Chapter 49
Chapter 49
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Preparation (2)
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Stalin mulled over the advice he had heard from Yi Seong-jun in Irkutsk.
Under the assumption that a Nazi invasion was inevitable, Yi Seong-jun's advice was logically sound.
Stalin summoned People's Commissar for the Oil Industry Ivan Sedin, People's Commissar for Ferrous Metallurgy Ivan Fedorovich, People's Commissar for Foreign Trade Anastas Ivanovich Mikoyan, and others, grilling them on how much damage they were taking from trade with Germany.
Their answers were shocking.
"The Germans are deliberately slacking off or engaging in sabotage. They've almost never delivered the promised quantities on time."
Stalin flew into a rage at this report.
Stalin had known that Germany was slacking off, but he hadn't realized it was this severe.
"Why are you only reporting this now!"
Well, who would they go after if they reported the facts as they were?
No one wanted to upset the dictator who wished for the non-aggression pact to hold.
Stalin glared at the pale-faced, sweating men.
With such pathetic, dimwitted fools sitting as ministers, no wonder the country was running smoothly, he thought.
"Comrades, you've let the Germans steal the Union's property."
"We're, we're sorry."
"Stop sneaking glances like rats and go stop the trains to Germany right now!"
The ministers fled Stalin's office in relief, moving as quickly as they could.
"Pathetic fools."
Stalin twirled his pen.
Should he just leave those idiots in their positions?
Wouldn't it be better to put them on the list and get rid of them?
The temptation was there, but he resisted.
Removing those fools from sight would only bring new ones.
Stalin decided to hold off for now.
It was patience uncharacteristic of him.
When the Soviet government touched trade with Germany, the Germans didn't sit idly by.
German Ambassador to the Soviet Union Friedrich-Werner von der Schulenburg visited the Foreign Ministry and threatened Molotov in a harsh tone.
With Europe already conquered backing him, the ambassador had nothing to fear.
"Trade between the Union and Greater Germany is a symbol of cooperation based on mutual trust. Moscow has unilaterally trampled that vital legacy. Do you know how seriously Berlin views this situation?"
Molotov wiped the sweat from his forehead with a handkerchief.
Molotov had never been backed into a corner like this in a conversation before.
"Ambassador, that's a misunderstanding. Based on reciprocity, since your side has been late with deliveries, we're just doing the same."
"If it's a misunderstanding, that's fortunate. So I can take that to mean you'll resume resource supplies?"
That wasn't it.
Without Stalin's orders, not a single lump of coal would go to Germany.
"Ambassador, for us to resume resource supplies, Germany must take sincere measures first."
Molotov said his piece despite his discomfort.
No matter how difficult the Germans were to deal with, it paled compared to his fear of Stalin.
"Minister, are you joking right now?"
The German ambassador berated and bullied Molotov at length before leaving.
Molotov stuck out his tongue at the ambassador's high-handed attitude and went to report the conversation to Stalin.
"You got an earful from the German ambassador?"
"Yes. The count was extremely rude. He wasn't like that before; it seems he has instructions from Berlin."
Stalin knew the German ambassador too.
Like the German nobles with 'von' in their names, Count Schulenburg was polite and reserved, the epitome of a diplomat.
For such a man to come out this strongly meant firm instructions from his home government.
"That means blocking their resources has really hurt the Nazis."
"Perhaps."
"Don't yield an inch to the Germans going forward. Understood?"
"Of course, Secretary-General Comrade."
With Stalin's specific directives now in place, Molotov had even less room to maneuver.
As a result, whenever the German ambassador met Molotov, it was like they were talking to walls, parroting the same lines like parrots.
While the two sides traded diplomatic barbs, Stalin also reconfirmed the military's wartime readiness.
"Koba, why did you half-ass building defenses on the buffer zone we gained in Poland? Focusing on the Stalin Line means we can't protect the territories we took in '39 and '40."
"The enemy is Germany. The ones who toppled Britain and France in six weeks. You think we can just meet them head-on at an unprepared border?"
Stalin didn't have that kind of confidence.
