“I've had to be, Hap...I've had to be.”
Novikov
The Kremlin, Moscow,
The U.S.S.R.
July 8th, 1946
11:23 hours
“Comrade Novikov, are you confident that you can accomplish your task?”
“Yes I am, Esteemed Comrade. With the limited tools that Sergo has given us, the foreknowledge of where the raids will occur, and a week to prepare, we can make the Americans pay for any bombing raid they care to attempt. On hand, we have one hundred-two of the advanced Petlyakov Pe-9 aircraft, fitted with X-4 missile launchers and wire-guidance systems. We currently have over six hundred X-4 missiles, with fifty per month being produced. It is terribly time-consuming work. Sergo has done a good job of using those thieving Poles and Jews. It must be all that practice, as pick-pockets which allows them to be so good with their hands.
We have had time to practice gunnery with the X-4 missile, and can realize a fifty-eight percent success rate in simulated combat conditions. Our hope is that the Yankee she-dogs will be so surprised, that despite our pilots having had limited combat time with the weapon, we can achieve a higher success rate. The X-4's will be plentiful in another twelve months, but right now we can only count on 613 and they have to be used for the correct purpose. With your endorsement, the plan that was proposed will be adopted, I'm sure. We should concentrate on the nuclear planes, and let the others fall to our other weapons. Yet we must mask our true intentions from the Americans, so that they do not figure out our 'magic.’
The new jets are another problem altogether, Comrade Stalin. They are exceedingly complicated machines; that require special alloys, which we cannot replicate at this time. Our German 'guest' scientists are working on the problem but this is the most critical part of the plan. We were fortunate enough to liberate as much as we could. This is our weakness in our armor. Our true secret is that we have the X-4, the Pe-9's to fire them, the knowledge of which planes carry the atomic weapon, and the advanced knowledge of the target.
Without these things, we are indeed, in a hard place.
The work on the Yak-15 and MiG-9 jet aircraft is progressing nicely but again we will not have many. Possibly twenty-five of each, by August. We cannot adapt them to use the X-4 at this time so we project that they will be used to distract, and engage, the escorts while the Pe-9's take out the nuclear bombers and enough other bombers to make it look convincing.”
Another deception will be the use of the Tu-2's. They will be loaded with conventional missiles. Every third missile will act erratic like it has a mind of its own...an apparent 'defect,' if you will, that will mask the X-4’s and which platforms are launching them. The Tu-2's will be the mask, behind which the Pe-9's will hide and do their deadly business. The Pe-9's will be vulnerable to the American P-80 jet, so they must be protected and disguised.
Additionally, we will have our ground-launched missiles as well. Again, with the foreknowledge of where the attack will be we should have enough time to set...”
“Enough for now! My lunch is here. You can brief me more, later in the week.”
“Of course, Comrade. Enjoy your meal.”
Chapter Nine:
Counter-Strike
X-4 Air to Air Missile
***
The NATO Allies must have known that they could not sail up and down the coast of Western Europe with impunity. This is an account of the first use of an acquired, late war, German Secret Weapons system.
***
Stalin’s Plan
Soviet Northern Group of Forces
Temporary Headquarters
30 miles from Le Havre, France
July 9th, 1946
08:23 hours
“This is ridiculous! Unacceptable! Insulting! We need to push the capitalist armies into the sea. Why can’t the whole Soviet Air Force deal with a few ships? They have defeated every other force in their path, yet a few dozen boats, and their air cover can prevent us from cleaning the European land mass of every vestige of capitalist corruption.”
“Calm down, Marshal Sokolovsky. There is a solution to the problem. You know that strange companion of Stalin…that Sergo fellow? He has been working on the solution that we all want. Combining Soviet science and the Nazi genius for killing, a plan has been hatched that will cripple or sink one or more of the 'boats,' as you call them. That should convince the capitalist pigs to abandon the English Channel and leave France all together.”
“This plan comes from Comrade Marshal Stalin, himself?”
