“Sir. We weren’t able to speak to General Green.”
“Well who did you speak to then? Don’t make me keep asking questions, you moron! Tell me the whole story!”
“Sir? Yes sir. It seems that we made contact with a Private Lars Johnson, and he was under fire the entire time the conversation took place. He said that General Green and his staff were cut off and had possibly been captured while checking on the Soviet units attacking to their south. He also mentioned that the 'supply guys' were in trouble as well. We can only assume he meant the 49th Quartermaster Brigade. As I said before, he was under fire in the crashed plane, and didn't have much time to explain. He asked about an escape route towards the east and a town named Vigeois. The operations officer on duty made an on-the-spot decision, due to the precarious nature of Private Johnson’s situation. He told the private to tell his command to use the Pershings in a rear-guard delaying action. Once done, the remainder of the command was to abandon and burn the tanks, heading on foot east, towards Vigeois, then south to Objat. After that, the radio went dead sir.”
General Bradley's demeanor changes abruptly and completely, as he realizes that the fate of the remains of an entire infantry division now hinges on a private soldier, who may or may not now be dead, and softly exclaims, “Jesus Christ...”
The Pentagon
Outside Washington, D.C.
Lunch Room E
July 25th
11:53 hours
“I just heard about the 20th Armored Division being cut off. What's the latest news?”
“We've got nothing solid on the 20th itself, but a good portion of the 49th Quartermaster Brigade, and we've estimated that over seventy-five percent of its supplies were captured. Over a million gallons of fuel and tons of freshly-shipped supplies, are now in the Reds' hands. Plus they got over twenty-five hundred new deuce-and-a-half's, and now we're without our expert logistics specialists, and a shitload of experienced grease-monkeys. They've really sucker-punched us with this one. Losing the bulk of the 49th Quartermasters is worse than losing the entire 20th Armored in my opinion.”
“Jesus! What was Green thinking? I suppose that he just wanted to get his boys some real combat time on his terms. He wasn't looking at the big picture, and we got screwed. Christ Almighty, it hurts just thinking about all those brand-new Pershing tanks, and Wolfhound armored cars, the Ivans destroyed or captured.”
“I heard those Pershings aren't doing so well. The complaints are coming in hot and heavy about how unreliable and underpowered they are. They can't get where they need to go fast enough and when they finally do they don't do so hot once they get there. They've got to be better than the Shermans though. At least they can take a hit or two, before blowing up. Gives the crew a chance to fight back or escape, if need be.”
“Well, the Reds are damned sure going to be celebrating tonight. They're going to have a lot of our equipment to study and test. I wish we could get our hands on some of those new Soviet jobs. I heard the JS-2 is a monster, and the T-44 can take a beating. The T-34 is still creating most of our headaches though. Man those things are fast and tough! I wish we had a few hundred of them.”
NATO Headquarters
London, U.K.
“Well what's the butcher's bill Tom?”
“We've been able to gather about 4,967 survivors of the 20th so far. Most of their equipment is lost, and the men are dragging ass. It seems the Reds really did a number on them. This is their Kasserine Pass sir.” General Bradley winces at the reference, and his anger boils over.
“Damn it! I explicitly told Green not to get flanked! That just shows what would have happened to all of us, if we had tried to dig in and take a stand at the Rhine or even on the Loire. We just don't have enough troops to cover the line. Shit, the Russkis are like a bunch of army ants. Crawling all over the place leaving nothing behind in their wake. If you stand in their way, you will get surrounded and eaten alive.”
“Did you see that poor bastard Green all over the front page of yesterday's Izvestia? Damn, did he look like a licked puppy!”
“Hell, prison camp is too good for the bastard! His actions hurt us badly. Shit, we had to use the 101st to plug the gap in the line. We had plans for those jump-happy jokers. Now that's out the window, thanks to 'Fighting General Mark Green'. That's what the idiot referred to himself as in front of his staff...'Fighting Mark Green' Jesus, what an asshole!”
