Shattered World - A Worse World War : Part 50
January 17th 1949 to March 15th 1949
“If we can’t hold the Ukraine then we will destroy it” Beria said in frustrated tones, his eyes glued to the large map laid out before him at a large conference table in a bunker deep beneath the Kremlin. The Soviet premier had already conceded that holding the western Ukraine would be untenable, much to the surprise of his Generals who had been expecting a long argument over the matter.
Now some of the Generals looked uncomfortable at their leader’s proposed strategy, while some looked downright gleeful. There was no shortage of hatred for the Ukrainians who had betrayed the Soviet Union at the worst possible time during the disastrous Eurasian War. However, the smartest of the generals showed no emotion at all but merely stood mute, blank faces contemplating the situation.
“Explain operation Black to me again, General Padorin” Beria said calmly, his gold gaze shifting to glare at the recently promoted young general who had first suggested the plan.
“Well, sir, as I stated earlier I was on the staff that studied the Japanese atrocities in Siberia” the young man said. At Beria’s nod he continued.
“We have designed the operation around what we view as a more efficient and effective application of the type of scorched earth policies carried out by the Japanese” he said. Pausing for a moment to prepare himself, Padorin dived in.
“The main objective is to deny the use of any infrastructure, resources, and facilities that may be at all useful to the enemy. Secondary objectives include the destruction of anything useful in rebuilding and supporting the main objectives”. The young general paused briefly to glance at some of the more senior officers and to lock eyes with Beria himself. It helped to use dispassionate terminology when you were taking about the destruction of a nation and a people. Padorin continued.
“The secondary objectives also include the elimination of potential manpower reserves, achieved through the relocation of populations likely to fall into enemy hands”. Left unspoken was the form that the relocation would take. Most would be moved to villages and towns in the more secure eastern half the Ukraine. Others would be moved much further East to be used as forced labor in the Gulags.
Shrugging such stray thoughts aside, Padorin nodded to a baby-faced staff officer who began handing out files for Beria and the other generals to review.
“Therefore, in accordance with these objectives, my staff and I have laid out detailed operational plans for the execution of operation Black. For purposes of planning we have assumed that the Ukrainian population west of the Dnieper River will have already been evacuated to the East. First, and foremost, explosives will be pre-positioned at all significant transportation hubs, industrial facilities, food storage locations, and whatnot. These explosives will be wired to be detonated from localized command centers. We are still working up the full target list but the number of targets will be in the many hundreds.”
“Next, units will be detailed to burn all crops in specified sectors, along with destroying farm buildings, roads and other general area denial operations. Detailed plans will be issued to each of these units giving them precise instructions on area denial operations for their assigned sector”.
“Third, the new unconventional-warfare units will be assigned to these same sectors for applications of germ warfare in area denial operations…”
January 17th 1949
Fighting along the rugged terrain marking the frontier between Iran and Persia grinds to a halt as the latest Persian offensive breaks against the Iranian trench lines. The fighting here, reminiscent of the Great War, has been bogged down for many months and the population of Persia grows restless. The Shah, in a speech on state radio, promises to institute a series of reforms designed to modernize the Persian army.
January 22nd 1949
The United States explodes a 42 kiloton atomic bomb over the city of Su-oa in northeastern Formosa. The city, the site of the Japanese 8th Army’s head quarters as well as Japan’s last harbor in Formosa, is entirely destroyed by the air burst with some 90% of the city’s population and military personnel killed.
With the mushroom cloud still hanging over Su-oa the U.S. launches a major new offensive against Japanese-held northeastern Formosa. With the 8th Army’s head quarters wiped out and many precious supply depots destroyed, the Japanese defense is poorly coordinated and ill supplied. American forces drive ahead steadily on all fronts.
January 25th 1949
With Japanese resistance on Formosa unraveling U.S. forces break out of the mountains and begin driving into the lowland heart of Japan’s position in northeastern Formosa. With the critical supply center of Su-oa now a smoldering ruin and the Japanese command in disarray, U.S. forces encounter diminishing resistance.
February 1st 1949
In Moscow Beria signs an order authorizing the conscription of males aged sixteen years and above as well as increasing the upper age limit by eight years. These teenagers and older middle aged men are to be used in rear areas to free up more qualified men for the front lines.
February 5th 1949
Aside from a few isolated pockets, Japanese resistance on Formosa has been broken. U.S. troops, wearing protective equipment, take samples and conduct tests near ground zero in Su-oa while the Army Corps of Engineers begins constructing new air fields outside of the dead city.
February 10th 1949
German jet bombers launch a precision strike on Malta, using latest-generation radar-seeking glide bombs to knock out the British radar facilities on the island. The Italian air force, which has been massing on Sicily for a stepped up campaign against Malta, is now free to begin its more conventional bombing offensive against the tiny island. The Battle of Malta has begun.
February 18th 1949
After a week of sustained and effective bombing by the Italian Air Force and the Luftwaffe, as well as systematic fighter sweeps that gain control of the skies over Malta, Italian paratroopers, most of them veterans of the now legendary operation at Algiers, land at several inland locations in the pre-dawn hours while the combined German/Italian marine division comes ashore later in the morning.
