Three Kings

Chapter 4

Far away to the north, other men were hidden away in tunnels as they pondered the fate of Gibraltar, weaving the tangled web of war. The lights burned late at Whitehall. In the Admiralty bunker, the lights had first been turned on 27th of August, 1939, and they would burn continuously with their own stalwart glow of resistance for six years, until finally turned off on the 16th of August, 1945. Admirals Pound, Tovey, and Fraser were present that day. As Tovey seated himself at the table, he had the fear that he might soon be scapegoated for the disaster of Convoy HX-69, and the escape of the German battlegroup that had slipped past his guard. To his great surprise and relief, Admiral Pound took full responsibility upon himself for the debacle.

“I must first apologize to you, Admiral Tovey, and to all present, as it was my insistence that Home Fleet deploy west in the Iceland passages that was largely responsible for what happened. Had I permitted the Commander of Home Fleet to decide his course of battle and dispose accordingly, we might have caught the German movement well north of the convoy. It was my feeling that our newly established air base on the Faeroes would provide sufficient coverage of the inside passage, and yet the Germans were able to run heavy ships right up to those islands and shell our boys senseless. I realize you did your best when the alarm rang, rushing HMS Invincible to the scene and shadowing the bandits as they fled south.”

“That we did, sir but with King George V and Prince of Wales unable to catch up, I thought it unwise to engage the enemy with my single ship.”

“The responsibility is entirely mine,” said Pound, “and I am prepared to place my own head firmly on the chopping block this time, and will fix blame nowhere else.”

“If I may, sir,” said Tovey. “We’ll have need of every head at our disposal in the weeks and months ahead. Your assumption that R.A.F. Vagar might provide us with adequate warning of any German movement near the Faeroe Islands was entirely sound — save for one factor — the Graf Zeppelin. That single ship has changed the equation considerably, and we have not given it adequate consideration. It was fighters off that ship that blinded our air search effort from Vagar. Now that it has happened once, we must take every precaution to assure it never happens again.”

“Thank you, Admiral,” said Pound. “Yet it was also my bull headed order that you move both Illustrious and Ark Royal well west. Had they been closer perhaps we could have put up a challenge to this German carrier.”

“Perhaps,” said Tovey. “Our pilots are certainly capable and determined, yet we must get to work to give them a plane that can match what the Germans have aboard that ship. Their Bf-109 is superior in every respect to our Skuas, and even the new Fulmar may not be able to match it.”

“Agreed,” said Admiral Fraser, pleased at the gracious and diplomatic manner in which Tovey had eased the First Sea Lord down from the hangman’s scaffold. He was correct. They were going to need every head they could bring to the task now, and there was no longer any margin for error in these deliberations. “What we need is a plane like the Hurricane or the Spitfire. Mister Fairey proposed he could build a carrier-borne Spitfire a year before the war, and we were fools not to listen to him then.”

“It was Churchill who skewered that project,” said Pound. “He thought it would impede production of the land based variant and, as it stands, we’re barely able to keep production on those up to hold off the Luftwaffe. We do have the Fulmars coming on line now, though they are few in number. Yet, for the time being, they will have to suffice. At the same time I will listen to my Home Fleet Commander on this matter, and make every effort to see what we can do about a seaborne Spitfire or Hurricane. We already have a few Hurricanes modified for use on carriers. I believe those went to HMS Furious, did they not?”

“Yes, I believe so,” said Fraser. “At least we know those planes can match the German Messerschmitts pound for pound, but we have all too few of them.”

“We had an order for 50 Sea Spitfires set to go,” said Pound. “I presume we’ll be calling them Seafires if we ever get them. I will see what I can do to move it along. There has also been some discussion about purchasing the American Grumman Wildcats. We’re calling them Martlets.”

“We already have hold of 81 of these American planes,” said Fraser. “The French had them on order, and we filched the delivery after that apple went bad. More will be coming.”

“All this is well and good,” said Tovey. “Yet we must also look to how we can augment the striking power of our carriers. At the moment it seems to be tit for tat. Our Swordfish may be a bit long in the teeth, but they still get hits, and we have the only torpedo bomber of note in that plane. The Germans have nothing comparable. That said, their seaborne variant of that damnable Stuka has been giving us fits. Those planes are largely responsible for a good bit of the damage that was put on our Battlecruiser Squadron. Our battleships have better deck armor, but even they won’t like 500 pound bombs careening down in the thick of a fight at sea. We must look to a similar design.”

“The Fulmar is being adapted as a fighter bomber,” said Fraser.

“Yes? Well I’m afraid it may not handle either role well enough to get the job done.”

“We’ll also have the Albacore to help out.”

“Another torpedo bomber by trade,” Tovey said quickly. “Yes, they’ve been fitting bombs to the wings, but it will simply not match what the Germans have in that Stuka.”

“Agreed,” said Pound. “We will do what we can on this matter, but tell me, Admiral, what about these naval rockets the Russians have? I understand that they can serve in a dual role, and strike both aircraft and ships. Is that so?”