“Yeah, and he's the asshole who just lost us half a division and all its equipment. I saw the numbers and the Reds now have their hands on 130 slightly-used M-26 Pershings. From what I heard of them they can have them. At least you can run in a Stuart. You can't even get those Pershings out of second gear. I mean what is it with America, and us building tanks that can't do the job?”
“I think it all stems from the mistakes made by General McNair and his anti-armor doctrine. What he failed to realize is that it's rather easy to use mortars and artillery to suppress open-topped tank destroyers, like the M-10. I mean, you can take it out with a blasted hand grenade, for crying out loud!”
General Green Left
Chapter Thirteen:
The Leningrad Raid
USAAF B-29 Superfortress Silverplate
***
The Americans decide to demonstrate their greatest weapon and devise a plan for its use. A collection of eyewitness accounts follows.
***
Eyewitness report of Sergeant Matt Henley,
Bombardier in a pathfinder B-29
U.S.A.A.F. Raid #1 of the Third World War
Target: Leningrad, The U.S.S.R.
July 27th, 1946
The raid was composed of 52 B-29A's, 2 B-29 Silverplates, 224 P-51D escorts. A Mark III atomic bomb was loaded on one of the Silverplates.
The beginning of the raid was uneventful. We took off from RAF Leuchars and made our way east to Swedish airspace, near Stockholm. The pre-positioned fighters took off from the airfield in Sweden and were waiting at altitude. Everything was nominal. Radio silence was maintained.
We formed up with the fighter escort and headed east, over the Baltic Sea, and observed bogies forming as we reached the Gulf of Finland.
Near Gogland, what looked like V-2 rockets, started launching from the island.
I know what a V-2 looks like, because I had seen them being launched in the last war.
These rockets appeared to be smaller, and they seemed to be vectoring in towards our bomber formation. A number these missiles seemed to be purposely directed towards individual bombers, like they were guided by someone. I caught a glimpse what seemed to be a wire coming out the rear of the rockets, yet, when they got close the wires fell off. This did not seem to divert the missile's trajectory and they just keep on coming, and even seemed to be compensating for lead, just like someone shooting ducks.
It was the damnedest thing I’ve ever seen.
I counted about thirty of these things coming up from the island. About ten of them exploded on, or near, the B-29's near the middle of the formation. I saw Pete Hoskins' plane, “Knickers,” explode with no survivors and Jim Sheppard lost both engines on the port side, and spiraled straight down. I counted three parachutes, until they disappeared into a cloud.
The other twenty or so missiles seemed to have missed their targets completely and just continued on through the formation, detonating at a higher altitude. One such explosion damaged, or destroyed outright, five of the escorts who were too close.
The whole event was so unreal that no one reacted, and the remaining bombers continued on their way as if nothing had happened. I think we were all in shock, and just couldn’t react.
Then I noticed that approximately one-hundred twin-engine medium bombers were closing in from below and at about a forty-five degree angle. They pointed their noses in our direction and launched a volley of one-hundred smaller missiles at our formation from below. I just happened to get thrown to the side and caught a glimpse of some bomber-sized bogies mixed in with the medi
um bombers, off at another angle, also launching missiles at us.
The escorts were going crazy chasing those medium bombers, but as they dived on them, Franks (Yak9’s) and Fins (La7’s) were in perfect positions to engage them, and if they followed the bombers lower, they were dragged into flak traps from what I heard.
Meanwhile, the new volley of missiles was getting closer, and again a good number of them seemed to be steering themselves towards the bombers. Another fifteen or so were hit by the second wave of missiles, including the two Silverplates who were supposed to keep flying to Leningrad with a heavy escort to drop the atomic bomb. The rest of us were just kind of decoys and were supposed to turn back before Leningrad and run for it. The atomic bomb was supposed to do the job we came for.
Anyway, this was too much for the remainder of the formation, and when the next volley of missiles from those medium bombers, and those other bomber jobs, were launched, the boxes broke up and it was every man for himself.
