Author Notes:
How many times do I have to tell you, don't touch any of the boats!
You know I had fun writing stuff when I flipped some military history on its head.
Oh, and just gonna give a head up that the next Monthly Recruitment Drive will be running on the very 1st of next month. Same 15% off for all tiers, same chapters quota, with all the benefits of seeing your names in either RM, GSS, or both if you're a ranking Sergeant or higher.
Other than that, I think I am much too tired and stressed out from all the worrying for anything longer. Just sit back, relax, and think about the future face-slapping, my friends.
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In the Union's campaign to avenge the humiliation of its people, General Rokossovsky is placed in charge of a sizable Field Army, owing to his great contribution in the brawl around Warsaw all those times back. After Warsaw, Stalin immediately promoted the veteran General as a figure of patriotism and heroism, willingly braving perils for the least fortunate of Rusviet expatriates. Regardless of his Polanian ancestry, Rokossovsky is adored by the Rusviet citizens, and is now well-regarded by Stalin himself, if only as a great propaganda material. In giving Rokossovsky his Field Army, kitted out with the best men and gear the Union can provide, the General is expected to return the investments with great interest. It's also a non-subtle act of forcing the General to turn against his heritage, swearing fealty only to the red banner, and by extension, Stalin himself. If Rokossovsky is found less than worthy, well, the NKVD is more than happy to move against him.
Perhaps in another timeline, Rokossovsky would have found it hard to so willingly comply with Stalin's unspoken demands. But this is a timeline in which the Belkan Reich exists, and in this timeline, Rokossovsky witnessed and bled for the innocent souls caught in between the clutch of a false regime. While Rokossovsky may not see eye to eye with some of the extreme ways the Rusviet Union conducts itself, on this matter alone, the General sees the Union as the lesser evil and is willing to lead the charge to tear down the abhorrent Polanian Revolutionary Command Council. To Rokossovsky, the Field Army under his command is not an investment to be feared, but it's a powerful tool to enact justice, NKVD agents and news reporters being inlaid into it notwithstanding.
It surprises only a few when Rokossovsky leverages his powerful Field Army to its fullest extent and racks up one impressive victory after another. Of the multiple Armies the Rusviet Union sent to war, Rokossovsky's Army is the swiftest and most decorated unit. Despite largely having the same layout and war materials, Rokossovsky's 3rd Shock Army fights more battles and advances deeper into Polanian lands than any others, all the while suffering the least from wartime attrition. If not for the NKVD agents implanted into the Army, the paranoid Stalin would have thought that Rokossovsky was faking the reports somehow or that the Polanians were leading the 3rd Shock Army into a well-laid trap. But the truth and the remarkable results are undeniable: General Rokossovsky always picked the hardest battle to fight and was always victorious with the least casualties possible. Each victory only serves to reinforce the men's trust in his leadership, yet the men remain humble and constantly promote the valiant soldiers and officers under his charge for awards instead of himself. Rokossovsky also repeatedly touts Stalin's vision in equipping the Rusviet military with multi-turreted tanks, giving the 3rd Shock Army a ridiculous amount of firepower and versatility. Suffice to say, the Secretary General of the Rusviet Union is quite satisfied with Rokossovsky's progress.
But then again, how did Rokossovsky achieve so much in so little time? The 3rd Shock Army is already halfway to Warsaw, leaving many other units in the dust. The fact that shocked even Stalin himself into wondering whether their military logistic is capable of supplying Rokossovsky's Field Army, not willing to leave this prized possession suffering from possible malpractice. Once more, it has to be noted that Rokossovsky and his 3rd Shock Army are viewed as nothing more than propaganda materials. The better they are in the eyes of the public, the shinier Stalin's name becomes for having the wisdom to utilize them. But let's get back to the point, shall we?
General Rokossovsky's success can be attributed to the Belkan Reich itself, both overtly and subtly. Personally, Rokossovsky is inspired by the Combined Arms and Blitzkrieg Doctrines that the Reich employs. He has learnt much about them on his trip to Berlin as a military envoy on behalf of the Rusviet Union. Obviously, not everything can be translated and incorporated into the Rusviet military, but Rokossovsky has long learnt the essence of adaptation. By itself, adaptation is also one of the tenets of Combined Arms and Blitzkrieg, and Rokossovsky makes that point perfectly clear when he first takes command of the 3rd Shock Army.
According to Belkan classification, the 3rd Shock Army is classified as a Combined Arms unit with a focus on Armored and Motorized warfare. From the get-go, it's expected that the 3rd Shock Army doesn't have the greatest of flexibility or mobility, especially when they heavily employed superheavy tanks and trucks for transportation. However, Rokossovsky leverages the grittiness of the Rusviet physiology and the durability guaranteed of the tanks made by the Ural factories to offset the hamstrung agility of the 3rd Shock Army. Although no one specifically taught him this, Rokossovsky heavily employed a rotational system to units fighting on the frontline. Everyone must be in a fluid state, not at all stagnant. Everyone must have fought a battle recently before being sent to the reserves for R&R. Once a victory is achieved, they must set off for the next one. Men and machines are pushed to their very limits in the service of the Red Banner, and eating and resting are done on the move. The Army only stops when it needs to briefly maintain its vehicles and learn the terrain. Swift, overwhelming, and coordinated, this is how Rokossovsky leads his 3rd Shock Army. At first, even the most hardened soldiers question Rokossovsky's ways of commanding. Yet, as the war goes on and their grim expectations are overturned, the subordinates view Rokossovsky as nothing short of a figure worth leading them to glorious victories. In his relentless push, even the Rusviet Air Force earns no small kill counts themselves thanks to his open-minded and seamless cooperation with the branch.
