Opening Moves (The Red Gambit Series) (7 page)

Even though he had this part of the conversation with himself a number of times in his own office, it was still a very delicate moment for the head of the NKVD.

‘The options we should consider are these.”

A nervous clearance of the throat and the chairman of the NKVD commenced.

“We can abandon Kingdom39.” Stalin’s face remained impassive and Beria continued. “I do not see that as an acceptable alternative.”

He received no clue from the General Secretary’s facial expression or posture as to whether he was being well received or if each point was to be discussed in turn, so decided to carry on regardless.

“We can delay it until more favourable conditions exist. However, the re-establishment of a working German puppet state would be more likely, with the attendant problems that that would bring us. At this time, the capitalists are burdened with millions of German prisoners and still more refugees, all of which works in our favour. The German is cowed and beaten and out of the equation, but not indefinitely so and it is an essential of our operation that no large-scale organised German resistance is possible, so the reasons for deciding our present timescale were sound and remain so. This new information introduces nothing to encourage delay in military or political terms, especially as our negotiations with the slant-eyes would appear to be bearing fruit.”

The gentle nodding from the dictator was all Beria now needed.

“Our country and people are on a war-footing. Our army is in the right place and at its peak. So is our ability to produce the goods of war. Our maskirova so far is working and effective already, and merely needs to be increased when it is decided to pursue this venture.”

Now he knew which way the land lay, he reached deeper into his briefcase and passed over a detailed synopsis of some recent messages.

“I have here reports from agents across Europe indicating poor morale amongst western allied troops; homesickness and the like. They are less capable of sustaining casualties than we, which is proved comrade.” That was a statement that meant very little, for it mattered not a jot to either of them how many casualties were sustained in the course of achieving their goals. Even if a million more mothers cried tears of loss it would be as nothing.

“Some of our military personnel have fraternised with them on my orders, attended exercises, exchanged pleasantries and watched their soldiers perform badly, indicating inexperience or lack of combat ability.”

“The Amerikanisti particularly have issues. Some of their soldiers are of good quality of course but if you see page fourteen onwards you will see an appreciation of the abilities and readiness of all units, theirs, and the other allies. We have gained quality intelligence on every single divisional sized unit in their order of battle Comrade General Secretary.”

Searching his memory, he continued.

“The American paratroopers are particularly good but are few in number Comrade, a mere three divisions only.” And that was actually the first bit of information that was not accurate, for there were actually five in existence at that time.”

“Again, some of their tank and infantry divisions fought well, but many are relatively untested and of average quality. Remember the new division that the Germans captured during their Rhine campaign?”

Stalin searched his memory and found the information needed. A brand-new division, ‘...
was it the 106th
...?,’ had been placed on front-line duty in the Ardennes and had surrendered wholesale to the Germans attacking during the Battle of the Bulge.

“Also remember when they first arrived in Africa, their number one infantry division turned tail and ran when the Afrika Korps attacked them at Kasserine,” the accompanying chuckle was soft but Stalin didn’t miss it.

“The Amerikanisti rely on numbers and firepower to achieve their victories but they are soft Comrade General Secretary. We have numbers. We have firepower. We are not soft as they are soft.”

A swift glance down at the document brought forth further information.

“Their Marine Divisions have quality but are all concentrated against the slant-eyes so are of no concern to us at this time.”

“The British and their crony states are bled dry. They can fight but are weak and cannot stand against us for long. That island of theirs will be a different matter of course but we will develop the means to cross the divide in time.”

Almost as an afterthought, Beria added, “With only a handful of divisions, the useless French can be discounted obviously.”

And with a shared nod of heads, a once proud nation was dismissed as an irrelevance and the file returned to Beria, minus one copy.

“In any case, our proposed arrangement with the slant-eyes will ensure that they must all dedicate resources to the Pacific, no matter what the demands of Europe.”

Stalin looked unconvinced on that point and pressed Beria.

“Will their presence be enough alone Lavrentiy? They have virtually no ability to project power or threat any more. Their navy is almost destroyed, their air force crippled and their army lacks decent weaponry. They have only manpower and spirit as I see it. I do not think those will fix sufficient American forces in place.”

Beria felt triumphant inside as he produced a proposal document from his deceptively capacious case.

“This is a matter on which you have expressed reservation before Comrade, so I have looked into it and believe that this proposal might meet your concerns.”

This file required time and another cigarette to examine properly, so Beria stealthily shifted back to the window in time to see the inspection parade dismiss. The wait was interminable.

Something obviously jumped out of the page.

“You wish to concede our claim on the Kurils permanently, Comrade?”

“Not permanently, just for now Comrade General Secretary, purely as a sugar for the Japanese.”

