by Unknown
The general smiled at Jeffers. “You are proud to be an American?”
Jeffers nodded. “Yes. And because of my grandfather, I am also proud to be part Russian,” he said earnestly.
The three smiled at Jeffers. Leftvorno slapped him on the arm. “You speak well, Commander. Too bad you are on the wrong side,” he said with a wink.
“May we have a few minutes alone, please?” asked Trodenko.
“Of course,” said Richardson. She and Jeffers got up and left the room. Once outside the door Jeffers went to the adjacent pantry and listened in at the pantry door.
“The young man is right. What shall we be proud of?” Trodenko asked. “The Allies have swept across the Crimea as if on a holiday. Do you really think your meager forces can stop them?”
“Yes, but we are at war!” shouted Leftvorno. “My job…”
“Your job?” asked Colonel Sovatich. “Just three months ago you were a major and I had just finished military school. We have done our job despite the fact we were abandoned down here, simply because our illustrious President is fixated on the rest of Europe. I for one do not want my name associated with a massacre. That, I can be proud of. We fought as best we could. Now, for once, let our people know we are looking out for them. Let them feel like their lives matter more than just a strip of land. This war is over for us. Let the others fight it for a while. If you want to leave, so be it, but I’m staying here to help out. I’ve had it with my government and with our leadership,” he argued.
“Some may consider that treasonous,” said Leftvorno.
“It’s common sense,” said Trodenko. “Did you not see the guns on this ship? They alone could lay waste to this city. There are two more like her outside the breakwater. You and your men, along with many innocent people will be killed. The government talked about taking care of all Russian speaking people, well, it is time to start doing it. All we have seen so far is death, starvation, cold and suffering. This can change that,” he said tapping his finger on the table.
“Look,” said Sovatich, “even the guns you sent to shell this ship for some reason didn’t work. Neither did the rockets, a helicopter, two tanks and our remaining navy. The few ships remaining all had problems and couldn’t respond. I don’t know why, but nothing seemed to work. Out of all that, nothing! I have a feeling we will keep running into problems like that. We really have no choice.”
Ledtvorno hung his head. The man was right, there really was nothing more he could do. His people had little food and barely enough ammunition to last a week. The thought of surrender was almost more than he could bear, but he had to face the fact that he would be leading his men to their deaths. The young man had touched a nerve. That would not be something to be proud of. He looked up at the others and nodded. “We will do it. We will also stay and help the people of this city as much as we can. I will take responsibility,” he said softly.
Richardson and Jeffers were called back into the room. After a few minutes the three left, but not before another ship entered through the breakwater. They stopped to watch a moment. This was more like a transport ship than a warship, but all along her decks were cheering, shouting Russian sailors. They noticed that a number of the Iowa’s crew were on deck waving back. Perhaps this was an omen of good things to come.
Moscow
“Sevastopol has surrendered?” screamed Borodin. “Get some troops down there! I want a new commander in place today! We cannot lose control of the Black Sea,” he shouted to the people in the room.
“It is too late for that,” said one general. “Everything we have is being thrown at the Allies in Poland. Even that will probably be over in the next week,” he said. “We have done everything possible to make this happen, yet our supplies and troops can’t even get to the front anymore. They attack our trains, truck convoys, our ships, everything!” he exclaimed. “It is as if they are watching everything we do.”
A man came rushing into the room and handed Pusko a message. He quickly scanned it. “We just received word that Vladivostok is surrounded. The commander says it is the Americans and the Koreans,” he said numbly.
“The Koreans? They aren’t even in this war,” Borodin wailed.
Pusko sighed. “It seems we underestimated how much support the Poles and Americans would get,” he lamented.
Borodin pointed a finger at Pusko. “You told me this would be over in a month. You told me there was nothing the Allies could do to stop us. You told me it would not impact the rest of our people. Now you say we have lost? That is unacceptable. How many are carrying arms right now?” he demanded.
“A little over two million carrying arms,” said one of the men.
“Well, two million is a lot of troops! Pull them from everywhere we can. Let the internal security forces deal as best they can with disturbances within our borders. Get them to the Polish border and tell them to move!” Borodin shouted.
“The way our people have been killed, it may not be enough,” said the first general.
“Then we will make it enough,” Borodin said angrily. “How many tactical nuclear weapons do we have ready to move?”
The men in the room grew pale. It had now come to this. None thought this was the way to go. “Bringing nuclear weapons into this will surely bring retaliation from the Allies,” said one man.
Very well, we have chemical and biological weapons, do you propose using those?” Borodin asked.
“Definitely not! We would be killing our own people almost as fast as we kill the Allied troops. Besides, our equipment is not that good,” said Pusko.
“Then ready the tactical weapons.”
“It will mean our people will have to march through the areas we just obliterated. The residual radiation will make some sick and others will eventually get cancer,” said another.
