I Became Stalin?! - Chapter 158:

Chapter 158

“Now, the downfall of Nazi Germany and the liberation of Warsaw are near. In order to achieve Poland’s independence in this situation…”

The high-ranking official of the Polish government-in-exile was giving a passionate speech. But few people were listening with interest.

‘What does the exile exile exile government have to say that is useful to us?’

People jokingly called the government-in-exile the exile exile exile government.

After the partition of Poland by Germany and the Soviet Union, they fled to France.

When France was occupied by Germany in just six weeks, they fled to Britain.

When Britain was also under the threat of the Nazis, they fled to Canada with the British government.

In the process of running away and looking for a way to survive, they lost their base, most of their supporters, and their troops.

The troops that failed to escape from France to Britain were massacred by the Nazis’ brutal retaliation.

The Soviet Union forced the Polish soldiers they had captured to switch sides and formed a 200,000-strong Polish field army led by the ‘Polish Communist Party’.

The free Polish army, which had only two divisions, was literally powerless.

“We appreciate your words.”

The bureaucrats of the US State Department replied dryly.

The US-British coalition forces were not even able to recover the British mainland.

They had no interest in the small piece of land in Poland, thousands of kilometers away to the east.

“We request weapons to arm our free Polish army…”

“That would be difficult.”

The US was well aware of the situation.

There were four ‘great powers’ on the world map that opposed the Berlin-Tokyo axis.

The US, the Soviet Union, Britain, and China.

And those four great powers were not in equal positions.

Britain had lost its mainland and was only involved in sporadic uprisings or barely saved its fleet to face the Kriegsmarine and the Japanese Imperial Combined Fleet.

China was also struggling to fend off the Japanese army and was floundering.

The US army lieutenant general Stilwell, who was sent to the Republic of China, cursed Chiang Kai-shek every day.

He said that Chiang and his regime were corrupt and more interested in the material support from the US than the war against Japan.

The only great power and ally that was equal to the US was the Soviet Union.

It sacrificed millions of lives and fought against the whole of Europe, pushing back Germany, and now declared that it would punish Japan as well.

The best ally.

Would the US support Poland, even if it offended the ally?

“Please consult with the Soviet delegation on this issue. They are in charge of the issue of supporting the ‘Warsaw Uprising’ of the Polish government.”

“…I understand.”

The bureaucrats of the government-in-exile left with their shoulders slumped.

The US State Department’s Eastern European affairs officer wrote down in his report.

[The matter of canceling the recognition of the Polish ‘government-in-exile’ and recognizing the new Polish People’s Government]

***

The Soviet Union and Poland had a historical enmity that made it hard to say they were on good terms, even as a lip service.

Russia had divided and ruled Poland since the imperial era.

After the Russian Empire collapsed, Poland invaded the newly formed Soviet Union in the Red-White Civil War, trying to reclaim the territory of the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

The Soviet Union also counterattacked and advanced to the outskirts of Warsaw, but retreated and had to give up some of the territory of Belarus and Lithuania.

The Soviet Union, sharpening its sword, then conspired with Germany and divided Poland again.

Now, the Soviet Union was trying to incorporate Poland into its sphere of influence.

“Long live the Polish People’s Republic! Long live the liberation army!”

“Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah!”

The Soviet army, which had advanced after the liberation of Minsk, liberated the cities where many Poles lived, such as Rovno, Lublin, and Bialystok.

Many young people joined the Polish liberation army under the Soviet army to liberate their country and defeat the evil fascists.

The Soviet Union did not spare the equipment and supplies for them.

They seemed to have some ulterior motive, but most of the young people swore.

“We will join hands with the devil to defeat the Germans!”

“The US and Britain have abandoned us. If the Soviet Union helps us, we will side with them!”

Some radical socialists, people who would join hands with anyone for national liberation, and those who had their families and brothers slaughtered by the German army.

They all joined the Soviet army.

The field army, which had been composed of all the Poles in Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine, had grown to a size of 200,000, with three armored divisions under its command.

The Soviet army marched with them as the vanguard.

Toward the Vistula River.

***

In Warsaw, the roar of the Soviet army began to be heard.

The German army tried to maintain order in the city, but the excitement of the citizens was unstoppable.

“You there, young man, take up arms!”

“Dawn is coming, the wind is blowing. The victory of the new Poland is up to us!”

The Warsaw Uprising began with the massive air drop of the Soviet army.

The uprising army had already received orders from the Soviet army.

The 50,000-strong uprising army was extremely poorly armed and equipped, but Stalin promised to provide them with weapons on the premise that they would obey the orders of the ‘Polish People’s Government’ in the future.

“Ah! There! There!”

“It’s an armament capsule!”

The Soviet bombers flew over the sky of Warsaw. They spewed out white parachutes one after another. There was a box hanging on each parachute.

Inside each box were rifles, ammunition, grenades, and other weapons that the infantry could use.

