Breakthrough (The Red Gambit Series) (27 page)

Zhukov nodded, understanding that Malinin’s tone indicated that had not been straight-forward.

“A partisan ambush derailed the train carrying the engineer troops
at the
Bode
River
Bridge
,
near
Hedersleben,
resulting in heavy casualties.”

Zhukov looked quizzically at Malinin.

“
Apologies
,
Comrade Marshall,” and orienting himself on the table map
,
he swiftly indicated the precise location of the attack.

“Our comrades of the NKVD?”

“Were effective after the
event
,
and destroyed the partisan unit
that
carried out the attack. Additional patrols are now being mounted and hostages have been taken from the local communities.”

Neither man found it necessary to give voice to the thoughts that
such reprisals
w
ere
s
tandard chekist fare.

“I will send a
report
to Comrade Beria shortly
, and
also
request additional vigilance from his units. We cannot afford these losses.
They are unnecessary and avoidable.
”

Malinin flourished a handful of paper.

“These reports all indicate either higher than expected casualties in our bridging units, higher rates of consumption o
f specialist equipment, or both,
”
and in an attempt to add something positive before the crunch arrived, Malinin added brightly,
“Your order to marry dedicated anti-aircraft support
units
to bridging units is being carried out
,
and we should see a reduction in casualties from air attack as a result
.”

The Chief of Staff cleared his throat and delivered his most important line.

“We have a problem here
,
Comrade Marshall.”

A document was produced from a separate pile and placed before Zhukov.

“We seem to have sufficient assets to take our forces through to
P
hase four, provided we do not see repeats of the partisan ambush and also replacements come at the promised rates, both in men and equipment.”

“And at an acceptable standard.”

Zhukov’s comment was under his breath
,
but still reached the
CoS
’s ears.

“Yes, Comrade
Marshall
.”

Zhukov grunted, his eyes taking in the projections Malinin had prepared.

“That includes the assets we have removed from the Poles. We have not asked for
Polish
volunteers as yet
,
Comrade Marshall?”

Spoken as a question, his words received a shake of the head from Zhukov.

“Not at this time. They are about as trustworthy as a bag of snakes.”

And, by way of confirmation of the decision, Malinin read a
paragraph
from a report by the Chief Engineer Officer of 1st Baltic Front.

“It appears likely that not all
apparatus
requested has been made available
,
and
that
considerable amounts
of that
which has been reassigned from the Poles
,
as well as
the
equipment recovered by the
Polish
engineers
,
appear
s
to be excessively worn, even damaged.”

Receiving nothing more than a knowing look
,
he continued.

“NKVD is not acting at this time, for obvious reasons, but we may not be able to ignore the issue for much longer.
Bagramyan has requested a large number of their armoured vehicles as replacements for his own force. That will give us a further indication as to loyalties.”

“Indeed Comrade. Enough of the Poles for now. What is your conclusion on the matter of bridging engineers?”

“We simply will not have the assets to
successfully
cross the
Rhine
as matters stand.”

That was guaranteed to get the Commander-in-Chief’s attention.
Silence ensued as Zhukov reread the figures.

“
I agree.
Vasilevsky?”

“His assets were
depleted
at the start
,
Comrade Marshall.
If he loses any more, his ability offensively will be greatly reduced.”

Wiping his bald pate with
his right
hand
,
Zhukov considered the problem.

“One for STAVKA to ponder, Malinin.
Have the
written
request
for more resources
prepared immediately.”

The
CoS
made the appropriate record in his notes.

“Anywhere else we can get assets from?”

Malinin shook his head as he spoke.

“We have stripped out Central and S
outhern areas to the absolute bare minimums, to nothing in some cases.
On my authority
,
a
ll units are being circulated with orders to remove any officers or men with bridging experience from their
roster
and transfer them to Army command from where they can be appropriately allocated.”

“Good work, Malinin. That should give us something extra to work with, although I hope it doesn’t disrupt the parent units too much.”

The
CoS
shrugged as the priority now was bridging engineers
,
not tanks or infantry.

Zhukov stood and tugged down his tunic.

“I will be flying back to
Moscow
this afternoon and I will bring this to the attention of
STAVKA.
Make sure those
reports
,” he indicated Malinin’s written list, “Are ready as soon as possible.
Maybe I will return with more positive news?”

