“It is estimated that their army will not be ready for offensive operations until the fall of 1947. According to their past behavior and information from our sources in the United States the indications show that they will not attempt to launch any large-scale counterattacks during the fall, so we are confident that the earliest we will see any land forces attempting to regain Western Europe will be the spring of 1948.”
“But you do not know this for sure? You have no documentation nor do you have very many reports of overheard conversations or eyewitness accounts to confirm your theory… have you Beria?!”
“No. I do not Esteemed Comrade.”
“What do your Cambridge sources tell you from the British perspective about the Americans’ preparations?”
“There seems to be deliberate withholding of information between the Americans and British strategic planners. We know virtually everything about British intentions and strategic plans, but virtually nothing about the Americans from that particular source comrade. It would appear that there is a widening of the rift between the Americans and British, one that we can potentially exploit.”
“Yes… what is it, Novikov? Stop bouncing around in your chair.”
“Comrade, if I may? The upcoming operations against the British should give us a significant indication as to where the Americans stand. We outnumber the British Lion almost four to one in aircraft and they will surely fall, without any assistance from the Americans. If the Americans intervene in our second Battle of Britain, then we can assume that their alliance is strong. If none or little American assistance is present once the attacks start in earnest, then we can derive that the alliance is on its last legs and an invasion might be an option.”
“Interesting idea Novikov; until we discover exactly what is happening with the Americans, I want the eighty divisions in Manchuria and Mongolia to be ready to counter any move. They are to refrain from any offensive action and are to wait and react to events. Increase the rail capacity leading up to the border with Turkey. Marshal enough rolling stock to enable a force of thirty divisions to instantly move west to the Turkish border. In the meantime, keep those forces on alert for any contingency.”
“Excellent proposal Comrade; at this point, there is nothing worth much in the area. Why would we want to invade a bunch of starving Chinese or a destroyed Korea? No, there is no point in further conquest in the Far East until the matter is settled in the west. In the meantime, we can just keep supporting our brothers and sisters in arms over there, and let them carry the fight to their own capitalist overlords.”
“It was not a proposal, Marshal Zhukov.”
“Of course, Esteemed Comrade; I apologize.”
Chapter Twenty-Five:
Plans Take Shape
“Let’s see… Let me get my glasses.”
“Jeez, you’re getting old.”
“Just wait… just wait… Okay”
Aug. 17, 1946
To: President Truman
Status Report
Strategic Air Command
Submitted by General George C. Kenney
Commander, Strategic Air Command
Personneclass="underline"
August 1945 — 2.25 million
April 1946 — 485,000
Present Trained USAAF — 515,080
Present recruits — 234,980
Present in SAC — 89,760
Aircraft:
Total USAAF August 1945 — 79,000
Total USAAF April 1946 — 9,068 with 21,675 in storage
Present Combat aircraft in USAAF — 7685
Present Combat aircraft in SAC — 2872
S.A.C.
Permanent Facilities:
August 1945 USAAF — 783
April 1946 USAAF- 177
Present USAAF — 235
Present SAC — 43
Projected SAC by P-Day
Personneclass="underline" 108,650
Combat Aircraft:
F-80A & B jet fighters: 898
P-51, P-47, P-38 Long-range escorts: 1,563
B-32 Heavy Bombers: 332
B-29A Heavy Bombers: 793
B-29 Silverplates: 24
Mark III Atomic Bombs: 4
Facilities:
We have increased both our capacity, and number of facilities concentrating on Great Britain, Spain, Egypt, Libya, Palestine, Selected Islands in the Mediterranean and Turkey.
Our air assets will reveal their presence at our bases in Spain and England in increasing numbers designed to convey our intentions of commencing a bombing campaign from the bases located in the respective countries.
The command in England will remain designated the 8th Air Force, now assigned to the Strategic Air Command. The command in Spain will be designated the 15th Air Force, assigned to the Strategic Air Command.
Our bases on the Mediterranean coast as well as those in Turkey and Egypt are classified as *** TOP SECRET, NEED TO KNOW *** facilities. Personnel that assigned to these bases are under high security and are so permanently assigned until further notice. At this point we are confident that the Soviets are unaware of our acquisition and expansion of these assets.
Notes on Personneclass="underline"
As per Presidential Executive Order 3769 -
All of the personnel recruited and placed into the Strategic Air Command have been granted the highest security clearance available. Each and every member of S.A.C. has been virtually handpicked and then extensively interviewed and then subjected to severely-thorough background checks.
We are confident that all of the personnel are worthy of the highest security clearances they have been granted. We have spent countless hours ascertaining the loyalty of our personnel. We are confident that our personnel are true American patriots whose only loyalty is to God and country.
This has meant compromises resulting in many “old hands” and highly trained U.S.A.A.F. personnel were not chosen for S.A.C. for various reasons regarding national security.
The Counter Intelligence Corps will utilize the presence of some of our more well-known strategic-bombing experts in an effort to affirm our intention to the enemy’s intelligence apparatus of our intent to use the bases in England and Spain as our main staging areas for any future bombing campaigns. Similar to the use of the decoy First U.S. Army Group commanded by General Patton before and during D-Day.
The Strategic Air Command will have a hard transition period and mistakes will undoubtedly be made. Many S.A.C. personnel were placed in positions for which they currently untrained for and as a result lack experience. Security was and remains paramount. We will make operational errors that may well cost lives because of this inexperience.
We are assured that there will be no security breaches.
This was accomplished in order to fulfill the requirements of the Presidential Executive Order.