I Will Stage A Coup D’état - Chapter 73



Only Krnovel

EP.73 Winter War (1)

The Soviet Union withstood the largest invasion force in history with an iron will.

Although they were pushed back hundreds of kilometers from the border, the invaders paid a high price.

The Axis advance that had been pushing the Soviets back along the entire front was now over.

The Nazis were left with only one option.

Gathering all your strength and making a final attack on a single axis.

It was the only trump card Germany could hope for.

The German Wehrmacht was straining every available resource for Operation Typhoon.

Aircraft, tanks, vehicles, soldiers, cannons, ammunition, oil.

If this offensive failed, there would be no hope of an offensive until next summer.

“I’m betting everything on this operation.”

Unable to resist the Führer’s pressure, Field Marshal Walther von Brauchitsch, Commander-in-Chief of the Army, launched ‘Operation Typhoon’ with a desperate resolve.

With a single blow, cleanly cut off the endlessly regenerating heart of Hydra, Moscow.

The German army ran towards this one goal.

As it happened, natural conditions were smiling on Germany.

The cold that came at that time froze the ground solidly, helping the German army advance.

but.

“Didn’t our Air Force melt down all those tanks? Why are those damn T-34s still showing up on the front lines?”

Clearly, the T-34s, which had dried up in the war of attrition until September, were once again looming before the Germans’ noses.

“Haha. We say it’s Korean. Sorry.”

The German army once again had to struggle with the T-34 tanks that appeared on the front lines from time to time.

The problem wasn’t just the T-34.

“How does the 88mm gun barrel you developed taste?”

The anti-tank assault gun Hyunmoo donated by the South Korean military poured cold water on the German advance.

Even the German army’s proud Panzer IV tank would get punctured by holes just by being hit by the Hyunmoo’s main gun.

This wasn’t something that happened a few hundred meters away, it was something that happened two kilometers away.

Although it was said to have poor defensive capabilities, it was not a problem in defensive battles where concealment was advantageous.

Of course, the number of Hyunmoo tanks operated by the Soviet Army was not that large.

However, the number was enough to weaken the already outnumbered German panzer forces.

As a result, the German army had to rely absolutely on the power of its airborne artillery, the Stuka, rather than the shock power of its armored units.

“Air Force! Air Force!”

“Hey, hey. It’s night now.”

The Germans enjoyed the daytime fighting and fought attritional, bloody battles at night.

By mid-November 1941, the Germans’ momentum for a one-shot victory had been completely broken.

As they crossed the Mosaic Line, the final gateway to Moscow, again, two million newly reinforced Soviet troops stood in front of the Germans, blocking a triple defensive line dug hundreds of kilometers deep.

“You Ivans, are you really going to bring your troops from the fields?”

Only then did Germany realize that it had again underestimated the Soviet Union’s mobilization capabilities.

Statistically, the adult male population (available) of the Soviet Union is about 45 million.

Here, the Soviet Union actively mobilized its female population equal to its male population for war.

It was used not only in the military industry but also by female soldiers.

Under these conditions, the Soviet Union was able to mobilize more than 20 million men to the war.

In contrast, Germany had only 14 million males available, and the mobilization rate of women for the military industry was incomparably lower than in the Soviet Union.

Even taking into account the more than a million volunteers brought in from all over Europe, the gap in human resources was too great.

It was no wonder that the Soviet Union was superior to Germany in terms of resilience.

Here, even logistics have reached their limit.

Not only were there not enough winter uniforms to wear in the winter, there were not enough wagons to allocate ammunition and food for immediate use.

The German soldiers had to fight, counting their bullets, clutching their cold and hungry bellies.

“I absolutely can’t do it.”

Finally, German commanders arbitrarily stopped their advance.

Even offensiveists like Heinz Guderian were no exception.

In a situation where divisions were reduced to battalions and battalions to a single platoon, if we continued to attack the endlessly reinforced Soviet troops, all of our subordinate soldiers would die.

The German Army High Command issued stern warnings to these frontline commanders for their disobedience, but to no avail.

And then the fateful day of December 4th.

“When General Dong comes, shouldn’t we see the end of it?”

At Stalin’s word, the Soviet army went on the offensive on all fronts.

“The Ivans are coming.”

Unfortunately for the Germans, the Soviets were better prepared for winter combat than the Germans.

The German army was caught off guard by the sudden onslaught of millions of Soviet troops.

“General, we can’t hold out like this. What should we do now?”

“Retreat.”

German frontline commanders, unable to withstand the Soviet offensive, ordered a retreat.

It was the first time that the two sides’ airborne assaults were switched on the Eastern Front.

Hitler couldn’t control his anger.

It was frustrating that we couldn’t finish off Stalin in 1941, and then we had to retreat from Moscow.

