Hundreds of thousands of records were captured that identified who was and who was not a member of the Nazi Party. The US pursued denazification in a zealous but bureaucratic fashion. All Germans were required to fill out a questionnaire.
Eisenhower initially estimated that the denazification process would take 50 years.
A nearly complete list of Nazi Party memberships was turned over to the Allies (by a German anti-Nazi who had rescued the files from destruction in April 1945 as American troops advanced on Munich) [clxxxi]. The list made it possible to identify the 1.5 million Germans who had joined before Hitler came to power. They were deemed to be hardcore Nazis.
Finding a comparable list of communist party members was considered highly doubtful once this war was won. By 1945, the membership of the communist party in Russia alone was in the millions. How many of them joined for expediency is a matter of debate.
Any public talk of punishing members of the Soviet Communist Party would probably lead to even more fanatical fighting. It was estimated that over half of the current anti-Stalinist units fighting for the Freedom Force were former communists.
Ridding all communists from leadership roles in the old USSR was seen as a hopeless tilt at windmills. However, Senator Joe McCarthy made this idea one of his main talking points. So far, the majority of Americans did not support his vision. He was a lonely ideologue shouting into the wind.
For many the quest to de-communisticate the Soviet Union would be put on a back burner along with any demand for unconditional surrender.
Armies Meet
General Walker and Truscott shook hands on the bridge over the Stradomka River in Czestochowa, Poland. Their respective armies had both fought their way to the rendezvous point. Walker and the 1st Army had come from Vienna via Trieste. General Truscott, and the 5th Army had come from Gdansk and Warsaw to the North. Now they had met cutting the supply lines of the Soviet occupation forces in Western Europe and the Trans-Pyrenees Front.
Truscott and the 5th Army had come close to running out of some weapons and ammo along the way. The shortage was not caused by combat but by supplying the endless number of Anti-Stalinist groups that had emerged from seemingly every hiding place along the way.
These rebel units were hell bent on burying the USSR and replacing it with a democracy. Not all held the same vision of what a Russian "Democracy" would look like, but all agreed that Stalinism was going to end.
It’s a chore to fight your way through battle hardened troops. Especially when you a supplied through a partially damaged port, while at the same time suppling half a million men with small arms. Truscott had done it. Walker had read the reports and was very congratulatory of what the General had accomplished.
Walker’s task was no walk in the park as well. His route to the meeting of the two armies was much more constricted using canyons and rivers at times. The roads were secondary at best and his initial supply head was the Port of Trieste which was not in the best of shape. In addition, he had an active opponent as well. The Red armies that were trying to contain him in Vienna put up a stiff fight along much of his advance.
Any and all Soviet caught between their mutual defensive lines and the border of Spain and France were cutoff. They were cutoff from supplies and the Stavka. The continuous line formed by the NATO Armies north to south across the European landmass was designed to withstand numerous attacks from both the west and east.
The entire operation was the granddaddy of all pincher movements. It encompassed almost ten times the area as the Battle of Kiev and was the first time this ancient maneuver had been carried out on a continent-wide campaign.
The Meeting at Czestochowa was conceived by General Douglas McArthur, made possible by the organizational skills of General Dwight Eisenhower and brilliantly executed by Generals Walker and Truscott. It dwarfed any other single military operation in sheer audacity and scale.
The meeting of these two armies had sealed the fate of millions of enemy soldiers and tens of millions of civilians.
Off camera Truscott and Walker toasted their historic meeting with whiskey…Johnny Walker of course.
New Tanks, New Tactics
Martin Williams maneuvered his well-traveled M-50 Patton tank into a hull down position. He depressed the 90-mm canon muzzle and waited. He did not have to wait long. He heard the enemy before he saw them. You could tell by the sounds of the engines that the enemy's tanks were heavies. It was probably a squad of IS-3s.
