Axis of Evil

Chapter Ten: The Montreal Conference

Grand Hotel

Montreal, Canada

12^th April 1941

Canada, Prime Minister Mackenzie King felt, had suffered more in the wake of the Transition than her fellow Dominion Australia. The Australians had the Japanese on the border, and lived with the threat of invasion, which kept them concentrated on the common enemy. The Canadians, particularly the French-speaking Quebecois, had a friendly and undefended border – the longest undefended border in the world – and nothing to stop anyone using the knowledge of the future for their own interests.

Mackenzie King scowled angrily. Canada was contributing several thousand troops to the Commonwealth force now being armed with modern weapons – the force that would have joined Churchill’s government in the defence of Britain having vanished into the time stream – but there was very little chance of them being able to send any more. Not only had the fact of a future Conscription Crisis arrived on the political landscape, but the Quebecois had woken up to the reality of their continued statelessness.

We won this country from their founders, Mackenzie King thought. He’d taken precautions to intern all the Japanese-Canadians when the war had broken out in the pacific, but even that had come back to haunt him. The Quebecois had started a low-level terrorist – a 2015 term – movement in Quebec, agitating for greater autonomy and an end to conscription of overseas soldiers before it was introduced.

Still, he was looking forward to hosting the meeting in Montreal. He’d fought hard to maintain an independent foreign policy, and having the meeting of the leaders of Britain and America in his country was a big boost, even if it did cause some problems. The protection services of both world leaders had insisted on securing the entire hotel, which had caused the police some annoyance.

The noise of a helicopter rose in the air as the small craft, one of a handful given to Canada in payment for food and fuel, landed neatly in the garden, ignoring the protests of the hotel manager. Mackenzie King shrugged; he didn’t think that either of the leaders was in danger from the Quebecois, or Nazi spies, but it was well to be careful. The civil situation in the United States might spread north, and that was the last think that Mackenzie King wanted.

He allowed himself a quick smile, then pasted a proper dignified expression on his face. At least Parliament had credited him with organising a very favourable technology-transfer agreement, one that would give Canada a boost forward that it clearly needed. The helicopter was only one of a number of craft and other items donated; the chart of mineral deposits would come in very handy in the future. The deployment of hydrogen-powered cars would only improve their ability to expand their settlements… and the nuclear power plant would improve their power generation capabilities.

“It’s a pleasure to see you again,” he said, as Hanover stepped neatly out of the helicopter and stepped up to him. He studied Hanover; he hadn’t changed much in six months. His hair was still dark; his face perfectly shaven. Brilliant blue eyes peered down a long angler nose, a face that was caricatured regularly in French-language newspapers.

“Likewise,” Hanover said. Like the other future British, his accent was more… American than British, in some ways. Hanover, who came from an old family, spoke with a more British accent, but the hints of America surfaced through his voice.

“I hope that you’ll enjoy your time here,” Mackenzie King said, leading the way into the hotel. “This is one of the finest hotels in the world, if we say so ourselves. There’s room for both you and the President.”

“Thank you,” Hanover said, as they stepped into a private room. Hanover’s escorts, neat well-dressed men with an air of unconcern – which meant they were bodyguards – were waved back, leaving them alone. “I was hoping to have a chance to speak with you privately as well.”

Mackenzie King nodded thoughtfully. “The discussion on the future course of the war?” He asked. “You must realise that Parliament is demanding access to the decision-making process in exchange for the use of our troops. If the British Commonwealth is to work, you have to be our… partners, rather than try to be our masters.”

One thing he’d learnt about Hanover was that he didn’t seem to think that everyone should be submissive. “I quite understand,” Hanover said. “As a matter of fact, I’ve brought some highly confidential documents, which outline for your War Cabinet the future scope of operations. Although they’re short on specifics for obvious reasons, they outline the plan of action.”

Mackenzie King lifted an eyebrow. “We have a spy somewhere,” Hanover admitted. “That’s between you and me, I’m afraid. Someone, probably in America, is trading information to the Germans.”

