There wasn't much sleep to be had last night. A plan on how to best use the American lend-lease aid had to be ready and communicated to Comrade Stalin by 7am, and to the American delegation by 8am. An encrypted radio link was set up between Helsingör and Vologda, so that we may have the advice form our team of 'retired' Generals on some practical matters. Of course, the advice of our esteemed Turkish advisor Boga Filtresi on these matters was also most valuable.
The replacement of lost Divisions was an absolute priority for Stalin, and thus the first item to be listed was the training of a new Opolcheniye Division and support Regiments, in order to replace 2 SD as quickly as possible. This decision was unanimous and took all of 5 minutes.
Rocket Test site construction was up next. After a short (by his standards), lecture from Vosem on the potential applications of rocket technology, most of us, including the esteemed Boga Filtresi, were in agreement that the construction of such a site was not only desirable, but necessary. Thus, the go-ahead was given to allocate resources to the construction of a Rocket Test site in the Kaputsin Yar area, to the South-East of Stalingrad. Our Rocket Scientists had already selected the location and proposed a rough layout, just in case we decided to go ahead and fund it. Of course, only work on the first stage of the proposed installations has been given the go-ahead. The scientist's dreams being of a much larger scale than the resources that can be made available.
A thorough report on the state of Finnish counter-insurgency effort sparked debate about what further measures could, or should, be taken. It wasn't entirely clear who had sent in the report, all that was known was that the man was Finnish, a Major of State Security in the GUGB (Main State Security Directorate, part of the NKVD), and that he has never been seen without american aviator sunglasses. These unusual glasses (in the Soviet Union) have the effect of drawing all the attention of his interlocutors, to the point where no-one seems to remember anything about him, except for the sunglasses and the Finnish accent. For lack of remembering his strange Finnish name, most refer to him as
@Finshades
The American Aviator sunglasses of the Finnish NKVD Major of State Security.
It was decided that a couple of small static peace-keeping units (Gar, Pol) will be trained and deployed to suppress dissent in and around factory complexes in the Finnish interior, with the additional benefit of keeping the factories out of rebel hands. These units will be part of the NKGBF and will be called NKGBF Mirotvorcheskaya Brigada (NKGBF Peace-keeping Brigade). Of course, the Grunts will be recruited amongst local communists and the officers will be from the Soviet Union itself. They will all be trained by NKGB and NKVD instructors to be most effective. The first such brigades will start training as soon as possible, with US-supplied submachine guns, a few BAR 1918s, and trusty Tokarev's.
For testing purposes, an order was placed for 124 P-39 Interceptors. With ever more luftwaffe aeroplanes over the front, some more Fighter capacity should come in handy in maintaining our current advantage.
Similarly, the Navy Air Fleet will be getting an entire US-built CAG with a total of 32 F4F Wildcats, 16 SBD Dauntlesses and 16 TBD Devastators, in addition to spare parts and a few training aeroplanes. The more CAGs the navy has, the bolder our surface fleet can be.
We were just getting started at this point. Most of our 'retired' Generals believe we can sustain our efforts on the main front and make the Germans pay dearly for every inch of land, without increasing production and training rates. That means we can start planning for a second front sooner than anticipated, all thanks to American self-interested generosity.
The rest of the order was to be geared towards the build-up of a force for a Naval invasion of Bulgaria and the creation of a Balkans front. The forces needed for a Balkans operation to have a lasting impact, and for us to have a decent shot at knocking out Bulgaria and holding on to the ground we take there are estimated as follows:
- Marines for the initial landings on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast: At least 2 Divisions. (Half a Division was already in production before Lend-Lease)
- 1 Mountain Rifle Corps to be taken from the Turkish Border.
- 2 Rifle Corps to be taken from the Romanian border, and Southern Reserves. (some of these units still need to get an Art Regiment)
- 1 Corps of fast exploitation units to grab as much ground as possible before the Axis can react in force: Armoured Cavalry or Motorised.
- Paratroopers: 2 Square Divisions and sufficient transport planes should be available by November to support the start of the operation.
For starters, 6.000 more Marines will start training to round out our first Marines Division.
