“Then this man, this American Physics Professor, he’s come from our time as well?”
“That is what he claims.”
“Yet our displacement in time was accidental. You tell me now that he was able to do this deliberately, coming to this very place to meet with you?”
“Correct. Frankly, I couldn’t begin to explain how he pulled that little trick off, but he was here, and seeing is believing.”
“And this man seems to think these keys are of particular importance?”
“That is what we have come to believe. Our Miss Fairchild put us on to that. It’s a very circuitous story, and apparently I’m at the root of it all somehow, though you see, that was another man wearing my cap, my old shadow, or at least I’ve come to understand it that way.”
Volsky smiled. “We are two old bears in the same den,” he said. “I hope you like good vodka, Admiral. But tell me, you say that all these keys must be found, but one was lost on your battleship. Doesn’t that make this a fruitless quest?”
“That’s where this Professor Dorland promises to make himself handy,” said Tovey. “You see, his ability to pick and choose the doors he opens and walks through is most interesting. Yes, when old Rodney went down, we lost our chance of getting hold of that key—in this moment. But the Professor claims he can find it somewhere else, and at some other time. He’s done a good bit of research on the whole affair. Our own Lord Elgin was the original culprit, though I don’t suppose he had any idea what he had in hand when he pilfered the marbles from the Parthenon. That’s where the key was, right there embedded in the base of the Selene Horse.”
“How did it get there?” Volsky asked the most obvious question.
“There was some discussion of that, but the short answer is that we simply don’t know. Clearly it was put there by someone. In fact, it seems to me that it was carefully hidden, though I can’t imagine why.”
“And you say this Miss Fairchild also possessed such a key?”
“She did, and yet even she has no idea where she got the damn thing. It was given to her, entrusted to her by this organization I’m supposed to have founded. How they came by it remains a mystery, at least to me.”
“How many of these keys are there?”
“We have two in hand, thanks to you,” said Tovey. “Miss Fairchild tells me she was aware of the existence of one more, and then we have the key we lost on Rodney. If this Professor Dorland can manage to retrieve that somehow, all the better, but I’m as confused as you seem to be as to what we will do with them.”
“How did my Mister Fedorov come by one?” asked Volsky.
“Your guess is as good as mine. I had hoped he might have told you something about it.”
“He may have, but I’ve been told so many incredible things of late that I cannot sort them out. The one thing I remember was that I was to get to you with that key, and thankfully, here we are.”
Tovey nodded. “Unless this Professor Dorland reappears, I suppose we’ll remain in the dark about it. Yet all these keys were supposed to have been associated with a place. That American Physicist indicated how that was done, with a very precisely engraved set of numbers on the shaft of the key—geographic coordinates. Well that doesn’t seem to be the case with the key you’ve delivered. There’s nothing engraved on it at all, and the Fairchild people had a good long look at it.”
“Another mystery,” said Volsky.
“We’ll have to leave it at that for the moment,” said Tovey. “The only mystery before us now seems to be what the Germans may be up to with all these naval movements. Our Mister Turing at Bletchley Park says he believes an invasion of the Canary Islands is afoot. That would explain the movement of troops into Morocco, particularly the German airborne forces. It would also explain why the Germans slipped out of Gibraltar for Casablanca. That’s the sort of problem that lands on my desk for a solution, and it’s rather formidable. The French have also moved two battleships out of the Mediterranean, the Normandie and Richelieu. Alongside Hindenburg and Bismarck, that is a very grave threat.”
“I see,” said Volsky. “Then you believe this operation is imminent?”
“Turing seems to believe this, and I’ve learned to pay attention when that man tells me something. I’ve therefore assembled as much of a fleet as I could pull together. We’ve two aircraft carriers, Glorious and Victorious, along with some light escort carriers. The recent developments in the far east have put yet another problem before me. We’ve lost Hong Kong, but Churchill wants a substantial defense mounted for Singapore. He was asking me to send battleships, but I managed to persuade him otherwise—barely.”
“That was wise,” said Volsky. “If I am not mistaken, two were sent in the history I know, and the Japanese sunk both of them.”
