I Became Stalin?!

Chapter 172

"It’s the day of victory, the day we’ve been waiting for after a long journey.

The day of victory, in the midst of the smoky ruins of our homeland!

We’ve traveled far and wide for this victory,

And we’ve fought with determination for this day.

The day of victory, when the earth is covered with the smell of gunpowder!

The day of victory, when the heroes of that day gather!

We shed tears of joy… it’s the day of victory!

The day of victory! The day of victory!"

In the Red Square, the song “The Day of Victory” by the Alexandrov Ensemble echoed loudly. People smiled with joy that the war was over, but also cried as they remembered their departed family, friends, and comrades.

The soldiers of the glorious Red Army paraded in the Red Square.

“From the Barents Sea to the Mediterranean! The sons and daughters of the Motherland who fought on every front have returned! Welcome them with applause and cheers!”

“Woohoo!!! Hooray for the Red Army!”

The announcer couldn’t hide his excitement as he read the script with a raised voice.

“They are entering now! Our great soldiers who liberated Leningrad, Smolensk, Minsk, and Rovno! Our great soldiers who captured Budapest, Bucharest, Warsaw, and Königsberg! Here they are!”

Hundreds of soldiers holding flagpoles marched in. Flashes, confetti, and whistles flew everywhere.

There were flags of various colors on the flagpoles. But none of them belonged to the Red Army.

“These are the flags of the filthy fascist invaders! But our army crushed them and achieved victory. Long live the Soviet Union! Long live the Red Army!”

There were more than hundreds of flags of the German divisions and corps, France, Italy, Spain, Hungary, and Finland that surrendered.

The soldiers deliberately pointed the flagpoles to the ground and walked in an orderly manner. They threw the flags into a pile.

In front of Lenin’s mausoleum, where I and the Politburo officials lined up, hundreds of flags formed a hill.

“The Supreme Commander of the Soviet Union, Comrade Zhukov, Comrade Konev, and Comrade Rokossovsky are entering! Please welcome them with applause!”

On the other side of the square, three men entered on white and black horses, each holding a torch. 

The people responded with thunderous applause to the heroes who led the three fronts of the north, center, and south and defeated the fascist army.

“Hooray! Hooray! Hooray!”

The three commanders each held a torch. They threw them onto the pile of flags in front of Lenin’s mausoleum.

The flags of the defeated German army began to burn in a huge fire.

‘They’re all replicas…’

Most of the captured flags were preserved for display in the new <Museum of the Great Patriotic War>. 

It was a pity to burn them as a spectacle, as they were valuable relics that showed our victory.

Of course, it didn’t matter whether they were replicas or not, as long as they showed our victory.

“The Great Patriotic War ended with the victory of our Soviet people. The soldiers of the Red Army, the workers of the factories, the peasants of the collective farms, and the intellectuals. There is nothing that can match the great struggle of the Soviet people, I dare say.”

The biggest war in the world was over. We ended this war, which killed tens of millions in real history, with less than half of that number of deaths, and a year and a half earlier.

A proud pride boiled up in my chest.

Of course, it wasn’t my sole merit.

"It’s the victory of the Red Army soldiers who fought in many places, from the sky, the land, the sea, from the mountains of the Caucasus and the Carpathians to the swamps of Pripyat.

It’s the victory of the Soviet workers who worked day and night in the factories of Ural, Stalingrad, Moscow, and Leningrad, producing goods for the people. It’s the victory of the peasants who produced food for the people with hard labor. It’s the victory of the intelligentsia who worked for the people in their respective positions."

“And it’s the victory of the proletariat of the world who fought against fascism from one end of the world to the other.”

It’s the victory of the proletariat of the world. As soon as the words ended, the Alexandrov Ensemble began to sing “The Internationale”.

"Arise, the army of the workers! Throw off your chains.

Justice burns like a volcano’s fire!

When the cursed land of the earth unfolds a new era

No old iron chains can stop us!

