LGHTNOVELBOOK Chapter 86: The Road to Stalingrad (2)
Once the US joins, the game will become easier. Let’s take it easy.
Just like in World War I, the immense weight of the US would end the war in an instant.
The three countries closely coordinated on this matter and supported Roosevelt’s efforts to join the war.
Of course, there was no such thing as a free lunch in this world.
In exchange for joining the war, Roosevelt demanded significant concessions and rights.
To the UK,
“I want the oil concessions in Arabia held by the British Empire.”
To the Soviet Union,
“The US share in the Axis countries after the war must be clearly guaranteed.”
To Korea,“The promise to withdraw troops from Indochina and guarantee our concessions in China must be kept.”
The three countries accepted Roosevelt’s demands.
Giving in to the US demands was cheaper than shedding the blood of their own people.
Once an agreement was reached, Roosevelt’s movements also quickened.
Roosevelt quickly ran the calculations.
For us to join the war against Germany, we need to get public opinion to agree. In that sense, using German-style propaganda isn’t bad.
Then the answer was simple.
The US government created a propaganda department and began propaganda and agitation targeting the public.
The target was, of course, Germany.
“Germany’s Hitler is a madman dreaming of world conquest. Now it’s Europe, but later their army will cross the Atlantic. Don’t underestimate the greed of these lunatics. Their claws could cross your front yard as soon as tomorrow.”
American propaganda experts portrayed Hitler and his empire as absolute evil.
They didn’t spare personal attacks on Hitler either.
“Hitler is a homosexual and an incestuous pervert, a dangerous man whose very existence can destroy our Christian civilization.”
Of course, the Fuhrer was a person who had nothing to say even if he was called absolute evil, but they even attributed things he didn’t do to him.
In this process, Bismarck and the Kaiser, who were sleeping well in their coffins, were also hit by stray bullets.
“Hey, we’re dead…So why are we catching strays now?!”
“I, I have not sinned as much as that fucker.”
As rulers of Germany throughout history, they stood before the American people as tools to show the nature of the ‘Germanic race’.
“Iron and Blood! Germany’s Chancellor Bismarck built an empire with a bloodthirsty cry.”
“The Kaiser, who inherited that legacy, burned the world once to fuel his ambition.”
“Now a third German leader has emerged and is burning the world again. How long must we endure the atrocities of these men? How long must we tolerate it?”
Even without that, anti-German sentiment among Americans had already exceeded 60% due to Roosevelt’s pumping.
“They fucked up European trade and made it impossible to trade with Britain. Should we just leave this son of a bitch alone?”
“I heard Hitler doesn’t even treat Jews as human beings? My grandfather is Jewish, so by that bastard’s standards, I’m not even human. That son of a bitch. If there’s a war, I’ll volunteer first.”
“Let’s quickly get rid of that bastard and restore the free world. Isn’t it time for us to step up now?”
Even the Reds were fighting the Nazis for freedom and justice(?), so what was this country doing? Such words poured into the White House.
Now the mood was shifting towards joining the war.
If they worked on it for just a few more months, public opinion would clearly tilt decisively towards participation.
The isolationists jumped up and down when they saw this, but they couldn’t ruin the blueprint Roosevelt had drawn.
The isolationists failed to stop Roosevelt’s moves in both the Senate and the House.
The Destroyers for Bases Agreement, which supported Britain with 50 destroyers in exchange for receiving Caribbean bases, easily passed 280 to 109.
“With this, the United States has completely pulled European forces out of our front yard.”
Citing these achievements, Roosevelt steadily marched towards war.
The American Safety Zone Act, which expanded the safety zone in the Atlantic to protect trade ships to the Soviet Union and Britain, was also passed.
“We will defend the North Atlantic.”
Although they didn’t start a war with Germany right away, the expansion of the US Navy’s range of activities was a threat in itself.
This was tantamount to indirectly joining the war, reducing the range of German U-boat activities while easing the burden on the British Navy.
Before long, German Navy U-boats began to face hostile acts from US destroyers during operations.
The German ambassador strongly protested the US measures but to no avail.
They couldn’t fire torpedoes either.
The moment they touched the US Navy, Roosevelt would use it as an excuse for war.
Berlin had no choice but to be on edge.
This situation made the German government extremely anxious.
Not only Britain, but the US is also trying to become our enemy.