“I witnessed as much,” said Tovey with a quiet thrum of anxiety. If he could tell Admiral Pound the full measure of what he had witnessed and now knew about the Russian ship… but no, that would be tantamount to talking of gremlins and leprechauns with the man. He was lucky Pound had found the backbone to admit his own meddling when fleet deployments had ended in disaster. Yet he knew there was no way he could disclose what he knew about the Russian ship, and the men who had come here from that impossibly distant future. He could still scarcely believe it himself.

“Well? What about these rockets then?” said Pound. “Might we have a look at similar development?”

“I’m afraid we have no real projects active in that regard,” said Fraser.

“The Russians clearly have them, and you seem rather cozy with them, Admiral Tovey. What about it? Might they share this technology with us?”

“Perhaps, sir, though from all I could learn of this ship, it is a prototype — one of a kind. It’s the only ship the Russians have using these weapons and, as far as I know, there are no similar land based variants.”

“That seems odd,” said Pound.

“I thought as much,” said Tovey, thinking he had to lead this discussion along another path soon. He knew the Russians had a limited inventory of their wonder weapons, and that back-engineering them would take considerable time and effort, if it could be done at all. They had told him the rockets had computing machines in the nose, and radar as well, to guide them unerringly to their targets. He knew that was beyond the capability of Great Britain for the moment, and perhaps any other nation on earth, so he wisely said nothing of this. “It could be these weapons take enormous resources to design and build,” he said. “The Russians may only have this handful allotted to that ship, and nothing more.”

“Well, you might ask about that,” said Pound. “If they are forthcoming, perhaps we could speed things along with their development.”

Tovey smiled inwardly at that, knowing it would be long decades, the better part of a century, before Britain would ever have such weapons, or so he had been told by the young Russian officer, Fedorov. “In the mean time, we should not count on this technology to come on line any time soon. We’ll have to do with good old fashioned guns and steel, and some better aircraft, as we’ve been discussing here.”

“Indeed,” said Pound. “Well, now gentlemen, what to do about this war. We’ve lost Gibraltar. Churchill wants our recommendation as to how soon we can get on with plans for the occupation of the Cape Verde and Canary Islands. I can report that the planned occupation of the Azores went off without a hitch. Operation Alloy has concluded, but we must move quickly. The Germans will have eyes for the remaining islands as well.”

“Indeed they will,” said Fraser. “As to Operation Puma against the Canaries, Lieutenant General Alexander proposes to deploy the troops that were earmarked for the failed Dakar operation. Puma will commit 101 and 102 Royal Marine Brigades, and units of the new Special Boat Squadron in the initial assault. As to the Cape Verde Islands, Operation Sackbut, now renamed Shrapnel, can go as well. Brigadier Campbell has 2nd and 3rd Battalions, Royal Marines, ready at a moment’s notice.”

“Can we mount both operations concurrently?” Pound looked to Tovey now.

“The Azores Carrier Force will be assigned to Operation Puma,” said Tovey. “Somerville has moved Force H there to refuel, and he’ll provide the heavy covering force for Puma. The Cape Verde operation will launch from Freetown, but it will need either surprise or considerable naval support. The French Force De Raid is still operating out of Casablanca, and the Dakar battlegroup has moved there, at least the heavy ships. This will make Casablanca a very tough nut to crack in the foreseeable future. The French will now have Jean Bart, Richelieu and Normandie there, a formidable task force. Both groups are well attended with cruisers and destroyers, and we must also consider that Toulon could send further reinforcements if the French get wind of these operations.”

“Formidable indeed,” said Fraser. “But the movement of these ships leaves Dakar open to attack if we move quickly. We have spoken with General de Gaulle again on the matter, particularly after these reports that he was unwilling to commit his troops against fellow Frenchmen.”

“What?” Tovey seemed surprised. “Well who did he think would be there, the Bulgarian Army?”

“Exactly,” said Fraser. “Well our Mister de Gaulle seems to have found his backbone after learning that Darlan has put a price on his head. He was considering a move into Equatorial Africa from Cameroon, but we’ve convinced him Dakar is the real prize now.”

“Cunningham wants to roll up his sleeves and have another go,” said Pound. “I think we should recommend it, only this time no mistakes. I’ll want the whole of Force H in attendance. If this Force De Raid wants to do anything about it this time, they’ll have to get past Rodney and Nelson.”

“Agreed,” said Tovey. “Eliminating Dakar is a vital necessity. It’s a dagger right on the throat of all southbound convoy traffic.”

“Correct,” said Pound. “With Gibraltar lost, and Force H operating from the Azores, we remain in dire straits, particularly now that the Germans have heavy ships at Brest and Saint Nazaire. We’ve lost Barham, and Resolution was brought home for repairs after the engagement off Dakar. That, if anything, has shown us that we can not underestimate the French Fleet in any subsequent engagement.”

