• We have updated our Community Code of Conduct. Please read through the new rules for the forum that are an integral part of Paradox Interactive’s User Agreement.
The Red Army got some new gear and managed not to crash it into a tree or get it stuck in a ditch? Surely glorious times are ahead for the Motherland.
 
What is this about a defector? There will be no scurrilous lies about the NKVD permitted comrade. I suggest a retraction before I must bring you to the Lubyanka for "questioning".
 
Davout, I demand you write your own AAR. Seriously. :)
 
As the Commisar of Ideological Purity, I worry when the main paper of the Commissariat of Defence is publicising our failures. As a person, I find it amusing that we keep screwing up every new thing we get.
The Red Star is neither the main paper of NARKOMDEF nor a NARKOMDEF publication at all. As far as I know, Colonel Grossman is a STAVKA member, and both he and the printing is payed by STAVKA.
 
What is this about a defector? There will be no scurrilous lies about the NKVD permitted comrade. I suggest a retraction before I must bring you to the Lubyanka for "questioning".

Comrade Yagoda doth protest too much methinks.

I am arm'd so strong in honesty that thy words are as the idle wind, which I respect not.
 
Comrade Yagoda doth protest too much methinks.

I am arm'd so strong in honesty that thy words are as the idle wind, which I respect not.
Comrade Vatutin, they did not stop making guns when they made yours. Are you claiming responsibility for this?
 
IC does not happen in this thread IIRC
Just roll with it. I don't know where the story came from, but it is a welcome respite from the boring parts we have been dealing with. I do wish that such things would be run by the appropriate people before they end up in print though. That way we could prepare some real role play instead of shooting from the hip.

((Totally 100% OOC: Remember, Yagoda is a complete psychopath. He has already lived longer than I expected. I mean Stalin had him killed for a reason. LOL))
 
Nice update, and I also like how Yagoda's condition deteriorates now that he has passed his expiration date :rofl:
 
Historically, Lyushov was a protege of Yagoda and probably the trigger for his defection to the Japanese was the order to return to Moskva for questioning just after the arrest and execution of Yagoda. He tied in neatly to the storyline I am developing in the Far East although it would appear that some people are reading in more than was intended. Paranoid much?
 
Historically, Lyushov was a protege of Yagoda and probably the trigger for his defection to the Japanese was the order to return to Moskva for questioning just after the arrest and execution of Yagoda. He tied in neatly to the storyline I am developing in the Far East although it would appear that some people are reading in more than was intended. Paranoid much?
I am role playing a psychotic sociopath who has no qualms about killing anybody who looks at him wrong. Now add that personality archetype to the 1930s USSR and put him under Stalin. Paranoid is an understatement and a survival trait. Then consider that I have been playing werewolf lately. LOL.



Plus, I am bored with the recent pace of the game. This seems a perfect opportunity to "stir the pot" :D
 
((Davout, do I sense an influence from Game of Thrones ;) Well done for fitting it in.))
 
A teahouse in Japenese occupied Korea
Genrikh Lyushkov sat silently in the corner of the teahouse. He was incredably drunk as reached for the empty bottle of Vodka sitting in front of him. After realizing that it wasn't pouring anything, he cursed and called over a server.
"I demand more Vodka," he said in increadably flawed Japanese.
"Sir," the server stutered, "we are a teahouse, you have already drunken all the Vodka!"
"Then bring me the strongest thing you have!" roared Genrikh.
As the server scuried off, Genrikh returned to thinking about all the things that were happening to his family.
Just as he was loosing hope that the server would return, anouther server came up with a drink.
"Would you like any Vodka, sir?" the new server inquired.
Normaly Genrikh would have been suspicious of such an offer, but he was to drunk to care. As soon as the server had poured into the glass, Genrikh chugged it down. It was not until the liquid had already been swallowed, when he relized that what he was drinking was not Vodka, but tea! Genrikh then stood up to yell at the server, but he fell of off his feet and crashed to the ground. It was only before everything went dark, that he relized he had been poisened.

Telagram to NKVD Headquarters, Moscow
Tratior dealt with STOP Deal with Family STOP Glory to the Revolution STOP
((GM approved))
 
Last edited:
Questioning of the defector's family has shown them ignorant of his intentions. The wife has been provided a position on a communal farm and the children are with her. The NKVD does not punish the innocent.
 
