World War Three 1946 Series Boxed Set: Stalin Strikes First

by Harry Kellogg

  Marshall invariably listened to the facts, made a decision and then gave his opinion, whether it was asked for or not. More than once after challenging superiors and fellow officers he had been told that his Army career was over.

  Yet, here he was worried that Ike was being too audacious. So far, everything was going like clockwork, which in itself was a reason to worry. War was chaotic and messy. Operation Backdoor and Triple Cross were not.

  The Soviets were lured out of their comfort zone. They were far from home and about to lose their mobility. Triple Cross was designed to force the Stavka to choose the lessor of two evils. Depending upon the decision, there were a variety of NATO contingency plans ready to be launched.

  In any event, the Soviets needed to mount a response to the loss of Copenhagen and the consequences of the landings in Gdynia and Gdansk. Further delay on their part could quickly lead to catastrophic outcomes from which there would be no recovery.

  The current strategic situation was the equivalent of the British actions in the Great Lakes during the War of 1812.[clxviii] The British were able to strike at will from the water. Now NATO had the ability to do the same along thousands of miles of Soviet shoreline.

  It was intolerable to the Soviets to have enemy forces in what they considered their private lake. Controlling the Baltic Sea’s waters was a critical national priority.

  The largest enemy naval force ever to enter the Baltic was armed, dangerous and capable of taking extremely grave actions. Yet the Stavka seemed unable to organize a counter offensive. This state of affairs was much like the initial inaction of the United States in 1812. Eventually the American hero, Oliver Hazard Perry, led a ragtag flotilla and “Met the enemy and they are ours.”[clxix]

  Now it was wait and see time for NATO. If the Soviets moved to contain Truscott and the 5th Army in Gdansk using minimal forces then it was a go for Operation Backdoor to enter the Black Sea.

  If the Reds pulled out all the stops and brought in massive reinforcements to drive Truscott into the sea, Walker and the 1st Army would breakout from Vienna to cut the Soviet’s supply lines. Hell they might just do both Operation Backdoor and unleash Walker to really mess with the Stavka. Marshall really wished he could be in the Stavka headquarters room when the High Command are told about Backdoor.

  Meanwhile, General Hailslip, his 10th Army and the bulk of the other NATO forces would be attacking Soviet army groups on the Pyrenees Line eventually moving on Paris.

  Life, Revenge and Liberty

  The Chief of Staff, General Marshall, glanced briefly at the map he was about to present to the Truman and select members of Congress. Hopefully, his proposal along with the map would be simple enough for the politicians to understand.

  After the public meeting George was to have a one on one with the President. In this conference, he would be outlining the Joint Chiefs of Staff’s final strategies and tactics to end World War Three. But first, Marshall had to go through with his dog and pony show for the public servants. He went over in his mind how he hoped the meeting would play out.

  Truman himself was a very quick study and a former captain in the Army. He would easily grasp the audacity of the plan.

  Somehow that idiot, the junior senator from Wisconsin, “Tail Gunner Joe” McCarthy had wangled his way into the meeting. If the past was any indication, Marshall expected most of the elementary questions to come from the Senator.

  Then McCarthy would launch into his “communist around every corner monologue.” At one time his claim may have been true. Many former members of the Communist Party of the United States of America had since seen the light. These idealists could not forgive the recently revealed atrocities ordered by Stalin. Most of the Reds had been cleared out of the Federal government by now. George was sure that few had escaped.

  Also, he was just as sure that McCarthy would ignore all the evidence to the contrary and continue to shout “Commie” at anyone who stood in his way. It was essential that the military stayed out of this domestic controversy created by McCarthy. While the armed services could do nothing overt, they could and did clean their own ranks.

  The various branches caught a number traitors including a few that held high offices. From all indications, the Brits were far behind in their efforts at cleaning house. They were spent after what they went through at the hands of the Nazis and then the cowardly attack by the Reds. To make matters worse the Soviets were our former allies. Somehow it’s worse when erstwhile “friends” are the ones who stab you in the back.

