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"With contamination comes fever: the disease is at its worst. Immune to water ... immune to weather all to spread the curse." - Infection era poetry​

Prologue pt. 2

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A Coastal defense gun on Crete
That direct disobedience to Stalin's order led to the creation of a rump State of Soviet Caucasus (a military government headed by Marshal Zhukov) after Moscow fell on December 3rd. Prior to the Soviet capital's fall, communication between Moscow and the rest of the Soviet Union collapsed - the Soviet Army in the Balkans (the Balkan Front), led by Marshal Konstantin Rokossovskiy stopped their invasion of Allied Yugoslavia, Albania and Greece and after recieving no communications with Moscow for another four days, went into negotiations with the respective governments (This move would prove to be one of the few lucky instances during the early months of the Infection). Meeting the Heads of the various States, Marshal Rokossovskiy negitated terms with the leaders; all of them wanted the complete and utter surrender of the Soviets in the Balkans but after the third day into the negoitations, Allied reports of "creatures" attacking both Allied and Soviet troops made its way to the negoiation table.

"To: Allied Leaders in the Balkans
From: SCAFE Gen. Eisenhower

West Germany almost overrun by creatures.STOP. Retreating back into the Belgium.STOP. Defensive line being formed. STOP. Allied intel suggests Soviets being attacked by same creatures. STOP. Soviet defectors confirm attacks by creatures. STOP. All Allied Leaders and Commanders Cautioned at creatures. STOP. Confirm Berlin has fell. STOP. Prepare defensives. STOP."​
In the end, Rokossovskiy's armies were pulled out of Greece and Albania and were "allowed" to occupy Yugoslavia but were under orders by the Yugoslavian King Peter II. But even then, in January of 1947 the creatures began travelling south towards the Balkans. Austria and the western part of Hungary fell in a matter of days, then the creatures began pouring into Yugoslavia. Peter II - now the new commander-in-chief - ordered that Marshal Rokossovskiy send his troops north to combat the creatures; but even the nearly quarter-million Soviet troops were unable to stop them (cities in the north such as Ljubljana and Rijeka fell to the onslaught of the Infected) and unlike Stalin, Peter II allowed - and ordered - a general retreat; basically to fall back to the capital and to maintain a link to the sea through Montenegro.

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Small groups of soldiers in the Royal Yugoslav Army put up a brave defense but eventually failed
By then, Hungary had fallen (One single half-strength Hungarian division with nearly twice the amount of civilians arrived in Belgrade prior to the attack - it would be a mistake) The Infected Siege of Belgrade was a major defeat to the Yugoslavians. Rokossovkiy's army - basically the backbone of the Yugoslavian army - had two-thirds of it destroyed when those who were Infected in the Hungarian survivor column attacked the defenders. Along with King Peter II (who refused to leave the city and is though to have died in battle during the Siege) dead, the Yugoslavian Crown passed to his son, Crown Prince Alexander who became the new King of Yugoslavia - he was in the United Kingdom at the time and coupled with the fact that he was just one and a half at the time - his uncle, Prince Paul became the Regent of Yugoslavia. Continuing on to March, Yugoslavia, Albanian, Romania, northern Italy and most of Bulgaria had fallen; the last nation in the Balkan region to survive was Greece (and European Turkey but that is for another report); now the hub for all the refugees in the region; Bulgarians, Romanians, Germans, Hungarians, Austrians, Italians, Croatians, Serbs etc. and with the respective armies of the fallen nations, Greece became a fortified and multi-national country almost overnight.

It was not surprising that Greece would fall; but the most shocking thing was the rate it fell. The country - with a post-World War II population of nearly eight million and nearly one million refugees - fell in three days. Many account that the number one cause at how fast Greece fell (and this accounts only to mainland Greece) was the language barrier. During the Infected invasion of Greece, there would be Greek commanders leading groups of Hungarian and Serbian troops or Russian commanders leading Italian and Bosnian soldiers. The inability to communicate with their divisions led to increased chaos and confusion with many soldiers simply deserting. Another cause would be the infighting between the many ethnicity of Yugoslavia - namely the Croats against the Bosnians and Serbs; since the Croats allied with the Germans during the Second World War, there were still deep mistrust between the groups.