Vienna, Austria, Nazi Germany

Anastasia Petrova drew her blinds shut and turned on the lamp beside her desk. As Soviet Foreign Minister, the Hitler had graciously allowed her to stay in Vienna for a few days during the length of their negotiations for whatever Comrade Stalin wanted. She glanced down at the papers below. Her assistant had sent the latest minutes from the Politburo and the latest news from the capital. The NKVD was growing terribly unruly as far as she could see.

Anastasia drew two sheets of paper, and wrote on both of them. She slipped them both into envelopes. One was addressed to the Chairman at the Kremlin, the other was addressed to the Politburo.

Anastasia drew her mouth into a smile. Genrikh Yagoda would have to be a loyal Soviet if he wanted to survive anymore. She sat back and treated herself to some vodka, eager to hear the response from the Politburo.
 
vienna, austria, nazi germany

anastasia petrova drew her blinds shut and turned on the lamp beside her desk. As soviet foreign minister, the hitler had graciously allowed her to stay in vienna for a few days during the length of their negotiations for whatever comrade stalin wanted. She glanced down at the papers below. Her assistant had sent the latest minutes from the politburo and the latest news from the capital. The nkvd was growing terribly unruly as far as she could see.

Anastasia drew two sheets of paper, and wrote on both of them. She slipped them both into envelopes. One was addressed to the chairman at the kremlin, the other was addressed to the politburo.

Anastasia drew her mouth into a smile. Genrikh yagoda would have to be a loyal soviet if he wanted to survive anymore. She sat back and treated herself to some vodka, eager to hear the response from the politburo.

swak
 
Chapter 6: Domestic upheaval and foreign intrigue

1 July 1938, Lubyanka

Sergei Uritsky had craved power and authority his entire life -- it was why he had joined the NKVD. Uritsky was born in Vladivostok in 1900, a few years before the Russo-Japanese War. He remembered crying when he heard Admiral Rozhdestvensky had died, only to learn that he had survived by surrendering. To the still young Uritsky, it felt like the worst kind of betrayal. The five year old vowed that traitors would never survive if he ever took charge. As a teenager, he entered Moscow State University, earning the highest possible grade on his entrance examination. The child prodigy was to enter in the fall of 1914, where he was horrified to hear of how freely students and professors criticized the regime, a regime that was locked in a struggle for its very existence. Yet as the war proceeded, and Tsar Nicholas II took personal command of all Russian forces, Sergei couldn't help but start to worry about whether or not the radicals were right. The same day that the Dardanelles expedition failed (9 January 1916), Uritsky attended his first meeting of the Bolsheviks. He came away thoroughly transformed. He finished his four year degree in mathematics in just two years. On the night of his graduation, he and some fellow students were arrested for protesting the regime's criminal mismanagement of personnel. While in prison, Sergei joined a cell of the Bolsheviks, and when he was released shortly after the February Revolution, he was personally selected by Comrade Dzerzhinsky himself to be a member of the Cheka. He worked his way up, preferring the business of counterespionage to the more glamorous and prestigious foreign intelligence service.

Yet, for all that, his career stalled. Genrikh Yagoda, who had actually joined the Cheka after Uritsky, had the social skills and sycophancy to rocket up the ladder. Uritsky seethed in frustration about how badly his career had turned out, knowing he was smarter than any man or woman in the Soviet Union (apart from Comrade Stalin, naturally). He caught spy after spy, but Yagoda claimed all the credit. He continued to be promoted while Uritsky languished. Through tireless hard work and brute competency, Uritsky eventually worked his way up to the post of Deputy Commissar for Counterintelligence in 1930, but Yagoda again leapfrogged him, becoming deputy chief of the old GPU before becoming NKVD in late 1934. Uritsky, 34 years of age, was already contemplating retirement. He might have, if not for a chance conversation in 1938.

Like any People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs, A. I. Petrova had been vetted thoroughly by Uritsky and his team. She was an exemplary Communist, so the investigation had been quick, but a mutual loathing of Yagoda drew them close together. Sergei and Anastasia had been slowly building a case against the People's Commissar for Internal Affairs. Yagoda had allies -- principally among them NK for Education Yakushev (who had attained his own position thanks to Yagoda) and NK for Justice Sokolov, who had worked closely with Yagoda for years. But he also had plenty of enemies. With the announcement of a Committee for State Defense -- one that proposed to exclude Yagoda -- Yagoda finally made a wrong move, throwing accusations of coup attempts and even questioning Comrade Stalin's judgement in leaving off the NKVD. Stalin discreetly authorized Petrova to go public with her information, and within days, Comrade Yagoda was found dead. The suspects in the murder were legion, from Petrova herself to Yagoda's chief deputy, Pasternak, even to Marshal Tukhachevsky. Sokolov was placed in charge of the investigation and named acting head of the NKVD. On Petrova's recommendation, Uritsky was named Chief of Security, making him #3 in the NKVD.

er4b.jpg


The question on everybody's lips, though, was how far would he go?

