บท 54: 54
war (4)
November 26, 1939
Mainilla, Soviet-Finnish border area
"We are ready, Comrade Captain!"
Captain Grigori Kulik, who had been yawning profusely while sitting in his chair, stood up, pleased with the report from his staff that preparations were complete.
"Really? "You're sure, right?"
"of course."
"Then, let's begin."
The task that Kulik was instructed by Stalin was to 'create a cause.'
If Finland was simply invaded, the international community's backlash would be severe, so it was necessary to produce evidence that Finland had carried out a provocation first.
As soon as Kulik's signal was given, the 152mm ML-20 howitzer let out a loud explosion and spit out flames from its muzzle.
The shell accurately hit the Soviet guard post. The guard post took a direct hit from a 152mm shell and disappeared without a trace.
The birds, startled by the sudden explosion, all flew towards the sky.
There was only heavy silence in the birch forest, which was full of chirping birds.
***
November 30, 1939
Stalin invaded Finland in retaliation for the 'provocation' of the Finnish army in the Mainilla region four days earlier.
420,000 Soviet troops marched towards Helsinki, the capital of Finland.
The Winter War has begun.
The news that Soviet troops had crossed the Finnish border immediately reached me.
Since we had already decided to tolerate the Soviet Union taking over Finland through the non-aggression pact, all I had to do was sit back and watch the situation unfold.
"How long will Finland last?"
"No matter how hard Finland holds out, January next year will be the limit."
As can be seen from the conversation between Göring and Himmler, everyone expected Finland to soon be annexed to the Soviet Union.
Göring said it would take approximately three weeks to conquer Finland, and Himmler predicted four weeks.
Keitel and Brauchitch estimated it to be around 5 to 6 weeks.
"Mr. President, how many days do you think it will take?"
"Me? "I think Finland will survive."
"Yes?"
Question marks appeared on the faces of my aides who heard my answer.
That's right.
If a bear fights a bobcat, everyone would think the bear would win, but who would think he would lose to the bobcat?
Of course, the war ended with the Soviet Union's victory, but instead of annexing the entire region of Finland, which was the goal, it ended up only ripping off a portion of the land.
From Finland's point of view, it was not a small amount of damage as it was an area that accounted for 11% of the total territory, but from the Soviet Union's point of view, it was nothing but a piece of land.
"Is this really that surprising? Although I condoned the Soviet Union's occupation of Finland when signing the non-aggression pact, I do not believe that they are powerful enough to devour Finland. That does not mean that we take the Soviet Union lightly, but it is still early."
In the Battle of Poland, despite being overwhelmingly superior in all aspects, including troops, equipment, and supplies, the Soviet army fought a poor battle against the Polish army, which was already in ruins.
Although the Polish army fought valiantly, the biggest cause was the great purge.
Regardless of incompetence or ability, many officers were executed and those with insufficient qualifications were promoted en masse to fill the vacant positions, resulting in the Soviet army at that time being no different from a large and filthy ragtag group.
In the Battle of Schatzk, the Soviet army was defeated by the Polish army even though it had three times as many troops, and in retaliation for the defeat, it committed the evil act of executing all Polish prisoners of war.
Even in 1941, when the damage from the Great Purge had been recovered to some extent, the German army invaded and even their souls were taken away. What would happen in 1939?
"Then, Mr. President, do you think the Finnish army will win?"
"no. Although the Finns are a people who know how to fight, it will still be difficult to overcome the weight difference. In the end, the war would end in Soviet victory, but it would not completely annex Finland. "I would be satisfied with just taking a little land and receiving compensation."
"If someone else had said the same thing, I would have thought it was a joke, but since His Excellency the President said so, I think it really is true."
Goering said:
This time, it seemed like he meant it rather than trying to flatter him.
Since my struggle, every prediction I made came true, so even if I said it as a joke, my subordinates could not take it as a joke at all (even though what I said this time was not a joke).
The guys who had just been talking about how many days it would take the Soviet Union to conquer Finland immediately started a heated discussion about how Finland would achieve victory.
