World War Three 1946 Series Boxed Set: Stalin Strikes First

by Harry Kellogg

  The US divisions were to cover the flanks and repel the expected counter attacks.

  According to G2 the Red Army units they were facing had been stripped of most of their assets. The Baltic and Black Sea operations should draw down even more of the enemy’s strength. The end result would be ridding France of the Godless Commies.

  Cosmo is Late

  Master Sergeant Erin De Cosmos is late for the first time in his long Army career. His jeep was run off the road outside of the village of Quraf on the Shetland Islands. A truck full of hay pulled out of nowhere and his driver was badly injured when the jeep rolled over. Tracking down another vehicle to commandeer took 55 minutes that he could not afford to lose. He tried to sneak into the premission briefing as General Truscott was well into the briefing.

  “The reason I’m telling you ground pounders this is because these actions will allow the Navy to get our asses on shore and take the fight to the enemy.

  This is one of the most audacious…that means “daring” to you Cosmo…”

  Laughs erupt and Erin De Cosmos turns a bright red.

  “No offense Cosmo. As you know gentleman this attack will initially be aimed at taking 100 miles on either side of the Skagerrak and Kattegat as well as Copenhagen proper. It involves a fleet equal to the D-day landings and our newest innovation, the helicopter.

  If all goes well the Task force will pass through and into the Baltic Sea proper with a full 20 divisions. These divisions will land and invest Gdansk/Gdynia, Poland taking the newly repaired port facilities there.

  The Navy will initially be covering our butts with 16-to 3-inch naval ordinance and 10 carriers full of fighter bombers.

  The USAAF will follow up within days using the airfields we capture along the way. All in all we should have continuous air superiority on the order of 3 to 1. The word is that the Reds and their air force will be strung out from Spain to Turkey and Moscow to us in Poland.

  Mind you they still have to extradite themselves from Western Europe or be cut off by us. Walker and the First Army in Austria are posed to step out as well. Also, the Commies will have to watch for 15th Army near the Black Sea. What this all means is that we should expect very light opposition for our initial operations. Then all hell should break lose somewhere along the line as we head south and link up with the boys in Vienna.

  This is a classic pincher movement on a continental scale. The end result will be the isolation of the enemy far from home. He will have no fuel to move much less attack. Refined oil is the key to this war as it was in the last. Our advantage is that our oil sources are in Texas whereas the Reds’ remains within our reach.

  All you really need to know is how to get your boys ready and quickly moving to your first objective. Speed is of the essence.

  That last bit was me showing off by the way and is of no concern to you mugs. “

  Laughter erupts again.

  We will be advancing until we link up with Walker and his First Army. This means 24 hour continuous action with 18 hour shifts and sleeping on the way to the next fight. Units will be moving by bounding overwatch on a brigade scale.

  Figure 29 - Bounding Overwatch

  The helicopters will be our eyes along the way. Our Patton tanks and Wolf Hound armored cars will be our artillery and heavy weapons. You will be the men who capture and then hold the ground until relieved. If we fail we will be trapped instead of the Reds…so we will not fail. IS THAT UNDERSTOOD!

  A resounding “YES, SIR” bounces off the walls.

  As mentioned before the Commies have graciously repaired the port facilities at Gdansk/Gdynia. I’m sure they did not foresee what we had in mind when they did so. We will thank them for their work as soon as we take it from them. While we are at it we can repay them for all the GIs that they have captured and killed.

  There should be no need for landing craft on this whole operation. Thanks to the helos and the excellent off loading facilities in both Copenhagen and Gdansk/Gdynia we should be able to keep our feet dry and take the fight to the Reds.

  Our first goal once we are rolling is Warsaw. That should get a reaction like an electric shock to a frog from Stalin and crew. Once they start shifting their forces around Walker, his First Army will attack to increase the pressure on their already stretched supply lines.

  I think you’ve all heard rumors about our Coups de Grace that should end this thing quickly. The Joint Chiefs are counting on our little demonstration to set off a series of rebellions in the territories now under Soviet domination.