“I don’t care about long term effects. Once we get across Europe and this is over, we can take care of the after effects,” said Borodin.
“There are over 5,000 warheads we can use for this. Most are artillery rounds, while some are for our bombers. They range in strength from two kilotons to twenty kilotons. Once we start using them, our people could march through the next day and be relatively safe. We will immediately start issuing protective gear and dosimeters to each soldier. That will let us know what to expect later on,” said Pusko. “We can start on a broad front, then narrow the area and use them as needed to keep the Allies out of the way,” he said.
“Then do it!” demanded Borodin. “You have one week before we begin operations. Get the troops in place and equipped by Saturday or we start regardless,” Borodin said as he turned and stamped out of the room.
The generals looked at each other. “You realize they will respond with weapons of their own,” one man said.
“It is the end of us all,” said another.
“Show some backbone!” demanded Pusko. “The Allies are as frightened of these things as we are. They probably will never use them. In the meantime, our troops will be able to get behind their lines and move out.”
“You realize this leaves the rest of our nation without Army support. We won’t be able to protect the rest of our borders.”
“Give more arms to our internal security forces. They will have to make do until this is over,” Pusko said. “Make the plans and get them executed. I will be attending the latest graduation from the academy day after tomorrow, then will be back for your reports,” he said as he left the room.
The men looked back and forth at each other. This had to end. Russia was bleeding to death and they simply wanted to open the wounds further. Somehow, they needed to make it stop.
Chapter 15
Decisions
Belarus
Ivan Olevski, President of Belarus, stared at the messages in his hands. The Allies were now at the border with Belarus and the Swiss Ambassador had brought a message from the Allied leaders asking what his intentions were. “Allied forces are now at your border. We do not desire to bring the war t
o your country; however, we are ready to do so. If you wish for Belarus to be a neutral in this war, all Russian troops must leave. Any desiring to surrender, may do so, however those desiring to continue fighting have two days to leave Belarus before we enter. Allied forces will enter the country beginning in forty eight hours. The Allied nations are at war with Russia. Our intentions are to cross your country in this effort. Your decision will determine if we come through as friends or as enemies. Please relay your decision via the Swiss delegation,” he read aloud.
He lifted the other message and also read it. “This one is from Borodin. ‘Nothing is to be left which may benefit the Allies. Burn and destroy everything in their path. Your troops must help your fellow Russians holding the line against the aggressors,’” he read. Olevski threw the message on the floor. “The fool thinks he’s Stalin. Of course he wants to bring back scorched earth, because it’s our earth that will be scorched. He started this war and wants our citizens to pay for it,” he spat. He turned to his defense minister. “Do they have any chance of turning this around?” he asked.
The Defense Minister shook his head. “The way I see it, there is none. They are getting desperate. Look at this,” he said handing over a small device.
“What is this?” Olevski asked.
“It is a dosimeter. It’s used to measure radiation. They have started handing these out to all the troops,” he said. “It can only mean one thing.”
Olevski looked at the device in horror. “Scorched earth. Only in this case he’s ready to ignite a whole world. This has made up my mind.” He turned to the Swiss delegate. “Thank you for bringing this to us. Please let the Allied commanders know Belarus is neutral and will not oppose their advance through our nation. Please ask if they can send a delegation to discuss things further with us,” he said.
I will be happy to do so,” said the delegate. Please feel free to use our consulate in anything that can bring about peace,” he said as he shook Olevski’s hand and left the room.
Olevski turned to his Defense Minister again. “Get with your people. Make sure our people are ready. Then inform our Russian troops they must either surrender to the Allies or leave Belarus within forty eight hours. But offer this as an alternative. They can transfer to Belarus control and become a part of our army if they desire. That may be a better alternative than either surrender or continuing the fight,” he said.
Olevski looked back at the others. “Now let us send a response to our former Russian friends,” he said.
Moscow
“Neutral?” cried Borodin. “He has lost his mind!” he screamed. “Where are our troops?”
“They have told them to leave Belarus within forty eight hours. We want them to stay, of course, but if they do, the Belarusian Army will begin attacking us as invaders. We don’t have the men to retake Belarus and keep the Allies back,” said General Alexev. “On the other hand, bringing our troops back to our borders will give us more time to get ready for this thrust. Even if we must use our weapons in Belarus, it should not delay us much in the long term. Let them come back. It will take time for the Allies to come through and time is something of value to us,” he said. “When the weapons go off, our men will be rested and ready to move to France,” he said.
Borodin thought for a minute. The use of their tactical nuclear arms in Belarus would be fit punishment for this betrayal. “I agree. They will learn not to betray their allies,” he said.
Berlin
“Thank God,” said Hammond. “This just gave us several hundreds of miles of advance without casualties,” he said. “Now what’s this other information they shared with us?”
“Sir, the Russians are handing out these to all their troops,” the Swill delegate said as he handed over the small device.
