Hammer of God

Chapter 4

The door opened slowly and he entered, the dark shiny band of his hat catching the light as he strode boldly forward. The click of his boots on the hard wood floor echoed a confidence that also stiffened his posture, and hardened the lines of his shoulders. At his side he carried a ceremonial baton, with a jeweled handle of the finest leather and a metal tip. His uniform was immaculate, charcoal grey trimmed in black, and his breast was gilded with the gold and silver of medals.

He was born in the heart of the capital, Berlin, Fritz Erich Georg Eduard von Lewinski, the son of a Prussian general, but raised more by his aunt than his own parents. Unable to have children, she had all but adopted the young Fritz Erich as her own son, even to the point of giving him the name she had borrowed from another Prussian general when she married Georg von Manstein. And so the man who might have grown up to be General Lewinski, instead was christened General Erich von Manstein, and he soon distinguished himself as one of the most able and capable generals in the German Army.

The son of two generals served in the first war, taking part in the capture of the citadel of Namur, being wounded at the battle of the Masurian Lakes, and later was at Verdun and the Somme. He was so talented that he was one of the select group of only 4000 officers the German Army was permitted to retain after the First World War. When Heintz Guderian proposed dramatic new changes to German war doctrine, Manstein became a bridge between the old infantry tactics and the new emphasis on the slashing maneuver of armor. When then Chief of the Army General Staff, Ludwig Beck, opposed Guderian’s ideas about tanks, Manstein proposed the creation of the Sturmgeschutz self-propelled assault gun to work in direct support with the infantry.

Many thought Manstein would soon take Beck’s place, but the politics of OKW saw another man rise to that post, Franz Halder, and the incident embittered the relationship between Halder and Manstein for years to come. Yet as a skilled planner with a sharp strategic mind, Manstein was at the heart of all the early German successes at war. It was he who had guided the plan for operations against Poland, and it was his decisive change to the German Fall Gelb plan to attack France that resulted in the swift defeat of that nation.

Halder was none too happy about that. He had drafted a plan for a sweeping attack in the north, but Manstein instead insisted that the armor could emerge from the unexpected axis of the Ardennes forest in a “sickle cut” behind the enemy that would unhinge the entire defense. Halder had Manstein transferred to get rid of the man and his ideas, but they prevailed when Hitler ordered a version of the plan that was much in accord with Manstein’s thinking. The result was now history.

It was no surprise then, as Hitler now contemplated an array of many options in the months ahead, that he summoned Manstein again, much to Halder’s chagrin.

“Greetings, General.” The dark eyes flashed with energy, but the handshake was cold, as if the man had no soul. Manstein never forgot that observation he soon made about Hitler, though he would nonetheless serve his country to the best of his considerable abilities. Now he wondered what this meeting was all about, and why he would be privileged to be granted an audience with the Fuhrer himself. Hitler wasted no time getting to the reason.

“My generals in OKW are still debating the future course of the war,” he said flatly. “They are full of numbers and statistics, analyzing all the deployments of the enemy, but never seem to add those numbers up to the same sum. So I have called you here to listen to your thoughts on the matter. I was very impressed with the alterations you proposed for Fall Gelb. You have seen the plans for Barbarossa?”

“I have, my Fuhrer.”

“Your thoughts?”

Manstein wanted to be careful here, as he knew his arch rival Halder most likely had his hand on the tiller where Barbarossa was concerned. “It is top heavy again,” he said with confidence. “The emphasis on taking Leningrad, and then Moscow, commits the bulk of our forces in Army Group North and the central attack.”

“Yet Leningrad is the seed bed of Bolshevism,” said Hitler.

“It was, but as we have seen the seeds have spread considerably. Taking Leningrad is merely theater. The same can be said for Moscow. We should instead focus on the south, moving north only after we have effectively joined with the forces of the Orenburg Federation.”

“Interesting,” said Hitler enthusiastically. “I am surprised to hear you say this, as you are presently assigned to 56th Panzer Korps in Army Group North. Your forces would be leading the way there.”

“Correct,” said Manstein, removing his cap and tucking it under his arm to reveal his closely cropped white hair. “While taking Leningrad removes a strong economic and production center from Kirov’s control, it would not be decisive in and of itself, and it would eventually pull the axis of our attack towards Moscow. Where else? While a prominent political center and symbol of Soviet power, its capture really affords us no military strategic value. That fruit is all in the south, in the Crimea and the Caucasus.”

