＜ Episode 186 >
The commander of the 794 Penal Battalion, Major Frank, smiled bitterly.
He was German, but he was also Jewish.
However, he was classified as a ‘Jew close to Aryan’ and was able to enjoy the ‘privilege’ of not having to wear the Star of David on his chest with his family.
Instead, he enlisted in the military, or more precisely, he had to be called back.
His current task was to take the rearguard of the retreating troops.
And his battalion had machine guns installed.
The fighters frantically set up their positions, and some soldiers drove iron stakes into the middle of the trench.
It was meant to bring the members of the penalty unit to a machine gun and then fix them on iron stakes so that they could not escape and die fighting.
And immediately the Jews were dragged out one after another and tied to the iron stakes. It was the best he could do to dig a pit and properly camouflage it as a machine gun position.
“The upper management tells me to reserve three companies for defense.”
“Right.”
It meant leaving the three companies and all the penal units they had with them.
The penal battalion does not belong to a specific regiment, even a division. It will be operated as a unit under the direct control of the minimum corps-level unit.
How many penal battalions are assigned to a corps depends on the situation, but it is possible to knock on the enemy’s defenses, to be left behind when retreating, or because the consumption rate is very high for various reasons, it is possible to deploy several battalions at once. in many cases
One penal battalion was composed of three penal companies and one single war company, and the single war company was supposed to be the battalion headquarters and the battalion commander concurrently served as the single war company commander.
In fact, even if they were single-handed, they weren’t good people. In the past, probation units, that is, soldiers who were sent in lieu of probation of sentences for those who violated the military law, who were not covered by the chant, who were first-time offenders, or who were recognized for their bravery. Since it is possible to return to the original corps upon successful achievement, the penal units that existed for a slightly higher level of punishment than the heavy labor sentence were dismantled and reorganized into a single squadron. It was a standalone unit made.
The people dragged into the penal units were diverse, such as political prisoners, Jews, gypsies, and homosexuals, but in the eyes of normal humans, it was a barrage to such an extent that those who make up the corps would join the corps and those who died in the corps would have to be in the corps.
So even the battalion commander couldn’t keep his blood pressure from rising. In the first place, penal units were often swept away from generation to generation and destroyed, so it was because Minister Jugashvili had to collect as many people as possible even if they died, and make them worthless.
“Work done.”
What crazy is this?
Is it possible to tie up the Russians by tying humans to iron stakes so that they can’t escape like this and making them grind machine guns until they die?
In the first place, Major Frank, who did not understand that the Nazi regime was a psychopath who would burn all the humans and all the Germans in the occupied territories that it conquered if they were defeated, and did the futile attempt to rationally convince them of their behavior. shook her head.
If they had common sense in the first place, shouldn’t they have surrendered the moment Russia entered the war?
Even though East Prussia is smashed, Berlin is captured, and Suez is overthrown, why do they not surrender?
That way I couldn’t understand.
“Retreat.”
***
France, Maginot Line.
The Maginot Line, which became a fortress used by the Germans, was in the midst of extension work.
The machine guns were removed from the armored machine gun turret. These weapons were to be returned to the front frugally.
Then, the machine gun battery was equipped with a new weapon.
Krupp’s 8.8 cm Pak 130, literally 130 caliber, with a barrel length of 12 meters, was too difficult to use in anti-aircraft batteries. Where’s the crazy cannon that’s going to use a 12-meter-long monster shell? In that case, I would use a larger caliber anti-aircraft gun or something.
Of course, it is even more difficult to use it for anti-tank use. There was no such thing as concealment, and there was no equipment in the German Empire for tanks and other vehicles with this size as a main gun.
Therefore, this weapon was supposed to be abandoned as a fortress, but when there was a serious concern about the loss of the entire German army and there was even speculation that the Russian army would come with new equipment that did not even work with the basic 8,8 cm, the German Empire built this fortress. It was decided to use as a prisoner of war.
To be precise, it was decided to use it as an anti-tank gun to stop the tanks of the Russian Empire by mounting it on the French fortress line, the Maginot Line.
Of course, it wasn’t just the 8.8cm Pak 130.
Heavy artillery and train guns that survived the Russian airstrikes in Berlin, including the 600mm self-propelled mortar ‘Kal’ and the 800mm train gun Gustav, were put into the fortifications.
It was an ironic situation where heavy weapons originally developed to bombard the Maginot Line were used to strengthen the Maginot Line.
All materials prepared by France for use as a coastal fortress were also diverted to strengthen the Maginot Line, and coastal guns were also generously drawn and converted into fortifications.
The reason Russia does not carry out additional air strikes on the British mainland is that, without an escort, huge losses are expected, and as long as a bomber sortie from Norway cannot attach an escort to a bomber, an air strike will be possible only after reaching the lowlands or France. The possibility was great.
Therefore, from the British standpoint, if the Maginot Line is not fortified and protected, it is quite obvious that from that day onwards, bombing will pour out every day.
