Things Never Known: The Parallel Nazi - 8, page 19
“That is to be expected,” Kruglov replied with a slight grin. “What sort of concession would you expect?”
Schreiber had some ideas, but he had left Khrushchev out of the conversation, and he needed to correct that.
“Perhaps we could agree to a short recess, say one-half hour, Gentlemen? I would need to consult with my government.”
“Of course,” Molotov said smoothly. “We shall consider ourselves adjourned for one-half hour.”
When the German and Ukrainian delegation retreated to the small meeting room, Khrushchev was chuckling.
“We just learned several things,” he said. “First of all, we now know the senior member of the troika. And he grew impatient with Molotov’s stalling.”
“So, you think Kruglov is the top dog?” Peter asked.
“What do you think?”
“It certainly seems that way.”
“You saw how we immediately moved off dead center when Kruglov joined the meeting today?” Khrushchev asked. “And it was Kruglov who came to the meeting, not Malenkov. That tells us something.”
“What can you tell me about Malenkov?” Peter asked.
“Malenkov is a serpent. He slithers around in the tall grass, and you don’t know he is there until he strikes. But he is not a leader.”
“And what was going on when he stared at you?”
Khrushchev snorted. “He’s mad at me. Before getting trapped in Berlin, Kruglov was hinting that he wanted help in doing something about Stalin. I expect he not only feels that I have betrayed the Revolution but that I have personally betrayed him. I would not be surprised if he hates me. If it would help, I could withdraw from the discussions.”
“No, we need you in the discussions. If that is a problem for Kruglov, then he will have to deal with it.”
“Where do we go from here, then? I suspect that if we offered a ceasefire, they would take it.”
“I agree.”
“And then they could drag the war out all summer until they rebuild their armies and their stocks of weapons. Then Free Ukraine would lose.”
“We have wasted a couple of months,” Schreiber said. “I don’t want to waste more. The Russians need to agree to end the war. If we force a surrender, we’ll fight them off and on for the next hundred years.”
“That is very true. And Ukraine would provide the battleground.”
“Might I suggest we offer a three-week ceasefire?” Peter asked. “If we don’t have an agreement hammered together by that time, we resume operations.”
“That would require Ivan’s agreement,” Khrushchev replied. “He was unequivocal that we do not give the Soviets the opportunity to rebuild the war stocks and their armies. It’s hard for them to do that while we keep the pressure on them.”
“Does a cease-fire even buy us anything?” Peter asked.
The bald man sighed. “I do not think so. If we agreed to a cease-fire with the Red Army pulling back to the Russian border, that would be workable.”
“And then we would have to determine the disposition of the Wehrmacht forces.”
“We need that sword hanging over them, Peter.”
“Is Kruglov trustworthy?”
“A change of subject?” Khrushchev grinned.
“Not really. If we put together an agreement, will he honor it?”
“He will honor it until he is in a position to break the treaty. He will try to amass overwhelming force and strike when he perceives us weak.”
“That’s not reassuring.”
“It is what it is,” Khrushchev said heavily. “Marxist-Leninist doctrine says that peacetime allows the war to continue by other means.”
“Is that how you view your agreement with us?”
“Of course not! We want to build a trustworthy nation. We want people to accept Socialism because they see its advantages. That is not something you can do at gunpoint.”
“We’re running out of time,” Peter said. “Where do we go from here?”
“I think Kruglov wants a ceasefire badly. Free Ukraine will accept a ceasefire if the Red Army pulls back to the Russian border. In another month, we will be there anyway.”
“All right. Let’s go see what we can do.”
§ § §
“I greatly resent your interference in my area of expertise!” Molotov shouted. “To travel clear to Stockholm simply to push me out of the way is the height of arrogance.”
“I was forced to travel all the way to Stockholm to get the talks back on the rails,” Kruglov said softly. “It is because you weren’t doing it. Whether anyone admits it or not, everyone around that table knows we started the war. The Germans just offered us a magnificent concession. If they march into the Kremlin and force us to surrender, we could be paying them reparations for the next fifty years. I am very disappointed in you, Vyacheslav. You know Stalin would have never tolerated such.”
Kruglov paused for a moment.
“Is that why Stalin had you purged?”
“Comrade Stalin was suspicious I schemed against him. But he was not completely convinced that was the case.”
Kruglov nodded. “We have agreed that Ukraine is lost to us, have we not? When we go back in there, we will demand a ceasefire. If the Germans insist we pull back to the Russian border, we will agree to do so. Do you understand? We talked about this in Moscow.”
“What about the German army in Northern Russia?”
“I think we will have to agree they will remain until we complete a treaty. The Germans will insist on remaining there as a hedge on the agreement to pull out of Ukraine. But we can argue with them about it.”
“It appears you are in charge, Comrade Kruglov,” Molotov said.
“Was there ever any doubt?”