So when will Moscow fall?

“Dismiss all those who retreated now!”

“That can’t be.”

“Then you’ll be fired too!”

Hitler dismissed many high-ranking generals, including Army Commander-in-Chief Walther von Brauchitsch.

And then he himself took over as Commander-in-Chief of the Army and ordered a no-retreat.

However, it was not enough to stop the Soviet army once it gained momentum.

Unfortunately for Hitler, winter was Soviet time.

The cold and harsh winter campaign of 1941-42 began.

*

“If it were a webtoon award, it would have been the time when Korea would have said ‘Pearl Harbor’.”

I enjoyed some rare leisure time while tasting hot coffee.

The Soviet Union was also gaining momentum, and its Indochina operation was also successful.

With China also slowly strangling us, the external issues were practically all resolved.

However, there were some problems domestically.

One was Muban.

Although they were able to weaken the power by suppressing it through land reform and manipulation, the fact that a potential enemy class of up to 500,000 people had emerged was a variable that could not be ignored.

Factory workers also had many complaints.

When we transitioned into a wartime economy and made people work 12-hour shifts in two shifts a day, everyone was gritting their teeth.

Although the Communist Party and the Labor Party were quiet due to their collaboration with the Soviet communists, reports were constantly coming in that the workers’ public sentiment was not good.

Still, it was a time of peace and prosperity for the reign of the Korean Empire.

Oh, I said that this was the time when the 4-legged flag would have been raised?

The coffee is sweet, sweet.

“Your Majesty! We’re in trouble.”

Secretary Jeong Gil-i ran over with a pale face and delivered the telegram.

What is it?

I received the text and read it leisurely, then opened my mouth for a moment.

“Hey, is Japan crazy?”

A riot broke out among the nobility in Japan.

The reason was also absurd.

“They say that in Korea, land reform was implemented to wipe out the aristocracy. They say that Japan will soon have a similar reform.”

The people were thrown into a fit of rage by this ridiculous rumor.

Of course, the majority of the tribesmen maintained a wait-and-see attitude, but a considerable number of them attacked government offices in their region and killed military and police officers.

‘Is this really happening in the 20th century?’

If you think about it, today’s Japan was a pre-modern country before the Meiji Restoration.

It is a world where the thought circuits in the heads of the common people have not evolved that much.

Well, even if they evolve, they’re still the ones that emit things like the Zodiac Wave, so that’s what it is.

“owner.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Convene the Imperial Defense Council.”

I immediately brought in the military’s key figures.

30 minutes later, military personnel who arrived in order took their seats.

I explained the situation and then asked for their opinions.

Instead, Kim Sung-joo insisted on a strong response.

“Your Majesty, we need to send in more troops immediately. If we can muster four divisions from the mainland and send one division from the Chinese front, we can easily suppress this situation.”

“What the land commander said is true. If we reinforce the five divisions, the problem will be easily solved.”

“What do you think, sir?”

I asked the opinion of Security Commander Lee Jeong-yoon.

I thought that since he was the person in charge of information, he would be able to tell the story from a different perspective.

“I think we need to be careful about drafting military personnel.”

“What does that mean?”

“If loyal troops leave the country while the domestic situation is unstable, it is impossible to know what kind of unrest might occur.”

The Marine Corps commander listened to Lee Jeong-yoon’s words and then asked.

“Are you saying that a coup d’état will happen?”

“I’m talking about a once in a lifetime opportunity.”

Just in case.

That’s definitely true.

No matter how high your military control is, overconfidence is a no-no.

We must not forget that our power base was, after all, guns and swords.

“Master, then how are we going to suppress the rebellion?”

“The Chinese front is in a lull, so I would like you to pull out five divisions and resolve the situation.”

“Commander Lee. If you withdraw so many troops from the front, will Chiang Kai-shek remain silent?”

“Then what should I do? I have a duty to protect Your Majesty to the end.”

“Are you the only one loyal to His Majesty? It’s also important to settle this matter quickly!”

It was a frustrating standoff.

And both stories were correct.

It is a fact that we can suppress it immediately by withdrawing troops from the mainland.

It is also true that the risk factor increases as a large number of loyal troops leave.

The generals debated fiercely for a while, but no conclusion was reached.

The conclusion was mine to draw.

“There’s no choice. Let’s do this. Let’s take four divisions from the Chinese front and one from the mainland.”

“dismissal!”

It was a compromise of sorts.

Of course, this could have been a bad decision, but I couldn’t ignore either side.

After the meeting was over, I said to Jeong Gil.

“The Chinese front will be noisy for a while. Leaving work on time is a thing of the past.”

“Then, the First Lady will hate it.”

Hmm.

I coughed as I thought about the young wife I had recently acquired.

That was a little scary.