Williams was a veteran tank commander. He had extensive experience with the M-26 Pershing in combat. The M-26 was now being replaced by the innovative M-50 Patton. The Pershing was a good tank when you could get it to the battlefield. In a static position, it was a formidable foe.
The new Patton was mobile enough to negotiate all normal tank terrain as a light tank yet had the armor and firepower of a heavy tank. It was an excellent machine that combined British and American ingenuity.
Williams' squad of Patton tanks was joined by a squad of M-38 Wolfhound armored cars with the upgraded 75 mm gun and turret from the M-24 Chaffee light tank.[clxxxii]
These "cars" were fast and lethal but couldn't tolerate much punishment, if any. The M-38s were designed to quickly get into an ambush position and be ready to fire. The objective was to destroy enemy armor before they could get off a shot. In this engagement, Wolfhounds were to shoot and scoot leaving the heavy Pattons to slug it out with any survivors.
Scott Peterson was supporting the Pattons with a squad of armored cars. Martin felt very secure with Scott on his flank. He was confident that Peterson would keep him well informed of enemy movements.
The history of Soviet military operations is convoluted and torturous. Repeated purges and betrayals drove the architects and innovators of groundbreaking concepts from the halls of power. The key to victory lay moldering in restricted collections of books and papers.
The basic concepts of what was to become known as Deep Battle, were developed 20 years ago. The execution and tactics of the Red Army changed dramatically in 1944 as they began the employment of massed armor. Finally, the concepts developed in the 1930s would be realized.
Large amounts of artillery fire now preceded all their attacks. The initial shelling was followed by hundreds of tanks hitting the enemy's lines all at once along a wide front. Next the infantry advanced in long-drawn-out wedges. The combined arms of artillery, armor, air power and infantry became known as the Deep Battle tactic.
Figure 44 - Soviet Troops Using Tank Desant
The Soviet armored thrusts were very deep and almost always in a straight line. The infantry advanced until dark and then dug in. Massive amounts of reinforcements arrived during the night. [clxxxiii]
In 1945, the Soviet infantry would travel by riding on tanks as they advanced. The ground pounders would then dismount and dig in. In the latter parts of the last war and in World War Three, the thrusts went far behind enemy lines. The troops often lost contact with their main force and waited until relieved.
Against the Germans Deep Battle was extremely effective due to the lack of German reserves in their war against Stalin’s best from 1944 to 1945. The American's of 1946 and 47, did not suffer the same constraints.
All along the line the US had reinforcements. By interrogating and listening to their former German enemies, the Americans were ready to respond to Red Army breakthroughs with counter attacks.
In contrast the Soviet generals on the ground were fighting this war like the last one, using concepts developed in the 1930s and demonstratively perfected in 1944.
Assuming your new enemy would ignore history and disregard the lessons learned by others, always leads to unintended consequences.
What's New is Old
"Spread out! Move in a V formation."
The squad of Soviet tanks maneuvered into positon with practiced ease. These tankers were veterans of over a dozen major tank battles in this war and the last.
Anatoly loved his radio. For most of World
War Two his company had used flags to communicate. Now they had proper wireless equipment making life much easier.
Morozov was commanding a squad of T-54 Soviet tanks. The upcoming attack would be his first encounter with trained and possibly veteran American troops. His previous experience was with the US Occupation troops in Germany and against the Spanish in the Pyrenees. Both opponents lacked training and were easily defeated.
Anatoly had a bad feeling about the terrain ahead. “Timur take C and go left. Let your infantry cover and scout ahead...I know Timur I'm just making sure... Timur... Timur stop talking...shut the fuck up and listen. That's an order.", Anatoly growled into the mic. Maybe he didn't like the radio after all.
"Now move your ass!
Grigori take B and move right. Cover each other and use your assigned infantry. I'm going to call in smoke. Wait for my orders to advance."
Anatoly calls in the request for smoke and waits. The radio squawks and informs him that the smoke screen is incoming.
