He was confident no one would suspect a babushka. She would pose as an old woman just getting out of the cold in an apartment building. He was betting no one could imagine a female being a threat to Khrushchev. The sniper rifle would be placed ahead of time in the building chosen and would wait for Marie’s skilled hands.
Figure 27 - Marie Ljalková-Lastovecká
Doppelganger
Stalin was down to one man he could trust, the Little Bear Nikita. His gapped tooth smile and balding head were a comfort to the dictator. Even as a young man Khrushchev had been losing his hair. Stalin enjoyed mentioning Nikita’s baldness constantly and then would comment on his own thick head of hair. The fact that they were of the same height was also reassuring. Both could walk around in each other’s presence and not feel inferior.
The two men knew that Beria was still alive which meant their lives were endangered beyond the norm. Beria and his henchmen had to be found promptly and eliminated. The search was a great distraction and a huge drain on the few remaining trustworthy men they had.
Also, there was consternation over the disappearance of Sergo Peshkova. Sergo could be very dangerous to the Soviet cause if he were captured alive or defected. Sergo’s second in command, the giant Georgie, had disappeared as well. So many people disappearing in such a short time was cause for concern unless Stalin himself was responsible.
Brezhnev, the man who had assassinated Molotov was on the verge of entering the inner circle when he had killed himself. Stalin could not understand someone who would give up his own life to save anyone else, much less a child. His children were certainly disposable if a situation demanded it.
Both men knew that Beria was going to strike again. Each had set about finding surrogate lookalikes to attend essential public gatherings. Nikita’s doppelganger had gone so far as to visit the troops on the Caucasus Line to boost morale. The man was an excellent actor and could fool all but the most intimate of Khrushchev’s comrades.
Stalin’s doubles were not so talented but were well suited to the purpose of being a target. His best double was named “Rashid” and had spent two years studying with Alexei Dikiy who had portrayed Stalin in several propaganda films. Another political decoy was Felix Dadaev. These men and several others attended all number of gatherings in the hopes of drawing out an assassination attempt. The thought of being killed by mistake did not seem to hamper their performances. Perhaps there were other incentives more compelling than your very life.
All the actors were wined and dined and treated like they were one of the most powerful men in the world. In public people jumped when they spoke and did exactly whatever was requested. Their families were treated like royalty in their hometowns. Except for the constant threat of death, they led very good lives. Of course, the doubles had to be very careful what they said or asked for. The wrong request at the wrong time could get them tortured and their families massacred.
Stalin and Khrushchev use their surrogates quite freely. The two leaders enjoyed the freedom of missing the many mundane public appearances they usually were required to attend. Also, they found it was a great relief to not be a target.
A number of famous books used doppelgangers in their plots. Charles Dickens’ Tale of Two Cities, Mark Twain’s - The Prince and the Pauper, and the most famous of all, The Man in the Iron Mask by Alexandre Dumas comprised a short list of examples.
By 1947 the doppelganger was a familiar plot twist in novels and plays. The British had used a number of them to fool the Germans in World War Two. In 1944 an Australian actor, Clifton James, was sent to various locations posing as General Montgomery in attempts to confuse the Germans as to the location of the D-Day landings in Normandy. Reports of Monty’s whereabouts in Gibraltar and North Africa reached German intelligence.
Only time would tell if these Soviet sacrificial lambs would give up their lives and potentially lead to Beria’s whereabouts. At the very least an attempted assassination would squander one or more of Lavrenti’s assets in this newest game of cross and double cross.
The loss of a few doppelgangers was of no consequence when taken in the larger context of world wars that had exterminated millions.
Zhukov’s Caucasus
Marshall Georgy Zhukov was in his element. He was so busy he had forgotten about his missing fingernails and what had caused them. Wars often forced many who survive the chaos to live in the present. Throwing oneself into your work was a sure way to forget the past. Doing your job meant the life or death of your friends or in Zhukov’s case the lives of hundreds of thousands of troops.
