I Became Stalin?!

Chapter 169

The news of the great destruction spread like wildfire.

Berlin, the city that was destroyed, could not be hidden. 

Millions of people must have witnessed the giant mushroom cloud that appeared after a flash of light, nearly 8,000 meters high. 

Even tens or hundreds of kilometers away, people could hear the blast and see the mushroom cloud.

The government that should have controlled the information disappeared under the fire of the nuclear bomb. 

The bureaucracy that supported the oppressive regime evaporated, and the citizens were able to speak and shout more freely than ever.

The police who should have monitored them were in a state of panic after their leaders vanished, and the sudden surrender declaration of Model One threw most of the rest into hysteria.

The broadcasting stations that managed to survive the explosion and maintain their functions spread the last words of Stalin and the surrender of Model One. 

The police who should have censored the broadcasts just watched them blankly.

[…We have dozens more of these weapons. If the German army on the eastern front does not surrender unconditionally immediately, we will destroy Königsberg and Dresden.

If the German fleet does not disarm, we will destroy Kiel, Hamburg, and Stettin. 

If the German forces stationed in France do not surrender, we will destroy Essen and Dortmund. If Vichy France does not surrender, we will destroy Vichy, Marseille, and Lyon.

If Italy does not surrender unconditionally immediately, we will destroy Rome, Venice, Florence, Milan, and Naples.]

If it had been a different time, the broadcasting station’s staff, from the president to the lowest employees, would have been dragged away for inciting defeatism. But now, even the Gestapo dared not interfere. 

Most of the opportunists were too scared to watch how the situation would turn out.

Even the most radical and violent ones became meek lambs in front of the overwhelming violence. 

The unleashed media poured out all kinds of provocative reports.

There were too many shocking facts in Berlin at the moment.

Hundreds of thousands of people died instantly, or within a short time, and the hospitals in the suburbs began to overflow with those who had not yet died. 

Photographers and reporters took pictures of their gruesome conditions and spread them around, and people were horrified.

Stone buildings that melted, humans whose flesh melted and dripped, trees and animals that evaporated and left only shadows.

Even the most staunch anti-communist and warmonger, when he heard the words, “Would you like that to fall on your and your family’s heads?” he could not answer.

As soon as Stalin’s ‘threat’ hit the airwaves, and as soon as the horror of Berlin was reported, the cities that were affected by it erupted in anti-war protests.

“We want to live! We support Model One’s surrender!”

“Better Siberia than hellfire!”

“Save my child! Save my family!”

The overwhelming power brought fear rather than hatred. 

In front of fear, the citizens chose easy rebellion instead of hard resistance. 

The citizens swarmed the streets like bees and attacked the local police stations and burned the Nazi offices.

Dresden, Kiel, Hamburg, Stettin, Essen, Dortmund… Many important cities refused to accept the control of the central government that barely regained its function. 

The people who had hidden from the Nazi oppression broke their silence and led the citizens out of hiding.

At the forefront of the uprising were the veterans. 

Those who had gone to war and experienced its horrors with their whole bodies, and who had to live with that burden for the rest of their lives, shuddered at the mere mention of war.

The police forces that were deployed to suppress them were also overwhelmed by their fierce momentum.

“We fought for this country! Now we will end the war with our own hands!”

“Long live peace! Long live freedom! The bastards can go to hell!”

“Sto… Stop!”

Words alone could not stop them. 

The local police chiefs strictly forbade the use of firearms to preserve their own heads, and the police were either pushed away to some alley or joined the protesters.

And the Soviet army that started to push in from the east drove the final nail into the situation.

***

“Thoroughly prohibit any hostile acts! Do not do anything that could be perceived as threatening or interpreted as hostile by them!”

“Yes!”

Nikolai’s armored division was fortunate enough to avoid combat. 

Most of the armored divisions were deployed in the second or third wave of the Soviet army’s official doctrine, the deep operation, so they were able to advance across the German mainland without fighting the German army that had lost their will to fight or surrendered according to Model One’s order after the first wave of combat.

Before entering Berlin, the division’s political commissar issued a stern order to the entire force. 

The expression of the political commissar, who had been devout as if he was embarrassed even to deliver the direct order of the secretary-general, changed to a fierce one that threatened the soldiers.

“If any problems arise due to hostile acts, all political commissars have received permission to execute anyone regardless of rank on the spot to resolve the incident. I don’t want to execute you with my own hands, but if necessary, I can do it. Do you understand?”

“Yes!!!”

The officers and political commissars were exceptionally granted the authority to execute the soldiers on the spot. 

If they committed serious crimes such as looting, rape, murder, arson, etc. against the local civilians, the entire unit would be held accountable and executed!

In the Red Army, which had strict and harsh discipline, but had never executed soldiers indiscriminately, the backbone of the nation and the army, this order was unprecedented. But no one could object to it, as it was the direct instruction of Comrade Secretary-General.

‘It seems to have some effect…’

Even when the Soviet armored divisions entered the city and passed by the streets, no one attacked them directly, even if they jeered and threw fists.

