Hammer of God (Kirov Series Book 14) (22 page)

He
shook his head, weary as the next 5cm mortar round came down on the hillside.
“Perhaps were all just fools, Popski. We thought we could do something to make
an end of war before it makes an end of us all, but one thing leads to another
here, and I’m not so sure we can do anything to prevent what’s going to happen.
Here we are, the warriors from the future, demigods for all we know, and with
weapons no man of your day can really comprehend. But we sit in this fort like
the men who first built it, and now it is only that steep barren hill out
there, only these stone walls and that moat that will prevent the Germans from
killing us. You see, we aren’t demigods after all—we’re just men like you and
all the others here, and all men die.”

“True
enough, but don’t sell yourself short. Kinlan’s lads had something to say about
Rommel’s plans. Yes? You thought we could give the British a leg up here by
taking this fort, but alright, the Germans surprised us—a wolf in the fold. They
weren’t in your history books—too bad for us. Yet those Marines of yours don’t
seem to care much about that. Damn good men, this lot. That said, we’ve only
twenty here, gods or men, and the Germans have a whole lot more. If they do
stop the British like you say, then they’ll also have the time they need to
pound this place to dust. That’s what it will come down to. If they have the rounds
with them, they can break this fort. So it might be nice to have a few of those
metal monsters Brigadier Kinlan brought along,” he sighed. “Think we’d better
call in some help?”

“This
place is too far away,” said Fedorov. “We can’t expect any help from Kinlan…”
He stopped, thinking. “But we might get some help from the Argonauts.” The
light of an idea was in his eyes again. “They could get out here on those X-3
helos, and with a lot more firepower.”

Popski
raised an eyebrow at that. “I’ve seen enough of this war to know what the world
is in for if it goes on much longer. But getting a look at the way you people
fight is enough to chill any man’s bones. I’ve always had respect for a good
machinegun, but something about the weapons on those things are… well,
murderous. Just the same, if you plan to hold this fortress, then I think we’re
going to need all the help we can get. Otherwise, it might be best to call that
whirlybird of yours back and get the men out, if we can.”

Part VIII

Lock
& Key

“
A man who is of sound mind is one
who keeps the inner madman under lock and key,”

—
Paul Valery

Chapter 22

The
news concerning the
German accord with Turkey fell hard when it reached Alexandria. Admiral Tovey immediately
called for a conference with Wavell, Cunningham, and Admiral Volsky to
determine what they might now do.

“This
was the blow that Churchill really feared,” he said. “It is not as if we have
lost Turkey, but the fact that they have signed this non-aggression pact with
Hitler greatly complicates our defense of the Middle East. The Germans have
obtained right of free passage over Turkish territory! We had the same right in
Iraq, and it eventually came to blows there. Something tells me things will get
very complicated for us, and very soon.”

Wavell
took the news the hardest of all. “Look here, gentlemen,” he said gravely. “The
Germans managed to get a couple regiments of their 5th Mountain Division in to
Syrian ports in the north while we were still licking our wounds after that big
naval engagement. This move against Cyprus was also a surprise. It seems that
even though we have the foresight of what is to come from our Russian friends,
we keep getting caught flat footed in the middle of the ring, and taking one on
the chin! If the Germans can utilize the Turkish rail system, then they can
move heavy divisions south into Syria, and I don’t have to tell you what that
will mean. Bletchley Park says they have already picked up chatter concerning
the movement of an entire German Motorized Corps, and here we are, working the
repair shops night and day to try and put the semblance of one armored division
back together for North Africa! These Scimitars Brigadier Kinlan sent us have
helped offset the French advantage in armor in Syria and Lebanon, but can they
stop a German Panzer Division?”

Admiral
Volsky spoke now, in Russian, directly to Wavell. “If my Mister Fedorov were
here he might address that question. And while he might also wish to apologize
at failing to warn you of Cyprus, realize that none of these events took place
in the history we know. Crete was the target of the German airborne
operation—the last of the war—not Cyprus. So it seems the Germans may also be
getting some good advice. I remind you that Ivan Volkov has seen the future
course of this war, and he could be guiding these moves by the Germans.”

“Of
course I can affix no blame on you or your able Captain Fedorov,” said Wavell.
“But the fact remains that the Germans now have an overland route to reinforce
their position in the Levant by rail, and that will also solve a major
logistical problem for them. I must say that I was not all that concerned with
the arrival of that mountain division. I expected that we might also see some troops
air lifted to Syria and Lebanon as well, particularly now that they Germans
will have good bases on Cyprus. Yet in my mind this buildup could be no more
than a holding action against us, because the Germans will have to supply
anything they send, and the French can only give them so much. You see, it was
really a matter of logistics.”