The issue of what shape the mobile units should take was a bit more difficult. The current rough plan is to land the mobile units as quickly as possible, immediately after grabbing the first harbour, be it in Bulgaria, or in Greece. We don't anticipate having a massive transport fleet. A total of 20 large freighters with a sealift capacity of 160.000 tonnes is all that will be available by the end of the year. This means that the units shouldn't be too heavy, 40.000 tonnes is seen as the limit. The fact that most of the equipment will have to be ordered from the united states excludes tanks, half-tracks, Armoured Cars, and Tank Destroyers. Eventually, the new Light Motorised Division (USLL) (Motx2, SP-Art) was created, and two of these new Divisions will start training, while they wait for their Studebaker 6x6 lorries, and GMC M12 Self-Propelled Guns (a 152mm variant to fit Soviet ammunition). This is a substantial order, with around 600 6x6 lorries to be delivered over little more than 100 days, and that's only the lorries organic to the divisions, plenty of 6x4 Studebakers in various configurations will be delivered to ensure the transport of supplies to the front, from railway yards and Harbours.
The Americans have indicated that a further increase in Lend-Lease aid is likely, especially if the first deliveries go smoothly. Next up on the wishlist are 2-3 more of those Light Motorised Divisions (USLL), an Assault Aviation Regiment's worth of 64 Douglas A-20 Havoc Asault Planes. It was determined only 64 A-20s would be needed to deliver the same payboad as 124 Il-10s. (see previous report on what the Americans are offering)
Additional capacity freed up by the delivery of even more supplies than under the current arrangement would go to the traning of more Marines and the production of more Artillery. In that regard, we will make it perfectly clear that the more Lend-Lease Aid they send our way, the sooner we will be able to open up a new front, maybe even before the new year. Of course, we didn't tell them exactly where we would open up this new front, lest they start blabbing to the Brits. We simply indicate we will be deciding where we create a second front depending on the circumstances at a future time, when sufficient forces have been amassed for such an operation.
There is this one issue concerning an invasion of the Balkans that remains somewhat thorny, and that is the British occupation of Athina. If we invade Bulgaria with an entire Army, Axis forces in the Area will be diverted to try and stem the red tide. As a direct consequence, the British could end up grabbing most of Greece with very little effort. A few more Divisions on their part would probably be enough to do so before our forces can get close, and after that, if our operation is successful, they won't have to worry about their Northern border. The crux is that for that to turn out in the British's advantage, they need to hold on to Athina. We're all rooting for the Italians to throw them out before we start to invade, so we can take most, or all, of Greece. In the name of the Greek proletariat and international Communism, of course. As the British government wasn't invited to the Helsingör conference, they couldn't very well bring up their objections to a Soviet Invasion of Northern Africa, or their support for a Soviet operation in Bulgaria.
In short the items that have been added to the production list are the following:
- Garx3
- Art, At
- Rocket Test Site (Kaputsin Yar)
- Gar, Pol (NKGBF)
- Int
- CAG
- Marx2
- (Motx2, SP-Art) x2
The proposals, including the suggestion of the Soviet Union opening up a second front were well recieved by US Treasury Secretary Henry Morgenthau Jr. who was glad to hear the US materiel would be put to good use. A USMC Colonel who was along for the ride was excited about the prospect of Soviet Marines landing on Axis beaches. The Treasury Secretary's press officer was openly salivating at the prospect of publishing stories of Studebaker lorries filled with riflemen, rolling through Axis lands in the context of a daring operation to create a second front. He said something about such a story motivating American factory workers and increasing the nation's support for actual US boots on the ground in some ill-defined future. This, of course elicited some muffled grumbling from some of our own diplomats, especially those with close friends or family members in the Red Army.
The press officer also showed us a brand new poster to explain to the Americans just why sending lend-lease aid to the USSR is a good idea. We are their friends...
Soon, we were back at Copenhagen Airport, with the Americans being waved off as they boarded the C-87 "Guess Where II" and took off towards Sweden, and on to Iceland.
We returned to the Soviet mainland in the same way we got there, in the Li-2 decoy aeroplane. As we returned to our Vologda base, a letter had arrived. It was marked 'XI':
The 2nd of August 1942, Kyiv City Clinical Hospital No.18, 10,4°C, 3pm Moscow Time
My dear 'Odin'
You'll be glad to know I'm alive. To be precise, I'm lucky to be alive. To tell you how I got here, I need to go back to the morning of the 27th of July.
