Stormtide Rising

Chapter 25

“Blaxland? What’s your situation?”

It was Jumbo Wilson, wanting to know what in the world was happening west of the Tigris. He had five brigades over there the previous day. Now he would learn he had four.

“Sir, I’m still sitting firm on my objectives. Both palaces are secure, but it’s been very confused to the north. I’m afraid one of my Brigadiers got a little too rambunctious. He moved from his assigned positions without proper orders, and went running off to defend the airfield. But Jerry’s taken that in any case, so it was all for naught. It caused a good bit of disruption down here.”

Wilson had been at the Sinbad Hotel, but it was right on the east bank of the river, and easily hit by German guns. So he had moved inland to a sturdy concrete building that served as the Iraqi Police College. He found no students in session, the place abandoned, the police themselves all shedding their uniforms and slipping away into the night.

“Where are your lines?” Wilson asked.

“I’ve got Finlay with me here, MacGregor’s to the north, and his lines reach east, just below the Cotton Ginnery. I’ve posted Arderne at the Washash Camp. It was his shenanigans that shook things up down here, I’m sorry to say. I’ve told the man to hold that camp and stay put.”

“Well I’m not sure that’s a very good idea,” said Wilson. “The thing is this—the Germans have control of the whole west bank, all the way down to the Parliament buildings and even beyond. So you see, there’s no road that you can use to come our way now. All the bridges are closed. If you’ve got men at Washash Camp, then the only way they’ll get to safe ground is over the two ferry sites, and that could be risky. Can you pull them in closer to the palaces?”

“I suppose I might. It’s where I had that brigade from the start, watching the River Khir.”

“Alright, then here’s the plan. I want you to pull those men in, Arderne and MacGregor—Selby too. I’m attaching his brigade to your division. There’s a ferry just east of the palaces, and if the service troops can get across that way, all the better, but it looks like you’ll have to foot it round the river bend now.”

“Round the bend?” said Blaxland. “You mean give up the palaces?”

“Of course, we don’t need them now, do we? The only thing of any real value on that side of the Tigris was the airfield, and frankly, if your man Arderne took it upon himself to try and save it, I rather tend to think he did the right thing. We lost Barker’s entire brigade yesterday trying to hold it. He’s gone, and I don’t want that to happen to you. So I want you to fold back your lines, get round the bend, and take up positions you can hold in case the Germans think about trying to turn that flank. Understand?”

“Where, exactly?” Blaxland wasn’t comfortable with uncertainties.

“Well, you might start by covering the rail line through 42-81.” That was the Al Mahdi station, down at the deepest point in the river bend. “Keep Jerry out of there, and by all means, don’t let them get anywhere near 46-83.” That was the Dayrah Oil bunkerage and refinery where Glubb Pasha had gone. “That last one has to be held at all cost.”

“You realize that whole area is wide open,” said Blaxland. “It’s open all the way to the Euphrates. There’s no way I could possibly cover that if they want to get round my flank.”

“Look—we’ve more help on the way. In the meantime, take the whole lot, and then you need to cover that flank as best you can. Move tonight, under cover of darkness. I’m counting on you, Blaxland. See to it.”

The Colonel, acting commander of the 10th Indian, set down the receiver with a raised eyebrow. Fold back the line? Get the service troops to the ferry sites? Give up the palaces and get round the river bend to Al Mahdi? Cover the entire bleeding left flank of the city, and with four brigades? This was much more than he ever expected when he thought to report to Wilson that night. Much more indeed.

“Lieutenant Fitch!” he said angrily, and Fitch came rushing in from the next room. “This is most irregular. See to my shipping chest, and then gather up personal effects and all the paperwork. We’re moving.”

“Tonight sir?”

“Yes, tonight. Wilson’s had too much gin I suppose. He wants the whole lot down south with our right at the nose of the river bend and the rest hanging off into nowhere. Damn irregular. No dinner tonight, I’m afraid. We’ll have to get out orders to all the brigadiers—and oh yes, include Selby in that. He’s been attached to our division. Have them all make for the palaces, and then we’ll lead the way tonight. Ridiculous, but there it is. Orders from Jumbo Wilson.”

He shook his head.

Arderne had settled into the Washash Camp, ejected a company of German recon troops that had gotten there first, and now he had his men improving the sandbagged defenses when a radio call came in from Fitch.

“You’re to move tonight,” said Fitch. “Grid 40-84.5, and Selby is to follow you.”

“Selby?”

“He’s been attached. Move out as quietly as you can, and come quickly. It’s going to be a busy night.”

Arderne looked at his map for those grid coordinates, seeing it was the Palace complex. “Well someone is finally gotten some sense into his head.”

“I’d button your lip, if I were you, Arderne. Blaxland isn’t happy, and he’ll throw eggs at anyone he can find to take the blame, if you know what I mean.”

“Alright. We’re moving. Eddie out.”

When the headquarters was packed and loaded on a truck, Colonel Blaxland looked about the palace one last time. “Damn shame we have to give this up to the Krauts,” he said to Fitch.

“Well sir,” said Fitch, “It’s probably better we didn’t make them fight for it. The whole palace might have been smashed.”

