THE SIBERIAN WAR-AND THEN THERE WERE GIANTS…
By Red Star
NOTE: I do not own any real or anime characters mentioned here.
Ishikawa, Toyama, and half of Gifu and Nagano Prefectures lay under the Russian Imperial Banner. In the west, the 2nd Japanese Front was 5 miles away from Hiroshima Prefectures Southern coast. When they reached the coast, they would effectively cut the rest of Japan off from six major cities. A force known as the 4th Area Army was organized to try and resist the Russian steamroller but lacked supplies and proper weaponry to try and defeat the Imperial Army that was fast approaching.
IMPERIAL MINISTRY OF DEFENSE, MOSCOW
Marshal Toverov glanced up from his paperwork to see Yevgeni Primakov enter his office. The Minister of State Security collapsed into a chair facing the Minister of Defense and sighed deeply. Toverov leaned forward and peered at his visitor over his glasses. "Something wrong, Minister Primakov?" The MGB chief nodded and replied, "The events of the Japanese evacuation," Toverov's fingers gripped the bridge of his nose and groaned. The night that the Japanese had quit Siberia had frustrated the Russian secret service. Reports of strange occurrences, one, filed by CINCPAC himself, had come in, claiming he saw a UFO. The Russian intelligence services were stumped by what had happened that night.
TOKYO
The air raid sirens screamed to life again, and Serena's father, who had volunteered to be an Air Warden at the beginning of the war, rushed out into the streets with whistle and helmet and began directing the local citizenry to the nearest bomb shelter. Serena and her family were already waiting for her neighbors as the Tu-160s unloaded their bombs onto the massive city. "Hey Serena!" She turned to see Mina and Lita climbing into the shelter. They sat down beside the girl and spoke to her as the shelter shook around them. "Any word from Darien?" asked Mina. Serena looked down and said, "No, Nohitomo keeps him working." "Well, if the Russians beat us, Darien will come back!" This had come from Lita, and the shelter, which had been filled with chatter before, became silent as a tomb.
VLADIVOSTOK, CENTRAL COMMAND, EASTERN THEATER OF MILITARY OPERATIONS
Marshal Vladimir Lakov was pacing in his office. A cup of tea sat steaming beside a translation of a major Japanese paper. The Japanese Military defeats Russians at Okaya! Hah! The truth of the matter was, a Japanese Armored Division had spiked out of the town, throwing an advancing Rifle Division into chaos. The Major General commanding the force returned later with a friend: the 37th Guards Tank Division. They smashed the Japanese Division and marched through the tiny town waving captured Japanese banners above their heads and raiding bars across the city. This incident of a Japanese victory was insignificant, but still disturbed the Commander in Chief of the East. An Armored Division had dared attack his troops, as if on offensive. Were the Japanese plotting an Asian version of the Bulge? What if they did? The Allies had crushed the Nazi attack because of the favorable terrain, but Russian troops were in mountain country, the Japanese knew the land. Imperial Army troops were vulnerable to a major Japanese attack. Marshal Lakov had to crush Japanese morale. As long as Kagita could still give his people some victories, they would continue to have hope. No! He would never let that happen. He walked out of his office and down to the war room. He approached the map and began planning. It was time for a new Arctic Storm. The Russian Army would slash to the east and south. He would send an additional 450,000 troops for this plan, the objective: To seize strategic areas that would lead to the conquest of Tokyo.
THE MASAKI SHRINE
The early morning was shattered by a roar of cannons. Ryoko flew out of her room. Ayeka and Sasami burst out of their room, bumping into Mihoshi and Kiyone. "What was that?" asked Sasami, whose eyes were beginning to water. "Artillery," said Kiyone.
They rushed to a window to see dozens of shells approaching the house…and then exploding in midair. "HAHAHA!" came a voice from behind them. They turned to see Washu smirking at the sight. "I knew that force shield would come in handy! The Russians can't shoot us now!! Am I a genius or what?!"
Yosho awoke to the sound of artillery. He stepped out, in his eternal calm manner, onto the porch of his Shrine. Japanese soldiers were fleeing on either side of him, carrying wounded. Some looked at him in horror and amazement, they hesitated and were cut down by machine gun fire. Soon, every Japanese trooper had fled the Shrine's area.
The Shinto priest listened to the night. Insects chirped, birds flapped to escape the loud noise that had spoiled an otherwise peaceful time of rest, and there were yells from foreign voices. Yosho heard the sound of boots smacking on pavement, hoarse commands, and the grinding of tractor engines. He turned to calmly regard a Russian APC as it rumbled to a stop beside the shrine. A hatch opened, and a Russian officer came out to survey the region. After a moment he turned and saw the Shrine's priest. The officer appeared surprised and stepped back, reaching for his gun. Yosho looked blankly at him and said, "Welcome, sir. As High Priest of the Masaki Shrine, I surrender our grounds to the Russian Imperial Army. I ask that you leave my son in law, our boarders, their pet, and myself in peace as you continue your battle." The officer stared at Yosho, amazed at what the man had just said. He then climbed back inside and radioed instructions to the rest of his 27th Tank Division. "This is Division Command, the shrine is ours, I repeat, the shrine is ours. All units will converge to drive the Japanese troops off of this site." The Russian Major General came out and saluted the waiting priest, "Thank you for your cooperation, sir, I can promise you that you and your family will be left in peace."
To the east, the 7th Tank Army smashed into the 10th Area Army. Rolling alongside was the 54th and 43rd Armies. The tanks were the spear point, to bloody the nose of the Japanese, force them to shift their precious 4th and 5th Armored Divisions to counter-attack, while the 54th and 43rd maneuvered in a heart like fashion and attacked the 10th Area Army's flanks. Overhead, the 4th Air Army attacked the Japanese 7th Air Fleet with Su-S-37s and MiG 33s. Vankas, Little Ivans, the nickname for the Russian soldier, mowed down half the Japanese front line troops in the first hour and leaped over foxholes that were slowly filling with blood. Grenades were tossed, flamethrowers spat out deadly flames, rockets from Katushyas, now called "Dane's Pipe Organs" by the Japanese, flowed into Japanese lines, sending tents and tanks bursting into flames.
Lieutenant General Igor Kalanov, commander of the 14th Tank Corps under the 43rd Army, inspected the site of a former Mobile Hospital Unit. The flames still burned on some of the tents, giving off a horrible stench from ex-patients and burning medicine. He shook his head sadly. At one point, he found the body of a Japanese Major General. Kalanov looked at the corpse and then stepped on it as he made his way to his jeep. "For some there should be pity, for some there should be contempt…"
In the south, the 3rd Combined Arms Army joined the 1st Shock Army and 4th Guards Tank Army in a broad sweep to the south. 12 Divisions rolled across the land, the 29th Tank Division it self led the charge down Shizuoka peninsula.
TWO DAYS LATER
The 37th Guards Tank Division halted. The Russian General in command ran forward to take a picture of the amazing sight.
The lights of the City of Tokyo.
The Russians roared in happiness. Warm comradely bear hugs were exchanged. Tears flowed freely. Laughter filled the air.
Lakov smiled as he looked at the positions on his maps.
All he needed now was one last push…