  Let me read from this report…”

  Truscott picks up a couple of pieces of paper that were sitting on the table near him. He begins to read.

  “History has shown that when a subjugated people can see salvation and independence on their doorstep they will respond by rising up against their oppressor. We will be emboldening all resistance fighters and partisans with supplies and encouragement.

  The war for the hearts and minds of the conquered western Europeans has begun in full earnest. Many have responded and are just waiting for our landfall to start their long road to liberty. The famous French Resistance movement increased dramatically in the lead up to D-day and continued to grow as we fought our way to shore.

  Given the chance people will find the courage to join the fight for their freedom.”

  He puts the paper down and stares into the crowd as if collecting his thoughts. He begins again.

  “Well … enough of that rah rah stuff. Be mentally prepared to witness the same kind of atrocities against innocent victims that we ran into in Germany. Reports are that Stalin is a bigger murderer than Hitler by far. We should see evidence of his crimes along the way to Warsaw. So be prepared and keep your troops under control.

  We don’t want any vigilantism or our own version of Malmedy.[clxii]

  Copenhagen

  The now familiar thump, thump, thump of helicopter rotor blades tore through the undisturbed air over the ancient and formidable star-fortress near the harbor in Copenhagen. You could just make out the distinctive shape of the earthworks from a helicopter traveling at a height of 30 feet. The five-point design had vexed invading armies for centuries with overlapping fields of fire. Eventually the wide spread use of powerful cannons was able to overwhelm the defenses. This particular fort was named Kastellet. It was built in the 1600s it had not been used as a fort since 1807.

  Lieutenant Louis and his company were on their way to make sure Kastellet wasn’t being used as a fort in this war. US Army G2 had confirmed the Reds were occupying the citadel as a headquarters. Capturing the senior staff was the main reason for taking the fort. The Lieutenant hoped that his 150 men were enough to secure the area as they neared the earthworks and rapidly began descending.

  Figure 30-Kastellet

  The lead helicopters gently settled down. Louis and the other two-dozen men with him started to jump off. They spread out and immediately prepared to provide cover fire for the next squadron of helicopters.

  Luckily the Soviets were using the main building for both their barracks and headquarters. The second set of transports was just settling down when the first dazed Ruskies stumbled out of the building and stood there gaping at the strange machines making an unbelievable sound. Then they noticed the oddly dressed soldiers pointing extraordinary looking and very menacing, assault rifles at them. They were so stunned by the circumstances that the Ruskies complied like sheep to the broken phrases in Russian ordering them to surrender.

  At the same time, all over Copenhagen additional helicopters were landing and disgorging hundreds of trained Special Forces. These men were responsible for taking out or capturing key points. Similar scenes of stunned compliance to orders of surrender were reported throughout the city.

  The lead NATO Naval Task Force had seized or shelled into oblivion the Soviet manned defensive strong points. So far, the helicopter troops had not met any opposition primarily due to the novelty of their appearance. Some local enemy commanders had
sent out frantic calls trying to describe what was happening to them. So far, their superiors had not responded to their wild tales of hovering aircraft with men jumping out of them.

  NATO had added their own bogus radio traffic about men from outer space and other outlandish tales. Also, they continued to capture enemy radio equipment. The local commanders who managed to get through to higher headquarters units were marginalized by these tactics.

  Land lines had already been cut all along the Danish Straits by the Danish resistance. The only way to communicate was through radio. The locations of the most powerful transmitters were well known. Some sites were visited by helicopter borne NATO soldiers and eliminated early in the assault. The remaining equipment was used to disseminate misinformation and further confuse the absentee headquarters staff back in Moscow.

  The USS LPD-1 Peleliu looked like an angry nest of hornets with HUP1-H25 helicopters coming and going at a dizzying pace. Other ships were sending out landing craft full of seaborne troops who would secure the already captured sites and allow the airborne troops to move on to other targets.