“So I’ve been told. Well, now the Prime Minister has moved on to aircraft carriers. He was rather insistent, and so I’ve had to sent Illustrious and Indomitable into the Indian Ocean to forestall any Japanese overseas move against Burma. Admiral Somerville of Force H will take that watch, and I’ve moved Admiral Harwood into his old post. With Furious up near the Faeroes, Formidable at Scapa Flow, and Eagle at Alexandria, that leaves us three carriers here, counting Argus. Unfortunately, we lost a light escort carrier last night, Audacity. She was the first off the line, more an experiment than anything else, but we’re building more.”
“That would also be wise,” said Volsky. “And the enemy?”
“That’s where the bad news comes along. Up until now, we haven’t faced the full strength of the French Navy, but all intelligence indicates that is about to change. We’ve seen a good deal of movement out of Toulon. They have reconstituted the Force de Raid, basing it at Casablanca with those battleships at its heart. That along with the German flotilla would be more than enough for us to manage, but I’m afraid the French have more to say about the matter—a good deal more. Jean Bart, Dunkerque and a number of cruisers and destroyers have also left Toulon. I’ve notified Cunningham, and he’ll have to sortie to put up a brave face in the Eastern Med, but then we get the Italians. If they get in on the party, that will check Cunningham. So it is a real possibility that the French Toulon Group could also break into the Atlantic.”
“I am beginning to see your dilemma,” said Volsky.
“Quite so. We’ve had to cancel a number of convoys, re-route others, and by God, we just might be looking at the largest naval engagement since Jutland.”
“My ship would weigh heavily in that equation if it were here.”
“Once it did that for us. Frankly, you helped us hold the line twice already, and we will never forget that. This time out, we stand on our own, though we do have the Argos Fire with us. I’ve spoken to Miss Fairchild. It seems we had a little windfall with the odd coming of that support flotilla last May. One of those ships was a naval support vessel, and they had a good number of these wonderful naval rockets your ships employ. So that may be one Ace we can play. My battleships will have to be the other face cards.”
It was then that a runner came in, cheeks red with his haste. “Excuse me sir. Word from the Argos.” He handed the Admiral a message, saluting as he left.
Tovey glanced at it quickly, seeing what he feared there. “Wonderful thing this new radar set you people developed. We’ll be having uninvited guests soon. The French have sortied from Casablanca.”
* * *
It was going to be the largest naval operation of the war in the Atlantic, until the Allies darkened the shores of France in years to come. Yet that time was still unwritten, something that might be, but also something that was waiting on the outcome of these events before it could ever happen. The operation Raeder had hoped to conclude a full year ago when the Germans seized Gibraltar was now finally underway.
Its opening hours saw flights of German Condor naval recon planes fanning out from their base at Casablanca. Their mission, as always, would be to find and shadow the movements of the Royal Navy, and to pass that information
along to the U-boats. Wolfpack Kondor had deployed from Bordeaux days earlier, and was now in position, with six boats slowly creeping up on the Canary Islands. While some thought was given to creating a tripwire undersea defense south of Madeira, the Germans realized it would be quickly pierced by swift moving surface fleets, and so they decided to commit the U-Boats to the littoral zone around the islands themselves. With these, there were also three Italian subs, and six more French.
U-595 and U-660 were assigned to the Bocania Strait, the narrow channel between the two islands closest to Morocco, Lanzarote and Fuerteventura. It was only 7.5 miles wide, but if closed and controlled, it would join those two islands to make a land barrier that would extend 105 miles from the northern tip of Lanzarote to the southern tip of Fuerteventura. These were the two islands the Germans wanted first, and their plan was a simple one.
The combined Axis fleet would sortie en masse, covering and escorting the precious transports carrying the German 98th Mountain Regiment under General Kübler. That element would hug the coast of Morocco as it moved south from Casablanca, with the Axis fleet a strong protective shield further out to sea. It would receive additional protection from the Luftwaffe land based aircraft, which Goering had provided in massive numbers. With weather grounding planes in Russia, he had combed off the cream of his bombers and fighters there, and sent them to the warmer Mediterranean region in a newly reconstituted 8th Fliegerkorps under von Richthoven.