General Pol recognized it immediately. “It’s a radiation dosimeter!” he exclaimed. “They don’t hand these out unless they are planning to use nuclear weapons!”
Hammond hung his head. “You’re sure?”
Pol held it up and looked through it. “There’s no doubt. Roger, we need to find out if they are distributing these across the entire front or only one place.”
“I was told it was everywhere in Belarus,” said the delegate.
“What can we do about this?” Pol asked.
Hammond thought for a moment. “We let the world know what we know,” he said. Walking over the communications center, Hammond got in front of one of the satellite sets and punched in a number. In a few seconds, a face appeared.
“White House Center, Major Jackson.”
“Major, this is Admiral Hammond, I need to speak to the Boss.”
Jackson recognized Hammond on the screen. “Hang on, Admiral. I’ll let the President know you are on the line,” Jackson said. He left the screen and Hammond looked over the device in his hand. In a few minutes the President sat down in front of the camera. “What’s up, Roger?”
“It’s serious. You ever see one of these?” Hammond asked as he raised the dosimeter in his hand toward the camera.
“Can’t say as I have. What is it?”
“According to General Pol, it’s a Russian dosimeter. He says they would only distribute these if they were expecting a nuclear attack. Since we aren’t planning one, it only means they are. I am told it is being distributed all across Belarus,” Hammond said.
“Damn! How can we protect our troops from something like this?” asked the President.
“That’s why I called. I think we fight this in the world court,” he said.
“The court in the Hague would take forever, we…”
“No, not that court. I mean the world media. What if we let them know about this. We let everyone know what is about to happen. Include Radio Free Europe and Voice of America. The world backlash would be tremendous. It may even trigger a response in Russia itself,” Hammond explained.
The President thought a moment. “I think you’re right. When do you want to do this?”
“Let’s do it now. We don’t have time to waste. For all we know they may be detonating one as we speak,” Hammond said.
“Then why not right now? I’ll get the Press Corps in the Media Center. I can introduce you and you tell them what we know. I’m sure they can take it from there,” the President said.
“I’m ready. Might want to let Howie know so he can be there plus anyone else handy.”
The President turned to someone off camera and began barking orders. In minutes Hammond was put on hold while they transferred his call to the media’s briefing room upstairs. It took ten minutes to get the men and women gathered up and ready and to alert the media outlets that there was an important message coming from the White House.
Precisely five minutes later the President walked to the podium. “Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for coming on such short notice, but it has come to our attention that the Russians are about to escalate this war. I have asked Admiral Hammond to speak to you about this,” he said.
The television screen came to life and Admiral Hammond looked out over the people in the press room. He held up the dosimeter. “This is a pocket dosimeter. It is used by Russian troops to measure how much radiation they receive in a nuclear attack. It is currently being distributed to every soldier on the Russian front.” There were gasps in the room.
“To us, this indicates that the Russians are planning to possibly use tactical nuclear weapons in the European Theater of Operations. It has been the policy of the United States never to use such weapons, however, we have also maintained that if such weapons were used against us, we had the right to retaliate with our own weapons of mass destruction. This is not something that the Allies desire to happen, however if the Russians use them, we may have no choice. We all deplore the use of such weapons and I can assure you that the Allies will never be the ones to initiate their use. We urge the Russian government to rethink what they are doing and to keep such weapons in their bunkers. If deployed, the consequences could be catastrophic for them
and the Russian people,” Hammond concluded.
The President stepped forward again. “This information was received only minutes ago. My staff is even now contacting Allied leaders to let them know of what we feel is a dire circumstance. We are hoping that the world population will join us in deploring this action. To the Russian people, we are sharing this with you so that you know how serious this is and can do something about it. The consequences may be more than anyone can bear.”
“Mister President, does this mean they will use strategic missiles against us?” asked a reporter.
“We don’t know. Anyone thinking about using nuclear weapons in any form could be capable of almost anything,” the President said.
“Admiral Hammond, what are you doing to protect our troops?”
“There’s not much we can do. I have ordered the distribution of our nuclear, biologic and chemical gear, but that only goes so far. Coming to you is our best defense. The world needs to know what is happening and you are the best means for this. Please let everyone know. We hope this may change some minds,” Hammond said.
The conference lasted only a few minutes more, then with the termination of the signal, Hammond sat back and let out a long breath.
Pol looked at the man. “You think it will work?”
Hammond looked up at him with tired eyes. “Let’s pray it will,”
Voronezh
Marshal Pusko stood before the graduating class for new conscripts. Their training had been cut from eight weeks to just one month. A large number of men and women back from the front had been mixed in so the new conscripts could get a better feel for what they would be up against and prepare themselves. Unfortunately, most of the veterans were in no mood for training, much less taking these green recruits back to the front. Where it was hoped this new idea would inspire the younger recruits, all it did was make them angry and unmotivated.
