I Will Stage A Coup D'état-Chapter 75: Operation Anthropoid (1)

While the Korean military managed to endure China’s winter offensive without much difficulty, the German military couldn’t do the same.

Faced with the wave offensive of the Soviet army, which mobilized a large number of ski units and cavalry units prepared for the winter, the German army couldn’t regain its senses.

Once holes started to form, the German front collapsed in an instant like a breached embankment.

In the process, units that couldn’t retreat were isolated within the Soviet front lines.

There were cases where units at the regiment level and even division level were surrounded.

“Soviet tanks! Run away!”

When the terrifying Soviet tanks plowed through the snow and revealed themselves, the German army fell into a panic and rushed to flee.

Having lost a huge number of tanks, and with even the Air Force’s sortie numbers decreasing, the German army was helpless against the attacks of the Soviet armored units.

Just as the situation on the Moscow front was reaching its worst point, a man appeared.

“I am the newly appointed commander of the 9th Army. From now on, we will switch from defense to offensive defense.”

“Pardon? Then, are there any reinforcements to carry out such a mission?”

“I am the reinforcements.”

It was the moment when Panzer General Walther Model1, whom Hitler called the best field marshal and ‘the Führer’s firefighter’, took the stage.

Starting with Walther Model, outstanding German commanders on the front lines began to demonstrate their talents.

When they judged it difficult to avoid encirclement, they built circular defensive lines and countered the Soviet army with hedgehog tactics.

“No, why aren’t those bastards retreating? Are they trying to die?”

To survive like this, the German army entered key points and put up stubborn defenses.

And their desperate struggles became a snowball.

“What? Keep advancing westward? But the German army has a firm grip on the railroad junctions and cities. If we ignore that and advance, what about supplies?”

“It’s the will of the Comrade Secretary.”

Unfortunately for the Soviet army, the achievements in the Western Front encouraged Stalin.

Stalin ordered to collapse of the entire German front, riding on this momentum.

No matter how much better the situation was compared to the previous year, that was too much for the Soviet army’s capabilities.

The enemy was an army that had unified Europe.

Although weakened by the war of attrition, they had not become so feeble as to collapse from just one attack.

The Soviet army, which had been steadily advancing westward across the entire front, soon faced limitations.

The further west they went, the shorter the German army’s supply lines became, and the German Air Force could carry out operations from airfields equipped with warm shelters.

“Hey, you Ivan Bastards! Are ya having fun? Well, Here it comes the Luftwaffe2, hahahah!”

By early February, the German Air Force began to spew out an insane number of sorties.

They relentlessly pounded the Soviet army’s rear and front lines, flying out an average of over 2,000 times a day.

“Argh. What about our Air Force?”

The Soviet Air Force had some strength left, but they also faced the same problems the German Air Force had initially experienced when advancing westward.

“The engines aren’t preheating well?”

Operating from open-air airfields without shelters, the Soviet army struggled to get even 2 out of 10 aircraft off the ground.

Even the few that managed to take off were easily slaughtered by the German Air Force.

“Soviet tanks, you say? Want to try fighting our Stuka3?”

The German Air Force focused on striking the logistics-related aspects such as bridges, railroads, and trucks, in addition to attacking ground troops.

The Soviet army had no means to withstand their overwhelming display of power.

As the Soviet army’s strength dwindled like that,

“Now it’s our turn to show them what we’re made of.”

The German army switched back to the offensive as if they had never been powerless.

The Soviet army had no choice but to give up a significant portion of the territory they had seized during the winter and flee in a hurry.

In the process of retreating, they also lost a tremendous amount of heavy equipment.

Compared to the victory on the Western front, it was a miserable outcome.

The result shown by this comedy was clear.

Both Germany and the Soviet Union lacked the ability to finish off the other.

In the end, what decided victory or defeat was support from the outside.

Germany belatedly realized the importance of the diplomatic war.

“But we screwed up diplomacy, didn’t we?”

As it turned out like this, the voice of Heydrich4, who had been arguing for putting effort into the diplomatic war from before, grew louder.

“If the resources of Britain and America continue to flow into Moscow like this, our Germany will have no choice but to fight a more disadvantageous war than now.”

The Führer was displeased with this situation, but he did not ignore reality.

Now, even he was accepting the reality that he could not make the Soviet Union surrender in a short period of time.

“Then what are you suggesting?”

Hitler asked irritably.

“Please give power to the Reich Security Main Office. If you give us full authority, we will somehow drive a wedge between Britain, America, and Korea.”

Heydrich had put effort into operations against Korea in his own way, but their capabilities were far from enough.

Now was the time for Germany as a nation to put in its total efforts.

Hitler’s cold gaze lingered on Heydrich for a long time.

In fact, the Führer did not particularly like this blond, cold-blooded beast.

“If you’re confident, give it a try. However, if there are no results, you’d better be prepared.”

Heydrich bowed his head deeply to the Führer.

Now, the fate of Germany practically rested on Heydrich’s shoulders.

The only person who understood that fact was Heydrich himself.

Germany’s foreign intelligence warfare basically relied on three axes.

The Abwehr5, the Foreign Intelligence Agency under the Reich Security Main Office, and the Foreign Office.

These three agencies never even pretended to cooperate during the war.

Basically, they were in a competitive relationship over intelligence.

“Recently, these agencies have been showing signs of joining forces.”

The report from Lee Kyung-ho, the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, made me frown involuntarily.

“Did you find out the reason?”

