Chapter 117:
Chapter 117
“Has the evacuation of Leningrad proceeded as planned?”
“Yes, Comrade Secretary General.”
“It’s a pity that the beautiful city is being destroyed…”
He left out the words that he couldn’t say. The machines in the factories could be pulled out and moved, but not the buildings themselves.
The factory facilities in Leningrad and the surrounding cities had already been dismantled and moved to industrial cities located in Yaroslavl, Gorky, or the Ural Mountains.
The Soviet soldiers who had been resisting desperately at the defensive line until then had now switched their combat style to preserve their combat power as much as possible.
“Retreat! It’s a tactical retreat! Retreat to the rally point!”
It was reported that the Germans had deployed their asymmetric power in the north. A foolish strategy of using the battleships of the Kriegsmarine and a large number of Luftwaffe to smash the city and the troops inside.
The Soviets, who had tasted the fiery hell in Pskov and Smolensk, had given up the idea of fighting a siege with Leningrad.
No matter how solidly they built the defensive line, they could be reduced to rubble along with the buildings by the inferno.
Instead, they aimed for a bigger and more delicious prey.
“The enemy forces stationed in Smolensk are lacking the strength to break through on their own, as a large number of their forces have been withdrawn. We will use the last tank we have to break through and trap them in Smolensk!”
The Leningrad they had aimed for was now empty. With a trap hidden inside.
Hundreds of thousands of troops who had received urban warfare training and were armed with weapons necessary for urban warfare would return to the ruins and bite the ankles of the German army.
It would be a trap.
While the German main force was fighting a hellish urban warfare in Leningrad, the Soviet army would smash the Central Group and advance.
“In the name of our motherland, we will not let a single one of them escape!”
***
“Air raid! Air raid!”
German aircraft appeared like a swarm of bees and filled the sky.
The Soviets, whose strategy was to overwhelm the enemy with massive numbers, were scared by the enormous amount of aircraft.
The anti-aircraft guns on the ground spewed fire, but they seemed to barely scratch them.
The fighters swooped down on the anti-aircraft positions on the ground.
“Aaaah!!”
The anti-aircraft gunners were torn to pieces by the machine guns one by one. After the last anti-aircraft gun position’s gunner shot down two fighters and died, a path was made in the sky.
The bombers entered through the path made by the fighters.
The bombers, which were wobbling as they flew up with a large amount of aerial bombs loaded, scattered the bombs one by one.
Like rain, the bombs poured down on the ground.
Leningrad was engulfed in flames.
The magnificent stone buildings collapsed with a roar.
The concrete buildings shattered and flew into the sky, falling and smashing the buildings next to them.
The wooden buildings burned brightly and turned into charcoal.
A storm of fire swept and soared into the sky.
Like a roaring beast, the flames danced in the air.
“Smash them all! Euhahahahahahahat!”
Richtofen’s voice, filled with madness, burst out on the radio.
He, who had taken the rank and insisted on personally destroying Leningrad, grabbed the control stick and gave orders to the flight squad.
The squadron leader, who advised him to return to base after dropping all the bombs, shouted at him.
“No! No! How can you leave this spectacle behind!”
“Your Highness…”
The bombers flew back and forth several times over the city that was burning red. When the buildings lost their shape, a new attack began.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Four battleships and six cruisers fired their main guns at once. The aerial bombs that had swept the place were followed by shells filled with gunpowder.
The shells kept falling with the intention of destroying all the remaining buildings.
800kg shells, dozens of main guns, and a firing rate of two rounds per minute.
The Bismarck and the battleships piled up the explosives that dozens of bombers had poured over Leningrad in a few tens of minutes.
They would not leave a single building standing in Leningrad! They were determined to destroy the city.
I will rebuild that city, the city named after the red monster, with the beautiful name of our Führer.
So smash it, kill them all! Destroy it!
The burning cityscape was clearly visible from several kilometers away.
Until nightfall, the city burned brightly and fiercely.
The soldiers admired the spectacle.
They had not yet realized that they had to walk into that inferno and wipe out the Soviet army that had survived inside. In fact, they thought so.
‘How many of them could have survived in there? They are human beings, after all…’
The Soviet army abandoned the defensive line and fled.