“True sir,” said Tovey. “Those are fast, capable ships, and the French have their blood up after Dakar. Now, we pulled Ramilles and Revenge off convoy escort for the Azores operation. I propose to keep those two ships assigned as the close covering force for Puma and Shrapnel. Then we can let Somerville take a more aggressive stance against the Force de Raid. But make no mistake, gentlemen, He’ll be playing defense. Somerville has Valiant, Rodney and Nelson at hand, but none of those ships could really serve to get after the French unless they chose to engage us further. Somerville’s battleships are simply too slow. He’ll have to operate as distant cover, and our first line of defense for these operations. As to carrier assignments, we will stay with Glorious and Furious for the moment, and the escort carrier Argus remains at the Azores. That leaves us Ark Royal and Illustrious to watch the northern passages. That said, the German heavy metal is now sitting in French ports, and so Home fleet must deploy accordingly.”

“What do you suggest?” After HX-69, Pound had decided to let Tovey have the bit between his teeth and let him run.

“That is the problem,” said Tovey. “We very nearly caught up with the Germans, but they slipped away. It’s coming down to speed, gentlemen, that’s what we need in a good capital ship now. Thank God we have Renown and Repulse back on their feet, and in a pinch I could get Hood out of bed if necessary, though that ship, and Admiral Holland as well, might need a little more time convalescing.”

“Holland tells me he’s fit and ready,” said Pound.

“He will certainly be welcome if that is so,” said Tovey. “I propose that Holland take up the watch here on the Northern Passages. We’ll put two heavy cruisers and one of the two battlecruisers in each passage, the Denmark Strait, and the Iceland-Faeroes Gap. Hood will have to play on the back row, and reinforce either group as necessary. The German threat there is still significant. They’ll have Tirpitz, and the Twins, Scharnhorst and Gneisenau. On top of that there’s Graf Zeppelin to worry about.”

“And what if they make a run at the inside passage again?” Pound did not want a repetition of the maneuver the Germans had just used so successfully.

“With Spitfires at R.A.F. Vagar now, that should prevent any recurrence of what we just suffered with HX-69. Once burned, twice prepared. As soon as these operations conclude I shall return Ramilles and Revenge to Scapa Flow to watch that inside passage.”

“Good enough,” said Pound. “But what if the Germans bunch up on either of the Northern Passages as they planned it with Operation Valkyrie?”

“That’s where my squadron comes in. I propose to move Invincible and the two new battleships south from Scapa Flow to the Bristol Channel. I could operate from Cardiff or Bristol itself, but it’s a good hundred miles from those ports to the Celtic Sea, and I might want to post my squadron further west.”

“Where? Plymouth will be under German bombers.”

“Milford Haven,” said Tovey. “Yes, I know the German bombers can reach that too, but they’ve largely ignored it. The place will need facility development, fuel depots, but it’s ideally positioned to allow my fast battleships access to the Celtic Sea and Western Approaches. From there I can mount standing patrols against any possible sortie by the German heavy units in French Ports. They’ll have Hindenburg, Bismarck, and we’ve identified what appears to be alight escort carrier. Beyond that, the Germans got hold of two new French ships in the docks, Joffre and DeGrasse. The former is an aircraft carrier, and given their success with Graf Zeppelin, I have no doubt that they will do everything possible to get that ship rigged out for operations.”

“Admiralty estimates that will be a long year at best,” said Pound. “But I agree that the threat is real, and it is certainly something Bomber Command will be having a look at soon. One other question, Admiral Tovey. The Russians ship, is it still in the Atlantic?”

Chapter 5

Tovey shifted uncomfortably. The Russian ship… the ship that had come from the depths of his long remembered dreams, from that impossible, unseen future, with weapons and technology that dazzled the mind and power that had not yet been fully engaged. Yet its very presence here was exerting a strange gravity on the war, bending the lines of history ever so subtly. Tovey had little doubt that it would soon emerge from the shadows and take a much more prominent role in the plans they were now forging. But how could he possibly wield this weapon that had come into his hands, or even explain the ship’s presence to men like Dudley Pound?

“The Russian ship is presently at Reykjavik, sir, relieved by HMS Renown and a pair of cruisers.”

“I see. And I certainly hope the Russians were not put off now that we have asked them to hold our coat and let the Royal Navy handle the Germans.”

“They were very understanding. Admiral Volsky fully appreciates the political issues involved. The staff work done on opening the Arctic convoy routes to Murmansk is well underway. In that event, Admiral Volsky has offered to meet our outbound convoys with a flotilla of Soviet ships and serve as escorts in the Norwegian Sea.”

“And if the Germans interfere?”

“After the hand off, sir, the convoy will be officially flagged as Russian. If the Germans want to take issue with that, then they shall have to take it up with Moscow. Frankly, I don’t see how the Soviets can sit on the fence for long as things stand. They’ve thrown in with us, but haven’t declared war on Germany, yet something tells me that will change soon enough.”

“Agreed,” said Pound. “Very well, gentlemen. These dispositions are sound. “God help the boys who went down on the Rock.”

“We knew Gibraltar was lost the moment the Germans began their attack,” said Fraser, “in spite of Churchill’s sabre rattling to the contrary.”

