Dmitriy Liadov considered himself a lucky person. Transferred to the
Sovietsky Soyuz only one week ago - replacing a poor bastard who got too drunk celebrating the victory over Finland and fell overboard into the Baltic ice - and here he was already in a war-time operation, blocking all access to and from the Gulf of Riga.
Word around the Fleet was that the experience of Turku was planned to repeat, hopefully with even better results, to prove it wasn't just a fluke. So it was that Dmitriy had a chance to see the Naval Infantry, current national heroes, preform a flawless - if unopposed - disembark on enemy territory.
To the Fleet arrived news of fast advances in the front, and great was the celebration when the Naval Infantry coming from the West joined with the Red Army coming from the East and separated the enemy forces in two.
Dmitriy wasn't a Party member, but there were many in the Ship - after all, it was the Flagship of the Soviet Union - and they said now was the time for the second test Viktorov had envisioned: close cooperation between the Navy 's Ships, it's Infantry, and the Red Army itself.
The Naval Infantry had brought special river-crossing equipment to help cross the Daugava
No doubt, the experiment worked.
With Riga being occupied, the assembled fleets were ordered to concentrate their support fire on Tallinn, to once again support the Red Army. Dmitriy was perfectly happy with this, as it meant he had to work some more - his post was in the forward cannons - which provided a nice distraction from the cold sea air of the Baltic
Admiral Kuznetsov had told the Party members in the ship that this was very important, because if the Navy remained in the spotlight for too long while the army was considered flawed it could lead to hostility from Army officials, and even an humiliated Red Army such as the one that came out of Finland, was a dangerous internal adversary. Especially if it started to look as if the flaws of the Army resulted from too much investment in the Navy.
Before the end of May, the reactionary governments of the Baltic Republics had been crushed, and their populations finally able to join the Soviet Motherland as recognized Socialist Republics. The Red Army had redeemed itself, and the Red Fleet proved it's value both in ships and in special forces.
"The future is ours!" the sailors and officials shouted between rounds of vodka and
If Tomorrow War Comes, defying a increasingly war-torn World to face the Invincible Union of Socialist Soviet Republics.