I Became Stalin?!

Chapter 22

The 150 U-boats that roamed the North Atlantic every day had received 12 of the latest Type 21 U-boats, an improved version of the existing ones. 

The combined surface fleet of the proud Kriegsmarine and the Axis powers was truly majestic as it raced across the sea.

Moreover, the medium tanks that represented the German tank technology were now ready for mass production. 

With missiles and aircraft added, Germany’s science and technology was truly the best in the world!

The Führer admired his foresight that had led him to introduce these great weapons in advance, and he casually browsed through the reports coming from the battlefield.

“Damn, these so-called top brass…”

They were more like top idiots. 

The high-ranking officials of the Nazi Party – Göring, Himmler and others – were only concerned with their own interests.

First of all, our ‘Reichsmarschall’ Hermann Göring. 

This guy insisted that everything that flew in the Third Reich was under his jurisdiction, and it was so hard to get him to give up the elite squadrons that would be placed on the aircraft carrier…

“Mein Führer! If you really intend to take them away from me, you might as well kill me!”

He had to be forced to quit morphine and lose weight… but his greed seemed to have not diminished a bit. 

Of course, there was no need to kill him.

He just had to put Göring’s name on everything.

“<The Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring Memorial Armored Rocket Battalion, awarded with the Golden Knight’s Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords and Iron Cross>, and <The Reichsmarschall Göring Memorial No. 7 Main Battle Tank ‘Löwe’>… How ridiculous.”

It was absurd, but he had to promise him these things twice before Göring agreed to transfer the carrier squadrons from his jurisdiction to the navy. 

He also demanded two more air force field armored divisions…

“We need more armored divisions for the armed SS! Why does the air force need armored divisions? Why?”

Himmler threw a tantrum and demanded that more armored divisions be assigned to the SS. 

He had to give him a special status equivalent to the highest rank of the armed SS, put Göring’s name on it, and make him an honorary corps commander of an armored ‘corps’ that he would create for the SS, before he could finally settle the carrier squadron issue.

And it was not just the party. 

The generals of the military did not follow the government’s orders and carried out their own operations. ‘Mission-type command system’, huh?

“Stupid bastards…”

And they couldn’t even defeat one Soviet Union.

The Führer himself had set up the strategy and introduced the weapons that led them to victory in France and the Atlantic. 

Of course, he himself was not well aware of some things, but he had left the Eastern Front entirely in the hands of the army… and what was this mess?

At least Rommel was doing well as expected. 

He was storming through Africa, but the famous generals of the Eastern Front were all dying. 

Model had already turned into a defensive battlefield and was waging a defensive war that was much better than in actual history, but his initial goal of Arkhangelsk-Astrakhan was far from Astrakhan.

From an operational point of view, Germany had gained a lot of benefits, but now it was time to turn them back strategically once and for all. 

He would bring down Britain, which had lost its fleet, and dominate three continents: Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East!

After that, he would gather all his resources and subdue the Soviet Union, help Japan, and enter into a final battle with America. 

That was his goal.

Japan had to kneel before America. 

He was ready to use all means to erase this history of humiliation and shame from the future.

Especially if Soviet resistance was as strong as it is now.

“Mein Führer, a message has arrived from Cadiz.”

“Is that so?”

One of his most trusted generals, Dönitz, opened the door of his office and entered. It was the news he had been waiting for. 

Soon Lusitania would arrive, and although the Soviet army was launching its last offensive before the lull period, the generals only reported that they were fine.

What if they weren’t?

 The generals’ heads would not be fine.

The general who served most loyally in the defense forces. 

Walter von Reichenau pleaded with him for reinforcements, especially for tank units.

His Southern Army Group had a wider area to cover than the Central Army Group, but had far fewer tank units assigned to it, putting it at a disadvantage.

But the Führer coldly cut him off. Either encircle them with the current forces. Or win and annihilate the enemy and gain the upper hand.

He knew it was unreasonable, but Germany was not lacking just that. Its industrial capacity was far behind that of the Soviet Union, and he tried to overcome it by developing elite troops and powerful new weapons, but the front line and the headquarters had different demands, and so did Africa and the Eastern Front.

In the end, only the Führer could coordinate them, and thus he created new weapons that had all kinds of functions, but had one great power. 

Hmm, indeed… He was secretly satisfied. 

The inferior Soviets with only numbers would kneel before the amazing weapons of the German Empire.

The Führer thought so, even though it was far from the actual situation.

“Everything is going as planned, mein Führer. The British Home Fleet and the Mediterranean Fleet are still unaware of our movements, as far as we can tell.”

“Good.”

He had to finish off Britain and North Africa. 

He had to use all the surplus troops and resources from this direction to support the Eastern Front and Japan. 

As quickly as possible. 

No later than 1945.

It was hard to carry out the project without Canaris knowing.

Himmler was a fool who was obsessed with the occult and could not be trusted, but he was loyal enough to entrust him with the secret project. 

But the progress was slow.

It was difficult to collect uranium ore. 

The Soviet Union and Australia were enemy countries, and he had to barely secure and bring some from South America. 

And when it came to refining and enriching? What kind of nonsense was that…

The scientists tried to refer to the existing research, but most of it was classified by the US and Allied governments and they could not find it. 

They tried to experiment, but the only feasible places were the deserts of Vichy France’s colony Algeria or Italy’s colony Libya, but experimenting there was not good for secrecy.

No wonder nuclear development was slow. 

He wanted to kick Heisenberg out of the joint, but that wouldn’t do any good.

He had to deal with Britain first. 

