Kirov Saga: Darkest Hour: Altered States - Volume II (Kirov Series) (27 page)

There,
thought Raeder, a little butter on the bread at last. For that is the point of
all this. Someone got to Kranke to stir things up, but now I have said it, as
plainly as I could. This war must not move East.

Chapter 24

 
“This
was not a defeat,” Raeder continued. “Quite the contrary. It was a strategic
decision to preserve the fleet until such time as we can determine the nature
and scope of this new threat. I would have been foolish to proceed in any other
manner, just as it would also be foolish to consider war with Russia now when
we have the British on their knees waiting for the death blow.”

“What
do you think, Doenitz?” Hitler looked to the head of his U-Boat fleet now,
sitting quietly, saying nothing.

“I must
agree with Admiral Raeder, my Führer. When facing an unknown threat such as
this, caution and discretion are well in order. Now we have some idea what
we're up against. We know these weapons are sufficiently powerful to damage and
sink a destroyer, and with the loss of
Nürnberg
even a light cruiser.”

“But
not the battleships,” Raeder put in quickly. “Yes, there was damage, but it was
not significant. This is a tribute to your own vision, my Führer. The armor
protection we have built into the ships has proved invaluable.”

“Only
if they choose to stand and fight, Raeder,” Hitler admonished.

“And I
might add,” said Doenitz, “that none of these rockets would have been able to
put a scratch on one of my U-boats, would they?”

“A
point well made, Doenitz.” Hitler nodded in agreement. “I have read your latest
budget request and in light of what has happened here I'm inclined to approve
it. As it stands, I do not think we can complete many more battleships in the
short run.”

“
Hindenburg
will be ready in a matter of months,” said Raeder, “and
Oldenburg
soon
after.”

“Yes,
yes,
Hindenburg
and
Oldenburg
. Will they run from the rockets as
well, Raeder? Would they be chased from one end of Norway to the other by a
Russian cruiser?”

“Of
course not, my Führer. I will make it a top priority to find and sink this
Russian ship, and we will show Sergei Kirov who he is dealing with, if you so
order it.”

“See
that you do!” Hitler rapped the table top with the palm of his hand to
emphasize his order. “Yes, I want that ship found, and I want it sunk.”

“We can
certainly do so, yet in light of the political situation…”

“Leave
the politics to me, Admiral. They sink one of our ships, so we will sink one of
theirs.”

“Might
we attempt to capture it, my Führer?” Doenitz proposed the obvious alternative.
“That way we could have a look at these weapons and that could be very useful.”

“Of
course,” said Hitler. “But if it cannot be taken, then it must be sunk. That
will settle the matter.”

“I give
you my pledge on that,” said Raeder, “but there is something that cannot be
overlooked in all these events, and that was the outstanding performance of the
Graf Zeppelin
—two attacks, two British capital ships hit and seriously damaged.”
He wisely decided to say nothing of the abortive third attack. “We must not
overlook the lesson here with all this furor over rocket weapons. Admiral
Canaris is correct, it does not matter who or how the enemy got these
weapons—they clearly have them, and they are not shy about using them. We will
get them soon enough,” Raeder shook his finger confidently.

“I will
see that the research into this area is tripled,” said Hitler. “Yes, we will
get them ourselves, Raeder. I like your spirit!”

Raeder
nodded his appreciation, seeing an opening here. “Yet in the meantime, we already
have a weapon that can find and hit an enemy ship over 200 kilometers away,
twice the range of these rockets—the
Graf Zeppelin!
Seeing what it was
able to do in this engagement has convinced me that we may have relied too
heavily on our battleship program. A few more aircraft carriers to match the
British may be the key factor now. We have the battleships. Yes, we already
know we can match them ship for ship, rockets or no rockets. Now we must look
to the development of more aircraft carriers.”

To
Raeder’s great relief, Hitler did not disagree. “This is what I had hoped to
have in place before the war,” he said. “Yet events and resources did not
permit that. The Japanese have six fleet aircraft carriers, do they not? The
British have many such ships, as do the Americans. For a navy to sail where it
wishes, we must have them as well. Yes, Admiral,
Graf Zeppelin
has
showed us that much, if nothing else. How soon will we have another of these
ships ready?”

“
Peter
Strasser
is nearing completion. I believe it may launch with the
Hindenburg
.
But there is nothing else in the shipyards.”

“Nothing
else?” Hitler frowned.

“Allow
me to correct myself, my Führer. There is nothing else in
our
shipyards.
Nothing more was ever authorized from our Z-Plan. There was simply no time. The
Flugdeckkreuzers were not approved. That said, we have other ships that might
easily be converted to the role of a carrier. I will submit a full report on this
with detailed plans in just a few days. In the meantime, there are ships
already afloat that could prove decisive in this area.”

Raeder’s
eyes gleamed now. First the butter, now the jam. Now was the time to steer the conversation
south, away from the icy north and talk of war with Russia and back to the nice
warm and inviting waters of the Mediterranean.

“The
French,” he said calmly, his voice steady with newfound resolve. “Yes, the French
fleet. There are all the battleships, cruisers and destroyers we might never be
able to build in time, and they are just sitting there in the Mediterranean
waiting for anyone to come and take them. And one, my Führer, is a nice new
fleet aircraft carrier, the
Joffre
.”

Hitler
dimly recalled that the French had been working on carriers as well, though he
could not remember the details. He had his mind set on the battleships for so
long that he could see nothing else when it came to operations at sea. In fact,
while he agreed that Germany needed more aircraft carriers, that was only to
provide the necessary protection and support for the battleships in his
thinking, only because his enemies were doing the very same thing, and Germany
could not be left behind.