At this point, Rokossovsky perfectly demonstrates his profound understanding of modern combat. It's not about using a river of blood and metal to drown their enemy. It's about the proper utilization of all resources available, the disruption of enemy momentum, the subversion of hostile expectations, the induction of severe psychological and logical shock, and the constant exploitation of success so that the enemy can't even react in any reasonable manner. Understandably, Rokossovsky's military mindset has long set him apart from his peers and has grown increasingly Belkan-like. Other Army generals can only look at him with envy while striving to emulate his success.
Nonetheless, Rokossovsky's stairways to glory aren't entirely his own. What most people on this side of the warzone either forget or ignore entirely in their reports is the utter lack of a proper Polanian communication system. Without radio communications, the Polanians are unable to compete in battlefield intelligence, thus falling swiftly into an inescapable bog. While some Rusviet units also experience momentary radio blackouts, it's attributed either to the Fog of War or equipment shortcomings. This is obviously ONI's signature in selectively jamming the radio signals in the Polanian theater. However, ONI's handiwork goes further than just that. They feed the Belkan Air Force targeting data to blow up or damage key Polanian infrastructures, either to stall Polanian reinforcements or to slow down some parts of the red tide. Everything is done to create a misconception that, while the modernized Red Army is effective in its current form, none is as good as Rokossovsky.
Now, why go through such trouble for a General that, while competent, is obviously not a part of the Reich? Quite easily inferred, it's to create another narrative and yet another brick for what would become another faction inside the Rusviet Union, one that is growing right under Stalin's nose and even endorsed by him, ironically enough. ONI aims to make this new faction a progressive and pro-Belka one, with Rokossovsky as its figurehead and none other than the undercover Section Chief Quellec to be a part of its founding. Whether the eventual subsumption of the Rusviet Union by the Belkan Reich will be bloodless or not, this growing faction will play a key role in the event.
ONI sure is playing the really long haul for this one, and a delicate one at that. While Rokossovsky is aware that he is a chess piece in Stalin's game, even he wouldn't be able to guess that both he and Stalin are but puppets on strings.
Bravely, stalwartly, General Rokossovsky leads his men on yet another attack, getting closer to Warsaw with each passing hour.
"It's a shame that the T-28s and T-35s are still too slow for my liking," General Rokossovsky mutters to himself as he stares down a recently redrawn map of the frontline. "I would have traded them all for the T-50 light tanks if I could... But beggars can't be choosers. They at least make for great breakthrough tanks, and the psychological impacts they bring about are immense. Perhaps this is why the Belkans develop the multi-turreted design even further than we already are."
Looking at yet another train hub soon to be liberated from Polanian control, Rokossovsky eases his thoughtful frown and quirks his lips upward. "Right, I wonder how Adam and his land dragon are doing over on the other side? Probably still busy running from one end of the nation to the next again."
Gazing up from the map, Rokossovsky rests his gaze in the direction of Warsaw. "Well, I hope you manage to give the Polanians a bloody nose like I am, my friend."
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Having read the signed letter of the reigning Queen of Ustio, Admiral Marcel-Bruno Gensoul then passes it along the table for his commanding staff to read. Gensoul is perhaps the most powerful man in the Ustian colonies in Africa. This is because he was handed a modern and sizeable fleet of warships by the previously existing Ustian Loyalists at the tail end of the fight for legitimacy over the Ustian throne. Gensoul still doesn't know why the deceased Prime Minister entrusted such precious warships to him, but he thinks it's a conscious effort to try and win him over to the Loyalists, having previously expressed his neutral stance. Yet, as the Loyalists collapsed even before Gensoul could reiterate his neutrality, Gensoul is left stuck with multiple capital ships and escort vessels until the Queen of Ustio can address the Admiral's vastly potent fleet. Yet, when Queen Bonaparte personally sent Gensoul a communique, the words said in the letter couldn't be any further from his initial expectations of being laid off or punished, having received a 'priceless bribe' from the Loyalists.
Oh no, it's a literal Call to Arms, and it's even against the Eruseans, who are trying to steal their boats no less.
Alright, Admiral Gensoul might have stayed away from the bloody fight for the throne, but that's only because no one had grossly touched his boats. For the Eruseans to act upon that very treacherous thought is basically trampling on the Ustian Admiral's pride, or any other Admiral's pride, even. No one touches a man's booties and expects to walk away from it unharm.
No one.
Standing up from the meeting table after seeing that every one of his staff has ingrained the message deep into their mind, Gensoul reaffixes his cap, saying.
"Well then, gentlemen, I trust that you all know what to do next. Spread the word, let the men under you know about what's going down next. Consider this upcoming event not a little skirmish, nor is it a fight for one faction. No, let's make it clear that this is a battle for their homes... Our homes!" Gensoul takes a good look at the men in front of him. "Allegiance whatsoever can be figured out later. What's important is that we need to deal with the enemy at the gates. Now give me a resounding 'Aye' if you want to beat back these homewreckers!"
"AYE! AYE! ADMIRAL!" All the officers stand up and salute, shouting their agreement.
Admiral Gensoul nods, a smirk playing on his lips. "Wonderful. Now go and prepare your vessels... Oh, and get the Air Force on the line. Let us make this a nice little surprise for the Eruseans."
"They won't even know what's going to hit them."