Neither was Sieckenius sitting around waiting for other countries to come to him. He started by calling for intelligence reports on all of the South and Central American countries and their military forces. He picked Argentina as his first target. A visit to their embassy in Berlin quickly resulted in an invitation to visit their country and meet with the President and the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces.
Before wasting any further time, Sieckenius informed General von Mannstein of this development, and asked for the Governing Councils feeling on Argentina.
It had been only two months earlier that the current President of Argentina, Juan Peron, had been appointed. This country, with a population of forty million, had gone through a period of political instability and periodic economic crises in the 1930s. It was considered a regional power in Latin America and, importantly, was anti-communist. The army was also highly Germanophile. The air force operated about two hundred obsolescent aircraft. The navy was relatively strong, being ranked about eighth strongest in the world.
It had taken less than two weeks for Sieckenius to get his answer from General von Mannstein. Yes, there was a good case for offering aircraft, tanks and other arms to Argentina. However, the Economics Ministry expressed a wish to be cautious about any long term financial assistance that may be requested. Now it was up to Sieckenius to see what deal he could put together.
BUENOS AIRES - JUNE
Sieckenius had been received royally in Argentina. On his second evening there, he had attended a dinner hosted by the President and his charming wife, Evita. President Peron had taken a personal interest in the arms talks, to make sure his senior officers and government officials conducted all discussions efficiently and with the minimum of wasted time. A pleasant surprise in Latin America!
The Argentinians had a long shopping list. Sieckenius gazed at it with satisfaction. They wanted one hundred jet fighters, ten military versions of the Focke-Wulf Starflight, two hundred and fifty tanks, one hundred and fifty mobile guns and rocket launchers, FAL automatic rifles, and machine guns. One of his host’s stipulations was that the rifles and machine guns should be produced locally under licence. Assistance would be needed to build the factory.
The navy required ten fast patrol launches, (E-Boats), four destroyers and four submarines. Sieckenius was stunned when the President himself said he would like an aircraft carrier as their country’s future flagship.
After sending the list to Berlin, the German General stayed in Buenos Aires awaiting a reply from his superiors. It came five days later. Everything could be supplied. The costs and estimated delivery dates were included. He had already had preliminary discussions with the Argentinian Defence Minister about the method of payment. They had offered an initial payment of one half of the total, and the balance by way of a loan from Germany.
After being advised of the Argentinian payment terms, the German Economics Ministry confirmed that in principle the terms were acceptable but would be subject to the usual investigation into Argentina’s financial status by a small team from the Ministry. These people could be in Argentina two weeks after receiving the arms order. They would need no more than two weeks to assess the loan application.
Unexpectedly, the Governing Council had included a further stipulation. Sieckenius was to discuss the matter of the Falkland Islands with the Argentinians.
Because of Germany’s special relationship with Great Britain, the possibility of German arms being used by Argentina in an attempt to annex the Falkland Islands, was of some concern.
The British claim to the Falkland Islands dated back to 1690. However, due to the isolated position of the islands, they had only exercised continuous sovereignty from 1833 onwards. In the meantime, Argentina had been taken some sort of nominal control for a few short years just before 1833, and called them the Malvinas. Because of this, Argentina had, since 1833, half-heartedly most of the time, and in the face of most impartial and informed opinion, maintained that the islands belonged to them.
The fact that the islands had little value was ignored.
Germany’s firm position was that they acknowledged no Argentinian claim to the Falkland Islands. However, if possible, they would like to help eliminate the minor irritant of Argentina’s dispute over ownership.
Some subtle diplomacy was needed. The President of Argentina was the real decision maker in that country. Sieckenius should try to engineer a private meeting with him. Tell him that, in principle, all was agreed with the arms deal. The only problem was Germany’s concern that such arms could be used against their ally and friend, Great Britain, in some sort of ill-conceived invasion of the Falkland Islands. Because of this, Germany was hesitant to approve the deal.
A way out of any impasse, of course, would be for Argentina to renounce any claim to the worthless group of Islands.
Sieckenius did not consider himself to be a diplomat. He gave the matter much thought before planning his strategy. ‘His scripted act’, as he called it. He was able to secure an appointment to see the President – alone – for the following day.
When he had digested what Sieckenius had told him, President Peron had laughed out loud. “My dear General, I assure you that I am well aware that the Malvinas, or whatever you want to call them, are worthless. I also know that Great Britain would never, under any circumstances, allow any part of their empire to be taken from them by force. And the islanders on those miserable islands will always be staunchly British.
Strictly between ourselves, I can tell you that that it is only Argentinian pride that causes us to maintain a claim. Also,” he lowered his voice and leaned towards the General, “previous governments have found it useful to deflect public outrage over internal problems by raising the issue of a foreign country occupying sacred Argentinian territory.” This was said with a cynical smile.