“Precisely,” said Hitler with a smile. “Finally I hear a general I can agree with. My thought is to overwhelm the Soviets west of Moscow, and not commit the same mistake Napoleon made by trying to drive on the city itself.”

“Yet the Soviet Army may be more resilient than you believe, my Fuhrer. It is my understanding that they have lately concluded an accord with the Free Siberian State. In this event, they now have all of Siberia in their back yard, a place to retreat if we press them hard.”

“Siberia? There is nothing there but endless forest and the backward Tartar cavalry the this Karpov has been mustering. They flit about in those obsolete Zeppelins, with no air force of any consequence. They are no threat.”

“Yet one of those obsolete Zeppelins bombed Berlin the other day, if the reports I received are true.”

Hitler gave him a dark look. “That was a fluke,” he said. “It will not be repeated. Yes, I have been told it was the Siberians-the same man who recently met with Sergei Kirov to seek his friendship. Rest assured, he will be held to account for that little stunt.” Hitler folded his arms, looking at the map table now as he often poured over it alone, his mind quietly moving his armies and ships about in the long hours of the night.

“And what of the British?” he suddenly changed his tack. “They are clearly beaten but remain as stubborn as that old Bulldog Churchill.”

“It was always my thinking that we should have proceeded with Operation Seelowe,” said Manstein. “If we had done so, we would not be discussing the British any longer. They would already be under our heel.”

“That was Goering’s fault,” Hitler said with an obvious edge of bitterness. “He promised me he would crush the RAF to allow for our invasion, and then never delivered.”

“That plan was flawed from the outset,” said Manstein.

“Oh? Then why did you not say so? Explain.”

“Our fighters could not range far enough over England to protect the bombers. This is why I believed the issue of air superiority should have been decided over the English Channel, during the actual invasion operation, and not over London, or god forbid, Birmingham.”

“They bombed Berlin,” said Hitler hotly. “I had to return the favor over London.”

“And we have seen the results. By that same logic we should be trying to bomb Novosibirsk to punish the Siberians, but we can both see how impractical that would be.” Manstein knew he was skirting a sore spot with the Fuhrer now, but he was determined to speak his mind.

“All that said, the issue is moot. We lost our chance to eliminate Britain in 1940, and now the possibility of another front opening against us in the West remains a real possibility.”

“From the British? They have done nothing more than seize a few useless islands in the Atlantic. They have not even moved to try and put troops into Portugal, because they know I would crush them in a heartbeat if they tried.”

“Oh? With what, my Fuhrer? It is my understanding that you have moved the heart of the Gibraltar garrison to North Africa, or that you are planning to do so.”

“16th Motorized Division remains there, along with the 76th Infantry division.”

“And if the British do land troops in Portugal? Would they be enough to stop them before they got established there? I think not. Why have you sent all these forces to North Africa?”

“Ask Raeder, and when you are done with him, you can then hear the same story from Paulus, Keitel, Jodl and even Halder. Raeder’s Mediterranean strategy has infected the thinking of everyone at OKW, even Halder. They insist I must deal with the British before I open a new front against Soviet Russia. Do you agree?”

“You will not knock Great Britain out of the war in North Africa. Look what happened to Rommel! The British were much stronger there than he thought, and now he is right back where he started from, at Agheila and Mersa Brega. The man is a good officer, bold, aggressive, but he is often rash. He did not have the strength to move east with the forces he had. He should have waited.”

“He was ordered to do exactly that,” said Hitler with a wag of his finger, “but ran off half-cocked on his own. Paulus reports he has finally talked some sense into Rommel. Yes, he was inadequately supplied, so I have sent him more troops.”

“A waste of time and resources,” said Manstein. “Yes, they will present a growing threat in the Western Desert of Libya, but a threat that is still a thousand kilometers from the Suez Canal.”

“I have considered this,” said Hitler, “But it was not mere a supply problem that led to this recent setback. Have you heard the reports about these new British tanks?”

“I cannot say that I have, my Fuhrer.”

