Red Line

Red Line

The Red Line is an area of the metro that is currently lead by General Secretary Comrade Maxim Moskvin of the Communist Party of the Moscow Metropolitan; in short, Secretary Moskvin. The Communists (also commonly referred to as "The Reds") are a Far Left faction within the Metro Series, at war with the Fourth Reich. They are characterized by their large population and military, as well as their neutrality to most other Metro factions despite their underlying hostile demeanor. They are currently in a war with the Reich.

Overview

Primarily making up Red Village (Krasnoselskaya), Red Gates (Krasnye Vorota), Komsomolskaya, Lenin Library (Biblioteka im. Lenina), the stations on the Red Line officially re-endorse communism and the socialist type of government used by the USSR - neighboring stations did so in rapid succession while some of them overthrew their own governments. A trait among the Red Line is that while they are normally neutral and not as openly imperialistic as the Nazis, they often attempt to gain control of nearby stations by either gradually exerting their influence upon the current government or backing the overthrow of it in favor of a pro-Communist government - either way they will eventually take over and integrate the station into the Red Line and regard them as a "free" station.

At first the people on red line created a committee which was responsible for dispersing propaganda of revolution and communism in the whole Metro, with the almost Leninist name of "Interstational". After a while the line was officially renamed to Red Line, which had already been its nickname before the war. Following many conflicts over territory, the Red Line actively began trading consumer goods with Hansa. It has begun the electrification of tunnels, but there are famine issues from time to time in Communist stations. Although their territorial possessions allow Red Line to produce a large amount of food and weaponry, its conflicts with the Nazis have drained these resources massively.

While not as bloodthirsty or hostile as the Nazis, the Reds still have all the major characteristics of a police state - individuals commonly sell out their own neighbors as mentioned by Khan, supposedly for rewards of food. Well-armed soldiers patrol each station under communist control to maintain law and order as well as prevent rebellion, while conscripted recruits are used for war fighting at the front.

Individuals who do so much as disrespect a soldier or are simply in the wrong place at the wrong time are arrested, and sent to Lubyanka station located underneath the old KGB (Soviet Union's secret police) headquarters, which is used as a political prison by the communists for citizens who break the law or do not obey the government. A common phrase used in regards to Lubyanka station is that "the ticket to Lubyanka is always one-way", hinting that all who go there are worked/tortured to death or outright executed. These rules and policies cause large numbers of refugees to flee the communists; however, most don't make it very far.

Ideology

The Red Line's society, as noted by Pavel Morozov, follows a very strict mindset. One leader, one Party, and one ideology. He mentions order and control being more important than individual freedoms. This is to make sure their beliefs withstand. The Communists believe that everything that comes out of the Red Line is to be shared equally with everyone; if one person has four bullets and the other has none, they divide it between themselves.

The Communists

As society broke down during the post-apocalypse, these communist factions became without pretense and are openly the brutal, totalitarian police states that have resided in most communist controlled countries throughout history. After having overthrown the local government or its most powerful citizens, the party members used to establish the rule of the nomenklatura, a state aristocracy constituted of the bureaucrats who administered the country's government, industry, agriculture, education, and economy.  All are theoretically made to earn the same regardless of their contribution to society, and have their meager belongings ripe for the taking to "distribute" (re: confiscate/seize) as the head of the regime sees fit. Thus, people are seen bargaining whatever spare ammo they have for food, and the officers assigned to run their outfits are seen abusing their power to torture and pillage their subjects for their own greed. The people in communist stations often display their cynicism and emptiness, despite the risk to their well-being.

The communists are neutral towards the player while in freeplay mode in the Armory, but upon entrance to the Armory and outside the Armory, they are entirely hostile. Their main base of operations is within the Armory settlement, where most of the recruitment and weapons manufacturing (hence its name) occurs within the Metro system.

There are various Communist that can be heard admiring socialist leaders and organizers from before the war, such as Vladimir Lenin, Karl Marx, and Che Guevara. When Artyom is captured by Nazis at the front-line, when they assume that he is a Red spy, they mock him asking him to pray to Marx as some sort of God.

Red Army

Concept art of a communist officer.

“	Glory to the Red Line!	„
— Warcry of the Red Line

“	Long live Comrade Moskvin!	„
— Another warcry of the Red Line

Strength

When comparing the Communists' military to the Nazis', the Red Army is much larger in size due to the Red Line having a much higher population to conscript from. Because of this, they also have lower standards towards the combat capability of their troops. They therefore have the manpower to launch costly human wave attacks against the Nazi defenses without so much as a second thought.

