Emergence of Novi Soviet

In today's issue of Punchback magazine, with look at the historic emergence of Novi Soviet. Its emergence is intrinsically linked to the rise of Imperial Norway.

The story begins in 2022 with the Russian invasion of Ukraine. By 2023 the war is starting to become increasingly unpopular at the Russian state is failing to produce enough military material.

Engineers and scientists are leaving the country. It becomes increasingly clear to the Russian leadership with current trends they cannot win the war. A process that leads to the emergence of Novi Soviet is kicked into motion. What were the main drivers for this historical change?

The Russian leadership understands that they need a war economy where the resources of the nation can be funneled into large-scale production of military equipment. In addition, they see a need to retain skilled personnel. These realizations leads to the conclusions that a form of the old Soviet Union system needs to be brought back. Control of the people, nationalization of the military industrial complex.

Novi Soviet was never recreated exactly as the old Soviet Union but as a form of hybrid regime where a free market economy exists alongside a powerful state capitalist sector, which by many has been compared to the Chinese regime.

The key challenge for Novi Soviet in Ukraine is recognized as the massive Western support of Ukraine. Novi Soviet use their gas exports as a weapon to attempt to force the Europeans to end their support of Ukraine. They cut gas deliveries, which severely hurt the European economies.

But there is one nation which sabotaged the effectiveness of the Novi Soviet approach: Norway. Norwegian gas pipes keep pumping out gas to continental Europe as the Novi Soviets cut their deliveries.

Soviet leadership realize the clock is ticking as Germany is starting to expand liquid gas terminals to import gas. Novi Soviet leadership put pressure on their ally in NewCon across the Atlantic to not supply liquid gas to Europe. Cutting Norwegian gas exports before liquid terminals are fully operational becomes critical.

A plant to invade Norway being to be formulated. The major roadblock is Norwegian NATO membership. It puts Novi Soviet at risk with a full on NATO conflict they know they cannot win. Even with the reduced strength of NATO due to the division of the US into Northern United States and the New Confederacy (NewCon).

An opening happens, however, as Turkish president Erdoğan and Hungarian prime minister Viktor Mihály Orbán blocking Swedish NATO membership. To force NATO's the Nordic nations of Iceland, Norway, and Denmark leave NATO in protest. The Nordic nations for their own defense alliance instead called the Neo Kalmar Union, a solution long advocated among the Nordic political left which gained considerable political power and influence after several scandals involving American servicemen at American bases on Iceland and Norway is encountered.

The Novi Soviet leadership thus sees an opening and a chance to gain full control over gas exports to continental Europe. Finally, a way to choke the European side of NATO.

Fierce fighting ensues. The Norwegian terrain proves difficult for the Novi Soviet forces. Dormant projects to create heavily armored walker robots get resurrected. With robotic legs, they are able to advance heavy equipment with strong firepower into the Norwegian mountain terrain. A similar challenge emerges in the depths of Finnish forests. Tanks prove useless. Instead, Novi Soviet pioneer the use of heavy personnel armor. Heavily armored soldiers with hydraulic assistance is used to march through Finnish forests areas and avoid being taken out by Finnish sniper positions.

Armored soldiers is a development from the Ukrainian front lines, where ex-convicts in armor are used to draw out Ukrainian positions. The armor force Ukrainians to use heavier weapons to take out Russian ex-con soldiers. This causes their positions to get exposed, to allow Russian artillery to target them.

This way, Russian armored soldiers appear as a strange suicide tactic. Enemies are able to take out these soldiers with heavier weapons, but it exposes their positions to Russian heavy artillery. This brutal tactic is employed in the Nordic region as well to secure Novi Soviet victory.