If they had struck in 1941…but there was little point in worrying about what might have been. The Japanese had taken Indochina off the French and bullied the Dutch in the East Indies, and by doing so, they had solved many of their problems. It wouldn’t save them in the long term – Truman was sure that China was just too big for them to digest completely – but they weren’t looking for any more trouble. The fear of the Japanese had faded as Japan got deeper and deeper into China and the United States Navy had become vastly more powerful than anything Japan could hope to muster.
He grimaced. Germany was a different story. He had listened to Roosevelt’s fears, and even shared them to the extent he put aside Party loyalty and worked in London as President Taft’s Ambassador. The role had surprised him, and he suspected that Taft was trying to get him out the way. However, Truman had taken to the role, as well as a secondary role that Taft might not have really understood, or approved. Truman was working to build up an American consensus that action against Germany was needed, sooner rather than later, before it was too late.
Truman liked Germans – he had Germans in his family – but he loathed the Nazis. They were the only real threat to America and dangerous, very dangerous, these days. Nazi Germany, perhaps the most advanced nation in the world, held effective control over nearly a third of the world, and as the German economy expanded, so did the scale of the threat..He had seen intelligence reports that predicted the Germans would have a fleet to match the US Navy within ten years. They were facing a battleship and carrier war that would have terrified the British and German admirals who had fought in the early years of the century. If America lost control of the seas, it would be very difficult to prevent the Germans from landing an army on American soil. They would have problems winning, but as the British had learned to their cost, it was all-too-easy to make a surprise landing, and American security made the British look perfect. Truman and a handful of others had been warning America for years, but so few seemed to care.
Or to understand the scale of the threat. Truman, like all dedicated anti-communists, had little time for Russians, but what the Nazis had done to them was terrifying. The very face of the Russian nation was being reshaped, as was Africa and the Middle East, all at the behest of one man; Adolph Hitler. Those rated inferior were treated as slaves or simply exterminated; how long would it be before Russia was completely broken? It was impossible to be certain one way or the other, but he suspected that resistance had been falling for years. Beria’s refusal to talk to the United States, under threat of German punishment, made collecting accurate information impossible.
“There is much we have to discuss and very little time,” Churchill said into the silence. “I trust you will understand if we put aside formalities for the moment?”
“Of course,” he said, relaxing slightly. The noise of German bombs could be heard in the distance, but London itself hadn’t been seriously bombed since the first terrifying day when Otto Skorzeny and his men had landed to tear the guts out of the British Government. “It’s always a pleasure to cut the crap.”
Churchill nodded slightly, understanding the underlying message. Churchill was popular in America, although like so many others he sometimes overestimated the scale of that popularity. Roosevelt had once commented that while every American loved a hero, they didn’t love people who forced them to make hard choices. Churchill was both. He was also an ardent imperialist, something that had made it easy for Dewey to slander him during the 1944 election campaign, the campaign that had broken Roosevelt’s heart. Dewey might have done much for the country, including a bitter attack on racism and pro-Nazi feelings in the country, but he had done very little for the overall cause of defeating the Germans.
“The position is grim, but not desperate,” Churchill said, looking over at the map he’d hung on one wall. Truman studied it with considerable interest. It was hard to collect reliable information from the front. The Germans had seized a vast amount of British territory, and yet he knew from his own experience that there was a vast difference between taking the territory and controlling it. British lines, marked on the map, looked strong…but any military force that attempted to defend every possible location was asking for disaster.
“It looks as if the Germans are going to advance against your lines,” Truman said, finally. It showed no real insight. “When are you expecting them to move?”
Churchill shrugged. “We suspect that they will attack as soon as they feel able to do so,” he said. “We have some vague intelligence reports that suggest that they intend to commence within the week, but reports are confusing and…in any case, moving an entire army isn’t really easy. They may well intend to hit us within a week, but there will be delays that will force them to halt and wait.”
Churchill glowered. “You have seen the reports of German atrocities?”