“Believe me, the Prime Minister knew we could mount no serious relief operation for Gibraltar. He wasn’t happy about it, but at least he’s made a good speech now that it’s done. The question now is Malta. The Germans will soon have a strangle hold on the Straits of Gibraltar, with guns on both sides, Stukas overhead, and U-boats freely entering the Mediterranean. This is a disaster of the first order, and we haven’t taken the full measure of it yet. Without Gibraltar, relief convoys to arm and supply Malta cannot have any chance of success trying to run the Straits. They will have to be mounted from Alexandria, and Admiral Cunningham still has the Italian Navy to keep an eye on. We have therefore decided to see if we can catch Mussolini napping and visit him at Taranto. We have HMS Eagle there at Alexandria, and we’re sending Hermes up through Suez to join the party now that it has come off refit at Port Elizabeth. That should allow a fifty plane raid against the Italian fleet anchored at Taranto. Our intention is to even the odds in the Eastern Mediterranean, if we can, and give Admiral Cunningham a little breathing room.”

“I’m afraid the whole center of gravity of the war will be shifting his way, sir,” said Tovey.

“Indeed. The War Cabinet and Bletchley Park both agree. With Gibraltar lost, the Germans can now move troops to Oran or Algiers, and from there they can move overland to the east.”

“They can save themselves a long haul and just land at Tripoli,” said Tovey. “Malta is a thorn in the central Med, but can do little to prevent or hinder such a movement by the enemy as things stand. What do we have there to stop them?”

“A garrison no bigger than the one we had on the rock, and no more than thirty six planes, six Gladiators and twenty-eight Hurricanes and two Sunderlands.”

“We’ll need to stiffen that garrison up,” said Fraser, “particularly in the case of aircraft. That will be the only bite Malta has if the Germans take an interest there.”

As soon as these Atlantic Island operations are concluded, we’ll have a look at using those same troops to springboard to Dakar. That taken, our convoy route south around the Cape of Good Hope will be secure. Then it will be our job to get as much in the way of troops and material to Alexandria as possible. The Army wants to beef up the Middle East Command, and they are worried the Germans may soon attack the Balkans.”

“We’re seeing a buildup for that now,” said Fraser, and the Italians have eyes on Greece.”

“Yes, well we both know where that leads this war,” said Tovey.

“The Germans can waltz right through the Balkans to the doorstep of Turkey at Istanbul, and the Turks will be the last neutral state between the Third Reich and the Orenburg Federation. So that is where the War Cabinet believes the fighting will lead us. Right into the thick of the Middle East and Turkey. That’s where the oil is, gentlemen, and Herr Hitler will be eager to get at it. He knows that even if he takes the fields at Ploesti in Romania, it will not be enough to fuel his war machine, or navy. The Bosporus is a chokepoint for all that oil traffic coming out of Baku.”

“The Army has plans to reinforce Greece,” said Pound. “If the Germans do move on the Balkans, then I doubt they’ll politely stop at the Turkish frontier. Should Turkey to cooperate, or worse, if they invade there, then we will have to be prepared to occupy both Iraq and Persia. The Royal Navy won’t be doing the fighting, but it will be our job to get the troops where they need to be. We’ll also have Greece, Crete, Cyprus and Rhodes to worry about in due course, and even Palestine if the Germans make such a move. But all that remains to be seen. For now, gentlemen, let us catch our Canary and snatch the Cape Verde Islands in the bargain. One day at a time.”

Yes, thought Tovey. That is the only way we can work it now. We can make all these speculations and grand plans for battles we might fight, but one day a man with a rifle or a good ship will have to face down an enemy and make them come true. One day at a time will have to do.

It was then that he thought he might make his announcement concerning the Russians. Admiral Volsky had recently sailed to Murmansk, ostensibly to survey the convoy route through the Norwegian Sea. They were also going to establish another lonesome Ice Watch with the fledgling weather station on Jan Mayan. With one of their radar sets posted there, and the other already watching the Denmark Strait, his job was much easier.

Yet Admiral Volsky had sent him an urgent message concerning a new development. He seemed very eager to meet with the British and bring the Soviet Government abreast of these plans. How to broach this subject without getting Admiral Pound worked up about it? He took off his shoes and waded in.

“Gentlemen,” he said quietly. “The Russians have communicated with me recently, and they propose a meeting of the minds at Suez to coordinate strategy and resources.”

“What? Without a formal declaration of war by the Soviets?” It was just what Tovey thought Pound might point out.

“I see little harm in opening talks,” Tovey suggested. “The Russians have proven quite useful. Their radar sets alone have enabled me to close the Denmark strait. Jerry has made two runs out that way in recent months, and he’s been caught flat footed and turned about in every case. I would like to take all the credit, but I’m afraid I would be remiss to do so. The Russian radar sets have given me the warning I need, and in each case I’ve been able to move my fast battleships into position to dissuade the Germans from any ideas they may have had about breaking out.”

