he only doubts the greed that he might harbor. Beria was also well aware of this frailty that I had, sometimes, with passing words, she stimulated “my” paranoia.

Zhukov’s family is still unknown, but they are already under strict surveillance. I don’t know if I really don’t know, only Berry will know…

If his ‘sabotage’ or ‘conspiracy to revolt’ is caught, Zhukov’s family and friends will be immediately taken to the Gulag, never to breathe the fresh air again. How Beria noticed my suspicious glances, and brought me endless amounts of questionable information about their trends.

“Comrade General Secretary, this is this week’s ‘Domestic Trend Report’.”

During the private session, Beria presented me with a report on the military’s trends with a soft smile.

Marshals and high-ranking soldiers at the general level have already reported ‘suspicious behavior’ at least once. If you read it carefully, it can be said that it is just a circumstance, or that it must be interpreted with malice, but the report was full of hidden malice.

It seemed enough to understand why the soldiers hated Beria just by looking at it.

Of course, the military, which had become bloated through the war, was able to cause a coup d’état. Wasn’t the Russian Revolution itself able to achieve an extremely centralized government – just like the Soviet Union is now – with a single capture of the capital by force?

In real history, Stalin suffered endlessly from such doubts, and he constantly beat up his entourage, whom he considered his enemies. And? In the end, Khrushchev, who believed in him, got his foot in the foot.

“Comrade General? Do you have any instructions?”

“No, wait…”

As if trying to sniff out anger and suspicion, the ‘Stalin’s Hound’ was sniffing at me and sticking its nib at me. With this attitude, Beria would have avoided Stalin’s suspicions until her death.

In fact, in actual history, people like Molotov, who were pushed out of the center of power under the suspicion of Stalin, remained loyal to the end. On the other hand, people like Khrushchev and Beria, who were trusted and prosperous under Stalin, cast aside Stalinism like their devoted partners.

However, there was no need to purge all ‘future traitors’ at this point. Just as Molotov was quite capable, Khrushchev and Beria were also doing well enough in their places to do what I had to do.

Beria was moving forward with the nuclear weapons development process, and Khrushchev was active on the front line as a political officer. Even if I look into the future and try to touch it, I feel sorry for it. So the suspect Stalin must have trusted him?

After all, the Soviet Union needed talent. If even one was wasted, the blood of the soldiers would have flowed more.

Pre-revolutionary Russia was shit. And there was no reason to change much after the revolution. Rather, the high-ranking and middle-class bureaucrats and literate were swept away and it became even more chaotic.

During the Red and White Civil War and the Soviet-Polish War, capable soldiers were promoted to fill positions, and over 20 years passed, nurturing a solid middle-class bureaucracy. However, competent officials were also eager to fill their gaps by colluding with local powers. There were times when he ate more harm than he was capable of.

So Stalin put a super-precipitation that wiped out all the garbage-like humans with a great purge. However, this only clearly exposed the talent shortage in the new country of the Soviet Union.

In the first place, before the great purge, the Soviet Union was a real modern state assistant, so many things happened. Before the great purge, the military blatantly implied rebellion through bloody factional fights, and residents raided wagons carrying party membership cards to receive rations.

In order not to fall behind in Donbas or Belarus, where massive investments in industrial infrastructure were planned, the Ural regional party organizations and public enterprises worked together to create a huge-scale fraud. They followed the plan to build a large-scale industrial complex (Kombinat), swearing that the Urals are rich in energy resources.

They intervened and ruined the project that decided the nation’s centenary for their own benefit.

Urban constructions in the Ural Mountains have had their own effect, for security reasons, that is, because of the difficulty of accessing enemy forces attacking from the west.

As a result, the Luftwaffe could not even get close to Magnitogorsk, Svedlovsk or Chelavinsk in the Ural Mountains due to range problems. These three cities were able to safely pour out huge amounts of war supplies during the Civil War.

However, there were countless attitudes to deceive the Central Party and gain their own interests in this way. At least, the bureaucrats raised by Stalin in the center controlled the provinces to some extent, but this would not have been possible without the great purge.

Still, this country was very large, and there was a shortage of talented people. To the extent that he somehow managed to retrieve the talented people who were dragged to the Gulag by scouring the memory of the original history.

“I am well aware of Dr.’s hard work. But I want you to know that this kind of ‘surveillance’ was inevitable. As you can see from the outbreak of war like this now, Fascist spies have always been looking for opportunities to sabotage our country… Inevitably victims I hope you understand that this can happen. I apologize for this.”

Korolev was stunned by my polite greeting, and was flustered, not knowing where to stand. The contributors to the development of rocket technology, which were lined up behind, also seemed to be shocked. Especially Glusko, who was Korolev’s rival and accused him of being captured by the Encabede.

Was he impressed by me, who even took off my hat and bowed so deeply that I could see the top of my head with gray hair? How can an old dictator who has reached the peak of his power to do this to a young scholar under the age of forty, how does it come to the ‘I’ who has never lived in a dictatorship and to him who has experienced the sad blade? I don’t know.

But this kind of performance could be done for him. One of the greatest geniuses of the Soviet Union, Sergei Korolev, for him.