Hear the cry of the final battle

People, stand under the flag of liberation!

For the true masters of history, for victory

Let’s go bravely to the path of true freedom and equality!"

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! The cannons fired, and the people sang the national anthem (國歌) and clapped.

The sound of the 203mm BSU-203 self-propelled guns was so loud that it seemed to turn the sky upside down, even with half the charge.

“You are the victors of this war. Long live the victory! Long live the day of victory! Long live the victorious people! Long live! Long live!”

“Hooray! Hooray! Hooray!”

Snowflakes poured from the sky, but the heat of the square seemed to melt them all. The soldiers who held the regimental, brigade, and division flags marched in the square with a sharp rhythm.

Hundreds of self-propelled guns, tanks, and field guns rumbled and advanced. Dozens of aircraft performed aerobatics and decorated the sky with sickle and hammer-shaped contrails.

“They are entering now! The most powerful unit of the Red Army! The 5th Guards Tank Army’s 2nd Guards Armored Division, who captured Berlin and flew the red flag!”

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! The tanks of the armored division, led by the Bodeini tanks, fired their cannons in unison.

“The tanks of the 2nd Guards Armored Division crushed the fascist concrete defenses and swept away the invaders from the ground. The roar of the Guards Division will echo forever in the fallen Berlin! Please welcome the world’s strongest tanks with applause!”

Hundreds of tanks gathered from the corners of the square and formed a line. They each stuck a red flag in the wind, and the tankers stuck out their upper bodies from the cupolas and received the cheers of the masses.

"The clouds on the border drift peacefully

The frontier is rough in the silence

On the Amur River, the sentries of the motherland stand

On the Amur River, the sentries of the motherland stand

Three tank soldiers, three cheerful comrades

They ride together in the tank.

Three tank soldiers, three cheerful comrades

They ride together in the tank."

***

Nikolai’s chest swelled.

He was selected as the representative of the corps and ordered to lead the parade in the front with his tank. 

It was just a mistake he made by taking the wrong road, but the corps commander, or someone higher than him, was very pleased with him?

An American war correspondent who followed him to Berlin captured the moment when he and his squad planted the red flag on the ruined Brandenburg Gate.

The photo was turned into an article titled <The Day of Victory> and spread all over the world.

The protagonists of the photo, Nikolai and his squad, also had several interviews with newspapers and broadcasts. And the honor of leading the corps in the parade!

He was holding back his laughter with his chin raised to the sky, but he wanted to jump up and cheer right away.

“Captain! When this is over… you know, right?”

“Mm, I know!”

The driver who drove the tank whispered softly and Nikolai answered him without breaking his posture.

There was another matter waiting for them in his unit.

“Wow, but is this really something that makes sense?”

“Right, haha… I honestly don’t feel it either.”

The tank soldiers chatted with each other in a voice that could be heard outside. Maybe they thought they could talk because the only thing that was visible outside was the tank commander?

But they had a reason to do so.

A medal given by the General Secretary himself! 

Of course, he heard that the tank corps that entered Berlin first would all receive some reward, but there were few people who received medals directly from the General Secretary.

Amid the cheers of the crowd, they finished the parade and Nikolai and his squad headed to the Kremlin.

“Wow… hahaha…”

“This is it…”

“Hey! Why are you acting like country bumpkins!”

The grim NKVD agent scolded them with words, but his face was smiling happily. After all, these soldiers were real country bumpkins, and weren’t they the protagonists of today’s victory?

He searched the soldiers’ bodies faithfully to his duty, but when the search was over, he patted Nikolai’s back.

“Oh! By the way, you are the People’s Hero! The one who planted the red flag in Berlin! I’m sorry I didn’t recognize you! Hahaha!”

“Haha… ha…”

“Wow! Our captain is a celebrity!”

Nikolai smiled awkwardly, not knowing what to do with the NKVD agent’s joke. The soldiers seemed to be very excited.

They received new uniforms that were stiff with starch for the splendid parade that gathered hundreds of thousands of people. 

