Chapter 37:
Chapter 37
I hated Richtofen.
There were plenty of people I disliked, whether they were from the defense army or the armed guard dogs. But he was a madman.
He took pleasure in slaughtering civilians and burning down villages and cities.
And among the defense army and the armed guard, there were many murderers who were crazy about killing, but few of them had such a high rank as him.
Now that the North African front had ended, the air force that had been stationed in North Africa was deployed to support the offensive of the Northern Group Army.
The one who was in charge of the entire ‘strategic bombing force’ that was added to the existing Fourth Air Force that supported the northern front army was none other than the butcher Wolfram Richtofen.
He was like a child who was excited about the new weapons that the Führer had given him, but he also had the pure cruelty that a child possessed.
He ordered them to pour fire, bombs and machine guns on the Slavic ‘Untermenschen’.
And like a dog that fetched a thrown ball, he brought back the results and bragged about them with panting.
“This is the amazing achievement that our air force pilots showed in this Tallinn bombing operation! Isn’t it efficient? Hahaha!!”
The air force’s ‘experiment’ was simple. Dropping newly developed bombs on enemy cities and towns.
Which bomb was best at destroying buildings, and which bomb was best at slaughtering civilians?
The Führer called the war a ‘total war’ and said that smashing cities, factories and humans was the shortcut to victory by destroying the enemy’s capacity and will to fight.
Richtofen, who wanted to run along that shortcut, gladly carried out the ‘experiments’ ordered by the Führer and meticulously compiled the results to a pathological degree.
He introduced the new weapons for breaking through the Pskov defense line with his verbose and fast speech.
Where did he get these things from?
I hid my disgust and endured his babbling with a calm face.
The war he learned was a clash between armies using their own strategies and tactics, essentially a duel between warriors.
He had learned not to harm civilians, even if they were ‘inferior races’.
In his 20 years of military service, he had never dreamed of such a war.
Richtofen raved about how these weapons would reduce the blood shed by Germany’s sons, but I wanted to shout instead.
Rather, rather let our sons’ blood flow like a river.
Don’t slaughter those foolish people.
“So, what do you want me to do?”
I asked him indifferently as his long speech seemed to end.
Yeah, why don’t you do it all with your great air force?
Richtofen gave a huge laugh that reminded me of G?ring somehow.
“Ah! Commander. The army… just wait for us. We’ll bring you plenty of early Christmas gifts! Hahaha!”
Pskov had been transformed into a fortress from June until now.
The purpose of taking this place was to use the railway line, so the enemy’s route to the train station was filled with mines, barbed wire, gunners equipped with machine guns and anti-tank rifles, and torches.
It was fortified.
Although it was not a very big city, the Soviet army deliberately collapsed some buildings to limit the route for Germany’s armored-vehicle units.
And on the open route, they built a dense fire net to smash Germany’s army that would crawl in without thinking.
The two divisions of the Northwest Front Army hid in the city that had been ruined except for military functions after receiving intensive urban warfare training and waited for Germany’s army that might enter.
The core medium tanks of the tank unit that would serve as mobile reserves had all been destroyed while exhausting all of Germany’s Northern Group Army’s offensive capacity, so only layers of infantry defense lines were all they could rely on.
Of course, they were tired from hard work and building trenches, but they built an iron-like defense line and their morale was quite good because they only confronted each other without any battles while fighting Germany’s army and seeing their comrades die on the battlefield.
Until the next moment came.
“Whiiiiiiing! Whiiiiiiing! It’s an air raid! This is real! It’s an air raid!”
“Take cover! Take cover!”
The deafening air raid siren rang out and soldiers who were working outside hurriedly hid in shelters or trenches.
How come Germany’s planes suddenly attacked?
The soldiers recalled their old nightmares.
Tutatatatata, tutatatatata!
The anti-aircraft guns spewed fire, and Soviet fighters fired machine guns at Germany’s fighters who were escorting the bombing force.
[I got hit in the wing. I’ll retreat!]
“Damn it… there are too many enemies!”
But Soviet fighters’ resistance could not last long. Both quantitatively and qualitatively, Soviet air force was overwhelmingly inferior in the sky of the northern front.
One by one, Soviet fighters were shot down or retreated, and by then, the bombing force had reached the sky of Pskov.
“Drop all bombs! Drop them!”
“Yes! Hahaha, let them taste the heat!”
Germany’s bombers dropped a massive amount of aerial bombs over the defenseless city and flew away.
While the bombs created a living hell on the ground, they disappeared far away.
A huge heat blast swept through and killed the Soviet soldiers who were hiding between bunkers and collapsed buildings.
Those who were far away from the epicenter had buildings collapse on them, and some died in agony from internal bleeding caused by the pressure difference.
The defense lines they had built over weeks collapsed under the aerial bombs that covered the city.
As if to confirm the kill, the bombers came back after some time and sprinkled incendiary bombs.