“Very
true,” said Tovey. “Churchill has latched onto that as well. I’m sure he has
communicated his desires to you, Admiral Cunningham—because he’s certainly
given me an earful.”

“Yes,”
said Cunningham. “What you say is not quite correct, General Wavell. Getting
right of passage on Turkish rails is certainly a boon for Hitler, but those
rail lines all begin in one place—Istanbul.”

“Precisely,”
said Tovey. “The Prime Minister noticed that little detail as well, and he now
wishes us to contemplate how we might cut that rail line at its root, lest the
tree bear some rather bitter fruit, which is exactly how he put the matter to
me.”

“You
mean he wants you to interdict the Turkish Straits?”

“That
he does,” said Cunningham, “and with no more than two battleships at hand, that
will be a tall order. It would have to be battleships, of course. Nothing else
really has the muscle to close the straits.”

“But
that would mean we would have to fire on barge traffic across the Bosphorus!”
Wavell exclaimed. “That traffic would all be owned and managed by the Turks.
How could we train our guns there without so antagonizing Turkey that they
would end up as another active belligerent against us, just like France after
Mers el Kebir?”

“Agreed,”
said Tovey, “on all counts. First off, we haven’t the naval power here yet to
risk sending a strong force to the Dardanelles. They would have to transit the
Aegean, past German occupied Cyprus and Rhodes, run the gauntlet of German air
power in Greece and Bulgaria. It would be suicidal. Secondly, what General
Wavell says is perfectly true. Suppose we did win through, perhaps with the air
defense umbrella that our friends from the future can provide us. What then?
Yes, we would find ourselves in the awkward position of having to fire on those
barges. It would not be a hot minute before Turkish shore batteries would be
forced to reply, and then we’ve got another Mers el Kebir on our hands, just as
Wavell has it.”

“I
pointed this out to the Prime Minister,” said Admiral Cunningham, “but he
appears adamant, and insists the navy must do everything possible to choke off
those straits.”

Wavell
shook his head, with dark memories of Gallipoli rising in his mind. “He’ll get
us into a shooting war with Turkey with that line,” he said. “We must find some
other solution. Can’t the Turkish government be made to see reason?”

“It
seems the Germans have made some rather enticing offers, and brought both a
carrot and a stick to the table,” said Tovey. “They moved an army to the
Turkish border, loaded up on Rhodes, and Ivan Volkov even began moving troops
to the eastern Turkish frontier. That let the Turks in on what might soon
happen if they failed to negotiate. Then, promises of a return of the
Dodecanese Islands, or perhaps ceding certain territories in Northern Syria,
were apparently enough of a carrot to conclude the negotiations in Germany’s
favor. “

“Churchill
wanted to try the very same thing,” said Wavell. “He was talking about that at
the conference at Siwa, let alone the fact that we had not yet launched our
operation to secure Syria. He still thought we might cede territory there in
exchange for Turkish cooperation.”

“The
best we were ever likely to get was continued Turkish neutrality,” said Tovey.
“Even that much would be better than the situation we now face. So we have
quite a thorny problem on our hands, gentlemen. If we do nothing to interdict
those straits, then the Germans will certainly ferry units across to move by
rail to Syria—units we will have a hard time matching, let alone defeating in
the campaign now underway. Yet if we do commit the navy to this action, we risk
further antagonizing Turkey, along with grievous losses that may also ensue.”

“Well,”
said Admiral Volsky. “This is a difficult problem, but I believe I may have a
solution for you.”

They
all looked at him when Nikolin completed the translation, and Tovey was the
first to speak. “If you are proposing to take this task on yourself, Admiral
Volsky, I cannot ask you to shoulder this risk. The air power the Germans could
bring to bear would be formidable, even for your ship. And given the fact that
your missile count is running thinner and thinner with each engagement…”

“I
thank you for your consideration, Admiral, but I do not propose to take my ship
to the Turkish Straits. You are correct. We must husband our valuable air
defense missiles whenever possible. I also have some very long range weapons we
call cruise missiles. I suppose I could sail to a point northeast of Cyprus and
fire them all the way across Turkey, but hitting a target in the straits would
pose another problem.”

“You
can actually fire at such ranges?” Cunningham was astounded.

“I
have a missile that can range out 660 kilometers, but again, we must first see
a target before we can hit it. In our day that was not difficult, because we
had other means of observation, but we need not discuss that here. I have only
ten such missiles, and again, they might be put to much better use elsewhere.
But
Kirov
is not the solution I propose.”