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Field Marshal Alexandros Papagos, orchestrator of Fortress Crete
Sergeant Imran Ademovic, the de facto commander of the 7th Infantry Company said "Throughout the fighting during the German Invasion of Yugoslavia, many of the Bosnians and Serbs in our Company resented the fact that the Croats allied with the Germans and began to collaborate with them. Over time, our old Company commander - a Serb was killed and replaced with a Royalist Croatian, Lt. Aleksander Elez. Everyone - at first, resented him and generally disobeyed him; threats were made to him regularly, but that stubborn Elez kept soldiering on and by late 1944, he had gained the respect of the Company - not the trust, but the Company tolerated him and would start to listen to him. What made him gain our trust was when the Company was ordered to attack a German occupied town in northern Yugoslavia [Slovenia]; the attack was suicidal - the Major in charge knew that but still ordered it to happen. That was when the Lt. refused; saying that he wouldn't risk the lives of his men to frontally attack the city without air or artillery support; he was court-marshaled on the spot but was reluctantly released since the army needed every available body. After that, all the men in the Company trusted him, not once questioning his orders. When he died in that bank in Spit after the Soviets began attacking Yugoslavia, he stayed behind and killed as many of the Soviets as he could, buy me and the rest of the Company [around 40-45] time to escape...." Small, close knit Companies like the 7th were a rarity when the invasion of Greece came.​

The utter failure of communication and chaos in Greece led to Athens being attack just two days after the infection spread into Greece; the port of Athens became one of the last few places to transport military and civilians towards Crete, where Greek Field Marshal Papagos has set up what he calls "Fortress Crete" - a line of naval fortification surrounding the whole of the island. The evacuation to Crete became a joint operation by the British, Italians and the Greeks; British transports would arrive into Athens and load up the soldiers (Russians, Bulgarians, Greeks, Hungarians, Serbians, Croatians etc.) and civilians, then depart from the port and escorted by Italians destroyers to Crete. Greece would completely fall on December 5th; with the majority of Marshal Rokossovkiy's army gone (all that was left was three divisions - one from Siberia) he too boarded one of the transports and when he arrived onto Crete, became one of the main leaders of the islands defences.
 
How is it that YU was still a kingdom at the end of the war? I like it, but, it wasn't likely without Allied liberation, and even then communists of YU had deep connections with highest leaders of allies.
 
And this is the prologue?!

Oh my, what can we expect from the future chapters...

Something darker than WWZ. :D

How is it that YU was still a kingdom at the end of the war? I like it, but, it wasn't likely without Allied liberation, and even then communists of YU had deep connections with highest leaders of allies.

Thanks for the interest! Also, to answer your question, ITTL, the Allies were able to make great progress in the Balkan and Italian fronts and make great gains in the Western Front. The Allies in post-war (in response to a larger part of Germany under Soviet occupation) had restore the Yugoslavian monarchy while the Communists in the Balkans were overlooked. Don't worry, Tito will come later on.
 
Thanks for the interest! Also, to answer your question, ITTL, the Allies were able to make great progress in the Balkan and Italian fronts and make great gains in the Western Front. The Allies in post-war (in response to a larger part of Germany under Soviet occupation) had restore the Yugoslavian monarchy while the Communists in the Balkans were overlooked. Don't worry, Tito will come later on.

Undead Zombie Tito?

Join ME into the ultimate Brotherhood and Unity! :rofl:

PS. Brotherhood and Unity was one of the Com Partisans slogans, promoding unity of all Yugoslav peoples.
 
What a shambles. It's hardly surprising that Greece fell but 3 days seems a little ridiculous- would the infected even be able to reach Athens in that period of time?

