Opening Moves (The Red Gambit Series) (94 page)

And again.

“It is our assessment that this unit, or pair of units, would most likely be equipped with captured German weapons from allied stocks in the south of France, with no need for huge training as most members would be familiar with whatever equipment they are given.”

‘Keep going Colonel, you are doing very well,’
came the thought, the spectacled face betraying nothing.

“Estimate that these Spanish soldiers will be capable of deployment into combat by the end of the month.”

‘Close enough.’

“The remainder of the Spanish Army is of little import at first look, ill-equipped, poorly officered, and lacking in spirit.”

Again, from memory she summoned accurate figures as she carried on.

“Documents recovered from the Spanish Embassy in Berlin indicate that they officially received twenty Panzer IV tanks and ten self-propelled guns from German production.”

Coughing gently, she moistened her mouth with saliva and pressed on.

“GRU interviews with German prisoners who served in the south of France indicate that they may also have acquired some French Army equipment, circa 1940, ranging from armour through to small arms, and there are also unsubstantiated rumours of some Panther and Tiger tanks crossing the border to safety during the Allied landings in 1944.”

‘Really?’

“None the less, relatively insignificant materiel of note for our Army to get concerned about.”

‘Agreed.’

“All in all it appears that the Spanish Army could contribute a great deal of manpower but not a lot of substance.”

This was precisely the conclusion of the NKVD report.

“However Comrade General-Secretary, I believe there is more to be concerned about.”

Stalin gestured with his pipe stem for Nazarbayeva to continue, quiet, and strangely content to just observe and listen.

“The embargo of Spain has been lifted, which will engender popular support for the Spanish commitment. The previous years of government have been spent in division, with two different camps vying for power.”

Beria studied her closer, waiting.

“Those two groups are now united and fully behind the commitment. That removes some of the political shackles that could have prevented proper military development. The Spanish spend huge amounts of their wealth on arms and now they are united and can proceed efficiently”

‘Very good Comrade Colonel, not just a pretty face after all are you’
, and this time his nods were noticed and appreciated by Nazarbayeva.

“We anticipate that Spanish troops will start to receive military supplies in the near future, if they haven’t already started to be delivered.”

“I think you go too far now Comrade Colonel,” interjected Beria, continuing forcefully.

“It is the NKVD position that the allies will not have sufficient military hardware for their own needs, let alone to supply to an ally of dubious worth.”

Stalin chuckled, which immediately made both intelligence officers wary, one with direct knowledge of his master, the other on her instinct.

“Go on Comrade Colonel,” and he flashed a look at Beria that was fully understood.

“We have two reports of shipments crossing from Africa into Gibraltar yesterday and then moving on into the Spanish interior. One of those reports suggests armaments as a possibility.”

Beria did not know of this and that was written on his face for both the others to see. He wanted to speak but remembered the veiled warning he had just been given.

“When the Axis powers surrendered in Africa they left behind considerable stocks of equipment, as did the Vichy forces, equipment which is redundant and which could now be on its way to Spain.”

“How much?”

Replying directly to Stalin, Tatiana accessed her memory banks.

“That is not something which is known for certain Comrade General-Secretary. However, it is a matter of record that over two hundred and seventy-five thousand prisoners were taken in 1943 alone.”

Stalin leaned forward, his posture encouraging further information.

“That represents a huge amount of modern effective weaponry cheaply available and immediately ready for disposal.”

“These weapons will be ones that most Spanish soldiers will be familiar with and if the Allies are indeed sending them across to Gibraltar, then it is feasible that the entire Spanish Army could possess effective equipment within two weeks.”

Nazarbayeva continued.

“Given that the Allies have acted so swiftly in lifting the embargo and moving cargoes into Southern Spain, it is reasonable to assume that they believe the effort is worthwhile and that Spain will contribute to their cause.”

Again, Beria itched to speak up but remained mute.

“The availability of Spanish ports will change the allied logistics but will offer them limited improvement, and we believe there will be a negligible effect for our forces, Spanish airfields will be of some use to them most certainly but only as we push further into France.”

“Of concern will be the ability to deploy reinforcement units from Africa through Gibraltar and into Spain. I can see no reason why the Spanish would refuse that, given their new political stance.”

Pausing to gather her thoughts before proceeding, Nazarbayeva started to feel real discomfort in her left foot. Having lost everything from the heel forward the only way her left leg could keep her upright was by use of the metal ankle strap, an ‘L’ shaped piece which replaced the foot. Prolonged standing made it very sore and she had been on her feet for nearly an hour.

