147 147

"No matter how I hear it, it's strange."

"What are you saying is strange?"

"this."

Churchill showed Hitler's speech to the nation translated into English to his secretary.

"What do you think? "This is the speech Hitler gave today."

"hmm… ."

The secretary lowered her head as if she was thinking deeply about something, but then looked at Churchill.

"Can I be honest with you?"

"When does it mean you were not honest?"

"You know that's not true, right?"

"No matter what you say, I won't get angry, so just say it."

The secretary, who had been guaranteed safety by Churchill, answered honestly.

"No matter how much he was an enemy of Britain, it was the best speech with no flaws. "I can understand why Germans are so passionate about Hitler."

"yes? That's my opinion too. Even if I give this speech 100 out of 100 points, it's not enough, except that the person who spoke was Hitler. however… ."

"?"

"It's very similar to the speech I designed."

"… ..yes?"

The secretary was dumbfounded. What does this mean again? The speech you designed and Hitler's speech are the same?

"What do you mean by that? "The speeches are the same."

"That's literally it! I don't know how it came out of that guy's mouth, but it's so similar to what I had in mind! "There's no evidence that he copied my speech, but whatever."

"… … ."

It was becoming increasingly more difficult. You can honestly admit that Hitler's speech was excellent, but suddenly you're claiming that it's the same as what you planned. It's not like you're a child.

The biggest problem was that this man was the prime minister in a position to take responsibility for the British Empire. Ah, the head… ..

Churchill was lost in his own thoughts, ignoring his secretary's gaze, which was staring at him with an expression of bewilderment.

Hitler, I don't know what kind of magic he did, but he said the speech I was going to make, so I guess I'll have to prepare another speech.

First of all, what should we do from the beginning? Since the intro is different, can I use it as is? Or should I rewrite it from scratch? I'm worried... .

"Your Excellency, I have received a message from Moscow."

"If it's Moscow, is it Stalin?"

Churchill, who was busy writing a new speech, turned his head when he heard the word Moscow.

"No, Your Excellency. They say it is Foreign Minister Molotov, not Secretary General Stalin. "I was told that I need to speak to your Excellency urgently."

"If it's Molotov, shouldn't it be handled at Eden Line?"

Churchill said as if he was displeased. He had no reason not to speak to Molotov, but he was displeased with the insistence on speaking to himself, the Prime Minister.

If you're the foreign minister, you have to talk to the foreign minister. Are you saying that communists have no place above them?

"However, the Soviet Union is strongly demanding that we speak to the prime minister. What should I do?"

"Hmm… .. I understand. "I'll at least make a phone call."

"I'll connect you now."

When the secretary announced that the call with Molotov had been connected, Churchill frowned and lifted the receiver.

-Mr Prime Minister? This is Molotov, People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs of the Soviet Union. It is an honor to have this conversation with you, even over the phone.

Molotov's interpreter translated Molotov's remarks into English and relayed them to Churchill. Churchill snorted and answered in a deliberately blunt tone.

"I'm honored too. "But is there any reason why you can't tell Secretary General Stalin?"

Molotov quickly realized the hidden meaning of Churchill's words.

-Comrade Secretary General was very busy with other work, so I had to take charge of it instead. I would appreciate your generous understanding, Mr. Prime Minister.

Look at these? Churchill was internally displeased, but tolerated it. First, I need to hear why you're calling.

"I can't help it. So what's going on?"

-Comrade Secretary General wants to know when Britain plans to declare war on Germany.

Churchill intuitively sensed that Stalin was anxious.

Not even a day had passed since the start of the war, and seeing that they were already asking when I would join the war, it was clear that the current situation had turned out more than originally planned.

"I want to know the exact date when we will go to war, you mean?"

-That's right.

"Tell me the truth. "I plan to declare war around the time your country arrives in Warsaw or Königsberg."

After hearing Churchill's answer, Molotov did not reply for a while. There was so much silence that I thought the phone had been disconnected.

