Come into my Parlour

by Dennis Wheatley

  The Marshal took another drink, but to Gregory’s anxious gaze he showed no indication whatever of being adversely affected; in fact, he seemed, if anything, more alert and more lively than before, as he said:

  “Explain that please. I do not quite understand you.”

  Kuporovitch repeated what had been said in Russian, and Gregory added: “For example, if the Soviet armies suddenly stood firm, that would produce the state of tension and uncertainty I have in mind. The German nation has become so accustomed to victory that any serious check would come as a great shock to the people. If your armies dug their toes in and every attempt at a break-through was frustrated it would argue an enormous hidden reserve of power in the Soviets upon which the Nazis had not reckoned. Once there emerges any real doubt about Germany’s ability to win hands down it would spread with great rapidity and its results might be catastrophic. The shock of the very idea that the war might finally end in Germany’s defeat would be swiftly followed by a period of acute anxiety. If the Nazis were then replaced by a Government favouring an immediate peace by arbitration a feeling of heartfelt relief would be certain to sweep the country.”

  “The entry of the United States into the war on our side might also have that effect?”

  “It might, Marshal, and it certainly looks now as if the Americans mean to come in before the year is out; but I doubt if that would have any immediate influence on the situation. It would take two years at least for them to train and equip an army of sufficient size to make a successful landing on the continent.”

  “You mean that only a major check or defeat of the German Army would bring about the loss of confidence in the Nazi Government that you require?”

  “Yes, and it seems to me that for a long time to come Russia is the only country capable of inflicting such a check.”

  For some minutes they talked on quietly reviewing the world situation. Here and there Kuporovitch put in a sentence in Russian, making clear to the Marshal something that Gregory had said; and all the time Gregory, concealing his uneasiness, watched him like a lynx, not knowing exactly what to expect, but fearing some change of expression or manner which might indicate that he was right in his belief that something had been put into the drink.

  After a little he became aware that there was a change, but it was not of the kind that he had vaguely feared. When they had arrived the Marshal, although evidently in excellent health, had appeared a little tired from the strain of command and the long hours he worked, but now he had become much more animated. He was talking more freely, laughing at frequent intervals and evidently giving his views with complete candour on every subject that arose.

  Having reviewed the war fronts right round from Norway, through the Mediterranean to Persia, they came back to Russia and, feeling that the time had come to take the plunge, Gregory said:

  “My purpose in making this long journey and seeking this interview with you, Marshal, is to see if we cannot agree on an appropriate date for my friends inside Germany to strike. Naturally, the coup itself will need very careful preparation and that will take a little time. On the other hand, it would be highly dangerous to set the wheels in motion too early. Do you feel that, without disclosing more of Russia’s strategy than you would wish to do, you can give me some idea of her prospects?”

  “At present we are faced with many difficulties,” the Marshal admitted frankly. “But these will be overcome. It would be of great assistance to us if a Second Front could be opened sooner than you consider possible, but even if it is never opened at all the Soviets will defeat Germany. About that I have not one shadow of doubt.”

  “May I ask upon what you base this complete confidence?”

  “For one thing, on our man-power. Germany is a nation of eighty million people; even with her satellites Finland, Hungary and Rumania the total is only one hundred and thirty millions, whereas our population is over two hundred million.”

  “You will forgive me remarking that numbers alone count for little in modern war. Russia’s great reserves of man-power will be of no appreciable value to her unless she can train them and put them in the held with the most up-to-date weapons.”

  “The Soviet arms factories have already surpassed their planned production.”

  “But is that enough? Can they produce nearly double the output of the German factories; as that is what they will need to do if your preponderance of man-power is to be made fully effective?”

  Again the Marshal answered with complete frankness. “No, they cannot. But America will help us under a Lease-Lend arrangement similar to that which she has with Britain, and we also have hopes that the British themselves will send us large quantities of tanks, lorries and aircraft.”

  “Even so, there is one thing you seem to have left out of your calculations. In addition to her satellites Germany also now controls Czechoslovakia, Norway, Holland, Belgium, Yugoslavia, Greece, Poland, and more than half of France. In consequence she now has at her disposal a huge reservoir of slave labour. This can be used not only in war factories but in mines, agriculture, transport and innumerable other employments on the Home Front which would otherwise have to be filled by Germans. In Russia, on the other hand, every single thing, not only for the war effort but also to keep the country going, must be done by your own people. The inevitable result is that Germany can afford to draft a far higher percentage of her man-power into her armed forces than you can.”

  Voroshilov laughed. “But my dear Herr Baron, your statement shows how little you Germans really know about the Soviet Army. It is organised on lines completely different from that of any other state. Listen, and I will tell you about it.”

  Gregory needed no enjoinder to do so. He could hardly believe it himself, but the vital information which he had always thought would be so difficult to obtain was now being handed to him on a plate. With vivid, enthusiastic gestures Voroshilov began to describe the general layout of the great force in the creating of which he had played such a decisive part.

