Viktor Andreev in August 14th was a much more relaxed man than that of early July. Long gone seemed the days of the Commissar change and his both blessed and cursed promotion. During the last few weeks things had taken a definite turn for the best.
The Naval Infantry had it's status restored with the assault on Helsinki -Viktor couldn't believe how much time he spent worried about Suomenlinna when the Finns didn't even staff it - and even the disaster in the Arctic had slipped away from general memory after the (relative) victory over the
Bismarck.
The last few days of July had been just great.
He still remembered the awe in the Main Baltic Fleet's message about the submarines having found an unescorted troop convoy.
In a couple of hours the Germans lost thousands of men. And if they hadn't run away, they would have also lost the capacity to transport any other thousands at all.
A capacity that, of course, they lost the following day anyhow, thanks to British information and aerial help. Sure would be nice to have some of those Naval detection aircraft as well.
Even the Black Sea fleet saw some much needed target practise, when some old Romanian destroyers tried to run away from Varna.
August was going just fine too. the Month kicked of with a perfect example of good bad news, as the Naval Infantry participation in the Pleven Offensive, organized and commanded by the Army, proved the Marines awfully inadequate for mountain warfare. Still, it had been a victory, so they couldn't be accused of anything, and they had the perfect excuse to refuse further operations under exclusive Army command.
Later in the month, the
Novorossiysk was assigned to the Main Black Sea Fleet, and the
Marx assigned to the 17th Fleet. The later being motivated by the Kriegsmarine transport fiasco. After all, we wouldn't want our own transport fleet to be caught escorted only by two old battleships.
As soon as the
Marx joined with Admiral Smirnov's fleet, it sailed to meet Admiral Kuznetsov's to answer another Red Army request, but one where the Navy also had a special interest in:
An offensive on Königsberg!
The Soviet Forces were commanded by the veteran Marshal Shaposhnikov, but the defenders also had a star leader - Marshal von Leeb. He read the situation well, and started a well organized retreat, that would cost us considerably.
But not even the smartest Field Marshal could stop the Heavy Artillery of the Fleet's Battleships, and so the German soldiers were subject to the most intense shelling the Red Navy had ever provided.
As the battle raged on - and even an organized retreat by the Wehrmacht is a hell of a battle - Marshal von Leeb remembered he had left something in the oven back in Berlin, and handed over command to a mere General, who in turn finished the retreat from the area only after terrible close-quarters battle in the city, where he left a sacrificed motorized division.
Marshal Shaposhnikov, his chest a handful of medals heavier, expressed public thanks for the Navy's help in this heroic first conquest of a German city in the War, but to Viktor Andreev's now experienced analysis, what mattered more was the path taken by the captured German officers out of Königsberg - it's harbour!
Of course, getting the place up and running, ready to fuel, assist, and perhaps even repair Soviet ships would be a lot of work, and Viktor knew much of it would be his, but still, at least he knew the Kriegsmarine wound't be having any of that out of the city.
Either way, it wasn't urgent work. He had just received the last radio reports of the day, informing the Main Baltic Fleet was moving to block any German attempts at entering the Baltic via Copenhagen, and felt tired of a full day's work. He could go sleep now.
A knock at the door.
It was a messenger, and he looked nervous.
Viktor knew this had happened once before.
Before he could ask anything, the messenger yelled the news.
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SIR! It's the Tirpitz!
All of a sudden, all that confidence built over the weeks trembled. The same fear of that July 3rd came rushing back to Secretary Andreev's mind. But it lasted only 1 second. It was different now. No, it wasn't as strong. The
Bismarck had been confronted and forced to retreat. So his twin could be just as well.
Viktor was going to criticise the scary messenger for lack of confidence in his Fleet.
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And a new one!
