He had the sinking feeling that Goddamn Potsdam had been forgotten by the rest of the world.
General Marshall shifted in his chair and looked at Steven Burke. They were surrounded by boxes and other evidence that, once again, SHAEF headquarters was going to be moved in deference to the Soviet air force, whose planes were constantly searching for it.
“You requested five minutes of my time, Colonel; well, you’re in luck. I can give you fifteen.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Now sit down and tell me what went on at Bitburg.”
Burke was just a little surprised that the chief of staff would have known of his trip to the Russian POW camp. But only a little. Marshall had a reputation for knowing exactly what was going on, particularly regarding members of his staff.
“Sir, one of the reasons I went there was to talk with the so-called average Russian POW and find out how he felt. A second reason was to try to confirm or refute a rumor that a great number of recent prisoners were not Russians; that, instead, they were Asians from places like Uzbekistan or Kazakhstan, or even Siberia.”
“Yes,” said Marshall, “we had picked up on those rumors as well.”
That statement somewhat deflated Steve, who had hoped he had stumbled onto something new. “Well, sir, I can confirm the presence of the non-Russians in large numbers. I can also say that those Russians we have in custody are very confused and not particularly enthused about the war against the United States.”
“Few prisoners would be,” Marshall said drily.
“General, based on my own interrogations and, after reading the reports of others, I believe the Russians may have suffered far greater losses in the last offensive against Germany than we first believed. I heard too many stories of depleted units, massive casualties, fuel and ammunition shortages, and lack of food for all these rumors to be lies. They all fit too well together. Simply put, they are running out of good manpower as well as supplies.”
“So are we,” Marshall said, “which is why we are drafting eighteen-year-olds. And I suppose it explains the use of Asians by the Reds. They’ll make good cannon fodder until the Russians reconstitute their army.”
“Yes, sir. Or at least that’s part of it. I believe that the Soviets are letting their second-echelon troops both inflict and take heavy casualties in an effort to wear us down. When the time comes, I believe the Reds will use their remaining elite Guards to great effect, but not until the second-and third-rate soldiers, the Asian rifle divisions or penal units, have bloodied us very badly, even though they would have destroyed themselves in the process.”
Marshall nodded. “That pretty much confirms what the others have been saying. Now, tell me what’s going on in Stalin’s mind as a result of all this.”
“Sir, it is totally unlike him to do anything impulsive or irrational, so I think he’s thought this out very clearly. He has a dread of being surrounded and attacked simultaneously by non-Communist, or capitalist, countries. This would include a resurgent Germany and an American presence in Europe. By taking all of Germany, he can eliminate at least one of his major problems. If he forces us out of Europe, he will have eliminated the second. The other countries of Europe will fall to him like dominoes.”
“A charming picture.”
“He would then be free to incorporate the resources of a Communist Germany as a military ally.”
Marshall arched his eyebrows. “What makes you think Germany would become Communist? Would the people do that after experiencing fascism?”
“Sir, they would have no choice. In one of his speeches he said something to the effect that an occupying or conquering power will always impose its own economic or social system on the occupied. This would be consistent with his stated aims of exporting the Communist revolution to all corners of the globe. Sir, give him a decade and every good little German will be a good little Communist, instead of a Nazi.”
Marshall stood and leaned over the desk. “But what if we stop him, Colonel? What if our defenses hold, as I believe they ultimately will?”
“Sir, this is where his ruthlessness and his ideology meet. Let’s say we stop him before Antwerp, which is his obvious goal, and he is also unable to cross the Rhine. Well, we then have a stalemate and he is the winner because he will still have conquered the lion’s share of Germany.”
Marshall’s eyes were hard. “But Burke, what if we attack and drive him back to Russia?”
Burke managed a small smile. “General, despite what I’ve heard about General Patton’s recent quotes about burning the Kremlin with Stalin inside, I don’t think that’s going to happen and neither does Stalin, and I don’t think you do either. It’s all rhetoric.”
This time Marshall’s voice had an edge to it. “Go on.”
“Sir, we still have Japan to finish off. In the event of a stalemate, we would be on the horns of a dilemma. Either we negotiate an armistice with the Reds and then invade Japan, or we sit here with our army and ignore the Japs. Sorry, sir, but I don’t see the American public standing for a long-term stare-down between the two armies while the Japs go scot-free. I also don’t see the American public permitting its armies to suffer hundreds of thousands of casualties so we can liberate a bunch of ex-Nazis from the clutches of a man we just recently called ‘Uncle Joe.’ I don’t know the figures, but I would guess we have suffered a lot of dead and wounded in the last few weeks. Rumor has it at a hundred thousand. I hope to God it’s not true.”
Marshall sat down. A look of sadness crossed his face. “Burke, it’s more like a hundred and fifty thousand. About forty thousand more are missing and most likely prisoners of the Reds and will be pawns in any peace negotiations. And that doesn’t count those surrounded in Potsdam.”
Burke was shocked. “I didn’t know it was that bad.”
“If it’s any consolation, the Russians are suffering far worse, but then, that was their plan, wasn’t it? They have the numbers and the will to absorb all we can give them and keep on coming, don’t they?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Stalin’s a cunning and ruthless bastard, isn’t he?”
“Yes, sir. I should also add that he probably thought of the previous war between the Allies and Germany as little more than a civil war among capitalist nations. The fact that he had been dragged into it was fairly irrelevant, although very inconvenient. Again, sir, he is willing to throw away lives in the taking of an objective now because he feels it might not be achievable in the future. Why he feels that way right now, I do not know.”
There, thought Steve, once again there was that almost imperceptible flicker across Marshall’s face. He decided to try something. “Sir, it would almost seem that he fears we have some sort of secret weapon, just like the Nazis were always bragging about.”
Marshall’s mouth twitched and the facade of stoniness quickly returned. “Thank you, Colonel, that was well presented and has given me much food for thought. I will be returning to Washington in a day or so. I think you would be a valuable addition to Eisenhower’s staff, so you will remain here. Contact Beetle Smith regarding your duties.”
Burke saluted and left. He had done his best. He had hoped to return to the States and Natalie, but that would have to be put off for a while. He would write her and, without giving away too much detail, let her know that he had just delivered another lecture to the chief of staff.
But he did still think there was something funny about Marshall’s reaction to his comments about secret weapons. Could there actually be one?
Stalin was outraged, but this time Molotov and Beria knew where the anger was directed. This served to calm them, but they knew that the direction of Stalin’s fury could change at any moment.
“De Gaulle,” said Stalin, “is a fool. A big, oafish lump. It has been almost a week since Vyshinsky’s meeting with him and there has been no response to our demands.”
Molotov took the tirade in stride. Stalin and de Gaulle had met briefly a couple of years earlier and had formed an instant dislike for each other. Stalin thought de Gaulle was an arrogant snob and Molotov concurred with that opinion. What de Gaulle thought of Stalin was of no concern to Stalin.
Stalin puffed on his pipe, sending yet another blue-black cloud toward the high ceiling. “When we have finished with the Americans and the British we will take care of France. I will have de Gaulle shot, or, better yet, spend the rest of his life freezing his nuts off in a Siberian camp. Comrade Beria, when will your revolution of French Communists topple him?”
Beria looked furtively about the room before he spoke. Stalin did not like to hear of failure, and he knew that was what he had to report. There was no second French Revolution. “Comrade Stalin, I must report that the
