Seconds later, the bombardier dropped the depth charges and they bracketed the crippled German sub. More cheers. It was a hell of a good run.
Unfortunately, it was all practice. The submarine was a wooden mock-up situated in the middle of a field in Maryland and the depth charges were barrels of water. The 37mm ammo, however, had been real. Still, it was better than nothing. The radar had spotted the "sub" and the searchlight had illuminated it just seconds before the Vampire had swept down on it. Had it been a real sub and a real attack, Tony was confident that he'd have killed it. Nobody talked about the fact that German subs had anti-aircraft guns and might just fight back.
That the training was getting more extensive and deadly serious underscored the fact that the United States and Germany were more and more likely to get into war. At least this time we'll be ready, Tony thought. Not like Pearl Harbor. No, nothing would ever again be like Pearl Harbor. Still, there was the nagging feeling that the Germans would attack first and that American blood would be spilled. Wouldn't it be nice, he thought, if we could be the ones who fired first? Nah, that would be un-American. It would also be smart and save a lot of guys’ lives, but no, we had to be the ones who get hit first. Then we get up from the canvas and kick the other guy's ass.
General Marshall noticed that FDR's hand quivered and he had a hard time picking up the stamp with his tweezers. No surprise. The president's physical condition was getting worse as the strain of fighting a war against the Japanese and preparing his unwilling nation for a war with Germany took its toll. Working with his beloved stamp collection was supposed to relax him, but now it looked like it was frustrating him.
Finally, he gave up and put down the tweezers. He would play with his stamp collection some other time. He looked at Marshall and smiled. "So, our good neighbors in Berlin are getting nervous. Wonderful, couldn't happen to a nicer bunch of monsters. I'm also glad to see that the army and the navy are cooperating so nicely."
"The presence of Nazi soldiers on our border does help to clear the mind, sir. We don't need any more sudden shocks like that."
Only a few weeks after the collapse of England, a flotilla of German transports had appeared at Halifax where they'd unloaded several thousand German soldiers. A second group appeared the next day and steamed up to Toronto where they disembarked more Nazis. It was all done without warning and without the knowledge of the United States since the intelligence provided by the English at Bletchley Park had been shut down. There had been minimal resistance from what remained of the Canadian military, but that soon ceased as a result of orders from London and Ottawa. Fighting would only endanger the Allied soldiers being held either as prisoners or as hostages by the Nazis. Their men would be used as leverage. The Germans entered Canada and stayed.
Roosevelt had seethed in anger. His only alternative, however, was to use force to expel them and that would have meant declaring war with Hitler. FDR wanted that war, but an attack on the German forces while the U.S. was still fighting the Japanese would have labeled the Americans the aggressor and earned the anger of many in Congress who felt that Japan was the primary enemy. The president had discussed this with congressional leaders and was certain that congress would not approve any aggressive action against the Germans. There were too many Americans of German and Italian descent, along with Americans who hated England, for this congress to act, at least not yet and not without extreme provocation.
Above all, Americans wanted Japan paid back for Pearl Harbor. Great Britain had lost the war with Germany, and so what if they wanted to hand a degree of control over part of Canada to Germany? It was their country, wasn’t it? The presence of a few thousand German soldiers did not represent a threat to the United States. As to the Jewish question, many people believed that the stories of vast killings and systematic massacres were the strident cries of Zionist extremists trying to get the United States to fight for them. Many felt that the Zionists were so desperate to get their homeland that they’d lie to achieve it.
Now, however, there were upwards of two hundred thousand German soldiers in Canada and the number was growing each day. The Germans had a formidable force in Canada, one that would be hard to expel without a major effort and much bloodshed. However, it might just come to that.
British code-breaking efforts had moved from Bletchley Park in England to Camp Washington and were again beginning to bear fruit. It was clear that the Germans were planning aggressive action against the United States and in the very near future. The only questions were why and precisely when?
FDR had a devious mind and he felt he understood his enemy. Code breaking transcripts called “Ultra” helped shape his thoughts as well.
"The Germans don't want the Japs to fail,” he said, “at least not yet. They want time to consolidate their conquests. They have millions of men stationed all over Europe from France to the heart of Russia and the Balkans. If they show weakness, they are afraid that the conquered peoples will explode. Our ambassador to the Soviets says that the Red Army is re-forming itself and might be ready for offensive action by this coming summer."
Marshall did not agree. "It'll be longer than that, perhaps much longer. The Russians are having a very difficult time feeding themselves, much less building up their army. They moved a large part of their population and much of their industrial capacity to a desolate region of their country that cannot support their basic needs. What they have accomplished was a marvel of hard work and ingenuity, but they need a lot of help."
FDR smiled, "Which they might just get if, when, Japan falls. If we wish we will then be able to reinstate Lend-Lease using the Siberian port of Vladivostok, as well as routes through Iran as back door ports of entry. We would only ship humanitarian supplies, such as food and medicine, of course." He chuckled, "At least at first. Germany wants us unable to support Russia, so she is willing to chance a war with us and utterly defeat the Red Army and conquer the rest of Russia before we can enter the fray on behalf of the Red Army. If that happens we would be even more isolated than we are now. Besides, general, isn’t our source of information about Russia coming from Nazi code intercepts? How do we know that the German’s information is accurate? The Reds could have a monstrous army at their disposal."
Marshall's face showed his displeasure at being doubted. "I concede the point, sir, and I hope the Russians are ready to take on the Nazis, but I still doubt it. I further believe it would be utterly impossible to ship enough supplies via those lengthy and convoluted routes to make even a dent in Russia's needs. It doesn't make sense."
"Hitler doesn't make sense either, does he? He's like the dog who chases the car and, when he catches it, doesn't quite know what to do with it. He has conquered virtually all of Europe and now sees shadows. He has utter contempt for America, so he isn't concerned about us being able to expel his army in Canada before he can send in massive reinforcements."
Marshall concurred. "And he is under tremendous pressure to release some of his enormous army and get Germany back to peacetime prosperity. None of this can happen while he perceives threats from us or Russia."
"Or Britain's Commonwealth nations," FDR added. "Herr Hitler wants a final peace with England and the British are doing a marvelous job of stalling. To prove his point, Hitler has taken a part of Canada and is holding it hostage. What will be next? Ah yes, South Africa and then perhaps India. Germany would have allowed the Japs to take Australia and New Zealand, but we’ve stopped them so that isn’t going to happen. We must have war with Germany, but, general, whatever happens regarding Canada, the Nazis must be the aggressor."