25 August 1938, Stalin's dacha

Privately, Stalin could not have been more pleased with Yagoda's assassination. While Stalin did not trust the Red Army, Yagoda had an irritating habit of actively stirring up discord between the NKVD and Red Army, and Stalin would need the Red Army for his plans to expand. Stalin's plans for war with Japan had been completely derailed by Yagoda's insistence on broadcasting those desires to anybody who sat still long enough. The interim People's Commissar, Sokolov, at least knew how to operate more subtly.

Publicly, it was Sokolov's job to "find" Yagoda's killer. Stalin knew that he needed a scapegoat. It was just a matter of whom. As he considered his options, his telephone rang, breaking his concentration.

"What?"

"Comrade Stalin, we have an emergency request from Comrade Molotov. A few candidate members of the Politburo are demanding extensive wartime mobilization measures for an invasion of Poland."

"Poland? Who the devil is worried about the Poles right now?"

"Comrade... Zaitsev, I believe."

Stalin's eyes narrowed. Zaitsev had been another irritant, constantly demanding more and more authority and especially pushing for a much larger and more powerful navy. While General-Colonel Vatutin had been authorized to draw up plans for an invasion of Poland, it had been Zaitsev who was trying to mobilize support for a preemptive declaration of war. Stalin thought how to handle this. "What are the risks?"

"The people will oppose this."

"The people will think what I tell them to think."

"Er... yes, Comrade Stalin."

"Still, you may be right. If we are to strike at an opportune time, we must do so as quietly as possible, and such legislation is foolish at this time. Distribute 50 million rubles -- you may use my private account -- among his supporters."

"And Zaitsev?"

Stalin smiled. "Nothing. Let us hope he gets the message."

ecy9.jpg


20 October 1938, Paris

The decision not to oppose Hitler's annexation of the Sudetenland was not a popular one in France.

y8uo.jpg


Members of the French Communist Party had had difficulty recruiting support; now, miraculously, members showed up to the one party who still consistently opposed Hitler. The new members had plenty of new contacts, and before long, Deputy Chief of the NKVD Pasternak found himself sitting nervously on a bench just off the Champs Elysees. The target had insisted that a "high ranking member of the NKVD" personally show up and escort him to Moscow; in exchange, the target would supply vital information on the French Air Force for the day when the Red Army would invade France and overthrow the reactionary Lebrun.

And so, instead of maneuvering for the top spot in the NKVD, Pasternak found himself almost 2000 miles away. He checked a pocket watch. He's late. This had better be worth my time. Soon, a gentleman in a red hat sat next to him.

"A lovely day, is it not, monsieur?"

"Not for the robins. The lack of rain denies them a fresh breakfast."

"All too true."

The sequence completed, a folder was slipped into Pasternak's lap. The man with the red hat got about four steps away from the bench when two men grabbed him and quietly dragged him down an alleyway. A scuffle attracted little attention -- the streets were too busy for that -- and a moment later, one of them left the alley, tipped his hat to Pasternak, and left. Pasternak opened the envelope. He was true to his word; these are some of the latest training manuals from the French Air Force.

tntj.jpg


Shame he had to die, but Comrade Stalin does not want a major Communist uprising right now. He wants the West distracted with Hitler while we make our own moves.

31 December 1938, Moscow

The meeting was a boisterous one, and for the first time in a while, every single member of the Politburo was early. Sokolov was due to report on the investigation into the NKVD, and a lot of people had a big stake in what he had to say. Some rumblings had indicated the dissolution of the NKVD altogether; others simply suggested that Sokolov would take both roles.

After a brief exchange of greetings, Stalin motioned to Sokolov to rise. The People's Commissar for Justice cleared his throat and began to speak...

Everything on Uritsky is my own creation. There is no historical Uritsky to my knowledge. A Moishe Uritsky did exist in the earliest days of the Cheka, but no Sergei. Everything else is true, to the best of my knowledge. Rozhdestvensky, the Russian Admiral during the Battle of Tsushima, was indeed reported dead, when in reality he had surrendered (involuntarily; he was seriously ill for a number of days after he was thrown into the ocean). Intriguing stuff, I'd say!
 
Why do I have the feeling that I will have to deal with Uritsky one of these days? That is if I don't get purged in Sokolov's purge of the NKVD.