Hammer of God

Chapter 23

Ivan Volkov was a very content man that day. His Intelligence Chief, Kymchek, had given him a most welcome report. Karpov was up in his new Zeppelin, cruising boldly to Moscow for that meeting with Sergei Kirov, and undoubtedly signing some accord with him. Then he was blustering about in the skies over Germany, and even had the audacity to bomb Berlin!

He smiled, reserving a small kernel of admiration for the man. He thought he was invincible now that he had Ilanskiy under control. Well, where is he now? His new airship couldn’t even make it across the English Channel. To think that a simple thunder storm has rid me of that nuisance is most gratifying, but I have to know for sure.

“Anything more?” he asked Kymchek, wanting the very latest news on the incident.”

“The BBC has confirmed that the Zeppelin went down,” said Kymchek, “but there has been no sign of any wreckage in the channel.”

“The BBC? You’re getting your intelligence from a British news organization now?”

“Of course not. We have men on the coast there, and they also report nothing has come in to any port on the channel.”

“What about Potemkin?”

“They confirm. There has been no sign of wreckage or survivors.” Potemkin was one of Volkov’s little secrets, a submarine sent all the way from Novorossiysk to keep watch on the comings and goings of English ships. The boat had made the journey months ago, secretly refueling in German controlled ports, and with license to also rendezvous with German oilers. With a 9600 mile range, Potemkin was most useful for long range intelligence like this, though it was one of only a handful of subs possessed by the Orenburg Federation.

“Very interesting,” said Volkov, “but I don’t like it, Kymchek.”

“No news is good news in situations like this, sir.”

“Not entirely. Assuming that airship went down in the storm, there should be some sign on the waters there. Those gas bags are very buoyant.”

“Unless the ship burned, sir.”

“Don’t be foolish. They aren’t using hydrogen any more than we are. Yes, they might have been struck by lightning, and could have had a fire, but even so, something should be found on the sea.”

“They might have been carrying another of those new thermal bombs,” Kymchek suggested.

“That would be poetic justice, wouldn’t it?” Volkov grinned. “That little rat of a man thought he had us reeling after that surprise attack at Novosibirsk. Well, he’ll soon find out different-or perhaps not, if the weather was kind enough to rid me of the man. Keep watching that situation closely, but now that the cat is away, it is time for action.”

“Sir?”

“Ilanskiy, Kymchek. Don’t forget Ilanskiy. With Karpov missing, this is the perfect time to mount a major operation there.”

“But sir… The place was demolished in that raid staged by the Soviets. What use is it to us now? In fact, what use was it ever to us, aside from interdicting the Trans-Siberian rail?”

“Kymchek, believe it or not, I don’t tell you everything. You probably thought it was Karpov I was after there, but there was much more to that raid then you knew about. It is not that I do not trust you, of course, but certain things must be kept very quiet. Frankly, my own left hand keeps secrets from my right. That is the way this business must be conducted. Yes?”

“I understand, sir.”

“Very well. You have that list of all airships available for operations?”

“We can form one division from the Northern Fleet, Pavlodar, Talgar, Saran, and of course the fleet flagship, the Orenburg. A second division is arriving from the Southern Fleet: Sarkand, Tashkent, Samarkand, and Angren. Caspian Fleet is sending four more airships, though Admiral Zorki was not very happy with that order. He claims he needs every airship he can get his hands on for the defense in the Caucasus.”

“He won’t have to worry about that for very much longer,” said Volkov. “The Germans will be hammering at Sergei Kirov’s back door soon enough. Very well, twelve airships overmatch the entire Siberian Fleet, particularly with Karpov out of the picture. Any change in their fleet dispositions?”

“No sir. They still have three airships near Ilanskiy, three more at intervals on the front, and two with Kolchak out east near Irkutsk. It is only 660 kilometers to Ilanskiy from Irkutsk, so it is likely those two could be sent as reinforcements if we move as planned.”

“I’m counting on it,” said Volkov. “I want to destroy Karpov’s entire fleet. He may not be alive to get the bad news, but if the British do manage to pull him out of the sea, let’s hope they put him under lock and key. The news that he’s lost far more than Tunguska will be a nice barb. Yes, I would love to see his face when he learns I’ve smashed his impudent little fleet and have a full heavy division sitting on Ilanskiy! I’ll want a battalion on each ship.”

“We’ve pulled the entire 22nd division off the line, sir, and there are five more battalions trained for rapid deployment as well-one from each of the Guard Divisions.”

“Excellent. And the ground attack?”

“General Berenko says he has five divisions ready on the line, with one armored cavalry brigade in reserve.”

