Breakthrough (The Red Gambit Series) (24 page)

The Atlantic war was a sideshow for both men but it was delivering
surprisingly
excellent
results, with
many
enemy warships and transports sent to the bottom by the Elektrobootes of the
Soviet
Navy.
Even the Pacific fleet had a notable success, one of its diesel-electric boats having sunk HMS Unicorn, a light aircraft carrier, sailing close inshore to
Honshu
,
Japan
.

Serious dents had apparently been made in the
US
reinforcement stream coming into
Europe
, with major losses reading like a who’s who of important sea-going craft.

The submarines off
America
had done particularly well, with some
serious
successes against oil tank
er
s as well as troopships.

A clandestine operation using a Swedish-flagged vessel was already underway,
intending to visit each of the clandestine bases. T
he Trojan horse’s holds
were
stuffed full of torpedoes and the other necessary chattels of submarine warfare. More manpower too, divided into two gro
ups. M
ainly seaman
,
but also a few of the
secretive and quiet types who
se
rved a more sinister
purpose.

The junior man broke the silence.

“I believe the group in
Madrid
will be ready to act very soon
,
Comrade
General Secretary
.
I have no
t
yet given the
preparation
order. Should I give such an order?”

Stalin, filling the bowl of his pipe with rough cut t
obacco, paused and looked at the NKVD Chairman
.

“Is there some reason that I should not, Lavrentiy?”

“We have guaranteed Spanish neutrality and yet they send men against us. None the less, they are few in number at this time.
”

Beria added a note of caution.

“
What is planned could incite their nation to greater efforts
,
Comrade General Secretary.”

The dictator struck a match and pulled thoughtfully
on the modest clay pipe
. Beria continued.

“Because of our links with old comrades in
Spain
,
we can be assured of good information at all times, and I am sure
that we can undermine Spanish unity.”

The match burned down to Stalin’s fingers as he drew on his pipe, bringing a snarl as he discarded the end into the ash tray and licked his fingers gingerly
,
the heat of the flame still apparent
on the tips
.

“It must be done, Lavrentiy.”

The NKVD Chairman nodded. He had expected no other resolution
,
but had decided to cover himself just in case.

“It shall be done
,
Comrade General Secretary.”

Replacing his porcelain cup into the exquisitely decorated saucer
,
Beria decided to tackle a problem head on.

“Things with the Germans have not gone as we had hoped
,
Comrade
General Secretary
.”

Such a statement required clarification and Stalin’s
unimpressed look
drew him further.

“My own and the GRU agents have done well and disrupted
the formation of these German R
epublican units.”

The glasses came off and the handkerchief commenced
rapidly
p
olish
ing.

“It seems likely that they are about to put ten divisions at the disposal of the Capitalists.”

Stalin’s eyes narrowed
,
and Beria understood he needed to sweeten this bitter pill as soon as possible.

“We cannot assess the effectiveness of these units
,
but we do know that the Allies kept their prisoners of war under
suitably
harsh conditions
,
so it is likely they will be less effective than we have previously encountered.”

Soviet
Liaison
officers
had seen the hell holes of the Rheinweisenlager for themselves and reported back on the disgraceful conditions, conditions
that
met with
the
full approval to the Russians.

“So what exactly did your agents achieve
,
Comrade?”

Stalin had a unique capacity to speak normal words and have them fall upon other’s ears full of threat and venom.

“Many German officers have been taken out of the equation by our agents, alleging war crimes, denouncing them as
Nazis;
there were even deaths from in-fighting.
Anything which could spread disaffection and undermine their unity
has been tried
.
”

Replacing his glasses
,
the NKVD Chairman rallied.

“
Some of our men will have gone with these new units so their usefulness will be appreciated soon enough.
Others will continue to spread disaffection amongst the German soldiery
behind the lines
.”

The General Secretary puffed deeply on his pipe, filling the space between them with a thick fug.

“I had expected more Lavrentiy, much more.”

Beria’s smugness had now departed and he bought himself time by pouring more tea for both men.
He decided to stand his ground.

“As did I, Comrade General Secretary.
However, we must not believe that operations are over. Far from it.”

A
gentle
cough to clear his throat
and steady himself,
and the NKVD boss
carried
on.

