Hearts of Iron IV - Katyusha [Full version]

"Katyusha" is a preorder bonus song included with the recently released Hearts of Iron 4: No Step Back DLC.

[jalinCZE]

Played this to my Great grandfather, now he is running towards Berlin

[snushnus]

Funny how hoi4 was released in 2016 and this dlc came out in 2021 almost like its a *5 year plan*

[FromHighOrbit]

It's like they gave "Katyusha" the same energy as something like "Polyushka Polye" or "Farewell of Slavianka" - fantastic.

[drinkyourwater]

"kick the door and the whole rotten structure will come crashing down!"
Hitler: *kicks door*
Door: *doesn't fall*
Hitler: oh

[doommuffin]

The best thing to ever come out of paradox, change my mind

[kahowka]

For some english users there is a cool fact about the song. I think most of you know that Katyusha is a MLRS. Song was wrote before WW2 and Soviet army named the MLRS after the song. And after that song has two meanings. First (the original one) is about a girl who sing her song and asks it to follow the sun till her lover hear her. And the second one about MLRS turned out to fit perfect because there are lines like

_apple trees and pears blossomed_
_the fog swam above the river_
(which is a spring the time when soviet army got Katyusha MLRS into service and the counteroffensive started)

_Katyusha came ashore_
_on a high and steep shore_
(MLRS got in position)

_came out and started to sing_
(MLRS opened fire) (actually the words are "pesnyu zavodila" zavodit' is more like starting the engine. Katyusha starting the engine of her song for more precise translation)

_Oh the song the girls song_
_Fly after the sun_
(projectile flying to the sky)

_And say hello from Katyusha to the warrior at the far border_
(Neutralize the enemy on our border)

_Let him recall a simple girl_
_Let him hear how she sings_
(Katyusha is indeed a simple (cheap) girl but at the same time it sings (shoots) and strongly damages the enemy. Dont forget that)

_Tell him to defend his own land_
_and Katyusha will save the love_
(Defend your own land instead of invading us and Katyusha will save her ammunition load instead)

[MinusCharisma]

That moment when your army has been able to absorb Barbarossa in good order, dig in on the river line and now Comrade, we go forward!

[StellarCrackhead]

As an opera singer whose first full opera song was Katyusha, i legit cried like a baby when hearing this rendition

[drinkyourwater]

When the green bubbles finally start to appear and you know damn right

*It's time to march west*

[megasportsfan]

It is physically impossible to listen to 2:18-3:24 without picking up your Mosin-Nagant and crossing the Volga with the 62nd Army to keep Stalingrad out of the claws of the fascist beast

[espen]

The way the percussion ramps up at the end makes it so powerful

[evanlittle]

God damn this song does really follow the timeline of operation Barbarossa.
Very slow paced and mournful at first, reflecting the absolute decimation of the red army and the loss of life with it in the early stages.
The build up around the middle of the song, reflecting the turning points at Stalingrad and Kursk in '43.
And finally ending with a glorious Soviet decimation of the Wermacht and minor Axis forces in operation Bagration all the way to the climax at the end with the fall of Berlin and the end of the war.
The very end gets almost mournful again, but with a different tone. Paying respect to the ~10 million Soviet soldiers and civilians who died, but with a positive outlook on the future, at least at the time.

[matthewyj]

Absolutely love this song, you can feel the turning point around 2:10 when the Soviet Industry kicks in, new division are deployed, and you begin pushing the Germans back.

[packd]

The bass trombone player is a true Hero of the Soviet Union!

[legatebunyuk]

2:18 just saving this so i can repeat the best part

[Kernozenko]

Holy Mother of Zhukov, this is glorious.

[sohrb]

I am feeling patriotic about a country that dissolved 30 years ago.

[drinkyourwater]

Germans: Lacking supplies

Aerial Superiority: achieved

Lessons of war: completed

Winter: freezing the gas on their tanks

Manpower: 4 million

Reserves: Deployed

German Flanks: Weak

*Yes it's Red Army time*

[райангослинг-ця]

0:00-1:32 Germany breaks you down to Moscow
1:33-1:41 You took back Kyiv
1:42-1:49 You start to close the Stalingrad cauldron
1:50-2:06 You took Paulus' 6th army prisoner
2:07-2:23 You are already fighting in the territory of the German Reich
2:24-2:55 Battle of Berlin
2:56-3:23 Glorious Victory
3:24-3:39 Rebuilding after the war
3:40-3:59 First Man (Gagarin) in space

[evolve]

A moment of slience for all those who didnt pre order the no step back dlc. Also the start of this Katyusha strangely reminds me of Frostpunk