It was Korolev who succeeded in developing the world’s first artificial satellite, Sputnik, and the first successful intercontinental ballistic missile, and the first successful sending a human into space.

In real history, this genius had to be locked up like a can without even proper support in the special concentration camps where scientists were imprisoned, where he had to be watched by agents and beaten by his superiors, but that won’t be the case anymore.

“When the war is over, I promise to give you the best possible support. I don’t know how much longer I can live with this body… ha ha ha ha!”

When I laughed out loud, some laughed rudely and rubbed their hands, while others waved their hands, and the general secretary said that he would enjoy the heavenly blessings. Korolev was neither. I was just wondering what the maximum support would be.

“It would be best if you tell me the amount. 10 billion units. 10 billion.”

Everyone’s mouths fell open. Sending a human to the moon cost more than $20 billion, even in dollars more valuable than the ruble. The United States spent 23 billion dollars from 1961 to 1969… 3 billion a year, in rubles, it exceeds 10 billion dollars.

“Dr. Korolev, you will be in charge of this gigantic project, and you will be in command of humanity’s access to space, especially the landing on the moon. The time limit is… 25 years from now? Anyway, such a distant story is only for a moment. Put it aside, and I’ll tell you my plan.”

And he recited all the space exploration companies I remember. Sputnik launch, a competition to put a Leica into satellite orbit and launch a lunar probe. And finally, using the great Soviet science and technology to send Soviets to the surface of the moon!

“The design bureau you will oversee will be in charge of all projects related to rockets and space. Engines, electronics, control and measurement equipment, just tell me. Whatever you need, I will put under your control. Dr. Wouldn’t it be okay if other design bureaus could borrow the products they developed?”

People’s mouths were wide open. No other design bureau has been given such authority. In most cases, several design bureaus competed in one field and participated in the national project. No matter how many fields have to cooperate to achieve one goal… such a huge authority?

“The first thing the Politburo wants is this. To build a ballistic rocket that can travel 200 kilometers or more with a warhead weighing roughly… two tons. You will be given great power to control the science of the world. Is it possible?”

Korolev swallowed his saliva. A clear goal was given. Full support was also promised. And… if I refused, I might have to go back there. Goulagra into Hell.

He nodded vigorously. Damn it, you can make it!

“Good, very good.”

Seeing the secretary applauding with a satisfied face, Korolev swallowed his saliva once more. And I looked back at the scholars behind me.

After being locked up in the Gulag, beating out Jangel, Glushko, Cellomei, and his rivals, he became the exclusive director of the space project.

Of course, as it went up in a flash, you may have to go down again in an instant… The position in charge of all the design bureaus and engineers. He wasn’t very greedy for power, but isn’t this kind of treatment so great that he couldn’t even dream of it?

After some time, Koryolov walked out after having a private conversation with the general secretary. With the goals handwritten by the secretary and the design concept drawings that I don’t know where I came from.

Only abstract and simple contents were written about space development. What would you do with a fairly long time limit – in the order of five or ten years? However, this was nothing more than disproving that the Kremlin would invest in space projects during that period.

For now, I’ll have to prove my ability by making things that will be used in war in advance. As he looked at the blueprint of the presented ‘weapon rocket’, he was engrossed in thoughts in his head.

Until suddenly someone grabbed his arm and dragged him.

“Huh! Who… who…”

“Shh, be quiet, Comrade Koryolov.”

Agent Encabede, who grabbed his arm in a corner of the hallway, lowered his voice to convey a few warnings.

Although he came out of the Gulag, don’t contact your family unless you’ve been exposed to top secrets. They would be visible only after the war was over and at least the secondary objective had been achieved.

Not much different from Gulag, so he could nod his head. His wife has already given him the divorce papers. Perhaps there was pressure around the Encabedena.

Even though he understood that, he was somehow a little disappointed. If you had just put up with that time and waited for me… I would have come back as the best.

Of course, Agent Encabede informed him of the lavish treatment to be given him. The post of head of the Ministry of Aeronautics and Space, where he was treated as a minister of the Soviet Union, a spacious house and a private vehicle, and… about a woman.

What if a foreign beauty spy approaches him, who is divorced from his wife and has to work on a secret research project in a place that is nothing more than Gulag alone again?

“Isn’t there supposed to be a case where something like that would happen and the secret would not be leaked? Hahaha.”

The agent smiled with a friendly, non-agent look and handed him some papers.

There were pictures of beauties that made their mouths open, one by one. Can I choose one of these? He picked the one that caught his eye the most and looked carefully. As if they were all partners now, the agent giggled and stabbed him in the side.

“Why are you looking at just one person? All of them. All.”

“…Yes?”

do you know Agent looked at him with an expression that could only be clearly interpreted that way. He could feel his face blushing as if he had been caught thinking about it.

“It is an apology and … courtesy of Sir Beria. You said that you are aware of it. He said he was deeply sorry for the trouble caused by the wrong investigation and hoped that it would be of some help in dedicating himself for the country.”

“…”

Agent patted him on the back friendly, then swished over the corner of the hallway and disappeared. Even after he left, Koryolov looked at the papers for a long time, blushing.

Thank you all readers for reading

I became Stalin chapter 20

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