“And what about the Bismarck,” said Pound. “What about Hindenburg. Yes, I know I do nothing but tighten the noose about my own neck to bring them into this conversation again. I’ve already admitted my culpability in that affair.”

“Well,” said Tovey. “They can either sit in those French ports, or come out to see if they have what it takes to challenge HMS Invincible, and may she live up to her name should that ever be the case. As to our operations against the Atlantic islands, I assume that meets with the Former Naval Person’s approval?”

Churchill agreed that action now was imperative, and with a favorable eye on the Royal Marines and commandos, he pushed for more decisive and timely action soon.

“The Joint Planning Group has argued the “Marines” are that in name only,” said Pound. “Being newly raised units, with no real experience in amphibious landings, they insisted that regular army units should spearhead any major amphibious operation, but Churchill told Keyes to continue building up his amphibious striking force.”

“Well,” said Fraser, “the Admiral continued collecting his “Marines,” in any case, and now he has a pair of “Brigades,” which are also that in name only, as they are each comprised of only two battalions of Royal Marines at this stage.”

“We can augment that force with units under War Office control,” said Pound, “though the Joint Planners still consider our amphibious forces inadequate for any significant operation against Vichy held territory. Remember also that these island outposts are not all French territories, they are held by Spain and Portugal.”

There were political considerations there until that fateful meeting at Hendaye that saw Spain defect to the Axis banner. Now Keyes argued his men were well suited to the task of seizing these islands, and he eventually won out with the fall of Gibraltar.

The loss of Britain’s Rock had been a hard blow, but one that galvanized planners to look for an alternative place to base Force H. It was determined that this force had to maintain a watch on the West African coast, and operate as a counterfoil to the French Force De Raid based out of Casablanca and Dakar. While no single harbor could match the facilities and capacity they once enjoyed at Gibraltar, the combined facilities available in the island outposts would allow sufficient force to be kept in theater.

The first target in Britain’s new Atlantic island campaign had been the Azores, an operation that had been mounted at Churchill’s urging even while the fighting was underway at Gibraltar. Led by Captain Christopher Wells aboard HMS Glorious, 1st and 5th battalions, Royal Marines, had been put ashore against no more than a mild diplomatic protest logged by Portugal. It had been far easier than all the hand wringing and discussion that preceded it. Churchill was elated when he got the news that the Black Hole in the Atlantic, the place where Britain had little or no air cover, would now be well patrolled by planes from the airfield at the Azores. Now the question of how to proceed was on the table, with the Canary Islands Operation Puma on one side, and the combined Dakar Cape Verde Islands Operation Shrapnel on the other.

As it happened, the positioning of French Naval assets weighed heavily in the balance of that decision. The first battle off Dakar had convinced the Royal Navy that the French could pose a significant threat to any amphibious operation that they decided to oppose. And yet, in spite of the clear victory of Admiral Plancon’s force over the covering force for Operation Menace, Darlan had come to the decision that Dakar was too far afield to be adequately patrolled and defended in the long run. In this he was strongly influenced by the Germans.

They pointed out that the garrison would be inadequate against any determined British attack, and it could not be easily or quickly reinforced, being simply too far away from other Vichy held bastions in the region. The nearest friendly force was over 2000 kilometers away in the Division de Marrakesh, and the Germans had showed no interest in reinforcing Dakar for similar reasons. If it were built up to a size that might hold its own in battle, then it could not be easily supplied by sea. When the invasion plan was launched, OKW pointed out that the entire Force De Raid would have to be based there to have any chance of stopping it, leaving the better facilities at Casablanca vulnerable.

In the end, Dakar was seen as an outpost that would have to rely on the French Navy for its defense, and Darlan was inclined to position his fighting ships farther north to defend Casablanca. It was a strange logic, for the British planners had already determined that they simply did not have the force to consider an amphibious landing against Casablanca, but they saw the presence of heavy French naval units at Dakar as a most dangerous threat that simply had to be eliminated.

Operations were planned to heavily reinforce Force H and mount another major engagement there, but when Admiral Plancon was ordered to bring all his capital ships north to Casablanca, and make that place the principle base of the Atlantic Force De Raid, British planners now saw an opportunity to use the amphibious force Admiral Keyes had labored so long to build. They would take any table scraps that fell from French control, and it soon became clear that a second operation against Dakar could now proceed.

The plan then would be to begin with Shrapnel against the Cape Verde Islands in tandem with the second attempt at Dakar. These in hand, the navy would roll north to Operation Puma against the Canary Islands. Once taken, those islands would become the primary base for Force H, with the new Naval Headquarters Atlantic under Admiral Somerville at the Port of Las Palmas on the Grand Canary Island.

What the British did not know was that the Germans had good reasons for asking the French to pull out of Dakar. They had other fish to fry, and they could also see that the war was now heading to the Middle East. It was a strange push pull in the war where both sides moved in the same direction, the Germans and French gave as the British sought to take, but for a reason they kept very secret until their plan was ready to take real form and shape.