“Who would do such a thing?” Mackenzie King asked. The images of the death camps and the Polish Genocide had hit Canada hard. “And how do they communicate with their masters?”

“You know what the situation is like,” Hanover said. “The United States is not technically at war with Japan, so Japanese ships are still docking in America. Mexico and most of Latin America is also taking Japanese, or Spanish, or Portuguese ships in and trading with them, despite our blockade. Portugal is worst; we’re not at war with them and public opinion wouldn’t stand for trying to starve them into compliance.”

“I’m glad to see that your public has a sense of responsibility,” Mackenzie King said dryly.

Hanover laughed. “There’s also the small matter that cutting off their exports will force them into Germany’s arms,” he said. “While their armed forces would add little to the might of Germany at present, given time they would present a serious threat.”

“True, true,” Mackenzie King said. “For the moment, what sort of… power-sharing are you offering for the war?”

Hanover crossed his legs. “For the moment, we intend to concentrate in the Middle East,” he said.

“You’re not going to defend Australia?” Mackenzie King asked. He felt a flicker of worry; would the British abandon their most faithful dominion?

“We have two-thirds of our fleet in their waters,” Hanover said. “In hindsight, that might have been a mistake; we have to keep units pinned down that would be better expended hunting down the rest of the Japanese Navy. Still, should that show its ugly face, Admiral Turtledove has orders to destroy it and then the threat to Australia and New Zealand will be at an end.”

He chuckled. “We don’t expect that there will be a threat,” he said. “Even without the two infantry regiments we’ve sent to their defence, they would have to cross the water between the Dutch East Indies and Australia. They’d have to be crazy to try it.”

“I suppose,” Mackenzie King said. “So… back to the Middle East?”

“Well,” Hanover said, and outlined the plan. “Hopefully, we should manage to defeat the Germans and force them back into Turkey,” he concluded.

Mackenzie King’s mobile phone rang. “Sir, the President is here,” his aide said.

“Please show him to the conference centre,” Mackenzie King said. “I’m sorry to cut our conversion short, but its time for the real conference to begin.”

“It’s quite all right,” Hanover said. “This first meeting is the most important, after all.”

Hanover nearly stopped dead the moment he saw President Roosevelt, being wheeled in by his assistant. The President had always reminded him of his grandfather, but he now looked as the old man had, the week before he died. His skin was pale; he gave an impression of profound tiredness. His hair seemed to be greying – Hanover was certain that he detected the remains of dye in the strands – and his frame seemed somehow weaker. His handshake was firm, though, and his eyes were bright.

Mackenzie King, as host, took the chair. The other two world leaders, and their two companions, took their chairs. Roosevelt, Hanover was interested to note, had brought Eisenhower and Ambassador King to the meeting. His own companions, General Cunningham and Major Stirling, sat behind him. Both Roosevelt and himself had larger staffs to discuss the nuts and bolts, but this was the important meeting.

“Thank you for coming,” Mackenzie King said, greeting Roosevelt. “I hope that this meeting will lead to many important steps towards defeating our mutual enemies.”

“Thank you,” Roosevelt said. He nodded politely to Hanover. “I understand that you had something new to talk about?”

Hanover nodded at Stirling, who spoke quietly. “There are some signs that the Germans are preparing to jump on the Russians,” he said. “Reconnaissance, both through the aircraft and the… new methods…”

“It’s fine to talk about that,” Hanover injected.

“The orbiting satellite, then,” Stirling said. “There is evidence that Hitler is stockpiling men and their supplies in Poland, in a preparatory move for advancing east into Russia.”

“They must be crazy,” Eisenhower said. “Attacking Stalin, when they know that they’ll lose.”

“The history books say nothing about our arrival,” Hanover said. “Major?”

“Some elements of PJHQ are speculating that it’s a bluff,” Stirling said. “At the moment, the German Reich is very dependent upon the Soviets. Hitler might be reminding Stalin that he could launch an attack and… well, kick in the door. Alternately, they might expect the Soviets to take advantage of Hitler’s weakness, and are preparing a defence. Finally, they might want to be training units far from the fronts; either of them.”