“That should be more than enough to break through north of Novosibirsk.”

“Yes sir, but it is 875 kilometers from the front line to Ilanskiy. We cannot expect any support from the land force element for some time-if at all.”

Volkov waved his hand. “That force is meant merely to pose a powerful threat to the enemy positions on the Ob River. Don’t you understand? The ground attack will precede the air operation, and it will pull in reserves from all along the front. I don’t care whether it succeeds or not, as it is only meant to engage as many enemy units as possible. Then the air mobile operation can proceed against Ilanskiy. It’s intent will be to move the 22nd Division as quickly as possible to that location, just as we did in that ill fated raid-only this time we will bring twelve battalions, not only two. Once the troops have landed, the air fleet will seek out and destroy any airship opposition, and we will also secure the airfields at Kansk, while interdicting the Trans-Siberian Rail in both directions. The fleet is to operate in a massed formation. I expect we will quickly destroy the three airships Karpov has near Ilanskiy, and any others will arrive piecemeal-and be destroyed the same way.”

“It is likely they will hold them back once they see the size of the force we are committing,” said Kymchek.

“In that event, one division will remain on station at Ilanskiy, and the other two will operate to seek out the remnant of the enemy fleet and destroy it. I want complete air superiority over Siberia when this operation concludes, and complete control of Ilanskiy.”

“Yes sir, but what will we do there? It’s just a tiny railway station in the middle of nowhere.”

“No Kymchek, it is very much more than that. It is right in the middle of everywhere, and once I have it, then we will see what Karpov has been up to there. You say he has artisans and engineers working that site?”

“He has a significant group there, and they’ve been cutting fresh timber for some building project. I can’t imagine why he would want to expand that rail depot, unless he means to make it a major supply center-or perhaps a new weapons development site.”

“He intends neither,” said Volkov. “He already has what he wants there-that damn railway inn. That is the whole of it, Kymchek-the inn! It will be the principle objective of the air mobile force. They are to take and secure the town, and gain control of that inn. Care must be taken to prevent any further damage to the building. None of Karpov’s engineers are to be killed or harmed. I’ll want to interrogate each and every one personally. Understand? And plans or construction blueprints are to be highly prized and brought to me at once. This is of the utmost importance.”

“Very well, sir… But if I knew why this inn was so essential to you, I might be much more effective.”

“In time, Kymchek. I will brief you on this later. For now, see that these orders are carried out-to the letter.”

Volkov rubbed his hands together, and not because they were cold. At last he had the opportunity to completely eliminate Karpov’s airship fleet. As long as the crafty Admiral was on the scene, it had proven almost impossible to outmaneuver him. He always deployed his airships within close supporting distance, and his radar and air observation units would spot any incursion across the border, particularly after Ilanskiy.

Yet I was never able to free up a force this size-twelve airships. They were always tied down in ground support all along the front, and half my fleet is still committed to that duty. Yes, it will be risky to pull so many ships off the line like this. We need their capabilities as recon and fire support units, but Sergei Kirov will be happy to see them gone for a time. I wonder if he will alert the Siberians? I’ve planned it so that each division will withdraw intermittently, and any ships remaining on the line will double their patrol run duty so as to give the impression that nothing has changed.

Yes, a diligent enemy would see through that, but I am counting on the Siberians to be less than diligent at the moment. They undoubtedly have the same news of Karpov’s disappearance, and tomorrow it will be a full week since the Tunguska went missing. By now they will be wondering if they will ever see their little Admiral again, and getting to squabbling over who is in charge there. Another three days to pull my assault fleet together should do the trick.

The fleet will assemble over Lake Ubinskoye west of Novosibirsk, and swing up above Tomsk. They have only one airship patrolling there, and we’ll brush it aside without a second thought. Then we run due west for 625 kilometers, and with favorable winds, we should cover that distance in just eight or nine hours. That will put us just an hour north of Ilanskiy, and we’ll land the whole division north of the town by regiments, with at least eight airships on overwatch while each regiment lands.

Volkov smiled. Yes, Karpov knew an attack like this was coming one day or another. A pity he won’t be there to join in the fight, but things will be much smoother this way. I suppose he thought I would never risk another operation like this after the debacle with Symenko and the Alexandra. It was a shame to lose Petrov and the Oskemen as well, but at least I found out what I wanted to know about Ilanskiy. It matters! Yes, it matters a great deal to Karpov, and so now it will matter a great deal to me.