In order not to re-enact the previous raid on London, British forces had to support the Germans’ fortification of the Maginot Line.
If we didn’t achieve a huge victory that will remain in history, unless the miracle of the Seven Years’ War is repeated again, in the end, defeat was a foregone fact.
***
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Moscow, Russia.
“Nice to meet you. your majesty.”
I smiled as I offered a seat to the man who spoke politely to me and sat down.
“As a monarch, rites are proportional. your majesty.”
Of course, the power and authority between me and the man in front of me, whose only name was the monarch, were heavenly and earthly.
But there’s nothing wrong with getting the other person’s favor, isn’t it?
“Congratulations on becoming a conqueror of the Middle East.”
Of course, that would have been difficult to laugh at.
The Middle East was a wasteland. Wouldn’t Mecca be swamped with warfare during the interwar period, and…
“The reason I’m here, you know, is to discuss the future of the Middle East. After all, a lot of Muslims, me and you, don’t you agree on something? I mean, you can’t deal with the British. In the interwar period, Mecca and Medina were devastated by the Middle East war that Britain had instigated. And even the most precious relics of Islam.”
Of course the British deny it, and I don’t think the British really did, perhaps buried somewhere in the middle of the battle.
Actually, it’s not that we’re not responsible for that, but… British kids have a lot of karma, don’t they?
Promise to establish an Arab state in the Middle East? abandoned like a mate.
He also supported the Jews. Now that I’m in the Axis, I’m hitting the back of my head again and kicking them out.
Even if the rumors circulated that the British army looted the Kaaba, Arabs would run along the road saying, ‘If they are, they’ll still have it!’
“I would be more than happy to be called a liberator rather than a conqueror, a liberator who gave the Arabs in the Middle East the rights they deserved from the British oppression of the Arabs.”
In foreign countries, I am called an iron-blooded swordsman… No, I am an oppressor, but by Russian standards, at least, I am an Enlightenment monarch. really.
No, is there really an Enlightenment monarch like me in Russian history? Would it be a game to bring even Peter the Great?
“…… okay.”
The man closed his eyes and nodded.
“I am on your side. The monarch of a united Arab state is thinking that only you can do it. From the days of your father, I have taken your family…. the Hashemite family very seriously.”
it’s real First of all, they’re a hundred times better than the Saud family… Well, since they’re all in ruins here, there’s no way they’ll ever gain power.
“Is that so?”
“I think you are the only person who can enlighten the Muslims, centralize them, and even make the Arabs a part of the world and bring them into the world order.”
The man, Gaji I, was quite pleased with the compliment.
He was originally anti-illiterate, not highly educated, regarded the military as superior to civilian politics, and had strong feelings of reflection.
They had more in common than their differences.
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Moreover, he was envious of his determination and judgment, as he achieved widespread support throughout the Arab world and became one of the foremost Arab figures in the original history of suppressing Assyrian riots by air strikes.
How can he feel bad when he exalts the Middle East by saying, ‘You are the only one who will become the monarch of the Arab unified state!’
“After the war, we, Russia, will support the establishment of an independent Arab state on the Arabian Peninsula. But there are prerequisites.”
“Is this a request for cooperation in the conduct of war?”
“It should be nice to get it. But it’s different.”
The conditions I suggested were several. Distribution of profits to the royal family instead of permanently transferring the mining rights of underground resources throughout the Middle East to Russia, military right of way, not accumulating in the religious holy places of Alexandria and Jerusalem, management of the Suez Canal, etc.
In fact, if he had known the future, King Gazi I would not have given up the right to mine underground resources without knowing anything else, but unfortunately, oil fields in the Middle East including Saudi Arabia have not yet been discovered.
Of course, I have a lot to offer. We will be able to immediately exercise our power in the Middle East that we have conquered, and we will share the profits of the Suez Canal, which had been taken only by the British and French but not a single penny to the locals, in a 5 to 5 ratio. It was a very generous condition, in which you could never notice the toxin provisions if you looked at it without knowing it.
Therefore, Gaji I, who did not know the future, nodded.
“Russia is also more tolerant than Britain.”
“of course. When did our Russian Empire ever break a treaty? Upon the official publication of this treaty, we will be able to exercise our administrative powers in the Arabian Peninsula that we have occupied. I just want to ask you to cooperate with our military until the war is over. An offensive against Persia is planned in the near future, and we need your cooperation to prepare for the offensive.”
“Don’t worry.”
After all, the government of the Arabian Peninsula, which is now devastated, is not at a level that can be solved just by going alone, so until a proper bureaucracy is formed, he will have to open his hands to Russia. He wasn’t an idiot just because he didn’t properly complete his formal education.
“Russia’s old enemies were the Turks, not the Arabs. Our Duma also has seats for Muslims. I want the Arabs to know that we are not against all Muslims.”
“Even with this kind of consideration, no one will ever say that.”
Well, I don’t think so.
“For the eternal friendship between Russia and the Arabs.”
The two of them shook hands and smiled.