“A shame they won’t start the fight themselves,” Eisenhower said. “Mr President, may I outline the operations plan?”

Roosevelt smiled. “Is that acceptable to you?”

Hanover smiled. Historically, the US War Department hadn’t had a good plan for the beginnings of their involvement in the war; Churchill’s people had outmanoeuvred them with ease. Eisenhower must have been reading his own autobiography. His alternate self had been quite vocal on the subject.

“I dare say that it is,” Hanover said, concealing his thoughts with the ease of long practice.

Eisenhower slotted a CD into the projector unit. The War Department had rather taken to the PowerPoint slides and CDs; they were far simpler than paperwork. Once all of the maps had been transferred to computer, they could be used to illustrate any plan, no matter how complex.

“For the moment, we’re calling this Operation Thule,” Eisenhower said. “Unfortunately, landing in France or Germany itself would require more troops than we have available until next year, and we can’t just do nothing until 1942. The objective is to liberate Norway from the Nazi yoke, by direct invasion. I must warn you all that this is top secret.

“Reports from the British… ah, Special Air Service confirm that the Germans have nearly one hundred thousand men in the country, mainly skilled mountain infantry and a handful of armoured units. As Norway is not good tank country, we don’t see those as playing an important role within the battle, at least until we reach Oslo. The main German forces are deployed in four locations; Narvik, Trondheim, Bergen and Oslo itself, along with a handful of smaller forces scattered about. Some parts of the country hardly ever see Germans; other parts have quite a large presence. Quisling’s government is in Oslo and is enthusiastically promoting Norwegian settlement in the remains of Poland. There are some Norwegian Korps units, mainly SS troops, but they are apparently undermanned.

“Air-wise, the Germans have several Luffwaffe squadrons at airfields throughout the country, and of course bases in Denmark and Germany itself. We lack proper estimates of their strength, but we believe that they have somewhere between five hundred to a thousand aircraft, as they’ve learnt that swarming your craft is the only way to win.

“Finally, they have a single destroyer, near Narvik, that won’t pose any problem at all since you sunk the rest of their fleet,” Eisenhower concluded. “That’s what we face, we believe.”

“Very concise,” Hanover said. “Can you land a force on Norway?”

“We believe that it is possible,” Eisenhower said. He displayed an overall chart of Norway; red arrows marched from the sea to Narvik and Bergen. “We have roughly 65’000 troops, armed with the new weapons you gave us, including some adaptations of our own weapons. We also have the capability to transport them to Norway, although I would prefer to avoid a long sea trip.”

“We are formally requesting that you provide a staging area for us,” Roosevelt said. “Launching the men directly from America would mean that they would be in no condition to fight afterwards.”

“We’ll see what we can do,” Hanover promised.

Eisenhower coughed. “The first task force will land at Narvik,” he said. “Ideally, we should be in position to prevent the Soviets from attempting to pinch off part of Norway before Stalin starts getting ideas. That force won’t be particularly large; only 20’000 at most. The second task force will land at Bergen, which is a compromise; charging into Oslo Fjord would be a good way to get a lot of men killed for nothing. Hopefully, we will take Bergen fairly quickly, then advance overland to Oslo.”

Roosevelt spoke next. He’d been Secretary of the Navy and was still keenly interested in it. “We have gathered four carriers and five battleships,” he said, “along with a supporting force. However, our air cover is not going to be perfect… and, put bluntly, we need your help.”

Hanover steepled his fingers. It was time to bargain. “What exactly do you want from us?” He asked. “You do realise that we have commitments in the Middle East?”

“We are not asking for an entire army, not like Operation Torch,” Eisenhower said wryly. Hanover hoped that the future President had drawn the correct lessons from the Torch near-disaster. “We need three things from you; bases, air support, and some of your commandos in Norway.”

