Meme used the same hillock to launch himself, feet first, into the last Cossack who was about to raise his gun to kill Antoine. He caught the Red high on his chest with both feet and rode him to the ground. When they hit the ground, Meme’s weight crushed four of the Commie’s ribs, driving them into the man’s lungs. He slit the guy’s throat for good measure. Then, he looked around to see what he could steal or appropriate as was his right for a job well done.
Most often, the Commies did not have anything of value on their person. But, every once in a while you got lucky and found one who had killed an American along the way. They usually had a lighter and a good watch as their treasure.
The sprint the two had just made uphill in this weak air would have won Antoine a silver medal at the upcoming 1948 Olympics in St. Moritz, Switzerland. And the jump they had each made would have been a Bronze and fourth place. These two were sleek killing machines destined to long lives of crime after the war no matter who won, for there was crime in the Soviet Union even under Stalin.
The remainder of the squad came wheezing up and a replacement officer arrived shortly thereafter. Then a battery of Stalin’s Organs started to play their tune and everyone dove for cover. The barrage of rockets and joining artillery went on for an hour. Then, the Soviet’s started their counter-attack. The remaining 77 men of Antoine and Meme’s company did themselves proud and withstood the attack.
Help came in the form of a heavy weapons platoon that quickly setup its American made weaponry with the officers pointing out killing zones and overlapping fields of fire to the gunners. The Spanish artillery down in the valley fired for effect over the heads of Antoine and Meme’s position. The shell detonations were noted and guns were re-adjusted by a Spotter sent along with their new commander.
The officer actually had a radio. This was a new twist for the veteran Spanish unit. They were delighted to see the Soviets get a measure of 105 mm high explosives dropped right in the middle of their rallying point. This put an abrupt end to the second Soviet attack.
It went on like this for days until Antoine and Meme’s company was sent to the rear and it was someone else’s chance to attack the next mountain and keep it. The mountain that Meme and Antoine had attacked and then held was the first to be wrestled from the Red Army and held permanently since 1944. The Reds had had a solid 18 months of being undefeated in a major attack.
It would seem that the long road to the liberation of Western Europe had begun. The fighting started to move, once again, from mountain top to mountain top. The salient point was that the NATO offensive had begun and seemed irreversible, albeit very slow.
It was unfortunate that this mountain’s name was unknown or forgotten and even the battle was almost lost to history as well. In the end, it was just another pile of rocks. A pile of rocks that the self-named species of homo sapiens, continued to kill one another over and just as abruptly, abandon.
The War on Drugs
The freighter slipped slowly under the waves. She was the second victim of the mini sub Babushka #275 piloted by Captain Yevgeny Glinka. His crew of one, Seaman First Class Ivan Levkov was in ecstasy. This meant a big bonus for his family. Two ships sunk in a patrol brought you big rewards. Not for the last time, he was glad he volunteered to go to sea with the submarine legend Captain Yevgeny Glinka.
The Captain was new to submarines and had not sailed in World War Two. However, he was the leading submariner for the Soviet Navy, by far, with over 22 sinkings in his much larger B-30 submarine. His usual command boat was a converted German Elektroboat. Most of these early Elektroboats were being used as filling and supply stations for the Malyshka mini subs.
After a spectacular first voyage Captain Glinka, was allowed to actually use his Elektroboat as a killing machine. His brief foray into the world of mini subs was both for propaganda purposes and technical data gathering.
The sinking of another freighter would not have made much news or damaged the NATO war effort except for one fact. The ship was filled with a six-month supply of Benzedrine, the commercial version of amphetamines marketed by the British pharmaceutical giant, Smith, Kline & French.
The modern war effort had been fueled by amphetamines since the 1930s, when Germany experimented with various drugs to make their soldiers, airmen, and sailors feel stronger and to combat fatigue. Amphetamines fit the bill. [15]
A product named Pervitin was given out like candy to the military of the Third Reich. Common names for the product were “Tank Chocolate” and “Pilot’s Salt”. From all accounts, the use of amphetamines was responsible for the fury of the Blitzkrieg. As World War Two dragged on, the Germans reduced their use of the drug due to the appearance of addiction among the troops.
Meanwhile, the Allies were just getting started and were playing catch-up in providing their troops with drugs. By 1940, America and, especially the British were including the drug, in various forms, in the ordinary kits given to every member of the military services. It is said that the British version, called Methedrine, won the first Battle of Britain by keeping the “so few” awake to defend the “so many.”
Most battles from the middle of World War Two to the final victories were fueled by amphetamines, that are, indeed, very addictive. Maintaining the supply of these drugs to the front was an unwritten priority. Many a veteran went home and had to deal with going cold turkey. Simultaneously, he was having to deal with the effects of combat and all the various forms of shell shock. Mankind was not made for modern warfare it would seem. Our leaders needed drugs to keep us physically and psychologically able to sustain our killing of each other.
Drugs had been used in one form or another for eons by various tribes and nations to increase pain tolerance, raise the psychological threshold for war, and energized warriors. Now, it was also being marketed as a weight loss product and sleep aid.
