Harry Kellogg III: The Red Sky: The Second Battle of Britain

0945

Scandinavian Prime Ministers’ Summit

Karlsborg Fortress

Karlsborg, Kingdom of Sweden

In Attendance:

Mauno Pekkala, Prime Minister of the Republic of Finland

Tage Erlander, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Sweden

Einar Gerhardsen, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Norway

Knud Kristensen, Prime Minister of the Government-in-Exile of the Kingdom of Denmark

As the men take their seats, an air of desperation hangs heavy in the room. The situation on the Karelian, Salla and Petsamo fronts have decidedly turned against them, taking heavy losses outside Vyborg, thus handing the Soviets the initiative to roll the Scandinavian forces back to the defensive line close to Helsinki, the Soviets even having the nerve to shell Malmö from the Copenhagen harbor. Until this war, since 1814, the Swedish Crown and government had pursued a policy of strict neutrality. That was no longer the case, nor could it any longer be.

This war brought the powers who fought so hard to be independent of each other earlier in the century back together again in military alliance against a common foe

“Gentlemen, we need a miracle.” began the Finnish Prime Minister, Mauno Pekkala. “The Soviets are about to breach the final defensive ring around Helsinki. We cannot hold out much longer, and under the terms of the YYA Agreement of 1944, though the Soviets invaded us first, we would be considered as the aggressor and thus, subject to the full force of penalty to be administered by the Soviets. President Paasikivi has asked me to inform you that we will be asking the Soviets for terms of surrender, as of 1830 today. This notification is being given as a courtesy and we are asking that you begin issuing orders to your troops, that they may leave in an orderly fashion. We thank you for your aid in our valiant fight against Soviet aggression.”

There are blank stares from the other Prime Ministers as Minister Pekkala delivers the grave news. The melancholy is broken the Swedish Prime Minister, Tage Erlander “So we are to give up the fight and submit? Even in the world of Realpolitik, we know this can never be possible. The Soviets will not stop at the Finnish frontier with Sweden, for they covet the iron ore and coal deposits that are abundant in both Sweden and Norway, and we simply have our backs to the wall. No, no matter what I once believed in, politically, I am descended from Viking blood first and foremost, as are you all. Home and hearth, and its incumbent defense, comes considered before all else. We will respect the Finnish government’s request to withdraw our forces, but we will not give up the fight. We simply cannot.” Minister Pekkala smiles weakly, and says to the other three Prime Ministers “Officially, I have no comment upon your future war aims, but personally, I wish you much success in smashing the Soviet warmonger pigs!” and having said that, Minister Pekkala gathers his papers and walks out of the room.

Then the Danish Prime Minister, Knud Kristensen, stands up to be recognized and begins to speak, “Gentlemen, I fear that we may be facing war on two fronts very soon. I have received intelligence from the Hjemmeværnet modstand (Home Guard Resistance), smuggled out of Jutland at very great cost, that the Soviets have been massing special troops there with an as yet unknown purpose. We are uncertain if these are simply new NKVD units being stationed there to strike fear in our people, or if these units have a strategic aim.” At this, Einar Gerhardsen, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Norway, takes his turn to speak “I am authorized by His Royal Majesty, King Haakon VII, to offer any and all assistance to our Alliance brethren, and to our Danish brothers, we offer a company of the Royal Norwegian Commandoes, to be inserted into occupied Denmark, for the express purpose of collecting further intelligence as to the intentions and purpose of the new Soviet troops…” Minister Gerhardsen’s remarks are cut short by a Swedish communications officer bursting into the room and yelling “We’ve lost all communications with Stockholm! The last wireless transmission from the Royal High Command said that Soviet paratroopers landing in the capital, as well as other cities throughout Scandinavia!” Under his breath, Gerhardsen mutters “This is Narvik and Trömso all over again”, as they are rejoined by Pekkala and hustled by Swedish Royal Lifeguard troopers into the deepest air-raid shelter in the fortress…

Scandinavia in WWIII, 1946

1025

Field Headquarters for Kenraali Aksel Airo

Outside Helsinki, Republic of Finland

Even with the help of the very well-meaning Swedes and Norwegians, Aksel had known that this was the only possible outcome from the very beginning, and had prepared for it accordingly. New caches of weapons and war materiel had once again been pre-positioned so that his elite Sissi troopers and other patriots would be able to bleed the Soviet pigs dry, a little at a time. His only goal since his release has been to do just that: make the Soviets pay for his suffering at the hands of their lackeys in Valpo and make sure his nation stays free. It worked for a while, and with Swedish help, they were even able to take the fight to the Russian pigs, but the Soviets merely did what the Russians have always done through history, and poured men and machines into the fight until they overwhelmed their enemies. The Kenraali was determined to mitigate their numerical superiority by using aggressive guerrilla tactics to demoralize their troops. In addition, Kenraali Airo had absolutely NO intention of being incarcerated again, for he knew that he would not survive this time. He knew that in order for his plan to work, he needed to stay free and direct the battles that loomed ahead. This time, he would not heed the word of the cowards that deigned to call themselves the “duly constituted authority”… in his estimation, they gave up the fight far too soon…

From outside his command tent, General Airo could hear the loud droning of aircraft engines, a lot of them, and began to hear shouts of “Paratroopers!”, followed by his aide rushing in and telling the General what he already knew, that they must leave, and quickly. They hurriedly began smashing radio equipment and setting fire to the papers and the tent, leaving only with a small briefcase in one hand, and his Colt M1911 pistol in the other. He assumed that the Soviets would try something like this, so now he would activate his chain of safe houses all throughout the country.

It seemed like hours before they arrived at the first safe house, some distance to the north of his former headquarters, only to find it ransacked and the area lousy with Soviet NKVD troops. How could this be? He thought to himself that he had meticulously planned everything himself, only telling the few people that he trusted, and never confiding in anyone from the civilian government. Someone close to him had betrayed him, and God Himself will not help this person once Aksel catches him. Into the only refuge he had left to him now he went, the deep forest hides, into which no sane person would enter willingly. This was going to be a long war.

Scandinavia in WWIII, 1946

1030

King Haakon VII’s Royal Residence

Øslo, Kingdom of Norway

King Haakon was rushing to leave, for the second time this decade. Surrounded by his Royal Guard, he and his family hurriedly gathered what they could carry, on their way to the ship that awaited them. He could hear the gunfire getting closer, and in complete irony, it was he who saw the Soviet parachutes attached to their troopers falling gently to earth… HIS piece of earth! He suppressed his anger and plowed forward, grabbing aides and handcuffing briefcases to their wrists, assigning a Royal Guard officer to each aide. It had been fully two hours now since he’d last heard from his Prime Minister, Einar Gerhardsen, at the conference at the Karlsborg Fortress, in Sweden. For that matter, he hadn’t heard from the Royal Danish government-in-exile since earlier this morning, either. He knew that Danish King Christian X’s Prime Minister was also at the same conference, along with the Swedish and Finnish Prime Ministers.