“I don’t see what they have to gain,” he mused. “This offer… this is what we want, isn’t it?”
“Some of us would prefer to reunite the Reich,” Voss reminded him.
Volker shook his head. There was no way the Reich could be reunited, not now. The nukes had seen to that. Even if Germany Prime managed to hold together long enough to launch a second invasion, there was too great a chance of nuclear weapons being used again. And even if they weren’t, the hatred between the two sides was too great. He doubted east and west would ever cooperate happily again.
Which means that this offer is the best we’re going to get, he thought, morbidly. Horst had done a good job — if everything could be taken at face value. Germany East would get its independence — taking with it everyone who couldn’t fit into the new world order. But it will only work if Holliston is removed.
He had no trouble in believing that a Gauleiter — perhaps more than one — would side against Karl Holliston. The prospect of a nuclear war had probably concentrated more than a few minds in Germany East, particularly after the Provisional Government had retaliated. And even if they didn’t fear nuclear war, they’d certainly fear Holliston gaining undisputed control over the Reich. Their powers would be cut back sharply as Holliston tightened his grip over the Reich. They’d be worried even if Holliston remained confined to Germany East.
And we might be carving a rod for our own backs, he thought.
It was a frustrating problem. Holliston was going insane, if he wasn’t already mad. But the Gauleiters were presumably sane. They might be able to turn Germany East into a long-term threat. And yet, right now, Holliston was the real problem. He had to be stopped, whatever the cost. His madness might eventually lead to all-out nuclear war.
“This plan,” he mused. “Is it workable?”
“Perhaps,” Voss said. “Long-range airmobile operations were practiced, time and time again, during the wars in Arabia and South Africa. We have the aircraft on hand to insert troops several hundred kilometres from their airbases. But I’d be reluctant to risk it without knowing more about the situation on the ground. It would have a very low probability of success.”
Volker scowled. Karl Holliston must have faced the same dilemma, shortly after the Reich Council had fallen… but Holliston was demonstrably more ruthless than any of his opponents. Sending an airborne commando unit to Berlin had been a low-risk, high-reward strategy as far as he’d been concerned. If he won, he got to retake Berlin without a fight; if he lost, it didn’t significantly weaken his position. But it was different for the Provisional Government. Losing hundreds of men on a very high-risk mission might bring his government toppling down.
“Start planning for it, anyway,” he ordered. “Compartmentalise everything. Make damn sure nothing gets out.”
“I’ll draw up a training program,” Voss said. “We can call the whole operation a training program.”
“And we’ll make it clear that we won’t be taking the offensive until spring,” Volker added, shortly. He’d planned to discuss the operation in council, but there was no way to prevent Riess from taking his seat without tipping him off. “As far as anyone apart from the two of us know, there will be no further military operations until then.”
“My briefing will make that clear,” Volker assured him. He smiled. “It wasn’t as if we were planning anything, anyway.”
Volker nodded, shortly. The combination of snowstorms and radioactive contamination had definitely halted all offensive operations. His forces were currently digging in, ready to repel attack… if, of course, the Waffen-SS was in any state to take the offensive. The enemy seemed to be patrolling the lines aggressively, but intelligence suggested that the Waffen-SS had taken a beating too. Voss had suggested, quite seriously, throwing in a second attack just to see if the enemy lines crumbled. Volker had been tempted, but there was too great a danger of nuclear attack.
If Horst is right, he thought, we stand to win everything. But if this is a trap…
He shook his head. They’d just have to roll the dice one last time…
…And hope to hell they came out ahead.
“And so we are currently establishing three successive defensive lines west of the combat zone,” Voss droned. “Four panzer divisions, held in reserve, will move at once to intercept any enemy force that threatens to break through the defence lines. Forward scouts and air patrols should give us more than enough warning of any major offensive to put the men on alert…”
Admiral Wilhelm Riess kept his face impassive as Voss droned on and on. It was a shame Field Marshal Justus Stoffregen hadn’t stayed in his post as Head of the OKW — he’d understood the importance of putting the Reich ahead of their petty rivalries — but Stoffregen had chosen to resign, rather than serve the Provisional Government. Wilhelm understood the man’s feelings, which made his sense of betrayal all the more acute. A man who could be trusted in his post would have been very useful.
It was a bitter thought. The Abwehr and the SS were natural enemies, their rivalry exploited by the Reich Council to keep the intelligence services from forming an alliance that would catapult their leaders into power. Normally, Wilhelm would not have hesitated to do the SS a bad turn, particularly if it would do nothing more than embarrass his hated rival. And he knew the Reichsführer-SS would not have hesitated to do the same to him. But now, with the New Order under threat, he had no choice but to work with the SS. Holliston, damn him, was the only hope of preserving anything of Adolf Hitler’s legacy.
Wilhelm had no illusions about the Reich. It was a brutal state, founded on brutality and maintained by brutality. Gudrun and her ilk had absolutely no comprehension of just how brutally the Reich controlled its subjects or of how many lives had been lost in building the Reich and establishing its control over Europe. The whole thought was truly distasteful; indeed, he didn’t understand how Holliston and his ilk could come to enjoy all the horrific things they did to keep the Reich in power. There was no reason to enjoy it…
But the Reich was necessary. The world was divided into the strong and the weak, but the strong could easily become the weak if they lost sight of the true nature of the world. He might recoil in horror at what the Reich did, yet he saw no alternative. Easing off on the French tomorrow might see a French army, champing at the bit for bloody revenge, crossing the Rhine in ten years. The world could be either crushed under the Reich’s heel or at the Reich’s throat. There was no middle ground.
And that means talking to the enemy, he thought. And that means accepting the risk of being destroyed myself.
Kruger leaned forward. “Do you believe the enemy intends to take the offensive?”