Blaxland nodded. “I suppose there’s some wisdom in that. Things have changed rather suddenly, and it’s most disconcerting. It’s put all my dispositions to rout, but orders are orders. Let’s get moving.”

Arderne marched his men in a good column to find the railway, and they took that road over the lower bridge on the Khir, through the lush palace grounds, and on south. Selby retreated in good order and he was right behind him. MacGregor held his lines as a rear guard until 04:00, then slowly began to fall back before dawn. No one was going to hurry him. He had two Gurkha battalions in his brigade. Blaxland found the tiny hamlet of Al Mahdi too decrepit for his liking, and so he set himself up in the small rail station buildings a few hundred meters north up the line.

In the pre-dawn hours KG Rosenfeld of the 4th Panzer Division finally took the Royal Palace in the north, up near the ferry and railway bridge. It had been very hard fighting that day, with heavy casualties on both sides. A company of the Kumoan Rifles had been reduced to just two squads. 3rd Company of 2/6 Rajputana had only one squad remaining, another in 1/5 Maharatta Light had four of nine.

The entire 2nd Suffolk Battalion, British Regulars, had to hasten over to the Government Center where it was found that many squads of German Commandos had slipped over the river in rubber rafts that night, infiltrating into the Defense Ministry building, and Mayor’s Offices. The Tommies spent the night hunting them down, killing many, and the rest fled back across the river. Now this relatively fresh battalion was brought up to the beleaguered palace area, and those battered Indian companies took up watch on the river.

As for Westhoven’s 3rd Panzer Division, (Battle Map 6) Hube rested it that night. They were assembled just north of the Kayam Quarter, which was right where Brigadier Kingstone had taken Kingforce. His men were digging in on a stony hill just north of the town, and he had his armored cars out further east, prowling about the scattered brick kilns and watching gaps in the marshes that might be used by enemy vehicles.

Westhoven would have two choices in the morning. One would be to go right at Kingforce, trusting to the weight of his division. But he knew the enemy had just brought up a fresh infantry division, and did not know what might lie in reserve.

Behind that settlement, there was an important rail junction where the line came down from Baqubah and joined the Basra Baghdad line. If Westhoven could take that, no supplies could come by rail into central Baghdad. So it was on his mind.

His second choice would be to continue to move southeast around the marshland, and then figure how to bridge that large canal. He would be down there on his own if he did that. The 78th Sturm could not extend its lines any further south to maintain contact with him. Hube knew this, which is why he had made that remark about needing a couple good infantry divisions.

Things were coming to a point where some strategic decision had to be made on the part of the Germans. They had won their tactical battles, but strategic victory had eluded them in spite of that. Guderian had instincts for battle that were as good as any General in the field, and he could sense the campaign had reached a high water mark here. The British had decided to fight for this city, come what may. He did not have enough divisions to effectively encircle it, nor could he bypass it and just continue south.

While we were running through Syria, and down the Euphrates, our battle of maneuver made us invincible, he thought. Yet I knew the moment I laid eyes on this city that all that was over. The campaign transitioned to a battle of attrition here, a city-fight that I wanted nothing to do with, but one I simply could not avoid.

So what now? Do I persist here? They’re pulling the last of their troops out down south, and that makes me master of the west bank of the Tigris. Yet there they sit, behind their berms and bunds and canal lines, on good defensive ground, a city that is nearly nine miles long on the east banks of the river. And then there’s another big airfield where they’ve husbanded their fighters to harass us by day. It would be foolish to send Westhoven down there unsupported.

What to do with the Brandenburgers? Assaults across those bridges would be very costly, and not likely to succeed. This river is now a major obstacle, very wide in places, and I have only so many assault boats. There is one good objective in the south—the oil bunkerage—but I would have to send the Brandenburg Division around that big bend in the river to get after it. That is undoubtedly why the British pulled out in the south—to screen that bend and prevent any envelopment from that direction. If I tell Beckerman to do this, he will surely get there, but then what? I can sit on the oil, if the British don’t set it all on fire first. Even if I do take it, there’s the damn river again, and no bridge anywhere on that lower segment.

The thought of the oil burning stuck in his mind for some reason, and now he remembered Moscow, the terrible conflagration ignited in the southwest quadrant of the city. The more he thought about that, the more something dark and sinister emerged from his unconscious to surround his reasoning mind with the vapors of heedless abandon and wanton destruction.

Fire….

This is a city of water, the river, canals, and marshes are everywhere. Yet those closely packed city districts have many wooden buildings…. He thought about that, but Guderian was a man of principle. He knew the Luftwaffe had already dropped incendiary bombs on London long ago, and that the Allies certainly had these weapons as well. They are weapons of terror more than anything else, he knew. And they are directed more at civilians, with the aim of causing so much misery that it will spill over and have an effect on the military.

No. We did not start the fires in Moscow, nor will I start them here in Baghdad. There must be a limit to the measure of violence in this war. The British chose to stand here, knowing that they would invite my panzers into that city, so they bear half the burden for any harm that comes to the civilian population. Thus far, the damage west of the Tigris has not been significant, but this central city is very dense, and the fighting may be intense if I persist here.

He decided.