  “Our Army,” he said, “is composed of three stratas. First, there are the Shock Troops. These form an army in themselves—an army far larger than those maintained in peacetime by Britain and the United States put together. Every man in it is a regular who has done at least four years’ service. They are highly paid, extremely well disciplined, trained to perfection and armed with every weapon that science has so far devised. Even Germany cannot put better troops in the field, and their artillery is unquestionably the finest in the world.

  “The second strata consists of Holding Troops. These form the great bulk of our Army. They are regulars with some training, or reservists. Their equipment is of a good modern standard and they are capable of giving battle to the average troops of any European power. In many instances they have already proved their ability to launch successful local attacks and, generally speaking, they put up a good tough resistance when they are on the defensive, which is their main rôle at the present time.

  “The third strata consists of our new intakes—the huge volume of raw material that in most cases has had no military training: but I will speak of these in a moment.”

  Voroshilov finished the rest of his drink and, his face now flushed a little, went on: “All other armies integrate their forces. A few crack divisions are pushed in cheek by jowl with less reliable ones for the launching of each new offensive, or, if a break-through is threatened, they are brought up to stiffen resistance. But we have evolved an entirely different principle of warfare. Our second strata alone is responsible for manning the entire front, whether we are advancing or falling back. The first strata is used entirely as an army of manœuvre and is always kept at the Commander-in-Chief’s disposal. It is never split up, and bits of it used to stop gaps or to form a spearhead for a local offensive. It works intact as an Army Group itself and must be used only for the launching of a major strategic offensive or for the defence of some vital point which it would be disastrous to sacrifice.”

  “Has it be
en used yet?” Gregory asked boldly.

  “Only once. At the beginning of this month it was considered necessary to delay the German advance on our central front, so it was placed under Timoshenko. In the fighting round Smolensk and Gomel it fully justified the confidence we had placed in it. Not only did it carry out its mission, but it smashed General Guderain’s Panzer army—the finest troops that the Germans could send against it—and recaptured a great area of territory. It tore a great gap in the German line and could have gone clean through, but its flanks would have been exposed then; so, having done what was required, it was recalled and placed in reserve again. But you see the immense advantage of this new system. While other armies fritter away their best troops by using them all the time, just because they are the best, we use ours only for some special effort which is of real importance to us.”

  “Indeed I do,” Gregory agreed, as he thought to himself that this alone was proof enough that Russia, far from being on the verge of defeat, as was generally believed in London, still had many months, if not years, of fight left in her.

  “You were going to tell me,” he prompted, “about your intakes.”

  “Oh, yes. We were speaking just now of the man-power question. Here, again, the Soviet principle differs from that of all other modern armies. I came to the conclusion a long time ago that other nations had lost all sense of proportion in the numbers of troops they were allocating to non-combatant duties. In the wars of the Revolution every man was as good as a bayonet or a sabre, but the organisation of the armies of the western Powers has now become so complicated that it takes twenty men to keep one soldier in the field. The Red Army was also developing along those lines, so I eliminated practically the whole of the administrative and supply services.”

  “But Marshal!” Gregory almost gasped. “How could you possibly run a modern war machine without them?”

  For some little time Voroshilov had been speaking so fast that he had difficulty in finding German words to express himself, and occasionally he broke into Russian, but Kuporovitch understood all he said and frequently put in a quick word so that Gregory could follow his meaning.

  “It is quite simple,” the Marshal smiled. “The life of every man in Russia belongs to the Soviets. When a man is called up he says good-bye to his family and, although they may hope to see him again one day, they do not expect to do so. It is better both for them and for him as a soldier that all such ties should be forgotten. Therefore, no parcels are sent and no letters are exchanged. We have no army postal service in the Soviet Union.

  “Again, pay is redundant—at least in the accepted sense of a regular remuneration. Soldiers do not need money while they are fighting. All commanders are simply issued from time to time with funds in bulk, and when a formation is resting, or in some area where money can buy recreation, they are responsible for distributing lump sums to their various units. But no books are kept, so we are not burdened with a Pay Department.

  “Records, too, have been practically eliminated. How long an officer or man has been in the Army is not of the slightest interest to us. It is what he does during his service that matters. Stalin himself, in consultation with the Marshals, nominates the senior commanders, but from Army Groups downwards it is left to the man on the spot. I pick my own subordinates down to Divisional Commanders. They pick their Colonels, and Colonels have authority to make officers, as required, from the most promising men in their units. In this way the promotion of the best men is never blocked for long, and a really intelligent fellow can reach quite a high rank in a very short time. In addition this is achieved without waste of time, personnel or a single scrap of paper.”

  “It is amazing,” Gregory murmured. “And, of course, there is no reason why it should not work. Still, I don’t see how you manage to get on without supply services.”

  “We have them, but in an immensely simplified form. As with pay, so with munitions. All types of arms and equipment are sent to senior commanders in bulk. They divide them up, and lower formations receive them as required. But no records are kept and no forms are used. There is a certain wastage, but that is more than counterbalanced by the swiftness with which the fighting units receive their urgent requirements.”

  “How about rations?”