  After a few minutes, Marshall planned to shut McCarthy up and address the current situation. Using a prop like the map usually helped his audiences understand the issues more quickly. A brief question and answer session would follow.

  The real challenge would begin when Marshall would meet with the President alone. Today George would review the detailed strategies that the JCS believed was their best bet to end the war before winter.

  He opened his locked drawer and withdrew a file prepared by the newly formed CIA. Top Secret was stamped all over it. He loved this report and hoped its contents and the conclusions were correct.

  According to the authors of the paper over a million former Soviet citizens had turned against the malevolent Stalin during World War Two. One report said the number was closer to two million. 1.4 million proletarians actively joined the Wehrmacht as Hiwis, short for the German term Hilfswilliger (willing to help).[clxx]

  The Hiwis hated the aberration of communism that was practiced by Stalin so much that they were willing to kill former countrymen who stood in their way. Their aim was to crush Stalinism no matter the cost. The Hiwis were placed in their own units, wore German uniforms, used German weapons and even waved a version of the swastika decorated flag.

  Figure 37 - Cossacks in the Wehrmacht under the Swastika flag

  The CIA paper estimated that fully 20% of the German forces invading the Soviet Union in 1942 were former soviets. If Hitler had played his cards right millions more Ukrainians would have taken up arms against the Stalinist forces.

  When the Wehrmacht invaded the USSR during World War Two’s Operation Barbarossa, whole towns and villages in the Ukraine greeted the German forces as liberators. The locals acceptance also help explain the German’s rapid advance across the Ukraine.

  In the end Nazi distain and loathing of the Slavic people in general came to the fore. Despite being treated like barbarians by the Germans, the Ukrainians, Cossacks, Belarusians, Armenians, Azerbaijanis and Georgians still joined the Nazis by the tens of thousands.[clxxi]

  According to the experts, Stalin’s greatest fear was his own people turning on him. If the behavior of other modern dictators were any indication, Stalin would not give up power until the bitter end. What better way to end this war quickly then to have Stalin’s head impaled on a local pitchfork?

  The CIA believed that many former Soviets would join NATO’s crusade under the right conditions. First they had to be shown that there was hope. Next they had to be given a chance for redemption. Then they needed to be properly armed. Finally, they had to be assured they were not alone in their fight.

  The opportunity to save American lives by unleashing these committed anti-Stalinist forces was further reason for Marshall to love this report. The implications were astonishing.

  If a million or more former Soviets could be convinced to join Hitler in his struggle against Stalin, imagine how many would join NATO if given the chance? How many potential assassins would emerge? How many lovers of freedom and victims of Stalin’s rule would join armies bent on revenge?

  In 1942, the Nazis had promised many life and most importantly, revenge. In the end, over a million had rebelled. In 1947, NATO was in the position to fulfill these promises as well and add liberty into the mix.

  One Less Nikita

  The old woman slowly made her way down the street. She was like a salmon swimming upstream. She ambled along like she didn’t have a care in the world. The other pedestrians a
voided her and let her pass then continued on their way, hustling off to live the rest of their lives.

  The babushka seemed totally oblivious to the hustle and bustle threatening to engulf her. She just continued walking towards her final destination. She had been squatting in an abandoned apartment and was well known in the neighborhood. No one knew or cared where she went, what she did, or if she lived or died. She was just another faceless survivor of Stalin’s empire.

  If someone look very closely for a long period of time they would have noticed that she was very aware of her surroundings. Her eyes are always moving, her ears were always listening and her hands periodically brushed something in her pocket. That something was a small Beretta 1915 pistol.

  She was not the benign babushka that her outward appearance would have you believe. She was in fact the deadly sniper Marie Ljalková-Lastovecká and she was being coerced into serving the machinations of Lavrenti Beria.