Admiral Keyes was quite happy to have Dakar back on his target list for possible combined operations by the Army and Navy. He saw these moves in as prerequisites to larger operations against French West Africa, but when Keyes inquired as to further plans, he was surprised and dismayed to learn there were none!

Any landing on the Atlantic coast of Africa would find itself with two thousand miles of inhospitable terrain between that place and the real center of gravity for the war now — Egypt. Britain’s war effort would be to maintain a wedge between the advancing armies of the Third Reich, and the Orenburg Federation. The French Force De Raid aside, other Vichy holdings in Africa would be ignored. Britain would fight on, but the battle would be waged somewhere else — in the Western Desert, where Wavell and O’Conner were meeting now to plan the first steps in the long road home to victory.

Yet other men were meeting as well, and in a strange quirk of fate the name of General Richard O’Connor would also figure prominently in their planning.

Chapter 6

“Forgive me if I do not call you my Führer,” said Volkov. “I mean no disrespect, but heads of state follow other protocols, do they not?”

“Call me the devil if you wish,” said Hitler, “as long as you remain my trusted adjutant, all will be well.”

It was a meeting that had been planned long ago, but with developments in the war now heating up, the time was ripe for Adolf Hitler to meet with the shadow to the east, Ivan Volkov, the man who sat on all that oil, the man who held a knife at Sergei Kirov’s back. Hitler was no fool. He knew that Volkov’s disposition was not one to easily bear his trust. The man had schemed and assassinated his way to power over many long years, ruthlessly eliminating one foe after another until he forged his Orenburg Federation on the fringes of the Soviet heartland. The one man he could not outmaneuver had been Sergei Kirov, and now the war would settle their long simmering rivalry — or I will settle it, thought Hitler.

The place for this meeting was also symbolic of the Führer’s real interest in treating with Volkov — Ploesti. Hitler had come by train from Austria, Volkov in a squadron of four airships that crossed the Black Sea from his territory in the Caucasus. Ploesti was the oil center of Romania, and Hitler was keen to tour the facilities, where he made suggestions on how Germany could improve production, and increase oil flows and deliveries by rail to the Reich. It was his final stop before returning to Germany, a handshake here with Ivan Volkov, and a word on what was soon to come in his march to world domination.

Hitler was very pleased with the outcome of this diplomatic mission to the Balkans in late 1940. It had been his intention to lay a carpet of federated states all the way from Czechoslovakia to the Turkish frontier, and to do this he needed the allegiance of Romania, Bulgaria and Hungary. One by one these nations fell under the shadow of his control, some willingly, as in the case of Hungary, which had been a client state since 1938. Others came grudgingly, for Romania had been pro-British and an ally of Poland at the outbreak of the war. Hitler made Romania a top priority, pleased when General Antonescu ascended to the position of Prime Minister there, and then quickly signed the Tripartite Pact to effectively join the Axis in late 1940. Now Hitler had access to Romania’s oil producing region at Ploesti, and valuable territory from which he could stage further operations.

With Hungary and Bulgaria also cowed, he now planned on the final resolution of the Balkans as a prelude to the decisive campaigns of 1941 against either Soviet Russia or the British Middle East. Operation 25, as it was called, was the plan to devour Yugoslavia, with armies staging on every frontier of that beleaguered state. Hitler would move the 1st Panzer Group to Bulgaria near Sofia, the XLI Corps to Romania and the XLVI Corps to Hungary to place a cordon of steel all along Yugoslavia’s eastern borders. From the north, the German Second Army would stage from Austria with three Infantry Corps, from the west, the Italian Second Army would field a similar force, and the whole operation was happening three months earlier than it did in the history before Kirov staged from Severomorsk.

Now he stared at Volkov across the conference table, his dark eyes taking the man in, noting every line and detail of his uniform, the insignia, his military officer’s cap. It was clear that Volkov saw himself as a military man, while Hitler sat there in civilian dress, the plain grey suit he often wore, a wolf in sheep’s clothing. He sized the man up now, as a man might inspect a tool he was planning to use for some task. That was all Volkov was at the moment — an unwitting tool in the Führer’s hand.

So Hitler would make him his ally, for his longstanding feud with Sergei Kirov was most convenient. He was tying down nearly forty Soviet divisions along the frontier from the Crimea and along the Volga all the way to the wilderness of Siberia north of Samara. That was very useful. Those were troops Kirov could easily move to his European theater were it not for Volkov. So he needed this man just now, and he would have to find a way to appease him, a nice scrap or two to throw him while he continued to devour Europe.

“I see that you have a bit of a problem on your hands in the Caucasus,” said Hitler.

“Kirov’s troops have invaded from the Crimea and invested Novorossiysk.”

“And he has crossed the Don south of Volgograd. Will you stop him?”

“Of course,” said Volkov, knowing he could not show weakness here. “He merely took advantage of the situation in Siberia, that is all. I will reinforce that sector in due course and stop him.”

“Will you?” Hitler tapped the table with his pencil, looking at the map. “Why the attack at Omsk, Volkov? You had an accord with the Siberians there, and you threw it away.”

