“I wish I could say I knew,” said Fedorov. “Perhaps Kamenski might weigh in on this, if he were still with us. But what will happen concerning your brother isn’t something we can control. Orlov, however, is another matter. He’s going to turn up somewhere, and my first thought was to start scouring the history to see if I could find any clues.”
“You mean in the event he appears in the past?”
“Yes. Remember that you fell out of a shift and appeared here long before we did—in 1938. That’s what gave you the time to work your way into Kolchak’s web. Orlov might do that. Technically, he could appear in any time after that moment in 1908, and before the 30th of June in 1940, which was when we arrived here again after attempting to shift forward with Kazan. He could also appear some time in our future. But speaking of that, we have another problem—Kazan.”
“What about it?”
“The submarine has reappeared. Gromyko is here again. We picked up a message beacon on our secure radio set. I actually spoke with him.”
“What? He sent a message? We never heard it.”
“Perhaps atmospheric conditions were not good, but remember, I was much closer to his position when we picked it up.”
“Where was he?”
“Up near Murmansk, and he wanted to talk. In fact, if you want to know the truth, I was trying to arrange a rendezvous with him.”
“So you could lock arms and come after me with that damn sub?” There was a flash of anger in Karpov’s eyes now.”
“Nothing had gone that far in my thinking,” said Fedorov. “Don’t get yourself all in a fit. But he’s here, and Kazan is here, and now we have that to consider. I never made my rendezvous with him, as we made that incredible detour to 1908. I almost could not believe my luck in that, but when it came right down to it, sitting there with a pistol in my hand under the table, I just could not kill that young man. I couldn’t do it.”
Karpov’s eyes narrowed, but he nodded his head. “I didn’t think you could either, and as you can see, everything is still here as it was. Your theory about our reaching an event here that would knock out some key pillar in the line of causality is all bullshit. That was what I figured out after you departed, and why I cancelled the mission. I don’t know what might have happened if you did kill Sergei Kirov, but I wasn’t going to take the chance of finding out. So I…. over reacted—the missile. Understand?”
Fedorov knew that was as close to an apology as he might get from Karpov, and he nodded his head. “And I over reacted as well,” he said. “See how easy it is to fall back on reflex, open old wounds, become enemies when that’s the last damn thing this world needs of us now. We’re in some deep shit here, Karpov. We’re responsible for this whole mess, and it’s up to us to do what we can to clean it up.”
“Still thinking we can reset all the pieces on the board? We can’t, Fedorov. This is the game in front of us now, and all we can do is make the best moves possible in this situation, win, lose, or draw. Time is settling in to the reality we’ve created here. You and I remember things that never happened here—all that bullshit we threw at each other when you first came in. I think Time has abandoned that game, called it a draw, and moved on. This is where things count now—this game decides it for the world championship, and were’ two pawns down, with one knight missing—Orlov, and another out there somewhere that we need to move to a good square—Gromyko.”
“That was what I came to in the end,” said Fedorov. “This is it for us now. We’ll never get home, and we’ll never switch it all back. Frankly, if I were you, I’d blow that damn railway inn to hell and be done with it, because you’re right, Karpov, this is the only game left now, and by god, we’ve got to win it. Volkov is out there raising hell, and now the Japanese have yet another edge with that destroyer. It’s time we showed some muscle.”
“Now you’re talking,” said Karpov. “Yes, now we fight to win this thing. Help me. Stand with me, and let us forget the past. The future is enough of a burden for us, and something tells me it will take both of us to carry it.”
Fedorov offered a solemn nod of his head, then extended his hand. “Allies,” he said. “And now we fight to win.”
Part VII
Fire on the Volga
Chapter 19
“A fine mess,” said Manstein as he convened the meeting at Army Group Don’s HQ. They had moved to Morozovsk, largely because much of the ground south of Tatsinskaya, though German controlled, had not been thoroughly patrolled, and the threat from Partisans was very real. Morozovsk was also closer to the action near Oblivskaya, and the General wished to gather his Lieutenants to plan what would happen next. There were a lot of hats around the table, Knobelsdorff, Wietersheim, and Division Commanders Theodore Eicke of the 3rd SS Division, and Hermann Balck of the 11th Panzer.
“Just how strong is the threat developing towards Oblivskaya?” asked Manstein, looking at Eicke.
“We were hard pressed for the last week, but my men held firm. The division was close to full strength when we were up north. Since then, casualties have been heavy, but we still have a lot of fight in us, particularly after the arrival of those heavy panzers.”
“Good,” said Manstein. “Are you still under heavy pressure?”
“Not at the moment. They have come a long way, and also fought hard to get here. I think they are low on fuel and supplies now, and there are few good roads from here up to their bridgeheads over the Don. We should have cleaned those up long ago, and before Steiner moved for Kalach.”
“True,” said Manstein, “but we barely had the infantry to cover the front. An attack was out of the question. I had to fly to Hitler’s HQ just to make sure I could get us your Panzer Korps, Herr Wietersheim. What is the situation on that end of the field?”
“I have my 24th Panzer Division on the line now, and it has stabilized the situation north of Tatsinskaya. They fell back there as we advanced, and the front is now about 45 kilometers north of the airfield. General Lenski’s division is sitting right on the seam between two of their Shock Armies. He has our 305th Infantry to his right, and I moved the 72nd onto the line to his left. But General Knobelsdorff has been greedy this week,” he said with a smile. “He’s stolen away my 9th Panzer Division!”
“It could not be helped,” said Manstein. “Otto is going to bear the brunt of what is to come. That was some very fancy footwork to salvage the situation there.”
“You can thank General Balck,” said Knobelsdorff, a well decorated general with a pair of Iron Crosses and his Silver Panzer Badge prominent on his uniform. “I was barely on the scene after Kempf left, and by the time I got there, Balck had mastered the situation.”
Balck nodded, never one to seek praise, but nonetheless happy to have a job well done acknowledged. “The division did the work,” he said. “The enemy was cocky, and heedless at times. Our boys taught them a few lessons.”
“Yes,” said Manstein, “and it appears they are learning quicker than we thought. Note how they enfiladed Eicke’s division on both sides, and by operating two mobile corps in tandem on each end. I think we must destroy these formations while they are regrouping now. If we give them time to resupply and get up fresh vehicles, this will all start again. So here is what I propose. A pity we could not save Surovinko earlier, but now I think we must get it back. General Wietersheim, please forgive me, but as your 9th Panzer has already moved so far east, I will reassign that division to Knobelsdorff’s 48th Korps. In return, I am bringing up the 23rd Panzer from the Rostov sector. The attack on that city needs infantry, and it will not be forthcoming for some time. Halder has given everything to von Rundstedt. That said, this river here, the Bystraya, marks the Corps boundary, right where you have positioned your 24th Panzer Division, and right at the seam between the enemy 2nd and 3rd Shock Armies. Everything west of that goes to your Korps, General Wietersheim, including the 294th arriving from Yugoslavia, and the two Luftwaffe Field Divisions.”