Chapter 53
Chapter 53
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Operation Barbarossa (2)
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Despite the German army's sudden invasion, the Soviet government did not panic.
They had already anticipated this and prepared their minds for it.
Stalin did not flee into hiding in a dacha like Nicholas II.
Instead, he grabbed a microphone and delivered a speech to the nation.
“People of the Soviet Union! As the head of the Soviet Union, I deeply regret having to convey this heartbreaking news to you. At 4 a.m. today, fascist Germany, without any warning, bombarded our federation's territory, sent up its planes, and declared the start of war. In the process, border guard troops from the People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs, who were faithfully carrying out their duties, were killed in action.”
The General Secretary's voice was calm, but beneath it lay an unmistakable anger that could not be hidden.
“What have we done wrong to Germany? For the past two years, a non-aggression pact has been in place between the Soviet Socialist Republics and Germany. Our government has faithfully adhered to all provisions of the treaty during its term. Yet, there is only one reason the Germans have revealed their lust for invasion. They coveted what was ours.”
The General Secretary sternly rebuked Germany's greed.
“Hitler has always said that the Germanic race needs vast living space. They have always cried out for more, more, more land. Austria was not enough, so they swallowed the Sudetenland; that did not satisfy them, so they invaded Czechoslovakia, then Poland, Scandinavia, the Low Countries, and France. Now the fascist beasts say they need the land of our federation!”
For the first time, the General Secretary's voice boiled over.
“The responsibility for this criminal act of aggression lies entirely with Germany's fascist leaders. I rejected the deceitful declaration of war delivered by the German ambassador. Instead, from this platform, I will give him the reply I could not deliver then. In the name of the great Soviet Union and its people, we declare war on Germany!”
Stalin even invoked the histories of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Tsardom, which communists did not particularly pride themselves on.
“Proud people of the federation. We have faced countless enemies until now. Mongols, Tatar khans of Crimea, feudal lords of Poland and Lithuania, the king of Sweden, the emperor of France, the Kaiser of Germany. Numerous enemies trampled this land and sometimes tasted victory, but in the end, it was we who stood here.”
That said, he did not claim the war would be easy.
“The enemy we face this time is stronger than any before. An unprecedented foe that has unified all of Europe stands before us with open jaws. I will not claim it will be an easy war. Painful times of blood and tears await you all.”
Instead, he promised victory.
“But if all our people unite as one to fight back, there is no enemy we cannot defeat. We are the ones who overcame the nightmare of the Russian Civil War, when the whole world attacked the federation. If the federation unites as one, no one can subjugate us. And in the end, we will triumph. Our enemies will surely be defeated, and the day will come when they beg us for victory.”
Of course, he did not mention how great the cost would be.
The General Secretary's speech was immediately printed and distributed across the vast federation.
The Soviet army withdrew rapidly inland as per the original operational plan.
They deployed 5.5 million troops along the main defensive line, the Stalin Line.
Behind that waited another 6 million troops of the strategic reserve.
The remaining forces were spread out along the coastline to prepare for any possible landing by the Axis powers.
At the same time, they carried out a scorched earth policy.
“Leave nothing for the enemy.”
The western Ukrainian and Belarusian regions originally occupied by the Soviets from Poland were areas of low population density.
As the Soviet army withdrew, they thoroughly devastated these regions.
They burned the farmland, forcibly relocated the residents, and ripped up the railroads or melted them down and discarded them.
The German army pursued the retreating Soviets but achieved minimal gains.
They defeated only a few rear-guard units carrying out scorched earth operations and some border guard detachments from the People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs, capturing them as prisoners—that was the extent of their victories.
They did not obtain the farmland and food they had calculated on.
Even so, the Germans started off in fairly good spirits.
The German vanguard units advanced 80 kilometers a day, plunging deep into Soviet territory.
By May 18, 1941, the Germans had pushed nearly 150 kilometers into Soviet land.
It was around this time that proper combat began.
And that was when the problems started.
“No, the map shows three roads—why is only one usable in reality?”
“How should I know? I'm not the one who made the map.”
The Germans paid dearly for conducting operations with outdated maps.
Bottlenecks occurred everywhere, and confusion arose between units.
Amid this, as the stubbornly advancing armored units pressed forward, “it” appeared before them.
“Fire!”
The German tanks bravely fired shells at the Soviet tank blocking the middle of the road.
“What the—?”
The Soviet tank shrugged off the volley from the Panzer IIIs without a scratch.
“Get closer and fire.”
The German tanks cleverly maneuvered to distract it, approached from the side, and fired—but to no avail.
The 40-ton heavy tank, like a giant to the Germans, simply deflected their shells and fired back.
“Panzer III hit!”
