Soldiers and Marines Saga, page 50
“Well hell, Dick. That sounds fair to me. I certainly will deserve the blame if my decisions turn out to be so bad that we lose.” That’s for damn sure.
“Yeah, Guns, but if your decisions work out and we win, which by the way I think is increasingly likely, Merton and the President are both going claim all the credit for the President.”
“I know,” I said. “But so what? I don’t care if the President gets the credit so long as he and his staff don’t fuck things up and cause us to lose the war.” If we win, there’ll be enough credit for everyone; if we lose we’ll all probably be shot by the Russians.”
“And hell, Dick. The President may be right. About talking to the media, that is. Maybe it would help put more pressure on Moscow if the word gets out they’re not doing well. Tell ya what, please check with Merton again and make sure he and the President are still cool with idea. If they are, and you agree, I’ll have my staff fix it so the media finds me tomorrow and asks the right questions in time to make the six o’clock news.”
Chapter Eleven
Today’s early morning briefing contained good news and bad news. The good news is that we have regained control of a thoroughly destroyed Reykjavik airfield and the ground and air wars are still going as well or better than expected. The bad news is that NBC News is going to run a special about me. God only knows what they will say. They can’t know much because I’ve never been in the news. Should I let the press catch up with me today for an interview or not?
There are aircraft and satellite reports that the East Germans are erecting pontoon bridges next to many of the bridges our swimmers destroyed in East Germany. It appears their plan is to run trains up to the destroyed bridges, dismount their vehicles and drive them over the pontoon bridges, and remount them on the trains waiting on the other side to take them to the next destroyed bridge and repeat the process. Makes sense but sounds slow. But it will work, dammit.
In any event, as a result, tonight some of the swimmers from the first two nights of bridge attacks will be sent out for the second time. This time they’ll go for the pontoon bridges the Warsaw Pact is installing to replace the bridges our swimmers took out during the first two nights of the war.
Mike Morton says we’re ready—we’ve got lots of little magnetic mines for our swimmers to use on boats holding up the pontoon bridges. He says I shouldn’t worry if the boats turn out to be made of wood because our guys will also be carrying cheesecloth strips and thumbtacks in case the pontoon boats are wood. He assured me the cheesecloth squares and thumb tacks will hold the mines in place; he said he tried them himself and it works. But I really wonder.
After his briefing I authorized Mike to have his swimmers go for the replacement bridges. I also told him to give a bronze star and a promotion to every swimmer who goes twice, and to upgrade it to a silver star and another promotion for everyone who goes on three or more.
“But Mike,” I said, “Two things, be sure not to send our swimmers against the bridges over the northern sections of the Weser and Elbe. It’s still too early to take them out. Second, be sure you keep enough swimmers and helicopters in hand so we can quickly take those bridges out when we need them to go.”
Mike knows why we are leaving the northern bridges up for a while longer. Hell, he helped draft the plan. But there is no sense taking any chances by not mentioning it.
******
Three nervous German division commanders in the Northern Army Group need reassuring. It’s the sixth day of the war and they and many of their junior officers are absolutely furious at being ordered to retreat, particularly when it sometimes means giving up good positions for those that are not so good. So after this morning’s briefing Klausen and I are going to fly up north to meet with them.
Our loudly clattering German Army helicopters hug the ground as we moved north. Otto Klausen is in one; I’m in the other. We are each preceded, as always, by an armed Huey carrying a rescue team and Jim Macefield is staging a flight of F-16s above us to intercept any SU-27s brave enough to cross the battlefield and try to make a run at us.
We are visiting German generals so Klausen’s staff made sure that today’s Hueys and the trip personnel are all German.
As usual for such trips over the battlefield, each of us is accompanied in our helicopter by a protection force. Mine today are four tough looking German paratroopers. Before we show up they didn’t know who they would be expected to protect. As I climb aboard wearing German battledress and a French Foreign Legion airborne beret I could see them eyeing the Fallschirmjager and Foreign Legion Parachute Regiment badges on my battledress and the eight wound stripes. They’re all long service NCOs and they know what the badge for the Legion’s Second Parachute Regiment means.
It also didn’t hurt that I am carrying a wicked looking and rather battered French MAT-49 submachine gun with extra clips stuffed in my belt so I can get to them quickly.
Good. These guys understand that flying along the edge of a battlefield is serious business. They said not a word but I instantly sensed that they are pleased to see they aren’t risking their lives for a military bureaucrat or politician on a sightseeing trip; and even better from their perspective, that I might be able to hold my own if things went to hell in a hand bucket. Going out like this is always exciting. It makes me feel like a soldier again.
We touched down in cloud of dust near an old stone farmhouse with the rolling thunder sound of artillery in the distance. The choppers immediately lifted off to move back about ten kilometers. No sense in attracting attention.
Four German general officers stood at rigid attention at the door as Otto and I walked in. It is the German Generalleutnant commanding the retreating German troops of the Northern Army Group and the three commanders of his German divisions. And they look more than a little unhappy and embarrassed, but determined.