In fact, at the point where Germany had three of the five great powers, Britain, the Soviet Union, and Korea, as enemies, it was in a dangerous state.
Now, with the greatest economic power among the great powers newly joining the hostile camp, it was not unreasonable for Berlin to become impatient.
The US’s entry was that much of a threatening event.
“We have no choice but to finish off the Soviets before the Anglo-Americans set foot in Europe. If we push back the Reds and lay divisions densely on the Atlantic coast, what can the Anglo-Saxon bastards do?”
Seeing the possibility of US participation, Hitler gained the conviction that he should pour more effort into the Caucasus offensive.
If the oil in the Caucasus is cut off, Soviet armored units will turn into scrap metal.
If Soviet tanks lose their power?
They get a chance to march on Moscow.
It was Hitler’s own logic.
The German military did not agree with this.
Considering the oil supplied by the US or Britain, it’s unlikely that the Reds’ tanks won’t be able to roll due to lack of oil.
Of course, they couldn’t make such a blunt remark to Hitler’s face.
The German army had no choice but to invest more supplies and troops into the offensive.
As the number of troops increased to the point where they could no longer be managed by a single army group, the Southern Army Group was divided into two army groups to carry out operations.
They were Army Group B in charge of the Volga River area and Army Group A in charge of the central Caucasus.
As the Southern Army was split in two, the strategic objectives of the German forces engaged in Operation Blue also became ambiguous.
At first, Baku was the main target of the German army, but as they carried out the operation, an unexpected place emerged.
It was ‘Stalingrad’.
Stalingrad was an industrial city along the Volga River, serving as an important transportation hub connecting the Caucasus and the Soviet mainland.
There was a problem that if this place was not subdued, the burden on Army Group B, which had to organize the front line along the river, would become too great.
Naturally, the German army’s attention was also focused on Stalingrad.
“In the first place, if we can’t take Stalingrad, we can’t go to Baku, right?”
As this happened, Hitler also took an interest in Stalingrad.
Isn’t it the city of Stalin from the name itself? If we take this place, we can sufficiently lower the morale of the Soviet bastards.
Both strategically and politically, the value of Stalingrad was enough to fascinate the Fuhrer.
The Fuhrer threw another tantrum.
“So you’re saying you’ll concentrate supplies on Army Group B? Are you trying to mess with me right now!”
Field Marshal Wilhelm List, commander of Army Group A, strongly protested to the Army High Command.
Of course, it wasn’t that the German army lacked supplies for this to happen.
It was just that there was a limit to the supplies that could be given to the front-line units due to the limitations of the supply lines leading to the Caucasus.
“That’s how things turned out, Your Excellency.”
When the fuel was cut off in the middle, Army Group A faced a situation where they could neither advance nor retreat.
“Handling things like this, and what? You’re going to go to Baku?”
However, this might have been fortunate in a way.
Army Group A stopped advancing at Stavropol, far short of the final point their predecessors had reached.
Instead, Army Group B reached the outskirts of Stalingrad much earlier than planned.
It was November 20, 1942.
In fact, around this time, the German army should have dug winter positions and started preparing for defense.
When winter came to the Russian front, the ground froze, making it impossible to even dig trenches.
The German generals also knew that fact.
However, with the Fuhrer emphasizing that Stalingrad must be occupied within this year, they couldn’t even think about digging in and defending.
“Somehow we pushed this far with the help of the Air Force, but is the Air Force helpful in urban warfare?”
Even the mighty Luftwaffe found it difficult to be effective in urban warfare, where close-range combat was the main focus.
On this point, the opinions of Field Marshal Maximilian von Weichs, commander of Army Group B, and Colonel General Friedrich Paulus, commander of the 6th Army, coincided.
“Even if we can’t prepare for a defensive battle, it doesn’t seem good to enter the city. It would be better to slowly starve the enemy to death while surrounding them.”
“I think so too.”
The front-line commanders reached a reasonable conclusion, but the problem was the Fuhrer.
“Enter Stalingrad immediately.”
The coercion of the Fuhrer, who also served as the Commander-in-Chief of the Army, was something the commanders could not dare to endure.
“There’s no choice. Let’s go into Stalingrad.”
The German command had to begin an unwanted advance.
The name of the hell they were heading to was Stalingrad.