“Yes,” Truman said. The list was short, compared to Russia, but the BBC was trumpeting all of them as examples of German beastliness. There had been several young men shot for shooting at Germans, several children taken as hostages and transported to Germany, and one known case of rape. He also knew that the Germans had shot the rapist themselves and assisted his victim to flee to British lines. That was Rommel’s influence, he suspected, an influence that would not last once the SS got its claws into Britain. “I've also reported on them to the president.”
His expression darkened. America probably wouldn’t really care. The country had seen the pictures of what was happening to the Jews, but while there had been shock and outrage, it hadn’t always translated into action. Some Jewish groups had been purchasing Jews from the Germans, trying to save as many as possible, only to be accused of literally buying and trading in slaves. It was disgusting, in Truman’s opinion, but there had always been a streak of anti-Semitism running through American politics.
“We need your help,” Churchill admitted after a long moment. “I have hopes that we will defeat the German offensive when it finally attacks our lines, but whatever happens, it will cost us dearly. The longer the Germans wait, the more time we have to prepare, but the more time they have to ship supplies into Britain and reinforce their own forces.”
His hand traced a location on the map. “We’ve been raiding them as much as we can and there have been all kinds of skirmishes along the lines, but we haven’t been able to prevent them reinforcing their divisions,” he said. “When the storm breaks, they will hit us as hard as they can, and that will shatter the forces we have built up over the years. We could win the battle, drive the Germans back into the sea, and still lose the war.”
Truman’s eyes narrowed. “What- exactly – does that mean?”
Churchill picked up a second map and unrolled it in front of Truman. “We have reports that the Italians are finally working up the nerve to cross the Suez,” he said. “The Germans have been pressing them to do it since they launched their invasion, but Mussolini is being balky. For some reason, he feels that Hitler should have provided him with advance warning of the invasion. It’s a shame he didn’t, because if that had happened, we would have had more warning ourselves, but…”
He tapped the Suez Canal. “The Italian have enough firepower to close the canal, and they have threatened to open fire on any warship trying to pass through there. If they decide to force a crossing, we will bleed them – make no mistake about that – but they will probably succeed. Hitler gave them thousands of former Russian tanks and weapons and they will have the fire-power to defeat our lines. Once they get over the canal, they will probably drive into Palestine and Iraq.”
Truman saw the implication at once, as Churchill had intended. “They'll also threaten Saudi Arabia,” he said. “What about the Turks?”
Churchill shrugged. The Turks had gobbled up Cyprus and Syria – taking the latter from the Vichy French, who were in no position to complain – and were eyeing the oil wells in Iraq with growing interest. They were trying hard to stay out of the fighting, but Germans on two border
s were a powerful argument in favour of coming to some accommodation with the Reich. The Turks were proud, tough fighters, but they lacked the ability to stand the Germans off. The Germans also provided almost all of their imports and a market for their exports. In short, Truman knew, the Germans had the Turks by the balls.
“We have some links on a very private level with their government,” Churchill said, slowly. He held Truman’s eyes, reminding him that was not to be shared further, whatever the reason. The Turkish Government had long historical reasons to hate the British. However, there were factions that preferred the British to the Germans. The Germans might, one day, try to exterminate the Turks. It didn’t help that the British were the main suppliers of weapons to the Turks, leaving the Germans permanently suspicious of British meddling in the region. “The Germans are pushing them to invade Iraq and Palestine.”
“Ouch,” Truman said. He studied the map for a long moment. “Don’t they have the Iranians for that?”
Churchill smiled. “They’re not too keen, we suspect, on the Iranians being in too strong a position, vis-à-vis the Reich,” he said. “The terms of their deal with the Iranians were that they would build up the Iranian Army to a point where it could stand us off and even allow the Iranians to take a role in the New Order. If Iran was to gain control of Iraq, they would become much more powerful and perhaps even inclined to start looking for other ways to improve their power base. Hitler would prefer for them to be heading east, into India, but that won’t be anything as lucrative as hitting Iraq.”
Truman considered. “And what happens when – if – Hitler gives the order and your defence unravels?”