  The Red Army was spread so thin throughout Eurasia that there were very few Soviet units within 150 miles of the Danish Straits. The Stavka would have to expend millions of gallons of fuel to begin to contain the NATO incursion. Millions of gallons they did not have.

  Copenhagen was secured with the help of the Danish citizenry within 48 hours. Many of the NATO units were greeted by cheers and jubilant crowds on both the Danish and Swedish sides. A few troops did encounter the hanging bodies of communist collaborators or Soviet soldiers. For the most part the isolated Red troops surrendered peacefully with the encouragement of locally made pitchforks and axes.

  A small fire fight with a company of veteran Soviet artillerymen almost got out of hand when the local men decided to burn down the armory the Reds were holed up in. It seems that these Reds had shot the town’s mayor in the heat of the moment and the crowd was bent on revenge. A squad of Swedish regular troops was all that was standing between this proposed barbeque and reason.

  Luckily a company of French commandos was sent to take in the Soviet unit and arrived just in time to prevent any more violence. The Captain of the Ruskie unit had been wounded by a very well thrown brick as he left the building. The act seemed to calm the crowd down along with the timely arrival of the NATO soldiers.

  Copenhagen had been liberated quickly and easily with minimal collateral damage.

  Two divisions poured out of troop transports to secure both sides of the Great Belt and Oresund giving NATO control to the entrance of the Baltic Sea. NATO Task Force 125 was on its way to sweep clean the Baltic Sea of all Soviet naval craft and forces.

  The first use of helicopters in combat had been an unqualified success largely due to their innovative use and the element of surprise.

  Task Force 125 Redux

  Gunner’s Mate Napoleon Reid was one of the few colored sailors on the U.S.S. Tulagi (CVE-72) sailing with the Task Force 38 into the Baltic Sea. He had put up with a lot of abuse to his pride to be here. He had stood up to the taunts and insults because he hated Hitler more than he hated the men who tormented him. He knew his decision was correct once he saw what the Nazis had done in the concentration camps throughout Europe. He knew he was on the right side.

  He now has a new enemy to channel his hate towards. Stalin was just as bad as Hitler from what he read and his soldiers just as white. Oh how the citizens of Copenhagen had pointed at him as the Tulagi slid past the narrows in the Big Belt. He just ignored them and did his job.

  Being on board a ship had its advantages for a Negro in the military. Your fellow sailors were up close and personal. You all had to learn to get along. You were forced to get to know your comrades in arms as they were forced to get to know you. There was nowhere to hide for long on a ship at sea.

  His contemporaries in the Army were, for the most part, placed in all-Negro units. A few Navy ships were manned by all-Negro sailors, but for the most part the crews were integrated in this war.

  World War Three saw a dramatic increase in the number of non-white troops. Following World War Two 11 million veterans were looking for jobs and whites got most of the openings. Unemployment was so high in the inner cities and the rural south that the military was the only place to make ends meet for many non-whites.

  Reid was assigned as one of the lookouts on duty on this fine day in June. The Task Force was still in the relatively narrow part of the Baltic where theoretically some Commie artillery unit could take a potshot at them.

  An incident had happened a few days ago but the USS Wisconsin BB 64 had put a stop to that in short order. The Soviet gun crew probably never knew what hit them as they prepared for their 4th shot at a troop transport. The first three shots were wide of the mark by a good 100 yards. The USS Wisconsin was on target with her first salvo of 5-inchers. Needless to say the 16-inch gun crews were very disappointed at not being called on to join the fun.

  Reid was vital to the safety of his ship and had just spotted a rogue naval mine floating in the middle of nowhere. The mine could have done serious damage to the smaller ships in the group. A couple of shots from the 20 mm crews on the starboard side had taken out the mine and a chicken near the shore. Napoleon was given a commendation for his excellent spotting skills.

