Ch.462Dawn of Moscow

* * *

“How can you be so incompetent after rooting out all those reactionaries? You should have died fighting at your post! You people are truly beyond the pale! So, where have they reached now?”

“The German fascists have successfully broken through our lines using their flanking breakthrough tactics. The enemy has occupied Bryansk and Vyazma, and will soon reach Moscow’s defense line.”

“When Timoshenko counterattacks from the defense line, things will improve.”

“Comrade Secretary. Comrade Timoshenko cannot mobilize enough troops for a counterattack.”

“Only those I name will remain in the room. Zhukov, Konev, Vasilevsky, and Yeremenko.”

Is it finally happening? Only those named remained while I too had to leave.

Of course, I could still hear everything because he was shouting so loudly.

“Timoshenko’s attack was an order! How dare you disobey my commands? How did it come to this? The Red Army has deceived me! Everyone, even the NKVD, has deceived me! The generals are all worthless, untrustworthy cowards!”

“Comrade Secretary. You’re going too far!”

“The officers are the dregs of the Russian people! Shameless fools! You strut around calling yourselves generals after a few years at the Frunze Military Academy! The Red Army has been obstructing me for years! All you’ve done is stand in my way!”

“My strategy was perfect. When the German fascists were defending against your attacks, they repelled the entire Red Army, didn’t they? My plan to preemptively stop Hitler—who would target us after fully digesting France and reorganizing Europe—was perfect! You incompetent fools squandered this golden opportunity! Why are there no outstanding officers in the Red Army? Unlike Hitler, who has formidable officers capable of overthrowing the Soviet Union!”

Who was it that created the current Red Army through endless purges?

“I’ve been carrying on the proletarian revolution all this time. Still, I alone have led the Russian people this far! I’ve been betrayed and deceived by you from the beginning! This is a heinous betrayal of the Soviet people. But you will pay the price. You will pay with blood! All my orders have been ignored. It’s impossible to overcome this situation. What should we do now?”

This seems familiar somehow. More importantly, the German advance is too fast.

Is the current situation the result of Operation Uranus failing, followed by a German counterattack pushing us back this far?

“We must move all administrative departments to Kuybyshev, and the Secretary Comrade must evacuate as well.”

“Is that truly our only option?”

“The Soviet Union is vast, so even if Moscow falls, it will be difficult for the German army to occupy everything. If we evacuate to Kuybyshev until General Winter arrives, then counterattack, it should be possible.”

“Very well, everyone may leave now.”

I feel like I just watched a scene from a movie. I can’t quite place it.

“Your Highness, the time is ripening. Though other officers don’t yet know of your existence, I will introduce you to the world once things change.”

“Comrade Marshal. What are you suddenly talking about?”

“You need not hide anymore. Everything is prepared and will soon be put into action. I will soon demonstrate my loyalty to you.”

What’s with this guy? Does he really know my identity? Or has he lost his mind in this situation?

“Soon demonstrate my loyalty”—what exactly is he planning to do?

One thing is certain: he’s planning a coup against Stalin, isn’t he?

Should I tell Stalin about this? Do I need to intervene if they’re fighting among themselves?

The problem is that I’ve been underestimating Beria all this time.

“At least Nicholas II, though incompetent, took responsibility for the war and went to fight at the front himself! What exactly is the Secretary Comrade, who should be leading the people, doing?”

“Who caused the great famine while claiming to serve the people? In Ukraine, parents survived by cooking their children’s corpses, and the Secretary suppressed those who opposed collectivization with guns!”

“Is this country truly better than during the imperial era when Bloody Sunday happens here? He even started a war!”

“During the civil war, those who massacred workers who opposed the Bolsheviks were led by that very Secretary!”

For some time now, public sentiment had been strangely agitated.

Normally, the NKVD would control this through terror tactics to silence people, but there was no sign of that happening. Rather, they seemed to be encouraging such talk.

Meanwhile, we were under increased surveillance. No, it was beyond surveillance—dozens of NKVD agents surrounded the mansion, seemingly to protect me alone.

Anyone could see that Beria was planning something.

“This seems obvious to me. The Secretary wouldn’t set up such an elaborate scheme just to kill you, would he?”

I frowned at Maria’s words.

Yes, that’s the problem. It’s suspicious.

“True. Especially now when Moscow is under threat, and might fall before General Winter arrives. Maria, what do you think?”

“As you said, since America has entered the war, the Soviet Union will somehow survive, right? Then isn’t this the perfect opportunity to bring down the Soviet Union? In the end, it depends on your choice.”

Restoring the Empire.

If I directly manage Russia, a nuclear war certainly won’t happen.

Alright, let’s see what Beria is thinking.

* * *

Beria secretly gathered high-ranking officers.

Georgy Zhukov, Ivan Konev, Alexander Vasilevsky, Semyon Budyonny, Andrey Yeremenko, and others. These were the generals assembled to defend Moscow.

“Why have you called us here?”

“Has the Secretary Comrade ordered you to kill us all?”

Zhukov and the other generals present were all equally dismissive.

Beria was known as the figure who assisted the Secretary’s Great Purge.

Moreover, everyone in this room had long been marked by Stalin.

Even Zhukov himself had nearly been killed before.

Despite his dedicated defense of Leningrad, it was ultimately lost.

Stalin had ordered him to take responsibility by defending Moscow, but everyone present knew Stalin well enough.

They would surely die once the war ended.

“Of course not. Even if that were the case, I couldn’t do it in our current situation. Frankly speaking, who caused this crisis in the first place?”

“Hmph, I didn’t expect you to bring that up first, Comrade.”

“America may be providing us with weapons, but unless they land in Europe, it’s painfully obvious that the Soviet Union will fall to Germany.”

