Colin Gee - Opening Moves

Without a doubt, the destruction of the Allied Air forces was key to the success of the plan, but even with the excellent planning laid out before them, the price of that destruction would be extremely high for some of their own young men. To the GKO members it was but a bill to pay, and a fair one at that. Unusually for Soviet Doctrine a broad front attack had been chosen but unlike with Rokossovsky in 1944, Stalin did not challenge the plan. The reasoning was, after all, clear and understandable and would probably revert to accepted doctrine within the week.

Once the doors had been closed and the guards posted, no one was permitted to enter the room on pain of death and so there were no orderlies to bring drinks to the occupants. They had to get their own and choose from a selection of snacks that had been placed there before the conference convened.

Vasilevsky placed a tea before Zhukov who acknowledged the gesture, paused in his presentation and consumed it swiftly. Many others took advantage of this lull and went to get their second or third such drink and it was Stalin who brought the room back to order again, and the presentation continued.

It was gone 2pm before Zhukov finished the main army plan and invited Air Force Marshall Novikov to put over the role his forces were to play.

Following him came Isakov, the Navy’s Chief of Staff, recently having left the hospital where wounds from a 1942 German air raid on Tuapse had confined him.

The clock above Stalin’s desk showed 3.22pm when Isakov’s final word of presentation was spoken and so Zhukov summed up.

“Comrades, you have set the Red Army a task and we have presented you with a plan that will complete that task in the timescale you require. As with all such plans, nothing can be taken for granted. Provided our maskirova is successful, particularly plan Chelyabinsk, we will achieve ground forces surprise. Provided their Air Forces are taken out by plan Kurgan then no one will have air superiority unless, of course, it is us.”

“That will ensure that ground superiority will be ours for sufficient time to complete all phases presently proposed, and probably the additional possibilities within the Iberian Peninsula and the British Isles.”

“Casualties will be huge on both sides and losses in materiel extreme”.

Zhukov left that hanging in the faint hope of seeing some tinge of regret from the faces looking so intently at him. He saw none of course, and never really expected otherwise.

“Our planned sabotage operations only need to be 50% successful to have a marked effect upon allied resistance.”

“A word of caution though Comrades. We must expect sabotage in our own rear areas, increasing as we advance deeper into their territory. In addition, the Army will have little manpower to spare to guard against saboteurs in the territories we presently hold because we will be advancing. We must have assurances from the NKVD and other security forces that our logistical tail will be secure.”

Beria was half listening but fully missed the pause. Slowing becoming aware that he was the centre of attention in a silent room, he replayed his memory, seeking out Zhukov’s words. “Comrade Marshall, the security forces of the Motherland will ensure that the Red Army is protected from back-stabbing saboteurs.”

“Thank you Comrade Chairman.”

“Comrades, that is plan Kingdom 39. We can implement it within sixty hours of receiving the order and we can be ready to execute it any time from 18th August.”

After such a display, Zhukov merited applause and a rest, but neither was forthcoming. No one spoke, as it would fall to the General Secretary to make the first comments.

“Comrades. I must congratulate you on this plan. The Motherland will be proud of you when you execute it successfully and the capitalists are driven from Europe.”

“The points made are noted, and we will talk on them further. The Party will throw everything behind the Army, Air Force, and Navy to ensure victory.”

“NKVD units will respond to all reasonable requests from Army Commanders in order to prioritise defence of logistic routes. Comrade Beria will liaise with you to ensure that happens smoothly.”

“It also happens that the Comrade Chairman has anticipated some of your needs for rear-area security and has prepared a document for consultation.”

Stalin paused to permit Beria’s aide to hand around a folder. Whilst they were being distributed Zhukov, as was his recent habit, mentally checked through his headquarters staff to work out who was the NKVD spy whose reporting back allowed Beria to be so prepared. Not that, in this instance, it was a problem. In fact, all the better for the success of the mission. This time.

The document detailed actions to be taken in the lead up to the attack by D-minus, rather than by date. It was actually very impressive and would probably cover all eventualities, some not even considered possible by the army staff’s. One section in particular caught most eyes but no one said a word. Even though the numbers were considerable, mass murder was less remarkable now, given the preceding six years.

Zhukov swiftly took in the major details.

“Most efficient Comrade Chairman.”

Beria accepted the words, no matter how negatively they were intended. “Our staffs will sort out the finer details immediately”.

“Comrade Marshall Novikov. The Air Force’s part in Kurgan is exceptionally important. Transports aside, the figures for the initial element of the attack are impressive. We have concerns over whether there are sufficient correctly trained personnel to do as you outline here.”

Stalin jabbed the open folder in his hands.

“Comrade General Secretary, for some it is a case of refresher training. For others it is just familiarisation. As we do not intend to use these capitalist assets regularly once open combat has started then a lesser degree of skill is acceptable, offset against the surprise element involved. Personnel would then return to their normal units and aircraft.”

“Very well comrade Novikov.”

Stalin spoke out again, this time addressing his comments directly at Zhukov.

“We are concerned about the assets you are committing to plan Kurgan. As you say Comrade Marshall, this is a key part of the overall mission and must not fail. Why do we not employ more troops in the first mission?”

“That is a simple matter of transport capability, Comrade General Secretary. We do not have the capacity to take more than the numbers presently committed. We have set aside 10% of our transport aircraft to allow for breakdown and other problems. It would not be advisable to eat into that safety margin”

“I see. And we cannot obtain more capacity in time?”

Marshall Novikov raised his hand at this point and was immediately noticed as Stalin gestured to him to speak.

“Comrade General Secretary, I believe we can supply additional capacity if we transfer units from our maskirova operation in the East. In my estimation that would permit an increase in carrying capacity of around 30% to 35% whilst maintaining the 10% cushion required by Comrade Marshall Zhukov.” Vasilevsky remained impassive as his own operational plan, Diaspora, was partially dismantled by others.

“I can work on that and get more precise figures.”

Maskirova, the act of deception, is a sacred and necessary thing for the Russian psyche and to lessen it or remove assets from it is rarely well received. In this case, Novikov was offering a solution to the shortfalls of plan Kurgan that could not be ignored for a 30% increase in capacity. It was clear that the Air Force Marshall had more to say so he was given the floor again, although Zhukov and a number of others were wondering why the Air Force hadn’t spoken about this before.