But the phone line with Moscow remained connected.

"Why aren't you saying anything? "Have you forgotten what to say next?"

-No, that… .. Are you really saying that you have no intention of going to war with Germany until the Red Army takes Warsaw?

"I want to declare war right now and turn the German cities into ashes, but the opposition from the cabinet and the military is so strong. "They are not opposed to the war against Germany, but they unanimously say that the difficulty of landing in France would be lower if they at least entered the war when the western forces were concentrated in the east."

Molotov was worried. Should I tell the truth? Now that the war was not going well, Stalin would not have left him alone if he tried to bluff and delay Britain's participation in the war.

But if I told the truth, I didn't know that I would be accused of leaking state secrets to Britain.

What should I say in this situation?

Molotov, who boasted of having extensive experience in the world of diplomacy, was troubled by the consequences of truth and lies.

-Mr. Prime Minister, I will be honest with you. The situation is now... . Not very good.

After much deliberation, Molotov decided to tell the truth. First of all, in the current situation, it was most important to get Britain into the war as quickly as possible.

"The war situation is not good. "Is it very serious?"

-It's difficult to go into detail, but yes.

"Specifically, how serious is it?"

-The situation is worse than during the war against Finland.

The Soviet Union took Finland lightly, suffered heavy losses, and barely achieved victory after mobilizing additional troops and supplies.

However, Germany is not a weak country like Finland, but a superpower that has conquered Europe.

Since the opponent was Germany, the Soviet Union must have prepared thoroughly differently than when dealing with Finland.

However, if the war situation was worse than when fighting Finland, I couldn't even figure out how serious it was.

- Comrade Secretary General hopes that the British Empire will enter the war as soon as possible. Without Britain's participation in the war, the Soviet Union would have suffered even greater damage.

Molotov could not bear to say that if Britain did not participate in the war, the German army might advance to Moscow instead of the Red Army to Berlin.

However, one thing is certain: if Britain does not participate in the war, Germany will soon drive out the Soviet army from its country and invade the Soviet Union.

The fate of 190 million people is in the hands of the imperialists whom we hate so much. How ridiculous is this?

"Your country must have made an effort to defeat Germany, but Germany is so strong that your efforts will not see any light."

- I'm sorry, but it's true.

Molotov's pride was hurt by Churchill's words, but it was he who had to bow his head now. For now, we have no choice but to please Churchill as much as possible.

"I understand. Let's persuade the cabinet and military as quickly as possible to hasten entry into the war. "I hope you do your best when you return home."

-of course. Prime Minister. Shouldn't we save Europe from the clutches of German fascists?

You speak well. On the topic of communists who can't do anything without the help of the British Empire... ..

Churchill laughed quietly at Molotov's answer. It was true that the Nazis had to be driven out of Europe, but Churchill had no intention of coexisting with the communists.

They had no choice but to join hands because of Hitler and the Nazis, but to Churchill, the Soviet Union was also a threat to the peace of Britain and Europe.

Once the Nazis are taken down, you are next.

"Please tell this to Secretary General Stalin. "The British Empire will never abandon your country."

***

There were now two hours left until the first day of the German War ended.

On the first day of the war, Germany succeeded in inflicting enormous damage on the Soviet army.

As for the immediately confirmed criminal history, over 710 enemy planes were shot down, 300 artillery pieces, 350 vehicles, and more than 220 tanks were destroyed.

There are estimates that the number of enemy infantry killed was in the thousands, and the number of prisoners taken was already in the triple digits.

All of this was achieved on the first day of the war, in a situation where we were invaded rather than invaded. Can you believe it?

It was reported that three U-boats, including U-47, commanded by Günther Prin, had launched a surprise attack on Hanko and sank the Soviet Navy battleships Okchavryskaya Revoluchya and Mara, as well as four enemy ships, and that the Murmansk airstrike had been successful. At that time, everyone cheered with great emotion.

"As expected, our air force and navy are strong. Very reliable."

