Opening Moves (The Red Gambit Series) (69 page)

Whilst on aggressive operations in support of ground troops in the xxx area, xxx Province, China I was directed to conduct ground strafing runs on infantry and tanks attacking friendly positions at xxx.

Casualties were successfully inflicted upon enemy ground troops but the enemy attack was successful as our flight did not possess weapons capable of stopping the enemy tanks.

The armoured vehicles I engaged were definitely German tanks of the Panzer IV and Sturmgeschutz type, and my flight was taken under fire by at least two self-propelled quadruple 20mm weapons mounted on German halftracks acting in close-support.

On return to our base, we encountered enemy aircraft returning from a raid. Lack of ammunition meant we could not engage but these types were positively identified by Major Deng Ho as Petlyakov-2’s in Soviet colours.

Signed,

J.F.Gould

Colonel.

Report ends.
”

Eisenhower looked physically shaken and did not speak, all the time looking down at the page in the report that he had found as Bradley started his recital and then followed word by worrying word.

Finally, he composed his thoughts.

“So that put’s the fox in the hen house for sure. Damn Brad. Goddamn.”

Eisenhower tossed the report on the table, exchanging it for his pack of cigarettes and lighter.

Breathing in the calming smoke, he summarised his thoughts.

“The Soviets have this sown up don’t they? Obviously, they have a pact with the Nips who are party to all of this. If they have given the Japanese all the German equipment they have captured, which is what I assume they have done, in one stroke they have eased their own logistics and massively increased the striking power of the Nip army. Want to bet they have lots of other hardware like artillery, anti-tank guns, machine guns, the complete works?”

Bradley had the advantage of reading this report as he journeyed over from his own headquarters but he was pleased his boss was on the same wavelength as himself.”

Eisenhower paused, searching for information hidden in the deep recesses of his overworked mind.

“We have a Soviet document indicating a rough outline of their commitment to the Manchurian offensive somewhere don’t we? If I recall there were extensive forces involved, and I bet they are removed from the ORBAT of their forces in Europe that we are working to at this time.”

This suddenly took a direction Bradley had not gone as yet.

“I think we need to revise our estimates on what forces we are facing Brad. Unless I’m way off, I suspect that the reds have a whole lot more hardware opposing us than first thought.”

Eisenhower stood abruptly, clutching his jaw with one hand and flipping up a cigarette with the other as he continued, a disjointed humming sound coming from his throat, almost as if he was thinking out loud. He seemed to be staring at some distant horizon before humming and staring ceased.

He summoned an aide.

“Captain Horton, find the Soviet briefing document on their Manchurian Operation please. Quickly Captain.”

Turning to Brad, he continued without so much as an intake of breath.

“They will place some forces in the Pacific, to show willing and able to support their new friends, as well as protecting their back door. So figure that about….”

He suddenly became aware he was musing aloud and focussed on Bradley standing beside him.

“….about one-third of the force we expect to be committed there.”

It was not a statement as such, and Bradley quickly did the calculations from his memory of the report and nodded his agreement.

“That is a lot of hardware and manpower that we haven’t allowed for.”

Bradley ventured an idea.

“Assuming that they are not in position because of the risk we might discover them then perhaps this is one which might interest Tedder and the bomber boys? The Reds have gotta move them somehow. Road, rail, whatever, the heavies might be able to keep them at arm’s length if they are in transit and their march routes are vulnerable.”

Eisenhower saw the sense in that and summoned an aide, gave him a verbal order to pass on, knowing he was just wrecking a whole lot of quality work done by Tedder and his staff ,who were creating a plan to govern air operations in the coming days.

“So we also cannot guarantee extra resources coming from the States, nor from the Pacific, as the Nips are suddenly frisky and well-armed.”

Bradley audibly sighed.

“You gotta hand it to them, they have worked this one out well Ike.”

There could be absolutely no disagreeing with that.

“Betcha one thing though.”

Bradley nodded to himself as he searched for a memory and found it.

“There will be an opening, an omission, an error that we can exploit. After all, history shows us that there are no invincible armies.”

Eisenhower’s punctuated laugh stopped many a staff officer in mid-task, wondering what could possibly cause the supreme allied commander to laugh on such a black day.

“And we will find it Brad,” and with a rare display of open emotion Ike slapped Bradley on the shoulder and turned to the first of a line of officers with paper in their hands.

During their conversation in the Secretary-General’s office on the morning of 12th June, Beria had handed Stalin a document detailing ‘DIASPORA- Intentions’ and called his attention to Page seventeen, addendum F.

This addendum detailed the captured German equipment that could be transferred to the Japanese Army for their use against the Chinese initially and subsequently the Pacific Allies.

Throughout the war, the Red Army had captured significant amounts of Wehrmacht hardware of all types and it was these trophies of war that were now in the hands of the Japanese.

It was an impressive list indeed.

