The Rise of the Third Reich

"Ula! Ula! Ula..."

At midnight on June 14, 1943, cheers like mountain roars and tsunamis came from the south of Leningrad city...that place is now Her Majesty's Petrograd!

Starting from the afternoon of the 14th, cheers of "Ula! Ula!" rang out from around the gate of Narva, and then spread like a plague! Warsaw Railway Station, Baltic Railway Station, Alexander Nevsky Monastery... In less than 10 hours, flags symbolizing the Russian Empire were raised on landmark buildings in the southern part of Leningrad. . He was immediately drowned in a burst of loud cheers.

This scene is familiar to many "old Petrograders" who experienced the February Revolution of 1917. They cheered then as they do now, but then they were cheering for the fall of the weak and incompetent Nicholas II.

But now they fell at the feet of Nicholas II's daughter and supported her wholeheartedly as master of Petrograd and all Russia. This is probably Russia, right? Losers are always despised here, while winners are welcomed.

From the moment she passed through the gate of Narva, Empress Olga became a winner without a doubt... At least until the Red Army killed her or drove her away, no one could deny that she entered Peter as a winner. Gullah's.

Now that the Empress of Russia has become the winner, then the fatherly leader of Moscow is the loser, and he is also a loser who wants to take away everyone’s beloved Leningrad residence!

Therefore, the citizens of the southern part of Leningrad city and many teams composed of Leningraders and Siberian labor reform prisoners began to fall towards Queen Olga as the winner after the Queen's flag flew at the Narva Gate. Even many troops who came to Leningrad from other places collapsed or defected in this atmosphere. Many buildings that had strong defenses easily fell into the hands of the White Russian army.

Strictly speaking, what is happening in Leningrad now is not a city battle, but a revolution in reverse.

"God bless the Queen! Mighty and noble, your rule brings glory, our glory! Your rule is fearful to the enemies, reigns over the Orthodox. God bless the Queen..."

The national anthem of the Russian Empire, "God Save the Empress (Tsar)", was also sounded in many places south of Leningrad at this time, and it soon overshadowed the cheers of "Ula! Ula!" and the sound of gunfire - this song It was first played by dozens of loudspeakers, and then attracted many people cheering for the Queen to sing together.

Leningrad City Secretary Kuznetsov stood on the wall of the Peter and Paul Fortress, looking at the place where the cheers and songs came from. He gritted his teeth and repeated the same sentence with a trembling voice: "It's too reactionary. , It’s too reactionary... They don’t deserve to be Leningraders, they don’t deserve to be Soviets!”

The sound of leather boots hitting the granite floor reached Kuznetsov's ears, and then the hoarse voice of General Vlasov: "Comrade Political Commissar, no, there are too many mutinous troops. Troops composed of Leningraders There are no reliable ones, either the entire organization defected, or they fled in large numbers! Moreover, their behavior also affected some troops coming from other places..."

"Stop talking..." Kuznetsov interrupted General Vlasov. He didn't want to hear these useless words, "How many troops can be used now?"

"In addition to the internal defense forces, there are only about 15 severely disabled infantry divisions, with a maximum of 120,000-150,000 people available."

This does not mean that among the hundreds of thousands of Leningrad Front troops, except for these 120,000 to 150,000, they were all traitors. But the Leningrad Front Army Headquarters now has only these troops that can be used to defend the core urban area. The remaining 300,000 to 400,000 people either defected or were eliminated or surrounded by the enemy. Because many troops rebelled and defected, a large number of holes appeared in the Soviet defense line, and the Soviet defense deployment was also learned by the opponents.

Therefore, the German and Belarusian troops advanced very smoothly. They not only invaded the city of Leningrad in one fell swoop, but also surrounded and divided a large number of Soviet troops.

"This force simply cannot hold so much ground," Vlasov said. "Now we must shrink further."

"You still want to shrink?" Kuznetsov nodded subconsciously when he heard "shrink", "Comrade General, this is Leningrad, the second capital of the motherland. Can we give up half or two-thirds of it?" A Leningrad?”

"Then what else can we do?" Vlasov shook his head in pain, "We can't hold it anymore... We can't hold it! If we shrink now, we can still keep the central area and the Kirov Islands. Otherwise, we will lose Lenin. The last revolutionary stronghold in Gullah cannot be saved.”