§ § §
March 15, 1945, 4 PM
Bavarian Alps, south of Munich
The cabin in the mountains seemed like home to Schloss. The impact of the breeze and birdsong, the smell of old wood, and slight disuse served to relax Schloss. Although the camp’s owner had refused to sell the property, Rainer had negotiated a long-term lease. The place served as a hideaway for those times when the crowds in Berlin became too much for the Reich Chancellor.
The weather was a bit chilly for relaxing on the open porch, and Schloss collapsed into the heavily overstuffed sofa in the great room. Gisela gracefully eased down next to him and grasped his hand again.
“You sound like the air bleeding from a tire, Hennie,” she chuckled.
“That’s the pressure coming off, Schatzi,” he replied. This place does that to me. When we come out here, it feels like the weight rolls off my back. It’s a relief.”
“We shouldn’t have waited so long to visit.”
“It is what it is. Things are going well at the moment, but I remain tense, awaiting the next crisis that is to be sure around the corner.”
“I’m glad Karl took the initiative to set this up. I miss the children when we travel, but we needed to get away. Why not take the opportunity for a nap before dinner?”
“Why not?” He stood and pulled Gisela to her feet.
“What are you doing?”
“You suggested we have a nap,” he replied with a smile.
“So, I did.”
The leader of the German Reich and his wife used the first afternoon of their weekend vacation to relax.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
March 19, 1945; 10 AM
Kaiser-Wilhelm Institute
Hechingen, Germany
“We are honored to have you visit the institute,” Werner Heisenberg said. “It was a long way to travel.”
“My wife and I had a weekend in Bavaria,” Schloss replied. “It took no longer to fly here this morning, and I wanted to see the operation.”
“I would be delighted to give you a tour of the laboratories. We are making great progress in the atomic research program.”
“So, you have recovered from moving the institute from Orienburg?”
“We lost about three months due to that, Herr Reich Chancellor. But I believe we are almost caught up to where we should have been.”
The institute had moved to southwest Germany in the face of the Russian invasion. Schloss had decided that the remote location was more suitable for nuclear research and ordered the institute to remain in its new home after the Russian threat had passed.
“You seem to have survived your time in America.”
“Well, President Taft decided that having foreigners observing their atomic program was insecure. They suggested it would be best if I returned to Germany.”
“Do you feel Taft doesn’t like Germany?” Schloss asked.
“I did not get that impression. The Americans I worked with directly were cordial. My interactions with General Groves were correct, but he was not hostile. I met with General Reybold, who was General Groves’ superior. He was the one who told me it was time to leave. He stressed that it was not because of any animosity to the Germans but that they wanted to tighten security. I think that they also did not want a repeat of the Erich Schumann incident.”
Schloss winced. “What a mess that was. It is a wonder he didn’t manage to destroy our relationship with the Americans.”
One of Germany’s most influential physicists, Erich Schumann, was sent to the United States as an observer. He was caught photographing top-secret documents related to America’s Manhattan Project. His connection to the Munich Faction in Germany told everyone he was serving neither Germany’s nor America’s interests, and he was charged with espionage. The Americans had tried, convicted, and executed him to no one’s regret.
“I’m glad to have you back in Germany to supervise our atomic program directly. You bring focus to the work.”
“With the war having moved towards a strong German advantage, do you anticipate changes in direction for the project?” Heisenberg asked.
“Is the work advanced enough to warrant a statement of direction on either weaponry or other uses?”
“Probably not. Based on my observations in America, I halted work on our Uranium Machine. I did not want to risk an accident.”
“Are you saying we could have laid waste to the countryside?” Schloss asked.
“No, nothing like that. We use heavy water to moderate the neutron bombardment. The Americans used graphite, and that is what burned for so long. Our scientists did not expect our machine to sustain a chain reaction and had inadequate safeguards in that unlikely event.”
Schloss searched his memory. Did Heisenberg ever explain to me about a chain reaction? I know what it means, but the Schloss of this world probably does not.
“Explain to me, please, Dr. Heisenberg, the meaning of chain reaction.”
“Of course, Herr Reich Chancellor. When Uranium 235 captures a neutron, it splits. In the process, it produces three more neutrons and energy. When we have sufficient U235 in a confined space, other atoms will absorb neutrons and split. It then becomes self-sustaining, in what we call a chain reaction. I am oversimplifying, but I trust that gives you an idea of how this works.”
“Thank you. So, this chain reaction, as you call it, could go out of control as it did for the Americans?”
“I don’t believe so, Herr Reich Chancellor. But the American accident illustrates just how much we don’t know about this area of research. Our machine certainly can generate large amounts of radiation.”
“It radiates heat?”
“Well, that too, but it radiates forms of energy that can be deadly. And there is always the risk of heavy metal poisoning. I have directed the team to redesign the machine so that there are explicit methods of dampening a chain reaction.”
“Did the Americans not have such methods in place?”
“I think they did, although they were unwilling to share such details with me. They had me involved almost exclusively with their cleanup efforts. I was able to glean a fair amount of information about their research activities by inference.”