I hate to say it, but we panicked. I saw at least ten mid-air collisions, as every B-29 dodged and weaved trying to shake off those missiles that, in our minds, were being steered right at us. Thinking back on it now, most of the missiles came nowhere close to us but just the horrifying sight of those missiles zeroing in on those ships who bought it, scared the crap out of us.
As the bomber formation broke up, and with all the maneuvering, we lost both altitude and speed. The Reds were on us with hundreds of conventional fighters in no-time flat, and the flight degenerated into a series of individual fights between one or two B-29's being engaged by five or more fighters, and even some twin-engine heavy fighters, at lower levels.
All semblance of a formation ceased to exist and we ran, with our tails between our legs for home. I saw at least seven more B-29's just drop from the sky. We made it to Sweden on two engines, but then had to ditch, and six of the crew were rescued by the Swedish Navy.
Report Of Ground to Sky Missile Site #1
Gogland Island
Leningrad, USSR
27 July 1946
10:05 hours
General Georgi Malyshev,
Commander of Ground-to-Sky Missile Battery, Number One
Missile site was operational, as of 8 August, at 11:43 hours.
At launch minus 3 hours, thirty V-3 missiles were installed. At launch minus 1 hour, the missiles' guidance systems were calibrated, and prepared to receive their fuel. The missile operators were on duty, as of 10 August, at 04:00 hours.
Radar reported multiple targets enroute from the west, at 2,900 meters, at a speed of 400 km/ph, at 7:12 hours. The enemy formations were on time, and on target just as we had been told to expect.
The skies were clear and visibility was unlimited.
Missiles were launched in volleys of ten in a dispersed pattern at one minute intervals. This allowed the missile operators to follow their assigned missile and choose their targets. Despite this precaution, seven missiles were lost before reaching the 8-kilometer wire -release threshold, thus allowing the Columba system to take over flight control.
The Columba system appeared to fail on eight units, and they passed harmlessly through the formation. One of these arrant missiles hit an escort fighter by chance, and four others flying close by were damaged as a result and eventually destroyed.
Nine missiles performed as designed and were successfully guided to their targets. Six more were partially successful and only damaged their targets.
Between the Missile Operator Corps, and the Columba aiming system, the success rate for the missiles was thirty percent destroyed, in addition to twenty percent damaged.
The main purpose of the ground-based missile program was a success. It created panic in the bomber forces and caused them to break formation. At least twelve mid-air collisions were observed as the bombers tried to weave and dodge away from the missiles.
The American pilots could not discern between the directed missiles and the conventional rockets fired by the Tu-2's. Panic ensued when the Tu-2's fired their undirected rockets in large numbers in the direction of the B-29's.
Because of the previous behavior of the directed Columba-guided missiles we assume that the capitalist pilots thought that all the missiles were capable of being guided. This was the desired outcome for this mission, and it was a resounding success.
Once the bomber boxes were broken up by the panic of the pilots trying to avoid real or imagined threats, the convention fighter force was able to pounce. Many of the bombers lost altitude while trying to elude real or imagined threats. Others dove to lower levels to avoid their own comrades. The end result was that most of the bombers were scattered at lower altitudes, at slow speeds and in small, isolated, groups.
The escorts were engaged by our fighters and thirteen were shot down, when they followed the Tu-2's down to low-level and into prepared flak traps. Another twenty-two American escorts were claimed as victories by our fighter force.
The only conclusion can be that while the Ground-to-Sky Missile force did not inflict unsustainable damage, it did achieve its main objective which was to break up the bomber formations. In addition, they caused a dozen mid-air collisions, and spread panic among the bomber forces. The end result was that the surviving bombers were at lower attitude at much slower speeds and did not reach their target.
The entire bomber force dropped their bomb-loads into the Baltic Sea far from land.