“Yes.”
“That's exceptionally good. Do you know why, Filipp? Of course, you don't...you're an idiot. If the plan fails, our necks are not in the noose. I want to know nothing further about it, so we can deny that it was our fault. We do not need another fiasco to add to the growing list. Believe me Filipp, if I have a fall from power, so will everyone on my staff.”
“Understood, Comrade Marshal.”
Operation Louisville Slugger” Flagship
U.S.S. South Dakota
In the English Channel, off Le Havre
July 10th, 1946
“Something’s up, admiral. We just received a message that the Soviets have moved dozens of long-range bombers to Charleroi airfield near Brussels. From the reports we have received these bombers appear to be Petlyakov Pe-8. From the intelligence, we have on these bombers, they are heavy level-bombers: large, lumbering, and virtually defenseless. It appears that they are getting them operational for a mission, involving our battle group. They are being loaded with 500-kg armor-piercing bombs.”
“Do you mean to tell me that these museum-pieces are going to try to attack the fleet? Even if they somehow fought their way through our air-cover the track record of attempting to level-bomb maneuvering ships is less than abysmal. It sounds like virtual suicide to me.”
“Our planning team concurs with your assessment sir, but I would suggest that we must be prepared for all contingencies. Remember how we caught the Japs at Midway? By any measure we should have lost that one.”
“All right then let’s not take chances... Captain order the combat air patrol to stay with the fleet and under no circumstances are they to engage the heavy bombers. Your orders are to let the Army Air Force and the RAF deal with the heavy bombers outside of our operational area. We will let the Navy take care of the Navy, if they somehow break through. I want a maximum effort on this once radar picks anything coming our way; set up a plan to call for additional air-support from those ground-based airfields in England, when it becomes absolutely necessary. We may need to supplement our carriers' CAP capabilities.”
“Yes Sir!”
“Draft an order to that effect and have it on my desk in thirty minutes. Get me NATO HQ and confirm that the air zone over the fleet will be the Navy’s responsibility. I want to reiterate that I don’t care how juicy the targets are we don’t want any interference within our airspace. We just don’t have the communications and air-traffic direction capability, to control planes from the other services.”
July 11th, 1946
05:15
Dover, England
Radar picks up multiple bogies coming in from the east.
It appears that the Soviets are stirring up a hornet’s nest. Hundreds of fighters and medium bombers, as well as thirty Pe-8 heavy bombers join formation over Brussels. It is clear that a major effort is underway. The weather is clear with temperatures in the low-70's, Fahrenheit. The few clouds that appear, seem to be spectators, in what just might become the Battle for the English Channel.
The Bridge
U.S. Navy 8th Fleet/Royal Navy Home Fleet
Task Force 87 Flagship,
U.S.S. South Dakota
“Operation Louisville Slugger”
English Channel, off Le Havre
05:22
“GENERAL QUARTERS…GENERAL QUARTERS… THIS IS NOT A DRILL…” is heard over the ship's loudspeakers, along with warning klaxons, as the ship's bo'sun keeps repeati
ng the message over the 1MC.
“What’s the story so far, Captain?”
“We’ve been alerted that the Soviets are making their move, Admiral. Ground reports of over 1,000 fighters and 30 heavy bombers vectoring in from the East-Northeast, from Brussels. Our radar has since picked up the bogies and this ain’t no drill sir! They are coming and they are coming in force. We have about 20 minutes before they hit us. It must be driving their fighters crazy escorting those heavies. They are virtually crawling towards us. I think a TBD can outrun 'em.”
“Alright, you know what to do. Reissue Standing Order 258 and get our CAP in the air. Remind all your flight leaders that under penalty of courts martial, they are not to leave our zone of air control. The Soviets are up to something and I think this heavy bomber attack is just a decoy. We will not be suckered. Do I make myself clear gentlemen?”
“YES SIR!”
