The plane landed near Copenhagen on the early hours 17th of July, and shortly after it touched ground, it's Very Important Passenger was already inside one of the largest ships ever built, sailing into the Baltic Sea.
That night, a special private dinner for all captains of the 17th Fleet was held on the
Sovyetskaya Litva, currently leading ship of the Fleet and newest Battleship on European waters.
At the end of it, around glasses of fine Vodka, current Fleet Admiral Kuznetsov delivered a speech.
- Comrade Captains of our Glorious Workers' and Peasants' Red Fleet!
- Not two months ago, I issued one of the most painful orders of my life as a Seaman - telling our Fleets to lift the Kiel blockade and find shelter in Copenhagen. Back then, the Nazis had brought fearsome new bombers against us in never seen numbers, while our brave brothers at the Army - now, now, don't laugh comrades - while our brave brothers at the Army, I was saying, were unfortunately driven out of Köenigsberg, and even Memel. Germans controlled the outskirts of Kiev.
- Now, look at us!
- The Kiel blockade is firmly in place again, our ships sail without fear and since the commissioning of the
Sovyetskaya Litva and the
Sovyetskiy Uzbekistan, we have the largest battleship fleets in the North Sea, and the strongest of the Pacific!
- So strongly did we respond to adversity, is it any surprise the Kriegsmarine started acting as it did? Sending their pride and glory rushing into the Atlantic, almost alone? Don't let the propaganda fool you my comrades, the Germans weren't trying to disrupt European-American trade by sending the Bismarck out like that. No, they were running from us! So desperate to avoid the guns of the
Sovietsky Soyuz, they went and committed suicide by American hands!
- Given this, it is no surprise, no accident of fate, that the USSR is crushing the German armies in such an absolute way as it has since last month, with relentless advance. Their spirit is now beyond salvation, and it is only a matter of time before they fall! No-one - not even the Red Army's special "skill" - can save Fascism now!
- And we, my comrades, we of the Red Fleet, we are the beacon of revolutionary excellence showing the way for the whole Soviet Union!
- But we're not stopping now!
- I'm sure you are all familiarized with the new Naval Attrition Doctrine published last month, but what perhaps not all of you know is how advanced the new projects are already. The old project for new escort carriers is nearing completion and the Nevskoye Bureau is doing a far faster job with newer doctrines than I did despite the efforts of my team. I guess I really was made to be at sea!
- But here's what I'm sure you don't know. Based on the Luftwaffe's success against us, and what we had already seen of the British designs in operation, I managed to convince Stalin himself to grant the Navy funds to design our own Naval Bombers. We'll have a prototype ready in a couple of months!
- Gentleman, it is an honor to sail and fight alongside men like you, as it is a privilege to serve our Glorious Union is such a fine force. To the Red Navy and...
-
SIR!
- ...oh, we seem to have an urgent message here. What is it sailor?
-
Sir! It's the Germans! They're using barrels again!
And was Admiral Kuznetsov's speech cut short, again by a direct German attack from Lübeck to Copenhagen, over the cold waters of the Baltic...
Despite what should be an obvious defending advantage, the relatively ill-equipped an inexperienced troops defending the Danish capital were forced to retreat by what seemed to be the only fully manned army the Reich had left.
Fortunately, the Germans had only mastered the art of attacking on barrels even with hostile fleets present, not so much the art of sending occupation forces, which offered the Soviets some time to send new defenders.
As if predicting the outcome of the battle, as much as underlining Nazi failure at securing the Baltic, the day before the battle witnessed a pathetic, desperate attempt at having any sort of presence over the Baltic waters, quickly crushed in a most final way by the forces acting as
de facto Navy Air Force.
Come the day the Naval Infantry arrived in Copenhagen, and Hitler's luck ran short. Barrels or no barrels, the red marines cannot be beaten so easily.
The future is bright for the Red Fleet. Stay tuned to this AAR!