“
Each
agent
is under orders to undermine relations between the German and Western Allied factions
. We have yet to see this in action
,
as the
German
units were not yet formed. Each
agent
knows that Senior Allied commanders are to be
eliminated
where circumstances are favourable. We have yet to see this in action because the circumstances would not
yet
have existed. Each
agent
knows to sabotage but
,
yet again
,
they will not have been able to do so without the means and the freedom of operation. Obviously, betrayal of
tactical
plans and dispositions will happen when units reach the front line.”

Surprisingly boosted by his defence
,
Beria concluded.

“Comrade General Pekunin and I both agree that the effectiveness of
our various agents will increase
,
and that results will only improve.”

Stalin, not wholly comfortable with Beria’s robust approach
, shifted in his seat and leant forward
,
planting both elbows on the
solid
tsarist desk.

“Comrade Marshall, you and Pekunin assured me that you would disrupt the formation of any German units. And yet I now hear of ten divisions of their troops being made available to the Capitalists. That does
n’t sound like disruption to me;
that sounds like failure.”

This time the
venom
was very real
,
and the
threat
decidedly meant.

“The pair of you had better come up with some results soon
,
or someone w
ill be counting trees
.”

Even though Beria knew it was impossible for his boss to
do such a thing to him, and m
ore to the point, Stalin knew he couldn’t do such a thing to his
Chief of NKVD, the threat was very real. Stalin could not move Beria
,
as the
Marshall
had certain files
that
would prove
‘
embarrassing
’
to the General Secretary. He knew where all the bodies were buried and, as he had assisted in Stalin’s
intrigue’s
and plotting throughout the Georgian’s rise
,
he was privy to all the dirt.

What concerned him a lot was that, in the past, such people tended to disappear.

Beria fully intended that
, if it came to it,
it would not be he but
Pekunin who ended up in a Katorga
being
worked to death.

Eisenhower had been up for some time. Technically he hadn’t been to bed, having fallen asleep in his comfy chair downstairs. His staff reduced their noise levels and let their boss sleep, knowing full well that the coming day would bring more pain and heartache.

A generous breakfast of Belgian waffles with eggs and bacon fortified the body, whilst coffee and nicotine boosted the mind for the trials of the day.

Ike knew that it would be a very difficult day indeed.

Already he had cut orders to newly arrived or reformed units, sending them not to front but to rear-line positions, making them ready to hold, hold, and hold.

His G
enerals were doing a magnificent job
. Even Patton, hard-charging and impetuous, had his army in controlled retreat, hanging on to those either side and keeping the front line intact.

Hamburg
still held, or at least some of it. McCreery’s boys were working miracles in defence and, by all accounts, giving Ivan one hell of a bloody nose.

And yet,
a few miles from
this excellence
,
a huge problem
had arisen
.

The 1st Canadian Division had been sundered west of Luneburg Heath,
permitting
what looked like a whole Ru
ssian
Army
Corps
to move
through the No
rth German Plain and bear
down on
Bremen
.

The Canadians, by dint of superhuman effort, threw in a counter-
attack and halted
one of the
thrust
s, that
between
Westerholz
and Scheeßel
, at the cost of half of their armour.

Despite this
,
the Division was withdrawing again, but this time showing an unruptured front to the hard pressing enemy.

Air had played their part too, inflicting casualties on the advancing tank columns and
reducing the deficit in
the balance of forces.

None the less
,
McCreery’s front still looked the most stable, certainly compared to the horror’s being visited upon Bradley
.

The British General had sought and gained permission to use one of the German infantry units from
Denmark
and this was m
oving south to stiffen the line, freeing up other forces to bolster the
Hamburg
defence. It would be a close run thing.

Having spent the night preparing
,
Guderian had assured Ike that the German Republican Army would commence its move towards the
Ruhr
at first light. Reports confirmed that to be true, with two divisions moving swiftly ahead of the rest to secure the area.

This German commitment had allowed
Eisenhower to free up resources, banishing his warring voices for the moment.

W
hilst the situation was still dire
,
there were occasional glimmers of light in the darkness of retreat.

Although of limited use in the immediate, the promise of further support by
Brazil
was encouraging, as was the unexpected offer from
Mexico
to employ some of their divisions on security duties
in the
Caribbean
, releasing more American units for the frontlines.

The Spanish Division promised by Franco had yet to materialise
,
and General Grandes had been embarrassed to report that it probably would not cross the frontier for at least another
seven
days, possibly more.
That obviously meant that the Spanish Corps would be delayed for a far greater time and Eisenhower forced it from his thinking.