“We have been able to identify four rifle divisions and one tank corps of the Russian 31st Guards Army, which have advanced into southern Germany over the last few weeks. These divisions are at close to full-strength and have not seen combat since the early battles in Germany. We believe they will attempt to invade Italy, via the Brenner Pass next week. In southern France, near Nice, there is an additional group of eight Russian rifle divisions and two tank corps that we believe are staging to invade. These divisions saw heavy combat in the drive to the Spanish border. We believe that they are, at best, at two-thirds’ strength, in terms of manpower and equipment. There are also parts of four Russian Air Armies based near Nice, but we don’t know if they are all there to support combat operations in Italy. These units have suffered heavy losses fighting NATO aircraft in France, but still field around 900 modern aircraft. That concludes our threat assessment brief for today.”
General Roberts: “Thank you, General. Finally, we have Brigadier Blackstone, with the J-3 brief. Brigadier, please begin.”
Brigadier Blackstone: “Given the troop commitments of ‘Plan Cocklespur’, and the defenses in Pyrenees, there are no available troops to reinforce the defenses in Italy. The estimates are that the Russians will be able to break through the defenses in the Alpine passes, by D+5. The Yugoslavs should be able to advance along a line, stretching from La Spezia, to Florence, to Ancona, by D+30. With Russian reinforcements, the attack would reach Rome by D+80 and down to the Straits of Messina by D+100. We do not believe that a viable defense of Italy can be accomplished, with the limited forces available.”
“But we do believe that there are alternatives to total defeat. Number one is to defend the Italian-Yugoslav border, evacuate our forces from the Italian west-coast ports, to Sicily. Given the conditions and forces available, this option has been regarded as unfeasible. The second alternative is a fighting retreat that would also relinquish the peninsula, but would delay the enemy advance by as much as five months. The third alternative is to extricate all men and equipment intact to Sicily as rapidly as possible. As the Ambassador knows, such a rapid abandonment of the mainland would have a very negative effect on the morale of the Italian people, but would spare them from further fighting over their already-ravaged land. After carefully considering all the alternatives the planners have concluded that the most effective Allied course of action would be an immediate withdrawal from the Italian peninsula.”
“Corps-General Primieri: Field Marshal, I object to this ridiculous plan! I would encourage you to relieve, at once, all the officers that have wasted our time with this pointless idiocy. It is correct that we are tired of war, but we are prepared to defend our homeland to the death. My God, Field-Marshal, they can only deploy in single brigade-columns in that pass! Should we fail in the passes we have prepared to fall back to the first of five major defensive lines. Those lines can be held forever, given our command of the sea. But those lines will not be needed Field-Marshal, if only NATO will help us. We need at least ten infantry divisions, and two armored divisions to help us defeat the Yugoslavs. We need air units to defend our airspace. Why Field-Marshal, can NATO provide fighters to defend Sicily, but there are none to defend Rome? We need the same sort of Allied Lend-Lease support that is being given to your nation, the Norwegians and the Spanish.”
Field-Marshal Montgomery: “Sir I understand your passion, but the decision has been made at the highest levels. No more NATO troops will be sent to Italy. The risk is simply too great, for such an uncertain gamble.”
Corps-General Primieri: “Field-Marshal, please…”
Field-Marshal Montgomery: “General; that is quite enough! It has been decided, and the issue is now closed. General Roberts, please continue.”
Ambassador Ruggero Grieco: “I have had enough of these insults. Did you really think we did not notice the words you used, ‘agreed upon by all the parties that matter’? Do we not matter? We have not agreed to this surrender. We have prepared an alternate defense plan, which we know will work. But you refuse to listen. We have the third-largest navy in NATO! We have to third-largest army in NATO! You are willing to risk NATO troops by the thousands, defending Franco’s rabid fascisti, but nothing for Italy, for we are too much of a risk. Well, Field-Marshal, we refuse to accept this insult. As you know, it was the Kingdom of Italy that signed the NATO treaty, a nation that no longer exists. We are the now the Republic of Italy, and we see no value in remaining in an organization with allies that refuse to help us. I can now tell you that we have had talks, through the Italian Communist Party with Moscow for the last month or so. They warned us that you would refuse to live up to your end of our agreement. The Russians have offered us a generous peace without occupation.. I have been instructed to inform you that as of midnight, London time, the Republic of Italy formally withdraws from the NATO alliance. Good day, gentlemen.”
Chapter Nineteen:
Other Fronts
London, The U.K.
August 1st 1946
Huge maps of all of Europe and the western U.S.S.R. cover the walls and huge tabletops. The W.A.C.’s are pushing the markers with their hooked end sticks in much the way a Roulette croupier takes your hard-earned cash; a scene familiar to all who have watched a movie on Second World War British air operations.
Two officers are engaged in a heated debate.
“Let’s take this into my office shall we? Alright now settle down, and tell me what this is all about.”
“It’s just that we don’t know who we can trust, and bringing the Brits on this will only broaden the possible leaks. You know full well how screwed up the Leningrad raid was with all those wild stories about guided missiles and such going around. Absolutely ridiculous! Now you want us to let them fly along and include them on the Toulouse raid? It just doesn’t make any sense sir, not at this late date.”
“Listen to me, and listen good. We have to be nice with them or they will get their nose out of joint. It’s only four days until the attack, what can they do to mess it up? They are only asking to include some recon flights with movie-camera operators to catch the whole raid from start to finish. You never know, they might just gain some useful knowledge. I’ve heard they will be taking shots of everything, from soup to nuts. Besides they already know all about our plans, anyway.”
“It’s just a pain in the ass to have to inform them of all the details.”
“If we expect them to hang in there and stay without fighting the second Battle of Britain, we have learn to work together again and to trust one another. Say, have you seen those photos of the Russian rocket sites popping up all over the place? Amazing how fast they have been able to produce all those supposed ground-to-air missiles; quite fishy, if you ask me. Our intelligence says their industrial capacity is not up to the task, yet, here they are.”
“You don’t actually believe that nonsense about them having guided missiles do you General? How could they possibly…”
“The Germans had a missile called the ‘Wasserfall’, that was said to be almost operational. Albert Speer was most adamant on their ability to stop our bombers cold, if he had been allowed to produce them, but Hitler wanted more offensive-minded weapons, and pretty much stopped the program. The Red Army overran their staging area, near the end of the war. We’ve been assured by our wizards that they can jam anything the Soviets can shoot at us. Besides, how could they have them near Toulouse, in time for our raid?”[29]
29
Speer, Albert (1997 Simon & Schuster paperback) [1970]. Inside the Third Reich. New York and Toronto: Macmillan. ISBN 0-684-82949-5. Translated from the German by Richard and Clara Winston.