Dennis Wheatley - Traitors' Gate

'So there we are; Alexander hanging on by the skin of his teeth along the Indian frontier, the Auk hanging on by the skin of his outside Cairo, and the Ruskies being chivvied a hundred miles a day towards their oil wells without which they would have to chuck their hand in. It may be silly, but for the first time since the war started I'm beginning to lie awake at nights and wonder if we may not lose it.'

'What's that!' boomed Sir Pellinore, suddenly sitting bolt upright. 'Don't talk nonsense, boy! This is not like you. I can tell what's wrong though. It's having your nose so close to a lot of small maps all the time that's got you down. As Wellington said, "Always use the big ones".'

'There is no comfort to be got from doing that in this case. If the armies of Alex and the Auk both crack, within three months the Germans and the Japs will join up in Persia. Then we would about have had it.'

'I'd give long odds against the Axis pulling off a double. Besides, we wouldn't be sitting on our bottoms while the Nazis overran the whole Middle East.'

'It doesn't seem to me that there's much we could do to stop them.'

'We could launch a new campaign nearer home. That would force 'em to commit all the troops they had to spare.'

The decision taken only the night before, to do Operation Torch and occupy French North Africa, was still known only to a very limited number of people, and not even a rumour of it had yet reached the War Room; so Gregory shook his head and replied pessimistically:

'Everyone agrees that it is out of the question for us to open up a Second Front in 1942.'

'We might, and probably should, if driven to it by such an emergency. You are ignoring the brighter side, too, my boy. Think of the hell we have been knockin' out of Germany.'

'Oh, the R.A.F. is magnificent, I know. That 1,000 bomber raid on Cologne at the end of May, and the others since Lubeck, Hamburg, Essen, Bremen. Not to mention the Desert Air Force. If it hadn't been for those lads Rommel would already be in Cairo.'

'United States Air Force is showin' well too now. Fine feat their bombing of Tokyo; and every week more of their heavies are being flown here to increase the weight of bombs we can put down on the wursteaters.'

'That's all very well; but as we've seen both in Burma and the Desert, a determined air force can delay, but cannot halt, a victorious army. Even if it is possible to bomb Germany into submission that would take years; and, in the meantime, the German and Jap armies may have conquered half the world.'

Sir Pellinore made a gesture of protest. 'It's true that we've struck a bad patch; but whatever may happen in the next few months, 1943 will see us on top again. Once the great new American armies are fully equipped and begin to roll forward the housepainter will find that he's bitten off more than he can chew.'

'Not necessarily. Not if the Russians are forced to give in before an Allied army is able to come to their rescue.'

'Why should they? You went to Russia yourself. Like the wizard you are, you got the low-down from Marshal Voroshilov. He told you that their plan was to use their masses to make the Germans exhaust themselves, and that they were holding their best troops until the time came for them to go over to the offensive or in the last event if Stalingrad was threatened.'

That was ten months ago and their losses since have been immense. Stalingrad is only vital to them because, if they lost it, they could no longer get the oil from the Caucasus up the Volga to their central and northern fronts. But now the Caucasus itself is threatened; so they may already have had to throw in the crack Reserve Army that the Marshal told me about.'

'I see. Yes. You fear that there may be no stopping this great break through in the south. Of course, you're right about the oil wells. If they lose those their goose will be cooked.'

'And so will ours. Hitler now wields a whip over a dozen nations. He has coerced millions of men into both working and fighting for him. If the Soviets collapse he will be able to bring 180 divisions back into Western Europe. All hope of opening a Second Front would be gone for good then. For the Allies to attempt a landing on the Continent in the face of even half that number, in addition to the forces he has there already, would be plain suicide. We could only sit and watch him just as we are doing now while he sent forty or fifty divisions crashing down through Turkey and Persia into India.'

'Damn it, Gregory! You're giving even me the willies. Mind, I don't believe it will happen. But one must admit that it's just possible.'

'It could easily happen if we do nothing but twiddle our thumbs for the rest of the year. Just now you told me to use large maps, and I am using them. The armies of Alex, the Auk, and the Soviet army defending the Caucasus may be thousands of miles apart, but strategically all three are fighting back to back. The collapse of either of the first two would be a major calamity and prolong the war for years; if the Russians collapse, then I see no end to it.'

Sir Pellinore held out his glass. 'For God's sake give me a drink. Some of the high-ups who bring me their troubles have been pretty pessimistic lately; but none of them has painted as black a picture as this.'

Gregory poured them both another ration of old brandy, and remarked:

'That's probably because they are all worried stiff with their personal responsibilities; whereas I'm only a looker-on. And lookers-on get the best view of the game.'

'Well, what would you have us do?'

'Don't ask me; I'm not a planner. I only stick pins in maps.'

'Exactly. And it's that which has given you the time to do a bit of thinkin'. Come on now. What's the remedy?'

'There is only the obvious one. It is to stop burying our heads in the sand. You could at least try prodding your high-up friends into facing the situation and deciding on some definite action.'

'What sort of action?'

'Anything which would take a bit of weight off the Russians. Keeping them in the war is the thing that matters above all else; and, apart from sending them arms, we are doing nothing. Absolutely nothing! We are just calmly waiting for 1943. By then it may be too late, whereas some audacious move now could be the premium which would insure us against an eventual stalemate, or something far worse.'

'Nothing short of a full-scale landing in France or Norway would force the Germans to withdraw troops from the Russian front; and I'm certain that a major operation of that kind is not possible.'

Gregory shrugged. 'To reject it is being penny wise and pound foolish. The withdrawal of ten or twelve divisions from the Russian front this summer might change the whole course of history. I don't think you would say that I'm normally a pessimist. But, if the Russians pack up before we can get into Europe, I don't believe we'll ever defeat Hitler.'

For a moment Sir Pellinore remained silent. Then he said, 'If ten or twelve divisions would do the trick, there is one possibility by which it might be brought about.'

'How?' Gregory asked, suddenly sitting forward.

'The Nazis are stretched to the limit already; so they'd have to recall that number if one of the countries they are holding down blew up behind them.'

'Surely there is very little chance of that. After being crushed between the German and Russian millstones, the poor old Poles can't have much kick left in them. And, since the Czechs assassinated Heydrich in May, I gather they are liable to be shot if they so much as lift a finger.'

'I wasn't thinking of the occupied countries. Germany's official allies were the birds I had in mind. Italy and Finland are no good both too deeply involved. But there are Hungary and Rumania. They were dragged in against their wills, and such contributions as they have made to Hitler's war have been prised out of 'em by blackmail. Hungary is the best bet. I know a lot of Hungarians. They all loathe the Germans' guts. I'd bet a monkey to a rotten apple that they have some sort of league pledged to break away from Hitler as soon as they see a chance.'