World War Three 1946 Series Boxed Set: Stalin Strikes First
Page 131
"Which one is Malenkov?"
"He's the heavier set one. Looks weak but supposedly is one tough son of a bitch. Led the purge before the war killing off most of the Soviet-trained general staff weeks before the German's attacked. He opened up many opportunities for guys like Zhukov and Konev."
"You like that Zhukov fellow don't you?"
"We actually had a good time when we met. He seems to be honest and a good leader. I'm glad he's now on our side. He brings a lot of credibility for the Freedom Force. Our recruitment has doubled since he surrendered.
I don't speak Russian but even I heard the passion in his voice. I happened to witness an impromptu speech he made to a small group of former Reds. The men were on the fence about fighting again. Really seemed to stir them up and all joined on the spot."
"Why did he... change sides, Ike?"
"From the reports, George, one of our spies opened up communications between Konstantin and him. They are good friends and the rest is history. Zhukov brought over 300,000 of his men when he made his move. Some call him a traitor. I'd call him pragmatic and logical. Why fight and die for a man, like Stalin, who will kill you as soon as he no longer needs you?"
"He does seem to be a standup guy. I wonder who he will back as the next leader?"
Ike looks pensive for a second. "It won't be Malenkov, he was too close to Stalin and thinks the same way. I suspect that the Freedom Force will actually see some combat. That's a shame. Can you conceive of fighting your friends and neighbors? It's like the Civil War but with tanks, machine guns and airplanes."
"These Russians are tough. Imagine living under the Czar, going through a bloody revolution and then having the Nazis rape and pillage your country. Then we come along and kick their ass. Think of having Sherman marching through your hometown every so often for 30 years.
One day the authorities are your friends and saviors, and the next day they are your enemy.
"Rather them than us, Ike."
"I'd like to think that someday it will be neither them, nor us."
The Offer
Nikita Khrushchev took complete power over what remained of the Soviet Union at 13:09 on 6 September 1947. His first act was to initiate negotiations with the leadership of the NATO Armies slowly advancing towards Moscow.
Khrushchev’s situation was dire. The Stavka had lost contact with the entire Trans-Pyrenees Front and the Soviet forces between the infamous city of Stalingrad and NATO existed only on paper. However, a stout defense was occurring against the NATO forces in the Ukraine.
General Eisenhower received an un-coded message from Nikita Khrushchev proposing a cease fire and conditions under which the Red Army would end the struggle.
Th former Soviet Marshall Zhukov was the new commander of the Freedom Forces who now numbered 10 divisions of tough, determined and ex-communists. It was necessary and prudent to include him in any negotiation.
The terms were rather simple much like Khrushchev himself.
A general ceasefire would commence on an agreed-upon day and hour.
All Red Army forces would lay down their arms and withdraw from contact with NATO forces.
All Red Army units would immediately pull back until they were within the borders of the pre-World War Two USSR.
The military forces of the former USSR would be demobilized within 30 days of returning to Soviet territory.
NATO would supply the resources necessary to supplement the nutritional needs of the former citizens of the USSR for one year.
Zhukov spent a good minute reading the translated message. Churchill, Truman and the Joint Chiefs of staff of the US and UK had discussed the proposed surrender hours before. All knew that Zhukov and NATO had to be of the same mindset in their reply.
Eisenhower and Zhukov had discussed the terms they deemed necessary to avoid more bloodshed weeks ago. The NATO leadership wanted to make sure that there was agreement by all parties before responding.
Zhukov answered through an interpreter. His voice starting out in a low rumble as was his habit and growing in volume and intensity.
“I’m afraid this does not go far enough in freeing the peoples of the former Soviet Union. We need to demand a change in the very governmental system and the “retirement” of the current leadership with free elections. In addition, my comrades…err fellow Freedom Fighters would demand a new constitution be developed under the guidance of NATO and a new construct of government be developed to serve the decimated peoples of the former USSR.
As we all know the men and women who make up the bulk of the Freedom Forces are not, in fact, Russian but come from the regions that border the West. These Regions want autonomy. Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Latvia, Moldova and Ukraine have all demanded sovereignty as do the newly liberated countries of Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungry, Austria, Romania, Bulgaria and Albania.”
Zhukov finished and Eisenhower spoke for the NATO leadership.
“The collective leadership of NATO agrees with your assessment Marshall Zhukov. Our demands will include a change in leadership, a regime change, a new constitution and the liberation of the regions and nations.”
As the NATO leadership is drafting a response, a door is closing in the US Senate. By a 45 to 52 margin with 3 abstentions, the Senate has urged the President to demand the unconditional surrender of the Soviet Union. The preverbal ball is now in the court of Harry S. Truman, President of the United States of America.
Three Stories
Simultaneously three history making events are taking place. In Moscow Nikita Khrushchev is within minutes of giving a speech in front of a huge crowd of coerced residents from the neighborhoods surrounding the Kremlin and Red Square. The NKVD and Kremlin Guard had roused everyone who could walk and forced them to form a huge crowd.