He tapped the map. “From history, one thing that we are certain of is that Hitler will pour in reinforcements into Norway, and his logistics will be far better than they were in the other future, regardless of his actions with the Soviets. We will also face problems in reinforcing; we can get all of the first wave in, but we don’t have many more in the line for a few more months, particularly given the…civil situation in America.

“We want – need – you to make their logistics as bad as possible,” he said. “You can place a submarine in the Skagerrak, you can track and shoot down any of their reinforcement planes… and you can use your wonder weapons to make German movement difficult in Norway. While the carriers are good ships, we need better air cover than they can give us.”

Hanover absently wondered how much praising the Navy had cost him. “We were stockpiling the weapons,” he said slowly. “Why should we use them to support you when we have our own people dying in the Middle East?”

What’s in it for us? He meant. It wasn’t something that could be said aloud. “We would be willing to take a more… favourable view on the purchase of American goods,” Roosevelt said. “At the moment, you’re paying for them directly, trading your technology for what you need. We would be prepared to loan you…”

“No loans,” Hanover snapped. “We had enough trouble the last time around with loans.”

“Gifts, then,” Roosevelt said, unflappably. “We would give you a lot of products you need, such as weapons and ships, and we would detail an American division for service in the Middle East. This might lead to conflict with Russia, but we are certain that Comrade Stalin would not object.”

Hanover’s mind raced rapidly. Did Roosevelt hope that the Soviets would engage the Americans and start a war? He understood that Stalin would have to be fought eventually, didn’t he? Stalin was the long-term threat; Hitler and Tojo were minor nuisances compared to him.

“With certain caveats, we accept,” Hanover said finally. General Flynn would be glad of the help, if nothing else. “We insist on informing your people of our full capabilities in advance, so we don’t get asked to do the impossible. The force in the Middle East must be under our command.”

“Agreed,” Roosevelt said shortly. Neither other American reacted; Hanover guessed that it had been planned out in advance. “What do you intend to do in the Middle East?”

“Launch a pre-emptive attack,” Hanover said shortly. “The plan is to crush the German force and then move on to the Soviet force, using our advantages to prevent them from coordinating their response. We have enough problems with both of them encamped in the Middle East; evicting one or both of them would make our life a lot simpler.”

“A well thought out plan,” Roosevelt commented. “And what will you do after lunch?”

Hanover smiled. “I’m joking with FDR,” he said, half-wonderingly. “Sorry, there are times when it still hits me.”

“I’m afraid that this is not a dream,” Roosevelt said. “Anything else?”

“For this year, our objectives are to evict the invasion forces in the Middle East and knock Turkey out of the war,” Hanover said. “We’ll stand on the defensive in the Pacific until after we’ve secured the Middle East and built up our forces of SSK submarines. Once that’s done and there are enough of them, you can say goodbye to the Empire of the Rising Sun.”

“It’s always a pleasure,” Roosevelt said, afterwards. The two leaders were closeted in their own private room, sipping tea. Down below, the military and political staffers were arguing over strategy and tactics. They would carry out the grunt work, now that the main decisions had been made by the leaders.

“Yes,” Hanover said. “Tell me; how is your health?”

“The surgeon from the embassy has done wonders,” Roosevelt assured him. He still looked ill. “It’s just that I’m growing old, Prime Minister.”

“You could spend a week in a hospital in Britain,” Hanover said. “Even with all the copied medical textbooks and courses for doctors, it will be years before your hospitals are up to modern standards.”

Roosevelt shrugged. “I have a private question to put to you,” he said. “Tell me something; what would you do if the Germans used gas against us?”

“The official line is that Britain would view such a development with alarm,” Hanover said. “I would think after we used a single nuke, the Germans would be… reluctant to risk having a second one used on them.”

“I hope you’re right,” Roosevelt said. “This is all a hell of a gamble. I have to do something more… substantial than the occasional convoy battle before everything comes unwound.”

“It’ll succeed,” Hanover said, and wondered why he felt suddenly afraid for the future.