They wore uniforms with medals hanging all over them for decoration. 

The soldiers seemed to lift their shoulders naturally.

Wearing boots that shone so brightly that they seemed to slip if a fly landed on them, Nikolai walked down the corridor of the Kremlin with his squad.

“Keep your eyes 15 degrees ahead in front of the General Secretary and the Politburo members. Don’t say anything until the General Secretary asks you something. Answer as much as possible with Yes! That’s right! General Secretary! Try to say yes even if it’s not. Do you understand?”

“Yes! I understand!”

The meticulous-looking officer in charge of the ceremony looked at the country bumpkin soldiers with a disgusted expression. He had been rolling around in administration and ceremony work for a long time, and he looked more like a haughty servant of the feudal era than an officer.

The officer in charge of the ceremony, who had a thin mustache, stepped aside as he reached the heavy door and nodded to the NKVD guards.

“The medal recipients are entering!”

“Huh!”

As the NKVD guard shouted loudly, one of the squad members gasped and started hiccuping. The officer in charge of the ceremony turned pale, but the door opened anyway. Nikolai and his squad entered as they heard the nails in their ears.

At a glance, they could see that the high-ranking people were sitting solemnly. Amid the majestic orchestra playing, the soldiers froze and went up to the stage.

On the big chair on the stage, there was a person they had only seen in newspapers.

“From now on, Comrade Stalin will award medals to the heroic soldiers who captured Berlin for the first time! Everyone, applause!”

Clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap. The huge applause filled the hall. The people seemed to be used to the order, but the soldiers who had just arrived had a hard time doing so.

“5th Guards Tank Army 2nd Guards Armored Division 1st Brigade 4th Battalion 2nd Company Tank Squad Leader! Nikolai Pyodorovich Petrov! Forward!”

Oh, is that my name? Nikolai looked at the people blankly and didn’t even notice his name being called, but when the platoon leader poked his ribs, he jumped up and walked forward. He walked in a way that would look the coolest, but he couldn’t hide his countryness and some people giggled.

Comrade Stalin was much shorter than Nikolai had thought. 

He didn’t know from the photos on the newspaper, but he had a lot of pockmarks that he couldn’t hide with makeup. To be honest, he had a plain appearance.

But he felt an indescribable charisma from him. Comrade Stalin, who received the medal from the officer in charge of the ceremony, looked at Nikolai and smiled kindly.

“You are the one… who planted the red flag on the Brandenburg Gate?”

“Yes! That’s right, General Secretary!”

Hahaha! The people laughed. He was so nervous that he didn’t even know what he did wrong, and Nikolai felt sweat running down his spine and rolled his eyes.

But Comrade Stalin just smiled more kindly. 

The officer in charge of the ceremony, who had retreated far away, turned pale, darkened, and reddened in real time, but Comrade Stalin seemed to generously laugh off the young rookie’s mistake.

“Hahahahaha! I like you. You are…”

The General Secretary’s thick hand attached the medal to Nikolai’s clothes. The Soviet People’s Hero Medal, which glittered in gold, was added to his chest where the Red Star Medal was already hanging.

With his eyes full of color, Comrade Stalin, who had looked at the previous medal, opened his mouth again.

“You are the great hero who defended this country. Be proud and straighten your chest. You are the victor.”

“…!”

Suddenly tears seemed to flow from his eyes. He couldn’t answer because his throat was clogged.

Victor, the victorious Red Army. Victor, the people. He had heard the words many times, but they didn’t resonate with him until he heard them in the kind voice of the General Secretary.

The General Secretary smiled warmly and patted Nikolai’s back.

As if he had lost his mind, Nikolai walked down the stage. He couldn’t say anything even when the people applauded, the flashlights exploded, and the photo of him and his squad planting the flag was hung in the background.

After a long time of awarding medals, the General Secretary stood in front of the microphone on the stage. He opened his mouth in a quiet voice without highs and lows."