After a brief greeting and handshakes we moved inside to a big map spread out on a couple of rickety card tables.
There was no beating around the bush.
“Gentlemen I understand you and your officers are concerned that you have been giving ground that you might have held. Is that correct?”
The generaleutnant, said, “Ja Herr Generaldoktor, that is correct. It concerns me and it concerns my division commanders. We will, naturally, obey your orders. But the orders concern us.”
“I understand your concern and you are correct that your troops have been giving ground they might have held. But there is a good reason for it. A very good reason.”
Klausen nodded in emphatic agreement when I explained. “But it is a high military secret and must never be revealed or discussed or even hinted at or suggested. Not even among yourselves and certainly never to your officers.”
Then I suggested they select one officer whose word they will accept without reservation as to the correctness of what they are being ordered to do. Klausen and I will explain the situation only to that one officer. They looked at each other for a moment and then one after another nodded towards the commander of the German troops in the north, Generalleutnant Jorg MacKenzie. MacKenzie?
A few quiet words of explanation in private, after we moved to the corner of the room to look at the map and spoke in low voices, and General MacKenzie understands and is enthusiastically on board. He spoke to his division commanders very positively when we rejoined them at the map,
“Meine freunde, I now understand why we are retreating. I totally understand. We absolutely must retreat in this way and I am in complete and total agreement as to it being the correct thing to do.”
MacKenzie continued.
“It is imperative we slowly withdraw in such a way as to cause the maximum numbers of enemy casualties and highly favorable casualty ratios without losing control. Retreating without losing control is very important to the point of being our most important and highest duty.
“Most important, however, is that the fact that we are retreating deliberately must never, I repeat never, be discussed in any way with anyone, not even our deputies. It must at all times appear to the Russians and East Germans that they are successfully pushing us back, and never even hinted to anyone that what we are doing is deliberate.”
Then Generaloberst MacKenzie rose even farther in my good graces.
“Blame me if explanations are necessary for your officers. Say that I’m too fearful of the Russians or just a nervous old hausfrau. But you must do it and never ever discuss it even among yourselves or imply or even hint to any of your officers that there is a special reason for it. You can explain why you are ordering your men to pull back by saying I am afraid we will be cut off.”
There was a palpable sense of relief in the faces of the three division commanders as we shook their hands and thanked them for their determination to defeat the Russians.
Hell, we might as well have told them. They’re smart guys. Now that they know it’s deliberate they’re sure to figure it out.
Before we left I once again cautioned everyone that a deliberate retreat which makes the Russians think they are pushing us back does not mean we can allow an actual Warsaw Pact breakthrough and lose control. Only carefully measured withdrawals to previously prepared positions are acceptable and that means every unit must have an extensive rearward chain of multiple rally points. They already knew that, of course, but I said it anyway.
As we walked toward the returning helicopters I turned to Klausen.
“MacKenzie?”
Otto laughed and explained.
“One of Germany’s great military families. They came to Germany centuries ago and have been German officers ever since. The first MacKenzie was one of the “wild geese,” the loyal officers who left Scotland centuries ago when Bonnie Prince Charlie was defeated. I didn’t know that.
“I didn’t know that, Otto, I really didn’t. I’m surprised.”
******
After meeting the Germans I made a brief stop without Otto at the headquarters of the French commander of the northern front. The French Commander, General Geroux, is more than a little unhappy about the German divisions retreating and seemed quite proud that his men were not. We agreed that it is unfortunate, but that nothing can be done about it until the central front was stabilized so that more NATO units could be moved north to support the Germans.
I did, however, promise Geroux that I will send more of our skirmishers north to fill any gaps that might develop in the German lines. In fact, I’d already decided to send more of them, a lot more. They can fill the gaps during the “retreat” and help exploit any opportunities that develop as a result of our subsequent counter-invasion.
As I was leaving Geroux’s headquarters at about 0900 I ran into a CBS news crew that was just driving up. They rushed up to me and a woman wearing a lot of funny makeup thrust a microphone in my face and asked for an interview.
I pretended to be surprised to see them.
“General Roberts, Amy Miller of CBS News, how is the war going?”
“Oh, generally quite well, thank you. Actually, very well indeed.”
“What can you tell us about it, General?”
“Well, some things are secret, of course, but I can tell you what the Russians know: We are holding them in the center and south and towards Hamburg and we have permanently cut the Trans-Siberian Railway all the way to the Chinese border and gotten total control of night skies by destroying most of their planes and decimating their airborne radar coverage.
“That sounds very positive. What else can you tell us, General?”
“Well, we’ve also totally defeated the Russian’s attempt to invade Iceland and are in the process of systematically destroying the economies of their satellite countries so they can’t continue to produce supplies and reinforcements and bring them into the battle. It is going to take the Warsaw Pact countries many years before they’ll be able to rebuild their military forces and their bridges, power stations, pipelines, and refineries.”
