Rasputin of the East

＜ Episode 165 >

Kutuk was an ordinary Egyptian Ministry of Education official.

A devout Muslim, he was born into a wealthy landowner, and went to college in Cairo as he was praised for being smart. He was also known as a novel critic.

However, the war changed everything.

“Get down! Get down, you idiots!”

The British army was so desperate that they gave the untrained people anything and drove them to the battlefield.

Kuthu was also conscripted. It was nice to receive the position of a platoon commander because he was a civil servant, but the problem was that he was immediately pushed into the front line to block the advance of the Russian army.

The two of them were using a single rifle, and the handful of armored forces there was instantly defeated by the Russians.

In the yard, the British army even sent a single squadron to prevent the retreat of the conscripts.

General Montgomery received the enemy’s fire and sent conscripts to the work that was consumed, and he wanted to save the British Empire’s army as much as possible, so the local units were naturally holding out in a place where the British army was supposed to be covered by shells. .

“Allah…”

Just as I was about to memorize the prayer, the bombardment stopped.

But no one could have thought that was the end of the danger.

A voice began to be heard from far away.

upbeat lyrics.

Did you say that it was a Russian military song, a maiden song? In any case, I could hear from afar a military song that was said to have been written by General Zapatrin, several women of the imperial family.

Hearing that he was called from Krakow when he was very young, there was a high possibility that the Russian army was planning to send its main force here.

In other words, his odds of living were down there, somewhere below the decimal point.

-Five! A song, a song of a maiden, fly along that shining sun and deliver Katyusha’s greetings to a soldier on the far border.

-Make him think of an innocent maiden, and listen to her songs, that he may defend his country, that Katyusha may keep his love.

Even in the roar of the train, the strangely audible singing was clearly audible.

Immediately after the song stopped, a shout was heard.

“Long live the Russian Empire! Long live the Emperor! Long live Her Majesty! Attack!”

“Wow!”

Tank shells start flying. There were several soldiers running with cluster grenades from the positions without even proper anti-tank guns, but they quickly became beehives.

The Russian army was well equipped not only with rifles but also submachine guns.

Infantry who jumped off the tank approached the tank as cover, and the tanks fired direct fire, preventing the British from raising their heads.

The common firearms positions were shot and disappeared one by one. The allies have no prospect of whether to provide reinforcements or artillery fire.

At that moment, the coaxial machine gun fired fire at Khutt. He barely tucked his head in and his head exploded like a watermelon, but not everyone was so lucky.

– Aww!

After losing its mobility, the Crusader tank, which was used as a fixed battery, exploded, and the shock wave caused Kutuk to fall a few meters.

“Ugh……”

The hand is torn and blood is flowing. The enemy tank had already broken through the trench line, and the infantry was galloping behind it.

Picking up a light machine gun that had fallen to the ground, Kutuk hurled rounds at the approaching enemies.

Immediately after a few enemies were knocked down, a clicking sound was heard.

The 30-round box magazine was quickly empty.

The moment I got up to find another magazine in a hurry…

– Kwajik!

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My eyes flashed and I heard the sound of something breaking.

It was the sound of a Russian soldier who was lying on his stomach while the fire was going on and rushed in, swung a butt in his face, and was hit by the sound of bones breaking.

The sound of screaming incomprehensible words, and the feeling of something cold piercing your flesh.

Surprisingly, I felt the coldness of the bayonet stabbing my chest more than the pain.

The death of an official was of little importance on the battlefield.

***

“Our forces continue to push the British and Germans.”

Just because the German army joins with some German-made and French-made equipment does not mean that the Russian army will be pushed back.

The war was just a one-sided massacre.

“Without the German 8.8 cm anti-aircraft guns, the T-32 is invincible. That anti-aircraft gun is the enemy’s weapon, but I’m envious.”

“Don’t be conceited, technology advances very quickly during war, so there’s no reason that there won’t be a new tank that can easily break even the T-32 within a few years.”

Thinking of Tiger and Panther, I shook my head.

I’m making a new heavy tank to counter that, but it seemed to be a bit delayed.

I looked straight at the generals on the European front.

“Mannerheim?”

“At present, our advance is stopped in Saxony.”

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Mannerheim reported quietly.

“The resistance on the Saxon side was fierce and, as reported earlier, there was a line of defense with a large number of 8,8 cm batteries. In a situation where air power could not be secured with certainty, the consumption of the allies was not small…”

“in conclusion?”

“…the current enemies are believed to have formed a fairly cohesive line of defense.”

“General Konev.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“When will the Oder River be crossed?”

“It is judged that the current combat forces in the direction of Poland have reached the end of the offensive.”

Konev answered, pointing out a few points on the map.

“The Siegfried and Panther lines were destroyed through bypass maneuvers and frontal attacks, respectively, but the remaining German forces still remain in the rear, and they also need to be cleaned up. In addition…..”

Even so, most of the content was about grievances in the field.

‘Even if a war breaks out, it breaks out at this time.’

If it had only been one year, the T-32 would have been ready for mass production and printed out, and it would have run to Berlin in a month, giving the T-32 shock to the German army that had nothing but a Panzer IV.

Unfortunately, the T-32 is now as valuable as the original Tiger. If you wait a year, the story will be different.

And the old-generation tanks do not easily follow the mobile warfare doctrine established by Tuhachensky et al.

To put it bluntly, we have to assume that hardware replacement is being made and all the software has been prepared accordingly, but the war breaks out while the hardware replacement work has not yet been completed, so it must be said that the software does not show its ability.

And everyone here knew it.

If it lasts just one year, a huge amount of tanks will pour out from major munitions factories that have been converted to all-out warfare, and there will be enough tanks to form an armored unit even after replacing all units’ tanks with T-32s.

