World War Three 1946 Series Boxed Set: Stalin Strikes First

by Harry Kellogg

  “Unlike the Germans or the Japanese, the Soviets seem to have learned from history. We have it on good authority that they will not soon run out of trained pilots like our former Axis enemies had. They have a robust training program and apparently no lack of fuel to train them. In addition, they have made great strides in upgrading their aircrafts' performance at altitude.”

  “The bottom line is that we cannot count on defeating their air forces; at least in the foreseeable future, and we cannot attack their infrastructure with impunity without suffering unacceptable casualties.”

  “Major Tillman will you please bring us up to speedff as to what forces we expect to have available in the spring?”

  “Of course General, we are on target to have sixty fully-mechanized Army and Marine Divisions capable of amphibious assault ready to be deployed by early spring. Our Navy friends assure us that they will be able to land twenty-five divisions a month, anywhere in the world, by May, 1947 along with accompanying air-support, shore bombardment and temporary port facilities, fully capable of supplying said twenty-five divisions for up to a month.”

  “By the end of spring we project that our force levels will be up to our peak war-strength of ninety divisions.”

  “Thank you, Major. It should be obvious that we have left out of this briefing our strategic air assets. We are on a need-to-know basis on this subject. It has been determined in circles higher than ours that this gathering does not have a need-to-know. I know that probably sticks in your craw, but tough shit! That's the way it is, and the way it will be for the foreseeable future. Believe me I'm as insulted as much as you are, but the top brass has their reasons, and that's good enough for my pay grade.”

  “We do have the use of 1,550 B-17's, 1,091 B-24's, 2,024 medium bombers of all types, 2,020 fighters and fighter-bombers of most types, and 980 transport aircraft, with more to come. These air units are to be used for tactical operations. The B-29's and B-32's, as well as the jets and long-range escort fighters are off the table and out of our command structures, gentlemen.”

  “All of the new heavy bombers and most of the jet fighters and long-range escort fighters have already been transferred to the Strategic Air Command, or S.A.C. I am confident that they will be operational soon, and we will see just what they can do. I suspect we will be seeing some mushroom-clouds in the distance, soon.”

  “For the time being, it will be our late-war prop-jobs against theirs...at least, I hope. We expect whatever S.A.C. is up to will draw most of their jets, like flies to shit.”

  “With these assets we have to decide between the various plans proposed for winning World War Three. Do we attack on a broad front fighting our way through Western Europe starting from the Spanish border? Or, do we stage another D-day and start our attack from the French coast? Do we go for broke with a blitzkrieg-type narrow-front encircling-type attack? Or, do we stage a series of coordinated amphibious landings? Do we go straight for Moscow; or their oil fields? Do we attempt the counterattack with a ninety-division army in the spring or summer, or do we wait another year to match the Soviets' two-hundred fifty divisions and advance on a broad front?”

  “In other words, we have to advise the Joint Chiefs on what we believe will bring Uncle Joe to his knees.”

  Beria Rises to Speak

  The Kremlin,

  Moscow

  August 17th, 1946

  Beria rises to speak. “Gentleman, you have all been summoned to give your reports on the situation regarding our struggle with the Capitalist forces around the world. We need your honest and frank assessments of the status of the units under your command. First Comrade Stalin would like to hear the news from the Western Front. Comrade Marshal Zhukov you have the floor.”

  “Thank you comrade. Our ground forces now consist of one-hundred eighty-three Category 'A' combat divisions, with sixty-three of those now engaged in the Pyrenees Mountains between France and Spain. Twenty-six divisions are facing the combined Scandinavian forces in Finland. Eleven divisions are on occupation duty in Germany, France, the Low Countries, and Denmark. Sixteen divisions are waiting in France near the in Italian border, to make sure our new Italian 'friends' keep their word and another eleven are assisting our allies in the liberation of Greece. Forty-seven are on reserve status waiting to exploit a breakthrough into Spain. Another twenty-six are on strategic ready-reserve to counter any sudden amphibious or airborne attacks, and performing police duties in various cities in the Balkans region.”

