The Ambassador's eyes defocused for a few minutes. “We have at least three months, no more than six. If the VPLA score a few successes in the next few days perhaps a little longer. Plan on three months Prime Minister.”
Sir Martyn tried to get the initiative back. Triple Alliance meetings always tended to be like this. “Prime Minister, I have a further suggestion. If the troop convoy will leave from Australia in three months time, may I request that our squadron presently here. Hood, Rana and Rajput be allowed to form part of the escort for the convoy? You have few heavy ships of your own, your two ex-British carriers serve as troop transports while the two Essex class you bought from the Americans are hardly in service yet. An Indian escort for the convoy would also be a telling demonstration to our enemies that their plans and machinations have failed.”
“A very good suggestion Sir Martyn, thank you. Your ships will return here after their current cruise?”
“I think the timing would work well. Madam Ambassador, what are your thoughts?”
“Sadly my country does not have any great ability to fight at sea. But we will be very pleased to see your troop convoy arrive safely. But my guess must be that the Japanese will be displeased in equal measure.
“There is one other thing I would suggest. Before moving troops around the world it would be wise for us to speak with the Americans, When unusual things happen, the Americans get worried and when they get worried they bomb people. Keeping their government briefed would be a wise thing.
“Also, I have had word from them, they have learned some things from the Russians in the last few hours that they think we should know. Sir Martyn, perhaps Sir Eric should accompany me on a trip to the United States?”
Chapter Six Blocking Actions.
Office of President Cherniakhovskii, New Kremlin, Moscow, Russia
There was no doubt about it, the New Kremlin building was a great improvement on the old one. The Germans had helped of course, during their occupation of Moscow the original Kremlin had been destroyed so thoroughly that even the foundations had been dug up and dismantled. It must have been a temptation to try and rebuild the structure but any plans to reconstruct the old building had been vetoed by President Cherniakhovskii. There was no need to go back to the bad old days of Tsars and Commissars, he'd said. Russia needed to look forward, not backwards.
So the New Kremlin was designed from the start as a Government headquarters building with all the latest facilities a government could need. The building was also pleasant and airy with large windows and wide corridors, giving it an open and relaxed feel. Of course the windows were bullet and blast-proof and the corridors meant guards could move quickly from one point to the next. The walls weren't quite what they appeared to be either. Steel reinforcement webs and the best fireproofing money could buy were just two of the secrets hidden within them.
Doctor Wijnand followed his escort into the waiting room outside President Cherniakhovskii's office. The red light over the door was on but it switched to green almost immediately. Wijnand's escort spoke into the intercom then ushered him through the door. At 53, President Cherniakhovskii was the youngest Marshal of the Russian Army in many, many years and the abilities that had gained him military success had also made him Zhukov's designated heir. On becoming President, he'd summarized Russian policy in a single sentence. “There are two groups of people a good Russian never forgets: his friends and his enemies.” He didn't rise as Wijnand entered his office but he did wave his visitor to one of the seats in front of his desk.
'it is always a pleasure to see the Head of the International Commission of the Red Cross, Doctor Wijnand. How are things in Europe?”
Wijnand grasped the implication of the greeting immediately. President Cherniakhovskii had the time and inclination to speak with the Head of the ICRC, he had neither the time nor the desire to speak with a European politician. He was expected to frame his words accordingly.
“Good Morning Mr. President. It is always a pleasure to visit Russia and see the speed with which your country is recovering from the devastation of war. I only wish that the recovery of Europe could take place at the same speed. Although the Great Famine is a thing of the past now, our farmers still have far to go before their productivity reaches pre-war levels. It is thought that there are long-term effects from the American bombing of Germany that nobody fully understands.”
“I doubt that Doctor Wijnand. I doubt that very much. I believe instead that God has withdrawn His Grace from Europe and turned His Face against Europeans. I believe that Hitler was an Antichrist and Europe failed to oppose him when he was weak and powerless. In that failure of will, the countries of Europe betrayed both God and the rest of humanity. “Now Europe, having failed in its duties as a great power, is given just enough to survive but not enough to be of any great consequence in the scheme of things. Russia also failed in those years but our struggle, aided by God and our American allies, redeemed us and God smiles upon us again. For you, now your privations must redeem you. But that is past now and we must look to the future.”
Wijnand listened to the rebuke impassively. Since the disappearance of communism, there had been a void in Russian life that the Eastern Orthodox Church had returned to fill. In its new form, it was a taciturn and gloomy religion, given to the presumption of a strict and demanding deity that rewarded good and punished sin with the same merciless diligence. The concept of hating sin but not the sinner didn't figure in this equation; both were due the same pitiless retribution just as virtues and those who practiced them gained abundant rewards. Sinners had to earn redemption for their sins by suffering both in this life and the next, those who were redeemed gained earthly success as well as rewards in the hereafter.
Viewed in that context, President Cherniakhovskii's comments could be understood - and Wijnand had an uneasy feeling he could be right. And the pointed remark about European insignificance was correct as well. Wijnand had seen the film from the battlefield north of the Don; the Second Ukrainians were deploying more military force than the whole of Europe put together and they were just one of the five (or was it eight, the numbers were confused and contradictory) Fronts involved. Then again, Europe didn't have American Marshall Aid dollars bankrolling its military or its industrial recovery.
“This is so and it is the future that the Red Cross wishes to discuss with you and the rest of the Russian Government.”
That was a polite fiction; Wijnand was speaking to the only part of the Russian Government that was of any significance. “The attack on New Schwabia...” It was a mistake and Wijnand knew it as soon as the words were out of his mouth. President Cherniakhovskii voice was a lash that cut across the room.
“I think you mean our liberation of Kalmykia, the Kuban and Georgia presently occupied by Nazis?”
Wijnand cursed himself. It was easy to forget that the President was also the toughest, most ruthless General Russia had produced in a generation of senior officers noted for their toughness and ruthlessness. And he was a Russian patriot.
“My apologies President Cherniakhovskii, I merely used the name as a general term for the area occupied by fascists. It is, of course, certain that the areas in question will indeed be liberated by the Russian Army. May I ask what you intend to do with the surviving Germans who are in the area after liberation.”
“Certainly you may ask Doctor. We intend to kill them. Every man, every woman, every child.”
The stark, uncompromising statement hit Wijnand in the pit of his stomach. This was what he and the rest of the ICRC had guessed but hearing it spoken so coldly and with such certainty was vastly different. This was what they had feared and what he had come to Moscow to prevent. Somehow,