Guys, even if your ears are thin, aren't they too thin?
If I were to say that the Earth would be destroyed tomorrow, would you really write a will?
Well, it wasn't a bad thing to think about because it also meant that he trusted what I said.
Honestly, if not now, when else would I try cosplaying as a prophet?
"Okay, let's stop talking about Finland and get back to the main topic. General Keitel, do you remember where we talked?"
"The disposition of Polish intellectuals in the protectorate was being discussed."
"iced coffee. That's right, indeed."
Opinions were sharply divided over how to treat the Polish intellectual class.
Himmler and Heydrich argued that the entire intellectual class should be executed to completely eradicate the Polish people's will to resist, while Göring proposed executing only half and conciliating the other half.
Keitel maintained his neutrality, saying that both opinions were worth serious consideration, while Brauchic took the position of taking time to proceed, as excessive massacre could only increase the Polish people's will to resist.
Anyway, it all ends in massacre.
What they wanted was not the coexistence of Germans and Poles, but the complete enslavement of the Poles, so massacre was the natural conclusion.
But my thoughts are different.
"Even rats bite people when they are cornered, and if we do that, the Poles will resist us to the death. "We need to think of ways other than massacre."
The Nazis judged that the intellectual class must disappear in order to enslave the Polish people, so they closed Polish universities and arrested all professors and shot them or sent them to concentration camps.
From 1939 to 1945, 45% of Polish doctors, 57% of lawyers, 15% of teachers, 40% of university professors, 40% of engineers, and 18% of clergy were massacred by Nazi Germany.
How terrible and terrifying this is.
If they resist Germany, they should be cut off mercilessly, but they have no intention of killing innocent people.
I proposed that among the Polish intellectual class, those who could be recruited should be recruited, those who refused should be left alone, but those who actively resisted should be arrested.
As expected, Himmler immediately expressed his opposition.
"You are too humane, Mr. President! If we do that, the Poles will climb up without even knowing about it!"
"The SS Imperial Leader is right. "All those who refuse to be included must also be arrested."
Himmler disagreed with Heydrich's words.
"There is no need to accommodate. They are the ones who never know when they will hit us in the back! "There's no need to recruit them, just kill them all!"
I only choose really pretty words.
The guy who decided to live alone because he felt like he would lose the war and be ruined later, now has no fish left.
"What did you hear me say earlier, Himmler? Why do you keep saying things other than massacre? "Are you not paying attention to what I'm saying?"
"Oh... I'm sorry, Mr. President. That's not what I meant."
Still, he lowers his tail right away as if he notices it. Anyway, I have a lot of fear.
"The more we hit them, the stronger their bond becomes. You can't do that! We have to fight among ourselves and lead them to collapse from exhaustion! To do that, we need to appease the public sentiment of the Polish people."
Schools that had been closed due to the war reopened with permission from the Governor-General.
To show Germany's generosity, I left the schools and teachers untouched.
All schools in Poland will be required to teach German to students from now on, but unlike in the Reich, there are no disadvantages for not being able to speak German.
If your test score is crap, you'll just get scolded. Each person should take care of that issue on their own.
Poles can use public transportation such as buses, trains, and subways on an equal basis with Germans, and playing Chopin's music in cafes is also allowed.
Rather, it was recommended that Chopin's music be played inside the Government General building.
By nature, humans are a species that wants to do more when told not to do it.
Banning Chopin's music would only promote Chopin's greatness.
Conversely, what if Chopin's music was played all day long in the Government General building? It is unlikely that Poles will be inspired to fight by listening to Chopin's music.
Hard-core racist believers such as Himmler and Heydrich, as well as the Wehrmacht, expressed concern that the Poles were being treated too leniently, but as time went by, their voices were heard.
Much sooner than I expected, many Poles began to call themselves pro-Germany.
***
"Look at the camera~ Come on, let's take a picture."
The next day, the same photo appeared on the front pages of all newspapers published throughout the Polish Protectorate.