The distances flown by the bombers and escorts of SAC and the 15th Air Force required long hours of constant attention to detail. Round trip from the Cairo airbases to the north shore of the Black Sea could take over 10 hours. The human body cannot sustain this kind of activity on a regular basis. Benzedrine could temporarily solve this problem.
The loss of this transport meant that for a few months the Mediterranean theatre would be without its Benzedrine. In addition, thousands of addicts would be going through withdrawal at the same time. Casualties increased by five percent for the American bomber and fighter pilots during January through March of 1947. Most of the increase was caused by accidents.
The officer’s clubs and off base bars were not pleasant places to visit. Relaxation became virtually impossible with an increase in flare ups among comrades in arms. Violence in the barracks increased dramatically as thousands of addicts went through withdrawal with no one available to assist, but fellow addicts.
The loss of this one freighter set back the bombing effort significantly during the intervening months. The loss of the Benzedrine is estimated to have caused thousands of additional deaths in a three-month period due to the increase in accidents and manslaughter rates.
Figure 20- Amphetamines Poster
Chapter Eleven:
The Holy Land
Figure 21- Member of the Arab Legion
Cloak and Dagger
The Soviet advance was starting to wither on the vine in the Mideast. You can only fight so long and cover so much ground. Then, you have to curtail your rapid advance and let your supplies and air cover catch up.
SAC and the 15th Air Force had pulled back from Turkey and were now hitting the Red Armies supply lines hard from the Sinai Peninsula. The Allies had both setup a number of large temporary fields near the city of St. Catherine, Egypt.
The area is on high ground at 5200 ft. and surrounded by mountains that give the city its water supply. The city’s higher elevation resulted in cooler temperatures with highs reaching the low 80s in the summer. All in all, it was a rather nice place to be in the middle of a desert wasteland.
The area
is holy to all three major religions, living together in reasonable harmony. History claims that Moses received the Ten Commandments here. Many of the Bible’s events took place near-by. The presence of Western military troops and modern machines did not sit well with the local holy men from all religions. However, the money that the troops brought with them was very welcome.
The raids, launched by SAC and the 15th Air Force, were designed to make life as miserable as possible for the still advancing Soviets. The VVS was playing catch up and was in the process of moving their bases. In the meantime, the US Army Air Forces and SAC were having a field day with almost negligible casualties. The increase in NATO air activity inevitably slowed down the pace of the Red attacks.
The slower pace of the retreat also meant that the press had caught up with the group known as Marsh’s Marauders. First, it was the United Press International, and then the New York Times, clamoring for access to the group.
Some general back in HQ had sent the press after them and Captain Marsh was not happy about the distractions. His company was now near the Golan Heights and looking down on the gathering Soviet Forces. His men were not made for trench warfare and that was what appeared to be in store. He desperately needed to get his company organized and marauding again.
The Turks were far from home and very unhappy. They missed their families, and native foods and smells. The men were simple shepherds and college students who had never been more than a dozen miles from home, much less in another country that didn’t speak Turkish. They had to be kept busy. Sitting in a trench line was not going to do it. His group was going to fall apart if he didn’t do something soon.
He used the power of the press to make his case. He wasn’t overt and didn’t give them any direct quotes. But, he did hint and suggest that it was kind of strange for a group of marauders to be cooped up fighting trench warfare. The Times reporter took the bait and ran with the theme of ‘Marauders Marooned in Trenches.’
The general who sent the reporters in the first place took the hint. He finally ordered the unit to strike out again and to conduct guerilla warfare as it was popularly being called.
Marsh’s Marauders returned to the business of conducting hit and run operations behind enemy lines. Being in the field had a number of advantages. His Turks were kept busy and they were out of the reach of the reporters. He was, however, ordered to transport, feed, and care for 40 carrier pigeons. Marsh was to write a detailed report of his group’s activities every other day. The coded reports were attached to a carrier pigeon’s leg and it was sent back to its home coop in Arish, Egypt.
The Marauder’s exploits would then be disseminated to the hungry NATO press corps, and from there to the free world as it were. His group was one of the few highlights in this the tenth month of the war. The American and world press were frantic for any kind of victory. Much like Doolittle’s Raid, Marsh’s group was that bright spot in a long story of retreat and defeat.
His current operation would be a gold mine for the press. A real show stopper. They were going to bag a Soviet General and bring him back for interrogation. At least, that was the plan. The idea actually came from one of the Turks, who love this cloak and dagger kind of stuff…literally.
The Turks were to use some camouflage cloaks and their daggers to sneak up on the guards and silently kill them before snatching the Red General. The whole plot was made for a movie starring Earl Flynn or that new guy, John Wayne.
Things didn’t quite go as well as planned with Said jumping at the wrong moment while covered by his cloak to avoid a scorpion. The movement caught a guard’s eye and he had to be killed sooner than planned. The guard’s absence was noticed. As the alarm was about to be raised, they stormed the tent containing the General and his aids.
The commotion had awakened the General and he confronted the first two Turks that entered the tent with his pistol. He was in his underwear. Said and his cousin had no idea the man was the general and target of the operation, and dispatched him quickly with their daggers. The Americans in the company took over the inside job of clearing out the headquarters tent while the Turks provided distractions and cover fire.