At that exact moment, NATO’s leadership is finishing up a response to a cease fire proposal from Nikita Khrushchev. They were collectively pouring over the final draft of their response. This document would then be sent to the leaders of the free world and the wait began for the military arm of NATO.
In Washington D.C. a very tired Harry Truman was listening to a very heated debate between two of his top advisors. One was James Byrnes, who had strongly advised Truman to use the atomic bomb on Japan for the expressed purpose of intimidating the Soviets.
The other, equally verbose, individual in the room was speaking out against the concept of unconditional surrender. This was a debate of titans and quite frankly, Truman was somewhat entertained. The other in the room was Winston Churchill.
The discussion went back and forth with each citing fact and figure, then switching tactics and appealing on a more basic human level, Byrnes for revenge and Churchill for a quicker end to the killing. Truman admired their enthusiasm and debating techniques. Churchill had one quip that almost made Byrnes smile.
"When I am abroad I always make it a rule never to criticize or attack the Government of my country. I make up for lost time when I am at home."
True, this was a recycled joke but still entertaining when delivered by Churchill.
In truth, Truman had already made up his mind and was placating his various audiences. After demanding completed subjugation from the Axis powers, how could the USA not demand the same from its former ally. An ally who had brutally stabbed them in the back?
He would announce his decision as soon as he spent a reasonable amount of time pretending to weigh the various points of contention, Truman would then announce to the world that the United States would ask no less than the Unconditional Surrender of the Union of Socialist Soviet Republics.
At 15:06 Greenwich Meantime, it was 10:06 in Washington D.C. and Harry S. Truman was announcing his decision. In London, an agent of NATO was clandestinely talking with a Soviet contact. They were discussing the possible ramifications of a demand for total surrender. Another agent, who was listening to the live broadcast of Khrushchev’s speech, was desperately trying to get his colleagues attention.
67 minutes later, Truman read the transcript of Khrushchev’s warning. Almost simultaneously NATO had learned of Truman’s decision, Truman learned of NATO’s clandestine negotiations and Nikita Khrushchev learned of Truman’s demand for Unconditional Surrender.
It was a classic case of the right hand not knowing what the left hand was doing. In this instance, the stakes were high. The consequences were on the order of over an additional million lives lost.
Khrushchev’s blood was up and his famous temper washed over the roomful of staff. One very brave aide reminded the Chairman of the deteriorating state of the Red Army. What he received for his act of bravery was completely unexpected.
The little bald man with the gapped tooth smile, calmly walked over to the aide, swiftly drew the knife he had killed Beria with and stabbed the aide in the hand. As everyone else in the room recoiled in horror, Nikita was an island of calm.
He had decided to die for the motherland and would order all true Rus’ to do the same. The mandate of Truman was unacceptable and would be answered in blood.
An honorable peace was only minutes away and now it would be an eternity for thousands.
Winning and Influence
The Soviet supply column was headed back to Moscow. It was carrying the wounded and the dead. The men who were alive and driving or riding, were not looking forward to unloading their cargo. The dead stank and the wounded frantically screamed in pain when transferring them on stretchers.
Gleb was a partisan leader in western Ukraine. From his spies in the Red Army brigade headquarters, he knew about the convoy and what it carried. He was not interested in the cargo but in the trucks. He was tired of walking everywhere. He looked forward to travel in relative comfort.
The Amerikosi would be here soon and he would like to greet them with his own convoy of fighters aboard the trucks.
The attack and capturing of the vehicles would certainly earn him high praise the capitalists. Since the Stalinists lacked an air force there would be little risk of danger from the air.
He had already decided to leave the wounded in the care of their drivers. He would send word back to the Stalinists that their men were stranded by the roadside because Gleb and his partisans had taken the trucks.
Informing the enemy about the location of their wounded and dead was the humane thing to do. Above all, he wanted to look good for the Amerikosi. He had heard it was important to make a good first impression with the capitalists. One of his fighters had brought him a book written by a man called Dale Carnegie entitled, How To Win Friends and Influence People.[clxxxvi]
It was written in Russian! How it escaped the censors he will never learn. He read the entire book twice and was practicing so he could excel in the new Russia.
He had memorized and was now practicing the five principles…
Build greater self-confidence
Strengthen people skills
Enhance communication skills
Develop leadership skills
Improve attitude and reduce stress
He could tell that his men thought he was going insane. He kept repeating the same phrases in response to his men’s concerns. He supposed they must have seemed like nonsense to somebody who had not studied the five principles of Dale Carnegie.
No matter, he would be prepared to meet and greet the Amerikosi on their terms. He would recite the five principles in English to any NATO soldier he met. He felt confident that his of knowledge of Dale Carnegie’s edicts were sure to win him high praise and advancement in the capitalist world.
It made sense that you could not fail in life once you knew how to win friends and influence people. Much of what Carnegie wrote about must be the backbone of a free society. Carnegie’s reasoning was simple and any system that could compete and apparently defeat communism had to be the greatest force in the universe.
