Chapter 73
Chapter 73
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Winter Campaign (1)
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The Soviet Union had withstood the largest invasion force in history with ironclad resolve.
Though pushed back hundreds of kilometers from the border, they had exacted a heavy toll on the invaders in return.
Now, the Axis powers' advance, which had been shoving the Red Army across every front, had ground to a halt.
The Nazis had only one option left.
To scrape together every last reserve and launch a final assault along a single axis.
It was Germany's sole remaining gamble.
The Wehrmacht squeezed out every ounce of strength for the operation codenamed "Typhoon."
Aircraft, tanks, vehicles, soldiers, artillery, ammunition, fuel.
If this offensive failed, they couldn't dream of another until next summer.
"We're staking everything on this operation."
Unable to resist the Führer's iron will, Army Commander-in-Chief Walther von Brauchitsch steeled himself and launched Operation Typhoon.
A single strike to cleanly sever the heart of the endlessly regenerating Hydra—Moscow.
That was the one goal driving the Germans forward.
And nature itself seemed to smile on them.
The timely chill had frozen the ground solid, aiding the German advance.
But.
"Didn't our Luftwaffe melt all their tanks? Why the hell are those goddamn T-34s popping up all over the front lines again?"
T-34s, which should have been depleted by the attritional battles through September, were once more loitering right under the Germans' noses.
"Haha. Ours are Korean-made. Sorry about that."
The Germans found themselves struggling once again against the T-34s that kept reappearing on the front whenever they let their guard down.
And the T-34s weren't the only problem.
"How do you like the 88mm gun barrel we developed for you?"
The Korean-supplied Hyunmu tank destroyers poured cold water on the German advance.
Even the vaunted Panzer IVs got riddled with holes the moment they took a hit from a Hyunmu's main gun.
This was happening not at a few hundred meters, but from two kilometers away.
Sure, they had lousy armor, but in defensive battles where cover was plentiful, that hardly mattered.
Of course, the Soviets didn't have that many Hyunmus in operation.
But it was more than enough to demoralize the Germans, who were already short on armored forces.
As a result, the Germans had to rely absolutely on the striking power of their aerial artillery, the Stukas, rather than their tank divisions' shock value.
"Luftwaffe! Luftwaffe!"
"Hey, hey. It's nighttime right now."
The Germans tasted victory in daytime fights but got mauled in the night ones, repeating this exhausting cycle.
By mid-November 1941, the momentum of the Germans—who had been aiming for a knockout blow—had completely crumbled.
Beyond the final gateway to Moscow, the Mozhaisk defense line, stood two million freshly reinforced Soviet troops manning a triple-layered defensive network dug hundreds of kilometers deep, blocking the Germans' path.
"These Ivans, are they pulling soldiers out of the fields or what?"
Only then did the Germans realize they had once again underestimated Soviet mobilization capacity.
Statistically, the Soviet adult male population (available manpower) was about 45 million.
On top of that, the Soviets aggressively mobilized their equally vast female population for the war effort.
Not just in munitions factories, but as female soldiers too.
Under these conditions, the Soviets could throw over 20 million bodies into the meat grinder.
In contrast, Germany had only 14 million available males, and female mobilization for industry was nowhere near Soviet levels.
Even factoring in over a million volunteers from across Europe, the manpower gap was too vast.
So it was only natural that the Soviets overwhelmed Germany in terms of resilience.
And now, their logistics had hit the wall.
They lacked not just winter uniforms but even freight cars to supply ammo and rations for the immediate fight.
The Germans had to clutch their empty bellies and count bullets while battling the cold.
"It's impossible."
Finally, German field commanders halted the advance on their own initiative.
Even assault enthusiasts like Heinz Guderian were no exception.
With divisions shrunk to regiment size and regiments down to a single platoon, charging endlessly reinforced Soviets would just get their men slaughtered.
The OKH issued stern warnings to these disobedient frontline commanders, but it was futile.
And then, the fateful December 4th.
"When the East Wind General arrives, shouldn't we settle things once and for all?"
At Stalin's word, the Red Army switched to the offensive across the entire front.
"The Ivans are coming."
Unfortunately for the Germans, the Soviets were far better prepared for winter warfare than they were.
The Germans were thrown into chaos by the millions-strong Soviet human-wave assault that poured forth all at once.
"General, we can't hold like this. What are your orders?"
"Withdraw."
Frontline German commanders, unable to withstand the Soviet onslaught, issued retreat orders.
