Breakthrough (The Red Gambit Series) (96 page)

The headsman’s axe fell, swift and deadly.

“Mr Speaker, as a direct result of the Prime Minister’s ill-advised and unsanctioned mission to
Sweden
, the British and Dominion Army and Air Forces have suffered heinous
losses in men and equipment. Far from, as he states, ‘
No harm being done
’, this country and her dominions have experienced
losses
that
are directly associated with the Soviet perception of our weakness created by,” and Callard-Smith deliberately sought eye contact
with the broken man opposite, “
This lunacy!”

The hounds bayed, louder than before.

The beaten Attlee remained seated, suddenly
a solitary figure
, his Cabinet colleagues having moved away until he alone occupied the wooden front bench.

“Mr Speaker, this House must act now to ensure this betrayal is stopped and
that
our Allies
are
comforted and reassured as to our commitment to the shared cause of Freedom
.”

He pressed on, talking over the shouts of agreement.

“This House must take the appropriate steps to ensure that such betrayal of our national cause never happens again.”

The shouting grew, almost
screaming
for what they all knew he was about to propose.

“Mr Speaker, we must also expunge ourselves of the cause of this problem and so, to that end, I propose an immediate vote of ‘no confidence’ in the Prime Minister and earnestly implore him to resign so that our Country may hold its head high again.”

The shouts of ‘Aye’ dominated the next few minutes, each individual word driving home into Attlee as his political career collapsed around him.

Even hard-line supporters of
the Labour leader chanted ‘Out, Out,
Out
,
’ and pointed at him with open malice, condemning him for their perception of his treachery.

The members of ‘Hastings’ remained seated, awaiting the final section of their orchestration, the finale which would set Great Britain back on course
,
and start the process of healing the wounds that Attlee had opened wide.

In the chamber, the voices bounced back and forth, words lost as echoes clashed head-on with echoes, producing an
unintelligible
cacophony.

Through the wall of sound, a single word emerged, lightly at first, beaten aside in precedence by the noisier neighbours of ‘
out’
and ‘
shame’
, but gradually gaining ground
,
until it burst forth into everyone’s consciousness and the whole chamber, including those watching from the balcony, were joined together as one.

“Winston, Winston, Winston...”

British politics is not renowned for its swiftness but on this day it was hit by a
n inexorable
whirlwind of
targeted
activity, commencing with Attlee’s
abject
resignation
,
and completed by the forming of a ‘war-duration’ coalition government.

Winston Spencer-Churchill would not install himself in
Downing Street
until the following day, when the disgraced former
incumbent
left by the back door and the new Prime Minister could move in and start bringing his special energies
to the
battles ahead
.

His first task
was to address the peoples of F
ree Europe and
Britain
’s allies
,
and explain honestly what had happened
,
and what now lay ahead for all.

This is not the beginning of the end…

Fig #
32 - European map with relevant locations.

Fig #
33 -
Yujiang
River
dispositions.

Fig #
34 -
Yujiang
River
ambush positions.

Fig #
35 -
Tostedt
Land
- The battlefield.

Fig #
36 -
Tostedt
Land
dispositions.

Fig #37 - Veeresbruck dispositions.

Fig #
38
- Veeresbruck assault.

Fig #
39
- Veeresbruck relevant locations.

Fig #
40 - Hurlach - The battlefield.

Fig #41
-
Battle
of Hurlach.

Fig #
42
- Battle of Nottensdorf - The battlefield.

Fig #
43
- Battle of Nottensdorf - The dispositions.

Fig #
44
- Battle of Notensdrof - Jork flanking attack.

Fig #
45
-
Battle
of Nottensdorf - Relevant locations.

Fig #
46
- Relief of Eggenthal.

Fig #
47
- Relief of Eggenthal - The breakout.

Fig #
48
- Relief of Stuttgart - The Legion attack.

Fig #
49
- Relief of Stuttgart - The Soviet attack.

Fig #50 - Rear cover graphic.