  She was not on her way back to her apartment. She was on our way to an appointment with a well-oiled and expertly zeroed in Mosin Nagant 91/30 Sniper Rifle. Nikita Khrushchev was about to make a rare public appearance and she was going to save her daughter by shooting him in the head.

  Kazimir Volkov was looking forward to the state dinner later on that evening. He was Nikita Khrushchev’s primary double ganger. His appearance at the ribbon cutting ceremony was the price he had to pay for a sumptuous meal. He was told that the theme of the dinner was the sea and all it provided. Since this was a ceremony for the new aquarium it was decided that the expense was appropriate even as widespread famine was occurring just outside of Moscow.

  The fact that all the fish for the aquarium had been intercepted and eaten by the villagers of Voytolovo didn’t seem to matter. It didn’t seem to matter that everyone in the village was just as dead at the hands of the NKVD. The celebration and ribbon cutting ceremony would continue with or without the fish or the village of Voytolvo.

  Volokov was waving and smiling at the crowd. The fact that he was thinking of the caviar and poached salmon he was going to eat later was not evident. The crowd saw a diminutive Nikita Kruschev celebrating with them and Marie Ljalková-Lastovecká saw a reticle bracketing his scope enhanced head.

  She took a breath and took the shot.

  Kazimir Volkov died instantly with the top of his head no longer attached. No memories flashing by, no long slow walk towards a bright light….he just died. Pandemonium reined and the invisible babushka disappeared into the panicked crowd. If you were very observant you could tell she was moving with more purpose than her appearance would warrant. Otherwise she was once again invisible.

  As Marie was walking she couldn’t help thinking that all of her other kills had been the enemy of the Soviet Union.

  This shot was different, this time it was murder. She believed there was one less member of Stalin’s inner circle. It didn’t matter if it was good or bad. All she knew was that it was either Khrushchev or her daughter, so there was one less Nikita in the world, or so she thought.

  One More Nikita

  Beria was getting reports that Khrushchev was still alive. He was sure that Marie Ljalková-Lastovecká believed she killed Nikita. To make sure he had abused her daughter as she watched and screamed. Then he raped her and for good measure tortured her as well. Yes… he was sure she had hit the target, but was the target the right one.

  Both Stalin and Khrushchev had been known to use look-a-likes, standins or doppelgangers to fool would be assassins. He called them targets. Perhaps Maria had killed one of Nikita’s surrogates.

  A couple of thousand people had seen what looked like Nikita Khrushchev’s head explode yet there was nothing official or a funeral. He would have at least have concocted a story about his being wounded and making a full recovery and then have the real Nikita show up with a fake sling or some such ruse.

  He was noticing that the Kremlin was getting less and less crafty in their propaganda efforts. He guessed that Stalin’s mind was going fast and he wasn’t there to pick up on the other’s failures as he had done in years past.

  He was a master of manipulating and terrorizing anyone who was unlucky enough to draw his ire. This included Beria himself. Stalin was the only man who could frighten him with just a look.

  The ability to terrorize was innate and instinctual. Anyone else would say Beria was pure evil. Lavrenti would say that he was a genius pure and simple. By that definition than Stalin was a genius as well.

  Once he was sure Nikita was finished or incapacitated and Stalin was deceased, he himself would rise from the dead to take command. Without Stalin to answer to he would easily be able to manipulate the countries leadership and through them the masses.

  A peace proposal would be offered from a position of strength which meant that the timing had to be exquisite. He had the utmost confidence in his abilities for how else had he survived all these years? Years of raping other men’s wives and daughters with no retaliation. Decades of torturing his enemies with impunity.

  A times he would be made to release them before he was done and yet he was still alive. No … he was just very good at what he did. The strengths and skills he had used to rise to power would keep him from harm once more.

  He was sure Nikita was still alive and that would spoil all his plans. The situation had to be dealt with and soon for the rebellions were stating to take their toll. NATO was using the anger of the proletariat to do what Germany had not been able to do by force in The People’s War.