“I see,” Schloss said. “So, their moderation methods did not work for them?”
“The Americans have struggled to determine whether the accident was due to a mechanical failure of their equipment or some aspect of the physics that they did not understand. The accident site itself is much too dangerous to allow direct observation. They are focused on building a concrete sarcophagus around the device to prevent further release of the poisons.”
“But you think the graphite was the culprit in the accident?”
“That is what the Americans think. Our use of heavy water is intrinsically safer, in my opinion. Our people had planned to drop a block of cadmium through the top of the machine if the reaction went out of control. But resultant radiation would have likely killed anyone close to the device. But we think an accident would be contained.”
“But you decided a redesign was necessary, anyway?”
“We are adding a mechanism to drop cadmium rods into the machine if things become too energetic. Furthermore, we will have the rods in place inside the device and gradually remove them so that we can watch the neutron flux increase.”
“Are you satisfied that these changes would give us a safe device?”
“A safer device, Herr Reich Chancellor. It will be safer than many of the chemical processes we carry out in our factories. I believe nothing in life is risk-free. We must be careful how we approach these things to minimize the risk. And I also have emphasized to our scientists that we also have procedures to deal with problems so that we don’t have the results seen by the Americans.”
“Very well,” Schloss said. “Perhaps now we can have that tour of your operation, Herr Doctor. I need to be back aboard my airplane by one o’clock.”
“We will not have time to complete the tour before the luncheon,” Heisenberg said.
“Would you prefer to cut the tour short for the luncheon, or should we skip that? I can eat on the plane.”
“The luncheon was for four of the senior scientists and me. You will meet them during the tour, anyway. The luncheon is not important.”
“Very well, Herr Doctor, shall we proceed?”
§ § §
March 19, 1945; 10 AM
Forty-Fifth Wehrmacht Field Hospital
Riga Stradius University
Riga, Latvia
“I need to be at the front,” Erwin Rommel complained.
“You need to get well first,” Heinz Guderian responded. “Can you tell me you are not still in pain?”
“The doctors tell me to expect pain for the rest of my life.”
“But nothing like what you seem to be experiencing now.”
Rommel tried to shrug but winced.
“We appreciate your dedication,” von Rundstedt said, “but Balck is doing fine. You trained him well. You are so adamant about getting back into the saddle we thought we could use your expertise as we planned for future operations.”
“And I am honored that you both took the time to visit.”
“We are paying a visit to General Balck and wanted to stop here first,” von Rundstedt said.
“It looks as though the Russians finally see reason during the negotiations,” Rommel commented.
“That is true. However, it also looks like they have gotten their copy of our V1 into full production. It is showing up in increasing numbers both in Ukraine and northern Russia.”
“At least the accuracy is worse than our original V1,” Guderian smirked. “Our second generation is much more accurate.”
“Tell me about that,” Rommel commented. “I heard something about that when they were testing it.”
“It’s faster, has longer range,” Guderian stated, “and the circular probability of error is down to 250 meters.”
“The old one had, what, a fifteen-kilometer radius?”
“Something like that.”
“Are we using it in combat already?”
Von Rundstedt shook his head. “No, we want to hold it back until we need to make a point to the Russians.”
“It seems that they are making a point with their copy of the V1,” Rommel said.
“They are in a bad position. We could probably be in Moscow now if we wanted.”
“Explain that, please, Herr Reichsmarshall.”
“The Reich Chancellor and I discussed that,” von Rundstedt stated. “He feels that if we can get them to agree to a negotiated settlement, we will have a chance to avoid another war in the near future. If we force a surrender at the barrel of a gun, they will rearm and attack again whenever they think they will succeed. We don’t want to spend the next century fighting the Russians off and on. And neither does Smirnoff.”
“I can understand that. If the negotiations bog down, we can drop a few V1 nächste Generation machines into the Kremlin.”
“Something like that,” Guderian added dryly.
Rommel nodded in agreement. “It’s always good to keep an extra gun in your pocket.”
“And something we don’t want them to know. Surprises are good if it’s the enemy who is surprised.”
Rommel chuckled. “Very true. And how is Smirnoff doing?”
“He probably holds eighty percent of Ukraine,” von Rundstedt said. “The remaining Russian forces are in a pocket in the country's northeastern part. He is gradually pushing against them, and they are gradually falling back. He thinks that if he tries to encircle them, they will lash out. They are responding to his gentle pressure. He expects to have them completely out of Ukraine sometime in April.”
“That’s good news,” Rommel said. “But that raises the obvious question.”
“Indeed,” Guderian replied. “What’s next?”
“Right. If Smirnoff doesn’t destroy them or force a surrender, they will attack again once they have rebuilt their forces.”
“The Reich Chancellor hasn’t said, but we will probably have to march on Moscow if the talks fail,” von Rundstedt said. “And once we are closer to Moscow, we think it will change the complexion of the war.”