The amphibious assault, supported by off-shore fire from Italian cruisers and destroyers, is nearly repelled by the determined British garrison. However, Italian paratroops further inland cause enough confusion to allow the Axis marines to cling to a narrow and tenuous beach head.
February 19th 1949
With Axis marines still pinned down on a narrow beach head and control of the skies over Malta now up for grabs due to an RAF surge out of airbases in northeastern Libya, the Royal Navy begins assembling a relief convoy at Alexandria. Control of Malta now hangs on the brink as Italian paratroopers have managed to seize several critical objectives around the island.
February 21st 1949
After the sinking of several American merchant vessels is exposed by the media president Dewey bows to political pressure and issues a statement condemning the sinkings and sharply warning Germany to respect U.S. neutrality in the Atlantic. Sentiment among the American people has turned sharply against Germany. With the war against Japan going well there are growing calls to come to the aid of the British in Europe.
February 23rd 1949
The tide turns in the Battle of Malta as several thousand German paratroopers drop into areas already secured by their Italian comrades. On the same day the British convoy heading towards Malta is forced to turn back after Italian submarines and aircraft sink two troop transports and moderately damage a British aircraft carrier. The loss of three Italian submarines and over a dozen bombers in the operation is considered to be a very favorable exchange by the Axis command.
February 24th 1949
The U.S. drops an atomic bomb in support of an invasion of the island of Peleliu . The 40 kiloton device detonates several feet over the rugged highlands on the northern part of the tiny island, wiping out most of the extensive network of Japanese trenches and bunkers. With most of the Japanese defenses destroyed and many of the defenders themselves killed outright the island falls to U.S. Marines two days later after very light resistance. A week later all of the Palau islands are in U.S. hands.
February 28th 1949
With Axis paratroopers now in control of Malta’s air strip, Axis marines slowly expanding their beach head, and no chance of relief due to Axis control of the waters around the island - the British garrison on Malta surrenders. A small number of British forces on the smaller nearby island of Gozo will hold out for several more weeks but they are merely a nuisance. With the capture of Malta the Axis have secured absolute dominance of the central Mediterranean.
March 3rd 1949
With the British still reeling from the loss of Malta Axis forces launch an operation that has been in planning for over six months : The final stage of Operation ‘Pillar’ is a complex combined-arms plan to seize Gibraltar once and for all. For many months Gibraltar has been under nearly continuous shelling, including sporadic bombardment by titanic super-heavy artillery pieces and mortars. In addition, a tightened blockade conducted by German submarines and maritime aircraft has mostly cut off even the meager trickle of supplies that had been slipping into Gibraltar via submarine and air drop.
This day sees the operation begin with the arrival of some 200 German Ural and Ju-588 heavy bombers. The intense carpet bombing is followed by greatly intensified artillery and mortar shelling. In the mid-afternoon hours Spanish infantry begin advancing into the virtually impregnable landward defenses of ‘The Rock’. The Spaniards make little, if any, gains but their goal is simply to keep the pressure on the British defenders.
March 6th 1949
In three days of heavy fighting the Spanish have yet to make any significant progress in their direct assault on Gibraltar’s landward defenses. However, they were never meant to. With Spanish forces again hitting Gibraltar’s landward defenses a German special forces unit, created and trained specifically for this operation, springs into action. Five hundred elite German paratroopers are flown directly onto the Rock in some 70 helicopters. Although many of the helicopters are shot down over three hundred of the German commandos are successfully landed and they immediately begin to cause havoc inside the British fortress.
At nearly the same time several Italian mountain regiments, secretly deployed under the cover of darkness, advance ahead of the Spanish to slam into the landward defenses of the Rock with a vengeance – using tactics hammered into them over the course of six months of intense German training in the mountains of Austria.
March 7th 1949
The U.S. drops an atomic bomb on Guam, along the coast just west of Agana. The 5th Marine division lands in the shadow of the 42 kiloton bomb's mushroom cloud to establish a beach head while the 3rd Marine division lands on the coast to the south of the Orote peninsula.
March 8th 1949
With many storage depots and gun batteries destroyed by the German special forces raid the British position on Gibraltar has become untenable. Italian mountain infantry, advancing into a meat grinder, have managed to secure their initial tactical objectives and wave after wave of Spanish infantry continue to keep up the pressure on the beleaguered British defenders.
[* Of the 318 German special forces troops successfully landed on ‘The Rock’ only some 18 are successfully evacuated via helicopter after several hours of chaotic fighting *]
March 9th 1949
With the British on Gibraltar continuing to hold out against all odds the Luftwaffe launches another massive raid on Gibraltar with some 225 heavy bombers carpet bombing the fortress. Several dozen of the bombs are specially designed 5000 pound TV-guided monsters that smash into Gibraltar’s few remaining gun batteries as well as several key bunkers.
