***
In the Dark
The Kremlin,
Moscow, The U.S.S.R.
June 23th, 1946
05:13 hours
“Sokolovsky thinks he can keep me in the dark about his defeat until after he can give me a victory Novikov? I hope you know better? Explain to me, very carefully, why your planes did not discover these boats that did this damage?”
“Esteemed Comrade, we have discovered that they used the combined air assets of twenty aircraft carriers in an extremely confined space, to create an umbrella over the fleet of battleships that did this. Let me make this clear, if I may...these were not boats. Maybe they were relics of a by-gone era, but they can still be considered a serious threat, if we can't attack them, because of the air superiority provided by both the planes from England and the carriers. We have to expect that at the focal point of the attack, you can overcome strategic superiority for a limited time. That is what happened.”
“It was Sokolovsky's fault for not recognizing the danger, and waiting to evaluate the situation further. That many resources concentrated in one area by your enemy, should convince any logical person that caution is advised.”
“From what I understand, Sokolovsky ignored...”
“Enough! I'll let him think he has kept me in the dark, and see what 'victory' he presents me with. Only then, will I decide his fate. You need to concentrate on providing me with such victories. Think very hard, Novikov...very, very hard.”
Denmark is Finished
July 3rd, 1946
30 miles from Le Havre, France
Headquarters of the Northern Group of Forces
11:23 hours
“Filipp, old Bagramyan did his job as he was told and we now have Denmark to present to Stalin. It was very fortunate that it happened without complications...now, how can he complain? What was done with few casualties, in a few days and it shuts the door on the toy boats of the British and American fleets. A new country joins the Soviet Republics, in a matter of a week.”
“Well Marshal, you have not received a command to report to Moscow, so all must be well.”
“Yes, it seems we have dodged a possible bullet. Stalin probably is thinking like I am; that this was a major failure of Soviet air forces, and that arrogant con-man, Novikov. If I had not been blind I would have avoided the whole affair. How can you not know that there is a massive fleet just off the coast? It was a ridiculous display of ineptitude.”
“Get that clown on the phone and find out what he is going to do about those boats so we can finish this phase of the operation, and get our troops out of Paris. Paris and Soviet discipline do not go well together.”
***
Once again we look into the day to day fighting and its effects on the combatants.
***
3rd Platoon, Fox Company,
101st Combat Engineer Battalion,
26th Infantry Division
July 4th, 1946
“How are we going to do this?”
“What the hell do you mean?”
“They've got over one hundred-fifty divisions coming at us, and we got like...twenty-five?”
“Shut up, and look around you. Look at where we are. You ever heard of King Leonidas of Sparta, and his three hundred?”
“Of course, but this is still nuts to think we can do this.”
“Hey, as long as we don’t have to move those ‘Pushings’ and can keep our air-superiority, we can do this, and we can do it here. This is the perfect setup: all our flanks are covered, and they can only bring a limited number of forces against us at any time. Plus our twenty-five divisions will be fully-equipped, and dug in, and we finally have some of those veterans back. Shit, those guys know what they're doing. Don’t forget, they took on the Tiger and Panther tanks of the Germans. The T-34 and T-44 will be like old times to them. We probably won’t have to worry about the JS-2, at least for a while. I guess they're breaking down, just like our Pushings.”
“But, man that’s over five-to-one odds.”
“Come on and really think about this. Our artillery is a match for theirs. Our air force is getting stronger every day. All they've got is numbers and with this setup we are going to use quality, instead of quantity to stop them cold. They’re at the end of a very long supply line, and it’s got to be hurting them soon.”
“Ha, ours is longer than theirs. It sure takes a lot of supplies to bring us here, and keep us here.”
“That’s true. I never thought I would say this, but thank God for the navy.”
“Yeah…Thank God for the navy.”
“Now, shut up and dig.”
Soviet NKVD OMSBON,
Operational Group Bolt
S.P. Penkin, Commander
July 4th, 1946
09:03 hours
“This is getting frustrating Vasily. The Americans are just out of reach. They stay just far enough ahead, that we can’t catch them yet, they can turn on us, at any moment and punch us in the face and then run again.”
“Shhhh…AH! GOT IT!”
“Good catch. Let’s see what a fish from the Dordogne taste like.”
“Did you hear what fine treasures that those pirogue-eaters from the 18th gathered from the Americans they captured; cigarettes, liquor, watches, lighters; just amazing things. Oh, I want to catch some Americans so very badly. Why do they run? Don’t they want to fight us godless communists? The quality of their weapons is breathtaking. Every tank has its own radio. You don’t have to filter their fuel, and all the parts fit perfectly. I think we have to win very soon, before their factories smother us in all this decadent western luxury.”
“No wonder they fight so badly. Who would want to leave their land of plenty to fight for these French, and what’s left of the svolochy Nemetski? Soon we will be rid of them, but all their little treasures will go with them.”
“I have yet to catch one, myself. Maybe we can get one, before they get on their boats and float away.”