Beria began setting the stage.

Though the situation was difficult, the Soviet Union could somehow endure this war.

Once Germany was pushed back by America, the Soviet Union would ultimately survive. But what then? No one knew how Stalin, having lost public support, would react.

Even Beria himself might be killed by Stalin.

“Comrade. Walls have ears. What are you—”

“The Secretary Comrade is incompetent and ultimately caused this crisis. I understand why he wanted war, but the Soviet Union started without proper preparation. Now we’ve lost much territory, public discontent grows daily, and the Secretary Comrade refuses to listen.”

The generals kept their mouths shut and their eyes wide.

They never expected Beria to say such things.

Beria? Really? What could he be thinking?

It seemed too strange to be a trap.

If he wanted to kill them, he would have done so already without setting up any elaborate scheme, finding some absurd reason to execute them.

So, was this a coup?

“Are you planning a coup? And then what? Will you become the new Secretary? How do you plan to stop the war?”

“We must honor the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk and negotiate as much as possible. We need to hold out until General Winter arrives, even if it means sacrificing the Red Army. According to our intelligence, America may land in Europe.”

If America’s overwhelming capital and military begin to arrive, if the Allies land, Germany won’t be able to hold out.

“Then, after the current Secretary Comrade—”

Zhukov let his words trail off.

The situation truly seemed hopeless. But if they deposed the Secretary, who would take his place?

“Have you noticed how talk of the Empire keeps emerging in Moscow? Normally, the NKVD would suppress such talk. Why do you think these stories are circulating?”

“Surely not a restoration of the monarchy?”

“Right now, we need a rallying point, whoever it may be.”

“Where would we find a Romanov to accept the Tsar’s crown in the current situation?”

That’s all well and good, but where would they find a Romanov?

Most of them left the Soviet Union after the Tsar’s family was executed.

“One already exists. Grand Duchess Anastasia. I’ve learned that when the Tsar’s family was executed in Yekaterinburg, one body was missing. And at that site, the Cheka members who led the execution were also found dead and buried.”

“So who is it?”

“Doesn’t Special Staff Member Irina resemble the Grand Duchess?”

“You can’t mean… that novelist?”

To be honest, not everyone present had fully considered restoring the monarchy.

But it was clear that the current Soviet Union was hopeless.

In just a few decades, public sentiment had turned against them. It was worse than the imperial era, and everyone present faced execution by the Secretary after the war, no matter how they endured it.

Beria took out a document from his coat and showed it to the officers.

“Do you know what this is? It’s a death list with your names on it. After this war ends, the Secretary plans to blame you for the war and execute you.”

“This is…”

“We have no choice. Even if we somehow endure this war, how many people in this room will survive? Rather than dying unjustly after fighting for our country, wouldn’t it be better to restore the monarchy and be remembered in history as loyal subjects of the Tsar?”

There was nothing more to consider.

“Many former White Russians are indeed among the German fascist forces. If we restore the monarchy, they might react differently, and if the German fascists promised the White Russians to restore the monarchy or rebuild White Russia, they might not attack for a while.”

“I’ve heard there are White Russians in countries around the world. We could hope for their help as well.”

The decision was made.

All of this was ultimately the Secretary’s own doing.

“Then, let’s proceed.”

“We must consider the possibility that the Secretary Comrade won’t leave.”

“Then we’ll have to remove him by force. I’ll take it that everyone agrees.”

A new world would soon arrive.

And it would begin with the death of the Secretary.

* * *

Reich Chancellery, Nazi Germany

Around this time, Hitler was suspicious about the Eastern Front situation.

It was beyond suspicious. How could those damned Soviets, those Slavs, retreat so quickly after attacking first?

“Isn’t it suspicious? The Soviets retreating so thoughtlessly? After attacking first?”

“Führer, isn’t it natural that the Slavic race is inferior to our Aryan race?”

Hitler shook his head at Goebbels’ words.

“Yes, I know that. But didn’t they say the administrative departments are moving to Kuybyshev? If the Soviets refuse to surrender and hold out to the end, won’t our army struggle with extended supply lines?”

The North African front was also concerning recently.

If the Soviets were determined to hold out, things could get difficult.

They had been pushing forward until now, but the war seemed too easy, which was problematic.

‘Are they hiding something?’

Hadn’t the Allies preserved their forces and escaped at Dunkirk while he hesitated?

“Then what does the Führer think?”

“Let’s surround Moscow and offer surrender terms to Stalin.”

“Führer, we must resolve this before General Winter arrives.”

True. However, stabilizing the front and managing occupied territories wasn’t a bad idea either.

Hitler’s mindset had changed since the Soviets attacked first.

“I know. But even a cornered rat will bite a cat. Don’t they say new divisions are being replenished every day? If they hold out from behind, trusting America, it will become troublesome for us.”

So why not offer surrender terms now?

If they at least allowed Stalin to maintain his regime, what could he do?

“There is some merit to that.”

“Leningrad has already fallen, and Stalin’s Moscow is all that remains. If he doesn’t accept, we can attack again then. Don’t we have that luxury?”

True. They had plenty of time.

Since they had repelled the initial attack, and the Soviets weren’t properly prepared for defense, they had captured Leningrad and advanced to Moscow before General Winter arrived.

“That’s correct.”

“The Soviet Foreign Minister Molotov has already proposed negotiations several times, so he’ll at least listen.”

Recently, Soviet Foreign Minister Molotov had come to coordinate negotiations.

Though it seemed like a delaying tactic, Hitler was willing to spare Stalin if they honored the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, gave up the Caucasus region, and supplied raw materials.

So by the Führer’s order, the German army advancing toward Moscow halted.