The Sword and the Shield:An AAR

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The Sword and the Shield: An AAR

I would like to dedicate this AAR to the memory of Oranje, a former member of this forum whose Dutch AAR helped spark the AAR craze for EU and was the first thing connected to EU that I read about a year and a half ago. I would also like to dedicate this to another Oranje, this one the Dutch national football squad(that’s soccer to us Americans).

Author’s Note: Any historical character’s actions have been entirely created by my(feeble) mind and/or others(as noted). Also, the Soviet secret police, which was known as the NKVD(1934-1943), the People’s Commissariat of Internal Affairs, changed its name to the NKGB, the People’s Commissariat of State Security in 1943. For the purposes of this AAR, the Soviet secret police will be known as the NKVD.

1935
31 December, 2300 hrs.
Berlin, Germany
Soviet Embassy, 55/65 Unter der Linden

“The setting of the Soviet Embassy stands out from those of the other structures on the street Unter den Linden. Its central section with the main entrance is set away from the street, creating the space for a green honor court. A tower structure breaches the unified height of the other buildings on the boulevard.”

The party had started at 2000 hrs, but was now just getting into full swing. The band played while the diplomats mingled, then the envoys joined in a receiving line for the new Russian arrivals. Colonel Ivan Kozlov, graduate of the Frunze Military Academy in Leningrad, was the main arrival. One of the last to greet him was a German of medium height, one of several invited to this event.

“I don’t believe I have seen you before?” queried the German, tilting slightly from side to side, perhaps in response to the band, more likely a response to the beer.

“My name is Colonel Ivan Kozlov. I am the military attaché to the Soviet embassy”. answered the Russian. “I have just arrived here in Berlin and hope to make some new acquaintances. What may I ask is your name?”

“My name is not important. Yours is. I have heard it before. You are an assassin sent to kill me!! Get away!!! Help!! Someone!! Get this untermensch away from me!!” That last comment was exactly the wrong thing to say on Soviet territory. The band had stopped playing by this time and all secondary conversations quickly stopped. Two burly Russians approached the obviously-by now-drunk fascist. “Get your hands off of me!!” They ignored his comment and dragged him outside while the other Germans quietly left, trying to show no embarrassment on their faces. Some apologized for the behavior of their fellow countryman, but most did not, just simply left.

Colonel Kozlov’s face showed no emotions while the inhibited German was led away. He had been trained to do so, not at the Frunze Military Academy, but at another academy of sorts. For Ivan was not only a Colonel in the Soviet Red Army, but was also a Colonel in the NKVD. The drunk German had been correct. Ivan’s mission included several objectives. One of them was the assassination of the man he had just met. Luck and alcohol had saved his cover. Next time it might not be so.

The Politburo and the state of the USSR on New Years', 1936

 

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Author’s Note: All quoted sections in this passage come from Frederick Forsyth’s “The Devil’s Alternative”.

1936
8 January, 9000 hrs.
Moscow, Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic (RSFSR)
The Kremlin, Cathedral Square

While Colonel Kozlov was dealing with the incident at 55/65 Unter der Linden, a convoy of a dozen black Zil limousines was sweeping through the Borovitsky Gate in the Kremlin wall.

“The Kremlin is a triangular compound, with its apex, dominated by the Sobakin Tower, pointing due north. On all sides it is protected by a fifty-foot wall studded by eighteen towers and penetrated by four gates. The southern two-thirds of this triangle is the tourist area, where docile parties troop along to admire the cathedrals, halls, and palaces of the long-dead tsars. At the midsection is a cleared swath of tarmacadam, patrolled by guards, an invisible dividing line across which tourists may not step.”

But the black limousines headed across this open space toward the three buildings in the northern part of the Kremlin. One building, the smallest one, is the Kremlin Theater. Behind that is the Council of Minister, seemingly the home of the government, inasmuch as the ministers meet there. It had been in this building that a crisis committee had met on the 5th of January to play a kriegspiel scenario of a German invasion of Austria. The wargame was played in response to the Austrian declination of Germany’s territorial demands.

The real government, however, lies in the third building, which is also the biggest. In shape it is a long rectangle running north. The southern end is the old Arsenal, a museum for ancient weaponry. To reach the upper section, one must penetrate a high, wrought-iron barrier that spans the gap between the Ministers’ Building and the Arsenal.

The room in which the Politburo meets is about fifty feet long and twenty-five feet wide. The table is T-shaped. The chairman, in this case Josef Stalin, sat at the center point of the T. The other members of the Politburo arranged themselves, six a side, along the stem of the T.

