I Will Stage A Coup D’état - Chapter 117



Only Noblemtl

EP.117 Soviet Troop Deployment (2)

Commander of the Soviet Expeditionary Force, Lee Jeong-yun, pondered His Majesty’s instructions on the train to Moscow.

Leaving aside the premise that the Western Front should be taken into consideration, His Majesty had three main objectives in mind.

First, German civilians must be protected as much as possible from Soviet forces.

When I asked the reason, His Majesty replied as follows:

“If we were to show favor to Germany while we were eating them up, wouldn’t there be less complaints later?”

Second, we will build friendly relations with Soviet military commanders.

No matter what would happen in the future, for the time being, Korea had to remain friendly with the Soviet Union.

To do this, His Excellency said, it was necessary to build relationships with influential figures in the Soviet military who would continue to exert influence in Soviet politics and the military.

Third, all captured German prisoners of war (including civilians) will be shipped by train to Korea.

The more free manpower (slaves) you can have for the time being, the better.

His Majesty was a very greedy person.

Lee Jeong-yoon repeated His Majesty’s instructions in his head over and over again.

When Lee Jeong-yoon arrived in Moscow, Marshal Zhukov, the Supreme Commander of the Soviet Army, personally came out to the Moscow Station to welcome him.

“Comrade Lee Jeong-yoon. Welcome to Russia.”

“Thank you for your hospitality, Comrade Zhukov.”

The Soviet Union treated the South Korean military with great respect.

After spending half a day chatting with Zhukov and thoroughly checking the status of the Korean army and the deployment of the front lines, Lee Jeong-yoon left for Puskov.

The battlefield where the Korean army fought was the coast of Lake Peipus, south of Leningrad.

Lee Jeong-yoon gathered his subordinate officers and gave them instructions on the following goals.

“Our army’s primary goal is to liberate Estonia and Latvia. There may be civilians who are hostile to us during the occupation operation, but we must not respond violently. The moment we show hostility to civilians, the Germans and their allies will never hand over their weapons to Korean soldiers. Be patient and tolerant. If the soldiers try to forget this fact, make them understand by punishing them once and for all. That is your duty.”

Lee Jeong-yoon didn’t have the ability to plan a grand strategy, but he knew one thing for sure.

If we carry out civil operations, it could affect His Majesty’s grand plan.

That was something to absolutely avoid.

The Korean army should be one that commands respect and admiration, not one that is feared and terrorized like the Ivans.

If that perception were ingrained, you would have to fight fights you didn’t need to fight.

“Your Majesty, take note of my words. That’s it.”

The chief of staff dismissed the officers.

While the officer corps prepared for battle, the Korean propaganda department conducted propaganda activities to the German forces beyond Lake Peipus.

The Korean army used its long-term strength to frequently send propaganda balloons flying at the German army.

The content was not as explicit as The Western Front, but the meaning was similar.

“Do you want to surrender to the Ivans or to the gentlemanly Korean army?”

At first, German soldiers laughed at this leaflet, calling it childish.

“What are those inferior Orientals babbling about?”

When they saw the leaflets, they tried to tear them apart.

But on the back there was a page about beers that the Korean military enjoyed.

“Ha, Koreans, you guys are so polite!”

Because the pages featured slender European models rather than the unfamiliar Asians, the German soldiers, who were starving for women, could not bring themselves to throw the propaganda leaflets away.

No, he did more than that.

The soldiers secretly searched for and picked up leaflets.

“Oh, I’ll go with this today.”

Otto Carius, a tank commander who rose to fame near Leningrad, was one of the soldiers who snuck in propaganda leaflets.

He hid the leaflets in a secret place inside his Tiger tank and took time to look at them every day.

“Let’s not enjoy it alone, Commander.”

“Oh, you guys can see it too. I won’t hurt you, so don’t complain.”

Of course, Karius did not monopolize the flyers.

On this day, as Karius was taking out a leaflet and trying to take some time to appreciate it, a general wearing a monocle appeared in front of him.

At first I thought he was just an ordinary general, but he was someone whose voice I had heard a lot.

“Everyone, you’ve all worked hard. Are there any problems during the mission?”

“Yes, yes.”

Karius looked flustered.

Then I was startled.

‘Mom, you’re the model’s enemy.’

His opponent was not an ordinary general, but a field marshal, the highest ranking official in the German Wehrmacht.

Karius tried to hide the flyer carefully, but the model’s sharp gaze caught it.

‘X is done.’

But surprisingly, the model didn’t say much.

“He was awarded the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross with Grain Leaves. He is a hard worker.”

Instead, he offered words of encouragement.