“We haven’t obtained accurate information yet. However, we have confirmed some circumstances using intelligence from the British side and wiretapping devices.”

At Lee Kyung-ho’s gesture, a Central Intelligence Agency executive attached a few photos to the chalkboard.

“Who is that guy?”

“His name is Reinhard Heydrich. He is the head of Germany’s Reich Security Main Office.”

In addition, the profiles of key directors of the Reich Security Main Office, such as Heinz Jost6, were introduced.

Heydrich, yes. I think I’ve heard the name before.

I don’t remember exactly, but he was portrayed as a capable Nazi in the webtoon as well.

“Is Heydrich the reason these agencies have come to cooperate?”

“I can’t say for sure, but there is a high probability of that.”

“So, have you figured out the purpose of him leading this cooperation between these agencies?”

“Based on the circumstances confirmed so far, it seems that the goal is to make Korea an enemy of Britain and America.”

What?

He’s trying to drag Korea, which I worked hard to ‘normalize’, back into a position similar to the Japanese Empire?

We can’t leave that bastard alone.

I was lost in thought for a moment.

Although we are doing our part, considering that Britain and America’s wariness is embedded as a basic passive, it was obvious that Heydrich’s operation would be effective at any time.

Even after Germany dies, if Britain and America raise their level of vigilance against us, we would definitely suffer losses.

So, this bastard, we can’t just leave him be.

If we leave him like this, he will cause big trouble.

I tapped the desk with my index finger and reached a conclusion.

As the saying goes….

When obstacles arise?

Get rid of them!

Yes, getting rid of Korea’s obstacles is the answer.

“You.”

“Yes, Prime Minister.”

“I’d like the Central Intelligence Agency to come up with a plan to eliminate Heydrich. Is that possible?”

“Pardon?”

Even though he’s an enemy, it was not unreasonable for the Central Intelligence Agency to be flustered when told to assassinate a big shot who is the head of the Reich Security Main Office and the Protector of Bohemia and Moravia.

But, for such a big shot, Heydrich’s security is quite lax, you know?

In the original history, during Operation Anthropoid7, Heydrich was shot while driving an open-top car with only his personal driver.

I don’t know if he had the purpose of demonstrating his dominance as a ruler, but considering the situation of being in the middle of a war, it was a reckless action.

It was no different here.

“I’m not saying the Central Intelligence Agency should prepare all of this entirely on their own. If we get cooperation from the British side, we should be able to make contact with the Czech and Yugoslav resistance organizations, right?”

If we were to prepare purely with our own strength, it would of course be impossible.

How could an Asian assassinate the Protector in the middle of Czechia, where only white people live?

The moment we show our faces, we would be caught by the Gestapo.

So we had to use personnel who could operate locally instead of us.

The friends who could do that are the aforementioned Czech resistance, and the ones who could provide a base for the assassins are the Yugoslavs.

When I gave the idea to overcome the important hurdle, Lee Kyung-ho answered confidently.

“If that’s the case, it’s possible.”

I decided to comfort him a bit.

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“What you have to do won’t be an easy task. But try to make a big piece of work this time. The Central Intelligence Agency needs to cause such a big incident to raise its status domestically, don’t you think?”

Those words changed the look in Lee Kyung-ho’s eyes.

Whether it was people or organizations, they were no different in being crazy about honor and status.

“I will stake my life on this matter.

“Yes, I’ll only trust you.”

I sent Lee Kyung-ho away and put a cigarette in my mouth.

Assassination.

Come to think of it, I thought I should pay some attention to security as well.

After the counter-coup, I had reduced security a bit.

“Chief of Staff.”

“Yes, Your Excellency.”

“From today, increase the security detail.”

“I will obey.”

I can’t die even if I get shot by bullets.

It was the most important principle I had established in this world.

Footnotes

1. Otto Moritz Walter Model was a German Generalfeldmarschall during World War II. Although he was a hard-driving, aggressive panzer commander early in the war, Model became best known as a practitioner of defensive warfare.

2. The Luftwaffe was the aerial-warfare branch of the Wehrmacht before and during World War II.

3. The Junkers Ju 87, popularly known as the "Stuka", is a German dive bomber and ground-attack aircraft. Designed by Hermann Pohlmann, it first flew in 1935.

4. Reinhard Tristan Eugen Heydrich was a high-ranking German SS and police official during the Nazi era and a principal architect of the Holocaust.

Heydrich was chief of the Reich Security Main Office (including the Gestapo, Kripo, and SD). He was also Stellvertretender Reichsprotektor (Deputy/Acting Reich-Protector) of Bohemia and Moravia. He served as president of the International Criminal Police Commission (ICPC, now known as Interpol) and chaired the January 1942 Wannsee Conference which formalised plans for the "Final Solution to the Jewish question"—the deportation and genocide of all Jews in German-occupied Europe.

5. The Abwehr was the German military-intelligence service for the Reichswehr and the Wehrmacht from 1920 to 1944.

6. Heinz Jost was a German SS functionary during the Nazi era. He was involved in espionage matters as the Sicherheitsdienst or section chief of office VI of the Reich Security Main Office. Jost was responsible for genocide in eastern Europe as commander of Einsatzgruppe A from March–September 1942.

7. Reinhard Heydrich, the commander of the German Reich Security Main Office, the acting governor of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia and a principal architect of the Holocaust, was assassinated during the Second World War in a coordinated operation by the Czechoslovak resistance.

Also, there's a movie about this