Ch.28Battle of Moscow (2)

# Semyon Budyonny

Commander of the 1st Cavalry Army of the Red Army, he was a figure who played an active role in the Russian Civil War and the Soviet-Polish War. In actual history, he was also active in the German-Soviet War.

With history changed, he led a cavalry corps in Ukraine and performed quite well, but when the Southern Army was defeated by the attacks of Ungern and Anton Denikin, he returned to Moscow to take charge of defensive operations. At Stalin’s suggestion, he was tasked with penetrating the Black Baron’s rear and capturing the Grand Duchess.

The so-called “Saint Hunt” plan.

With this hastily assembled plan, the goal was to strike quickly and retreat while capturing the Grand Duchess, even if it meant sacrificing the cavalry.

It would mean throwing away the Red Army’s cavalry corps, but if successful, they could always rebuild it.

With this mission, Budyonny personally took the reins and rushed forward, bypassing the Black Baron’s army in one swift move.

Sure enough, in the rear fluttered the imperial tricolor flag with the double-headed eagle.

The Grand Duchess must surely be here.

“Cavalry of the Red Army! Target the reactionaries’ flank! Capture the Grand Duchess!”

Budyonny’s cavalry swept in at once.

However, while they successfully penetrated the rear, the Grand Duchess was nowhere to be found.

Budyonny’s cavalry, which had planned only a decapitation operation to capture the Grand Duchess and retreat, soon had to turn their horses around in the face of the White Army’s counterattack.

They had penetrated too deeply to simply turn back now.

Before long, a Cossack cavalry unit sent by the Black Baron appeared before them.

These Cossacks, known as the Tsar’s Sword, charged toward the Red cavalry without showing the slightest hesitation.

“How dare you Bolshevik scum enter this place!”

“How arrogant to ride horses before the Cossacks!”

Although Semyon Budyonny himself had grown up entangled with Cossacks, the Red cavalry could not withstand the Cossack cavalry unit composed entirely of battle-hardened Cossacks.

The Cossacks’ blades literally turned the Red cavalry red, thoroughly ravaging them.

They somehow continued fighting under Budyonny’s command, but the outcome was obvious.

The Cossacks pressed from the front, and the White Army’s artillery, which had already allowed one surprise attack, fired shells at the Red cavalry.

“Damn it. To fail like this!”

Semyon Budyonny cried out in anguish as the Cossacks’ fierce blades tore through the Red cavalry amid the falling artillery fire.

“Capture that Bolshevik bastard!”

Before long, Semyon Budyonny was captured by the Cossack cavalry.

# * * *

Sure enough, the shouting Red Army cavalry threatened our flank.

Are they fools?

If we were truly an army without any preparations, we might have fallen to the cavalry. But even though our main force with tanks was advancing to attack Moscow,

We were prepared.

“How arrogant they are to show off in front of the Cossacks, the Tsar’s Sword. Cossack cavalry! Annihilate those Red cavalry who ignore you and charge in like moths to a flame!”

The Black Baron had prepared the Cossack cavalry in advance.

At the Black Baron’s command, the Cossack cavalry engaged the Red cavalry head-on.

A battle between enemy cavalry and Cossack cavalry.

It wasn’t that there were no Cossacks in the enemy cavalry, but with my (Anastasia’s) survival, most Cossacks had joined the White Army.

The Cossack corps thus formed faced the enemy cavalry that was striking our rear head-on.

And the blades of the Cossacks, known as the Tsar’s Sword, mercilessly slaughtered the enemy cavalry, the Bolsheviks.

The enemy cavalry seemed to be fighting desperately, trying to break through the Cossack forces, but it didn’t look easy.

I couldn’t see clearly from here, but if the Cossack forces had been defeated, our rear would have been threatened by the cavalry.

According to incoming reports, the enemy cavalry was defeated, and their commander, Semyon Budyonny, was captured.

Still, it was impressive.

They managed to strike at a weak point when they should have been too bogged down to do anything but hinder us.

“Their momentum is quite remarkable.”

“They’re still just Bolsheviks.”

Pyotr Wrangel dismissed the Bolsheviks as nothing.

That’s right. They’re still just that.

If they had succeeded and dealt us a significant blow, I would have been more surprised.

But I still had other questions.

“No, I mean it’s remarkable how stupidly they charged in. Unless they had some purpose, there’s no reason for such a fierce attack.”

Hit and run. If they had just wanted to strike and retreat, they would have pulled back at a reasonable point, but the enemy cavalry tried desperately to hold on.

This suggests they had some kind of objective.

“Indeed.”

Wait a moment, something suddenly crossed my mind.

Let’s think. What strategic objective would these incompetent Bolsheviks have right now?

A perfect plan to reverse this unfavorable situation.

“Hmm. Wait a moment.”

Yes. That’s it. This must be it.

“What is it?”

“Could it be that they were trying to capture me, even at the cost of self-destruction? If they want to turn the tide now, they need to capture me, don’t they?”

“Oh. That’s a possibility.”

Well, it would have been a worthwhile attack even if they weren’t targeting me.

If we didn’t have the Cossack cavalry, that is.

But unless they’re complete idiots, they must have known we were using Cossacks. And they still charged in despite knowing that?

They must have been targeting our command.

But surprisingly, since I was at the front, they failed.

“From a strategic perspective, if those fools who are just holding on by numbers want to overturn the situation at once, they need to capture me, the focal point of the White Army.”

“That’s right. But since Your Highness was at the front, they failed.”

The Black Baron nodded in agreement.

Yes. It’s obvious there was no other way.

That’s why they wanted to break through even if their carefully raised cavalry died. If they could just capture me and take me hostage, it would be enough.

No, just killing me would have been enough.

“They failed to achieve their strategic objective and just died in vain.”