  “There again everything is simplified. Nine-tenths of our men were born on the land, so they know how to live on it. Bread is, therefore, the only ration issued to the Soviet troops, apart from exceptional cases in which formations are fighting in areas which cannot possibly support them. As they retreat, meat, corn, oil, wine, root crops are all consumed so that none shall be left for the enemy. The supplies of bread are also issued in bulk and no record is kept of its disposal.”

  “Such a method may serve while your army is retreating, but it could hardly do so if you launch a counter-offensive and it is successful.”

  The Marshal nodded. “We may then have to send bulk supplies of meat with the bread trains, but, generally speaking, the principle will be adhered to. If a break-through occurs the Germans will not have time to destroy all their food dumps, and in any case our armoured formations are specially organised for just such a penetration. They will work in groups of five tanks, each group being independent and with orders to race ahead, entirely irrespective of what may be happening on its flanks, to the limit of its endurance. Every five fighting tanks will have a supply tank attached to them. This will be loaded to capacity with bread and petrol, and a girl——”

  “A girl!” exclaimed Gregory.

  “Why yes, a girl to cook whatever food the twenty-five men in the group may capture, and render them other services.”

  Voroshilov’s eyes were shining with excitement. He picked up his glass and, seeing that it was empty, got up and mixed himself another drink. It seemed to Gregory that his movements were a little uncoordinated, as though he were slightly drunk, but he was in tremendous spirits and his mind seemed perfectly clear as he came back, and went on:

  “You see everything—every conceivable thing—has been thought, out to save time and paper work, and prevent useful officers and men being wasted sitting about behind the lines in offices, or being employed in a non-fighting capacity. That even applies to training. The Germans, the British, the French, treat their new intakes as though they meant to make regular soldiers of them. They are given courses in this and lectures on that and months of rigorous drill on their barrack squares. Then they are made to participate in endless exercises, just as though they were a peacetime army. But in a war like this all that nonsense is entirely unnecessary. Now this is what happens to our new intakes.”

  The Marshal sat forward eagerly and Gregory strove as he had never striven before to get the gist of his mongrel German interspersed with snatches of Russian, and Kuporovitch did all he could to interpret the sense of his old friend’s rapid monologue.

  “Our call-ups are entirely arbitrary. We don’t bother about age groups and all that sort of thing, except locally. Every district commander behind the lines draws on the local population as required each week. Our only concern is that every one of them should keep his depot filled to capacity. The raw material is bathed, shaved, clothed and paraded. They are not taught to form fours or any such useless idiocy, but on their second day they are given a sub-machine gun apiece and taught how to clean, oil and use it. Their only training is in how best to take cover and what to do with a hand grenade. On average they get about three weeks of that; after which they are considered fit to fight in defence of their country.”

  “Do you mean to say that you take men off the land and in less than a month send them into battle against the Germans?”

  “Why not? A small percentage, who show more than average intelligence, are selected for the signal schools or sent for additional training in other specialised capacities, but for the great majority further training would be sheer waste of time. From their depots they are despatched direct to Army Group Pools, and from there they are issued in the same way as muniti
ons and equipment—to any formation commander who is in need of replacements.”

  “But when they reach the front they can hardly be more than a rabble, and they cannot have absorbed even the rudiments of discipline.”

  Voroshilov laughed. “A rabble perhaps, but an armed rabble. As for discipline, they know that either disobedience or cowardice is punishable by death. But we very rarely have to resort to such measures. Perhaps you have not realised, Herr Baron, that the one desire of nine hundred and ninety-nine out of every thousand of these men is to get at and kill some of your countrymen.”

  “All the same, I should have thought that it would have proved terribly difficult for the officers to handle such material effectively.”

  “Not at all. If an advance is in progress all they are required to do is to go forward as far as their legs and such food as they can collect will carry them, shooting at any German they may see. If they are sent to a sector where a retreat is in progress they are told to find the best cover they can and that they are not to fall back until they have accounted for at least one of the enemy. Those who survive for a few weeks become better soldiers through their actual experience in battle than any we could make by keeping them for a year in schools and training camps.”

  “Your casualties among these learners must be pretty heavy, though?”

  “They are, but not exceptionally so; and the flow of replacements is unceasing. At the present rate of wastage we could go on filling the gaps for years without being seriously affected. And think of the enormous advantage we gain by this system. Instead of slaughtering fifty per cent of our best troops in the first few months of battle we have been able to conserve them for employment at a time of our own choosing; while we make the Germans pay for every yard of territory they gain by using our second strata troops reinforced by almost untrained man-power.”

  Gregory was thinking that already, and he had been quick to realise that he now had a most definite answer to one part of the riddle he had set out to solve. This entirely new conception of using raw material to waste away the best forces of the enemy while keeping your own crack troops up your sleeve was positively staggering. He did not think it could possibly have worked anywhere except in a vast land like Russia, and with the special circumstances in which the Russian people had been nurtured for the past twenty years. But if they found it practical to put farm hands into the front line after only a month’s training there could obviously be no question at all of the flow of replacements for the fighting units drying up.