There will be no incendiary bombing. Westhoven is in position, and his division is even reinforced with the addition of KG Kufner from 4th Panzer. The largest gap in the marshland in that sector is the Kayam Quarter. So I will order him to attack there in force, and take the East Rail Station. That cuts the rail line to the south and prevents them from getting in new supplies. That area is defended by British regulars. Let us see how much fight they have in them.

In the south, I will order Schmidt to take his entire 10th Motorized Division and pursue the British forces retreating there. Duren’s 3rd Brandenburg and the Lehr Regiment will clear the ground south to the river, and then follow Schmidt.

In the pre-dawn hour, Westhoven bridged a small canal and threw a strong Kampfgruppe across to strike at the easternmost section of Kayam. If he could get through, there was a swathe of open ground, some 700 by 300 meters, and it might allow his panzers to flank the main settlement.

It was just the luck of Brigadier Kingstone that Kayam was the place he had chosen to defend when he pulled off the outer bund. Wilson had called him to confirm it was a good decision, but now he would reap the whirlwind. A company of the Wiltshire Yeoman was watching a gap in the marshland and it was the first to be hit. The dull growl of motorized equipment left no doubt as to what was happening. German troops were also moving up to the base of the stony hill on the north edge of the town, but there was no concerted attack there yet.

“The bastards are trying to flank me, by God,” he said. “Turn the guns on them!”

As if in answer, the German artillery began to fall along his lines before his gunners could even get into action. He couldn’t see the German tanks yet, but he could hear them, the metallic clanking of the treads, the deep rumble of the engines. Then the telltale sound of MG-42’s buzzed through the cool morning air, and he knew he was in the fight of his life. He rang up Wilson to inform him.

“I hope you’ve got something to backstop my lines,” he said. “It’s a bloody Panzer division over here.”

“Grover is already up with his 2nd Division,” said Wilson. “He’s already posted men on your right and rear at the east barracks. I think he’ll have a battalion or two in reserve.”

“Well I hope they brought their 6-Pounders. What about tanks? Where’s our armor?”

“I’ve posted them to watch the bridge crossings, at least the 7th Brigade, but I’ll see about finding infantry for that and get you some help. Hold on Joe. We can’t let them through.”

“Right sir. We’ll hold.”

Chapter 26

The German attack on that flank was put in By KG Hansen, with two companies of tanks, armored cars and a full Panzergrenadier battalion. It was then strongly reinforced by two battalions of the 238th Sturm, 78th Division. Against this, Kingstone’s armored cars were not enough to hold. They backed off, guns firing, across that open ground Westhoven was after. Behind them there were marshy pools interspersed within the settlement, and Brigadier Hawking of Grover’s 5th Brigade had sent 7th Worcestershire Battalion to occupy those gaps.

So Kingstone ordered his armored cars, along with the Blues and Royals cavalry recon units, to fall back on that position. He knew that would compromise his position on the northern fringe of the Kayam Quarter, and after seeing the cavalry falling back in good order, he began pulling his infantry off the line. This compressed his position, as there was limited ground in those gaps between the marshes, but it also strengthened it considerably. The enemy could now only attack those gaps, and he could hold them with a good tactical reserve behind each one. Panzers or no panzers, he remained cool under fire and determined to hold that rail station, which was now no more than 500 meters to his rear.

While this was going on, in the north Schneider continued to press his attack all day against the northern palace grounds near the ferry and rail bridge. The Germans had KG Rosenfeld, and a strong KG from 1st Brandenburg, and they fought their way through the palace grounds, taking the Fine Arts building, which had already been stripped of any valuable artwork long ago. When they had pushed to within 250 meters of the bridge, two companies on the west bank joined the attack and charged across. They hit a company of the Queen’s Cameron, and intense fighting ensued, with the Germans putting their panzerfaust teams to good use, blasting away at the sandbagged MG positions at the far end of the bridge.

There were heavy casualties on both sides, but the Brandenburgers prevailed, pushing the British back 100 meters to the Ginning Mill that overlooked the Ferry landing. Brigadier Reid of the 29th Brigade, 5th Indian, immediately ordered a counterattack, turning his guns on the landing. Behind that mill was the Al Karkh hospital, which was already crowded with the wounded and dying from two days bitter fighting for that palace sector. Reid managed to grab platoons here and there from a number of intermixed companies, and threw together a force to make that attack. All the while, British guns continued firing on the ground north of the bridge near the river, where the Germans had been pushing hard to reach that bridge.

Reid’s attack succeeded in driving the Germans off the landing, back to the approaches to the bridge, but they had two more fresh companies on the west bank, and a counterattack was already in the works. This sector was undoubtedly the most intense of the whole campaign, with Rosenfeld and Schaefer keeping up constant pressure. The Germans wanted that bridge to link to all their forces on the west bank, and both Briggs and Thompson knew they had to hold to prevent that.

The Germans would retake the ferry landing near dusk, but Reid had nothing left to throw at them but artillery. Now his battered companies were barely clinging to the Ginning Mill, and at the Al Karkh Hospital, they were breaking out windows, and the walking wounded were taking positions there. There was one battalion of the 9th Armored a little over a kilometer to the northwest, and Reid called up Brigadier Currie and told him he needed help.