In addition the Ground-to-Sky missiles created a screen, or camouflage for the Pe-9 Interceptors, and their X-4 missiles. With the large number of missiles and rockets coming from all directions, the Americans apparently had no idea where the real threat had been.
Addendum: One of the Missile Operators admitted, after questioning, that she had intentionally missed the target. She was immediately hung, as an example to the other operators.
***
Pe-9 Regiment Number One
Field Number 384
Leningrad Area
27 July, 1946
11:46 hours
Submitted by Maior Khistyakov,
Commander of Pe-9 Interceptor Regiment Number 1 Mission 1 report: Flights One, Two and Four of PE-9 Regiment Number 1, took off from Leningrad-Pulkovo Aerodrome at 6:45 hours, in anticipation of the American bomber raid on Leningrad. They rendezvoused with the 234th and 175th Medium Bomber Regiments, flying Tu-2's, fitted with conventional rockets.
Each Pe-9 was equipped with two X-4 Wire-Guided Sky-to-Sky Missiles each.
Radar contact was made with the enemy bomber force at 7:12 hours. The Pe-9's followed the Tu-2's and acted like they were escorting the medium bombers. When visual contact was made with the bomber formation, ten kilometers east of Gogland Island, the Tu-2's and Pe-9's were 1,000 meters below and flying to the west, paralleling the bombers' course.
The American escorts did not react to the presence of the Pe-9's, or the Tu-2's. As planned the regiments of conventional fighters made up of La-7's and Yak-9UT's, were maneuvering into position for attack. This seemed to attract, and keep the attention, of the American forces in the area as a large portion of the enemy escorts maneuvered into position to defend their bombers from this threat.
The Ground-to-Sky missiles were launched from Gogland Island and as planned, the Pe-9's held their fire until the first volley of ground missiles entered the bomber-stream. On command, each Pe-9 launched one missile from positions above and behind the Tu-2's.
The primary target for the first volley of Flight 1's X-4 missiles were the atomic bomb-laden Silverplate bombers. These were clearly identified, using the information provided by Command. Flight 1 targeted the lead bomber and the trailing plane. Four missiles each were launched at each bomber. Flight 4 targeted the nearby bombers.
The trailing Silverplate bomber was hit and exploded. The missiles fired at the lead bomber missed their target. One of the ground-based missiles just happened to hit the lead bomber just as the Pe-9's of Flight 1 Regiment 1 launched their second missile volley on the remaini
ng Silverplate bomber. After it became apparent that the last Silverplate was destroyed the missiles were directed into the general bomber-stream with several scoring hits.
At the same time the Tu-2's started to launch their diversionary attack. After the first volley, thirty American P-51 escorts dove on the formation of Tu-2's. The Pe-9's that had already fired their missiles withdrew under heavy fighter escort. Their orders were to appear to be observation planes, but under no circumstances were they to put their planes in jeopardy, to disengage as soon as possible and return to base.
The remaining Pe-9's continued to fire aimed volleys of X-4 missiles unmolested by the fighter escorts who were chasing the fleeing Tu-2's. The remaining missiles targeted B-29 lead bombers who were still flying in formation. Dozens of bombers were hit, and panic ensued within the bomber formations. It was almost impossible for the untrained eye to tell which missiles and rockets were directed and which were not.
Of the 136 missiles fired, 31 hit their targets. This high rate of success was possible, due to the fact that the Pe-9 operators were highly-trained and were virtually unmolested, while they guided their missiles to their targets. This was further made possible by the diversions caused by the ground-based missiles and the large volume of unguided rockets fired by the Tu-2's. Both of these diversions caused the Pe-9's to be ignored and left unmolested to carry out their primary mission.
The combination of the Pe-9 and the X-4 missile is an unmitigated success as long as the Pe-9 operator is allowed the time to guide the missile to the target unmolested. The utmost care must be exercised to keep the existence of these weapons, and their requirements for success a total secret from the enemy.
World War Three 1946 Series Boxed Set: Stalin Strikes First Page 15