"Remember the Amerikosi can see heat signatures just like us. The smoke is a distraction not a solution. On my mark... let the makhra[clxxxiv] move out and take the lead"
The Red Army squad leader was being very cautious despite orders to attack quickly. His caution saved 3 of his six tanks. The other three fell to the guns of two US Patton M-50 tanks and one M-38 Wolfhound.
The Americans, anticipating Soviet Deep Battle tactics, had weathered the initial barrage in their heavy tanks while the armored cars withdrew to the rear. As soon as the shelling stopped the Wolfhounds quickly repositioned themselves on the flanks of Martin Williams' Patton tanks and waited.
Morozov had ordered his tanks forward 3 minutes too late. If he had left earlier he would have caught the vulnerable armored cars in transit. However, he didn’t. By delaying he drove right into the well positioned combination of 90 mm and 75 mm guns. The new NATO armor-piercing capped ballistic cap round made short work of even the T-54’s thick armor. The first two Soviet tanks that were destroyed never knew what hit them. The third had a terror filled 5 seconds trying to back out of danger before he turned into a flaming pile of metal.
Anatoly’s tank did manage to get one shot off before he escaped. The 100 mm APHE round buried itself into the dirt wall in front of Williams' tank and harmlessly spent its kinetic energy.
U.S. 75 mm AntiTank Round
All down the line the Soviet armor was taking heavy losses. A large number of the Red Army’s remaining experienced veteran tankers died that first day.
Three great holes were made in the American lines as the Reds tried desperately to link up with their comrades to the east. Shortly after the breakthroughs the lead Soviet columns were cutoff and isolated. Their follow-up reinforcements were decimated as the gaps were quickly closed by the Amerikosi.
The Soviet Deep Battle had met its match in the mobile forces and well-placed support units of General “Johnny” Walker and General Lucian Truscott near the outskirts of Torun, Lodz and Czestochowa, Poland.
The old tactics that had worked a year earlier were now being thwarted by the combined arms and large reserves of the NATO forces. The Soviet Deep Battle that won World War Two in 1944-45 was now losing World War Three in 1947.
Resurrectio - Dux
With Beria and Stalin dead it was time for Nikita Khrushchev to make his play for power. He had been preparing for this moment for the last six years. Finally, it was time.
First, he walked in and surprised the Stavka leadership. Having the support of the military was critical. He quickly won them over due to his service as a commissar in the battles of Kharkov and Stalingrad. He inflated his involvement when he spoke of his record. However, the fact remained that he and he alone among the Ruling Circle had seen combat. His field experience proved significant in gaining the Stavka’s trust.
Georgy Malenkov was shocked when Khrushchev suddenly burst into his office accompanied by several Stavka officers. At that point, Georgy knew that he had lost his chance at leading the Soviet Union. Fighting for his life was his new priority.
Looking back on the situation years later, Malenkov concluded that Khrushchev behaved quite magnanimously towards him and his family. Stalin would have turned him over to Beria.
Georgy Malenkov was astonished to hear that Beria had still been breathing as of yesterday. He had been under the impression that Nikita and Lavrenti were dead. Instead both had been alive with Beria pulling strings from behind the scenes until killed by Nikita. Georgy's ignorance of the true situation explained his fall from power.
By now, many in the Kremlin witnessed Khrushchev going from office to office proclaiming his authority. Soon the people on the street learned of the resurrection of Khrushchev and his assumption of command.
In the following week, Nikita gathered more and more support. His influence grew even as his territory shrunk and his armies became trapped and isolated. Revolts were increasing throughout the Soviet Union and conquered lands. Fewer resources were available to deal with the insurgencies. The Soviet Union was rapidly running out of options.
More than once Nikita wondered if becoming the leader of the Soviet Union was in his best interest. As usual his ego overcame all objections his logic could raise and he soldiered on. He did have to make peace soon, or he would be talking to the Amerikosi on the porch of the Kremlin.