I was awakened by Private Lobovskaya at 5:30, as planned. One of Sergeant Bylinkin's men brought up breakfast rations, two servings for everyone, to compensate for the previous day's meagre rations. Halfway through breakfast, things grew quiet to the West of the Church, where the Germans were positioned there wasn't a sound, as if they were all collectively holding their breath in anticipation. We were also eating breakfast as quietly as possible. The noise made by our own vehicles and troops located to the East of the church seemed almost rude in the face of such beautiful silence. Private Kovalchuk wasn't eating, not yet, he was on watch, lying on his belly, his SVT-40 right next to him, binoculars glued to his eyes, scanning the German-held area for any potential threats or targets. There was no movement. What were they doing? What was our own side doing? I wanted to get on the radio to ask Maj. General Novikov's staff what the plan was. Why weren't the Germans being pushed out of the city at dawn? But, I wanted the silence to last, for all of us to enjoy this moment of calm before the storm. Things were bound to get very loud, very soon. The Red Army hadn't brought in thousands of Artillery shells by train, and distributed them to gun crews overnight, just so they could gather dust. Outside of Kovalchuk, Private Yevtushenko was closest to the window on the Western side. He put down his breakfast, and got up, quietly. I registered he was getting up but didn't say anything, expecting he would go get something from his field bed or his pack, possibly cigarettes. I was quite hungry after that day on half rations. When I looked up to see what Yevtushenko was doing, he wasn't near his field bed. Drawn by the silence and the early morning light, he was standing right in front of the window on the German side, right next to Kovalchuk, who hadn't noticed him. Yevtushenko isn't a very tall man, but he was standing up straight. The sun wasn't high enough to blind German observers, but it was high enough for them to have enough light to notice him if they gave our tower even a cursory glance. I broke the silence and yelled.
"Yevtushenko! Get away from the window!"
He seemed startled, hesitating, as if I had just pulled him out of a trance. He kept standing in front of that window, turning towards me ever so slowly. Now that I look back, I'm not sure his movements were as slow as I remember them. These kinds of moments tend to be slowed down in my mind. Hoping to get him out of the way I yelled:
"Get down!"
But before the words had left my mouth, there was a single shot, Private Yevtushenko fell to the floor. He didn't scream, or yell, or shake, he just collapsed on the floor. He looked at me, not understanding what had just happened, then he looked down at his stomach. Blood was gushing out of the bullet-wound. Everyone in the room was just staring at the bullet-wound. I quickly yelled my orders, all the while grabbing my Nosin-Nagant, and my map of the area:
"Lobovskaya. Try to stem the bleeding, help him out!"
"Neyizhkaya, radio for the medic."
"Kovalchuk. Tell me where the shot came from?"
I laid down right next to him, ready to shoulder my rifle and fire. I was shaking as I put down the map between the two of us. All my pain and hatred, which had somewhat moved to the back of my mind recently, came flooding back. I was hungry for revenge, hungrier than ever. I only just stopped myself from opening fire on every shadow I could see in the German-controlled are of the city. People get shot in a war, and the soldier on the other side is just doing his job. When you lose that perspective entirely, you're bound to make mistakes. I thought of Sergei, and I knew I wouldn't make a mistake, I couldn't. I snapped myself out of it, Kovalchuk had started talking, he pointed at the map.
"I think it came from that building there, on the corner. I didn't see the flash, but that's where the sound came from."
All through the German-occupied area, engines sprang to life and orders were shouted, but I didn't really pay that much attention to the German movements.
"Kovalchuk, I'll handle this. You keep an eye on their movements."
"Neyizhkaya, get over here with a pencil."
The radio operator rushed over to my side, staying low to avoid a repeat of what happened to Private Yevtushenko. He was terrified, shaking and sweating.
"Radio 78 AP Regimental HQ directly, and tell them I'd really appreciate it if they could flatten this particular area."
I grabbed his pencil and drew a circle wih a radius of about 30m (to scale) around the building the shot had come from.
"If anyone asks why, tell them there are Germans there, and they have more 152mm shells than they know what to do with."
At that moment, Sergeant medic Mikhaylova rushed into the room, followed by two privates with a stretcher.
Kovalchuk was still looking out of the window, he suddenly grabbed his SVT-40, and yelled.
"Captain. The Germans are making their move. Looks like the start of a full-blown assault."
"Fire at will private."
"Sergeant, get private Yevtushenko out of here as soon as possible."