Only the penal battalion members, who had been promised complete amnesty for their families and the treatment of medal recipients, tied themselves to the machine guns and defended the position.
Of course, it was not easy to capture that position.
Tatatatatata tutatatata bang!
A soldier who was advancing with his head down was blown to pieces.
How stupid to plant such a powerful mine with such a low sensitivity.
The soldiers around him, who were covered with mine fragments and blood, rolled on the ground. Screaming in agony.
The medic ran over and tried to administer first aid, but there was no way to treat the wounded who had sharp fragments all over their bodies.
A few soldiers brought stretchers and carried them away.
One dead. Several seriously injured.
Ten soldiers to escort them.
And dozens of soldiers with their morale plummeted.
Where did the Soviet soldiers go? Some wondered.
Eventually, they looked at Leningrad, which was far away, with a puzzled expression, seeing the bloodstained trenches with the penal battalion members slumped inside.
Where did the regular troops go? To Leningrad? Or did they run away?
Until now, the Soviet army had resisted desperately.
Of course, desperate did not always mean death.
They fought until the last moment and then ran away. But now they had left only the penal battalions who fought until they died at the last line of defense.
The officers felt the uneasiness of the front-line soldiers.
“Your Excellency, according to the reports from the front line…”
“Is that important now? The Führer has ordered us to capture Leningrad by next month!”
But Manstein ignored the reports from the front line and ordered the capture of Leningrad.
Despite the lack of railway transport capacity, the headquarters provided the Northern Group with reserve forces for urban warfare. Already, four new divisions, more than 60,000 troops, were crossing Eastern Europe for the Leningrad siege.
“…”
“General Houser, is there anything that bothers you?”
With a softer voice, Manstein asked. He was very gentle and kind to those who received the Führer’s favor.
He was not particularly strict or harsh with his subordinates, but especially so.
Of course, the other party was Houser. The commander of the 1st Armored Division, which became the most powerful force of the Northern Group by receiving the new SS armored units.
He had retired during the Weimar Republic era and had a lower rank than Manstein, who had risen quickly, but he had no match in the army in terms of military strength.
He looked at the situation board with a sour expression. Manstein seemed impatient.
“The Central Group is in danger. Even if we take Leningrad, what if the main force of the Central Group is annihilated…”
Houser pointed out the Soviet army units that were gathering on both wings of the 9th Army.
What if three field armies collapsed, including the ones that were broken through? His calm eyes seemed to ask Manstein.
“We don’t have enough railway capacity to turn the forces deployed here. It’s not a distance that we can march and move from here to there. The Central Group is only defending the city…”
“Then, Field Marshal Manstein, would it be okay if the 1st Armored Division moved south to support the Central Group? We don’t need an armored unit to clean up Leningrad, do we?”
As much as he was addressing a superior officer, Houser was polite, but Manstein could not refuse.
Even if the Soviet army retreated, he did not know when they would start the offensive again, and he needed an armored army to effectively crush their offensive… that was an excuse.
He was afraid. He had no idea where the Soviet army was, what their intention was.
Was the Central Group the main target? Or was the northern defensive battle the main force? Or was it the south across the Carpathian Mountains?
In a situation where he did not know when the Soviet would launch an offensive, it was better to have one more force. But he had already moved the headquarters and scraped up all the available support, so he could not stop Houser.
I will rebuild that city, the city named after the red monster, with the beautiful name of our Führer.
So smash it, kill them all! Destroy it!
The burning cityscape was clearly visible from several kilometers away. Until nightfall, the city burned brightly and fiercely.
The soldiers admired the spectacle.
They had not yet realized that they had to walk into that inferno and wipe out the Soviet army that had survived inside. In fact, they thought so.
‘How many of them could have survived in there? They are human beings, after all…’
The Soviet army abandoned the defensive line and fled.
Only the penal battalion members, who had been promised complete amnesty for their families and the treatment of medal recipients, tied themselves to the machine guns and defended the position.
Of course, it was not easy to capture that position.
Tatatatatata tutatatata bang!
A soldier who was advancing with his head down was blown to pieces. How stupid to plant such a powerful mine with such a low sensitivity. The soldiers around him, who were covered with mine fragments and blood, rolled on the ground. Screaming in agony.
The medic ran over and tried to administer first aid, but there was no way to treat the wounded who had sharp fragments all over their bodies.
