Article

1947

Only a few hours ago, with the blood still warm on the frozen fields, the resistance fighting in Siberia had ceased. What was to be a glorious, and relatively simple, Russian fight for freedom from their Polish overlords, turned into a Pyrrhic Victory of the defending side. With many, mostly neutral, countries involved, dozens of foreign volunteers and the support from the whole world, the battle of the Siberian independence is to be surely written down in the history of not only the huge, but yet ultimately defeated, Russia and the powerful, now stretching across two continents, Poland, but also Germany, Bulgaria, Lithuania and Serbia.

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Perhaps inspired by the liberation of one of the most important Russian cities, Moscow, from the boot of the Polish oppressor, many influential freedom fighters started to gather in Siberia, around a character known as ' Plesen1 ', who originally comes from Russia. A well known political activist, fighter for Russian independence and an ex-congressman, he was surely the man to lead the uprising to victory.


The peasants cheer for the Russian troops, deploying into battle on horseback.

The initial fighting was successful - the Polish did not expect such a strong resistance, and they were not able to mobilize even half of the men that Russia had drawn into battle. In the first stages the Polish garrisons were overran, and many of them practically surrendered without fighting. The leadership of the rebellion was full of hope, as one by one small Polish (and some volunteer, to a lesser extent) forces were crushed by the swarm of Russian and Bulgarian elite troops.


A Russian 85MM Anti-Tank gun stops a German volunteer brigade in its tracks

Despite some wins for the Polish, who were now getting support from elsewhere in Europe, the Russian HQ's were sure that Siberia will soon follow Moscow along the path to liberty. The small, somewhat shy, advances of the Polish were quickly stopped - the most elite soldiers were on the defenders side, but the attackers had more troops at middle-skill level, thus balancing the situation out. Another factor was that most of the upper-class, most experienced fighters, did not want Polish domination in the still forming Asia. If Russia was given without a fight, it would mean a huge reputation drop for those countries that promised to defend it.


As more and more German-made artillery pieces joined the battle, the harder it was for the Russians to conduct large-scale offensives.

After a few skirmishes, the tired, battle-worn Russians seemed to be loosing the upper hand. The defenders now too had much support, from countries like Germany, Lithuania and Serbia. It was not even practical help in some cases - the economy in places like Silesia experienced a boom of workers and companies, working mostly in the weapon and food industries, thus providing the much needed cheap supplies for the fighters.


A "family" operated tank, loyal to the "Godfather", could easily destroy any form of Russian resistance. One team, lead by Major Mercury had even reported a successful hit on a distance of 3,5km, upon a Russian T-34

What seemed to be a draw quickly changed, after a new party joined the "hunt". Loyal to one man, who has taught them everything they knew and given them food, guns, and a brief motivational speech shortly before battle. Until the recent event they seemed a quiet, peace loving, group of German citizens. The "family" as it is called by both the members and the leader, due to the close bonds between members, is one of the most organized fighting and political forces existing today. The damage they have done was not helpful because it was huge - it was helpful as it was strictly targeted at the most weak of Russian positions, in the most testing times of the battle. Under one commander, organized as no other army, this group of mid-level soldiers has managed to greatly contribute to the victory over the rebellious armies.


The Russians set up positions and get ready for a last, daring counter offensive, as black clouds gather above Siberia's independence.


Although it may now seem that the last stages of the battle were just a clean-up, it was in fact one of the most fierce of the fighting that occurred in the last few minutes. Desperate for liberty, knowing that the only choices are victory or death, the Russian, and many foreign freedom fighters, doubled their effort to repel the joint Polish and "Family" offensives. With lacks of weapons, ammunition and food rations, the rebellion continued on a path to doom. Until the very last shot it was not clear who the victor was; both sides inflicted huge amounts of damage upon each other, with hundreds of young recruits, including myself, joining the skirmish with a rifle they hardly knew how to operate.

Those who perished in the fighting will be missed, and the heroes, from both sides of the spectrum, will live in glory.


Victorious troops patrol one of the newly made "ghost" towns in the vast snow deserts of Siberia.

((Well, I hope you've enjoyed the article and have nothing against the world war two frame, in which I have pictured the Battle Of Siberia. Most of the pictures here were taken during various stages of the eastern front. Please comment - it would be a great reward for my effort.

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