It was decided that Günther Prin, who succeeded in the Scapeflow and the Hanko raid, would be promoted to lieutenant colonel and awarded the Knight's Cross of the Diamond and White Sword.

Throughout Germany, there are only a handful of recipients of the Knight's Cross of Diamonds and Blades. The only recipients of this medal in the Wehrmacht so far are Göring, Raeder, Dönitz, Rundstedt, Guderian, Manstein and fighters. The commander-in-chief was Werner Mölders, Adolf Galland, commander of the German mainland air defense command, and Helmut Bück, commander of the Naval Air Corps.

Prine's name was also proudly listed here.

In addition to Prine, there was one more person who was decided to be awarded the Knight's Cross of the Diamond and White Blade. as soon as… .

"Congratulations, Hess."

"It is an honor, Mr. President."

It was our Hess.

When I personally hung the Knight's Cross of Diamonds and White Blades around his neck, Hess could not hide his joy, but at the same time he seemed to be conscious of the gaze of those around him, and said the following to me.

"But I don't know if I deserve this."

"Uh huh, don't say that. Haven't you accomplished something that couldn't be achieved even with a million-strong army? So be proud."

Thanks to the brilliant ideas that came out of Hess' head, I was able to eliminate famous Soviet generals and scholars without lifting a finger.

And that too using the hands of the Soviets! Considering the impact those purged had on the Soviet Union's space development during the German-Soviet War and in the early days of the Cold War, Hess's achievements were so great that no one could match them.

Since you made such a contribution, you should receive this much.

In reality, who would have guessed that a weirdo who stole a fighter plane and flew to England and then became a prisoner himself would achieve a feat here that no one in Germany had been able to accomplish?

Of course, the reason for awarding Hess the medal was to be kept secret for the time being.

Officially, I will inform the media that I received the medal for my long-time service to the party and the president, but I plan to reveal the detailed truth only after the war is over.

And how will Stalin react when he learns that the people he purged were not German spies, and that what he thought was stealing secrets from us was in fact a prank on us? I'm so curious that it's driving me crazy.

"I hope the war ends quickly. "That way, people will know about your true achievements."

***

Immediately after Murmansk was attacked by the German-Norwegian Air Force, the Soviet Union immediately launched a counterattack.

The 20 Pe-2s took off from the runway and headed for Norway without any specific operation or plan.

In response to Stalin's disapproval order, Pavel Zhigarev, Commander-in-Chief of the Soviet Air Force, instructed the base commander to immediately rain down the same fire on the cities of the enemies of the Soviet Union. Right Now!

The orders given to the bomber pilots were simple and clear.

Bomb the Norwegian city of Kirkenes and return. There was not even a single mention of strategic goals or the effects that could be achieved by bombing.

Kirkenes became an operational target simply because it was located closest to the Soviet Union.

Sergeant Dmitry Pichovsky had mixed feelings.

I was happy that I could just suck it up until the war was over, but when Norway declared participation in the war and bombed Murmansk, my fantasy of being able to live quietly in a base was shattered.

To make matters worse, he was suddenly assigned to a planned bombing mission.

Damn Norwegians. What happens if you just stay still? It was incomprehensible to Dmitry, who knew nothing about the international situation, why he followed Germany into the war.

-Soon we will be flying over Norway. Everyone... ..

-Right at 7 o'clock!

As soon as we entered Norwegian airspace, a welcome event was held. Bf109s and Bf110s belonging to the Norwegian Air Force approached with guns firing.

When Dmitry pressed the trigger of the Berezin UB heavy machine gun, a 12.7mm bullet spewed out from the muzzle.

The Norwegian Army's Bf110 achieved its first victory as tracer bullets, one in every five, lit up the dark blue sky.

-Fall!

After the first Pe-2 was shot down, the second and third Pe-2 were shot down.

Dmitry broke out into a cold sweat every time the radio rang with the words of his comrades being shot down.

With the sole intention of not wanting to die, he fired his gun like crazy. When his bullets ran out, he hastily reloaded.