“Karpov,” Volkov said flatly. “It was all his doing. The man cannot be trusted. He was maneuvering troops to that frontier even as the ink was drying on the Omsk accord. So I took the necessary step of eliminating him from the scene before we begin joint operations to settle these affairs.” He lied about this, but lies had always served his purpose before, and this was no different.

“I see…” Hitler knew Volkov was lying, knew that Volkov had initiated hostilities and violated the accord, almost as if he had planned it all from the very first. “You had Omsk,” he said. “Now you must take it back?”

“Omsk was bait, nothing more. I wanted to see if I could get Karpov to move off his main line of defense along the Ob River. Then I could trap those forces in a quick pincer movement, smash them, and eliminate this nuisance.”

“And did he take your bait?”

“To a degree. He moved up three divisions, one in the city, two others guarding its flanks.”

“Yet he still sits on the Ob with the rest of his army,” Hitler tapped the map again. “My intelligence services tell me you suffered a severe setback recently. I’m told this man Karpov gave your troops a nasty surprise!”

“So I have taken stronger measures,” said Volkov. “Yes, Karpov is ruthless, but I will deal with the matter. If the bear will not come out of his cave, then I will go in after him. I have sent another army, and a heavy squadron of my Airship Corps across the frontier, and they are driving on Barnaul as we speak. I should reach that place by nightfall. From there I can swing north and take his main defensive bastion at Novosibirsk from behind. This will make a costly battle to cross the Ob unnecessary.”

“But you must force the river to the south first,” said Hitler. “Suppose you get another surprise there?”

“The Siberians have only two divisions there, the 93rd and 133rd. My airship fleet can isolate that place by cutting the rail lines. The only reason Karpov succeeded at Novosibirsk was because of inadequate air defense against his zeppelins. All of mine were busy elsewhere, but that has changed. Rest assured. I will cross the Ob in a matter of days.”

“Very well. And how soon before you finish with this distraction?”

“A few weeks… Perhaps a month.”

“And all the while Sergei Kirov will continue to push into the Caucasus.”

“I can prevent that. It will be necessary to utilize my armies from Kazakhstan and the Caspian region, but they will be enough.”

“Oh? My intelligence services tell me that the Soviets are approaching Krasnodar and threatening the oil facilities at Maykop.”

“We will hold Krasnodar and stop that attack, but even so, Maykop is one of our smallest fields, no bigger than the new facilities we have near Grozny. The real oil is much farther east, at Baku and the northern Caspian basin, and that is what we are here to really discuss. Yes?”

“Of course,” said Hitler. “Ploesti will only take us so far.” He was careful to include Volkov in that statement, a vacant smile adorning his words. “I will need your oil, and the means to get it to Germany where I can put it to good use. We now have two good ports here at Costanza and Varna. Can you ship the oil there?”

“Possibly, though all of this depends on the outcome of this fighting in the Caucasus. Sergei Kirov has one thing I lack — a navy. Yes, I have my airships, but they cannot guarantee safe passage of the Black Sea while the Soviets maintain a strong naval squadron at Sevastopol. They have an old battleship, five heavy cruisers, eighteen destroyers and over forty submarines! Add to that the eighty odd torpedo boats and you can understand why a sea transit of the Black Sea will not be possible for any large movement of the oil… Unless you could assist us in neutralizing that fleet in some way.”

There it was, thought Hitler, the first request. He smiled. “I have no navy in the Black sea — for the moment. I have only just moved heavy units to a position where they can soon enter the Mediterranean.”

“That was a most significant victory at Gibraltar, just as I predicted,” said Volkov.

“Indeed it was. But before my battleships could hope to assist you in the Black Sea, there is still the Royal Navy to be dealt with in the Eastern Mediterranean. We have plans for that, yet even after they are concluded, and we dominate the Mediterranean Sea, there is still the matter of Turkey and the Bosporus.”

“What about your Luftwaffe? They might easily deal with the Russian Black Sea Fleet.”

Of course, thought Hitler. That is what this man wants from me now. He flits about in those obsolete zeppelins and yet he has no modern air force. He needs my Luftwaffe to neutralize Kirov’s ships and protect his Black Sea ports in Georgia. Well enough.

“You realize that no state of war presently exists between Germany and Soviet Russia. That said, I will speak to Goering on this, and I will give you whatever support you need. We can sell you the planes and train your pilots in their proper use. After all, I will be wanting a good price from you on that oil! This is in my interest as well. I cannot have Sergei Kirov sitting there with a naval threat in the heart of the union we must now forge. Your oil, my steel, Volkov. That is the formula that will win this war. We are so close! Only Kirov and Turkey stand between us, and that is what we should now set our minds on. You must settle this business in Siberia quickly, and then move those divisions to stop Kirov in the Caucasus. I will give you all the support you need with my Luftwaffe. Then we must discuss Turkey.”

“Ah yes,” said Volkov, “the old Ottoman Empire, creaking and rusty, and ready to fall.”

“Well are you in a position to strike from the east?”