It was the first time on the Eastern Front that the tide of attack and defense had turned between the two sides.
Hitler could not contain his rage.
He was already furious at failing to finish Stalin in 1941, and now retreats near Moscow to boot?
How were they ever supposed to take Moscow like this!
"Dismiss everyone who's retreating right now!"
"We can't do that."
"Then you're dismissed too!"
Hitler sacked a slew of high-ranking officers, including Army Commander-in-Chief Walther von Brauchitsch.
He then took the post himself and banned all retreats.
But it wasn't enough to stop the Soviets, who had gained unstoppable momentum.
Regrettably for Hitler, winter was the Soviet Union's time.
Thus began the brutal 1941-42 Winter Campaign.
*
"If this were a webtoon, it'd be about time for Korea to pull a 'Pearl Harbor.'"
I savored some hot coffee, enjoying a rare moment of leisure.
The Soviets were gaining momentum, and the Indochina operation had succeeded.
With China slowly being strangled too, external issues were more or less resolved.
But things weren't perfect domestically.
One problem was the samurai class.
We'd crushed them with land reform and intrigue, draining their power, but that still left half a million potential hostiles—an unpredictable variable we couldn't ignore.
Factory workers were grumbling too.
Switching to a wartime economy meant 12-hour double shifts, and they were grinding their teeth in frustration.
The commies and Labor Party were keeping quiet thanks to our Soviet ties, but reports of unrest among the workers kept coming in.
Still, for an imperial reign in the Korean Empire, this was downright peaceful.
Ah, normally this would've been prime time for that four-way death flag to pop up, right?
The coffee's sweet, just sweet.
"Y-Your Excellency! Big trouble!"
Chief of Staff Jeong Gili rushed in, pale-faced, and handed me a telegram.
What now?
I took the telegram and read it leisurely, only to gape in shock midway.
"Has Japan lost its mind?"
A samurai revolt had erupted in Japan.
And the reason was utterly ridiculous.
"They say Korea did land reform and wiped out the nobles' seed. Japan'll be next any day now."
At this absurd rumor, the samurai flew into a frenzy.
Most held back and observed, but a significant number attacked local government offices and murdered military police.
'Is this really happening in the 20th century?'
Come to think of it, this Japan was a pre-Meiji, pre-modern state without the Restoration.
The samurai's brains just weren't wired for the modern world.
Well, even if they were "evolved," they'd just spawn ultranationalists like the Imperial Way Faction, so same difference.
"You there."
"Yes, Your Excellency."
"Convene the Imperial Defense Council."
I immediately summoned the military's key players.
Thirty minutes later, the top brass arrived and took their seats in order.
I briefed them on the situation and asked for their opinions.
Army Minister Kim Seongju called for a hardline response.
"Your Excellency, we need to reinforce immediately. Pull four divisions from the home islands and one from the China front, and we can crush it easily."
"The Army's right. Five divisions will sort it out quick."
"What's your take?"
I asked Security Commander Lee Jeongyun's view.
As the intel chief, he'd likely offer a different angle.
"I believe we should be cautious about pulling troops from the military."
"What do you mean?"
"With domestic unrest, if the loyalist units deploy abroad, who knows what disturbances might erupt."
The Marine commander, listening, piped up.
"You mean a coup?"
"I'm speaking of possibilities, however remote."
Possibilities, however remote.
He had a point.
No matter how tight our military grip, overconfidence was dangerous.
We couldn't forget our power rested on guns and swords.
"You there, how do you propose suppressing the revolt then?"
"With the China front in stalemate, pull five divisions from there to handle it."
"Commander Lee, if we strip that many from the front, Chiang won't sit idle."
"What choice do we have? My duty is to protect Your Excellency at all costs."
"Are you the only one loyal to His Excellency? Quelling this fast is crucial too!"
It was a frustrating standoff.
And both sides were right.
Pulling from home islands: instant suppression—fact.
But that guts loyalist forces, raising risks—also fact.
The generals argued fiercely for a while, but no conclusion emerged.
I had to decide.
"No choice. Here's the plan: four divisions from the China front, one from home islands."
"Your Excellency!"
My compromise.
It might turn out poorly, but I couldn't dismiss either side outright.
After the meeting, I said to Jeong Gili,
"The China front's gonna get noisy for a bit. No more clocking out on time."
"Then the First Lady won't be happy."
Ugh.
Thinking of my young wife, whom I'd only recently acquired, made me clear my throat awkwardly.
She was, well, a bit scary.