It was not enough for the tens of thousands of uprising soldiers, but the white parachutes that filled the sky gave them infinite confidence.

The equipment they had prepared in advance also spewed fire at the German army.

Tutatata tatata tata! The machine gun poured over the heads of the German soldiers moving between the alleys. The German squad scattered and took cover.

“Long live the liberation of Poland! Eat this!”

“Ugh! Get down!”

Bang! The Germans saw a grenade rolling down and lay flat on the ground. It was a dusty floor, but they had no choice.

Shrapnel flew and machine gun bullets started pouring again.

The locals knew the geography of Warsaw much better, so the German soldiers had no choice but to be toyed with by the sudden uprising army.

Booby traps exploded here and there, and machine guns flew from places that looked like abandoned buildings, tearing up the German soldiers.

The German soldiers, who had experienced the nightmares of Leningrad, Smolensk, and Minsk, shuddered at the word street fighting.

If they had some leeway, they would have brought artillery and tanks that the uprising army did not have and crushed the city one by one, but the German soldiers had no leeway.

On the outskirts of the city, the Soviet army and the 200,000 Polish field army under their command were gradually tightening the encirclement.

The 70,000 German soldiers defending Warsaw had to deal with both the uprising inside and the offensive outside.

***

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The Soviet army’s medium cannon spewed fire.

It had little effect on eliminating the German soldiers who had built layers of trenches and bunkers and hunkered down, but it was quite effective in blocking the movement of the German army’s mobile forces.

Also, thousands of German soldiers were already suffering from shell shock.

The Soviet-style barrage fire was perfect for stimulating their psychological trauma and eroding their morale.

There were other weapons prepared to break through the trenches.

“Tanks! Retreat! Damn it.”

In places where the river was narrow, pontoon bridges were installed several times.

The upper part of the Vistula River had already been occupied by the Soviet army.

The Soviet army, which had half-assembled the bridge in the occupied part, rode a boat down the river and installed the bridge in front of the waiting armored unit.

The German soldiers, who trusted the natural defense of the river and poured machine gun bullets and shelling, started to run away as soon as the armored unit’s attack route appeared.

“No, what are our artillery doing? Damn it…”

“They must be fighting with the artillery over there…”

Of course, one shot of the shell would have shattered the bridge. Even if it hit slightly, it could have flipped it over.

But they didn’t have the luxury of the artillery.

The trumpet sound from the sky was now the sound of the bear, not the Stuka, and they attacked the artillery as soon as they saw the flash of the artillery, like a bear wandering the forest looking for corpses.

“Ugh!”

Tatatat, tatatat tatatat.

The small bullets that burst out of the cluster bombs were enough to slaughter the tractor that was towing the gun, the gun itself, or the troops that operated the gun.

Rather, at this point, the bridge looked like a bait, and the Soviet aircraft relentlessly attacked the German ground artillery.

And meanwhile, the Soviet armored unit advanced fiercely.

They broke through the defense line and headed west, west.

The German troops that were stuck in the trenches were cleared by the machine guns and high-explosive shells mounted on the tanks.

“One, two… three!”

Bang! Bang! A sharp roar and the German army’s anti-tank gun that was ambushed spewed fire. But the T-34 tank that happened to be turning the turret bounced off the shell.

The T-34 tank had a new design of a hemispherical turret, which made it difficult to penetrate at any angle.

“11 o’clock, distance 500!”

“High-explosive shell, load and fire immediately!”

The infantry who tried to avoid the tank’s counterattack by towing the heavy anti-tank gun were eventually sacrificed by the 100mm high-explosive shell.

The Soviet rifleman, who was startled by the sound of the anti-tank gun hitting, cheered when the tank was scratched.

“Ura! Ura!”

“The tank is safe! Assault!”

The German infantry, who hoped that the anti-tank gun would blow up the tank and sweep away the surrounding riflemen, had to retreat.

The German army’s specialty, the infantry cooperation, was now better used by the Soviet army.

The German army wanted to use the infantry cooperation, but they had no way to show off their sophisticated tactics because the air force and artillery were smashed together.

On top of that, the second most morale-boosting unit in the Soviet army, the Polish field army, added a fierce offensive that did not spare their bodies.

“Retreat! Retreat!”

“Head to the next defense line!”

Of course, Germany, under the command of Model, built layers of defensive positions and fought the maximum delay.

If this defense line is broken, then the next defense line, and if that defense line is broken, then the next defense line.

In the meantime, the Soviet armored unit that was too deep in the attack due to the sense of honor or underestimating the enemy was counter-encircled and destroyed, becoming the kill mark of the German tank.

The offensive and counterattack, the siege and the armored battle, the street fighting between the infantry, the complex battle that was beyond description, was fought over Warsaw.

While the German command was squeezing out the last of its capabilities and putting them into action, the Soviet army pulled out one of their trump cards.