The soldier and the politician now got down to haggling.
BERLIN - TWO DAYS LATER
General von Mannstein re-read, with some amusement, Sieckenius’ report on the Argentinian arms deal.
The man had pulled off a major arms coup, and at the same time erased an on-going source of irritation to the British. ‘Well done, Rudolf. Very well done indeed,’ he said to himself.
In return for a small reduction in price on some of the arms being ordered, a promise of speedier delivery, and the immediate sale to them of one of Germany’s existing light cruisers at a knock down price for cash, Argentina would announce that in view of the current settled state of world affairs and the good relations that existed between Argentina and Great Britain, they renounced for all time, any claim they may previously have had over the British territory known as the Falkland Islands.
Forewarned by von Altendorf, the British Prime Minister had prepared a gracious reply. The Argentinian claim to the Falklands had never been taken seriously by Britain. Churchill considered it inconceivable that a second rate country such as Argentina would deliberately attack British territory.
However such a thing wasn’t impossible. Who knows? A future nationalistic government with a failing economy and under great internal pressure from their populace, could succumb to the temptation of diverting attention away from themselves by sending soldiers to recapture supposedly long lost territory!
Once again Winston Churchill marvelled at the ingenuity and sincerity of the Germans. The genuine friendship that they had shown to Britain in recent years was unprecedented in history, with the possible exception of the solidarity shown between Britain and the dominion colonies of the Empire during the Great War.
BALTIC SEA
Twenty metres beneath the surface of the Baltic Sea, fifteen kilometres off the north German coast, the submarine U-92 released the tow. The monstrosity it had hauled out to sea from Peenemunde was, in effect, nothing more than a giant steel water tank with a buoyancy control system similar to that of a submarine. This now lay three hundred metres behind them, maintaining neutral buoyancy at twenty metres through its own pressure activate
d system.
Nestling inside it was an A4 rocket.
Also three hundred metres away, but safely on the surface in a destroyer, was Professor von Braun and his team. They were here to test an underwater launch of their fearsome rocket.
The countdown had already begun. Almost everybody who was on the destroyer had been allowed a break from their duties to watch this historic event.
Finally the designated technician saw the second hand of the clock touch the appointed time. He pressed the red button.
On the surface they could neither see nor hear anything for a second or two. On board U-92 all clearly hear the loud menacing rumble of the rocket motor as it fired into life. Then out of the cold and dark Baltic waters the rocket burst to the surface, continually accelerating as it thrust itself upward into the sky. It was quickly lost to view even though many on the ship vainly strained to keep it in sight.
Watching through U-92’s periscope, Captain Gunther Schenk was awed by what he had witnessed. This was ushering in a new and sinister dimension to warfare. For reasons he couldn’t have easily explained, he found himself somewhat uneasy about this development.
Von Braun and his scientists relaxed. All had gone according to plan. The launch had, in fact, ended up being no different to the land based launches they had witnessed many times. The concept of an unseen submarine launching a deadly surprise attack had now been proved. Where it would lead, von Braun did not know. He was dedicated to his research and his ultimate dream of space travel.
Later, a recovery vessel salvaged the launch tank. It had sunk to the sea bed because a huge hole had been burned through its floor. This had been expected and was a problem that the naval designers and builders of a future missile submarine would have to solve.
BERLIN - JULY
Sieckenius had been invited to attend a meeting of the Governing Council. Each council member had warmly shaken his hand when he appeared. His magnificent achievement of finalising arms orders from Argentina, Bangladesh, Serbia and South Africa could not be overstated. It represented a major boost for German industry. And he had only been in the job for less than six months!
When the Council had heard of his success in Argentina, it had prompted a debate on the need for awards to German citizens, and perhaps other nationalities also, for outstanding service, whether to the state or some other specified activity. The previous, Nazi approved, system had been allowed to lapse after the European War. This would now be re-introduced, but in a revised and more appropriate format. They also looked at the British honours system and found some inspiration from the Order of the British Empire, awarded to deserving British citizens from all walks of life for exceptional achievement.
A new order eventually was decided on, the German Order of Merit. This would be the country’s highest civil honour. It could also be awarded to military personnel, but not as a battle honour, only for other exceptional services or achievements. As in the case of the British example, it was to be an order into which a person is admitted as a member, rather than simply being a medal.
General Rudolf Sieckenius was to be its second recipient. Hjalmar Schacht would be the first. They had other recipients in mind.
After a highly pleased Sieckenius had left the meeting, they got down to normal business.