They
all waited, wondering what Admiral Volsky was leading to. “My friends,” said
Volsky. “You will forgive me now if I seem like a poker player who has kept an
ace hidden up his sleeve, but this is the case. We have another asset in
theatre, and one I chose to keep secret unless it was absolutely necessary to
disclose the information. This is because secrecy and stealth are some of the
primary weapons this asset uses in waging war. The less known about it, the
better. This was how I reasoned things through, and so I have said nothing
about it. Gentlemen,” he smiled, “we have a submarine at our disposal—a Russian
submarine from the year 2021, and one of the most dangerous and capable boats
ever designed. It is called the
Kazan
.”

Tovey
raised an eyebrow, but the news was too good for him to harbor any ill feeling
over the fact that Volsky had concealed this information. “A submarine? Of
course!  How long has this vessel been operating here?”

“For
some time. The movement we made to this time was to have been coordinated with
Kazan
,
but things fell out of sync. In all truth, we were both simply trying to get
home, to our own time. Lord knows both of our ships were dearly needed there—in
another war—but that was not to be. So we fight this one instead.
Kazan
arrived some time after we did, using the very same means that permitted us to
move in time. This is a long story, gentlemen, but may we suffice it to say
that the submarine is here, and in fact it has already fought on our side. All
those missiles we flung at the Franco-German fleet did not come from my ship
alone, and the
Strausbourg
did not sink because of wounds it received in
that battle. It was
Kazan
that put it at the bottom of the sea.”

“I
have also considered using our own submarines,” said Tovey. “Yes, they are the
one asset that might avoid the key threat in any transit of the Aegean—enemy
air power. Yet they are slow when submerged, and would have to travel on the
surface most of the time, increasing the risk of air attack. With luck I
thought we might get one or two through the Dardanelles undetected, but once
they make their attack, the Turks would likely seal off that narrow passage
behind them, and the subs would be trapped in the Sea of Marmara. It would
likely be another suicide mission, and we have all too few in theatre to
spend.”

“Churchill
won’t be so miserly,” said Cunningham. “He’ll say the loss of one or two
submarines would be a small price to pay. Just a few weeks ago he was willing
to expend a battleship to try and interdict Tripoli!”

“Perhaps,
but it would be a bill we have to pay each week. One attack would not close
those straits, and after the first, a second attempt might be impossible.”

“It’s
a capital idea,” said Cunningham, “but I certainly see the
difficulties—undersea nets, minefields, and even deployment of destroyers and
corvettes in the straits. Yes, it would be a gun we could only fire once, and
we might not even sink enough enemy barges to make a difference.”

“
Kazan
could make a difference,” said Volsky, “I assure you. It is not slow, and can
remain submerged, traveling at very high speeds, indefinitely.”

“But
won’t it be subject to the same threats in those narrow waters?”

“No.
It will not, because it can attack without even entering the straits, or
transiting the Sea of Marmara.
Kazan
has more weapons than torpedoes. Our
submarine also has missiles, similar to those I use on my ship, but even more
advanced models. It can get into a good firing range in the Aegean Sea
completely undetected, and unbothered by enemy air power. They will not even
know it is there! Even my ship, with its advanced sonar systems, would have
difficulty finding that submarine, and this even if we knew it was near us.
Trying to time and target the ferry or barge traffic might be impractical, but
we could destroy the rail terminals on the Asian side of the straits, and that
would cause a considerable delay.”

“But
didn’t you say you would have to see the target in order to strike?”

“Under
normal circumstances, but
Kazan
has something we call an advanced cruise
missile. It has a special means of inertial navigation, and can therefore fly
to any target where he have good spatial coordinates. We know exactly where
those facilities are, and can therefore strike them with pinpoint accuracy. So
in the short run, gentlemen, if I commit this asset to the task, it will get
through any defense the enemy could possibly mount, and successfully strike any
target we assign. Once we do strike, then fear becomes another weapon in our
favor. Yes, I know that it may be a long and difficult struggle ahead, and
Kazan
may not have the munitions to keep those straits closed indefinitely. This is
not what I propose. But it can strike
now
, to inhibit or stop the flow
of German reinforcements and supplies at a most critical time. That is what
Kazan
can buy you, time to do everything possible at concluding your operations on
land before the German buildup makes that impossible.”

“It
would also satisfy the Prime Minister,” said Cunningham, “and likely save the Royal
Navy a lot of misery. But won’t it cause political problems with the Turkish
Government? They may have come to believe we have these rockets. After all,
they have only been used against ships in battle with the Royal Navy, and who
else could be using them?”