The German tanks had excellent coordination, but there was nothing they could do when their shells had no effect.
“Damn it. Where's the air force?”
“They say it's not possible right now.”
Because the Germans had advanced too quickly, the Stukas lacked time to advance and follow.
“At least bring up the anti-tank guns.”
Still, the Germans had abundant combat experience.
By deceiving the Soviet tank's view and advancing the anti-tank guns, they succeeded in breaking its tracks.
But even then, the terrifying Soviet tank would not be destroyed.
Up to this point, the Germans had lost over ten tanks to a single KV-1, resulting in the disaster of their armored division's main axis of advance being blocked.
They eventually brought up an air force 88mm anti-aircraft gun and destroyed it after much hardship, but the Germans could not avoid being shocked.
With these monstrous tanks appearing not just one or two, but all across the front lines, the German advance toward the Stalin Line plummeted in speed.
The problem was not limited to the KV-1.
“Hello, we're the T-34. We're told we're a new medium tank. And we've got over a thousand of us.”
The threat of T-34s operating in brigade units in areas beyond the reach of the German air force delivered a shock the Germans had never imagined.
The Soviets' main forces like the T-26, T-70, or BT series were laughably easy, but the T-34 was something else entirely.
“How the hell are we supposed to knock that out?”
The army's mainstay 37mm anti-tank gun couldn't even dent the T-34.
If it had been Nicholas II, those headache-inducing T-34s and KVs would have mostly melted away under the surprise effect, but that didn't happen here.
Because of this, the Germans suffered greatly.
As if to add another variable to this complicated battlefield situation, heavy rain began to fall in late May 1941.
The rain poured relentlessly for days without stopping.
Rumble.
The massive rains across Ukraine created an unexpected quagmire that engulfed the invaders.
The Germans began floundering in the unforeseen muck.
“No way—rain? This kind of downpour turns the ground into a mud pit!”
The Soviet roads were already a mess, and now caked in mud, vehicles couldn't move at all.
The German offensive, which had just been about to demonstrate its power with the help of forward-deployed air forces, lost its momentum again.
Army Chief of Staff Franz Halder wrote in his diary about the situation:
“The situation is worse than expected. I thought we had plenty of time until winter, but at this rate, we'll be stuck at the gates of Moscow.”
The German Army High Command also admitted that the operational plan had unraveled.
“We misjudged the Soviets.”
They realized their rough estimate—180 active Soviet divisions plus 180 newly mobilized ones, totaling 360 divisions—was completely off.
The enemy wasn't just a mere 360 divisions.
Even from radio intercepts and estimates, the Soviet army's scale easily exceeded 600 divisions.
It was an unbelievable size.
And they couldn't dismiss it as deception, because Soviet defensive units were thickly layered everywhere they attacked.
Honestly, considering the troop disparity, it wouldn't have been strange if the Soviets counterattacked across the entire front.
“What the hell has Eastern Intelligence been doing?”
Frontline commanders grumbled at their superiors.
As the advance stalled, German casualties rose sharply.
Casualties, under 50,000 until late May, jumped to 100,000 by early June.
Of course, Soviet casualties were twice as high.
As the Germans struggled in the mud, countries that had been watching began recalculating.
First, Turkey, which had received Berlin's alliance request:
“Atatürk said Hitler was the kind who'd get revenge and ruin the country.”
Even though Germany seemed to dominate Europe now, seeing them flounder in the Soviet Union made Atatürk's warning ring true.
“We will not join the war.”
Turkey decided to remain neutral instead of participating in the great power conflict.
And Italy, asked to provide reinforcements to make up for losses:
“No, our situation is urgent right now!”
Italy was busy fighting a desperate war against the Chetniks in Yugoslavia.
The number of Chetniks rampaging on the Yugoslav front had already exceeded 200,000.
With communist partisans joining the armed resistance upon the German-Soviet war's outbreak, the Italians had to commit even more troops to Yugoslavia.
“You guys are really idiots? A great power can't help its ally because it's tied up with guerrillas?”
Spain proved more helpful.
Spain sent its old Republican enemies to Russia as the “Blue Division,” holding their families hostage.
One who sends even a single division versus one who sends only souls.
From Germany's perspective, which ally had value went without saying.
Even Hitler, who had a fondness for Mussolini, showered Italy with curses.
“Those idiots haven't done anything proper since the fall of Rome.”
Hitler was dissatisfied, but even so, he did not think they would lose.
The current stagnation was due to the weather.
By mid-June, when the ground hardened, the Germans would have a chance to play to their strengths.
Thinking about it, there was still plenty of time.
“We cannot hesitate come mid-June.”
“Of course, my Führer.”
The generals repeatedly promised Hitler victory.
But no one knew how to undo the first misbuttoned stitch.