Eisenhower concealed his sigh of relief.
“Then I can report to the President that the process is on track?”
“Most certainly, General Eisenhower.”
Von Vietinghoff smiled broadly… disarmingly… concealing his thoughts.
‘…in both senses of the word, Herr General.’
Chapter 163 – THE MEDALS
Those that I fight I do not hate, those that I guard I do not love.
Nazarbayeva was still in her office, the one she had occupied since the headquarters of the Red Banner Forces of Soviet Europe had relocated from Nordhausen to Torgau, a relocation speeded up by the victories achieved by the new German Army.
She had ordered copies of a number of relevant reports and they lay before her, spread all over a huge trestle table that served as her desk, map table, and dining station.
The paperwork all concerned German forces, and she was trying to develop her own picture of what was happening, independent of the one her staff kept constantly updated.
There was a general suggestion that the DRH was of growing importance to the Allied cause, and the fact that they were spearheading the latest Allied effort could be interpreted as supporting that.
The British were reasonably quiet, with limited gain attacks here and there where their forces held sway.
The Americans were also quiet, even the cowboy Patton keeping his units in check.
One report had piqued her interest, despite its age.
Italian sympathisers had started to notice that German formations, those that had ‘monitored’ the line between Italian National forces and the Allied rear, were being or had been replaced with the soldiers of other Allied nations.
She skim read the group relating to the new Italian boundaries.
‘…Uruguayan infantrymen…’
She flicked another page up.
‘…Argentine soldiers and artillery…’
Nazarbayeva frowned and rubbed her eyes with her free hand.
‘…Brazilian riflemen… frontline soldiers… experienced soldiers… interesting…’
The knock on the door made her jump, so deep was her concentration.
“Come!”
“Good evening, Comrade General. I was about to be relieved, but this message came through. It concerns your present problem.”
He held out the two-page document.
Nazarbayeva accepted it but didn’t examine it, but instead dropped it on the table in front of her and stretched her back and arms.
“Sit and tell me about it, Comrade.”
“Rufin has the other report. He’s just cross-referencing some information, and then he’ll bring it straight to you.”
He leant forward, looking for a particular item from the selection in front of him.
He couldn’t see it.
“The report from Schwalmstadt, Comrade General?”
She found it instantly.
“Yes… the German forces seen moving southeast. We felt that it was most likely to be those French SS Legion units.”
“Based on what we knew then… yes. Some of them were around Kassel of course, but our information was interpreted as being the rest of the Devil’s bunch.”
She looked at Poboshkin expectantly.
“We were wrong.”
Another knock made them both jump.
At Nazarbayeva’s insistence, Major Rufin waited whilst Poboshkin finished, although she understood he had important news.
“A second report from Schwalmstadt indicates that the flow of ‘German’ units has increased, probably three divisions worth…and includes all arms, from tanks to postal services.”
He pointed Rufin at a stool.
“Comrade General, our man has been counting carefully, and the figures make disturbing reading. Bear in mind, we have had excellent intelligence on their forces… or thought we did anyway… and believed we had identified all their known armoured formations with what I might now call their main body… Guderian’s Army Group.”
“Go on.”
“The latest fighting has revealed these known tank divisions still to be with Guderian’s force, so…,” he checked the report to make sure he was accurate,”… where did the Germans get over three hundred tanks and self-propelled guns from?”
“Well, we knew that devil Speer was getting their industry working again, so tha…”
“Apologies, Comrade General, but that’s not the point. The point is that these are confirmed German tanks, nowhere near the Guderian group, and certainly not the SS units of the French Army.
“They’re new?”
“Most definitely, Comrade General. Our man had identified the latest Panther II models, which we know are not supplied to the French, or anyone else for that matter, only for German Army use.”
“You’ve convinced me. And?”
Poboshkin ceded the stage to Rufin.
“Comrade Mayor General, I have two reports, one of which came in earlier today, but that has just come to my attention.”
He slipped a copy of the first to both senior officers.
“This is from an agent in Washington. Low-level, works within their USO service. The report details memoranda exchanged between the US War Department and his organisation, trying to organise a huge entertainment operation to provide shows to troops in five newly stablished centres in Germany.”
Nazarbayeva looked up from the document, concentrating on Poboshkin as he reeled off the details.
“We don’t know where they are, Comrade Mayor General, but the list asks for a few of their celebrities by name… their major players… names like Hope, Crosby, Dietrich, Adler, Laurel and Hardy… but it’s the numbers, Comrade Mayor General. The request is for eighty plus entertainers across the five sites, two shows a day… it’s a huge operation.”
“And the point would be… who’s going to watch them?”
“Indeed, Comrade Mayor General.”
“I see this is old news, and that these camps should have been in place a week ago…”
She lapsed into the silence of intense thought.
“Polkovnik?”
“Comrade Mayor General, I think we could possibly think that the German Army units seen at Schwalmstadt were not all that were on the move southwards… and that the Allied plan is to relieve some of the pressure on the Amerikanski by replacing them in the front line… with German troops.”
She nodded and picked up the lead.
“Which would mean that the plan to target the Amerikanski is working… it can only be casualties that’s causing them to replace with German units… no…no…” Nazarbayeva wagged her finger at no one in particular, “… they could be recovering units to get ready for another offensive? Possible?”
“It’s possible, but not likely, Comrade Mayor General.”
Nazarbayeva waved her hand.
“Just for now, we will all stick with Comrade.”
The two men nodded.
“So, why not likely?”
“We have seen none of the normal pointers that indicate an Amerikanski attack. Admittedly, our intelligence is greatly limited, and much of it delayed by circumstances… and photo reconnaissance a thing of the past, but… there are no indications of increased rail traffic, no missing units… certainly none of the usual suspects when it comes to their attacks… air activity is within the norms… brutal as ever… but there is nothing of the normal pattern of increased attacks on our logistic routes behind the front target areas… I have seen nothing whatsoever to suggest an Amerikanski attack… not in Germany… not in the Alps, Comrade.”
Nazarbayeva shook her head to emphasise her words.