Chapter 3:

Chapter 3:

Chapter 3

I wanted to recreate the early game play of the Soviet Union in <Gary Grigsby’s War in the East>, which was said to be the most accurate simulation of the Eastern Front, as closely as possible to the current real situation.

The key to the north was Leningrad (formerly known as St. Petersburg), the heart of the revolution and the center of industry.

The gateway to Leningrad was Pskov, where the railways converged.

I had to block this Pskov and buy time to strengthen the defense of Leningrad or dismantle the factories and escape.

In the center, there were layers of gates that held on.

The gate that Germany was currently besieging was Smolensk.

The basic plan was to defend the two branches of the Moscow-bound railway that diverged from Smolensk and prevent the German army from marching into Moscow.

If Smolensk was breached, then Vyazma, and then Rzhev.

There were a few more, but if the Germans came this far, Moscow would be paralyzed.

So I had to stop them at Smolensk now.

In the south, where the plain was wide open, I had to deploy the most competent commanders and troops and give up some space while putting up a final defense.

The city that I should try to save was Kiev, the capital of Ukraine, but I could also give it up...

The goal of the Soviet Union in the summer of 1941 was to hold on without losing too much land or lives.

If I held on, Rasputitsa, the season of mud, would come, and then the harsh Russian winter would strike and stop the German initial offensive.

Of course, since this situation was not a game, there were many variables.

How would Finland and Romania, the Axis allies, act?

If history went as it did, Finland would join Germany’s side but play both sides until they eventually stabbed Germany in the back.

But what if I blocked them too well and Germany persuaded Finland more aggressively to participate actively in the war?

Would Japan still attack Pearl Harbor as planned?

Would they not attack the Far East because they considered the Soviet Union a threat on the European front?

Could Chiang Kai-shek hold on to the Japanese army until the end as he did in history?

Would the US not cut off Lend-Lease because they saw the Soviet Union as a threat for stopping Germany too well?

Many scenarios flashed through my mind.

As a military leader, it might be easier than expected to stop the German army.

I could reduce trial and error by just referring to the design of T-34’s early disadvantages and late improvements that I already knew.

There were also many strategic mistakes by the Soviet Union.

Wouldn’t it be a great help for development and production if I just protected Kiev Armament Bureau, which was lost in history without a fight?

Whether as Stalin or as ‘me’, who is a mole, I shouldn’t think that I could match the command skills or situational judgment of real generals.

As a wartime supreme leader, I had to set up a board for them to go wild.

“Comrade Secretary-General, what should I do...”

“Comrade Molotov, how soon can you send a message to Finland, Romania, and Hungary?”

Molotov, who came to my office at my call, seemed puzzled by my sudden question.

“We have taken the initiative against Finland, but their communication network is still alive. We can communicate with them by radio immediately. I will investigate and report on Romania and Hungary.”

“Tell that Mannerheim bastard this. We are a great power, and Finland is a small country. We can withstand even if those Fascist bastards push in with our vast land as our space, but if Finland cooperates with Germany and attacks us, we will not end with just Karelia this time. We will surely turn Helsinki into a sea of fire.”

The Finns were a fighting nation.

Borosilov was incompetent too, but their fighting spirit and arctic tactics shown in the Winter War were remarkable.

If they moved south and surrounded Leningrad from the north, it would be quite a headache.

Leningrad was open to Finland in the north and lakes in the east, so it could hold on even if Germany surrounded it from the south, but if it was blocked from the north, it would suffocate.

If Finland did not surround Leningrad from the north, then I could maintain enough supply lines to Leningrad.

Also, I wouldn’t have to waste two field armies worth of large forces to defend a piece of land with nothing to gain from in the Arctic like in history.

It would be better to make them participate as passively as possible by bluffing at Finland.

After all, there were only two things I had to protect there.

Also, if Kiev was breached or the Germans reached there, the ports on the Black Sea coast, such as Odessa and Sevastopol, would be endangered. One way or another, the key was to defend Western Ukraine as much as possible.

“Very good. Are you having any difficulties in the General Staff?”

The old marshal smiled weakly.

The secretary-general was a scary and ruthless person.

But he was also a person who provided enough rewards to useful and loyal bureaucrats.

I just had to try not to get on his bad side.

“We are doing our best, comrade secretary-general.”

“Are there any signs of Japan joining the war?”

This time I started to consult with Beria, whom I had called.

Beria was analyzing the information that Richard Sorge, a special S-class spy, had brought us.

He had already informed us about the Barbarossa Operation, but I ignored it and this disaster happened...

Actually, I didn’t need his information as I knew the future as the past.

Sorge’s value was not in that.

“Japan has prepared to join the war in the Far East if Germany captures Moscow. Germany also agreed to this. Japan is rather trying to attack the United States.”

I already knew that.

Anyway, I confirmed it through this line and I was able to use the elite troops in the Far East as strategic reserves.

I had to keep checking Japan’s trends through Sorge and keep some troops there to prevent Japan from changing its mind, but 200,000 strategic reserves appeared.

As I recorded in my mind what I would order through the General Staff, I began to unfold what I had thought.

“What about our spy in Japan? Can we use him as a means to leak information to Germany or Japan?”

Beria’s eyes widened.

I wanted to purge that disgusting man and send him to the gulag right away, but I couldn’t do anything to him since he was a fairly competent head of the intelligence agency...

Beria was not very loyal to Hitler, either.

There were rumors that he had hindered Stalin’s treatment when he collapsed, or even that he had poisoned Stalin himself. He was a man whose loyalty was uncertain, and if I tried to purge him, he might turn against me.

“If we are caught leaking false information, we could lose our valuable spy network. It is possible to leak information if we have to, but... What kind of operation are you planning?”

“I never said false information, director. I’m thinking of giving them real information.”

Beria smiled slyly and started to polish his glasses.

The gist was this.

Richard Sorge was the head of a spy network that infiltrated Japan and extracted information from both countries’ embassies and delivered it to the Soviet Union.

In the process, he also gave some of our information to the German side in order to get information from them, and I wanted to use this function to the end.

Japan thought he was a German intelligence agent, and Germany thought he was a hardcore Nazi, so I guessed he would be quite effective.

Also, since Richard Sorge was caught because he was sending something to the Soviet Union, if he only leaked false information instead of sending information to our side, the chances of being caught would be lower.

If we gave the information we collected from the United States, Britain, China, etc. to Germany and Japan through Sorge, as the Axis became more advantageous, the stock price of our Soviet Union, which was bearing a huge share of the front line, would inevitably rise.

Of course, if this was exposed, we would make the whole world our enemy, but it would be fine if I only gave them what I knew.

For example, if I told the Japanese army about the deployment status of the US Navy at Pearl Harbor and started the Pacific War?

Japan would not dare to invade the Soviet Union as they would have to fight against the great powers of the United States and China on both sides.

Germany would also follow Japan’s example and declare war on the United States as in history, and the United States would pour out support for the Soviet Union that was fighting against the German army on the European front.

By then, it would be nothing but a secondary benefit that the Soviet Far East became safe.

My goal was to use the string connected to Japan to move Japan-Germany-United States in a chain.

As soon as possible.

That way, I wouldn’t get the butterfly effect from changing history.

Beria left with a meaningful smile as he received my order.

Fight, make them fight.

Make them bleed what we bleed.