Malinin tidied up the papers and hurried away to get the necessary orders drafted.

As he reached the door
,
he was almost bowled over by a staff
L
ieutenant-
C
olonel.

“Apologies, Comrade
Polkovnik
General.”

“Well what has got you so excited, Garimov?”

The man brandished a message sheet.

“I need to see Comrade Marshall Zhukov
, S
ir.”

Malinin stepped aside, allowing the excited officer to enter
the room
.

Snapping to attention in front of his commander
,
Garimov offered up a radio message slip
, which Zhukov took
and read
.

The Chief of Staff silently enquired of Garimov, his probing look seeking out the nature of the news that was making his commander smile.

The Lieutenant-Colonel addressed him with equal formality.

“Sir,”
heard a satisfied
Malinin,
“Marshall Bagramyan reports
Hamburg
has fallen.”

Zhukov took his place on the aircraft, a genuine
lend-lease
American
C-47
,
and immediately felt it lurch as the aircrew received clearance for tak
e-off, right on the appointed time of 123
0 hrs
.

He checked his watch and did the maths.
H
is brief
ing
for the General Secretary scheduled for that evening
.

‘
Four hour time differential. A six and a half hour flight, briefing and then flight back.
’

He would be absent from his command post for a number of hours but would be back before the central European day fully awakened.

Onboard with him were his travelling
personal
staff of four officers, plus a number of others from various branches of the Red Army, returning to
Moscow
for reasons ranging from attending
Communist party
meetings to
sorting out the logistics of total war.

The
combat
soldiers
amongst the passengers
were easily discernible, as they quickly fell asleep, observing the soldier’s maxim of ‘get it while you can.’

Zhukov grinned.

‘O
ld soldiers never lose that ability’.

Within a few minutes
,
only four Political Officers,
an NKVD Major
,
and the
GRU
Lieutenant-
Colonel
sat opposite him
were still awake,
the first
five
being
involved in a theoretical political debate
that
reminded Zhukov why he avoided such inane matters.
The latter was deep in thought, studying a number of reports.

The Commander of the Red Banner Forces of
Soviet
Europe took time to observe the GRU
officer
more closely and before he drifted off into a deep sleep he had posed himself the question of how a GRU
Lieutenant-
Colonel had won the H
ero of the
Soviet
Union
award
.

H
is
prolonged
snore interrupted the
GRU officer’s
line of thought.

Putting the folders back in a small pigskin briefcase, Nazarbayeva decided to get some sleep to help her prepare for her briefing with the General Secretary that evening.

Settling herself down
,
she eased
the
boot
on her damaged foot
a few centimetres
for comfort
,
and was asleep
in an instant.

Nazarbayeva woke to the sound of urgent muffled voices opposite, and her senses quickly cleared to take in what was happening.

An Air F
orce Lieutenant was in the process of explaining the reasons behind a diversion to a different airfield to
an unhappy
Marshall Zhukov. The small military strip at Ostafievo was now their destination.

Enquiring of the harassed man as he
returned to the cockpit
, Nazarbayeva establi
shed that Vnukovo was
closed
indefinitely
due to a ground incident.

“Govno!”

A chuckle came from the seat opposite, Marshall Zhukov amused that such a beauty was capable of combat soldiers language. But then, he mused, he should not be surprised at all
,
as the woman
had
obviously once
been
a combat soldier
herself.

“As you say
,
Comrade
PodPolkovnik
, as you say.”

“Apologies
,
Comrade Marshall, but my transport will be waiting at Vnukovo and I have an important briefing to give in
Moscow
.”

Zhukov was not normally disposed to acts of c
harity but something about the f
emale Officer interested him, and it was not her
extremely
obvious
beauty and
charms
.

“I too am going to
Moscow
,
and there will be vehicles waiting for me at Ostafievo. Perhaps you would like to accompany me and give me the GRU’s impressions of our campaign to date?”

“Thank you
,
Sir
.
I’
m sure I can assist the Comrade Marshall
”

Something about her simple reply
puzzled
Zhukov
.
S
he
seemed
undaunted by his seniority, a rare attribute in the Red Army.