Moving such a large quantity of tanks, vehicles, weapons and munitions would normally attract much attention but the few Allied spies who were in a position to observe the narrow gauge trains running to the Far East solely reported numbers of tanks and carriages, not knowing that concealed under tarpaulins were German Tanks not Russian ones. It also suited the Soviet love of Maskirova that the clandestine switch of captured axis equipment could be covered easily as the intended move of the Russian Armies slated for the non-existent Manchurian Offensive.

A subsequent hand-written submission from an NKVD General indicated that the Tiger II B’s, the so-called King Tigers, proved impossible to transport clandestinely and so they were retained in Europe.

Operation Diaspora, the military plan for the Far East, was simple in its conception and beautifully crafted.

Initially no Soviet ground forces would be employed. Sufficient training had been given to the eager Japanese to allow them to fight with their new acquisitions, although most of the vehicles required field modification for no other reason than the difference in size of your average German and your average Japanese.

Whilst the training was rudimentary, it was felt enough to overcome the light vehicles in the possession of the Chinese Nationalist Army under Chiang-Kai-Shek. Battles would increase efficiency and by the time anything substantial from the American arsenal came their way it was expected that the new tankers would be able to cope well enough. Some Soviet ‘observers’ went with Japanese ground units just to provide some guidance on capabilities and use until it was felt they could cope alone.

Vast tonnages of German ammunition had been captured during the four years of the Great Patriotic War and the Russians, being the Russians, had never thrown any of it away. Now most of it was here, stockpiled ready for the attack in China. Large numbers of German weapons were similarly handed over, increasing the firepower of Japanese infantry units tenfold. Sub-machine guns were a rarity in the Emperor’s Army but now they were numerous enough for every senior NCO and many officers to carry one. Tired and cumbersome Nambu machine guns were mainly replaced with tried and trusted MG34’s and 42’s and many riflemen were able to swap their modest Arisaka rifles for the efficient killing machine that was the Kar98K rifle.

A few hundred panzerfausts had made the long journey from Europe but most were retained in Soviet hands, as they were a proven and effective anti-tank weapon.

Japanese artillery was limited but now brimmed with guns from 75mm through to 150mm, all healthily supplied with ammunition.

Everything from the German arsenal seemed to have made its way east in varying numbers, and the Chinese Army would struggle to cope and undoubtedly fail when it rolled into the attack.

Diaspora also harnessed the Japanese willingness to die gloriously, as well as abused the trust between allies that tenuously existed in mid-1945.

Soviet freighters and warships did indeed transport large numbers of Japanese who sweltered below decks in hot weather to avoid detection, only emerging at nights.

Such tactics enabled the attacks on Saipan, Okinawa, Eniwetok, and Ulithi to get close and use surprise to be disproportionately successful. At Okinawa, Eniwetok and Ulithi the Soviet ships had transported Kaiten Human Torpedoes and it was these that had gutted the naval forces.

At Eniwetok the light carrier USS Cabot CVL28 had rolled over and sunk, taking most of her hands down with her and the fleet carrier USS Wasp CV18 had also been badly damaged, having stopped off en route for Okinawa from the States after extensive repairs to kamikaze damage. Naval base personnel and supply facilities, especially fuel oils, had been badly handled. One light cruiser and a number of fleet support vessels were at the bottom of the harbour, each with heavy loss of life.

At Ulithi another light carrier, the USS Langley CVL27, received two Kaiten hits and became an instant furnace, incinerating many of her crew and flight personnel before the fires were controlled. She was not lost but would never fight again.

At Okinawa the old battleship, USS Pennsylvania BB38 took a hit in her stern and flooded badly but the old lady survived, being dragged to shallow waters and successfully beached. However, fleet Carrier USS Bennington CV20 and light carrier USS Belleau Wood CVL24 both lacked Pennsylvania’s resilience and were sunk at their moorings, although fortunately in both cases few lives were lost. USS Monterey CVL26 took a direct hit from a Kaiten, which did no more than stove in a plate, as the warhead did not explode. In all cases, the freighters involved also disgorged Japanese naval marines to do grisly work ashore, with orders to kill and destroy until death overtook them, orders that they discharged extremely successfully.

1201 hrs Tuesday 7th August 1945, Heiligenthal, South-West of Lüneberg, Germany.

Allied Forces – B Coy, 1st Btn, 325th Glider Infantry Regiment and Battery A, 320th Glider field Artillery Btn and Elements of 307th Airborne Engineer Btn, all of 82nd US Airborne Division ‘All-American’, directly attached to British 21st Army Group.

Soviet Forces – 49th Guards Rifle Regt and 44th Guards Artillery Regt of 16th Guards Rifle Division of 36th Guards Rifle Corps, and 285th [Independent] Tank Regt and 3rd Btn, 77th Engineer Bridging Brigade, all of 11th Guards Army of 1st Baltic Front.

Corporal Liam D. O’Malley had seen a lot of combat since his first taste at Salerno in 1943. The healthy respect he had developed for the German soldier was now being mirrored by the new enemy.

Courage in the man opposite can be admired, and O’Malley had seen plenty of it that morning.

In front of his position lay the dead of two attempts to force a crossing over the Hasenburger Mühlenbach, a tributary of the Ilmenau River that protected the route around the south of Luneberg.