  “Our allies, Romania, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia and Hungary have supplied a combined total of twelve divisions, slated for the liberation of Greece, with a further twenty in reserve, on the Italian border, and another forty-five in a strategic reserve pool awaiting any moves by the NATO forces and again on police duties against possible anti-government events.”

  “Comrade Marshal Novikov please give us a report of the status of the air war in the West.”

  “Our air assets in the Western Zone consist of 4,136 aircraft on the Pyrenees Front. 4,574 aircraft are being positioned to suppress the British along the English Channel coast with another 1,520 in transit from the Transcaucasia Front soon to join them. That will bring the total up to … um… 6,124 frontline combat aircraft. We are relying on 786 aircraft from our allies to sweep the skies over Greece. It appears to be enough.”

  “The Soviet air forces in the West have been able to meet the requirements of the Red Army. We have negated the vaunted U.S. Army Air Force and with the addition of the Special Ground-to-Air Forces, we have been able to intimidate the strategic air forces. I can report to you that there have been no significant attacks on Soviet cities. As you may recall, the svolochy Amerikosy tried to drop their atomic bomb on Leningrad; the most heinous weapon ever devised was slated to kill hundreds of thousands of innocent Soviet citizens. The combination of our brave fighter forces and ground-to-sky missiles thwarted their plans.”

  “As a bonus we have recovered one of their atomic bombs from the aborted Leningrad raid which failed to detonate. It is being studied by our scientists day and night. In addition, a second major attack was intercepted, and heavy losses were dealt to the bomber force sent to pattern-bomb Toulouse. As a consequence, the enemy has significantly curtailed its strategic-bombing attacks. In the meantime we are adding thirty more ground-to-sky missiles per week to our defensive forces.”

  “Our air forces are also receiving one-hundred ten new jet planes per month evenly split between the MiG-9 and Yak-15 models. Production of most propeller-driven fighter aircraft has been suspended to make this possible. We estimate that current stocks of medium bombers will be enough for the duration of the war. We are increasing the production of the Pe-9 which is being used as a platform to launch the X-4 plane-to-plane missile. It has proven to be very instrumental in breaking up bomber formations allowing our fighters to attack them more effectively.”

  “Additionally, the Czechs can now field twenty of their own Me-262 jet fighters. Their state aircraft bureau, Avia has begun mass-production of their version of the Me-262. We have also transferred all the airframes, spare parts and associated machinery involved in their manufacture that we liberated from Germany, for their use. We estimate that the Czechs will have another thirty to forty flyable planes by spring.”

  “Our ground-to-sky missile system is undergoing major upgrades with a new generation of guidance system being installed. This system will greatly reduce the need for ground-controllers, once the missiles are within three kilometers of the target aircraft. They are totally self-guided after that and have shown remarkable abilities to intercept their targets. Nevertheless production of these new missiles is time-and labor-intensive so their numbers remain low. We can produce seventy-five a month, currently. By reducing the number of tanks manufactured and fully concentrating on missile production, we estimate that we can reach a potential rate of six-hundred a month by year's end. As you know, I have proposed this very...”

  “Enough Novikov! I have your proposa
l!”

  “Yes of course, Comrade Stalin...to continue, we have 2,140 aircraft based in the Far East, and five-hundred ten fighters guarding the oil fields in the Transcaucasia. Most of our training units are located there as well...”

  “Comrade Beria...”

  “Err...Yes, Comrade Stalin?”

  “It has come to my attention that we have lost sight of thousands of American strategic bombers, and possibly up to thirty divisions. What do your sources have to say as to their locations and probable intentions?”