‘The problem is that if you give them time, they will come by greatly augmenting their troops.’

The Axis powers controlled all of the resources and factories of Western Europe, and unlike the original history, the production process was considerably improved.

In other words, we cannot rule out the possibility that they will come to us in a volume war.

If we take off the United States and compete against all of Western Europe, Southern Europe, and Central Europe… we’ll win, but we won’t be successful either.

So we have to think about how to temper them.

We are not France. The reason why France surrendered was that, first, most of the equipment and skilled soldiers were destroyed individually, the shock that the Maginot Line was pierced in the front, there was even a riot from the rear, and decisively overestimated Germany’s national power, so it surrendered.

In the first place, even the German Empire in the Great War period was given generous conditions after surrendering, so there is a story that they too received such conditions and surrendered in the hopes that they would retaliate one day, but there was no basis for it, but it was persuasive… .

After all, we don’t have as many misjudgments as in France. Of course, it’s hot to fall for the deceptive tactics all over France this time…. There’s nothing to say about the fact that Stalin only gave orders and started a smoke screen by spreading fake information in case there were spies.

Thanks to that, we missed the best attacking opportunity.

“Whether it’s the Saxony or the Oder River, if we break through and press Berlin, they will come out quite a bit.

The strength of the German army is proficiency and equipment, which can be re-produced, but skilled soldiers who have accumulated a lot of practical experience are difficult to raise again if they lose them.

“Yes, I understand.”

It is a strategy to decide up to this point, and beyond that, it is an area where those humans have to put their heads together and ponder.

Actually, what I’m doing is somewhere on the borderline between politics and strategy.

“Are there any other reports?”

“there is.”

Irina, who had been depressed for quite some time, said that the information about the last French invasion was wrong.

“what?”

“It’s not important on the front, but there’s going to be a big event in London soon to celebrate the French occupation. It’s a gathering place for all the top Axis powers, so if you hit London on schedule, it’s going to have a pretty good propaganda effect.”

“London?”

“The range of the new four-round bomber is around 6,000 km, and it is enough to sortie from Bergen.”

“It’s Bergen.”

I couldn’t help but worry about her words about Bergen, Norway.

It seems like it will be a kind of Doolittle commando, but first… Our army is dispatched to fight, but the resistance of Norway is quite precarious.

I guess I should say it’s fortunate that Sweden is on the other side. After the fall of Stockholm, the royal family escaped on our side, but they did not surrender, so the Swedish army retreated to present-day Norwegian territory and fought back.

Bergen is also a key major city in Norway that is still maintained by the allies, so it is worth trying.

“London’s air defense system is not that good. Besides, if there is such an event, they will turn on their lights and watch the skies, but if they don’t put on an escort, they’ll all be beaten before they even get to the skies of London.”

“Escort? Is it a cruising distance?”

When I turned my head to the question, the generals of the aviation corps gave me the answer right away.

“Absolutely impossible.”

“If France has not yet fallen, the escort mission will be impossible as long as France has surrendered. The range of Dr. Dornier’s new aircraft currently being tested is about 1300km, but it is a mission that requires a range of at least 2000km. It is added when you consider stability. On their return, all fighters will be buried in the North Sea.”

It meant that it was mathematically impossible.

“Then they say that aircraft cover is impossible, and what is possible is……”

“How about strengthening the bomber armament?”

“How about the Zveno project?”

“What else is that?”

“How can a one-way flight to a friendly airfield be possible if you put in a twin-engine for the cruising range?”

“right.”

“There was something that I had been experimenting with for a long time with the R&D budget at the Aviation University. The Zbeno project… We succeeded in creating a kind of flying carrier that can deploy two single-shot fighters under the wing of a bomber, sortie it when it enters the airspace, and even retrieve it when the mission is completed.”

“……?”

Wait, I mean… Flying carrier? Are you talking about that helicarrier thing?

“Is there such a thing?”

“Yes, but both bombers and fighters are outdated… Once you have the know-how, it is possible to modify the new bomber so that the fighter can sortie. It’s heavy, but even if the range is reduced a bit, it’s sufficient for the operation.”

In fact, even if you just take off from Helsinki, Finland and bomb it, the cruising range supports it. The reason I don’t do it is because it’s dangerous if the pilots get tired from a long flight.

“Instead, the size of the aircraft should be considerably increased.”

“It can’t be helped…”

“Irina.”

“Yes.”

“Well, what’s the exact schedule?”

“We haven’t been able to figure out the exact date, but it’s likely in about three months. We will keep track.”

Well, if it’s such an event, it’s not really something to hide, but if the intelligence department had to catch it, there’s a good chance that a specific schedule hasn’t been set yet.

Besides, it wasn’t long after France surrendered.

“Then another problem arises, didn’t they say that dropping bombs during events is effective in order to give psychological shock to the enemies?”

“That’s right.”

“But will Norway be okay until three months from now?”

“……It will still be fine. The Norwegian front is not only fiercely resistant, it is only a secondary front to Germany and Britain. Under all current circumstances, and with common sense, it seems that the British Army is pouring all its energies into the Middle East. The German army is also worried about Berlin, so it will be difficult to focus all of its forces on Norway.”

“Then Norway has to stand up and finish all of the aircraft modifications, pilot training, and operational planning within three months, can you do it? Depending on the situation, the schedule may be shorter.”

The generals of the aviation corps immediately shouted with a gudongseong.

“of course! You can!”

In fact, even though there was no intention to do so, the airline had no option to reject it in the first place.

Already, the exchange rate is not very good, so it is not able to properly seize the air supremacy, and it is causing considerable damage in Europe and the Middle East.

If this goes on, a nightmare that the independence of the air force, the long-cherished dream of the air force, would be lost, was beating the generals of the air force.

In short, I had to show something. by any means.