“That was the shock Rommel got when he moved east. I am told the British have new heavy armor, better than anything we have-a tank twice the size of their old Matildas, and my panzer commanders tell me even that old tank was difficult to kill. Very well, we will get new tanks soon enough, but in the meantime Rommel will be doing little more than trucking in fuel and supplies for the next two months. In the meantime, OKW is urging me to eliminate the British outpost on Crete.” Hitler pointed at the map. “Do you agree?”

Manstein considered this for a time, then began pointing with his baton. “You could take Crete easily enough. Student’s troops showed what they could do at Malta. But it would be weeks mopping up there before the Fliegerkorps was ready to operate again. In the meantime, what will the British do? They are watching Rommel in Libya, but must also look over their shoulder at the trouble stirring in Iraq. Frankly, I am amazed that they have not moved against the French in Syria yet, but this is most likely because they do not have the troops in hand to do so.”

“This is what Ivan Volkov tells me,” said Hitler.

“Volkov? I was not aware that you have met with the man.”

“He communicates with me regularly, as he is very fond of making predictions about this war-a self styled prophet, or so I am told. OKW is set to attack Crete, but Volkov tells me this is useless. In fact, he has gone so far as to warn me it will likely result in very heavy casualties. Do you believe this?”

“I have not seen the intelligence on the British defenses on Crete, but every airborne operation is inherently risky.”

“Then what to do, Manstein?”

Manstein had a quick answer. “Why does the southern axis for Barbarossa offer us the real prize? The answer to that is simple-oil. Once we push through to join with Orenburg, then we have everything we need to end this war favorably. Yet how do we get those resources home to Germany? We cannot ship anything across the Black Sea until we control it, and it seems Raeder’s little plan for Hindenburg and Bismarck has met a recent setback.”

The look on Hitler’s face told Manstein that he had hit a nerve with that. “He tried to cover up the damage to Hindenburg and explain it all away,” Hitler said hotly. “It seems the British have more than new tanks! They also deployed some kind of new naval rocket bomb that was able to strike our ships from well over the horizon.”

“Oh? I have heard nothing of this.”

“You have been up north with your Panzer Korps.”

“It hardly matters,” said Manstein. “Raeder will not be able to move ships into the Black Sea. The Turks will not permit it, yet that is of no concern. If Barbarossa does take the southern axis, we can eliminate all the bases the Soviet Fleet must use to contest the Black Sea. Orenburg already controls everything from Novorossiysk to Batumi on the eastern shore, and with Barbarossa we will take Odessa, Nikolayev, and Sevastopol in the Crimea. After that, the only place the Black Sea Fleet can go is Istanbul.

“That is a neutral state,” Hitler cautioned.

“Well enough, but do not worry about the Black Sea Fleet. Frankly, I believe we can neutralize it with our air power, even if the Turks open their arms and invite them to Istanbul. It should not be a concern. That failing, we can simply take Istanbul, and the Dardanelles and Bosporus with it. We already have troops on the Turkish frontier. That is a scant 230 kilometers to Istanbul. Terrain favors the defense there, but an aggressive an imaginative plan could prevail. The Turkish Army is no match for us, and once we link up with the Orenburg Federation, Volkov’s forces in the Caucasus can be moved to the Turkish border. That will give them more than enough reason to shun Sergei Kirov. They may even be persuaded to join with us, and no further campaign would be necessary.”

“The British would do everything in their power to prevent that. What should we do about them, Manstein? Should I take Crete as OKW suggests?”

“Those are defensive measures more than anything else. Quite frankly, I believe the British will move against the Vichy French in Syria as soon as they can-that, and the issue of Iraq, will soon be uppermost in their minds. If I were the British commander, I would use Cyrenaica as a defensive buffer, and move as many troops against Syria as possible. Once I eliminate the French there, I secure my right flank, effect a conjunction with Turkey, protect the oil in Iraq and Iran, and open all those lines of communication even into Persia. Where is the largest oil field in the world? Right there in Iraq at Baba Gurgur near Kirkuk. That is what the British wish to hold, or at the very least deny us access. Where else can Britain operate? They certainly won’t invade Portugal any time soon, or attempt any campaign against French West Africa. Your buildup in Libya will prevent them from entering Tripolitania. So they will have no choice but to operate as I describe, and seize Syria and Iraq before the notion to do so enters our minds.”