All in all, the count was two colonels and one major but zero generals. They did get many a valuable document as they left the tent with their captives. The colonels were drunk which made it easier to get them to cooperate. The Major had to be bound, gagged, and carried from the scene.
Hulls and Hearts
NATO’s strategy was to fall back slowly and to draw the Red Army in and stretching their supply lines to the breaking point. This strategy was very familiar to the Soviets themselves. They had used it over the centuries to defeat the Golden Hoard, Napoleon, and most recently Hitler. The key, in NATO’s case, was to disguise the strategy. It was a delicate balance designed to not give away the obvious plan. NATO had to offer just enough resistance to keep the Red Army pushing forward thinking it was on the verge of a breakthrough.
The Soviets started the battle for the heights over Golan with a rolling barrage intended to force the soft targets under cover. Soft targets in this case were the human bodies of the Jewish soldiers. Stalin had ordered up to the front his newest and best tanks. He believed this would be the final battle before reaching the Suez Canal. Beria and all intelligence sources reported that NATO was almost totally spent. All that stood in Stalin’s way of a free run to the canal was a haphazard group of Jews, dug in on these heights.
Unbeknownst to Beria, these Jews were veterans of World War Two who had come to the area to forge a homeland. The soldiers were serious fighting men who did not care about the strategy of the NATO generals. They were fighting for what they considered their homeland. Joining them were two thousand Arab inhabitants of the area who did not want the Godless Communists to occupy their collective Holy Lands. The Arabs were very serious fighters as well.
Following the rolling barrage, two groups of 50 Soviet T-44 medium tanks fanned out to make their way up a valley. Both groups encountered some anti-tank ditches. Not wanting to hold up the advance, the commander of the southernmost regiment ordered his tankers to dismount and improvise crossing materials to fill in the ditch as quickly as possible. To their great surprise the Soviets had dismounted in full view of dozens of enemy machine gun emplacements.
The Soviet commander finally spotted some movement and ordered his tank crews back to safety, but it was too late. As soon as they started to retreat back to the safety of the tanks, all hell broke loose in the form of 30 and 50 caliber bullets that do a fine job of killing people. Half of the tank crews were cut down in minutes before the remainder of the tanks could react and shell the now exposed machine guns. The damage had been done. The attack was halted for a crucial two hours.
During the lull in the attack, the Jewish defense forces, as they were calling themselves, maneuvered a battery of abandoned 105 mm howitzers into place. They started to heavily shell the Soviet positions. The Soviet artillery answered in kind. This war of opposing ordinance lasted another hour. The artillery duel that was being waged prevented the newly arrived Soviet engineering units from addressing the tank ditches. Finally, the sheer weight of the Red Army’s artillery delivery systems silenced the Jew’s improvised artillery emplacements. Soviet engineers, under the cover of the tanks, created breaks in the tank ditches and the T-44s started to pour through.
Earlier that day, a fast thinking Jewish ex-American officer, commandeered 10 new British tanks that were shipped to the area for testing under combat condition by the Vickers Company. Through a series of miscommunications, these tanks were too close to the frontlines. The tanks were headed as fast as they could towards the docks to be shipped back to a safer location. The Jewish officer was former US Army General Mickey Marcus.[16] No one said no to a well-known former General backed by 500 of his closest friends. The tanks were ready for full field trials and had a full stock of ammunition and fuel. Another week’s worth of ammunition and spare parts, were available as well.
/> Marcus knew about the tanks through his connections and had planned on “borrowing” them one way or another for the planned Jewish state that was forming when the Soviets attacked NATO. Marcus, along with his second in command Moshe Dayan,[17] had no intention of falling back and letting the Reds take over their planned nation.
The recruitment of the local Arabs had been Dayan’s idea. Both Jew and Muslim did not want their holy sites desecrated. Every former member of the British- led Arab League[18] was convinced by their Arab leader, Major General Pasha el Jundi, to join with their Jewish cousins in a fight to save the Holy Land. A very strange and effective fighting force had been formed weeks before the Soviets had reached the Golan Heights.
The ten former British Mark Centurion tanks were split up into two squads and arrived in time to greet the first Soviet T-44s making their way up a valley. An experienced ex-British tanker name Michael Brandt, who had trained in the Centurion, was the first, and as it turns out, the last to fire a shot. These tanks were the prototypes of what would become the Centurion Mark III and were fitted with a stabilized 20 Pounder cannon. This stabilized gun could be fired effectively while the tank was moving. Firing while moving was considered a giant leap in the state of the art tank design. These prototypes were also the forerunner of the American Patton M-50 tank soon to be introduced to the Soviets.[19]
The Jewish manned tank struck first. As was the case in most tank-to-tank encounters, he who shoots first and most accurately, wins. The Soviet T-44 exploded, separating its turret from the hull. The turret flew 20 feet into the air. Ever the professionals, the Soviet tankers did not panic and sought out the source of their comrade’s demise. The five tanks under Dyan started to back up the valley taking shots as they retired. Soon a dozen Red Army tanks were smoking piles of metal.
The Red White & Blue Page 15