The Central District is the district where the Winter Palace is located, and the Kirov Islands is the general name for a series of large and small islands at the mouth of the Neva River. Most of these islands are part of the core urban area of ​​Leningrad. Because there are rivers to rely on and a large number of tall buildings to use as strongholds, the Central District (the Central District is actually an island, and there are many artificial rivers that can be used for defense) and the Kirov Islands are Leninga Islands. The most difficult area to conquer.

In the defense plan formulated by the Leningrad Front, the Central District and the Kirov Islands were the last revolutionary strongholds. If there are no more accidents (unfortunately, the Fourth Battle of Leningrad has continued to have accidents), theoretically it can be defended until the Neva River freezes in the winter of 1943 - once the Neva River freezes, the Germans' Tanks and the French 194mm "demolition gun" can enter the central area and Kirov Islands area through the ice...

…

"Mr. President, I have good news for you. The Empress of Russia has returned to her loyal Petrograd and has been warmly welcomed by the people of Petrograd. The song "God Save the Empress" echoed over the city..."

On the morning of June 15 (U.S. time), Director of the U.S. Office of Strategic Services Donovan reported the good news of the Queen's return to Petrograd to Roosevelt in a cheerful and relaxed tone.

This is certainly good news...at least for the United States! Because once the Russian Empress returns to Petrograd, the door to Soviet-German negotiations will be completely closed.

The Soviet Union and Germany could only fight to the bitter end.

"Leningrad...all fell?" Roosevelt didn't look too happy, he just asked lightly.

"No." Donovan replied with a smile, "According to reliable information, although there have been a large number of mutinies, there are still more than 100,000 troops loyal to the Bolshevik Party in Leningrad. They began to shrink at noon yesterday, Leningrad time. Currently firmly controlling the core area of ​​Leningrad.”

Roosevelt nodded, "This is really good news that makes people unhappy." He glanced at Hopkins sitting in the Oval Office, "Harry, what do you think?"

"It's very worrying." Harry Hopkins said, "This is likely to be a precursor to the collapse of the Soviet Union...Why are the Russians fighting now? Socialist beliefs? Or their motherland?"

"This is indeed a problem!" Roosevelt frowned. "How is Stalin doing now? Is his power still stable?"

"It's still relatively stable for the time being," Donovan said. "Their political situation has conducted a collective review and they have also promised to carry out reforms with the main goal of improving people's lives after the war."

"Reform after losing the war," Hopkins said lightly. "This is a Russian tradition... But the question is, will Stalin's enemies give him time to reform?"

"Will it?" Roosevelt asked.

"I don't think so." Hopkins said, "The current situation in Leningrad has actually closed the door to the Soviet-German peace talks. Even the peace talks cannot be carried out, how can Stalin get a chance to breathe? So his Reform promises are actually very difficult to fulfill.”

"Then how can he support it?" Roosevelt then asked.

"Russian nationalism!" Harry Hopkins said thoughtfully, "I think after Stalin's peace efforts completely failed, the Soviet Union will return to the banner of Russian nationalism to survive...Stalin and the Bolshevik Party must represent Russia The interests of the nation and opposition to Empress Olga who betrayed the interests of the Russian nation.”

Roosevelt nodded. The White Russian government headed by Queen Olga was just an irresponsible government in exile before entering Petrograd. Accusing a government-in-exile of "traitoring" is inconsistent with the European thinking model - how can you say someone is traitorous when he has no country to sell? At best, it's a lie.

The various promises made during the period of exile have no legal basis in the eyes of Europeans and are purely empty talk. Only when the exile government comes back to power and fulfills those promises (in Europe, such promises will usually be delayed) will it be a real traitor.

Before Olga entered Petrograd, she said nothing. But once she came to power in Petrograd, she became the real Empress of Russia.

So...the cession of Belarus and Ukraine is now her trouble. If Olga agreed to the cession, she would immediately be branded a Russian traitor, and Stalin and the Bolsheviks would immediately be able to raise the banner of Russian nationalism.

And if Olga does not agree to betray the country, then she and her White Russians will be a big trouble for the Germans.

"I don't think she is stupid enough to offend Germany, right?" Roosevelt sighed softly. "Looking at her performance over the years, you can see that she is not stupid."

"But there is no shortage of fools in Russia!" Hopkins smiled. "We can definitely issue a statement supporting the maintenance of the territorial integrity of Russia or the Soviet Union and the realization of a just peace without ceding territory or paying reparations."