“Everyone knows how close we came to defeat in that one. I just hope we learned our lessons as well. At least we have much more advanced warning and can concentrate our resources better. On the other hand, the numbers the Soviets can put in the air against us are staggering, and we have a little more than a month to prepare.”
“Yes sir… I…”
“Well? What is it Ronald? Spit it out.”
“Where are the Americans, sir? I know that for propaganda purposes, we have a few units of American P-80’s available, but we both know that the bulk of the U.S.A.A.F. is just not to be found, despite the press releases.”
“We shall have to defend our home alone for a while Ronald. It’s all part of the plan that we agreed upon, long ago. We are going to take it on the chin, but in the end, it will help win the war.”
“It all sounds very familiar sir.”
“How so, Ronald?”
“Well in brief, sir, we lost our empire in the last war, and we now just might lose our country. Meanwhile, the Americans come in later and pick up the pieces.”
“We really have no options here, Ronald. I will not give in to Stalin’s demands. Our sacrifice will ensure that Stalin is soundly defeated I’m sure of it. The floodgates of Lend-Lease have opened again, and the Americans will be forever in our debt I’ve made sure of that. The world will be free of this Russian plague forever. A couple of months of hell will mean generations of peace and prosperity for our people.”
Combined Chiefs of Staff Meeting
NATO Headquarters
Outside London
August 2nd, 1946
In attendance:
United Kingdom:
Field-Marshal Sir Bernard Law Montgomery, 1st Viscount of Alamein, Royal Army
Admiral of the Fleet Sir Andrew Browne Cunningham, 1st Viscount Cunningham of Hyndhope, Royal Navy
Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir William Sholto Douglas, Knight Grand Cross of the Most Honourable Order of Bath, Royal Air Force
United States:
General of the Army Omar Nelson Bradley
General Curtis Emerson LeMay
Admiral DeWitt Clinton Ramsey
Canada:
Lieutenant-General Howard Douglas Graham
France:
Marshal of France Philippe-François Leclerc de Hauteclocque, Comté de Hauteclocque
Belgium:
Lieutenant-General Léon Bievez
Netherlands:
Lieutenant-General Ludolph Hendrik van Oyen
Denmark:
Major-General Valdemar Bjerregaard
Spain:
Rear-Admiral Don Luis Carrero-Blanco, Primer Duque de Carrero-Blanco, Grande de España
Norway:
Lieutenant-General Olaf Helset
Italy:
Ambassador Ruggero Grieco
Corps-General Clemente Primieri
Polish Government-in-Exile’s Army:
Lieutenant-General Władysław Anders
German Volunteer Corps:
General Hasso von Manteuffel
Field-Marshal Montgomery: “Settle down, gentlemen… settle down please. We know that ‘Plan Cocklespur’ has been presented, and agreed upon by all the parties that matter. I just want to make sure we are all in agreement and that there are no misunderstandings, amongst all the parties involved. Mr. Ambassador, we are well aware of your government’s objections to this plan. But the NATO command; at the highest levels have agreed that this is the only possible plan that will eventually save the Italian civilization, and will lessen the suffering of the greater part of the Italian populace. General, please continue…”
General Roberts: “Thank you sir. As I was saying, as of September 1st, 1945, the United States had one division, and some service troops, for a total of approximately 34,000 men in the peninsula. These numbers have not changed. The British have a division, two brigade groups and some artillery regiments, for a total of 70,000 troops supported by 112 RAF aircraft. The Italian Army now fields 90,000 men, largely equipped with modern equipment, plus 210,000 second-line troops and 50,000 lightly-armed police. Those forces are supported by 600 modern aircraft, of which, as of last week, fully twenty percent of those aircraft were grounded for maintenance issues. The main striking force of the Italian Army is two brigades of armor, and one motorized-infantry brigade. The largest ships of Italian Navy were released from British internment in Ismailia in mid-May, and with the aid of American and British naval engineers, have been refitting in their home ports for the last three months. NATO naval inspection teams report that seventy-five percent of its capital ships, and sixty percent of their smaller vessels, are now ready for action. Major General Riley, from NATO J-2, will continue from this point, with the most recent threat assessment.”
Major General Riley: “Thank you sir. We will split our brief into two parts; the first part covers the Yugoslavian forces, while the second part covers the Russian forces backing the Yugoslavians. Our newest estimates put the Yugoslavian military at anywhere between 350,000 to 800,000 troops at full mobilization. We believe that the numbers will be closer to the lower end of that estimate, due to the Yugoslavs’ continuing need for manpower for national rebuilding projects. But we must be aware that the Yugoslav Communists were able to field the higher number for at least four months at the end of the Second World War. The current Yugoslav Army is mainly an infantry and horse-cavalry army. They’ve organized three brigades of horse cavalry since late-1945 which are assigned to act as their forces’ main reconnaissance and pursuit element. Their artillery arm is generally of good quality but rather light in weight of ordnance. It mainly relies on pre-war Royal Yugo Army guns, captured German guns, and a mix of light- to medium-caliber Russian and British weapons. Their tank force has around 400 tanks, of which around 300 are modern T-34/85 tanks that they received earlier this year. The Yugoslav Air force is organized on the Russian model. It fields 700 modern aircraft, organized into four fighter regiments, four attack-bomber regiments, two light-bomber regiments, and a single transport regiment. These are nearly all fairly-modern Russian designs, like the Yak-3, Il-2, and Pe-2. Also they have anywhere from thirty to forty captured German and Italian aircraft that may, or may not be flyable. The Yugoslav Navy is very small, with only nine small armed ships around thirty patrol boats and six coastal-artillery batteries. These batteries are mainly made up of captured German 88-mm guns.
We have now identified three Yugoslav Armies which they call ‘fronts’, after the Soviet model that have deployed to the border region. These armies are tentatively designated as the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. The 1st Army has three infantry divisions, an artillery brigade and a cavalry brigade; the 2nd Army has three infantry divisions, a cavalry brigade, an artillery brigade and an assault-engineer brigade, while the 3rd has four infantry divisions, an artillery brigade, a cavalry brigade, and a tank brigade. Based on their deployment patterns and intercepted radio traffic, we believe the 3rd Army will be the main invasion force, the tip of the spear, as it were.”