Although the NATO forces had move swiftly, his troops ran to the north and rear even faster. He had reached the Lessor Caucasus before the Amerikosi and was in an excellent position to repel all attacks launched by the Capitalist Pigs.
The few blocking forces he threw in the way of the enemy had given him enough time to setup a proper defense. His comrades were as ready as they would ever be. This was not tank country so the lack of said vehicles was of no concern to him. In any event the Stavka seemed to be hoarding them for their own purposes.
Right now Zhukov’s main concern was a shortage of ground attack airplanes and fighter cover. The Sturmovik was his flying artillery and best source of information on enemy locations. Without fighter cover the “flying tanks” were easy pickings for the Amerikosi jets. Though still not present in large numbers these NATO jet fighters posed a major threat to his planes.
The Stavka was stockpiling away the Soviet’s own versions of jet fighters. The new jet engine, the Klimov VK-1, was designed by Vladimir Yakovlevich Klimov. This innovative engine made the Mig 9 Fargo and Yak 15 Feather competitive with the American F-80 Shooting Star. Klimov had been greatly assisted by the defector William Perl using the components provided by Barr and Sarant.
Georgy was confident that he had the tools to hold the line against NATO. The VVS was the key. If the air force kept the skies reasonably clear of enemy planes he was sure he could hold long enough to outlast NATO.
He had been assured that the Amerikosi had no more atomic bombs in their arsenal. However all bets were off if they did deploy an atomic bomb. That got him wondering…what was NATO’s end game? How did they expect this conflict to end? Once again, his instincts were telling him that the capitalist war mongers were up to something, but what?
An invasion of France or Germany from the sea would accomplish little but retake already decimated lands stripped clean by Stalin’s armies. The forces in the Pyrenees would be hard to dislodge and could easily retreat giving up space for time.
Marshall Konstantin Rokossovsky was in charge of all the Red Army forces in Europe including the Pyrenees Line. Zhukov had every confidence that Konstantin could extradite the Soviet units in Western Europe if warranted. In retreat there would be many NATO casualties.
Rokossovsky was one of the best commanders at Stalingrad and the Battle of Kursk in World War Two. He had stood up to Stalin insisting at the beginning of Operation Bagration that two points of breakthrough would be required. His proposal was at odds with the Stalin’s mandate of a single massive effort to breach the enemy’s defense lines. He had convinced Stalin that his reasoning was valid. It had taken three tense meetings, any one of which could have meant his death.
Zhukov had challenged his staff to consider ways to defeat their own defenses. His goal was to find potential weaknesses in his plan. Georgy had one particularly talented colonel who identified several flaws that the enemy might exploit.
In addition the Colonel presented his idea of a possible enemy plan. His fictitious NATO plan involved investing Istanbul and using their fleet to land in the Crimea. Such and amphibious assault would circumvent Zhukov’s forces in the Caucasus. He quickly gave the Colonel a reward in the form of a promotion and upgraded his family’s living quarters back in Moscow.
Georgy then called Marshall Mikhailovich Budyonny, who was the commander of the Transcaucasian Front. Zhukov made it clear he wanted the Turkish
Straits strengthened immediately. Budyonny advised him that the quickest way to bar passage to any invasion force was with mines.
Zhukov then called the other members of the Stavka and convinced each to sign off on diverting all stores of naval mines to Budyonny’s Transcaucasian Front.
Leaving the details to his staff, Zhukov moved on to other issues like all good leaders.
Something is Afoot
General Lenard Gerow was too close to the fighting in the opinion of the General’s Aide, Colonel Jerry Richardson. The fact that Jerry was in danger as well might have added to his thought process. Gerow had been warned by no less than Ike about putting his life in needless jeopardy but the General was not one to take advice from the sidelines.