It was a photo taken of Governor-General Anton Drexler and Werner von Fritsch, Commander-in-Chief of the German Armed Forces in the Protectorate, standing in front of the Government-General building with Stanisław Klimecki, President of the Polish Protectorate, and Jan Mosdorf, leader of the National Radical Party and the new Prime Minister of the Protectorate.
The four men in the photo were looking straight ahead and smiling brightly. It's like friends who have known each other for a long time.
Poland's far-right political party, the National Radical Base (Obóz Narodowo Radykalny), initially resisted the Germans.
But when Germany implemented a much more generous policy than expected, party leader Mosdorf changed his mind.
Poland is already ruined.
Youngf has no interest in Polish affairs, and no one knows how long German rule will last.
Although it is an aggressor, wouldn't it be a better choice for Poland to cooperate with Germany and make concessions rather than to fight against Germany, a partner with whom it has a common language?
Mosdorf, who judged that it was more realistic to obtain concessions through cooperation with Germany rather than a seemingly hopeless armed struggle, contacted Germany and proposed cooperation.
We will help rule Germany, so please include us in the cabinet of the protectorate government. These were Mosdorf's terms of cooperation.
Although the word was cooperation, in reality it was a case of bowing one's head to be accepted as a friend, Germany accepted Mosdorf's proposal.
"Then, please take care of me from now on, Prime Minister."
"Don't worry, Governor General. "I will prove that Poles can also be Germany's friends."
Drexler decided to join hands with the National Radical Base following Hitler's 'advice'.
To rule over vast Poland with ease, it would be more convenient to have a useful hunting dog or two.
Mosdorff, appointed Prime Minister of the Protectorate by Drexler, immediately began his work. His first task was to give a public address to the Polish people.
"Dear Polish people! From today onwards I assume the position of Prime Minister of the Polish Protectorate Government.
As a fellow Polish person, I will be honest with you. Poland as we knew it was ruined.
The Poland we knew until now has now disappeared forever into history.
It's a very sad and unfortunate thing, but we all have tomorrow and a future left.
There is one thing I want to tell you. Don't despair. In times like these, we need to come together.
What we need to do going forward is to accept reality and do what we can.
Fortunately, the Germans were not mythical monsters. In the end, they were human just like us. Fuhrer Hitler told me that the help of the Polish people was essential to create a new Europe led by Germany. He also said that if the Poles could help Germany, they would also accept them as allies of Germany.
We Poles can do it. If we sincerely desire peace and can convey our sincerity to the German people, they will no longer welcome us as residents of the occupied territories, but as partners in the New Order (Neuordnung).
"Let us all come together for a new Poland, a stronger Poland, a more brilliant Poland!"
***
When Poland, with only corpses left, was rotting and crumbling from within,
In Finland, fierce fighting broke out every day.
"Advance! charge!"
When the company commander raised his pistol and shouted to charge, the soldiers gathered in the trench shouted in unison and ran out of the trench.
"Ura (Ура, long live)!"
The Soviet army always had a habit of charging in while shouting hurray. It was the so-called 'Ura Charge'.
Hearing the roar meant that the Soviet army was attacking, so Finnish soldiers naturally became nervous when they heard the sound.
The sight of the Soviet army rushing towards us, filling the black skyline, was terrifying.
"Everyone ready for battle!"
However, the Finnish army held its position even though it was hit with fear.
I was afraid of death, but I did not want to even imagine that my country, which I had barely managed to protect, would fall into the hands of oppressors again.
What gave the Finnish soldiers the courage to take up arms and fight against the enemy was their strong will for their country and family.
"Distance 350!"
The voice of the soldier in charge of measuring the distance became stiff with tension.
"Distance 300!"
The company commander's mouth was still tightly closed.
The enemy's shouts became louder than before.
"Distance 250!"
The soldiers became anxious as the order to fire was not given.
I even wondered if the company commander was frozen in fear.
"Distance 200!"
"Are you still?!"
Before I knew it, the distance to the enemy had decreased to one-third of the original distance.
"Distance 150!"
"Start shooting!"
When the order to fire was finally given, sparks flew out of the muzzle.
Soon, sharp gunshots and human screams collided at full speed.
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