That's the thing. Even the researcher was astonished that Greece fell so quick. One reason was that the language barrier could not be broken so and wounded soldiers who were bit would be transported to the back where they could spread it and so on and so on.

Undead Zombie Tito?

Join ME into the ultimate Brotherhood and Unity! :rofl:

PS. Brotherhood and Unity was one of the Com Partisans slogans, promoding unity of all Yugoslav peoples.

Interesting. I might incorporate it somehow.... :D
 
The infection isn't spreading too fast? Even a full-speed zombie will take more than three days to travel from Macedonia to Athens. And that without resistance.
 
The infection isn't spreading too fast? Even a full-speed zombie will take more than three days to travel from Macedonia to Athens. And that without resistance.

Speaking from experience? It's kinda like "The magic-system of D&D is not realistic!" And what about birds? Who said that only humans can carry the infestation? :)
 
Speaking from experience? It's kinda like "The magic-system of D&D is not realistic!" And what about birds? Who said that only humans can carry the infestation? :)
Then the world would be REALLY screwed.

Anyway, it's possible that people bitten from the frontlines were taken to hospital deeper into the country, and in that case, all you can hope for is to kill them fast, or be killed.

I assume the latter happened.
 
Speaking from experience? It's kinda like "The magic-system of D&D is not realistic!" And what about birds? Who said that only humans can carry the infestation? :)

It's not the same. Moreover, if infestation is carried by birds, why only the refugees infiltrate the virus between the defenders? And why it advances like a tide instead of having new outbreaks behind the lines? ;)

The argument of "since it's a fantasy, all is possible" isn't serious. :p
 
I'm quite intrigued by all the prologues, quite an interesting read. Can't wait until the real chapters start.
 
I'm quite intrigued by all the prologues, quite an interesting read. Can't wait until the real chapters start.

Thanks for the interest! There will be two more prologues till the first actual chapter.

As well, to answer how humans are the only ones infected and not say birds, that will be discussed near the end of AAR
 
"There is no solution to bring away this plague .... No remedies have been discovered." - Prime Minister Winston Churchill after the fall of London

Prologue pt. 3

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Lavrentiy Beria became the new leader of the Soviet Union after Stalin's assassination
Details after the fall of Moscow about the Soviet Union are scarce; most likely a result by Lavrentiy Pavlovich Beria, the chief of the NKVD. However, from what concrete evidence I have found in the Torchwood Institute of Infections, Glasgow (1), I can assume a plausible scenario of events that occurred during and after the fall of Moscow (2). During the Infected Siege of Moscow, the outer perimeter of the city was defended by elements of the Soviet Red Army; the city's outskirts was heavily mined (akin to the level of mining in Berlin) while the city's interior was boasted by the civilian militia, at various areas were NKVD companies and lastly, the Kremlin itself fortified by NKVD units. Essentially, Stalin had his capital defended by his most diehard of Communists (along the lines of the Waffen SS and the defence of the Reichstag). An occurring myth is that Stalin followed what he did during the German attacks on Moscow and refused to leave the Kremlin, believing that General Ivan Khabarov and his 8th Army will arrive from the north into Moscow and stop the advancing creatures. However, his faith on General Khabarov was found to be hopeless as his army had already collapsed during the infected advance towards Leningrad; whatever remained of the 8th Army and of the Leningrad Front had retreated to Arkhangelsk and were now co-coordinating with the Finns and Marshal Baron Carl Gustaf Emil. Myth or fact, the decision by Stalin to remain in the city seal his fate and that of Moscow.

The series of events that are talked about next are what I deem as the most plausible given the evidence that has been collected; either through writing or oral reciting. When the first of the mines began to detonate around 11:00pm, the Soviet 2nd Guards Army (part of the Moscow Military District commanded by Marshal Kirill Meretskov) began their artillery barrage onto the direction of the song as instructed by Stalin's Order No. 97.

