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

Two men sat by lantern light drinking vodka, not their first of the night.

“Well Dmitri how goes the disinformation campaign?”

“The stupid Frogs and Amerikosi have only discovered and smuggled out one of the missiles so far. They are amazingly incompetent. We almost caught them with that one as well. A last minute call was required to allow the fool NATO spy to get through the checkpoint. Yuri was keeping track of their progress when they bumbled straight into a checkpoint in Limoux. He had to quickly find a phone and distract the guards so the fools could continue on. I just don’t see how they were able to catch every German spy sent to England with such fools as agents.”

“Maybe we are just so much better or they are so bad. It certainly makes one wonder.”

“Anyway we have planted fully a dozen of the decoy missiles and that was the only one they have found and tried to smuggle out. I had heard that the vaunted British experts that figured out some of the wars greatest works of espionage actually got most of their information from a group called MI 19. All they did was to record captured German conversations, overhearing many of the secrets that they claimed to have figured out. An example would be the electronic beams the Germans were using to guide the bombers to their targets. The so called Battle of the Beams was actually just based on an overheard conversation caught on tape at some prison full of German Generals housed in a mansion. Luck if you ask me is more like it. But then again what is most of this business but luck.”

“So what is the end game in this project of yours?”

“The decoy missiles contain various antiquated German systems for guided bombs. It should drive the NATO pigs crazy trying to figure out why their jamming efforts have no effect. It defies physics as they know it. Maybe it is a bit of subterfuge to confuse the issue and it could help to cause them to reject the real system if they ever get their hands on a working model.”

“Maskirovka at its best…”

“Maskirovka at its best indeed, Dmitri.”

The wheel bearing on the right rear inside tire of the tank transport trailer started to heat up within 15 minutes of the day’s first hour. A crack had allowed the lubricant to leak out as the bearing got hotter and after another 30 minutes it had seized. The co-driver saw the smoke coming from the trailer and warned the driver. The driver cursed a blue streak as he maneuvered the heavy tractor trailer and its cargo to a wider spot in the road. He knew if he stopped the convoy for anything but death he would indeed end up dead. The other trucks and their cargos of Stalin’s Fire Wasserfall Ground to Air missiles pulled far over to the left to squeeze past the stalled M-19 and its cargo of missile launchers and their missiles. Each of the trucks and trailers along with others supported the dozen Wasserfal missiles in the battery.

These special transport units were based on the German Vitalwagen and Meillerwagen33 but on a smaller scale. The Soviet version of the Wasserfall or Stalin’s Fire as it was being called officially, was much more compact than the V2 and much easier to transport and use. The Transport trailer was used for long range transport and was lighter of the two. Once the missile got to within 50 KM of the staging area it was transferred to the much more complex Launching trailer. The Launching trailer was a complete mobile launching pad and fueling solution for the Stalin’s Fire ground to air missile system.

After the Launching trailer was close to the launch point, the Firing Platoon Truck Section took charge. The Launching trailer was moved via hand winches to the firing stand and then leveled via the two extendable outriggers with end-jacks. When vertical, the rocket was suspended above the firing stand, which was raised to touch the rocket fins like its bigger brother the V2 was and the rocket was fueled from supplies on the Launch trailer. The whole process could be done in less than 90 minutes from arrival. [34] German Guided Missiles: Henschel Hs 293 and Ruhrstahl SD 1400X, by William Wolf

As with the German version of the larger unit the Launching trailer acted as a gantry, lifting frame including a number of work platforms for the crewmen to service the rocket. Just like its larger German cousin, it carried a number of accessories for both itself and the rocket such as a toolbox, snow chains, tire pump, tools, blast shields with special carriers for the graphite steering vanes and the guidance system.

A repair unit showed up within 30 minutes and started the repairs. This was all reported up the chain of command and ended up on Sergo’s desk. He would find out who and where the wheel bearing had been made. What shift and what crew. They would be evaluated by Georgie and may or may not live to tell about it. Georgie was not capricious about quality control. If the workers made an honest mistake or the metal they received was inferior then they would be forgiven and humanely retrained. If they performed sabotage Georgie would kill them on the spot with such casualness that it was most terrifying to all who watched. He usually garrotes them very quickly and efficiently right there on the shop floor. His move is so fast and practiced that no one has even been able to effectively fight back. The fact was that the majority of the time the workers had just done something in error. It was therefore corrected with no one being physically harmed.

The workers in Sergo’s realm are thoroughly tested and chosen for their jobs. If they do a good job they are rewarded if not they are retrained using standard methods pioneered in the West. The quality of the weapons systems under the control of Sergo and Georgie are quickly matching their counterparts in the West. Many people in the West believe that the Soviet worker is incapable of quality work. This is not the case. Some point to the IL2 or T-34 from early on in the war. What the West called poor quality was actually very pragmatic.

For example the average T-34 in 1944 had a life span of a little over 2 weeks from the time it left the factory. Why bother with quality. T-34s were destroyed because they were on the offensive and you would expect to lose 3 to 1 against a dug in and hidden enemy. Not many T-34 were lost because they broke down or wore out at the wrong time. [35] The Soviet Economy and the Red Army, 1930-1945 By Walter Scott Dunn

Now it was different. Quality mattered. It took a long time to train a good pilot and the pilots coming out of Sergo’s training program were on par with any Western trained pilot. After all the US Army Air Force trained many of the trainers and during the six months of peace leading up to May 1946 they could take the time to train them properly. In 1941-44 this was not possible but now it was. With 10s of thousands of properly trained replacements in the pipeline Sergo felt that they were more than a match for the USAAF and the RAF. The recent battle over Britain had shown that. And once again under Sergo the pilots were tested and place in the proper training program. It was true that the RAF was out maneuvered, out foxed and overwhelmed by sheer numbers. The information Beria delivered truly amazed Sergo. The Capitalist pigs must surely be doing something drastically wrong in order to spawn such a stable of traitors.

That undisciplined and almost useless “hero of the Soviet Union”, Perl, had indeed produced a treasure trove of knowledge about the Yankee YP-80 and in particular their engine. In addition he was an expert and greatly assisting MiG with its newest swept wing jet. The Jumo was still useful especially since he had demanded that the foremost metallurgists find a way to improve the live span of the parts. The new Jumo model being produced now went an average of 100 hours before a major overhaul was needed. A 400% increase over the 25 hours previously required.