“I was just doing my duty.”

“Yes, work hard. The dedication of soldiers like you is what protects Germany.”

Karius sighed in relief and quickly crumpled the flyer in his hand.

I felt sorry for my colleagues, but since I had been discovered by my enemy, it was right to get rid of them.

The model strode briskly toward the next inspection location.

The officers accompanying him followed him closely behind.

The model walked for a while and when Karius was out of sight, she asked in a soft voice.

“Since when?”

“yes?”

“That’s when our soldiers started carrying those horrible things around.”

“It seems like it’s been a week. But don’t worry. It’s just some unruly friends.”

“Is the friend who received the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross with Grain Leaves also undisciplined?”

At those words the officer kept his mouth shut.

“This is usually not a serious matter. If you carry a propaganda leaflet, the soldiers are twice as likely to surrender at the last moment. Don’t you know that?”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”

“Collect all the leaflets you see and come up with a response plan. You’ll have two days.”

The model always made demands on his subordinates that were close to the limit.

“All right.”

The German army was in an uproar over the collection of propaganda leaflets.

However, not all the leaflets were successfully recovered.

Some were secretly hiding leaflets.

Max was one of them.

Max was lost in thought, holding the leaflet he had picked up a week ago.

At first I looked for the flyer to see the beer, but later I became interested in the phrase written on the flyer itself.

‘Unlike the Ivans, Korea treats them well. Surrender.’

The South Korean army’s leaflets contained logical reasons for surrender.

Germany is already on the verge of destruction by the four great powers.

A single struggling soldier could not save the ruined country.

No matter how hard you fight, you will end up dying a dog’s death.

What remains for the soldier as a result of the war?

What else could there be to bring sorrow to lovers and families left behind in their hometown?

There wasn’t any.

There was really nothing.

But was Nazism really worth sacrificing one’s life for?

The propaganda leaflets also did a great job of poking fun at the contradictions of Nazism.

Nazism was nothing more than an illusion.

Under the name of National Socialism, everyone claims to be a family and a community, but why do they trample on the Jews?

Are you saying that Jews weren’t Germans?

Max knew it too.

That wasn’t it.

Was invading another country and killing millions of Germans the only way to build an empire that would last a thousand years?

That wasn’t the answer either.

Germany had a chance to become Europe’s leading power, even peacefully.

Even Austria and the Czech Republic made concessions to Germany.

If I had stopped there, I wouldn’t have lived a life like this in the mud, fighting and killing people for three years in harsh Russia.

My friends who were drafted from their hometowns to join the military would not have died either.

The Nazis were just talking nice things, but they were actually sending Germans into hell.

Through irresponsible agitation and gambling, he threw away the lives of all Germans.

Are such people truly worth being loyal to?

The propaganda leaflet ended with these words to spur the soldiers’ hearts:

‘So, was your dedication rewarded?’

I got no repayment.

After a long hesitation, Max put down his gun and slowly crawled out of the trench.

There were quite a few soldiers who surrendered to the Korean army in this way.

It wasn’t a large number, but it wasn’t a small number either.

The Korean military organized these deserted German soldiers and even broadcast propaganda.

“I am Max from Bavaria. Yesterday I crossed over to the Korean camp and was treated to a warm tin of soup, bread, and sausages. The Koreans did not lie. They did not beat us, did not abuse us, and treated us with respect. Dear comrades, let us now put down our guns. Let us surrender to the Korean army. Why should we fight for the Nazis?”

At first, the Soviets were shocked to see that the Korean army was focusing more on propaganda than offensive action, saying that they did not know what kind of people the German army was, but they were embarrassed when they saw that quite a few soldiers were surrendering.

“No, our propaganda is not working, so why are there so many surrendering soldiers among the Karaisks?”

The generals strongly reprimanded the heads of the propaganda department.

But it’s not like the people in charge of the propaganda department had nothing to say.

‘Oh, I see. So you were told to abuse and kill German prisoners at every opportunity?’

Of course, this was not because the Soviets were particularly vicious.

The Germans were stronger than the Soviets.

Soviet prisoners of war captured by the Germans were abused so severely that 55% died.

Only 28% of German prisoners of war captured by the Soviets died, so it would be wrong to say that the Soviets were being harsh.

Anyway, the Soviet army tried to replicate the success of the Koreans in many ways, trying to imitate their secret to success(?), but they were not successful.

“I would rather die than surrender to Ivan.”

“Good idea. While you’re at it, come join the Korean army.”

In this way, the Korean army made its presence felt to the German army from the first month after arriving on the Eastern Front.

Not in terms of combat power, but in terms of propaganda power.