I Became Stalin?!

Chapter 211

“Those stupid…”

The British Prime Minister, Anthony Eden, trembled with rage as he received the report. 

Those stupid frogs! He cursed inwardly as he flipped through the pages.

The French bastards had always boasted about their ‘great France’, but they were far from it. 

Unlike Britain, which had managed to escape and salvage its colonies, France had lost all of its colonies to the Vichy regime.

Therefore, those who had been fighting against the Vichy and the Nazis in France had to rely entirely on foreign aid or the meager funds collected by their members.

The British exile government had supported the Free French who had followed them, and hoped that they would have some influence after the fall of the Nazis.

But those stupid beggars had made the worst choice of joining hands with the Vichy scum.

“We’re doomed… We’re doomed… Damn it!”

The coup had failed miserably. The coup forces had entered Paris, but they had failed to capture the main targets, and they had not even stopped the communist prime minister from escaping and rallying the resistance.

In the end, the Soviet troops, who seemed to have been prepared for this, swiftly intervened and crushed the main force of the coup, ending it in vain.

Now it was time for Britain, who had instigated this, to pay the price.

“Did… did any of our agents get caught? If they trace it back to us…”

“I’m sorry, Prime Minister…”

Bang!

Eden threw the report, which hit the face of the intelligence chief and then the vase behind him. 

The vase fell to the floor and shattered, but the intelligence chief bowed his head and said nothing.

“Do you know what you’ve done? You could have started a third world war! Damn it… Damn it! How am I supposed to… London could become another Berlin!!”

“I’m sorry.”

The current situation in Europe was the worst that Britain could have hoped for.

Britain had traditionally maintained its <splendid isolation> from the continental wars, and had been wary of any power that emerged on the continent.

When Napoleon had conquered most of Western Europe and marched eastward to subdue Russia, Britain had sent Wellington and Nelson to turn him back. 

When Kaiser Wilhelm II had tried to expand his ‘Germany ruling the world’, Britain had allied with France and trampled Germany.

But the madman Hitler had crushed all the major countries in Europe with his insane genius, and had ultimately been defeated by Stalin, an even more powerful devil, leaving Europe in the red grip of the Soviet Union.

Britain, which had no friends on the continent, was doomed to decline. Only second-rate countries like Spain, or third-rate countries like Portugal or the mutilated South Italy, were barely holding on.

And the undisputed superpower, the United States, instead of trying to contain the second-ranked Soviet Union, had teamed up with them and relegated Britain to the back seat of an old man.

‘What is that red-headed Wallace thinking?’

It might have been a sound strategy, in a way.

If the second-ranked power could not surpass the first-ranked one by itself, the first-ranked one might as well join hands with the second-ranked one. Especially if the second-ranked and the third-ranked ones were mortal enemies.

Then, while the second-ranked and the third-ranked ones were growling at each other, the first-ranked one could play the role of a mediator and enjoy the ‘Pax Americana’ forever. 

Assuming that the damned Stalin and his followers were satisfied with the second-ranked position.

Anyway, the national long-term plan was meaningless now.

In a situation where the furious Soviet Red Army could cross the English Channel with the French Army at any moment!

***

The coup had ended in vain. As soon as the Soviet intervention was announced, half of the coup forces surrendered to the government forces.

Most of the units that had been watching the situation rushed to Paris to join the suppression forces, showing how loyal they were.

“We, we had to weed out the impure reactionary elements in our unit, so we couldn’t mobilize in time!”

“Yes, yes. We were full of loyalty to the government, but the circumstances were not favorable…”

By the time the Soviet troops arrived in Paris, almost all the military units in northern France had joined the suppression forces with their available troops.

And they, who had hesitated to shed the blood of the French people, were furious that the lowly foreign legionnaires had dared to set fire to Paris.

“K**l them! K**l them all!”

“Fire!”

Bang! Bang! Tear gas grenades fell beyond the foreign legion’s defensive line. The civilians had already evacuated from the city. 

The commanders, who did not want to destroy the ‘city of light’ with shelling and bombing, used tear gas generously.

After a lethal dose of gas was sprayed, the tanks broke through the defensive line. 

The soldiers who had been rolling on the ground were literally crushed along with the line.

Some resisted by firing machine guns or throwing grenades, but the steel beasts just shrugged them off and advanced. 

The Char B1 tanks, modified into flamethrowers, spewed flames from their hulls and wiped out every hidden soldier.

The foreign legionnaires, who were not French and did not understand the situation, had fought only by following the orders of their officers.

“Damn bastards, you have no loyalty at all, you’re worse than dogs!”

“???”

A French soldier, burning with revenge, pointed his gun at the chest of a foreign legionnaire who was lying on the ground, crying and sniffling.

The foreign legionnaire looked up blankly, not understanding what he was saying. The bullet tore through his chest and lungs, and he could never ask again.