“Alright,” said Currie, “We’ll have to give a little ground here to tidy up the line, but I’ll send what I can.” A veteran of the Desert war, Currie had fought in O’Connor’s Operation Supercharge, and he was a gritty warrior, with good experience. He had 18 M3 Grants and six light Mark VIC’s in the Royal Wiltshires, and he got them moving to the bridge. Those heavy tanks, well gunned, were not expected, and they were enough to again eject the German companies from that ferry landing, with casualties mounting.

It was just as Guderian had feared. Attacking across those bridges was the last thing he wanted to do, and now he felt as though he had his arms around a great bear. There the British sat, behind their rivers, canals and marshes, and he could feel the prospect of victory here slipping from his grasp with each passing hour. His enemy had managed to find a reserve to parry each thrust, and now Westhoven radioed Hube to say that the enemy had a very strong position in the Kayam quarter, and the marshland pools were major obstacles.

“I sent Hansen in, and I still have afresh Kampfgruppe, but the situation here looks fruitless. We pushed them, but they brought up several more battalions to back up their line. Do you want me to persist with this?”

“Can you get around the flank with that second KG?”

“We’ve scouted it. There’s a big network of smaller canals forward of the main one—and another elevated bund behind that. It extends all the way south to that airfield; over six kilometers. That’s as far as we went. The British are still flying from that field too, and it’s defended. Unfortunately, given those canal obstacles, it just can’t be overrun with a quick movement in that direction.”

“Very well,” said Hube. “I’ll inform General Guderian. Stay where you are and rest your men tonight. I’ll get a supply column headed your way.”

That was bad news that Guderian didn’t need that hour, for he had just been informed by the Luftwaffe that they had seen and attacked yet another division that was moving north by rail from Basra. That was a hard night for the General, for he knew in his bones that he could not take this city—not with the forces he now commanded.

I have the equivalent of five divisions here, he thought, but the enemy will have six, the river, and the city providing him the best defensive ground he will probably see anywhere in this whole damn country. Given this situation, I have no recourse but to inform OKW that I cannot proceed south; not without more support, particularly infantry to relieve my mobile divisions and allow me to re-establish a fast moving mechanized force while the infantry holds here at Baghdad. That was, of course, nothing that Hitler wanted to hear.

“What is wrong with my Generals?” he shouted. “Guderian is doing the same thing as he did in Russia. He achieved remarkable results in Operation Typhoon at the beginning, but when it comes down to taking the really difficult objectives, then we hear the excuses. We have already sent him five infantry divisions!”

“Yes,” said Keitel, “but only three regular infantry. The others are all mountain divisions, with only two regiments each, and all but one are holding the line in Syria. Guderian only has the 78th Sturm Division at Baghdad, and then his three mobile divisions. The enemy has six divisions entrenched in that city, and he simply cannot hold the line there while attempting to proceed south.”

“Then why doesn’t he take it? Destroy those enemy divisions!”

“My Führer, that is more easily said than done under these circumstances. Look what we had to do at Volgograd? At one point we committed twelve good German Divisions there, including the Brandenburgers, and three SS divisions. City fighting drains the life from a good mobile division in a matter of days. Manstein certainly knew that, which is why he pulled those divisions out and replaced them with infantry. Guderian could do the same. We have only to find him the necessary troops. According to the schedule General Zeitzler set up, there is still another infantry division you have assigned to Operation Phoenix that remains uncommitted—the 45th.”

“What? Not yet committed? Why not?”

“The rail system is functional, but becoming burdened. We are now trying to supply eleven divisions in Syria and Iraq. It is simply a matter of logistics, and that division is scheduled to move soon.”

“Advance the schedule. It must be sent immediately.” Hitler’s eyes played over the map. “Given that Crete has been secured, what about Student’s troops? See what can be done there. I want no more excuses. Tell General Zeitzler that he is to find whatever is necessary to permit Guderian’s panzers to move south. He may choose whatever units he deems appropriate.”

“Any units? Even those assigned to the Leningrad Operation?”

“Have you read the weather reports from the Russian Front? It is 40 below zero! We won’t get that operation mounted until at least May at this rate. Now is the time to finish the job in Iraq. So yes, Zeitzler may take anything he wishes.”

The 45th Infantry had been part of the Austrian Army, subsumed into the Wehrmacht when Germany occupied that state. It had gained good fighting experience in Operation Barbarossa, and was now under Generalleutnant Fritz Kühlwein with three good regiments. Its arrival, a week later, would make a great deal of difference, as its fresh battalions could take up positions to relieve KG Rosenfeld and Schafer, and also on the west bank where two full regiments of Brandenburgers had been simply watching the west end of the bridges and patrolling the riverbank. It was going to allow Guderian to concentrate the Brandenburg division and move it down around the river bend with 10th Motorized. At the same time, Hube could now have the full establishments of both 3rd and 4th Panzer Divisions on the east bank free to maneuver. A meeting was called the night of the 27th to discuss options.

“I’m told we will soon have the 45th Infantry Division,” said Guderian. “In that event, do you feel we can press a double envelopment of this city?”

“Prospects look better in the south than they do in the east,” said Hube. “I would have to move my panzers another twenty to thirty kilometers south to find ground suitable for an advance. But there are no bridges over the Tigris down there. The closest bridge is 50 kilometers to the southeast as we approach As Suwayrah.”

“Could you get there?”

