The Bear and the Swastika by Max Lamirande

Author:Max Lamirande [Lamirande, Max]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Obsidian Press
Published: 2023-06-30T04:00:00+00:00

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5th Rifle Division, Soviet-Lithuanian border – August 13th-15th, 1940

Vitali Antonov, a private soldier in the 5th Rifle Division, listened to his commanding officer as he gave them the rundown on their new set of orders. “Stavka (Red Army Command) has ordered our units to be transferred to Siberia to go and help our brave comrades fight the Fascists Japanese who are threatening to engulf our country in war. They want to conquer our land to install their putrid ideology, steal our women and our resources.” Right beside him stood the political officer. Such officers were present in every Red Army unit. Their primary function was ensuring military men followed the Communist Party line and stayed in line with Stalin’s will. Most men showed enthusiasm for the new set of orders, as it was prudent to do so. One never received congratulations from a political officer if he looked less-than-motivated at following orders.

The next day a long line of trucks arrived, and they boarded them. The trucks drove them to the train station in Vilnius, where they had been stationed ever since the Soviet Union took control of Lithuania. The train they then transferred on was a hodgepodge of railcars laden with guns and T-26 tanks, passenger coaches, and cattle wagons. The soldiers from many units were packed into these trains, but Vitali got lucky and was ordered into a coach, which was nice. He was able to sit by a window, and eventually, the train departed.

Looking through the window, he tried to think about the last few weeks in Lithuania. It was a nice place to live, and he liked his interaction with the local population, which was peaceful. During his time in Vilnius, he even got romantically involved with a good-looking local girl and befriended a farmer that gave him eggs in exchange for some of the dreadful military rations he had.

He was sad to leave Lithuania and wary of his new destination. He’d heard that war between Japan and the USSR was imminent, and General Zhukov was already battling the Imperial forces in Mongolia. He wondered where he would be sent. Rumors going around in the battalion he was part of spoke of Vladivostok, Chita, or Lake Baikal. The border with Japanese Manchuria was very long, so the Motherland needed soldiers everywhere to defend it. He wondered what would happen next.

One thing was certain, Vitali Antonov was going to war against one of the most vicious opponents in the world, the Imperial Japanese Army. The next few months did not forecast to be easy for him and his comrades.

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