  His plan made sure Stalin’s death was imminent and inevitable.

  A Fleet’s Demise

  The Battle of the Baltic was short and for the NATO forces, sweet. What was left of the Soviet Baltic Fleet bravely weighed anchor and within hours was attacked by 16-inch shells from 19.4 miles away.

  The Soviet Naval Commander of the 8th or Baltic Fleet, Vladimir Filippovich Tributs, had a workable plan. His plan had the possibility of getting at least half his fleet within torpedo range of the enemy.

  The VVS and the Morskaya Aviatsiya (Naval Aviation) were doing a worthy job of keeping the NATO planes at bay. Only three Soviet destroyers had been sunk by the NATO air attacks so far.

  Tributs had no hope of out gunning the NATO fleet but hopefully his torpedoes could cause enough damage to make the Amerikosi think twice about further mischief. Tributs could at least make them pay for the potential destruction of his fleet.

  Four additional battleships had been added to augment NATO’s TF 125’s original complement of three once Copenhagen had been secured. The situation now unfolding had been anticipated by Admiral Spruance. His request for the four additional battle wagons had been promptly granted. Now, the battleships of the NATO taskforce were waiting for orders to fire.

  Admiral Tributs knew that one way or the other his fleet was doomed either to air attack or long-range bombardment. The end result was the same. However going down fighting at least meant a heroic death. Shakespeare was translated into Russian and many were familiar with the proverb “A coward dies a thousand times before his death, but the valiant taste of death but once. It seems to me most strange that men should fear, seeing that death, a necessary end, will come when it will come.”

  A third alternative was to keep the fleet in port facing a NATO blockade. Like so many other grand fleets throughout history it would eventually be destroyed having never firing a shot.

  The Fleet’s 25 ships were heavily manned with all volunteers. 2,489 men to be exact. Most of the ships in Tribut’s fleet were small coastal vessels and carried a torpedo or two. The Cruiser Kirov was the only Soviet capital ship of consequence hence she would be the first to die.

  The range of her 7.1-inch (180-mm) guns was 41,000 yards. The range of the Iowa class 16-inch guns on the USN battleships was about the same. The Kirov’s 7.1 inch shells weighed in at 215 lbs while The Iowa’s 16-inch shells weighed 2700 lbs. The outcome was inevitable with the Iowa’s outgunning the Kirov by a factor of ten to one.

 
Just before the Kirov was in range 12 massive eruptions of water straddled her from NATO gunfire. The turbulence tossed the Kirov causing her shells to go wide to the north of the USS Wisconsin. The next three shells from the trailing USS Iowa found their mark. The Kirov staggered from 1 near miss and two direct hits. The near miss stove in her sixth bow plate on the port side. The first direct hit left a gaping hole where her aft turret had been. The shell plunged right through from deck to bottom. The second hit took off her aft funnel along with all three of her 100-mm antiaircraft guns on the starboard side and 32 crew men.

  Ironically the Kirov’s second set of three 7.1-inch shells hit the cruiser USS Augusta CA 31 and penetrated causing minimal damage due to defective fuses. Three more hits from the USS Iowa and the Kirov was listing badly and sinking fast.

  The majority of the other Soviet ships were sunk before they could come within their effective torpedo range. All in all the battle was like target practice for the larger NATO ships. Yet over 789 Soviet sailors met their death defending their nation’s honor.

  Figure 38 - Soviet Cruiser Kirov 1945

  Figure 39 - Last know Picture of the Kirov - General Quarters after sighting the NATO Fleet

  Figure 40-USS Wisconsin fires on the Kirov - Battle of the Baltic

  Chapter Eight: Rebellion

  Figure 41 - Hungarians Revolt

  468

  Ihor Chornovil Ruslan was a Private in the US Army attached to Combat Command B assigned to the 65th Infantry Division. The Division had been in the Gdnask area for three weeks. He was on patrol when he became separated from his squad.