And so, the last stronghold of the coup forces fell, and the battle was over.

Some of the generals who had participated in the coup begged for their lives and surrendered. 

Others chose to k**l themselves rather than live in shame.

Those easy choices were not applicable to the soldiers.

“Wow! K**l the traitors!”

“K**l them! K**l them!”

The angry people threw stones and jeered at the foreign legionnaires who were dragged as prisoners. The foreign legionnaires of various appearances silently endured the ridicule with their bodies.

The French soldiers, who had mostly followed the orders of their superiors, who had not grasped the situation, and who had eventually surrendered bloodlessly, received a pardon.

But the foreign legionnaires were not given such an opportunity.

The French needed a scapegoat. 

They wanted to see the blood of those who had disturbed their peaceful and great country.

Of course, some of the generals would be executed, but that was not enough. So the regime decided to sacrifice the weakest ones.

“Good grief…”

Nikolai, who had entered Paris first as the vanguard of the Soviet ‘rescue force’ after making six units surrender, marched through the city that was still recovering from the battle and received the cheers of the citizens.

A French lady, who was a little less pretty than Katya but still a stunning beauty, gave him a flower necklace and a bouquet.

“Ah… Merci?”

“Hahaha! You’re welcome!”

He couldn’t follow the locals’ rapid-fire speech with his rudimentary French. Nikolai followed the French soldiers, who were well-dressed but couldn’t fight, in a daze.

“Here we are.”

“Yes? Yes, yes…”

The battle had ended in just five days and eight hours, not even six days. But it had left a lot of uneasiness, and Nikolai felt uneasy.

An interpreter who spoke Russian changed his clothes and dragged him somewhere.

“Why are we here…?”

“Yes? Didn’t you get the message?”

“Yes?”

The interpreter frowned and then spoke again in a strange accent and a fast tone.

“Sir, you are the representative of the Soviet intervention force and you will receive a medal with Comrade Commander. The Secretary of the Republic… no, the Prime Minister himself will give you the medal, so please show the dignity that befits a representative.”

“Yes???”

Another medal?

He felt the weight of the Hero of the People medal he had received from Comrade Stalin last time. 

The interpreter, who was adjusting his clothes and rearranging his medals to make room for a new one, noticed the Hero of the People medal and his eyes sparkled.

How could this clueless bumpkin of a captain be a Hero of the People? He seemed to say with his eyes. Nikolai felt his face turn red.

He wasn’t even a captain, really. He should have been a sergeant at best. He had been promoted to a company commander after getting several special promotions.

“Hmm…”

As he followed the interpreter through a small corridor, he saw a huge hall where a ceremony seemed to be taking place. The interpreter who had guided him to his seat disappeared with a quick step.

“Hey? Are you here? Sit down.”

“Yes? Yes!!!”

He saw someone wearing a Soviet uniform near his seat. As he approached to sit down, he saw the old man next to him gesture and stopped when he saw his rank.

‘A star…?’

He was young, but his chest was full of medals and his shoulder had a star. He looked familiar.

‘Our commander…?’

He didn’t know why they had placed a captain like him next to the commander, but he soon found out.

“Hahaha, why are you so nervous? I’m just giving you another medal.”

“Yes, sir!”

“Hahaha, young man… Why are you so tense? You’ve received a lot of medals, haven’t you? You know they’re nothing special, don’t you?”

The commander joked with a gentle expression and then noticed the Hero of the People medal on Nikolai’s chest.

“By the way, I don’t have that Hero of the People medal. Where did you get it?”

“Yes! Well… I did a small deed during the Berlin occupation.”

“Oh…!”

Commander Chernyakhovsky laughed and patted Nikolai’s back.

“I see, I’ve met a famous person!”

During the ceremony, Commander Chernyakhovsky kept talking to Nikolai. Where are you from, are you married, how old are you…

As his mind was exhausted from the constant questions and tension, the commander casually said.

“So, are you thinking of settling down? With your age and achievements, you could rise fast… Maybe not as fast as me because of the marshal. Hahaha!!”

“Sir… I was planning to go back home.”

The commander seemed shocked by Nikolai’s honest answer. Why? Why would you give up your expected promotion? He seemed to say with his expression.

“I don’t think this position suits my abilities. These medals… I was just lucky, I don’t think I’m good at this.”

“Young man, you’re humble too! Hahaha. Okay, okay. Hmm…”

Chernyakhovsky chuckled and stroked his chin. Then he started to think for a moment.

“Then go home and see. I’ll give you a special leave at my discretion. Go and think about it, and if you really don’t want to stay, submit your discharge papers. And there’s something special prepared for officers like you, so if you come back from your leave and stay in the army… You’ll have fun!”

As soon as the commander finished speaking, a voice called him from the stage. 

The commander walked away with a laugh until the end.