Order No. 97 By The People's Commissar of Defense of the USSR

Moscow, 29 November 1942

The enemy once again advances towards our nation. Fighting is happening throughout the USSR; from the Ukraine to the Don, from north to the river Volga, brave and heroic workers of the people are fighting once again against the enemy, this time, it is not the Fascist German but the despised Capitalist pigs. Against these forces, the enemy has captured already the cities Keiv, Stalingrad, Rostov, Leningrad and other countless towns. Once again, the Armies of the people must remember the slogan of the early past, the same slogan that had led to the defeat of the German invaders. Not a single step back! For every man, woman and child they kill, we, the people will eradicate them tenfold. Can we stand and throw the enemy back toward west? Yes, we can, as our plants and factories in the rear areas are working perfectly and are supplying our army with more and more tanks, planes, artillery and mortars.

We will defend the Motherland even against all odds and when we take our last breath, we will drag the invaders down with us. To save our Motherland, the enemy will know the pain and hatred - so vast - of each person of the Motherland!

The Supreme Command of the Red Army Orders:

1. Military Fronts and Armies should:

a) Under no circumstances, retreat against the enemy.

b) Eradicate or remove from offices those commanders and soldiers that allow themselves or their command to retreat from the front

2. Moscow Defence should:

a) Upon the sound of the mines, unleash against the enemy a barrage of artillery

b) Steadfastness against the enemy as they attack

*Remainder of Order No. 97 has been blacked out*

The People’s Commissar for Defense
Joseph Stalin​

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Soviet artillery on the outskirts of Moscow complied with Order No. 97
45 minutes - after the fourth barrage of artillery - the explosion of mines stopped while tensions within the 2nd Guards Army were still high. Through hours 1 to 2, there is almost no record of what happens. The "lost hour", as dubbed by the members of the T.I.I.G. happened after the fourth artillery barrage and prior to the engagement of infecteds via an offensive by the 2nd Guards. Obviously, somehow, some of the infected the survived managed to attack the advance echelon of the 2nd Guards, who in turn retreated back to the HQ of the 7th Guards Tank Division and thus the infection was spread from there. After the 'lost hour' the Kremlin (or Stalin) ordered an offensive to be launched into the area where the 7th Guards Divisions (denoted as 7.G.T/D) was. Known as the Midnight Attack (the actual attack started on 12:40 am), the soldiers of the 2nd G. Army began their march towards the HQ of the 7. G. T/D where they promptly engaged the infected. Conservative estimates of the number of infected ranges from 750,000 to over 4.5 million by the Russian government in Novosibirsk against the 500,000 Soviets in the 2nd G. Army (3). Other than that fact provided by the Russian government, little more is known about the Midnight Attack; what we do know, the 2nd G. Army collapsed under the attacks by the infected - with around 700 to 1,000 who retreated back to Moscow (and were quickly executed) and 200 - 300 that miraculously escaped and arrived at the Crimea; which - by that time - was defended by Admiral Filipp Sergeyevich Oktyabrskiy, commander of the Black Sea Fleet and the de facto commander of the Separate Coastal Army (4).

With the defeat of the 2nd G. Army, Moscow was mostly undefended and by 5 - 6 am in the morning, the first of the infected began to approach the capital. The desperate defense by the Muscovites to protect their beloved capital resulted in either a heroic or stubborn waste of lives point of view of the Infected Siege of Moscow (depending on how the reader views it). The defenders - now mostly the civilian militia held off the infected for almost 2 hours - some suggest that these defenders discovered that a clear shot to the head would result in permanent death which was how they were able to holdout for such a period of time. However, with or without this discovery, the outer limits of the city fell to the infected and they began their march to the heart of Moscow as the defenders frantically scrambled to form a defense.

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The ruins of a street of buildings in Moscow
This next event is purely in the authors views through his interpretation of the evidence. What happens next is subject to immense controversy but from what I can interpreted, the Soviet NKVD Head, Beria broke into the office of Stalin and summarily executed him for 'crimes against the people'. After the sudden assassination of Stalin, Beria was announced the new leader of the Soviet Union (if there were any objections, then it was no voiced) and with the surviving cabinet under Stalin which included Foreign Minister Molotov and Chief of the Red Army Staff Marshal Aleksandr Vasilevsky escaped the besieged city via the Trans-Siberian Railroad to the Omsk and later the new capital Novosibirsk. Moscow would fall just 2 hours after the escape by Beria.