“If I could use both divisions, yes, that should not be a problem.”

“Alright. General Beckermann, what about the south?”

“I can push now with what I have in hand. They have four brigades there, with their line anchored on the nose of the river bend. But if I send 10th Motorized down towards the Euphrates, they will have to extend their front in that direction. Then, when the rest of my Brandenburgers come down from the west bank sector, we will break through.”

“Then this would effectively surround the city,” said Guderian, “though we don’t know what they might do in response to these moves. I still like this better than trying to grind our way forward, block after block, through the whole nine mile length of that city. I do not think we could succeed that way at all. We must find a way to turn this into a battle of maneuver again. This means that we may not want to completely close the door behind them. What I want is to precipitate their withdrawal. That is the key.”

“But they have been very stubborn,” said Hube. “What if they just sit, even under the threat of envelopment?”

“Then we will have no choice but to complete that envelopment, and I will tell Hitler that I have the entire British Army in Iraq trapped in Baghdad. In that event, if I can get at least one more division, then I could build a mobile force strong enough to send south. It’s the only plan I see that has any hope of bearing fruit.”

“So how do we proceed?” asked Beckermann.

“You say that you can press them in the south right now—then do so. They have another division coming up, and if you gain ground there it may affect its deployment. Zeitzler has also informed me that he will try and find more for us, perhaps some of Student’s troops from Crete, or a few other ad hoc detachments. All the better. Has the 16th Regiment arrived from the 22nd Luftland Division?”

“Yes sir, it came up tonight.”

“Then assign it to the Royal Palace area so you can free up as much of your own division as possible. Hube will not be able to move until the 45th Division arrives, so once again, my Brandenburgers lead the way.”

“We will not disappoint you,” said Beckermann.

Colonel Blaxland was soon in for more than the discomfort of being ejected from his palace HQ. He had demonstrated that he could sit with the best of them, but if Beckermann’s plan worked, he would soon have to learn how to dance.

Heinrich Himmler was a very efficient man. As head of the SS, he had produced and fielded some of the finest combat divisions in the war. Steiner’s vaunted SS Korps had been the flashing sword of Germany in the south, devastating on attack, insurmountable on defense. And Himmler had been building up many more units for service in the far flung fronts of the war. He had come to deliver his latest report to Hitler at OKW, requesting a private meeting to update him on the SS contribution to Operation Downfall, the upcoming attack on Leningrad.

“My Führer,” he began, “as you know, my 7th SS Prinz Eugen Division is already in the field in support of Operation Phoenix. I can now report that several more units are mustering in the Divina River line sector for Operation Downfall.”

“Show me,” said Hitler, leaning over the map.

“To begin, a second Mountain Division, the 6th SS, has been placed here, southwest of Riga in the Telgaya concentration sector. There I have also placed the SS Polizei Division, 8th SS Florian Geyr Cavalry, and two new infantry divisions, the 1st Lettische, and 1st Estonian. The SS KG Nord Brigade rounds out this formation, now designated the SS Motorized Korps. It will be accompanied by the 3rd SS Panzer Korps, the real heart of this new army.”

“An entire Army?”

“Yes, my Führer, an army. While it may not be as powerful as Steiner’s Korps, it will nonetheless prove most useful—of that I have no doubt. This new Panzer Korps has leaner division structures, but they will serve as fast, powerful units to exploit breakthroughs and gain ground. There are four more divisions, the best being my new SS Nord Panzer Division. Then I have assembled three more Panzergrenadier divisions—Langemarck, Nederland, and Wallonien. These are troops I have been recruiting from all the occupied countries, volunteers to a man, just like the unit I raised in France.”

“Excellent. You have done very well, Himmler. If these men have half the fight in them that Steiner’s men have, these new divisions will serve me very well.”

“That is not all,” said Himmler with a smile. “Another Brigade has been raised for the Reichsführer Panzergrenadiers already serving with Steiner. It is even stronger, with all the new equipment we have been building—the Reichsführer Sturm Brigade. This will raise that unit to the status of a full division. But the best I have saved for last. I have also been building a strong new SS Panzer Korps in the West—three new SS Panzer Divisions, and a strong Panzergrenadier Division as well, the 17th SS Panzergrenadier Division Götz von Berlichingen.”

“An entire new Korps?

“Yes, my Führer.” Himmler smiled. “I have designated these units 9th SS Hohenstaufen Division, 10th SS Frundsberg Division, and a very special unit, one that was first suggested to me by my associate, Artur Axmann, our leader of the Hitler Youth Organization. We have strong young men there, he said. Why not build a division? So this is exactly what we are hoping to do. It will be called the 12th SS Hitlerjugend Division. It will be seeded with a cadre provided by one of our finest divisions, the 1st SS Leibstandarte. They will impart the training, and harden the character of these young men, and I have every hope that this division will become one of the finest in all the SS. Would you approve of this division formation?”

“Of course! This is an excellent idea, Himmler. You and Axmann are to be commended. I give you full authority to see that this new Panzer Korps gets the finest equipment available. This is most encouraging. At a time when my Generals go about moaning that they cannot even find a single infantry division to fulfill their objectives in the field, making one excuse for their failures after another, you come to me with real fire in your belly, and a steel fist. We could not prevail without you. Well done! The Leningrad operation is still several months off, so use that time well to get ready.” Hitler loved good news, particularly news of this kind, more divisions to provide grist for his ever churning mill of war.