Chapter Eight:
The First Raid
RAF Lincoln Bomber
***
We start to discover just how devious the Soviets plan is and how much Sergo Peskov has increased the capabilities of an already formidable fighting force.
***
Headquarters,
No. 3 Group,
RAF Bomber Command,
RAF Mildenhall,
Office of Group Captain W.H. Merton
July 5th, 1946
“Ralphie, I understand that we finally have a target worthy of going after? Not much in the way of acceptable targets since we've gotten back up to strength. The bloody Bolshies have moved so fast, and from what MI-6 tells us they don't have much of a supply train thus far. They have been living off the land, as it were, using our own supplies to defeat us. Not particularly sporting, I must say.”
“Don't worry Willy, we've come up with a grand target. It's an American supply depot that the Soviets are about to overrun and use. It's still going to be heavily defended by their own air cover, but it should be a good test of things to come. We can gauge just how well they can counter our future raids by what they can bring to bear on this operation. It is quite ironic that we shall destroy a U.S. military asset, and that the Soviets are trying to save it.”
“It will be our Lancs and Lincolns against their Yakovlevs and Lavochkins, eh? I've always wanted to take the measure of those Yak-9's and La-7's. The Germans had a hard time of it, but under vastly different circumstances. We shall see how the Soviet pilots' skill matches up to our Spits, and the bombers' guns. They'll find that it's rather like attacking a porcupine whilst a hound is nipping at your hindquarters. I dare say, the Bolshies have never seen a two hundred-plane raid of escorted heavy bombers before.”
“I'm sure they will have some tricks up their sleeves, and we are to be the guinea pigs. The Yanks have not yet recovered from their initial losses, when they were caught on the ground. Our bombers will not be able to fly as high, or fa
st, as the Yanks' Superfortress, but it should be a good indication of what to expect.”
“At the least, we won't have any flak batteries to put up with. The target is still behind our lines. We just can't spare the ground forces to destroy it, at this time. It is truly a perfect test run for us.”
“Yes Ralphie, it is an odd situation, but one in which we shall persevere. It is well within the range of our Spits. I will welcome their presence; always good to have little friends around. I was made to understand that a few Mustangs will be joining us to add to the fun.”
“Yes, they will handle the high-cover to let our Spits do what they do best lower down. Doubtless, they will drop down to join the fun, once things heat up. They do love to "boom and zoom," as the Yank pilots say.”
“They'd be best off not get into a turning fight with the Reds' Yaks and Lavs. That's what our Spits are for. I do hope they don't get in the way. Their time will come, soon enough. From what I understand, the whole strategy is to bomb the Reds to rubble, and then walk into Moscow.”
“That sounds fairly uncomplicated, but one has to wonder what Stalin was thinking. He must have studied what we did to the Jerries, and to the Japanese.”
“Just you make sure Ralphie, that our boys are on their toes, and don't get caught napping or get complacent. This is a dangerous foe; whom I believe must have a plan to counter our bombers. Otherwise, Stalin is a fool, and I do not get that impression that he is.”
Results
Headquarters, No. 3 Group,
RAF Bomber Command
RAF Mildenhall
Observation Deck
July 7th, 1946
“178, out of 214... Not good, but not disastrous. How many fighters are missing?”
“They said the tally was 9, of 48.”
“That' not good at all Ralphie. What happened?”
“It was just a numbers game Willie. They outnumbered us two-to-one. We did fairly well, considering the odds. We will come up to our 1945-levels, as we rebuild, and they continue to suffer losses. You know how it goes, old boy. Just as in the last war, we must to wear them down.”
“Well, it should get a lot better when the Americans join in. They have better, faster, bombers, and they will be escorted by the new jets...what do they call their Lockheed P-80 again?”
“The 'Shooting Star,' I believe.”
“Yes, that’s it. Hopefully they will release some of our Meteors for escort duty.”
“Yes, that would be a capital idea.”
“How many victories did we claim?”
“Let’s see... fifty-eight claimed, but, of course they have to be verified by gun camera footage and wingman reports.”
“Fifty-eight... That is just a little over seven of theirs for each of our lost fighter-escorts. Nonetheless, we lost many more bomber pilots and crew, but still not too bad for the first show. Assuming that they had their best and brightest up there, and we had fairly new recruits, it was not too bad at all. We can sustain that as long as the mission was successful.”
“Yes, it was right on target. No more ice cream for Ivan, not today, anyway.”
“When the veterans realize that one way or the other, they will have to get back in it, we should do substantially better. It will be a while I'm afraid, before we will be able to do much in the way of night bombing; just too damn inaccurate for these kinds of missions. As we get more Lincolns and longer-legged escorts, we can join the Americans in their operations down south, but right now we have to wait and protect the homeland, as it were.".
“The Bolshies don't really have a bomber force worthy of the name, so there shouldn't be another 'Battle of Britain,' but they will try to destroy our fighter force. Lots of fighter sweeps, and the like, I presume. They can do a lot of damage, even with their medium bombers, as the Germans found out. I wonder if their German 'guest' scientists are assisting them, or if they are just locked up in some prison camp. I certainly hope for the latter, as our "guests" are proving to be quite invaluable to us.”