When reloading was almost over, a Bf109 approached Dmitry's Pe-2.

When Dmitry fired his machine gun, he turned to the right to avoid the barrage.

The mission was a failure. In the midst of the melee, the bombers dispersed to find their own way.

The pilot of Dmitry's Pe-2 also twisted the control stick wildly to avoid the enemy aircraft.

"Please go, go! "Fuck it, don't follow me!"

Dmitry cursed almost pleadingly and fired his machine gun.

Was God impressed by his desperate prayer? After much difficulty, Dmitry's Pe-2 succeeded in escaping from the Bf109's pursuit.

The problem was that I broke away from the group and became completely alone, and in my frantic running away, I ended up losing my direction.

While the navigator argued with the pilot about which direction to take to return to base, Dmitri wiped the sweat from his forehead.

I felt like tears would overflow from the relief of being alive.

It was then. There was a popping sound and the aircraft was shaken by the impact.

"The left wing was hit!"

Black smoke spewed out from the engine on the left wing of the Pe-2, and soon the entire engine was engulfed in orange flames.

It was a bonus that fuel was leaking through the holes in the wings.

The pilot tried his best to balance the aircraft. However, as the altitude decreased and the aircraft was getting closer to the ground, it was not possible to avoid it.

Dmitry could also see that the trees and rocks on the ground, which seemed smaller than dust, grew in size as the aircraft got closer to the ground.

As the trees, once the size of a little finger's fingernail, had grown to the size of a coin and were now larger than a soccer ball, Dmitri closed his eyes and offered a desperate prayer to God.

God, please, please. Please look over this little lamb.

Did God hear Dmitri's prayer this time? Or did the pilot's efforts pay off?

The Pe-2, which crashed to the ground after losing its engine, miraculously succeeded in landing on the ground.

During the landing, the left wheel broke and the aircraft scraped against the ground, leaving a long mark on the ground, but all three crew members of PE-2 were able to survive safely.

When Dmitry opened his eyes, he was thrilled to find that he was not in the underworld, but in a field somewhere.

Tears naturally poured from my eyes out of relief that I was alive.

Both the pilot and navigator shed tears of joy.

Although they lost their aircraft and made an emergency landing rather than completing their mission, they were happy just because they survived.

However, since we did not know when the fire in the engine would spread throughout the aircraft and cause an explosion, the three quickly got out of the aircraft.

Dmitry came out of the aircraft and looked around.

All I can see are trees and rocks. There was no trace of people.

"Where on earth is this?"

"I'm not sure."

The pilot shrugged his shoulders.

"I think it might be Norway."

"Then we now…" ."

When Dmitry trailed off, the navigator answered on behalf of the serious-looking pilot.

"You will become a prisoner of war."

On the first day of the war, as soon as I was sent on my first mission, I became a prisoner of war. It wasn't a very pleasant thing.

But if you think about it the other way around, while you were in the POW camp, you never had to go to the battlefield, so you never had to die.

Anyway, I decided to think about it later and be thankful that I survived for now.

"Oh, there!"

When the pilot discovered something, he shouted and pointed somewhere with his finger, and Dmitry's gaze naturally followed the pilot's gaze.

Where everyone's eyes turned, there was a pair of headlights shining brightly in the darkness. The sound of the engine was also heard.

Soldiers armed with rifles came pouring out of the truck that stopped 60 meters ahead. Is it the Norwegian army? Or the German army?

Regardless of whether the soldiers belonged to the Norwegian or German forces, Dmitry calmly raised his hand. But the pilot who also raised his hand said something strange.

"You're from the Finnish army, right?"

"Didn't you hear me clearly?"

Dmitry wondered what the pilot would say. He's Finnish?

"They are speaking Finnish. I mean the Finnish army. "Not the Norwegian army."

"uh? then… .."

"You mean the place where we crash landed is Finland and not Norway?"

The pilot nodded to the navigator's question.

"I guess so."