  “Thank you for mentioning this subject Esteemed Comrade. I was just about to inform the Politburo of this situation. We have information that the Americans are having trouble with their recruiting efforts Comrade. We believe that is why both their strategic-bombing forces and their field armies are not on the battlefield, as they must train new recruits instead of using already-trained veterans. As you also know they have had a series of strikes, beginning in January, which has been supported by our comrades in the Communist Party – U.S.A. and their various allied labor unions. We have further word that fully ninety percent of their heavy industry had shifted back to frivolous consumer products and the capitalist factory owners were loath to make the switch back to wartime production out of puerile fear of losing their extravagant profits. All of these events, combined with the disastrous losses they incurred during the failed attacks on Leningrad and Toulouse, leads us to believe that we will not be seeing any further bombing attempts until spring.”

  “It is estimated that their army will not be ready for offensive operations until the fall of 1947. According to their past behavior and information from our sources in the United States the indications show that they will not attempt to launch any large-scale counterattacks during the fall, so we are confident that the earliest we will see any land forces attempting to regain Western Europe will be the spring of 1948.”

  “But you do not know this for sure? You have no documentation nor do you have very many reports of overheard conversations or eyewitness accounts to confirm your theory...have you Beria?!”

  “No. I do not Esteemed Comrade.”

  “What do your Cambridge sources tell you from the British perspective about the Americans' preparations?”

  “There seems to be deliberate withholding of information between the Americans and British strategic planners. We know virtually everything about British intentions and strategic plans, but virtually nothing about the Americans from that particular source comrade. It would appear that there is a widening of the rift between the Americans and British, one that we can potentially exploit.”

  “Yes...what is it, Novikov? Stop bouncing around in your chair.”

  “Comrade, if I may? The upcoming operations against the British should give us a significant indication as to where the Americans stand. We outnumber the British Lion almost four to one in aircraft and they will surely fall, without any assistance from the Americans. If the Americans intervene in our second Battle of Britain, then we can assume that their alliance is strong. If none or little American assistance is present once the attacks start in earnest, then we can derive that the alliance is on its last legs and an invasion might be an option.”

  “Interesting idea Novikov; until we discover exactly what is happening with the Americans, I want the eighty divisions in Manchuria and Mongolia to be ready to counter any move. They are to refrain from any offensive action and are to wait and react to events. Increase the rail capacity leading up to the border with Turkey. Marshal enough rolling stock to enable a force of thirty divisions to instantly move west to the Turkish border. In the meantime, keep those forces on alert for any contingency.”

  “Excellent proposal Comrade; at this point, there is nothing worth much in the area. Why would we want to invade a bunch of starving Chinese or a destroyed Korea? No, there is no point in further conquest in the Far East until the matter is settled in the west. In the meantime, we can just keep supporting our brothers and sisters in arms over there, and let them carry the fight to their own capitalist overlords.”

  “It was not a proposal, Marshal Zhukov.”

  “Of course, Esteemed Comrade; I apologize.”

  Chapter Twenty-Five: Plans Take Shape

  ***

  As we see from these reports The Strategic Air Command becomes a reality.

  ***

  Read this over, Hal

  “Let’s see…Let me get my glasses.”

  “Jeez, you’re getting old.”

  “Just wait…just wait…Okay”

  *** Top Secret - Eyes Only ***

  Aug. 17, 1946

  To: President Truman

  Status Report

  Strategic Air Command

  Submitted by General George C. Kenney

  Commander, Strategic Air Command

  Personnel:

  August 1945 - 2.25 million

  April 1946 - 485,000

  Present Trained USAAF - 515,080

  Present recruits - 234,980

  Present in SAC - 89,760

  Aircraft:

  Total USAAF August 1945 - 79,000

  Total USAAF April 1946 - 9,068 with 21,675 in storage

  Present Combat aircraft in USAAF - 7685

  Present Combat aircraft in SAC - 2872

  S.A.C.