Pe -9 Soviet Bomber and platform for the X-4 air to air missile
U.S.A.A.F. 8th Air Force,
Forward Headquarters,
Dover, England
05:26
“Scramble all available fighter aircraft. Remember to stay in your lanes gentlemen. The Navy has given strict orders not to venture into their Zone of Air Control. We don’t want any friendly-fire incidents. It’s hard enough to keep all the players straight as it is.”
“I've heard that besides our P-80's there will be a squadron or two of Meteors flown by British pilots and to make matters a bit worse, a few former German Aces, flying prize-of-war Me-262's, will be thrown into the mix.”
“You heard that right, Lieutenant; this is a maximum effort and we need all the help we can get.”
“I got a really bad feeling about this, Major…”
“Keep your thoughts to yourself, Lieutenant…unless you want me to call General Kenney, and tell him one of my First Lieutenants has a bad feeling.”
“No, sir...thank you, sir...sorry, sir.”
The Bridge
U.S. Navy 8th Fleet/Royal Navy Home Fleet
Task Force 87 Flagship,
U.S.S. South Dakota
“Operation Louisville Slugger”
English Channel, off Le Havre
05:45
“Admiral ground radar is picking up thirty more bogies that just appeared near the bombers. They appear to be traveling at a much higher rate of speed than the bombers.”
“DAMN IT! How much faster?”
“The fast-movers were clocked at around 400 miles per hour, and will be in range in fifteen minutes.”
“Shit! Must be some kind of missile! Captain, order a simultaneous turn to line abreast at flank speed, heading 345. Get Kenney on the horn, and tell him to tell his fighter-jockeys to hit the Pe-8 mother ships with all they've got. They must have some kind of guidance that we can knock out. Get that Brit expert up here and fire up those gizmos they used against the German guided bombs. Rig and brace for impact. All AA guns, scan to the east-northeast for targets. Keep our flyboys close by, just in case.”
Arado 234 Jet Bomber ReNamed Terror Bomber
Cockpit of former German Arado Ar-234
'Blitz Bomber,' Serial number 140312
96 meters above sea level
801 kph
Over Lion-Sur-Mer, France
05:56
The medium bomber that is slashing through the air at an unbelievable speed is a refurbished German jet bomber. The German 'Blitz Bomber' is a marvel of modern technology. It is a single-seater with the pilot laying on his front, flying from a prone position. His only defense is a rear-firing 20-mm cannon that is aimed by the use of a backward-facing periscope. The Blitz Bomber's great speed assumes that the only possible angle of attack will be from the rear. [xxiii]
This bomber has proven that it can easily survive in a heavy antiaircraft environment. This plane was personally involved in the attacks on the Bridge at Remagen. It repeatedly flew through walls of flak-fire, without being severely damaged. The young pilot inside has been flying it for over four months and had been training for just such a mission.
This is it Yuri. This is what you’ve been trained to do. Six months and you’ve seen a lot of comrades die trying to perfect just what you are about to do. Keep the speed up. That is your greatest weapon…your speed. Be steady on the throttle. Watch for flameout. No sudden acceleration, or large increase in fuel. Jumo engines catch fire easily. Only the Yankee Shooting Star can keep up with you. That’s why you don’t have any forward firing guns and just the 20-mm in the back. Every enemy will be behind you, but not for long, as you speed past their astonished faces…you hope. No need to worry. You were the best shot in attack school. No one can touch you in your Terror Bomber. The same does not go for Sirnove. He was a terrible shot, but the best dive-bomber pilot they have ever trained; to each his strengths. Keep it below 100 meters. No radar will tell of my arrival. Look at the faces of the trolls on the ground as you fly by. What’s the matter? Have you never seen death so close and moving so fast? You are an arrow flying straight into the heart of the enemy. The NATO pigs will pay for my brother’s death. They will pay today and for many more days to come. There is the coast...time to climb straight up and pounce, while their mouths are still gaping in astonishment. Ahhhh the force…don’t black out…just like you trained…breathe…Oh, you beauty, how you can climb! Damn…2,000 meters, in just a few seconds! There is the target, nice and fat. Hello, Yankee pigs! Here I am. Here is death.