A few soldiers brought stretchers and carried them away.
One dead. Several seriously injured. Ten soldiers to escort them.
And dozens of soldiers with their morale plummeted.
Where did the Soviet soldiers go? Some wondered. Eventually, they looked at Leningrad, which was far away, with a puzzled expression, seeing the bloodstained trenches with the penal battalion members slumped inside.
Where did the regular troops go? To Leningrad? Or did they run away?
Until now, the Soviet army had resisted desperately.
Of course, desperate did not always mean death.
They fought until the last moment and then ran away. But now they had left only the penal battalions who fought until they died at the last line of defense.
The officers felt the uneasiness of the front-line soldiers.
“Your Excellency, according to the reports from the front line…”
“Is that important now? The Führer has ordered us to capture Leningrad by next month!”
But Manstein ignored the reports from the front line and ordered the capture of Leningrad.
Despite the lack of railway transport capacity, the headquarters provided the Northern Group with reserve forces for urban warfare.
Already, four new divisions, more than 60,000 troops, were crossing Eastern Europe for the Leningrad siege.
“…”
“General Houser, is there anything that bothers you?”
With a softer voice, Manstein asked. He was very gentle and kind to those who received the Führer’s favor.
He was not particularly strict or harsh with his subordinates, but especially so.
Of course, the other party was Houser.
The commander of the 1st Armored Division, which became the most powerful force of the Northern Group by receiving the new SS armored units.
He had retired during the Weimar Republic era and had a lower rank than Manstein, who had risen quickly, but he had no match in the army in terms of military strength.
He looked at the situation board with a sour expression. Manstein seemed impatient.
“The Central Group is in danger. Even if we take Leningrad, what if the main force of the Central Group is annihilated…”
Houser pointed out the Soviet army units that were gathering on both wings of the 9th Army.
What if three field armies collapsed, including the ones that were broken through? His calm eyes seemed to ask Manstein.
“We don’t have enough railway capacity to turn the forces deployed here. It’s not a distance that we can march and move from here to there. The Central Group is only defending the city…”
“Then, Field Marshal Manstein, would it be okay if the 1st Armored Division moved south to support the Central Group? We don’t need an armored unit to clean up Leningrad, do we?”
As much as he was addressing a superior officer, Houser was polite, but Manstein could not refuse.
Even if the Soviet army retreated, he did not know when they would start the offensive again, and he needed an armored army to effectively crush their offensive… that was an excuse.
He was afraid. He had no idea where the Soviet army was, what their intention was.
Was the Central Group the main target? Or was the northern defensive battle the main force? Or was it the south across the Carpathian Mountains?
In a situation where he did not know when the Soviet would launch an offensive, it was better to have one more force. But he had already moved the headquarters and scraped up all the available support, so he could not stop Houser.
Bang! Bang, bang, bang!
“Ah, the shelling has started.”
If the previous shelling was to destroy the city, this one was to clear the way for the advance.
The city, which was full of ruins from the collapsed buildings, was a very advantageous battlefield for the defender.
The attacker had to use only a limited path, as the entry route was restricted.
And if the defender’s concentrated fire fell on the entry route during the attack, they would suffer heavy damage.
This attack was a kind of bait to lure their counterattack and weaken their resistance later.
As if enjoying the shelling, Manstein leaned back in his chair. A young staff officer spoke to him.
“Sir… Your Excellency? The SS sanitation unit has requested your authorization to use military supplies.”
“What? SS sanitation… Oh.”
The German army used tens of thousands of horses for transportation.
And there was a sanitation unit to prevent diseases or parasites such as lice and fleas that could occur from the horses.
Of course, that sanitation unit belonged to the defense army.
The SS received supplies from the defense army because of the inefficiency caused by having a separate supply system, so they did not need to have their own sanitation unit.
This was a kind of… euphemism. The SS sanitation unit used similar materials as the sanitation unit in the defense army, and they were given the name ‘sanitation unit’ for that reason.
Of course, this was a secret matter that only high-ranking officers like Manstein would know, but the young captain would not know.
“Um, let them use whatever they need. We have to… stop the epidemic.”
“Yes, Your Excellency.”
They had a similar aspect, both in terms of preventing the epidemic and the tools they used for that.
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