Operation: Defend Freedom. Russian
October 3, 1943. Luga Airfield.
"Nobiek contiviek", the clerk says handing you a note from the Marshall. It's title reads "Действие: Защитите Свободу" (Operation: Defend Freedom).
You take the message reading the first few lines - the Germans are beefing up their forces. The Helsinki spies have spotted a train with the new fearsome Tiger I tanks and FW aircraft. That is not good news. The new T-34 tanks crushed the German Panzers last week enabling you to push back the front line a few miles north from Leningrad. With winter coming, the river will soon freeze over allowing those tanks to drive straight from Helsinki.
Picking up your hat, you take a shot of vodka and douse your cigarette in the ashtray and head out of your office.
The new clerks are a welcome sight you think to yourself. There is nothing wrong with your old clerks, but these young soldiers have an uncanny sense of confidence. As they scurry from office to office, the men and women seem barely old enough to drink let alone wear a uniform.
As you open the door to the war room, Marshal Kerushev is chatting up Dmitriy Loza, the impressive new tank commander who defeated the German Panzers last week. Commander Ivan Kozhedub who commands the La-5 squadron in Luga, is talking to a pretty young filing clerk, her firey red hair clipped neatly beneath her green cap. Kozhedub's squadron has taken horrible losses but his skill behind the cockpit of the La-5 has moved him to command a squadron. He is also a reknown womanizer.
Seeing you walk into the room, Kerushev motions to the table, clears his throat to get Ivan's attention, and begins. "Comrades, we have a challenge ahead of us. This continuation war is tiring on both mind and body, but last week’s brilliant defeat by comrade Loza has given Leningrad room to breath. We need to keep the Germans back and out of Leningrad before winter comes.
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Squads for Soviet side, sound off.