The pause was misinterpreted and Beria shifted, enquiring of his leader.

Stalin silently gave his NKVD chief his head.

“Comrade Colonel. In matters of intelligence, it is always possible to interpret matters in more than one way. We agree in most areas but is there any substantive evidence to support your view that a properly equipped Spanish force would be able to take the field, or indeed, if the political will actually exists to do so?”

Turning to address Stalin directly, he made a valid point.

“After all, Franco did much posturing during his relations with Germany, and still only sent one division to fight for a cause he apparently supported wholeheartedly.”

And to Nazarbayeva he continued, “A posturing which he undertakes again, and proposes providing the same single division to further his cause.”

Beria’s eyebrows rose, feeling he had scored a point over the GRU submission.

‘Check.’

He sat down and looked up at the woman, expecting to see turmoil, but instead saw only calm.

“This afternoon, just before I left to deliver this document, we received a report from our agent within the Spanish Government.”

Beria too had his agents in place, and none of them gave any indication of a difference to Spanish physical commitment to the Allied cause. Unfortunately for him, they simply were not in the right place.

Tatiana had left the best until last for no other reason than reinforcing her report with a juicy fact, whereas she had actually drawn Beria into nailing his colours to the mast of a sinking ship.

“Our agent informs us that the Spanish Army is already undertaking planning for a Spanish Expeditionary Corps consisting of,” and for this her memory failed her and a glance at the last page of addendum was required, “One armoured division, six infantry divisions, one mountain division and the Spanish Legion from Morocco, Franco’s old unit, specifically asked for by Franco himself. In order to participate in, and I quote, ‘the World Crusade against Communism’.”

Check-mate.

‘You fucking bitch.’

Stalin appreciated that the woman Colonel had given her honest appreciation and had made her point well in support of the GRU report. Unlike her, he also appreciated that she had just made an enemy for life.

Nazarbayeva sat at a table in the waiting room as her flight was not yet ready to go.

As was her practice, she slipped off her left boot, unnoticed by the other occupants of the room, bringing instant relief to her aching limb.

Consuming the coffee provided by a one-armed veteran of Kursk, she re-examined her time in Stalin’s private office.

Beria.

He had not devoured her lustfully with his eyes like most men, but none the less, she had felt them upon her.

Assessing.

Calculating.

Planning.

Malevolent.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a gruff Air Force Captain calling for passengers to load on the Lisunov-2 ambulance plane that was to be her ride home.

The lascivious gaze of the Kursk veteran avidly examined the form of the GRU Colonel from head to toe, obviously superb despite the lack of tailoring in the uniform, but even then he failed to spot her efficient off/on boot routine.

On the flight back to Leipzig she slept hard, drained by her encounter with those at the centre of power.

As Nazarbayeva left the room, Beria was already preparing his defence.

Stalin knew it and trashed it out of hand.

“GRU seem to have assessed this correctly Comrade Marshall. I agree with their assessment.”

He illustrated his point by leaning forward and dropping the NKVD document into Beria’s lap.

It lay there, a mark of NKVD intelligence failure, weight increasing, seemingly pressing Beria down into the chair.

The silence made it even heavier.

‘Fucking bitch.’

Stalin knew his man.

“Plot your revenge later Lavrentiy, for now I need a solution.”

Focussing on the main issue, Beria immediately realised he had a possible solution already, a matter of personal revenge which could now be turned into something that would resemble incredible foresight and planning.

Buoyed by the thought, he removed the redundant report from his lap, slipping it into his briefcase and searched successfully for another small file.

He passed it to the General-Secretary, exhibiting a genuine smugness that Stalin easily noticed.

“This NKVD contingency operation will solve the problem Comrade.”

And as Stalin took the document, Beria started speaking of a ship called Doblestnyj, a town called Malpica and committed men on a mission.

Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising up every time we fail.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

0255 hrs 11th August 1945, Headquarters, Red Banner Forces of Europe, Kohnstein, Nordhausen, Germany.

Outside it was raining but that was not something the occupants of tunnels thirty-eight to forty-five were aware of, given the protection offered by the Mountain above them.

Driven into the rock, initially in the mining search for anhydrite, the tunnels were then expanded after being taken over by German Industry for storing important petroleum products, chemicals, and poisons. However, the tunnels, finally amounting to forty-six in total, were mostly famous for the underground production of the V2 Rocket and association with the Nordhausen Concentration Camp.