Then I nodded thoughtfully, as if I was just now thinking about it. “Yes, we’ve already destroyed a lot of the satellites’ economic infrastructure and we’re on our way to destroying all the rest. That’s as important as preventing them from getting supplies and reinforcements from the east, you know.”
“Why is that important, General?”
“Wars require lots of supplies and equipment. You can either bring them in from other places or produce them. But you cannot bring them in from the east if your railroad has been cut in numerous places and you cannot produce them without electricity and you can’t transport them without bridges, fuel, and locomotives.
“Actually,” I said with a little laugh, “we’ve already begun releasing all the Warsaw Pact conscripts we capture so they can go back and help use up whatever supplies the Warsaw Pact has remaining.”
“General, Are you afraid of a nuclear attack?”
“I’m always afraid of a nuclear attack. But we’re ready to respond so I don’t see one coming—because the Russians and their satellites know how we will respond to any use of any weapons of mass destruction. I emphasized the word “any.” What does worry me is that the Chinese will take advantage of Russia’s greatly reduced ability to support their forces in the east and invade Russia with one or both of them ending up going nuclear.” Hell yes, I’m afraid of a nuclear attack, you moron.”
“Do you think they will do that?”
“One never knows what the Chinese will do,” I answered.
Then I explained a bit further.
“The Russian have always kept a lot of their men and military equipment on the Chinese and Korean borders to forestall a Chinese attempt to seize the Russian-held territory between Russia and China whose ownership is disputed.
“Fortunately for Russia, now that the Bundeswehr has totally severed the Russian east from its west by destroying the Trans-Siberian Railway and road bridges in so many places, those men and their supplies and equipment will be stuck there in front of the Chinese for years. That’s good news for us since it means they can’t be brought in to reinforce the Russian forces here in the west as they did in World War II—and it’s bad news for the Russians since they also can’t be reinforced if the Chinese do attack.” That ought to give the Russians and the talking heads on TV something to think about.
“Does that mean NATO is going to win?”
“Oh I should think so, yes. But, of course, nothing is ever certain in war. But the total severing of Russia’s crucial rail lines and the on-going destruction of the Warsaw Pact air forces and the economies of the adjacent Warsaw Pact countries means both sides will basically fight it out here in Germany with what we have here now.”
“Are you optimistic about the outcome?”
“Of course I’m optimistic,” I laughed. “Every general is optimistic when he’s the one responsible for the decisions that determine whether a war will be won or lost.”
******
When I got back to headquarters I received a call from the Commandant. Pug is in Munich today and was calling in to report the new Marine Division forming there, the Korean Marine Division as it’s being called, is operational even though it still could use a lot more artillery, armor, and helicopters.
I told Pug to proceed with the plan to deploy the Korean Marines in the Danube valley where the fighting was very light. That will free up at least one of our crack German armored divisions to move back behind the lines to refit and then move to the north for use as an attacking force when we begin the counter-invasion.
When I hung up and called Otto Klausen to order more of the skirmishers sent to the northern front. Then I called Dorothy.
“Hi Hon, I’ve got a moment so I thought I’d call and see how you and the kids are doing. I hope I didn’t wake you up.”
“Oh Chris, I’m so glad you called. The children miss you terribly and so do I. How are you? Are you okay.”
“I’m fine and I’m safe and I really miss you guys too. How about you? Is everything okay?”
“Oh we’re fine. We really are. Daddy is taking little Chris fishing this morning.”
“Oh Damn. Here comes a call I have to take. I miss you, Hon, more than you’ll ever know. Give the kids big hugs and kisses for me.”
Jeez I do miss them and, for some reason, talking to Dorothy suddenly reminds me of the mournful old “I want to go home, oh how I want to go home” song the troops used to sing along with it whenever it played in the bars and on the Armed Forces Radio Network.
******
“Thank you, Mr. President. I appreciate it. And I’m glad to hear that Walter Cronkite thinks things are going well. Maybe that will keep the White House staff off my back a little longer.
Then, more importantly, the President had some important intelligence to pass on.
“Oh, by the way, General, I just got an interesting call from Admiral Perkins at NSA. He’ll be calling you in a few minutes. He said NSA’s Russian intercepts suggest that until your interview Moscow didn’t know the Trans-Siberian rail line towards China and Korea had been cut or that the Warsaw Pact air forces could no longer fly at night or that their invasion of Iceland has completely failed.”
“That’s interesting information, Mr. President. Thank you for sharing it with me.” So what will Moscow do now that they know?
******
We have a pleasant problem. A regiment of the French Foreign Legion holds Hamelin on the east side of the Weser and won’t give it up despite being virtually surrounded. They’ve been under constant pressure, first from the East Germans and now from the Russians.
Our problem exists because the Legion regiment’s resistance in front of Hamelin is preventing the East Germans from advancing in this section of the northern front and drawing their reserves in behind them.
On the other hand, the stiff resistance of the Legion battalions will certainly help convince Ivanov and his staff that the advances his troops are making elsewhere in the north are real and, according to Russian doctrine, should be supported.