The Armaments Minister, Lazer Kaganovich, began the meeting. “I bring up before the Politburo a very serious matter, Comrades. It concerns the pace of research of our mighty country. I suggest that we begin to research into the areas of armoured warfare, artillery, and develop new medium-range fighters and medium bombers. This will provide the right amount of support for our glorious Red Army!!”

Josef cleared his throat, “I would prefer that you be a bit more specific. Generalizations are all too rampant in our society and lead to corruption. Continue.” The hidden emphasis on prefer was not lost on the others.

Lazer followed, “Very well, Chairman. The specifics fields include new guns that can be fitted onto our tanks, starting with 20mm and getting bigger, building new tanks that are able to go through water-the so-called ‘Amphibious Tanks’, develop basic artillery pieces that will help us dominate the capitalists, develop new engines for our new medium-range fighters to dominate the air, and finally to construct new airframes and aerodynamics, though these will only be rudimentary, they will help us succeed in our tasks. We will need to increase the resource output, though.”

Kaganovich surveyed the table. He knew that Michail Tuchatjevski would be on his side, for the Chief of Staff preferred the manoeuvre aspect of warfare and would get that with the new tanks. Also, A.E. Golovanov, the Chief of the Red Air Force, would be with him, for he also preferred the new tactical bombers and the ability to support the Army.

The ones who would be against him would include Maksim Litvinov, the Foreign Minister who would prefer to attack immediately instead of building up resources, and probably Kliment Y. Voroshilov, who, although he was the Chief of the Red Army, believed in getting the supplies to the army and not ‘wasting’ them on research. Also, the Chief of the Navy, I.S. Isakov, would obviously be against it because the plan didn’t support the Soviet Navy.

The swing votes would be the Chairman himself, the Minister of Security, Genrikh Yagoda, who was always plotting behind everyone’s back and who could go on either side, and the Minister of Intelligence, Yan Berzin, whose specialties tended to be technical and would lean towards the proposal.

“Any other proposals, comrades?” queried Stalin.

“I have a counter-proposal. We should put some of the industry into creating more infantry divisions and expand the Navy. We should concentrate research on naval areas and on improving the infantry, along with creating an atomic bomb-which would fall under the control of the NKVD” spoke Litvinov. The last bit was an important offer to Berzin and partially Yagoda.

Stalin motioned for a vote on Kaganovich’s proposal. Slowly the hands were raised for yeas, which included Kaganovich’s own, the Chief of Staff’s, Golovanov’s, Yagoda, and Stalin’s himself. The motion passed when Josef’s hand was raised. The fate of a nation’s-nay, a continent’s work had just been decided here, in a small room with twelve men. Where would this path lead them? Into the gates of hell? Out of them? Towards the fascists, or towards the capitalists? Perhaps their path would be one traveled by no other.

A view of the western border and Moscow, along with the industrial output.

 

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Comments welcome.

14 Jan 1:00
Minsk, Byelorussian SSR

The capital of the Byelorussian SSR is Minsk. This night the city was cold. Ivan Kozlov had been transferred here just a week after the incident in Berlin, over which relations between Germany and Russia had grown cool, and were not likely to improve with Litvinov’s hatred of all who were not Communist.

Colonel Kozlov had been sent here by the NKVD, which was responsible for the security of the Soviet border, to improve the land fortifications in this province. The Poles were not the main problem; if they invaded Russia they would be easily contained. The main problem, as the recent wargame at the Council of Ministers had shown, was the fascist Germans. How would the USSR react? The reaction had already begun with the construction of these new land fortifications across the western border. Ivan had also heard of the construction of new industry in Moscow and East of there.

The flag of the Byelorussian SSR, 1937

 

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brilliant start!

 

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26 February 8:00
Bucharest, Romania
Soviet Embassy, Sos. Kiseleff, 6

The ambassador to Romania had the strange feeling that he was going to be hosting these parties several more times in the future. This was already his second gathering with the Romanian officials, and both time it seemed that the ambassador’s, and the Soviet Union’s, standing grew higher and higher. He did not know where this would lead but suspected that Litivnov was being pressured into playing nice with the Romanians, probably to influence them into an alliance for their oil. But the ambassador was also shrewd. He knew that he must continue the façade of enjoining these parties until one day, he knew, would arrive. And then, he would strike.

Romanian coat of arms

 

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Patric123: Thanks for the nice comment.

 

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Nice diplomatic intrigue - this Colonel Kozlov is a very shady character indeed.

 

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La Reconquista-yes, he is very shady and in very high demand, just wait and read.