He would think after finishing Britain. 

With the best medium tanks, bombers, aircraft carriers, and nuclear bombs!

The more means he had to crush the Soviet Union, the more fun it seemed.

The naval operations headquarters was filled with the navy’s top generals. 

The situation officer calmly organized the reports and revised the operational plan.

“The main battleships of the British Home Fleet, HMS Royal Sovereign and HMS Ramillies, along with a cruiser squadron of at least three ships, and the aircraft carrier HMS Furious, have left Scapa Flow to sink our battleship Bismarck.

The rest of the Home Fleet, HMS Nelson and HMS Rodney, a cruiser squadron, and the aircraft carrier Pegasus, are on standby at Portsmouth to prevent a ‘landing operation’. Since all the capital ships of the Home Fleet are in operation, there are virtually no British ships that can immediately support Gibraltar.”

“The HMS Barham and HMS Malaya of the Mediterranean Fleet, along with the aircraft carrier Ark Royal, have left their base at Alexandria to attack our supply convoys in the Mediterranean. A surprise attack is possible if we take losses from the two U-boat flotillas deployed in the Mediterranean.”

“The demolition team led by Lieutenant Otto Skorzeny of the armed SS will infiltrate Gibraltar base and blow up the passage leading to the warehouse, causing rock collapse. The enemy’s supply transport will be blocked by a joint operation of our surface fleet and Spanish army on land and sea.

The 2nd Air Force’s 1st Air Corps has gathered at Cordoba and is ready to bomb Gibraltar. The test of the new bomb was also successful. The 7th Parachute Division and Italy’s Folgore Parachute Division are also on standby for follow-up.”

Admiral Raeder nodded slowly. 

He couldn’t imagine such a thing, but it seemed very simple.

If you pound a big bomb deep into it and explode it inside, you can destroy a fortress. 

That was what the Führer suggested. 

How to attack Gibraltar fortress, which was impregnable or no different from it, located in natural rock hundreds of meters deep. 

He came up with a very simple solution.

If Gibraltar could not be attacked even if it was blockaded, it would not be a cork that blocked the Mediterranean, but rather a trap that trapped our fleet by being attacked by both British Home Fleet and Mediterranean Fleet.

He had to break through Gibraltar as soon as possible and secure freedom of movement so he could defeat them one by one. 

If he stuck a few ‘earthquake bombs’ in there? 

Even a fortress carved out of rock would collapse. 

He knew that because he had witnessed the power test himself.

Göring was smug that his aircraft would accomplish such a historic task. 

No one liked his arrogance, but this time his air force was nothing less than a hero.

Of course, it was also important that our naval operation contested air superiority with the enemy’s fleet and air force, and that Abwehr’s intelligence operation deceived Britain, but Göring didn’t seem to care about that.

Admiral Raeder also had to admit it. 

He couldn’t fire a 5-ton bomb with a cannon. 

The pride of German Empire and Kriegsmarine, Bismarck’s 52-caliber 38cm naval gun could only fire a 300kg shell at most.

According to what the Führer casually said – he wondered how he knew, but he understood when he thought of the Führer’s affection for Japan – Japan’s latest secret battleship had a 1,000-ton turret with a 16-inch main gun and fired a 1,500kg shell.

But he thought it would be better to produce dozens of aircraft rather than operate such a thing. 

Let alone a 5-ton giant bomb?

“‘Grosser Jüngere’, how many of them are ready?”

The Führer had personally designed an aerial bomb and even named it. ‘Grosser Jüngere’, meaning a tall boy, was a name that everyone liked more or less.

“We have 28 of them ready, Admiral. The bomb itself is simple to design, and the arsenal reported that they can produce enough quantity in a short time.”

“Hmm? Is that bomb so simple?”

“Yes, sir. It weighs over 5 tons, but more than half of it is filled with explosives, and the tail fins are lengthened to make it spin.”

There was a brief silence. 

What a stupid thing that he had never heard or seen before…

“Ahem, anyway, a bomb is good as long as it explodes well. Have you all received the reports on the experimental data?”

The experiment in the desert of Algeria resulted in a crater of tens of meters and a mushroom cloud from the explosion. 

The report was simple. 

This bomb was fucking big and awesome. 

It made Gibraltar fortress look easy.

They had to modify the largest bomber they had to carry one of these bombs, and even then they had trouble with the range and altitude, and they had to go through the trouble of securing air superiority, but anyway it would have an overwhelming effect on destroying fortresses or structures.

“Isn’t there a way to use this well on the stagnant Eastern Front?”

A certain admiral suddenly raised a question. 

Some generals frowned as if they didn’t like the adjective ‘stagnant’, but they had nothing to refute.

Compared to the grand goal of Arkhangelsk-Astrakhan, the current advance situation was too miserable.

“It would be very helpful to attack the fortified cities or reinforced concrete buildings that block our advance, but I don’t know how useful it would be if they dig trenches and hold out.”

“If we fight in urban areas, we can destroy and wipe out the buildings where the enemy infantry are hiding at once. As the Führer said, this is an ‘earthquake bomb’ that can shake and collapse the foundations of buildings and bury the enemy soldiers under the rubble and take over the city.”

They all agreed. 

Let’s make hundreds of these bombs and pour them on the Soviet army’s defense line that was fortified like steel. 

If we make their cities into ruins and tear their soldiers apart, someday the Soviet Union will surrender. 

Just like France did.

Well, let’s smash Britain first and think about it. If it was before, he would never have done that… But they were intoxicated by the sweet taste of victory that they had tasted for a long time.