The Soviet soldiers avoided contact with the civilians as much as possible, even if it was because of the fear of summary execution, and the Germans did the same, not wanting to provoke the Soviet army because of fear.

As a result, the Soviet army was able to take over the city hall and move quickly to the next target. Most of the cities declared non-resistance, and those who could not did not resist. The reason they did not declare non-resistance was because those who had the authority to do so had fled.

Of course, they had to requisition the materials of the city, but the Soviet staff officers had a large amount of promissory notes with them.

“The units that will follow us will see these notes and pay you appropriately! We are not looting the civilians’ materials. Now, let’s go!”

“Damn Soviets…”

Most of them were unhappy with the process of ‘requisition’ and ‘compensation’, but even they had no objection to the Soviet army being gentlemanly. 

They were in high spirits and did not attack the German civilians.

The staff officers paid them 1.5 to 2 times the market price with promissory notes. 

The greedy shop owners and businessmen inflated them a bit, but the Soviet army did not bother to argue with them. Their only goal was to advance faster.

Towards Berlin, which had become a ruin, and further to the Ruhr and Rhineland.

Nikolai’s division arrived in Berlin without any trouble, even though they had heard stories of some soldiers from another unit who had been executed for touching a German woman.

“The war is over!”

“We have crossed half the world to get here!”

“Ura! Ura! Long live the Red Army!”

Luckily, Nikolai’s division was able to arrive ahead of the others in this forced march.

They were the first ones to reach Berlin.

Dozens of tanks entered Berlin proudly flying their flags. 

The citizens hid in the alleys or buildings and peeked at the new conquerors.

Many people had already fled to Berlin, the ‘capital of the Thousand-Year Reich’, from the east after hearing the news of the Soviet advance. 

Those who had brought their belongings with them screamed or ran away at the sight of anything resembling the Soviet army.

“The Soviets are here! The Soviets!”

“Oh God! My Führer! Where should we go?”

“The end is near… the end is near…”

The people showed various reactions, but none of them dared to attack the Soviet army. 

The overwhelming power of the explosion had shattered the citizens’ will to resist.

The Soviet tankers also refrained from any actions against the civilians, as they were strictly forbidden to do so. 

They just marched on with stone-faced expressions, looking straight ahead.

Nikolai scratched his head as he unfolded the map of Berlin that he had received from above.

“Is this the right way?”

Normally, he would have just followed the tank in front of him, but shockingly, there was not a single tank ahead of him.

Nikolai’s tank was at the head of the column.

“Uh… sir? Should we go straight ahead?”

“Huh? Yeah, yeah.”

Nikolai had to act confident, even if it was because of the doubtful looks from his subordinates. 

He couldn’t look around, either, because of the German civilians who ran away screaming at the sight of his face.

‘Is this the right way…’

“Huh? Sir, the tanks behind us turned?”

“What, what?”

The tank commander behind him shouted at him. He looked back in surprise and saw the other tanks slowly turning and entering another road.

He looked up and saw, to his dismay, a familiar number 2 written in large letters.

The road he had been on had a 1 on it.

He felt a chill down his spine.

“Ahem… turn at the next corner!”

“Yes, sir!”

The formation was already broken, but he had no choice. Surely… surely nothing big would go wrong at this point?

His subordinates didn’t seem to have any doubts yet.

And as they turned the corner, some buildings that looked majestic appeared.

“Wow…”

“Wow…”

The street was full of red and black flags of the Nazis. Not that they were there.

They were something that had been flattened. 

As if a giant flash had lit them up, the outer walls of the buildings were distorted as if they had boiled and melted.

Nikolai’s eyes reached the end of the road.

There was only rubble there.

“What the hell happened here?”

He could imagine it. He had seen the gray city of Berlin, the Nazis’ pride, a few times through posters or newspapers. 

The majestic and imposing gate that looked down on humans, the classical buildings that shone luxuriously at night, the city of cold marble and steel that seemed to tolerate no challenge.

But now the Nazis were gone.

“Pale death knocks with equal foot at the huts of the poor and the palaces of the king…”

The huge stones had melted and stuck to the ground like giant piles. Nikolai remembered the poem that Katya had read to him when she said she would teach him how to write.

Pale corpses, or rather, Berlin with its guts turned inside out.

He drove his tank forward in silence, and his subordinates followed him without a word.

And in front of the pile, Nikolai stopped his tank.

Clack, clack, clack.

As he stood in front of the debris, something rose in his chest. His subordinate, who had run after him, was reading the letters on the crumpled sign.

“Br… Branden… burg… Tor?”

“Flag. Bring the flag.”

***

On top of the Brandenburg Gate, or what had been the Brandenburg Gate, a group of soldiers waved the red flag.

“Soviet ura! Red Army ura!”

“Comrades!”

His subordinates cheered and rejoiced, but Nikolai could not.

The many comrades who had left him, or whom he had left.

His subordinates looked at him, thinking he was calling them, but Nikolai’s eyes were beyond them.

“Comrades!!! We are here!!”

Comrades! Comrades! Comrades! His voice echoed and reached out. 

Like a lament for the countless comrades who had gone before him.