The Soviet fighters, who had already suffered heavy damage and retreated to the airfield near the city, could do nothing.
Pskov burned in an instant.
Those who barely escaped from the buildings that collapsed by the first bombing and tried to save their comrades died as black charcoals under the incendiary bombing.
The Northwest Front Army headquarters received an air raid alert and organized the situation in an underground bunker.
The headquarters judged this as a preliminary bombing before the start of a full-scale offensive and ordered to start the prepared defense operation as planned by radio.
But from above the underground bunker, ominous noises were heard, and only a few of the subordinate units responded normally to the radio.
And even those few only responded with desperate screams.
“Kuaaaaaa…g… crackle…”
“2nd Regiment! Respond! Respond!”
With the 49th Division 2nd Regiment stationed at the outermost front defense line, the headquarters’ communication was cut off.
The panic that started in the communication unit spread to the staff and clerks, while Commander Batutin slammed his desk.
“Don’t panic! The intelligence officer will make a list of our units that have lost contact and report it to the General Staff immediately. Prepare for…the worst.”
The commander’s voice trailed off.
He couldn’t figure out what had happened either.
How many air raids had fallen?
The staff members under his command looked at him and tried to figure out what had fallen, but there was no way he knew more than them.
Fortunately, the radio to the General Staff was working fine.
“This is Northwest Front Army, we can’t assess the situation of our subordinate units after a massive air raid. Repeat, we have lost contact with our subordinate units after the air raid.”
The General Staff seemed to be in confusion as well.
Their original goal – to hold Pskov until winter and secure the gateway to Leningrad – was within reach, so they must have thought victory was in sight.
The victory that seemed so close flew away like a bluebird as soon as they tried to catch it.
And then the General Staff delivered one shocking news.
“Pskov is also on the verge of falling. An hour ago, Pskov also reported that its subordinate units suffered heavy damage after an air raid. Similar aerial bombs are suspected to have been used. Northwest Front Army will either hold its defense line or destroy the railway line and retreat if it lacks strength.”
Some of the staff seemed to be in a state of panic.
Commander Batutin pushed his officers away and ordered them to go outside and rally the stragglers.
He also had a look of wanting to abandon everything in panic, but he clenched his teeth and gave orders here and there.
There were supplies for Soviet troops stationed in Pskov at the train station.
Of course, since they were military supplies, there were plenty of explosives there.
If they had been lost in an air raid, they would have exploded along with the train station, but they had to destroy it so that they could not use it.
“Contact the guard force stationed near the city who are guarding against enemy flanking and cutting off the railway line and order them to destroy the railway line with pre-planted bombs!”
“Ye… Yes, sir!”
Some of those who survived in a huge explosion barely preserved their radios or communication lines and started to reply to headquarters again.
Most of them were screaming for medical support or rescue, and only a few could carry out operations according to orders.
The city defense force became stragglers in an instant.
‘How many people have died or been injured.’
Batutin cried out inwardly. In addition to tens of thousands of troops in Northwest Front Army, there were still thousands of civilians who refused to leave Pskov and kept their homes.
There were also thousands of temporary workers who were drafted to help with military work, and non-military people who supported various tasks, at least tens of thousands.
Did they survive?
Batutin couldn’t say a word about this question.
“We got hit hard.”
We weren’t the only ones who wanted to secure a favorable position before winter came.
It came back to bite us hard when we thought we had achieved an unexpected air superiority in southern sky.
“I’m sorry…”
“No, it’s not your fault.”
It was a matter of exchange.
Germany gave up the possibility of an offensive by the Southern Group Army and instead took Pskov and Smolensk, the bridges they needed to advance in the center and north. 2 to 1.
Germany gained an advantage in three places: north, center, and south.
Well, I didn’t know the exact damage situation yet, as the report hadn’t come up. But their gains were limited.
“They have nowhere to expand their war. It’s suicide to try to advance further in the winter that’s coming soon.”
“You’re right, Comrade Chief of Staff.”
“Instead, we… don’t we have a lot of places to go? Don’t we, Borosilov?”
“Huh? Ah!! Yes, yes!!”
The value of a bridge only exists when there is a place to advance. If getting a bridge makes it hard to take another step forward, it’s just a salient.
A delicious prey that the enemy pushed out for us to cut off.
On the other hand, there was a huge prey waiting for us at the bridge we secured. Molotov, who wasn’t here, had laid out pre-stones to lure that prey, and Borosilov had trained and deployed the field units to execute the plan.
“I hope Budenny and Zhukov do well. Hahahahaha!”
“Eh… hahahahaha!”
When I laughed, everyone laughed with me.
Germany was blinded by trivial goals and couldn’t see the big picture.
While Germany was rushing in with their eyes flipped over by eating one or two Soviet field armies or a few cities, we had finished our groundwork.
Enjoy it now! You’ll soon feel the painful consequences. Hahaha!
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