263 Chapter 341 The Winter War (10)

The commander of the SB-2 bomber fleet, Anatoly, who had barely escaped back to Leningrad, rushed straight to the headquarters as soon as he got off the plane. He reported the strange situation they encountered to the frontline commander, General Meretskov. "Comrade Commander, Comrade Commander! We were intercepted by enemy fighters, and the losses are severe. The enemy's fighters are definitely not Focke-Wulf D.XXI!"

General Meretskov frowned slightly. "Then what kind of fighter is the enemy using? Could it be that external forces are supporting Finland?"

After carefully looking around to ensure there were no others, Anatoly cautiously spoke, "Comrade Commander, the intercepting fighters were LaGG-3 fighters!"

"What?! Finland's fighters are LaGG-3?!" General Meretskov was suddenly astonished. "Are you out of your mind?! LaGG-3 is our fighter! It was just recently put into production. How could it appear in Finland?!"

"Comrade Commander, I am perfectly clear-headed now. I wouldn't dare to make up such things. We were indeed intercepted by LaGG-3 fighters, and I can vouch for it with my life!"

General Meretskov asked with some disbelief, "Did you see it clearly? Such matters cannot be casually spoken of!"

Anatoly emphatically assured, "Commander, I saw it crystal clear! Not only me, but the other pilots also saw it, and those planes had fresh red stars painted on their fuselages. If you don't believe me, you can ask the other pilots."

"!!" This matter was not trivial at all. The fact that the enemy had equipped themselves with the fighter that our side had just started to produce was astonishing. And they were using it to strike our bombers?! It sounded truly unbelievable! There might be a serious case of espionage involved in this. Perhaps enemy agents had infiltrated our ranks.

At the thought of espionage, General Meretskov shivered unexpectedly. He immediately gathered the other pilots and conducted a detailed inquiry. The result was that each pilot solemnly swore that they were indeed intercepted by LaGG-3 fighters.

Now, General Meretskov couldn't afford to delay. He promptly reported the matter to Stalin in the Kremlin.

Upon receiving the report, Stalin naturally became furious and ordered Beria to thoroughly investigate the matter.

Born in 1899, Beria demonstrated both calmness and cruelty at the age of 25 when he participated in suppressing the Georgian national uprising. This led to his rapid promotion as the head of the secret police in the Georgian region.

He gained Stalin's appreciation and soared to prominence at the age of 33. While Stalin was on vacation in Georgia, they were suddenly attacked. Beria bravely protected Stalin and killed the assassin on the spot. Some say Beria orchestrated the attack to draw attention to himself, but no evidence supporting this claim has been found.

From that moment, Stalin trusted his fellow Georgian immensely and promoted him against the norm. Beria was quickly transferred to Moscow, where he successively held key positions in some important institutions, either without a head or with a nominal head. Starting from 1938, Beria controlled the Soviet police, intelligence, and quasi-military forces for nearly 20 years.

During Stalin's purges, Beria actively participated and orchestrated the execution of millions. With the outbreak of the Soviet-German War, Beria became a member of the Defense Committee, responsible for domestic security, foreign intelligence, arms, and weapons production. He utilized millions of prisoners in Gulag camps to produce military supplies for the Soviet army.

In 1945, during the Yalta Conference, Stalin introduced Beria to the U.S. President Roosevelt, saying, "This is the Soviet Himmler," indicating the kind of person he was.

Upon receiving Stalin's orders, Beria wasted no time and personally convened a team to investigate the Lavochkin Design Bureau.

The leaders of the design bureau, Lavochkin, Golubnov, and Gudkov, were the first to be detained. The strictest scrutiny extended from senior engineers to ordinary workers, and everyone associated with the Lavochkin Design Bureau underwent rigorous interrogation. This scrutiny continued until the outbreak of the full-scale war.

The once-famous Lavochkin Design Bureau in the original timeline became paralyzed. During World War II, the factory had supplied 22,000 Lavochkin fighter planes to the front lines. At that time, one out of every three Soviet fighter planes was from the Lavochkin Design Bureau, which also designed excellent fighters like La-5 and La-7. La-5 and La-7, with their lighter structure, smaller turning radius, and faster climb rate at low altitudes, could effectively compete with Fw 190. The Soviet ace pilot, Kozhedub, flying La-5/7, shot down a total of 62 enemy planes. However, after that investigation, the Lavochkin Design Bureau never produced another aircraft.

All of this is a later story. At this moment, at the frontline, the battered and bewildered commander of the 35th Light Tank Brigade, Ogurcov

Ogurcov, looked around at the hellish scene created by the bombardment.

Countless tanks were bombed into piles of fire, and in the distance, tanks occasionally detonated, producing deafening explosions.

The infantry, crowded together, suffered countless casualties. Soviet soldiers, lying in agony on the ground, emitted painful moans and cries.

Hearing the cheers from the Finnish positions across, Ogurcov could only reluctantly issue the order to retreat. If they didn't retreat, and the enemy's planes came for several more rounds, their entire force would be annihilated!

The Soviet forces on the remaining attack routes were also entirely repelled.

In the rear, the Finnish military headquarters erupted in celebration. President Kallio even set up a victory feast, inviting high-ranking officers from the headquarters, including Model. "Let's toast to our friends with this first cup."

Although drinking during wartime was not entirely appropriate, today's victory was too uplifting. Everyone couldn't help but have a few more drinks, and each was a bit intoxicated.

President Kallio grabbed the hands of Model and Field Marshal Mannerheim, asking, "General Model, Marshal Mannerheim, today we gave the Soviets a harsh lesson. I presume the future wars will go smoothly, won't they?"

Model and Mannerheim glanced at each other. Model smiled bitterly and shook his head. "Your Excellency, forgive my frankness. The battles ahead will only become more challenging. Today's victory was largely due to the Soviet Union's negligence. Just think, if they had a large number of fighter escorts today, their bombers could have likely destroyed our airfields and important facilities. The Soviets rely on artillery; if they weren't negligent, they would have bombarded us with heavy artillery for a few days. By then, most of the anti-tank mines we buried would have been detonated, unable to stop the Soviet tanks. I believe the rejuvenated Soviet army will launch even more intense offensives after regrouping."

President Kallio sighed. "So, are we destined to be defeated in the end?"

Model consoled him. "A dignified defeat, Your Excellency."