71
Armee
[assigned to US 12
Army Group.]

101 Korps

102
Korps
.

116
Panzer Division
. [
101 Korps
].

Panzer-Grenadiere Division ‘
Germany
’. [
101 Korps
].

3
Fallschirmjager Division
. [
101 Korps
].

319
Infanterie Division. [
102 korps
].

346
Infanterie Division
. [
102 korps
].

159
Infanterie Division.
[
102 korps
].

509
Panzer Abteilung. [
102 korps
].

Panzer Brigaden ‘Europa’

501 Schwere Panzer Abteilung

519 PanzerJager Abteilung

101 Nebelwerfer Abteilung

14 Nebelwerfer Regiment
[Reduced]

551 Pioniere R
egiment

Grenadiere Brigaden ‘
Berlin
’

1st Gebirgsjager Brigaden

1
Jagdstaffel – FW-190 HE 162 [9]

2
Jagdstaffel – FW190 [15]

3
Jagdstaffel – Me 262 [11]

4 Kampfstaffel – HE 111 [9], AR 234c [6]

5 Kampfstaffel – JU 88 [13]

6 Nachjagdstaffel – JU 88 [7], FW ta 154 [5],

7 Jagdstaffel - FW190 [11], FW ta 152[3], DO 335 [6]

8 Nachtjagdstaffel – HE 219 [12]

9 Aufklarerstaffel
–ME410 [5]

10 Kampfstaffel – HE177 [18]

11 ZBV Staffel – HS 129 [12]

12 Nachtjagdstaffel – JU88 [5], Ju388[4]

13 Storkampfstaffel – JU87 [7]

14 Transportstaffel – JU52 [14]

15 Transportstaffel – JU52 [13]

16 Jagdstaffel – FW190 [8]

17 Jagdstaffel – ME262 [7]

18 Kampfstaffel – HE111 [7]

[Figures in square brackets represent number of aircraft of type deemed fit for flight duties on date of report.]

1
Korps

160 Reserve Division
. [1 Korps].

264 Infanterie Division
[1 Korps].

Special Division Staff 614
[1 Korps].

233 Reserve Panzer Division.
[1 Korps].

169 Infanterie Division [
Attached
to British 2nd Army.]

HeeresGruppe ‘Norwegen’

ArmeeAbteilung ‘Narvik’

20
Geb
irg
sArmee.

169 Infanterie Division.
[HG Norwegen.]

196 Infanterie Division.
[HG Norwegen.]

199 Infanterie Division.
[HG Norwegen.]

7 Gebirgsjager Division.
[HG Norwegen.]

296 Infanterie Division.
[HG Norwegen.]

Special Division Staff 613.
[HG Norwegen.]

Army Abteilung ‘Narvik’

19 Geb
irg
sK
or
ps

71 Korps.

6 Gebirgsjager Division.
[19 Gebirgskorps]

270 Coastal Defence Division. [19 Gebirgskorps]

193 Grenadiere Brigaden. [19 Gebirgskorps]

388 Grenadiere Brigaden. [19 Gebirgskorps]

210 Coastal Defence Division.
[71 Korps]

230 Coastal Defence Division.
[71 Korps]

140 ZBV Division. [71 Korps]

20 GebirgsArmee

33 Korps

36 Korps

70 Korps

274 Infanterie Division. [70 Korps]

280 Coastal Defence Division. [70 Korps]

613
ZBV Division. [70 Korps]

295 Infanterie Division. [33 Korps]

702
Infanterie Division. [33 Korps]

14 Air Force Field Division. [33 Korps]

Panzer Division ‘Norwegen’. [36 Korps]

Maschinengewehr Ski Brigaden ‘
Finland
’. [36 Korps]

203
Schwere Werfer Batterie

224 Schwere Werfer Batterie

Gebirgsjager Werfer Abteilung
10

162
Flak Brigaden

92 Flak Brigaden

152
Flak Brigaden

83
Flak Brigaden

91 Armee