Internal politics of Communist controlled stations is focused upon conscription, aimed at enticing as many recruits to join up as possible. The methods of how soldiers are recruited and criteria to be considered suitable for combat are never explained, however it can be assumed that while they are not forced to be soldiers, all able-bodied males are pressured into signing up for the pay (albeit low) due to the apparent poor quality of life in Communist-held stations.

Units

The Red Army, like other factions, contains different units that have different specialties. The largest wing is what the Red Army is known for; its infantry. Its general army is the largest one of all metro factions. It is mentioned in Sparta that the Red Army is fifteen thousand strong. While its infantry size is impressive, the Faction Pack reveals that the Red Army also has a skilled Sniper Team and puts you in control of a Red Line Sniper. The Red Line also contains a number of double agents and spies which are commanded by head of intelligence General Korbut. Some spies such as Lesnitsky have infiltrated powerful factions such as the Rangers.

Equipment

Frontline soldiers of the Red Army are poorly trained and equipped recruits, usually being armed only with a Bastard carbine, and a single magazine (which is also their conscription payment) and an non-protective cloth uniform. This is because these soldiers are used as cannon fodder by their commanders as a human wall for protecting emplacements, often being mowed down by the more superior Nazi soldiers.

Despite this, several Communist soldiers can be seen wearing professional combat armor and metal helmets as well as being armed with Kalashes, some also featuring Night Vision Goggles. These soldiers can be seen in the levels "Armory" acting as security forces and "Frontline" just hanging around, either talking to other soldiers or patrolling - judging by the fact that these well-armed soldiers are always a distance away from the front-line, it could be assumed that they are either officers/squad commanders or most likely elite units either on par with Nazi soldiers or even better to be sent to battle when conscripts are not effective or low in numbers.

In Metro: Last Light the earliest encountered troops are similar to the first game with the exception being that the AK-74 is much more commonly used by them, but soon after many of the Reds Artyom encounters have significantly better equipment than in the previous game. Their weapons often have attachments such as laser sights and optics, have a high number of Heavy Armored Suits plus a considerable number of soldiers with CBRN suits in areas where they have deployed biological weapons.  In the latter half of the game, the teams sent to kill Artyom have gear that is similar to those used by the Rangers which includes nearly identical body armor and heavily modified high level weaponry (though these may be the equivalent to Spetsnaz type units with access to equipment that the rest of the Red Army doesn't have). In the assault on D6 and on the Frontline they even employ soldiers with Ballistic Shields, flamethrowers, a Gatling, improvised "Tanks" (like Panzers used by Nazis), and an armored train to back up their offensive.

Attitude

While Artyom is hidden in the storage compartment of the railcar carrying newly recruited conscripts on the way to the front line, the Communist soldiers can be heard explaining why they joined the Red Army. While one claims he joined because he genuinely believes in Communism, another explains participation in the Red Army is a family tradition while a third less enthusiastic soldier claims he is purely in it for the money. The lack of morale and enthusiasm by many Red Army soldiers towards their cause is once shown again during a rallying speech by a commissar, where they do not participate in singing the Soviet Union's national anthem, and one of the soldiers making pessimistic statements about dying before he can spend his conscription payment.

The Red Line's officers seem to maintain a very high discipline standard as they will apparently execute a person for 'desertion' even if they were attempting to do something that would benefit the Red's cause, as seen by a soldier pleading for his life executed on behalf of a "Revolutionary Tribunal" by his officer after returning from discovering a hidden passage leading behind the Nazi defenses.

Alliance

In the novel the Red Army also has an alliance with the Revolutionaries, who attack the Nazis sporadically to reduce their numbers and force them to take troops away from the front (in the book this is not precisely said, but the revolutionaries' leader says that the Red Line's communism is not real communism, something of a reference to modern communists regarding the Soviet Union). In game the Red Line has no solid allies, before the evens in Last Light they had a fragile alliance with Hansa and Ranger, while the Nazis are hostile with those factions.

Appearances

Metro 2033

The red line line does not play a crucial role in Metro 2033. They are only fought against in the level Frontline, where they against the Nazis, and can be entirely avoided if Artyom sneaks by them.