Kovalchuk had started shooting now. I rushed back to the window and let the medic, Lobovskaya, and the two privates from the rifle squad downstairs deal with trasporting the wounded Yevtushenko to safety. Entire German Platoons were rushing forwards methodically and agressively, lobbing grenades into our positions and charging ahead, aided by supporting fire provided by Pz IVs. It seemed to be working, despite relatively heavy casualties on thier side, they were making progress and getting dangerously close to the Church. We got in a few shots, but there were too many advancing enemies for us to make much of a dent. Then, there was a big rumble to the East, soon followed by the explosion of half a housing block, centred on the building the enemy shooter had been in. A concentrated artillery strike is a powerful thing. It was as if time had stopped and as most on the battlefield were pausing briefly to look at the devastation, others were taking advantage of the distraction. This was the moment for a Counter-Attack, IS-2's supported by a fresh Guards Rifle Company, rushed to the front to strike back. German medics rushed towards the ruins of what used to be a bunch of perfectly nice 19th century bourgeois house.
Suddenly, there was a massive explosion right above myself and Private Kovalchuk. The air around us was burning, and bits of stone and searing shrapnel were raining down on us. Kovalchuk was stunned, I glanced up to check for more falling debris, just in time to see a massive block of stone from the window's arch starting to fall straight towards our heads. I threw my body to the side to avoid getting crushed, it was only just enough, as I found that my right leg was stuck underneath some debris, and quite possibly broken. I looked back at Kovalchuk, but there wasn't much to look at, his head had been crushed to a pulp, I had to force myself to not throw up, and I really started to feel the pain from my injuries. I looked up again, and the remaining parts of the arch above my head were still in place, rather precariously. Another hit would probably collapse the entire arch and crush me too, it's not like I could run off with my leg stuck under several blocks that had been part of the ceiling. I was lucky it wasn't crushed entirely.
Approximately where the 88mm shell impacted the tower.
I looked into the room, what remained of it anyway. Except for some superficial wounds from shrapnel, private Neyizhkaya was unharmed, at least physically. His entire breakfast was to be found on the floor, and his face was pale. I was starting to lose focus, not sure whether it was the blood loss or the exhaustion. I yelled at the radio operator to radio for help, but he was just staring at me, and at Kovalchuk's headless, motionless, body. I looked out of what used to be the window. We were winning on the ground. Our Artillery continued to shell enemy positions. The dead bodies with grey uniforms were piling up, and the fighting was quickly moving into the distance, towards the suburbs. I soon noticed the burnt-out remains of a FlaK-88 gun that was pointed squarely at the tower. It must have been moved up and camouflaged overnight with the express purpose of taking out our perch. At least no more shells would be coming our way. I don't know how long I laid there, going in and out of consciousness. The next thing I remember is the weight being lifted from my leg, and being carried down the stairs on a stretcher. Sr. sergeant Bondarchuk was talking to me the whole way to a waiting lorry. He was riling me up, telling me he was going to take over the unit, that he would do a much better job than a weak woman who can't even take an Artillery shell like a man. He made me angry, he made me want to prove him wrong. In retrospect, I do believe he did it on purpose, and that he may have saved my life by keeping my heart-rate elevated. I was in great pain, but I had to keep fighting.
I remember waking briefly inside an aeroplane, my very own Sergei was playing cards with Major Balabanov next to the bed. Sergeant Medic Mikhaylova was also there, she was writing on a medical card, probably mine. Every vibration of the plane sent searing pain through my leg and I could feel the burns on my back, head, and arm. I think I let out a scream when we hit some turbulence, before passing out from the pain.
Kyiv City Clinical Hospital No.18. Located on Bibikovsky Boulevard, the first two-story building opened in 1885, housing therapeutic and surgical clinics. A separate building housing a pathonanatomical institute was added in 1894. Finally, an extension was built in 1899 to house a library, maternity beds, gynological wards, and a water treatment facility. From the start, it was planned as a University Hospital, and it continues to be one of the teaching hospitals of the Bogomolets National Medical University, the foremost medical faculty in Ukraine.
I woke up again in a civilian ambulance. Only Sr. Sergeant Mikhaylova was in the back with me on the way to our destination. She informed me I had arrived in Kyiv City Clinical Hospital No.18, before taking her leave. I soon learned that my recovery was the personal responsibility of Prof. Dr. O. P. Krymov, head of the surgery department at the Kiyv Medical Institute. Once in the hospital, I was injected with copious amounts of morphine to dull the pain, and told they would be operating soon. Things became a blur again, one operation faded into another. I would become lucid at odd times, with the morphine wearing off, usually in the middle of the night. After 6 nights and 5 days in the hospital, or so I was told (it felt a lot longer than that) I was starting to recover a little. The operations are over, unless there are further complications, I just need to rest now.