“Thank you, My Führer,” said Himmler, very gratified. Then he lowered his voice, leaning a bit closer as if to confide something of great importance. “There is something else I wished to discuss with you, not concerning these new troops, but more to the objectives of this war. The Abwehr has been diligent, but my own intelligence service has come upon information that you will find most disturbing.”

What he would say next would bring the stiff breeze of a sea change to the entire war, and send Hitler’s tossing bark off to stormy waters, to the far side of revenge.

Chapter 27

Hitler gave Himmler a quizzical look, the lines of his brow deepening. “What information?” He waited while Himmler reached into his brief to produce yet another map.

“My Führer,” it has been evident to me for some time that your vision for the Third Reich’s future depends on securing the resources and the Lebensraum our people will need. We have already secured many of the territories mandated for occupation in Generalplan Ost—all except the Caucasus.”

“Manstein will see to that region in due course,” said Hitler.

“Of course,” said Himmler, “but I do not have to remind you that more than half of that area is presently occupied by the armies of Ivan Volkov’s Orenburg Federation. If you will note on this document, his troops are now holding some most desirable objectives, principally, the key oil and gas centers of that entire region. Look here—Maykop, and here at Grozny, and of course the big development at Baku. But note these other areas I have marked in red. They are all areas where my SS intelligence service has learned that Volkov is planning significant new oil and gas development. Note this area near Stavropol, and this big area here at Astrakhan. We knew there were prospects there, for Volkov has been quite busy in those areas with his Oil Brigades.”

“That is all good oil that will soon be coming to the Reich when Manstein completes his operations in the Kuban.”

“Perhaps,” said Himmler, coating the remark with a patina of uncertainty. “Now look here…” He pointed to the Caspian sea. “Note the areas I have colored in amber. Those are also potential new oil fields of great value, extending throughout the whole of the Caspian Sea. This one here is perhaps the biggest, Kashagan, and very close by, this field I have colored grey at Tengiz is already being developed by Ivan Volkov. That is not all. There are potential fields at Aral, all through this region, and all through eastern Turkmenistan and southeast Uzbekistan.”

“Astounding,” said Hitler. “How did you determine this?”

“This document came to me through an agent that will be known only as ‘Fedorov.’”

“A Russian? How can such information be trusted?”

“That is merely a code name,” said Himmler, though in fact, it was a name that was now well known to the Allied cause, that of Captain Fedorov himself, of the battlecruiser Kirov. His astute mind saw that the fracturing of the Soviet Union could be the most fatal contamination to the time line of all. Ivan Volkov presented the most difficult problem for his own plan, conspiring with Admiral Volsky, Director Kamenski, and now even Vladimir Karpov, to try and cleanse the meridian of all outside influences. To do so, he had to deal with Ivan Volkov, and so he came up with another of his great schemes, to feed information to the Germans concerning Volkov and his obvious objectives for this war, and begin to paint the Orenburg Federation in shades of deepening grey. The document Himmler was now showing the Führer had come directly from Fedorov, a detailed map of all the oil and gas development viable through the year 2021 in all the territories Volkov now controlled.

“I ask you to consider this map in another light,” said Himmler darkly. “Please note that all these oil regions are presently occupied by Volkov’s Orenburg Federation—even Maykop, the principle objective of Manstein’s Kuban operation.”

“He will yield it when our troops arrive,” said Hitler firmly.

“Perhaps,” Himmler said again. “Yet look at it, my Führer. Compare it in size to all these other regions Volkov now controls. It is but a minor field according to this information, a bone he throws us while he gets all the meat! These others near Stavropol and certainly Astrakhan are orders of magnitude bigger. And all these untapped resources in the Caspian Basin are many times bigger than those presently being drilled at Baku.”

“Then you are saying that this information was developed by Volkov himself—these are prospects he has already assayed?”

“It appears so,” said Himmler. “I note that we recently seized Baba Gurgur, where Guderian only had one regiment of Fallschirmjagers to guard those facilities. I also note that Volkov has posted two large divisions there as well. What is the whole aim of your Operation Phoenix? It has been a dramatic success—cutting both the pipelines through Syria, seizing Kirkuk, and now the British have scrambled to save the last of the developed fields in that region at Basra, and they have even seized the Iranian fields at Abadan.”

“Oil, my Führer. Resources! This is what the Japanese Army struck south to obtain in the Dutch East Indies. This is why we strive to defeat the Soviet threat, and why you have sent Guderian into Iraq, and now send Manstein into the Caucasus. And look who sits on all those resources—Ivan Volkov! My Führer, I do not have the same faith as you might have concerning that man’s fealty to the Reich. It seems to me that he has cleverly manipulated our alliance to further his own designs. Look what happened at Volgograd. Our troop needs in the south for Edelweiss forced Manstein to turn that whole operation over to Volkov’s Armies! The only German troops now east of the Don are a few heavy artillery siege guns.”