Metro Last Light

The Red Line returns as a major faction in Metro: Last Light and as the most common human enemies in the game. Red soldiers have absconded with several biological weapons, and Party leaders have seen fit to use them on various metro stations as a means to take control of them. The effects of these weapons are clearly seen in several screenshots, causing mass hysteria among the general populace. The Red Line has mobilized a huge army against the Rangers in D6 and the Fourth Reich from another location in the final part of the game, on both fronts the Red Line suffered massive losses and none of their objectives are achieved.

Related Achievements

Metro 2033

	Rescue Ranger	30
	Save a group of "Reds" from Fascist captivity.

	Fugitive	30
	Complete the level "Armory" without getting caught.

	Invisible Man	40
	Complete "Frontline" without killing anyone.

	Hedge-hopper	30
	On the level "Frontline" kill all of the enemy Red Army and Fascist Soldiers.

Metro 2033 Redux

	Hedge-hopper	Bronze Trophy - 30
	On the level FRONTLINE kill all of the enemy Red Army and Fascist Soldiers

Metro Last Light

	Secret	Bronze Trophy - 10
	Find out about the Reds' plans.

	Within a Hair of Death	Bronze Trophy - 10
	Escape from the Red Line.

	Bloodlust	Bronze Trophy - 10
	Kill all the Reds on the THE CHASE level.

Trivia

• The only person to ever specifically mention the Soviet Union is Miller while inside D6 when talking about the technology, referring to it as merely "Soviet". When activating the emergency lights however, he says that the situation reminds him of "old Hollywood movies about Soviet Union".
• During the mission Frontline, you'll be able to save three communist soldiers from being executed by Nazi soldiers. This will also garner you an achievement and moral points.
• Red soldiers apparently have a method to destroy the Nazis' Panzers, but it is never seen in-game. However, a burning Panzer is seen in the middle of the level Frontline, halfway between the Nazi and Communist positions.
• New recruits are paid a fully loaded magazine upon joining the Red Army, but are expected to be an "honorable soldier" and use it on the enemy. This is probably because they have a low survival rate due to their poor training, and also possibly because the communist government looks down on the use of currency.
• If you listen to some of the conversations between communist soldiers at the Armory, you'll hear someone mention how there was once a war between the Russians and the Nazis in the past, and that they won. This is of course in reference to World War II, however, since the world is in a post-apocalyptic state, it is speculated that World War II's history may have been lost and only a few know any true detail about it, and even then the truth may be skewed by Red and Nazi propaganda.
• The war between the Fourth Reich and the Red Line is an allusion to the conflict of the Eastern Front  in World War II. The equipment and strategy used is historically suggestive. For example, the communist Red Line uses poorly trained, mostly conscript forces that are high in numbers to rush enemy positions while the Nazis of the Reich use an army of well trained and equipped professional soldiers, though their overall forces are fewer in number.
• At the beginning of the mission "Frontline", a commissar can be heard using communist propaganda (speech and patriotic song) in an attempt to rally the newly transported conscripts - similar to tactics commissars of the Red Army used before and during battles of World War II to boost morale during assaults or charges.
• According to dialogue between conscripts, one claims that his father and grandfather fought in the Red Army. As life in the Metro has only existed for 20 years and the Red Line's army even less, it is possible the conscript's grandfather may have served in the original Red Army of the Soviet Union in the past, maybe even during World War II.
• According to some dialogue between several rangers, there are about 15,000 people living in the Red Line.
• The Red Line and the Fourth Reich are the only two factions to possess tanks, also the Red Army is the sole Armored Train user in the Metro games.
• The Red Line most likely uses the Russian version of the Internationale as a national anthem. The commissar in the beginning of Frontline and Pavel defiantly sings it while being tortured by the Nazis.
• In Metro: Last Light at the start of the game, Artyom is lead to believe that the Reds are allies and that the Nazis are the primary antagonists, but once Pavel betrays Artyom, the Reds are discovered to be the primary antagonists

Gallery

A Red Line Officer

A Red Line Soldier

Ditto

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Two Red Line soldiers seen in the level Armory

Official screenshot of a Red Line soldier shooting over a barricade.

A Red Line soldier firing a DShK 12.7mm Machinegun

Red Line Soldiers listening to the commander at the opening of Frontline

Red Line Soldiers as seen in Metro: Last Light

Major Pavel Morozov

Comrade Lesnitsky

General Secretary Comrade Moskvin

General Korbut (Character)

Red Line soldiers equipped with NBC suits

Troop Inspection

Troop Inspection

Red Line Sniper

Red Line's Secret Weapon: The Armored Train

General Korbut inspecting the troops