The Foreign Minister reported that the United States President had been most annoyed by Germany’s rejection of the United Nations concept. To the American’s dismay, only Greece in the whole of Europe, including the Soviet Union, supported the idea. And Greece hadn’t even paid the agreed initial monetary contribution! China and Japan had also declined.
The Americans had said they would press ahead regardless, as countries in South America, Africa, the Middle East and Asia had expressed varied degrees of enthusiasm. This was pure bravado and obstinacy on the part of the Americans. They were well aware that without Europe and the two Far East powers, the United Nations was doomed to be an ineffectual bystander in world affairs.
Von Altendorf also advised that he had been in communication with the Soviet Foreign Minister recently about the mooted summit meeting between the German Chancellor and the Soviet leader. After the initiative for this coming from the Soviets, they now appeared to be stalling. Germany’s reaction to this would be to just forget about it for the time being. If it happens – it happens!
The remaining ministers, with the exception of Defence, had little of note to contribute at this meeting.
General von Mannstein now spoke. “The Kriegsmarine have finalised their requirements for the submarine branch. We all know that they are operating U-boats that were essentially designed nearly ten years ago. These have been continually updated since then, but it is time for a completely new generation of submarines to be introduced in the near future.
The new design will give Germany the biggest, fastest, quietest, most heavily armed submarines, and with the greatest operational range, in the entire world. We will also increase the size of our fleet, and offer new subs to our Alliance partners.
The large ‘notional’ Soviet submarine superiority in numbers will be reduced. Bangladesh, China and Argentina are eager to buy a number of our current operational subs. No doubt General Sieckenius can dispose of the rest,” he said with a smile.
He continued. “While on the subject of submarines, I think you are all aware of the successful undersea launch of one of Professor von Braun’s A4 rockets last month. The navy’s research team are now looking into how this can be of practical use. In theory, it seems there is no great problem in building a submarine large enough to accommodate several missiles. While this is not considered a priority, it is certainly an interesting development.” He paused for a few moments.
“We have talked about aircraft carriers for the past six years. In that time the only action we took was to finish building the existing Graf Zeppelin.
The Americans, British and Japanese have ten carriers each. The French and ourselves have one each, and the French one is obsolete anyway. The Soviets have none, and have no plans to build any at present, as far as we can ascertain.
Unlike the other nations with aircraft carriers, Germany has no colonial empire to defend. We do, however, have a merchant shipping fleet operating around the globe. And it is a fleet which is expanding all the time. We also have commitments to the European Alliance. I therefore seek the approval of the Council to build our next aircraft carriers.
I say carriers, as two are needed to ensure that we always have at least one at sea at all times. By the time this next generation of carriers are ready for use, our current flagship, the Graf Zeppelin, will be approaching twenty years old. Furthermore it was never designed for use by jet aircraft.
Accordingly the Defence Ministry seeks approval from the Governing Council to procure two carriers in terms of the specifications detailed in the document that I now pass to you.
Possible buyers of our existing carrier, Graf Zeppelin, are Argentina and China.”
He was finished.
SEPTEMBER
James Blackthorn, following the shock he had received earlier in the year concerning his affair with Magda Reinhardt, had thrown himself into his work. Eventually the bank’s Managing Director, somewhat concerned about James’ pace of work, had insisted he take a break. “Go and visit our California operation, James”, he had forcibly advised.
Two weeks later he was sitting in Jamie’s office in San Francisco having coffee.
The original idea expounded by Frank O’Donnell had proved inspirational. No other west coast bank was even close to them in terms of their ‘financial engineering’. O’Donnell, the Bradlington Thornberry Bank, and Deutsche Bank, were very pleased with their investment. It was very profitable and had brought enhanced prestige to all parties involved.
Originally hired as the President of a subsidiary of the American bank, Jamie had turned out to be the perfect choice for the next President of the bank itself, and had been so appointed only two months earlier. The bank was we
ll funded, and its loan book, much of it guaranteed by the German Credit Guarantee Corporation, was of very high quality and considered virtually risk free. The profitability of the business was a constant source of wonder to O’Donnell. No wonder all bankers were thought of as rich!
James had been mulling over an idea for the past couple of months. He had decided it wasn’t really right for his own bank in the UK, but perhaps an American bank?
He outlined it to Jamie. Basically it was quite simple. Germany had a specialised department within their Defence Ministry, actively marketing German armaments to countries outside of the European Alliance. They would not sell indiscriminately, and they had certain strict guidelines they followed.
It had come to James’ notice that in two recent cases, Germany had been unable to finalise arms sales to two particular countries in South America as they did not meet the tough credit assessment imposed by the German Economic Ministry. In all other respects the two countries were considered suitable.
The German Peace Page 34