Hitler nodded, a deepening shadow growing in his mind as Himmler spoke. He had often considered the outcome of the war, and what part the Orenburg Federation would play in that. Initially he had considered Volkov his puppet, keeping pressure on the Soviets along the Volga, and tying down many divisions there. But now, as his eyes played over the map, he saw so much more in the aims and intentions of Ivan Volkov.

“That man will control all the oil,” said Hitler. “All we will have under our direct control will be these new fields we are securing with Operation Phoenix.”

“And I note that even those may be contested by Volkov,” said Himmler. “The Abwehr has turned up information that Volkov is now sending operatives to Iran. He already controls Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Armenia. Now he has an army in northern Iran, ostensibly to assist our Operation Phoenix, but mainly to keep troops very close to Baba Gurgur. I have no doubt that he will soon reinforce those troops, and Guderian has little to spare to garrison any of Northern Iraq. All his forces are tied up in this siege of Baghdad.”

“Yes,” said Hitler. “That is very true. In fact, I just ordered another division to be sent to him, so that he can move south towards Basra.”

“Well, my Führer, I can now report, and with good authority from our operatives inside Iran, that Volkov is assembling more forces here, along the Iranian border with his province of Turkmenistan. He is also actively courting the favor of the Iranian regime, and seeking to extend the agreement he has to transit Iranian territory with military units. Why, may I ask, has there been no successful operation mounted by Orenburg against the Soviet defenses on the upper Volga? Why has Volkov insisted on taking over the Volgograd operation? Why does he keep forces breathing down Barenthin’s neck at Baba Gurgur? Why is he mustering armies on the Iranian border? Where could they be going? Surely not to Tehran. They must certainly be meant for Abadan and Basra. Oh yes, he would say he is doing this to assist us, but look at all the oil and gas development he has planned on this map!”

“Orenburg will control everything!” Hitler said, coming to a whole new assessment of Volkov’s war aims.

“Yes,” said Himmler. “We have already flung entire armies at the Soviets, and all to eliminate troops that have been at war with Volkov for decades. We do the heavy lifting, my Führer. We drive all the way to Volgograd. Who has it now? And it may be that we drive all the way to Basra only to find Ivan Volkov smiling at us as he sits on all those oil and gas reserves with a strong new army. This is why we have seen no campaigns against the Soviets in the north. Volkov pays us lip service, he promises to send us oil, but where is it? Just a little more, he tells us. You must eliminate the Soviets in the Kuban. Then he will be free to ship us oil through Rostov. But will he? First he must have the Kuban back. But we have seen virtually nothing come our way from all these vast operations he has within his Federation. We still rely on fast diminishing reserves at Ploesti, and even those may soon be subject to Allied bombing attacks. You were wise to seize Crete as you just did. But look at this map, my Führer. Look who will be sitting on all the world’s key supplies of oil and gas when this war ends—Ivan Volkov. Then he calls the tune. It will be his hand operating the pipelines. Unless we eject him from Baba Gurgur completely, nothing may ever flow to benefit of the Reich.”

Hitler seemed aghast. Himmler was seeding and watering a deepening suspicion that was already within him concerning Volkov and his Orenburg Federation.

“He begs us for planes to pursue objectives against the Siberians,” said Himmler. “And now I learn that you have sent Raeder and some of our finest ships into the Black sea to get rid of the Soviet Black Sea fleet—all part of Operation Edelweiss, which will really only serve Volkov’s ends. Do you honestly think he will simply turn over Maykop, Grozny and Baku after we defeat the Soviets there? We say we eliminate the Soviet fleet to insure oil shipment over the Black Sea. But Volkov will control all the ports on the coast of Georgia. He can therefore choose to send us whatever he wishes, controlling the flow, or denying it as he sees fit. He can, in effect, choke the life breath out of the Wehrmacht, and simply by denying us oil.”

“He would not dare!” said Hitler.

“You may think this, but what a man can do, he might do. This I have learned all too well. Pipelines are being laid by Volkov even now—from Baku to Astrakhan, and from Astrakhan to Orenburg. I note that there are no projects underway from Baku through Azerbaijan and Georgia to the Black Sea Coast. He serves his own interests first. Do not think of Volkov as a vassal of the Third Reich. In the end, my Führer, after we have toppled Sergei Kirov and broken the Red Army, Volkov will remain unfought, and in control of all these vast resources.”

“That will not be permitted,” said Hitler forcefully. “Does he think I am a fool? When this war ends, I will make my demands of Orenburg, and Volkov will either comply, or face the wrath of my armies.”

“Oh, he may play quite the diplomatic game at that point,” said Himmler. “He will say he needs time, for the pipelines to be built that he now ignores. He will say the fields remain undeveloped, and seek money and technical support from the Reich to build them out, all under his watch, and with his troops guarding all the key oil centers. He will equivocate, delay, and all the while he will use that oil to build up stockpiles, as he is already doing now, and build up new armies.”

“There is a limit to my patience,” said Hitler. “If he does this, it will mean war.”

“Most certainly,” said Himmler. “Then, if we do strike, what will he do? He will destroy the fields, all the facilities we get close to will be demolished. You see, my Führer, he who controls a thing, can destroy it at his whim. Imagine that, the fields at Maykop burning, and at Grozny and Baku. Look at that map. He doesn’t even need them for his own forces. He has this extensive field developed just south of his capital at Orenburg. And if we push through towards Astrakhan, he could destroy those fields as well. War with Volkov could be very dangerous. In this event, it will be years before we see any of that oil, and the Reich is already thirsty now.”