“Still, the Bolsheviks have quite a lot of numbers.”

They still have many.

It would be shocking if most of them were true believers in Bolshevism, but judging by their demeanor, they seem to have been forced to come.

They might want to surrender, but they’d get a bullet in the head right before surrendering.

The Red Army officers would make sure of that.

To control people who were farmers until recently, they would have to resort to such measures.

“Trying to stop us with sheer numbers, how pathetic. They are revealing that Bolshevism has neither legitimacy nor a just cause. Many subjects will lose their lives.”

“It can’t be helped if we want to eradicate Bolshevism. You must steel your heart.”

“To overcome them at once, we’ll have to accept some bloodshed.”

“They will try to defend Moscow at all costs. But even they must have limits to their troop mobilization.”

That’s true.

The circumstances are too different from actual history.

They succeeded in their revolution, but public sentiment has already hit rock bottom.

With continued conscription in this situation, unlike actual history, more people are turning their backs on the Bolsheviks and joining the White Army.

“Are there no collaborators inside Moscow?”

“I understand that the Okhrana (Security and Order Preservation Bureau) has infiltrated Moscow. Let’s wait a bit.”

Hmm, that’s likely to fail.

No matter how impressive the Okhrana is, the Bolsheviks will try to control Moscow thoroughly with the Cheka.

Perhaps protests might be possible, but an uprising inside Moscow would be difficult.

“By now, there must be a lot of discontent within the Bolsheviks. How about using aircraft to drop leaflets promising amnesty to those who surrender and urging Moscow citizens to rise against the Bolsheviks?”

“That’s a good idea. I’ll inform the air force.”

This is precisely when leaflets and such are most effective.

# * * *

The Battle of Moscow was fierce.

Unlike the demoralized Red Army, the White Army’s morale soared thanks to the Grand Duchess who commanded the White Army alongside the Black Baron at the front.

“Look there! Our Tsarina is watching us from the front! Let’s kill all the Bolsheviks and offer the glory of victory to the Tsarina! Hurrah!”

“God is with us! Eradicate the Bolsheviks!”

The White Army desperately slaughtered the Red Army soldiers rushing to defend Moscow with modified Fedorov Avtomat rifles.

“If you lose to the reactionaries here, you’ll have to suffer under the Tsar’s oppression again! Let’s protect the Soviet that Comrade Lenin established with our deaths!”

“We’ll increase your rations based on how many reactionaries you kill!”

A massive bloody battle with the White Army and Red Army pushing back and forth.

The White Army infantry’s advance was led by British MK tanks and Renault FTs received from Britain and France, along with A-1 tanks produced with the German Empire’s help. The infantry followed behind, mercilessly crushing the Red Army.

“Aaaaargh! My leg!”

“P-please spare me! I don’t want to die!”

*Crunch* *Crack*

More and more Bolsheviks fell in fear at the sight of tanks, only to be crushed into bloody pulp under the tank treads. Those who watched in horror were forced to continue fighting as Red Army officers pointed guns at them from behind.

“Comrades, do you want to die? Stop those reactionaries right now! Or are you all puppets of that Grand Duchess? Fight now!”

With political officers’ guns behind them and White Army tanks approaching from the front, the Red Army could do nothing but try to stop the White Army with their lives.

In the air, Russian Empire bombers Ilya Muromets and Austrian bombers Hansa-Brandenburg G.I dropped bombs on Red Army positions, continuously harassing them.

The Red Army had aircraft too, but F1 fighters donated by the German army and British Empire’s Sopwith Camel fighters shot down Red Army aircraft like falling autumn leaves.

The White Army advanced with superior weapons and combat power, defeating the Bolsheviks who relied solely on numbers.

“Break through the Bolshevik trench line! The high ground is not far!”

To make matters worse for the Bolsheviks, Anton Denikin, leading the South Russian White Army, joined from the south, relentlessly hammering the Moscow defense line.

The Bolsheviks in the trenches followed their comrades who had been turned to pulp by tank machine guns, and White Army infantry who came in behind used submachine guns and Fedorov Avtomat rifles to break through the trenches.

Despite this, Moscow was holding on by throwing its population into the fight.

Inevitably, discontent erupted within Moscow.

“Why should we die?”

“If you want to die, go out and fight yourselves! Don’t take my husband’s and child’s lives!”

“Instead of gloriously fighting against the reactionaries’ invasion to protect the Soviet, you dare to riot like this!”

*Ratatata* *Bang!*

In one area, a gunfight broke out between the Okhrana, who had infiltrated Moscow and gathered those dissatisfied with the Bolsheviks to start protests, and the Cheka who came out to stop them.

“Reactionaries have infiltrated Moscow! Crush the intelligence department of the White Army leader Anastasia!”

“Kill those Bolsheviks who think they know what the Okhrana is!”

The Okhrana’s infiltration of Moscow was shocking to the Soviets.

It meant that the reactionaries had finally entered Moscow.

They were preparing to incite an uprising.

Just as the Bolsheviks had once started a revolution.

This fact was particularly shocking to the Bolsheviks who had once carried out a revolution themselves.

They were using the Cheka to kill the reactionaries, but it was obvious that their numbers would continue to grow.

“Comrade, we’re holding them back, but I don’t know how long we can maintain this.”

“What are you trying to say?”

“Comrade Bukharin is right. Comrade Lenin is a symbol of revolution for communists worldwide. At this point, it would be best for him to escape from Moscow.”

Within the party, there were even calls for evacuating Moscow.

That’s how unstable the Moscow defense line was.

This defense, which was holding by sacrificing the people, would inevitably cause Soviet citizens to become dissatisfied with the Bolshevik regime.

The people who had already turned their backs on the Tsar could just as easily turn their backs on the Bolsheviks.