Khrushchev remained confident that if anyone could negotiate a just peace it was he. After all, not many people outside of fairy tales and the Bible rise from the dead.
Ursus Arctos Beringianus
The Soviet Union still had a few functioning spies within the US and UK governments. Some reported on the debate calling for unconditional surrender. Khrushchev knew he had to prepare his opening proposal before NATO imposed its harshest possible sentence on the Soviet people.
If NATO's only choice was full surrender it would be almost impossible for them to retract their demand. The USSR could only respond with a fight to the end. Nikita’s spies were keeping him informed of the various discussions going on in the West. Unfortunately, their communiques were over a week out of date.
Khrushchev and his cabal still had to neutralize a dozen Politburo members before proceeding. He needed to further consolidate power to effectively negotiate with NATO. Meanwhile his remaining generals and Stavka members were advising him that the NATO forces appeared to be stalling in an attempt to give the Soviet Union more time to formulate an acceptable plan.
The NATO armies were only advancing a couple of kilometers a day. Nikita finally began to believe that a signal was truly being sent. He decided to heed that message and the implied alternative it conveyed of something other than absolute capitulation.
The easiest and fastest way to accomplish what he needed was to simply kill his opponents. He picked up the phone and ordered his new director of the NKVD to come to his office within the hour.
He decided not to emulate Stalin and rule by fear alone. One by one he had the opposition come into his office and pledge fidelity in front of witnesses. Nikita knew that a few were just saying the words but that would do for the moment. Once he had a dozen of his former enemies groveling at his feet he extended olive branches, positions of esteem and potential wealth.
The largely ceremonial offices did not wield great power. The newly created posts were seen by all as the bribes they were. These appointments were a chance to retire in comfort instead of being tortured to death. The men took the proffered life raft but one. The man defied Khrushchev's legitimacy and eventually paid with his life.
Nikita felt that things were going too well. In his soul Khrushchev was a superstitious man. His experience had shown that too much good luck was always balanced by misfortune.
True to his fears three hours later he was informed that the US House of Representatives had just voted to urge the President to demand unconditional surrender. Khrushchev knew that this was the branch of the US government that was closest aligned with the feelings of the masses. He also knew
that the President and Senate could see reason and refuse to acquiesce and in essence defy the will of the common man.
He needed to communicate with the US leadership. He had to convince them that the peoples of Russia would fight to the end rather than be humiliated. Yes, all the other republics would run to hide behind the skirts of NATO but true Russians would never relent and it would be a blood bath for both sides.
Quickly he called on his chief of staff to organize a large gathering of the faithful. He would give them a rousing speech that would, in truth, be aimed at Harry S. Truman, the Senate leadership and congressman who could be swayed to change their votes.
Khrushchev would evoke memories of Leningrad and Stalingrad as proof of the resolve of true Rus' [clxxxv]. Rus' was the historic name for the original Russians. He would draw on that primeval image to inspire the proletariat.
The vivid image he had to convey was you never back a bear into a corner, for a trapped animal has nothing to lose.
Someday, Neither Them nor Us
Ike and Marshall are deep in conversation when there is a knock on the office door and Ike's longtime aide peeks in.
"This better be good Miss Summersby." Ike muttered.
"Excuse me for interrupting Sir. G2 just reported that Stalin is dead!"
Marshall gets up and stands behind his chair looking at Kay Summerysby with somewhat of a blank look on his face. Ike is immediately animated.
"Thank you Captain."
"You're welcome Sir."
She leaves the room and General George Marshall begins to run all the possible implications through his mind.
"Well that changes the whole ballgame." says Ike to no-one in particular.
Marshall replies, "We just went from football to baseball, from brute force to out-thinking our opposition."
"Yes this will increase our options depending on who takes over. I believe it will be that Malenkov fellow since the little bald one is presumed dead."
World War Three 1946 Series Boxed Set: Stalin Strikes First Page 130
