“Oh shit here’s the Maior… pretend you putting away your pecker so he things we were pissing.”
Yeorgi will have good dreams of childhood tonight. Remembrances of times past. Remembrances of times without killing and death. Memories of an ugly swimming mole thousands of miles away and far from thousands of deaths as well. Tonight his childhood will come flooding back to him. Tomorrow he will kill or be killed but tonight is for memories. Tonight is for a little creature found in only two places on earth. Little does Yeorgi know but later in the spring he will once more be in the Caucuses near his Grandparents old home site fighting for his life from a gunshot wound to his left lung while the desmans he knew and loved will sniff the air and taste his blood in the water. The last thing he will hear is a desman calling his mate and it will bring a smile to his face as his final death rattle escapes his lips.
The smell of ozone was a pungent reminder of all the electronic equipment placed around the map room. Teletypes and radios gave off that distinctive smell. It reminded some of the younger officers of their electric toy trains. Before the war they were popular although you had to be rich to own one. Many of the younger officers in the room were from wealthy families. Families that made sure they were in the command structure and not on the frontline. Being rich has its privileges even in America.
The lighting in the room was subdued to remind those gathered around that it was 0424 hours outside but in Europe it was mid-morning and that’s what mattered in this enclosed enclave of the brain trust of the US military. General Eisenhower was back for a rare meeting with Truman and the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The Generals gathered around the large map of the Pyrenees Region of Europe were contemplating their next move. Ironically each was suspicious that there was a mole amongst them when in reality there wasn’t. Each was guarded with their true thoughts and the meeting was rather stiff and heavy with non-committal statements and laced with short, stiff questions and answers. Individually they knew that they personally were not spies but the word from the FBI and other sources pointed to a spy in their mists. Each had known each other for years and therefore could not imagine anyone of them being the mole but the evidence was overwhelming. Someone at the highest level was leaking information to the Communists and that information was getting to Stalin.
Little did they know that each and every one of them was innocent and the real spy was a janitor who had a photographic memory.[18] One look and it was etched in his brain forever. When he got back to his low rent apartment he simply wrote down what he saw and heard that day. He also copied the maps from memory. Just a glance and he had every detail ready to reproduce the most intricate maps. It was an amazing genetic skill that had made him quite a bit of money. That’s why he did it. He didn’t care about capitalism or communism. All he cared about was that the army paid a barely livable wage but the guy with the heavy accent paid him in gold for his days’ work. He had almost $3000 in gold hidden and could soon have enough to start that camera store he had been dreaming about ever since he got his first Brownie camera. That was before his father died and then his mother had to sell the camera to get food on the table. The foreign guy has warned him not to spend any of the money under threat of death.
Maybe he was leaning towards communism. I bet they didn’t let their children starve just because their father died in an industrial accident. His mother was helpless when his sister took ill. A simple dose of medicine would have saved her but there was no money in the house and she had died. Yes I guess he could see the advantages of communism. Everyone was supposed to be equal and took care of each other. He was sure his mother would have been a communist but she died when he was 16. He avoided the orphanage and somehow stayed alive in Washington D.C. getting a lucky break by being in the right place at the right time for once in his life.
The generals knew nothing of this and were discussing the situation in Spain.
“We need to shore up the line near Ripoll. They can’t hold much past next month and have to be relieved. I suggest that we make a lot of hype and hoopla and send in the Big Red One. That will get the attention of the Reds and convince them that we mean business in Spain and that they had better double down.”
“It’s probably over kill Bill but I agree. It will show the Brits and Spanish that we mean business as well as the Reds. It will be a good moral booster and will keep everyone’s attention on the Pyrenees Line instead of elsewhere.”
“Ed write an order for me to sign promoting Frank Milburn back to Corps Command and promote George Taylor to take over the 1st Division. Give him another star along with that promotion.”
“You mean Taylor from the 16th Regiment? The one with the great quote from D-Day?”[19]
“That would be him. Play it up in the press. One of America’s greatest heroes is being sent to Spain to stem the Red Army etc. Play up his quote to about “there being only two kinds of people on the beach. The dead and the about to die.” or whatever he said and let’s make some hay with his promotion and being sent to Spain. We want the Reds attention fixed on the Pyrenees and not looking over their shoulder. We’ll pull the Big Red One out after the first amphibious assault and use them for a later operation but for right now we need them and their notoriety in Spain.”
Luckily for all involved the janitor was not working that night and did not hear or see anything relating to future operations outside of Spain. The secret was safe for now.
A large map of Britain with range circles drawn out from various points along the French and English Channel coast line. The light is harsh and bright in the large room. Right now it is quiet but soon it will the main focal point of the Red Army Air Force or VVS. It is late and two men are alone in the room discussing the upcoming operations.
Aren’t you glad that you listened to that Sergo fellow Marshal Novikov and increased production of the Tu2s over the IL 10?”
“Yes I am Paval. They are perfect for the upcoming attacks on the RAF. So fast that they can almost be their own fighter cover once they drop their bombs. They are more complicated to produce but well worth the effort. It’s as if Sergo knew we were going to attack the British. Do you suppose he put the thought in comrade Stalin’s ear? I do not recall this being a priority when the plan was laid out in December? “
“I of course am not privilege to such discussions comrade Marshal.”
“Ha I suppose not Paval… yes I suppose not. Those Tu2s will no doubt be very effective for what we have in mind. Very fast and can still carry a good bomb load. They can get to their target fast and back to base even faster. Too fast for some of the older fighters even. Very similar to the British Mosquito except much stronger and able to take a beating. Carries more munitions also. We will have over 2000 ready for the upcoming battle along with 150 of the Tu 10. Now this one is a very impressive plane with a top speed close to the Mosquito. NATO now calls the Tu 2 the Bat.”
“Tupolev has really become a hero of the Soviet Union. Imagine designing a plane while in a prison cell and then have it impress Stalin so much that he is freed and made a hero. Quite a story.”
“I’m sure he could have done even better if he hadn’t been put in that sharshka that is for certain. I guess all that ends well is good. He will have a bright future if I have any sway with comrade Stalin.”
“I’m sure you will comrade Marshal. I’m sure you will.”
“The conversion of many of the Yak 3s and Yak 9s to long distance DD models is almost finished. The IL10s, Lag 7s and Pe 2s have been given drop tanks if needed extending their ranges as the fight progresses. There is no part of the British Islands that we cannot reach in overwhelming numbers with escorted bombers in numbers never seen over British skies. Combined with the sortie rate we had over Berlin of over 6,000 a day we can cover quite a large swath of enemy territory with overwhelming odds.”
18
Out of the Cold: The Cold War and Its Legacy edited by Michael R. Fitzgerald, Allen Packwood
19
The Dead and Those about to Die: D-Day: the Big Red One at Omaha Beach by John C. McManus