I've attached to this, a transcript of a possible survivor of the Infected Siege of Moscow. The validity of her story has never been validated. However, as she is the only one to come forward, there is little to go on.

"My name is Vera Vasiliev, I was born in Moscow on October 1934. On the night of the attack on Moscow in 1947, I was having supper with my parents and my two older brothers. That was when the sirens came on; my father and both my brothers quickly stopped ending and ran out to join the others [the civilian militia]. My mother remained at home with me and told me to quickly finish eating, then go to my room and she will be there shortly. Inside, I heard the sound of explosions and gunfire and screaming - everytime cuddling closer to my mother. That was when we heard the door to my house open; my mother screamed but we heard the sound of my father telling us to get dressed and telling us that we're leaving. When both my mother and I got dressed, we headed to my father and I noticed something was wrong, I asked my father - and I remember this event clearly.

I asked him, "Papa, where is Alexi [the youngest brother] ?" My father just simply said, "Alexi was brave." I did not understand why he said that or why my mother was crying - I would later find out - and we proceeded towards the back of our house where our neighbor [an old man, Vera can't recall his name] was sitting on top of a tank. My father said it was borrowed and that we would return it later. Next thing I knew, something was rustling around the branches, a growl was heard and my mother shrieked. My brother began to aim his gun at the creature and shot him in the chest but yet he kept on inching closer. My father yelled at my brother "The Head! The Head! Shoot the head!" but Gregory [the surviving brother] was scared and froze, papa took the gun and quickly shot the creature in the head and it dropped. I blacked out and woke up in the afternoon resting on the back of the tank I think; papa was sitting beside me and said that I was tired and told me to go to sleep. Before I went to sleep, I saw a thick stretch of smoke in the direction of Moscow."​

(1) - The Torchwood Institute of Infections was founded in 1950 after the infection began to appear in cases within the Great Britain. The First confirmed case - "Patient Zero" - appeared in Dover, the site of the original breakout.

(2) - Out of all the Infected Battles, the one in Moscow had the least amount of information about it.

(3) - The Russian State (also known as Siberia or Russia) released very little information regarding Moscow. As such, I presume that they do have information about it but are not willing to release it.

(4) - The Separate Coastal Army was first employed against the Germans during their attack Sevastopol in 1941 - '42. Later, the command of the Army was shifted to Admiral Oktyabrskiy merely because he was the most senior ranking officer in the State of the Crimea.
 
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The USSR was already splintering and now that Stalin's dead, Beria's in charge and Moscow's fallen it's hard to see what's going to keep it together. The higher-ups should be fine as they can retreat into Siberia but I have a feeling that organised resistance against the infected is going to crumble now.
 
One question though, do the infected use weapons like tanks and guns, or only their tasty bites ? :D

Zombies with tanks... That would be new :D
 
The USSR was already splintering and now that Stalin's dead, Beria's in charge and Moscow's fallen it's hard to see what's going to keep it together. The higher-ups should be fine as they can retreat into Siberia but I have a feeling that organised resistance against the infected is going to crumble now.

Organized resistance in the infected parts of the USSR would be isolated, while in the uninfected parts, the resistance would have a greater chance of succeeding.

One question though, do the infected use weapons like tanks and guns, or only their tasty bites ? :D

Zombies with tanks... That would be new :D

That...would be awesome, but the answer is no. They may still have weapons in their hands but if it fires it is most likely by accident. However, what if one shoots it and learns how to use it...then teaches the others...
 
That...would be awesome, but the answer is no. They may still have weapons in their hands but if it fires it is most likely by accident. However, what if one shoots it and learns how to use it...then teaches the others...

Actually, I heard that one before (don't know where), so that's not as new as zombies with tanks :D