The Colonel had narrowly missed being killed twice while sitting beside the General. Once a sniper’s bullet had taken a chunk out of their driver’s shoulder. The second time he himself had been hit by a piece of shrapnel at the beginning of a Russian rocket barrage. Luckily, the Katyusha rocket had landed just north of the hole they were crouched in near Van, Turkey. Minutes before they had been admiring the view of Lake Van.
The Soviets were no longer in a headlong retreat and were becoming increasingly aggressive. The advanced units of the V Corps included Combat Command B of The Big Red One or 1st Division. CCB had taken the lead from CCA who were sent to the rear for R&R after a brutal advance that had covered 330 miles in 10 days.
The Reds had started to fight back outside of Kasrik, Turkey. After the fighting died down in the area, the General had taken a side trip to Mount Judi. The mountain was the supposed “Place of Descent” where Noah’s Ark came to rest after the great flood. The General had come away a believer. Jerry, on the other hand, was more interested in the sites location which did not impress him in the least.
Biblical scholars now put the site of the grounding as Mount Ararat that was 100 miles to the north. This site was much more impressive at 17,000 feet. According to the local Rabi, Mount Judi was the true site and Ararat was chosen later because it was higher.
In reality Jerry didn’t care one way or the other. He was happy that the General was content with Mount Judi because the Reds were currently swarming all over Ararat and he wanted nothing to do with that scenario.
Figure 28 - Resting place of the Arc? Mount Judi in the background
According to the General their mission was to chase the Reds until they met heavy resistance and nothing more until further orders were received. The General suspected that something else was afoot (as he put it) in regard to strategic plans. He commented more than once that the Caucasus Mountains were no place to attack. To his thinking, there were probably plans to by-pass the Reds that were digging in along the Caucasus foothills.
Once again the General’s thoughts on the subject were fine with Jerry. He had been involved in the assault on Monte Cassino [clxi] in World War Two and that battle was a piece of cake compared to what they would soon face. He had overheard a briefing by G2 claiming that the Commies were using the Lesser Caucasus as their mainline of resistance. A defensive setup in this location would save what was left of the oil fields in Baku and Tbilisi.
The Lessor Caucasus were approximately the same height as the Pyrenees at about 8,000 feet. By comparison the Caucasus themselves made the Pyrenees range look like a picket fence. The peaks in the Caucasus were on the order of 14,000 to 18,000 feet high and a good 30 miles wider than the Pyrenees. 30 miles was a long way when it meant climbing up and down an 18,000-foot mountain.
These towering peaks were the fallback positions for the Reds so Jerry was glad there was something “afoot” to avoid fighting through them. No one wanted to assault a dug in enemy especially one that had the high ground. And the Caucasus were the highest ground around.
Neither he nor General Gerow knew what was up. Rumors were running rampant. Gossip ranged from paratroops to flying saucers. It never ceased to amaze Jerry how outlandish rumors could become. There was even one about taking the City of Istanbul and entering the Black Sea for Christ sake.
Some of Griswald’s 15th Army’s divisions had been recalled back to Beirut. For the life of him the colonel could not find out who’s command they had been transferred to. It was like they disappeared. Jerry was warned not to dig any deeper and had to back off despite General Gerow’s prodding to find out.
The fact that the 15th Army was getting smaller as they approached the Soviet defensive works in the Caucasus was another indication that something was “afoot”.
Preparations on the Pyrenees
The fog was almost so thick you could walk on it. This would have been a good day to start the attack, thought General William Hood Simpson. A dense fog like todays would masked the racket made by our troops as they move up to a line of debarkation. Just no way around it. Without the fog, the Reds will hear us and know something is up. Hopefully they won’t have anything left after the Baltic and Black Sea attacks.
“General Brooks come here for a minute please.”
“Yes, Sir”
“We can cut out the Sir stuff when were not in public Ed.”
“Thanks Bill.”
“Interesting how Ike has paired officers together who have never served with each other on this little soiree he has planned. There must be some method to his thinking.”