Once the dust settles, and the area is secure, I think I may just go there and have a look for myself. Whatever Karpov was up to, it had something to do with that railway inn. Interesting that Sergei Kirov should also take enough notice of the place to support that raid with the Narva. Yes… Kirov knows that place matters as well. What will he do when he sees me pull this operation off right under his nose? Perhaps when I have a full division sitting on Ilanskiy, and the means of keeping it supplied with my airships, then Kirov might be inclined to talk about his little campaign in the Caucasus.

Now then… With Kirov in mind, what do I do about that ship? Kymchek has finally confirmed that it is Admiral Volsky commanding Kirov. That was quite a surprise, as the last I knew he was chained to a desk at Naval Headquarters Fokino. How did he manage to get to the ship? For that matter, how did that entire ship and crew manage to get here? I had my suspicions about that ship all along, and now they are confirmed. There must have been some top secret project underway with Kirov. Was Inspector General Kapustin in the know? Was Director Kamenski involved? He certainly went to great pains to get me out of the picture, sending me off on that bear hunt for Fedorov-though that worked out much better for me than he expected.

Yet the ship remains a serious problem, not only for me, but for the Germans as well. It has already stopped operations in the north, and now it is in the Mediterranean Sea backstopping the Royal Navy. What has possessed Volsky that he should side with the British? Yes, I know Germany is about to wreak havoc on the homeland in short order, but the British and Americans will be the ones strangling us for the next eighty years, and they will be the ones firing ICBMs at us in 2021. I know what Volsky must be thinking. He’s trying to change all that, and re-write the history after this war. But it isn’t going to end with Great Britain and America calling the shots this time-not if I can prevent that.

No. The Germans are going to win this time, if I have anything more to say about it. After that, I’ll deal with Hitler in the years ahead. This business at Ilanskiy may afford me many more opportunities that I cannot foresee just now. A man must have patience.

But the ship… that damnable battlecruiser. At the moment the Germans have no idea what they are dealing with. Yes, they’ve seen the missiles, and felt them as well. Perhaps this will spur them to get busy with their own missile development as I have been urging. Thank God they built those naval service jackets to last. I’m amazed that mine lasted as long as it did, and all those long hours extracting data, having things transcribed into my archive, will come in very handy in the days ahead.

I can help the Germans along with their own rocket technology. Is Volsky doing the same thing for the British? And what about the warheads? That ship is certain to have several operational nukes in the magazines. They haven’t used any yet, not even to prevent the fall of Gibraltar, which was quite a surprise to me. Then again, they know this is going to be a long struggle, and perhaps they are sitting on those eggs for use later in the war.

My own project is taking more time than I had hoped. We have the materials, but those bumbling idiots in the research labs haven’t been able to enrich enough fuel yet. I suppose I shouldn’t complain. Look how long it took the Iranians to enrich the fuel for their first bombs, and that was in modern times. That said, it will be a few more years before I have a working bomb for testing. If the war goes as I foresee it, the bomb may not even be necessary. It remains to be seen how much fight Soviet Russia will have in it after I eliminate the Siberians.

Certainly once Operation Barbarossa begins, the clock will be ticking for Sergei Kirov. Kymchek tells me the Germans have transferred Manstein to the southern front early. That is a most capable general. I have no doubt that he will push into the Crimea within thirty days, and once that objective is secured, Kirov’s Black Sea Fleet will be bottled up in the Sea of Azov, and useless to him. After that, I will see that the Germans drive on Rostov as soon as possible, and that will settle the matter.

So it is only a matter of time now before this little squabble in the Caucasus ends favorably for me. Then I do my part and the oil flows west on any rail lines the Germans manage to clear and keep operational-and by sea as well. The accord recently concluded with Turkey was a major plum! It will mean I will also have access to their rail system. The question remains as to where my armies would be best positioned for the fighting in 1942.

The British have had quite a few surprises this year. Losing Gibraltar, Malta and now Cyprus was quite a blow to their war effort in the Med. Now they think to redress the matter by securing Syria and Iraq, but with German troops able to move by rail, that is going to be much more difficult than they expect.

These reports of a new British tank were most disturbing. Rommel’s setback was not foreseen at all. Kymchek hasn’t been able to get me any hard intelligence on those tanks yet. All we have is hearsay from the Germans. Who is calling the shots for the other side? Did they produce plans for an new armored vehicle? How could the British have produced it so quickly, even if they did have good plans? Was Volsky behind this development, or that little gutter snipe navigator of his? Yes, most likely this Fedorov I was after all those years ago-all those years hence. Odd to think of it that way. I spent my youth in days I will never see now, in the far off future.

He settled into his chair, needing coffee, for there were still a great many things to plan and consider.