“Yes, so I've heard. I'm glad the last war ended when it did. Some of the things I've seen have caused my hair stand on end. The Germans were remarkably close to completing many of their wonder weapons.”
“Well, thank God none of those weapons showed up in the field today.”
“Hear, hear.”
United States Army Air Force HQ
The Pentagon
July 8th, 1946
“Well Hap, when are we going to hit them back? I'm tired of getting licked and turning tail. I know that 'Operation Louisville Slugger' should give us something to cheer about, but we really need a more substantial victory. When are you going to be ready?”
“There have been a few problems to overcome, as you might well imagine Mister President. First, we've had to recover the losses that we took in the initial Soviet attack. Not just in aircraft, but in manpower and crucially, in expertise. All our best mechanics were on the front lines, and the ones that survived long enough to be captured are now in Soviet prisons, maybe worse. Your plan for the draft is working, so far, and we are starting to get many of our veterans back, but it is taking a lot of time. It's only been nearly two months, since the Reds attacked.”
“How's that damn pit in England coming along? I want to show them the power of an atomic explosion, if they don't back down.”
“Again sir, it's a little more complicated than you would imagine. You have ordered, and rightfully so, that we don't use the atomic weapon on western European soil, and I totally agree. We cannot leave an atomic wasteland as our legacy. We don't just want to kill a bunch of Soviet civilians either. Stalin will hold them hostage, and even if we tell them that we're going to bomb Moscow, for instance, he will not let them evacuate. He will turn tail and run away, and just keep fighting from somewhere else using the civilian dead as communist martyrs. We should choose our targets very carefully even if we had atom bombs to spare, which we don't.”
“Our conventional bombing campaigns in Europe taught us some very good lessons:
1. Bombing civilians will not destroy their morale. It only makes them want to fight harder.
2. Concentrating on many industries just doesn't work. For example, we blasted the Germans' aircraft factories in 1943, yet they went underground producing more aircraft than ever before, in 1944.
3. Bombing transportation hubs and rail lines is only marginally effective.
4. The way we defeated the German Luftwaffe was by shooting them down faster than they could train good pilots. There were plenty of planes, but no one qualified enough to fly them with any skill. It was the same for the Japs.”
“Now can we do that to the Reds? Can we out-produce them, in good, trained, pilots? They have had a year’s head start on us. Their air force was bigger than ours at the end of the war. They just concentrated on tactical-and operational-level not on a strategic-level, like we did. There is no intelligence to say they have not changed their focus, and retrained their Sturmovik pilots to fly fighters. They've had a lot of time to do that.
5. They only have to concentrate on fighters while we have to have both bombers and escorts. There is many a co-pilot in those bombers who could be a good fighter pilot. They have the luxury of training that co-pilot to fly a fighter.
6. Bombing oil production and refineries works. You have to keep at it, but it eventually works. [xxii]
7. We can reach their oil, but they can't reach ours. Conversely, they can reach Europe's oil in the Middle East, and, of course, add it to their own.”
“Well, what about the atomic bomb? Once we have enough, we'll just use them to destroy their country, and heavy industry.”
“That's true sir, but there are a few more things that you have to know before making an educated decision on this matter. The atomic bomb pretty much destroys, and makes uninhabitable, the area it explodes over. We can't even use the affected area to travel through. The radiation contaminates everything and has a cumulative effect and kills over time.
The area is useless for any normal human purpose, including an invasion route.”
“Another thing to keep in mind is that the combat radius of a B-29 Silverplate is less than 1,600 miles, cruising at 25,000 feet, while carrying an atomic bomb. Those bombs, by themselves, are over 10,000 pounds each, and take an enormous amount of fuel to deliver them. We can get much better range at lower altitude but then, the bulk of the Soviet air force can reach us. We really have to concentrate on bombing their oil production and refining capabilities, and killing their pilots; exactly like we did with the Krauts, and the Japs. Killing their civilians will not be productive in the long run, and we have only a vague idea where their critical factories are.”
“That's all well and good Hap, but as you are quite aware no one ever won the next war by fighting it like the last one. There could be all sorts of twists and turns we are going to have to adapt to.”
“You're right, sir, but the bottom line is that we have the atomic bomb, and they don't.”
“I know Hap, but I just can't go throwing around atomic bombs like they are candy. Most of the civilians in those Soviet cities are completely innocent victims of Uncle Joe's oppression and lies. A number of questions come to mind, such as can we deliver it effectively before they develop one of their own? Can we make them say 'uncle,' before then, without having to invade that God-awful place? Now that we are just only starting to ramp up again, how long will it take, until we hit somewhere near full production? Then, there is the question of the assembly teams.”
“As you know, Hap, we have a number of traitors and spies in the atomic program. We have to find them, and find them quick”
“Yes, sir, we have some problems to overcome. I have to say, sir, you're a remarkably quick learner.”
World War Three 1946 Series Boxed Set: Stalin Strikes First Page 10