For fighter cover it would bring 246 Bf-109s, 58 He-111s, and 24 Bf-110s to the battle, with another 16 109-T models flying from the two German carriers. The bomber wing was equally impressive, with 200 land based Ju-87 Stukas , another 26 flying from the carriers, 153 Ju-88 bombers, and older 80 Do-17s. Throwing in the 12 Kondors, it all came to 815 planes.
Against this the British found themselves woefully outnumbered. Their carriers would bring 12 Swordfish, 48 Albacores, 36 Martlets, 36 of the new Seafires, and 18 Fulmars. On the islands they had what they once considered a strong air group composed of 24 Blenheim bombers, 24 Hurricanes and 34 Spitfires, yet all told the British had only 246 planes, outnumbered three to one. The Germans could put one Bf-109 in the air for every British plane, and then their remaining longer range fighters and bombers were all gravy. That edge, plus the fact that the German pilots were tough, veteran flyers from the Russian front, was going to make it almost impossible for the British to contest the air over those islands for very long.
What was now happening was something that the Western Axis powers had never been able to achieve in the Atlantic before. They were employing massive air/sea assets in a well planned operation, with realizable goals. The Royal Navy had never faced such a challenge, and the outcome of the battle was very much in doubt that morning when the first Condors took to the pre-dawn skies.
The greatest air-sea battle of the war was now about to begin.
Chapter 29
The Spanish controlled bases at Sidi Ifini, Tarfaya and El Aioun were Germany’s forward outposts in the attack, closest to the islands. It was from these launching points that the German 98th Mountain Regiment had climbed aboard the French transports Raeder had collected, ready to make the dash across to the island of Fuerteventura. Tarfaya was only 60 nautical miles, a distance that could be crossed in just five hours at the sedate 12 knots the convoy would make. The biggest troopships, Bretagne and Rex, would not be used in this initial phase, as they were detailed to transport the follow up infantry division, assuming Halder could find one.
The only way to stop the initial landing would have to see the Royal Navy alert and ready in the pre-dawn hours of January 21st, but Most of Tovey’s Home Fleet, and all of Force H, was still near Madeira, and heading south at their best speed.
The only force in the immediate Island Zone was Force C, consisting of the carrier Glorious, battleship Valiant, the cruisers Kenya, Nigeria, Trinidad, and Fiji, along with twelve destroyers. The Germans knew the main British strength would be on the Grand Canary Island, right in the center of the archipelago. So their effort in the initial crossing would be to secure the large adjacent island of Fuerteventura, and its neighbor to the north, Lanzarote. Once in hand, those islands would receive the supplies ferried from Spanish Morocco, and the Luftwaffe would then forward deploy to the two or three good airfields.
Given the heavy naval forces covering that crossing, Tovey knew that Force C would not be able to contest the German initial landings. He needed time to get south with the heavyweight divisions of the Royal Navy, and only then would the prospect of a strong naval challenge be mounted. If he could win through, besting the Axis fleet, then the German forces moving to those islands would be stranded. That was his gamble, but the question arose as to how and where he could best look for his battle.
“I’ve conferred with Captain MacRae of the Argos Fire,” he explained to Admiral Volsky. “He’s quite a handy ship there, a very potent air defense cruiser. The Captain has agreed to sail with us to provide fleet air defense, and we will also have our carrier based fighters in reserve.”
“Missiles first,” said Volsky. “Do not launch your carrier based fighters until after that ship has concluded its main missile defense.”
“That was exactly what Captain MacRae advised. Sorting out friend from foe when those rockets fly could be a bit dicey, so that will be the order. My plan is to swing down and come into the islands from the northwest. I want to consolidate the fleet here.” He touched a position on the map to the south of a string of four islands that extended in a arc of about 150 nautical miles.