The
Third Reich had achieved a remarkable and swift victory in Europe. The
lightning war had toppled a mortal enemy in a matter of months. Now it was only
England standing defiantly in the West, and Soviet Russia in the East. He was
close now, so very close to a position of such dominance that no enemy could
ever challenge him—except for the Royal Navy. This is why, as much as he wished
his troops could simply wade across the English Channel, he knew the
Kriegsmarine was an essential element of his power, and would be in the years
ahead. Yet how best to use it?

“If
this is true,” he said slowly, “then I must assume you have plans to secure
this French aircraft carrier before the British. Yes?”

“No, my
Führer. I have no such plans.” Raeder was ready to for his final act.

“What?
No plans?” Anger flashed in the Führer’s eyes.

“They
will not be necessary,” said Raeder quickly, holding up a hand. “We already
have
the French aircraft carrier. It is sitting in the shipyards at Saint Nazaire,
surrounded by elements of our Panzer Army. Yes! We already have a ship it might
take us another four years to build ourselves, and that is only the beginning.
Now we must set our minds on how to get our hands on the rest. Clearly there is
nothing to be gained by contemplating war with Soviet Russia now. But look
south and we find enormous military resources just sitting there for the
taking. Add key units of the French fleet to those we already have, then throw
in the Italian Navy and we will be invincible, my Führer. We can roll the
British, and the Royal Navy, right out of the Mediterranean and establish good
bases all along the North African coast. We can take Alexandria, Cairo, the
Suez canal, and cut the British Empire in two! Then it is merely a matter of
shaking hands with Ivan Volkov in the Orenburg Federation, and all the
resources we need will come flowing through the Bosporus and into good ports in
southern France. This will smash Great Britain once and for all, and we do not
even have to consider an invasion of England to do so!”

There,
he had said it all, laid out his vision for how Germany could now proceed to
win the war. “Do this, my Führer, and the Third Reich
will
last a
thousand years.” He looked at Canaris, who now sat in sullen silence. You
wanted to push my nose into a bowl of cold milk, thought Raeder as he saw
Canaris slowly reach into his pocket for a cigarette. Eat that!

The
question now was: what to do about the French fleet? Raeder had led with his
ace, revealing Germany’s de facto control over two fine new French ships, cruiser
De Grasse
and the carrier
Joffre
. But Hitler raised a delicate
political point.

“You
propose we simply seize those ships? It was you who argued the French fleet
could be left on its own and that it would behave itself, Raeder. Our armistice
states we would not attempt to seize control of Darlan’s Navy.”

“I
understand, my Führer, but the situation has changed. Certainly we cannot consider
the seizure of the entire French fleet. It would take years just to train men
to crew those ships. But the ships I just mentioned are presently in the
occupied zone, not the Vichy sector. In effect, they are not under Admiral
Darlan’s control. The ships are incomplete. They will need work, and there is
no risk that they might flee. Taking them as a prize of war may be
controversial, but necessary—particularly the aircraft carrier.”

There
came a knock on the door, and Hitler looked over his shoulder. The SS guard
entered, saluting crisply. “Forgive the intrusion, but I was told this was a
matter of some urgency. Message for Admiral Canaris.” He handed off a folded
paper and made a quick withdrawal.”

“Dinner
invitation, Canaris?” Hitler smiled for the first time in the meeting, and
Goering laughed appropriately. Canaris, however, seemed to know what he had
been handed, and he sighed heavily as he read the note.

“I
hardly think we will want a seat at this dinner table,” he said with an edge of
warning in his voice. “This is a message from my network in Spain. As you know,
we keep a good eye on ship movements at Gibraltar. It appears that a big
British buildup is underway. Two more battleships and another aircraft carrier
have arrived.”

Raeder
nodded his head, raising a finger as he spoke. “I am not surprised to hear
this. Was your man good enough to determine what ships these were?”

“Battleships
Nelson
and
Rodney
, along with the carrier
Glorious
.”

Hitler
listened closely, his dark eyes moving from one man to another. “Gibraltar,” he
said gruffly. “Ever a British thorn in the underbelly of Europe. If I could
convince Franco to acquiesce, I would take the place and be done with it.”

Raeder’s
ears perked up at this, his eyes alight. “These ships can be assembling for
only one reason, my Führer—the French fleet. Now the British have the firepower
necessary to force the issue. There were already three battleships in
Gibraltar, now they have five.”

Hitler
shook his head, a frustrated look on his face. “All our ships laid up after
this disastrous operation, and yet the British have sufficient resources to
send five battleships to Gibraltar! That is more than we have in the entire
Kriegsmarine, correct?”

 “Do
not concern yourself with numbers,” said Raeder. “Most of those ships were
built during the first war, and these latecomers soon after, in the 1920s. They
are old and slow, nothing like our new ships. Yet it is not any threat to our
operations they now pose. No. The British mean to bring the French fleet under
their guns, and if they cannot capture them or force them to demilitarize, they
will destroy them.” He folded his arms with an air of finality. “And here we
sit worrying about a clause in the armistice!”

Hitler
looked at him, his eyes fierce now. “At last you are completely correct,
Raeder. The British have no qualms. They do what is in their own interest, and
the niceties of politics be damned. So we will do the same. Take those ships in
occupied ports. I order it this very minute! Then put any resources you have
available and get them ready for operations as soon as possible.”

“As you
wish, my Führer, and this is a wise decision in light of these developments. I
will admit my caution earlier regarding the French fleet, but events have
proven me wrong.”

“Then
what about the remainder of their ships? What can we do about this, Raeder?”

“Frankly,
there are only a few we might wish to get our hands on—the fast new
battleships, perhaps a few cruisers and destroyers.”

“Certainly
any submarines we can secure,” said Doenitz.