“Not at the moment. I will need those troops to stop this attack in the Caucasus. Yet with your air support, we may finish that job sooner, and then I can shift forces from Siberia and Kazakhstan to the Turkish frontier.”

“Excellent! And while you do this I have a few preliminaries to take care of here in the Balkans. I have Hungary, Bulgaria and Romania. Yugoslavia is next. We are calling it Operation 25, after my Führer Directive by that same number. I anticipate a swift campaign, but Mussolini has complicated matters by meddling in Greece.”

“That will be to your advantage,” said Volkov, knowing the history of these events very well. The Devil’s Adjutant had more than oil and military support for Hitler. He also had vital information, foreknowledge of how the war played out, and every success and failure. He had sent a message to Hitler earlier when asking for this meeting, and strongly reinforced the need to cow Spain and take Gibraltar. He knew that Turkey would try to sit out the war as a neutral state, with leanings toward Great Britain. That had to be changed.

“Advantage? Mussolini will prompt the British to reinforce Greece, possibly even Yugoslavia. This will complicate matters.”

“No,” said Volkov. “See this as a benefit, not an obstacle. The British can ill afford to reinforce Greece now. They are already weak in the Middle East as it stands, and everything they send there will weaken them further.”

“Yes. I finally convinced Mussolini that he had to take action against Egypt, and that is now underway.”

“It will fail,” said Volkov darkly.

“Fail? Graziani has three times as many divisions as the British now have in Egypt. He crossed the border largely unopposed.”

Hitler stared at Volkov now. They called this man the Prophet, because his predictions have been uncannily accurate, but this one was foolhardy. How could he know this? How could the British defeat the Italian’s so quickly? They were badly outnumbered, not only in the Western Desert, but also in Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa, and he stated as much.

“You place too much faith in the Italians,” said Volkov. “Believe this. You will soon see how little prowess they have at the art of war. The British will defeat them easily in both the Western Desert and East Africa. They are useless! Even the Greek Army will soon have them on the run there. In time you will be forced to intervene to stave off a collapse of their colonial empire in Africa, and this you must do. We are here to discuss Turkey, but remember that the Turks will most likely be strongly supported by Great Britain when we begin our battles there. That is your real enemy for the next six months — the British!”

“Yes, yes, the British. I was planning to invade England, but was dissuaded by my Generals and Admirals. They convinced me to strike at Gibraltar first, which no doubt pleased you, Volkov.”

“That was a fortunate stroke, but you must continue what you have begun in the Mediterranean. There are three kings there. The first you have dethroned at Gibraltar, the second sits on a tiny island at Malta, and that is where you should bend your will to strike next. This will allow you to keep forces in North Africa adequately supplied. Finally there comes the real prize, the Suez Canal and the British position at Alexandria. Three kings. Slay them before June of 1941and you will win this war.”

Hitler smiled. “Another of your predictions, Volkov?”

“Consider it good advice. Whether it comes to pass or not will depend upon your actions. Yes, finish up in the Balkans with this Operation 25 as you call it. Yes, send me as many planes as you can spare, and I will stop Sergei Kirov from getting his hands on my oil in the Caucasus. Then we will smash Turkey, but if the British are not defeated soon, they will become a cancer that will grow in strength in the Middle East and become a major threat. They can read a map even as we do here, and they will do everything in their power to drive a wedge between us and prevent what we are now planning. Slay those last two kings in the Mediterranean, and you can assure your victory, and it will start here.” Now Volkov pointed at the map, fingering the Western Desert and the tiny island of Malta.

Hitler did not immediately see the importance of this. Graziani had just crossed the Egyptian frontier unopposed. He was staging to renew his offensive soon, and with three times as many troops and tanks as the British now had, he should be able to drive all the way to Alexandria. He made this argument again, in an almost offhanded manner, clearly confident and not sharing Volkov’s dark vision of imminent Italian defeat. Italy was on the attack, everywhere, he said again.

“They will be defeated,” Volkov insisted, putting more iron in his tone. “The British will counterattack and destroy the entire Italian 10th Army. There is a man there that you must watch very closely. He is presently commanding the British Western Desert force, and he will be the one who destroys Graziani’s army. He will kick the Italians out of Egypt, and overrun all of Cyrenaica, as far as Benghazi. If he is not stopped, he will soon pose a threat to Tripoli as well.”

“Who is this man you speak of? You make him out to be a demigod!”

“General O’Connor.”

“O’Connor?” Hitler may have been briefed on the matter, but it was one of those many minor details of the war that slipped from his mind. “Why should I worry over a single British General? They were no bother in France.”

Volkov smiled, then he was deadly serious again. “Listen to me,” he said. “Forces are present in this world that could unhinge everything we have been planning if they are not countered. This man is dangerous. He must be stopped, and I have every faith that you can handle the matter. It may need a good general of your own to match him, and German troops. And do not be stingy! If you send any force to North Africa, it must be strong. Don’t think the Italians will ever take Egypt for you, not while that man remains undefeated — General Richard O’Connor.”