“You propose I send German troops to stop them? How would I get them there?”

“There are only two ways,” said Manstein. “You can either wait for Rommel to build up enough strength to move again on land, or go there by air and sea. The former will take months, the latter is complicated by the fact that we cannot fly troops from airfields in Greece, because Tripoli in Lebanon is beyond the range of our Ju-52 transports. This means we must seize a new outpost first, to become a staging zone within range of Palestine and Syria.”

“This is why OKW suggests this plan against Crete.”

“Well enough, but it will take time, and will most likely hand the British Syria, Lebanon and Iraq-possibly even Iran. If OKW is really serious about this axis of attack on Egypt, then they should see the bird they already have in hand! We already have Rhodes, or at least the Italians occupy that place. That is well within the range of our JU-52s from bases around Athens. Move Student’s troops there, and use that as your springboard to land anywhere you choose-Crete, Cyprus, even Lebanon or Syria. Yes, it is over 700 kilometers to the Levant from Rhodes, but remember, the planes do not have to return. They can land at Vichy held air bases, all within range of our Ju-52s.”

“Yet only Student’s troops?”

“They might do in the short run to bolster the French, particularly if Rommel builds up and rattles his sword in Libya to keep the British preoccupied there. Another infantry division might be added. Yet two or three divisions isn’t much, no matter how good the troops are. Don’t expect the Fallschirmjagers to march on Alexandria. And moving anything more substantial through the Eastern Med by sea is risky, even if we could find the ships to do so. The Royal Navy demonstrated that in these recent engagements, and Raeder has not been able to guarantee naval supremacy yet. That may change, these rocket weapons the British have aside, but then again it may not come to pass. This means anything you send to Syria will have to be supplied by the French. Don’t you see, my Fuhrer? The problem of attacking the British in Egypt is simply a matter of logistics. Neither axis of attack is promising in that regard. We cannot adequately supply and sustain the forces necessary to defeat the British there, as they will make it their major war effort, and send everything they have to the Middle East-unless…”

Hitler’s dark eyes were on him now, waiting, the question obvious on his face.

“Unless you tackle the question of Turkey, my Fuhrer. Barbarossa will join hands with Ivan Volkov. Or will it? If Halder gets his way we will be off chasing the Russians through the streets of Moscow. But if we pursue the southern strategy, with the principle aim of securing the oil in the Caucasus, then only Old Man Turkey stands between the Wehrmacht and the British position in the Middle East.”

“You advise I attack Turkey?”

“That may be a difficult campaign. The terrain is very rugged, the road network impossible, but so was Greece and the Balkans, and you have seen what we accomplished there in little time. So I lay my baton upon Istanbul because if you ever really want to drive the British from the Middle East, you will need secure lines of communications to do so, by land, and not simply air or sea. A move as I have suggested here would see German and Axis allied forces encircling Turkey on every border. We may not have to lift another finger there. This alone could compel the Turks to submit, or at the very least sign a treaty of non-aggression with us. Careful negotiations could even secure passage for German troops and supplies through that country. That said, the Turkish rail system is not modernized. It may, at best, support no more than one or two Korps, perhaps five or six divisions, but the right divisions might just do the job. Don’t forget Baba Gurgur! If you continue to pursue your Mediterranean strategy without Turkey, the only other way to get at the British in Egypt is through the Western Desert. But that will take time we do not have, unless Barbarossa is delayed.”

Hitler’s eyes were a well of thought now, with a light slowly kindling there as these thoughts fed the fires of his determination. Manstein smiled, tucking his baton beneath his arm, the lesson in strategy now over. He left the Fuhrer with one last note of caution.

“This is a bold and imaginative plan,” he said. “It would augment the southern emphasis for Barbarossa very well. Yet would even this knock Great Britain out of the war? I do not believe so. It may knock them out of the Middle East, but they will continue to fight on. The British Empire would still have strong outposts in India and the far east. Taking Egypt would be a severe setback, but they will fight on no matter what, and wait for the Americans to get involved. Then we will be moving troops west again, because instead of us planning to invade England as we should have last year, they will be planning to invade French colonies in West Africa, or even France itself. You see, my Fuhrer, Ivan Volkov is not the only man who can make predictions.”