I had a few visitors this morning. Sergei came by, he had been transfered back to Kyiv Air Base as the 7th battle of Lwow was still raging. Officially, he was to prepare for an influx of damaged aeroplanes engines that would be sent over from Lwow to Kyiv by train to be refurbished, but we both knew his transfer was as much of a coincidence as his previous one had been. This was confirmed by the presence of a second visitor. Major Balabanov was there to pass on the news that private Yevtushenko had had some serious complications from his gunshot wound to the gut. He was still alive, but it wasn't clear whether it was going to stay that way for very long. He also passed on a congratulatory note from Lt. General Popov, and a medal:
Captain Goleniewsky. When I assigned you this mission, I believed you would probably not come out of it in one piece, if at all, and yet here we are. I didn't send you the cream of the crop, and yet you quickly whipped them into an effective team of snipers. I expected you and your unit to hold the Church for a few days, maybe a week, and you defended your nest for two weeks before the krauts managed to hit it with an 88mm round. One of your men has died, another two were wounded, one of them may still die. They chose to be there and fight under your command, and they were heroes. Considering the enemy knew your location, and beleived it to be a key observation post for the coordination of the city's defense, it's a miracle you didn't suffer more casualties. You should be proud of what you have achieved. Your unit killed at least 20 enemy combattants, wounding about twice that number. You have proven to be an exceptional soldier and officer, you make me proud, you make the Red Army Guards proud, you make the Soviet Union proud. You are to be awarded the order of Aleksander Nevsky for your personal courage and resolute leadership. I took the initiative to have you placed in the care of the best surgeon in the Ukranian SSR, and arranged for your friend to be transferred again. What you do once you get back on your feet is up to you, I will keep my word as far as I will pull strings for you. If you decide to take the Major's exam, I will ensure your promotion to Major. Regardless, I will help you get whichever posting you want, within reason. I wish you a speedy recovery and may you serve the Soviet Union for many years to come.
The order of Alexander Nevsky, awarded to CO's of Platoons, Company's Battalions, or Regiments, for personal courage and resolute leadership. Over 42.000 were awarded during the Great Patriotic war.
I don't know how long it will take for me to get back to my fighting strength. I have to wear a cast for 2-3 months, and then I'll have to learn to walk again and build muscle. This isn't going to be easy. I'm having nightmares about private Kovalchuk's death. Did I do something wrong? Did I miss something? Could I have spotted the FlaK-88 before it shot the church? Should it have been my head that was crushed by that block of stone? Luckily I have Sergei, who spends every free moment he has at my bedside. Even though I can tell it pains him to see me this way, he comforts and distracts me. He tells me (often embellished) stories of badly damaged aeroplanes that get to fly again, about brave pilots who don't like talk about their exploits, about swaggering pilots who tell innumerable stories of often doubtful veracity, not to mention the gossip about romantic entanglements and the smuggling of black market goods. When he runs of out of stories to tell, we just hold hands in silence. I want to go back out there, I'm not sure when or how that will be possible, but one thing is clear: My thirst for Teutonic blood has not subsided, if anything, it has been amplified. I went through hell back in Poland, and I survived. I will get through this ordeal just fine, and I just hope the war isn't over by the time I get back on my feet.
I hope you weren't too worried about me. Come visit sometime,
Capt. Irina Alexandrovich Goleniewsky (aka. 11)
I will go visit 'Odinatsat' in hospital as soon as possible. In the meantime, there is still work to be done to manage the influx of American Lend-Lease weapons and goods, and to accommodate the American Military attachés which will be arriving in the days to come. I'm sure you'll all join me in wishing Captian Goleniewsky a speedy and painless recovery,
'Odin'
O.P. Krymov was a celebrated Ukrainian surgeon, scientist, and pedagogue. He was appointed head of the department of Surgery in 1930 and remained in this position until 1955. Before becoming head of the department, he was elected by his peers as Chairman of the Kyiv Physico-medical society in 1919. In 1928 he became head of the Kyiv Surgical Society. In 1948, Krymov was elected Chairman of the Congress of Surgeons of the USSR. His research was focused on 4 areas in particular: Military field surgery, kidney disease, herniology, and the history of Ukrainian medicine.
Too soon?