A dramatic frown and Stalin returned to reading further, frown deepening, mouth opening further as he progressed through Beria’s document.

“We sign a peace treaty ending all territorial disputes? All disputes Lavrentiy?”

“Yes Comrade General Secretary, in order to secure their compliance and support we must sweeten the pill. What we choose to do when Kingdom39 is complete is another matter.”

Stalin stopped in his tracks, his mind obviously working hard, eyes fixed on Beria.

Tension.

Stalin’s face softened and the tension evaporated as quickly as it had arrived.

“True, true”.

Stalin lapsed into silence and consumed the rest of the document.

“We simply do not have the capability for this grand design Comrade. It is an excellent proposal but surely it would make inroads into our stocks of all materials?”

“I believe we can manage it Comrade, particularly as we have already decided to place many third and fourth stage assets in that region as part of the maskirova.” Beria thumbed through his copy quickly.

“If you look at the suggestion laid out on page 17 and addendum F you will find an intriguing proposal.”

“By moving the equipment detailed in addendum F, we can increase the firepower and ability of their forces without affecting our own, all without raising suspicion from our ‘allies’. Indeed, my office feels we will profit logistically by removing these assets from our own rosters.”

Sitting back in his chair, pipe between his lips, the General Secretary said nothing. Beria waited.

“You may present that,” returning the document still with his copy attached, “To the GKO today. We shall see what they think of it before I give it my support.”

That was code for ‘
I am distancing myself from this at the moment but you stick your neck out and I will jump on the bandwagon and grab the reins if it proves successful.
’

Not uncommon for the General Secretary.

“Moving back to our alternatives, Comrade, I will reiterate.”

Stalin held up his hand that stopped Beria dead in his tracks.

“Before that Comrade, has there been re-assessment of the air and sea situation?”

“No substantive change, except an increase in the number of jet fighter aircraft that are becoming available to them, so just the words of caution as always Comrade. Their Air forces are superior in every department and it is imperative that the specific paratrooper sub-operation Kurgan detailed in Kingdom39, addressing their threat, is fully supported, given all the assets needed, and prosecuted with the utmost vigour.”

Beria paused as Stalin lit another cigarette.

“Obviously, Kurgan will be very costly.”

“Obviously. That was always the case Lavrentiy. Proceed.”

“Naval power bears no comparison but this will not be a war of Navies. The Black Sea Fleet should ensure no incursions into our waters there because of the narrow Dardanelles approach. Politically we see no shift from Turkey to either side and we would expect their national waters to be honoured by the capitalists. We will, of course, be making our own overtures and issuing assurances to them.”

Stalin acknowledged that with a gentle nodding, although in his mind the word ‘assurances’ was replaced by ‘threats’.

“The Baltic will be an issue until such times as Denmark is ours, when that avenue will be closed too. Until the military plan is submitted we will not know how soon that may be, but my staff anticipate that Denmark could be ours within 3-5 days Comrade. We also have a plan that should ensure the Baltic is sealed and secure in the interim. The Swedes will definitely not get involved and most certainly have power to ensure no incursions into their waters by either side.”

“In more northerly waters I believe we have nothing to fear because any hurt would be minor and a simple distraction. We would also have the fallback of our suggested later intervention in Norway should it be required, although the continued presence of organised German divisions in country cannot be ignored. Our proposal for the slant-eyes would distract from any attempt on our Siberian waters.”

‘So, Air Force aside, it is the army which will pose us most problems comrade.”

Beria adjusted his tie and made his pitch.

“We can abandon, we can delay, or we can proceed. If we proceed, I see no alternative but to risk our agents in place and cause as much damage to the American programme as is possible. If that can delay their project until 1948 then we will be on an even footing in that regard and there will be no more threat. By 1948, we will have long finished what we started in Europe. I believe that the capitalists are weak and one kick will bring the church down around them. We seem now to have the probability of recruiting more assets in Manhattan even if our present agents are lost to us. We will never have a better opportunity Comrade General Secretary.”

And so there it was; Beria had firmly nailed his colours to the mast.

The dictator looked hard into Beria’s eyes, almost as if trying to read his innermost thoughts. Even a powerful man like the head of the NKVD felt intimidated by that stare but dare not look away.

“Very well Lavrentiy. I agree with you. So let us see what wisdom and guidance our comrades bring later on. Thank you.”

Stalin reached forward and spoke briefly into the ornate gold phone.

The two men sat in silence until the tea and sweetbreads had arrived, and the orderly, actually one of Beria’s NKVD spies, left the room. Beria poured and handed the delicate cup to Stalin.

“I think you should prepare the order for your agents Lavrentiy, just in case.”

Delivered in a deadpan style, but there was mischief there for sure, which Beria acknowledged with a rare smile.