“Then we must secure as many of these fields as possible before he ever gets the chance to do what you say. Perhaps I was far too stingy with Operation Phoenix. OKW tells me that no more than twelve divisions can be supported over the Berlin to Baghdad Rail, but we support far more over that decrepit rail system in Russia, and we had to convert the gauge of all those rail lines to use them with our rolling stock. The Todt Organizations will be mustered again in force and sent to Turkey. I will promise them that we will pay for everything, the complete refurbishment of their rail system. If we can do this in Russia, then we can do it in Turkey. And I will see that Guderian gets everything he needs, for we simply must get to Basra and take that oil as well. As for Baba Gurgur, I will find a division to go there this very week! Volkov will not cast his shadow over the things my troops have fought so hard for. That oil goes to the Reich!”

“Yes,” said Himmler. “In this light, Volkov’s loyalty to the Reich can no longer be taken for granted. He must be seen as a great strategic rival, out for his own aims, which are quite evident from this map. In fact, what if Volkov were to wait for us to tidy up the south for him in the Kuban, and then simply switch sides—before we have defeated the Soviets this year? That would immediately free up seven Soviet armies now deployed on the Volga Front, and also set all of Volkov’s forces against us. Then we would have to continue the war all along his entire frontier, a vast new front that we never planned for.”

Hitler nodded, as if finally seeing the menace Volkov represented on his far flank. He had been so obsessed with the fighting in Russia that he could see nothing else. When Operation Phoenix dawned in his mind, it was as if he was finally coming to a new clarity of thinking about this entire war. Most of his army was fighting Sergei Kirov, and he had starved Rommel, seeing the Allies take back all of Libya, and now Morocco and Algeria as well. If they won the battle for Tunisia, then they would be masters of all North Africa.

Yet here he was, meting out a dozen divisions to Kesselring in Tunisia, including all Rommel’s forces, and then committing another dozen more to Operation Phoenix. Yet he had now sent 17th and 11th Armies, and several independent Korps, to prosecute Operation Edelweiss—24 divisions, as much as all the forces he had deployed against the Allies in the West! Manstein was going to kill 50 Soviet divisions in the Kuban if he prevailed, only to bring the Reich a little closer to oil that Volkov now controlled. Tunisia was now the only thing preventing the Allies from striking at Italy or Southern Europe once they regained control of the Med. Operation Phoenix was the only real chance he had at securing the vital oil he needed, and here was Guderian, coming like a beggar for more troops, just like Rommel was forced to do. Himmler was correct. All this must change.

“My Führer, it was your plan to destroy the Soviet Armies in the Kuban, and thus free up all the troops Manstein now commits to Operation Edelweiss for use against the Soviets, or in the West. Yet I think that will never come to pass. I think that once we take the Kuban, all those troops will have to simply sit there, facing off along the demarcation line between Volkov’s Armies in the Caucasus, and our Armeegruppe South. There they must sit, for the duration of the war, useless to us for further operations. Why? Because Volkov presently has 1st Kazakh Army here, on the line of the River Salsk. He has his 3rd Army here, headquartered at Stavropol, obviously to control all these potential new oil fields. Then he has his Army of the Kuban at Maykop, and another army in Georgia controlling all the Black Sea Ports. Do you think he has any intention of withdrawing all those troops after Edelweiss?”

“Of course not,” said Hitler, the realization so striking to him now that he could not believe he had not seen it all before. “This map makes that quite clear.”

“Yes,” said Himmler. “And he has three armies near Volgograd, and another forming at Guryev, now moving to Astrakhan. He is building up, my Führer. He has no intention of abandoning any of this territory, or demilitarizing it once we link up after Operation Edelweiss.”

“He did so along the lower Don.”

“But there is no oil there,” Himmler quickly pointed out. “In fact, it would be my guess that once the Kuban is cleared, he will seek to negotiate with us for control of that entire province, ostensibly so that he can extend his pipelines to Rostov, and so forth. All that will take time, and he can delay such operations as long as he wishes. Frankly, I do not think we will ever see a drop of his oil. Why would he wish to strengthen us? And once the fields at Ploesti run dry, Volkov will be sitting there, ready for war with us, and knowing we may not have the oil to prosecute another war after we exhaust ourselves destroying the one great enemy that has bedeviled him for decades—Sergei Kirov.”

“He doesn’t have the weapons to face us,” said Hitler; “the tanks and artillery…”

“Oh? Who will get all the Soviet factories that have relocated to Siberia? He made an accord with Vladimir Karpov once before. What is to stop him from doing so again? And if he were to join Sergei Kirov this year—what then? He can trade his oil to the Soviets for tanks and artillery, even as he dangles it before us for our servitude to his war aims now.”

That struck Hitler like a thunderbolt. Volkov! That scheming bastard has been planning this all along, but now he will soon see the price of his duplicity. My revenge will be swift, and final.

He stood up straight, taking a deep breath, a new light of discovery and fiery determination in his eyes. “Herr Himmler,” he said with a grave tone in his voice. “You have brought me much more than all these new SS divisions today. So very much more….”