Operation Louisville Slugger
Naval Combat Air Patrol (CAP)
Red Flight
9,900 feet above sea level
514 miles per hour
Over Lion-Sur-Mer, France
05:57
“Jesus! Bogey at 12 o'clock low! What the hell is that?”
“Cut the chatter Red four, and dive on me…Red two, stay high…where did that son-of-a-bitch come from, and what the hell is it? Control, we are diving on what looks to be a bomber climbing from wave-top altitude, almost straight up over the fleet. Be advised, it's a fast-moving jet-bomber; we can’t catch it...Dammit! I just spotted 10 more jet-bombers with him, control. I repeat, we can’t catch them even in a dive. Suggest you open up with every gun you got, and lead those sons-of-bitches by a country mile. Jesus! They're fast!”
***
“Operation Louisville Slugger”
Naval Combat Air Patrol (CAP)
Yellow Flight
4,193 feet above sea level
404 miles per hour
Over Lion-Sur-Mer, France
05:59
“Yellow Flight Leader reporting; we appear to have forty-eight fast-moving Tu-2 level-bombers, at eleven-angels...they have slung ordinance, appears to be torpedoes, or very large bombs of some kind; request permission to climb to altitude to intercept.”
“Negative Yellow Flight; we need you down low to deal with attacking torpedo-bombers not intercepting high-flying 'probable bombers'; copy?”
“Copy.”
“If they come down low, then they are your meat...over.”
“Copy. Over.”
***
Bridge,
U.S.S. South Dakota
English Channel,
Off Le Havre, France
06:01
“Admiral…sixteen bogies just popped up on radar out of nowhere, and we have unofficial radio chatter urging us to open up with every gun we've got. Apparently, it's some kind of jet-bomber...”
“What do you mean 'from nowhere'? Never mind…How unofficial is the request?”
“It came from a CAP flight...Red Flight I believe.”
“Johnson's the flight leader...He's a rookie...A CAP flight…never mind, we can’t take chances. Give the order to fire on anything that can’t be positively identified as ours. Belay that, it's probably a couple of those twin-engine British Meteors; that strayed into our airspace after those missiles. Order the lookouts to keep an eye on 'em, but don't shoot, until we have a positive identification.”
***
2,556 meters above the U.S.S. Missouri
06:01
“Red One…Red Four…I’m on his tail when he climbed taking fire from tail gunner… left wing hit… I’m going in…”
“Red four get out…get out…”
Listening to the Yankees' radio traffic, Yuri celebrates in his mind, his first air-to-air kill.
Got my first kill! That will teach you, Yankee! Never try and shoot down a Terror Bomber from the rear! Now, to do as I was trained to do. Split-S…flaps…damned antiair…they didn’t train us for all this! This is too much for me to make it. It’s like a wall of explosions. Ha! They're shooting in the wrong direction. What are they shooting at? Never mind, if you die…just die killing them. Line it up just like training. That ship is huge. Much bigger than the Soyuz, the ship we used for our training. Steady…steady…release, NOW! Pull up…pull…pull…now, go, go, go! Speed is my only defense. Look in periscope; no one following. Ahh, too bad Yakov is down. Looks like two ships hit; such explosions. I even feel a little pity for the sailors. They are just pawns of the capitalists; pawns that needed to be killed in order to save the vast majority of the proletariat; kill a few, save many. Keep your mind on survival Yuri. Keep your mind clear. Make haste, lest a Shooting Star come up from behind...
***
Bridge,
U.S.S. South Dakota
English Channel,
Off Le Havre, France
06:01
“I can hear 'em, Admiral. It's those Buzz-Bombs alright.”
“Give the order to fire. Fire with all we've got. Put up a wall of lead to the east, so that they'll have to fly through it...FIRE damn it FIRE!”
World War Three 1946 Series Boxed Set: Stalin Strikes First Page 11