"But fighting inland will cause massive material damage to the Union."
"We have to be prepared for that."
Stalin was ready to sacrifice a million—no, millions if necessary.
On December 29, 1940, the Soviet Army split into Blue and Red forces for war games.
The Blue force, employing fluid German-style blitzkrieg tactics, easily bypassed the Red force's defenses and crushed them effortlessly.
When the side playing the Germans—the Blue force—won, the Red force commanders were stunned.
"This is impossible."
But reality was reality.
As soon as Stalin received the war games report, he kicked his desk.
"These blockheads. They don't have the brains to fight Germany at all!"
Stalin immediately issued harsh reprimands.
With war with Germany imminent, he couldn't leave incompetent commanders in place.
Of course, such measures alone wouldn't stop Germany.
"We can't fully trust Korea, but nailing down 30 divisions in the Far East is a waste of manpower."
Stalin pulled 20 divisions from the Far East Army allocations and moved them to European Russia.
Even so, Stalin felt it wasn't enough.
The enemy wasn't just Germany alone, but a European confederation with all of Europe's resources at its disposal.
To face such a foe, intelligence was more crucial than anything.
Fortunately, the Reds had sympathizers scattered worldwide.
Stalin summoned NKVD chief Beria.
"Comrade Beria."
"Yes, Secretary-General Comrade."
Stalin's vicious hunting dog bowed politely to his master's call.
"From now on, compile every scrap of news from Germany and put it on my desk every hour. Don't miss even the sound of Adolf's balls twitching."
"Leave it to me. I'll do my utmost."
Beria was planning to use the eavesdropping equipment developed in Korea with Soviet engineers' help in Germany.
As January 1941 arrived, strange incidents began occurring along the German-Soviet border.
"Hey, isn't that a German plane flying high overhead?"
"Looks like it."
German aircraft buzzed in and out of Soviet airspace several times a day, grating on Soviet nerves.
"Shoot them all down."
Stalin issued the order decisively.
On January 30, 1941, a German reconnaissance plane that had penetrated Soviet territory to take high-altitude photos was intercepted and shot down by Soviet fighters.
The German government lodged a strong protest.
"We're signatories to a non-aggression pact. Attacking us for accidentally crossing into your airspace is excessive."
"You've violated our airspace nearly a hundred times in the past month. We've put up with enough."
The Soviet Air Force pounced on every German plane that entered.
These interceptions hampered the German Luftwaffe's photo reconnaissance for the army.
"What the hell? Why are the Soviets suddenly acting so tough? Aren't they afraid to clash with Greater Germany?"
"The Reds know it too. That the day we clash is approaching."
The Germans saw the Soviet defenses as an annoyance but thought it no big deal.
They figured they could make do with old maps from when the German Empire had occupied Russian territory in 1915-18.
Of course, German provocations didn't stop there.
In February 1941, Ukrainian separatists, backed by Germany, launched terrorist attacks in western Ukraine.
Rail lines were cut, bridges destroyed, and government offices burned.
Western Ukraine was thrown into temporary chaos across the board.
"These fucking idiots."
Thanks to that, the number of army commanders sent to the Gulag increased substantially.
Based on Germany's repeated provocations and intelligence from Eastern Europe, Stalin became convinced that a German invasion was imminent.
If so, it was total mobilization.
"Dress them all in uniform."
"Pardon? How many?"
"All of them, I said."
Stalin issued mobilization orders to the 12 million reservists who hadn't yet donned uniforms.
By early May, when this mobilization wrapped up, the Soviet Army would exceed 13 million strong.
A truly terrifying number.
In the original timeline, even by Barbarossa, mobilization wasn't complete, but here it was ordered in February, well before the war started.
Millions of men boarded trains and trucks everywhere, heading to their units.
Even with such a massive army mobilized, if the Germans didn't come, that would be a disaster in itself.
But Stalin was certain.
"The Nazis will come for sure."
And the fateful showdown between the Slavs and Germans, staking their destinies since the 19th century, would unfold.
Stalin had no intention of losing this confrontation.