  Permanent Facilities:

  August 1945 USAAF - 783

  April 1946 USAAF-177

  Present USAAF - 235

  Present SAC - 43

  Projected SAC by P-Day

  Personnel: 108,650

  Combat Aircraft:

  F-80A & B jet fighters: 898

  P-51, P-47, P-38 Long-range escorts: 1,563

  B-32 Heavy Bombers: 332

  B-29A Heavy Bombers: 793

  B-29 Silverplates: 24

  Mark III Atomic Bombs: 4

  Facilities:

  We have increased both our capacity, and number of facilities concentrating on Great Britain, Spain, Egypt, Libya, Palestine, Selected Islands in the Mediterranean and Turkey.

  Our air assets will reveal their presence at our bases in Spain and England in increasing numbers designed to convey our intentions of commencing a bombing campaign from the bases located in the respective countries.

  The command in England will remain designated the 8th Air Force, now assigned to the Strategic Air Command. The command in Spain will be designated the 15th Air Force, assigned to the Strategic Air Command.

  Our bases on the Mediterranean coast as well as those in Turkey and Egypt are classified as *** TOP SECRET, NEED TO KNOW *** facilities. Personnel that assigned to these bases are under high security and are so permanently assigned until further notice. At this point we are confident that the Soviets are unaware of our acquisition and expansion of these assets.

  Notes on Personnel:

  As per Presidential Executive Order 3769 -

  All of the personnel recruited and placed into the Strategic Air Command have been granted the highest security clearance available. Each and every member of S.A.C. has been virtually handpicked and then extensively interviewed and then subjected to severely-thorough background checks.

  We are confident that all of the personnel are worthy of the highest security clearances they have been granted. We have spent countless hours ascertaining the loyalty of our personnel. We are confident that our personnel are true American patriots whose only loyalty is to God and country.

  This has meant compromises resulting in many “old hands” and highly trained U.S.A.A.F. personnel were not chosen for S.A.C. for various reasons regarding national security.

  The Counter Intelligence Corps will utilize the presence of some of our more well-known strategic-bombing experts in an effort to affirm our intention to the enemy's intelligence apparatus of our intent to use the bases in England and Spain as our main staging areas for any future bombing campaigns. Similar to the use of the decoy First U.S. Army Group commanded by General Patton before and during D-Day.

  The Strate
gic Air Command will have a hard transition period and mistakes will undoubtedly be made. Many S.A.C. personnel were placed in positions for which they currently untrained for and as a result lack experience. Security was and remains paramount. We will make operational errors that may well cost lives because of this inexperience.

  We are assured that there will be no security breaches.

  This was accomplished in order to fulfill the requirements of the Presidential Executive Order.

  We are about to embark on a bombing campaign like nothing ever before seen and our goals are going to be accomplished. Perhaps many of us may die trying, but when the day is done, we will succeed.

  Respectfully,

  General of the Army,

  George C. Kenney,

  Chief of Staff, Strategic Air Command

  “Well … it needs a little revising, but it’s a good start.”

  “Screw you, Hal, and the horse you road in on.”

  ***

  This is an insight as to how terrifying it must have been to work closely with an absolute ruler, sociopath and monster.

  ***

  Stalin Sacrifices a Pawn

  “Get in here you fool! Where is Vasily?”

  “He just stepped out to relieve himself, Esteemed Comrade. My name is...”

  “Be silent and get Beria on the line for me!”

  “Yes Esteemed Comrade, I will try, but I do not know the number...wait, I found it here. It is ringing...still ringing...still...”

  “ENOUGH!”

  “Of...of...course sir. Comrade Stalin, to speak to Comrade Beria...Yes comrade, he is standing right hhhere...please comrade...I beg you...Comrade Beria for you, Esteemed Comrade.”

  Stalin snatches the phone from the stammering aide, “Beria, clear the room. I want to talk to you alone...I do not have all the patience I once had, Lavrenti...Contact the British. You will make arrangements to transfer all the British prisoners onto captured freighters and send them to Attlee and Churchill. I don’t care about the details Lavrasha, just complete the task...why are you still talking...? I said NOW, Beria...you really don’t want this conversation to continue. Make this very public. I want the world to see how well you have taken care of our guests and you have taken care of them, haven't you Lavrenti? …For your sake, I am glad to hear that.”