“This little one to the left is Hierro, and we’ve one decent air field there. Next comes Goumera, largely unoccupied without many ports or fields that we found to be useful. Tenerife is this big lamb chop of an island here. We’ve a good port to the north at Santa Cruz, and Lunga Airfield there. Here on the right is the prize, the Grand Canary Island. That’s what the Germans will be after in this whole affair. It has the best deep water port at Las Palmas, but the major aerodrome is here farther south near Gondo Bay. Most all our war fighting supplies are on that island, so we simply must hold it. My plan is to wait here, right south of that arc of four islands. Then I can sweep up the channel between the Canaries and Spanish Morocco to try and cut their lifeline. If they want to control those waters, then I should think it will come to blows somewhere here.” He circled the channel between those two last islands that the Germans were even now using to make their initial crossing.
Raeder had insisted the 98th Mountain Regiment move well south to Spanish Morocco, as it was 500 nautical miles up to Casablanca. That would be two days, over 45 hours at sea, and far too risky a crossing. So the Germans moved those troops into Marrakesh by rail, and then by truck down the long dusty roads into Spanish Morocco. The infantry battalions were all at Tarfaya, and their heavy weapons were farther north near Agadair. As opposition was not expected to be heavy in phase one, they could come along after the first two islands had been secured.
The German plan called for a daring night landing by the 7th Flieger Regiment, four battalions in all. One would land on Lanzarote, with the remaining three on Fuerteventura, which was also the target of the 98th Mountain Regiment. Their hope was to get in with a foot in the door before the British air units could matter, and they flew very low over the seas in an effort to sneak in, while the bombers made a grand show to the south, hoping to entice the RAF into action there. The plan worked.
As the skies began to lighten, British pilots were rushing to planes on the airfields, their engines sputtering to life and then roaring as they swept off the runways and up into the rosy dawn.
The Germans had no expectation of achieving strategic surprise. They knew that the British had carefully observed their naval buildup at Casablanca, and the considerable movement of troops and planes into Spanish Morocco. But tactical surprise was another art, and they labored to keep the British wondering, with a flight of planes that parachuted exploding dummies over the Grand Island, hoping to co
nvince there enemy a landing was underway. As the action unfolded in the 60 to 80 mile wide channel off the mainland of Africa, a miniature version of the Battle of Britain would soon be fought.
Well trained pilots from England marshaled in squadrons of Spitfires, feeling right at home as they swept out to sea. There they would meet the initial waves of Bf-109s flying from Tarfaya and El Aaiun, just across the border in Western Sahara. The initial clash was not so lop sided, as those small airfields could only support three squadrons. Further north at Tan Tan, the Bf-110s had the range to get in the action as well. German light bombers, the old JU-88s and the sleeker Do-17 Schnellbombers that were sometimes called “Flying Pencils” were coming in low on their ground attack and sea interdiction runs.
The Spitfires leapt at them, mixing it up with the Bf-109s in a wild melee, and soon the skies were filled with swirling dog fights that saw the British accounting for themselves very well. Most all of the British air power on the islands could get up and over that channel, but the Germans were relying on fighter strength from just those three southern fields in Spanish Morocco. 34 German planes were downed, with more Ju-88s being lost than any other type. In return the Germans got 12 British planes in the initial battles. But the German plan was to air ferry support fighters from the fields farther north, so they hoped to keep feeding wood into the British buzz saw, and eventually wear it down.
The Germans wanted Fuerteventura first, the closest island of the two to the Grand Canary Island. It had wide beaches beneath barren brown hills, just big enough to land the 98th Mountain Regiment by boats launched from the offshore transports. The main object of the attack would be the island capital, Puerto Rosario, with its modest port suitable for future supply landings, and a small airfield nearby. The larger Fuerteventura airport was not built until the 1960s, but there was a small field west of the port in the 1940s, where 324 Squadron operated with 12 Spitfires. There were also two other fields on the island, both to be occupied by ground assault after the main objectives were secured near the port. One was a 1400 meter gravel field on a plateau near Tefia, the other a secret project of the Abwehr, a 1000 meter field near Cofete in the far south.
Tide Of Fortune (Kirov Series Book 20) Page 25