“Well maybe he knows us better than we know ourselves. So far it seems like you and I are reading from the same playbook and I hear Walker and Middleton have hit it off in Vienna and Griswold and Gerow are moving faster than expected to the Caucasus.”
“Yeah it has been a pleasure serving with you. We expect that the other attacks will further drain the Reds away from our front. They will have to respond and when they do we will pounce. As you know the British, Spanish, French, etc., will take the lead to rid Western Europe of the Red Army.
On paper, we will be the backup and they will do the heavy lifting but you and I know that they are not up to the task and at some point we will have to leap frog past them and take over. I suspect it will be sooner than later”
“I concur Bill. Our European allies are fought out. Imagine being overrun twice in six years and then losing the air space above your head. It must have been hell in Britain until we showed up again.”
“Alright then…Let’s get to that meeting.”
Fifteen minutes later, General Simpson’s aide calls the assembled command staff to attention as the General enters.
“Sit down gentleman and smoke em if you got em. General Brooks could you please briefly go over our plan of attack into France.”
“Thank you, Colonel Williams. Briefly the operation will commence with a broad demonstration on the enemy’s front by the 84th, 102nd, 39th and 40th Divisions. These will be limited attacks designed to fix the Red units and to keep them from reinforcing their 18th and the 4th Guards Rifle Corps. The 18th and 4th will be assaulted by the British 7th Army and the Spanish 3rd Army.
If you will recall the 3rd is populated by former Spanish Republican Communist veterans and Basque fighters. These men are trying to win clemency for their participation in the Civil War that ended in 39. The unit is expected to suffer severe casualties. Opposing them will be some of their former pals in arms and communist comrades who the Soviets have drafted. It should get real ugly.
We are going to stay out of it for the first couple of days. We will provide support as required while the two old allies go at it.
Joe, you will be liaising with a Major…um…Grec of the Spanish 2nd Corps and he will be suggesting fire orders. Feel free to double check if you have the time but don’t put our allies in danger.
Mac, you will be working with Colonel Richardson of the British V Corps and you can pretty much trust their calls.
Richard your counterpart will nominally be the RAF’s Wing Commander Roland Falk. I’m sure he will assign someone else in the short run.
You are to keep in close contact and to coordinate closely on all ground strikes. There will be no
friendly fire incidents on this operation. That is our goal gentlemen…Am I understood!”
“YES Sir.”
“Good, now…where is Jennings?”
The assembled officers look around and finally a Major speaks up.
“He took ill Sir and is in the …er… shitter.”
“Who in god’s name is filling in Major?
“Colonel Wilkins Sir.”
“And where might he be?”
“He also had to … run.”
“Charles, you will take over the 102nd until things are sorted out. Major, get General Busbee up to speed in an hour. I know you can do this Charles. You’ve been asking to get out from behind those guns of yours so now’s the chance.”
“Yes, Sir.”
Brooks continues the premission briefing for another 14 minutes. Then General Simpson takes over. The General gives his usual rambling version of a motivational speech.
William Simpson is much beloved as a commander and as a combat leader. His men will follow him anywhere. But he is one of the worst speakers in the US Army, and that is saying a lot. His men practically have to pinch themselves to stay awake at this hour of the morning and without their coffee it would be impossible.
An unfortunate British officer was present to coordinate and could not find any tea. He dismissively declined coffee. Missing his caffeine intake he nearly fell out of his chair. He meekly wandered over and got a cup of Joe that he grudgingly swallowed as Simpson droned on.
One of the problems with General Simpson speaking techniques was his lack of inflection and monotonous delivery. Luckily for all involved he normally repeated what the earlier officers had outlined compounding his tedious delivery but doing no harm.
The basic plan was the British and Spanish divisions would hit the Soviets hard starting out at 0400 hours and push continuously. Their 2-day goals were within 30 miles of the debarkation line. The allies’ main objective was to wear the Reds down while letting the artillery and fighter bombers work their magic.
World War Three 1946 Series Boxed Set: Stalin Strikes First Page 122