  Figure 31 - Gunner’s Mate Napoleon Reid

  NATO Task Force 125 had used the same force structure it had on D-Day, 6 June 1944. Minesweeper group 125.9 was leading the way. The minesweepers were followed closely by Bombardment Group 125.8 composed of three battleships, two heavy cruisers, ten destroyers and five destroyer escorts. Causeway Construction Unit 125.15 had been assigned to assist with offloading the Copenhagen occupying forces.

  Task Force 125 had leapfrogged 124 and was now leading the way into the Baltic Sea. TF 124 had taken some damage and one catastrophic loss. The hard luck CV USS Franklin was once again on the end of a near crippling incident. Just before Copenhagen the destroyer escort USS Solar suddenly careened in front of the huge aircraft carrier. The DE was split in two and sunk within minutes. A deep underwater explosion followed seconds later damaging the Franklin. Only 13 crew were saved from the illfated smaller ship.

  The Franklin herself had earlier survived an attack by a Japanese dive bomber late in the last war and had just completed repairs. Again, Big Ben was in trouble. A number of plates in her hull had been battered by the Solar’s underwater explosion. She was taking water at an alarming rate.

  Several of her crew remained on board from her first brush with death. They were very experienced at keeping her afloat. She somehow survived this latest catastrophe, leveling off enough for her 96 aircraft to launch. They transferred to newly captured land based airfields. They continued to provide air support throughout the campaign.

  Big Ben would slowly make her way back to Britain where she would eventually be scrapped. The wreck of the Solar leaked bodies for the next three years from the cold depths of the Skagerrak.

  It was never determined why the destroyer escort suddenly veered into the path of the much larger ship. The USS Solar was the only major loss of life in the initial phase of Operation Triple Cross.

  Task Force 38 was following TF 125 and was chocked full of fast carriers. TF 38 was the mobile air arm of the invasion forces of Operation Triple Cross. Admiral Marc Andrew Mitscher was in charge operationally with Raymond Ames Spruance in overall command of the newly designated Baltic Fleet that included TF 124, 125 and 38.

  Spruance was the victor of Midway, which many consider the turning point of the war in the Pacific. His career had been sidelined for years by, the now ailing, Congressman Carl Vinson who was a Halsey fan. With Vinson’s stroke, Spruance was given his proper due and his long-delayed promotion.

  TF 38 had a full complement of 8 Essex class carriers with over 90 planes on each ship, a full quota of support ships and a dozen smaller carriers. The combined hulls could put over a thousand planes in the air
within an hour. On an operational level this naval air force could overwhelm any attempt by the VVS to attack either the convoy or the troops who would soon be landing.

  It would take months for the Red Air Force to counter this invasion. The plan was to bleed them to death by a thousand cuts before they could cobble together an effective counter attack.

  Besides playing defense, Spruance’s first mission was to attack the home of the Babushka Seehund Midget submarine. He was to prevent any more of these underwater killers from entering the Baltic and threatening his troop transports.

  Gdansk was the manufacturing hub of the Babushka. Hundreds of the midget subs in various states of assembly were waiting transport to the oceans of the world. At dawn Spruance’s air arm would destroy as many midget subs, hulls and components as possible. Then the army would invade. Their first mission was to destroy any remaining traces of the Babushka facility.

  The Soviet Baltic Fleet was expected to make an appearance at some point. The Red ships were not considered a major threat and their current locations were well documented. They would be dealt with in due time. For right now the midget subs were considered the greater threat.

  As both massive task forces started to push their way through the ancient waters of the Baltic, there was optimism in the air. You could feel it and see it in the movements and cheerful tones in the orders being issued and their acknowledgements. It’s pretty hard to communicate feelings through a voice-pipe, yet the ships’ crews were managing to do it. [clxiii]

  Figure 32 - Voice-Pipe Aboard a Destroyer

  Feet Dry

  Once again, the helicopters came as a complete surprise to the Reds. You would think that they might have caught on by now. This was the third major operation where the helicopters had been used. Once again, the airborne forces landed virtually unopposed as the Red Army soldiers seem mesmerized by the thumping of rotor blades.