March 10th 1949
On Guam U.S. marines have made steady progress although Japanese resistance is firming. The 5th Marine division has captured Agana and nearby airfields with relative ease thanks to the disruption caused by the atomic bomb and is now fanning out across northern Guam. Japanese resistance on the northern part of the island is now centering on the rugged terrain around mounts Barrigada and Santa Rosa. To the south the 3rd Marine division encounters much fiercer Japanese resistance and has made little headway despite massive off-shore gun support as well as heavy mustard and napalm bombing of Japanese positions.
The invasion of Guam marks the beginning of a new U.S. push against the Marianas Islands, a campaign designed to isolate the Caroline Islands and establish U.S. dominance over the central Pacific.
March 11th 1949
After pausing to bring up a fresh Italian mountain regiment, Spanish and Italian infantry resume their assault on the landward defenses of ‘The Rock’ as German super-heavy artillery and mortars lob massive shells onto the increasingly desperate defenders.
March 12th 1949
With the landward defenses of Gibraltar beginning to falter under the strain of constant Spanish and Italian pressure and with the last of the ammunition stocks close to depletion the haggard and isolated British garrison on Gibraltar surrenders at 9:00 AM local time. The longest siege in the history of modern warfare, lasting some 1,614 days, has at last come to an end. In a solemn afternoon ceremony Spanish, Italian, and German soldiers respectfully salute the assembled British garrison as the Union Jack is lowered and the Swastika is raised over the fortress of Gibraltar.
[* The Germans worked out a deal with the Spanish whereby Germany would lease Gibraltar from Spain in exchange for weapons and financial assistance *]
March 13th 1949
As the British people reel from the loss of Gibraltar, the Royal Navy and air force launch a coordinated raid against the Italian port of Naples which severely damages one of Italy's two nearly-completed aircraft carriers while causing heavy damage to the port facilities themselves. RAF B-31 bombers, operating out of Crete and Cyprus and escorted by naval jet fighters, suffer only light losses and the British carrier task force involved in the raid escapes cleanly to the safety of the eastern Mediterranean.
March 15th 1949
Under cover of German maritime air patrols operating out of Spain, German and Italian submarines surge through the straight of Gibraltar along with an Italian surface raiding force consisting of two of Italy’s most modern battle cruisers and several long-range destroyers. The Axis submarines turn southwest towards the shipping lanes in the vast expanse of the South Atlantic while the Italian surface force enters the safety of the Spanish port of Rota, northwest of Gibraltar.
Meanwhile, far to the East, the fruits of the German and Russian war machines assemble on opposite sides of the Eastern Front. The frontier from the Baltic Sea to the Crimean peninsula is an armed strip of land made deadly by the hand of man, yet the greatest forces of all marshal themselves along the frontier separating Axis Romania from the newly-Soviet Ukraine. The newly formed German Army Group South, now flush with reinforcements from across the Reich, gathers its strength while the German High Command plot when and where to unleash its offensive fury. And the Soviets for their part do not sit idle.
Every village in the western Ukraine shall be a Soviet fortress, every productive work of man lies wired for destruction lest it fall into enemy hands. Soviet specialists lay waiting to sew the very land with every deadly plague that soviet science can muster. The nerve and mustard/phosphine gas shells are stacked high and the Luftwaffe and Red Air force mass ever more aircraft, for 1949 will not lack for combat in the skies nor death on land and by sea. By bullet and gas, by explosive shell and virulent plague, by the knights of the air and the churning machines on land - the two great totalitarian powers of the world stand ready to test each other's might. It shall be war to the knife, war to the finish, a grapple to the last - more so than has ever been seen in all the terrible days of war.
Hans Bethe stared in satisfaction at the remains of the device, and then at the paper readouts a fellow team scientist had handed him. He nodded to himself and felt part of the tension flow from his shoulders. The implosion had worked just as the Americans had said it should. The device they had just tested would have started the chain reaction leading to a nuclear detonation if the weapons-grade plutonium had been in place.
Getting the explosive lenses perfected and getting down the timing on the detonators had been a stone cold bitch, months of hard work. It had been made much easier by the detailed plans and schematics that the Americans had provided, not to mention the experienced technicians and engineers the Americans had sent across the Pacific. Regardless, the bottom line was that it had worked. Everything checked out.
The walk from the test site back to his office was pleasant. The skies over the central Australian research facility were blue and a gentle wind kept the air pleasant if very dry. The stern guard outside his office checked his identification carefully as always before waving him through. Hans Bethe walked to his desk, sat down, and dialed the special number he’d been given a week before.
The phone rang exactly once before the man on the other end picked up
“Well?” the voice on the other end of the highly secure line said anxiously.
“The package is good, you can proceed with the shipping arrangements” he replied, using the code wording they’d instructed him on.
“Very good then, I look forward to greeting you personally as soon as can be arranged”.
The line went dead, and Hans Bethe leaned back in his chair to consider the work still ahead of him. The prime minister didn’t need to know the messy details, he only needed to know that they were ready to proceed with assembly of the first functioning device. He would oversee the assembly himself over the next several days and then the military would get its hands on an expensive new toy. And they couldn’t contain their lust for the first bomb, not that Hans could blame them given how the war was going.
The British Empire was now a nuclear power although the enemy did not yet know it.
TO BE CONTINUED…