Since Carnegie was the leader of the free world his word must be godlike. The impact of his writings and speeches must be similar to the now dead Stalin. How else could you defeat the logic of Karl Marx and the teachings of Lenin.
He was certain that this Carnegie fellow was the key to not only surviving in a capitalist society but also thriving in one. Now he was prepared for whatever changes occurred.
While Gleb had been using his new techniques on his men, he found that they were too ignorant and stupid to understand. He would have to wait for the men from the west to appear in order to win the Amerikosi’s friendship. Then, he could influence them into giving him money, preferably gold.
Figure 45 – Anti-Soviet Partisan Movements, October 1947
A Pain in the Ass
Joe Stein was hurting. His hospital bed was hard and uncomfortable. He had been shot in the ass during a firefight in Bielsa, Spain.
Stein was assigned to the 42nd “Rainbow” Division. HIs Division was scheduled to assault the Reds on Wednesday. The day before the attack he was on a routine patrol when the squad was surprised by the enemy and overwhelmed. Joe was shot as he was “advancing” away from the area. Three others were killed and two wounded.
Joe was able to fire a couple of shots and was sure he hit at least two of the bastards. The unit was fortuitously rescued by some guys from C Squad before the whole unit was lost. His Lieutenant had been advised that the Reds were falling apart fast and the patrol should not run into much, if any, opposition.
It turned out that at least one pack of Reds still had some fight in them and B squad was unlucky enough to run into them. Due to the misinformation given his Lieutenant by G2, three good men died.
Joe was upset by more than just the pain in his ass. The guys killed were his buddies and he had fought alongside them over the last three months. Those clowns in G2 should be forced to go on patrol for once. Clearly, Brigade G2 was not on top of the situation and the whole US Tenth Army was in for a one hell of a fight.
Joe had a friend in G2 who had been leaking to him all kinds of secret stuff he shouldn’t have. Joe wasn’t going to tell him to stop and just kept listening.
His buddy revealed that the Reds had attacked in force and swarmed over hill 324. The hill was a critical strategic prize and would have been a major loss to the US 10th Army. Such a loss would have delayed the planned NATO offensive by a good week or more.
Yet the Reds did not use their victory for military gain. They apparently were just interested in the large cache of foodstuffs behind the Division Kitchen. They cleaned the place out and then humped back to their original lines with each commie carrying as much food as he could.
The doctors examining the dead Soviets remarked at how malnourished they were. G2 thinks that these Reds that refuse to surrender are, in fact, starving to death.
General Haislip was contemplating leaving them be. The Tenth Army would wait for them to surrender or become so weak that they couldn’t defend themselves. The thinking was why waste more NATO lives when the bastards were within weeks of capitulation (Joe thought that it meant giving up but wasn’t sure).
Joe’s friend was telling him how Monty would have none of it. The General wanted to attack as planned, then lead the charge into France personally liberating Paris. Monty was such an ass hole. Imagine getting us killed so he could be the center of attention and go down in the history books.
Joe guessed you had to be pretty self-centered and a megalomaniac to make it all the way to four-star general or Field Marshall as the Brits called them.
Come to think of it, it would be anti-climactic to watch the poor bastards starve. No glory in that for either side. Joe wanted glory as much as Monty did, a lasting legacy and all that.
Instead, he was in the hospital, fa
r from any opportunity to win any metals. To make it all worse he got shot in the ass. He had to get back into combat to fulfill his ambition of being a decorated war hero and then running for political office. Definitely getting shot in the butt was not the way forward in realizing his ambitions.
Looks like the Brits and Montgomery were going to get their wish. Everyone was running around the hospital and gossiping about all the casualties that were going to start coming in tomorrow.
Damn it, he was going to miss the action. Well, sure as spit he was going to get his picture with his rifle looking for Reds in front of that Eiffel Tower thing. He'd need that image to show the folks back home. He planned to use the photo in his campaign for political office.
He started to daydream about being the Mayor or even County Supervisor. Sitting behind a big desk and ordering people around...
Just Dropping In, D-7 and Counting
"I didn't think the old man had it in him."
"I know it’s shocking and that's why it just might work. No one would have expected Monty to pull off such a radical tactic, especially since the debacle of Market Garden."[clxxxvii]
"Yes truly a bridge too far."
The two-staff officer's gossiping is drowned out by yet another flight of helicopters being deployed just behind The Pyrenees Line in Spain.
"Already the boys have got a nickname for the helicopter...Choppers."
"What was that again?"
"Choppers."
"Humm...good name."
"So what is the plan on how to use these things?"
"The theory is that instead of being all spread out like a parachute drop, these choppers can fly together and land in the same area. You know ...concentration of force at the point of attack.
So far, the ‘eggbeaters’ have worked out pretty well. That whiner Jones keeps saying that the element of surprise and the uniqueness has made the chopper operations so successful. Jones could be right, but as long as the actions work we'll keep using them."