In Kota Bahru, Japanese forces refused to surrender, continuing their attack North to Alor Star. Japanese determination was unbelievable: While facing defeat after defeat on land and complete annihilation on the seas, not a single Japanese commander contemplated surrender. An unknown field marshal in Saigon was later rumored to have made the remark “We will fight until we are knee-deep in the sea. No sooner will we surrender, no sooner. For the Emperor!”. Japanese zeal alone, however, could not stop the German mechanized war machine: German forces had nearly reached the borders of Korea, smashing all foolish enough to stand in their way.
October 1943
More to the North, German forces began their attack on Vladivostok and the last remnants of the Soviet Union. Once a proud and mighty empire, the Soviet Union was now little more than a couple of severed provinces near the North Pole, it’s industry annihilated and it’s army barely organised. The Battle for Vladivostok would be their last.
The following events took place October 1st, 1943, Vladivostok, USSR
War changes everything. As the thought crossed Jorgen’s mind, it sounded rather ironic and he couldn’t help but surpress a grin. Three years ago, he had been a simple private, one of the thousands sent into the vast territories of the Soviet Union, simply hoping that he would survive. One and a half year ago, he had taken a bullet for a man now nicknamed as Laurence, der Eroberer. The Conqueror. After the rise to power of the Field Marshall, Jorgen Krause was promoted to Obernkommandant and now he, out of all people, was chosen to lead the attack on Vladivostok. He was a veteran now. After fighting the Red Army in Kiev, in Stalingrad, across the thousand mile plains of Siberia, all the way to the Eastern Seaboard, he had become a fearless man. He had come to Vladivostok as a conqueror, as a leader. Van Geyte himself had tasked him with defeating the Red Army, and he was about to succeed.
All this crossed Jorgen’s mind while he drove in the back of a German halftrack through the wartorn streets of Vladivostok. The city had been mauled by the battle; All around them, massive fires had erupted with explosions regularly occuring. A sudden roaring sound caught Jorgen’s attention, and he looked up. He saw a downed Soviet airplane quickly plumetting their way. Jorgen panicked “TO THE LEFT! TO THE LEFT!”
The driver of the halftrack remained eerily calm even while cannon shells and gunfire sounded all around them. He proclaimed “Yes sir!” as he tumbled the steering wheel to the left. The halftrack made such a sharp turn that it smacked all the men inside against the wall, as the vehicle narrowly dodged the explosion of the crashing yak-1. The halftrack grinded to a halt just a block away from the town hall, were Jorgen met a radioman from the 5th Regiment. The men had to shout in eachother’s ear just to understand eachother, as the gunfire around them was deafening.
“What’s the news?”
“WHAT?” The radioman looked up from his telephone confusedly
“WHATS THE NEWS?”
“OBERNKOMMANDANT, I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THE WEATHER IS” The man paused briefly as a massive explosion ripped a building across the street apart. “THIS IS A MILITARY RADIO, NOT A CIVILIAN ONE!”
“NO, YOU IDIOT, I MEAN FROM THE FRONT?”
“THE WONT?”
“THE FRONT! THE FRONT!” More gunfire sounded, while a Soviet tank suddenly appeared from around the corner, only to explode seconds later: A panzershreck had hit it in the rear, reducing the tank to a burning wreck. Another squadron of Yak-1’s flew overhead, chased by a bunch of Messerschmitts. Behind them, two destroyed Yak-1’s smacked into the ground, erupting into flaming comets sliding down the street. A group of Wehrmacht soldiers saw the wreck approaching and quickly dived out of the way.
“THE FRONT? OH, THE FRONT!” The radioman had got the idea.
“WE’VE GOT THE RUSSIANS POCKETED IN DIFFERENT BLOCKS. THERES HEAVY FIGHTING GOING ON NEAR THE TOWN HALL BEHIND THIS BUILDING. I’M NOT SURE WHATS GOING ON, IT’S LIKE THE ENTIRE BLOODY RED ARMY IS UP THERE!”
Two more explosions sounded as artillery ripped open two marble pillars flanking a National Bank, toppling the facade of the building onto the street.
“WHERE THE BLOODY HELL IS THAT ARTILLERY COMING FROM?” The radioman asked
“I HAVE NO IDEA! I DIDNT EVEN ORDER ARTILLERY. TELL THOSE IDIOTS TO STOP FIRING OUR ARTILLERY!”
The radioman yelled something into the radio and listened to the response
“ITS NOT OURS”
“WHAT?”