“The Italians will come over the Suez and into Palestine,” Churchill said. “They will meet fanatical resistance from the Jews, but we suspect that the Arabs will rise up to support the Italians, despite how they have treated independence aspirations in Egypt. The Nazis will probably insist on delegating the solution of the Jewish Problem – as they call it – to the radical Arabs, who will slaughter and get slaughtered…”
“Therefore weakening them for when the Germans come,” Truman agreed.
“At the same time, the Turks and perhaps the Iranians will invade Iraq,” Churchill said. “Most of Iraq is unimportant to us, but Mosel – in the north – and Basra – in the south – are very important. It will be very hard to defend them. We will hold them as long as we can, but in the long term they will fall. Once they do, our sources of oil will dwindle down to nothingness, apart from what we get from you.”
He hesitated. “They will also be in a position to overawe the Saudis,” he added. “It would be easy for them to push the Saudis into rescinding the contracts they signed with American oilmen, or even taking the oil fields and daring you to do something about it. You don’t have anything there apart from a naval station and that pair of destroyers won’t be a deterrent to the Iranians, not with the ships they purchased off the Japanese. That would be a direct shot across your bows.”
“And an unclear one,” Truman said. Roosevelt had hoped for something so dramatic, so violent, so unprovoked – at least publicly – that it would unite the country behind the cause of crushing the Nazis and their Japanese allies. If the Germans and their allies only intimidated the Saudis into refusing to accept future American contracts, how could anyone use it to unite the country for war? “What do you want from us?”
Churchill sighed. “Two things,” he said. “Ideally, we would like you to dispatch reinforcements to Saudi Arabia, something that would make them think twice about doing anything that might irritate you…”
“The Panay incident didn’t work out too well,” Truman reminded him. The Japanese had sunk an American ship back during their rape of Nanking and had gotten away with it. Maybe Roosevelt should have tried to use it to unite the country, but it had only been a few lives, and the Japanese had sworn that it had been an accident…
“The second thing we need is supplies,” Churchill said. “We built up a massive stockpile of weapons and vehicles, but we are already facing shortages due to the tempo of modern war. If we run out of the more critical items, we will be unable to continue the fighting and will have to sue for the best terms we can get.”
Truman gritted his teeth, remembering Roosevelt. He had worried until his dying day that the Royal Navy would fall into the hands of the Germans. The Germans already had access to the French and Italian navies; what would happen if they combined what they had with the British fleet and sailed against America? Roosevelt had known that Britain would be needed as a base for the war he had thought was inevitable. Dewey hadn’t agreed and when it became obvious that the British couldn’t pay for their supplies, he had cut the supply chain. That betrayal had almost caused a second depression; it had certainly led to Dewey being told by his Party that they wouldn’t stand for him seeking a second term.
“I can take that to the President and ask him to try to get you some more support,” he said, looking for the right words. How could he convince Churchill that something would be needed from Britain…and did he even have something that could be offered in payment? “Can you pay for it?”
“No,” Churchill said flatly. Truman nodded; he had expected as much. The hint of bitterness in Churchill’s tone surprised him. “The only payment we can make will be in blood, toil, tears and sweat…while we die to save America from the coming war with the Nazis.”
Truman looked into the future and didn’t like what he saw. He knew some things about German science. They were looking endlessly for ways to achieve world domination. Rockets across the ocean, newer and better weapons, training and exercise standards far better than anything the Americans could match…if war came, now, it would be far easier to win than if war came ten years in the future.
“I see,” he said, knowing that his President was not going to be happy. “What do you need?”
Chapter Thirty-Two
Over North Sea
A cold air blew across the landing field as the pilots marched out to their aircraft. The fires might have been put out a fortnight ago, but the airfield still bore the mark of the German assault, with blackened buildings and ruined outposts where the German bombs had fallen.
Flight Lieutenant Stanley Baldwin had flown over the wreckage of Home Fleet when his Gannet aircraft had landed at Scapa Flow and he had been awed by the sheer scale of the devastation. It would be years before the ships could be recovered, repaired, and pressed back into service…if they could be salvaged at all. The remainder of Home Fleet had departed to the Clyde. In their absence, the base seemed somehow smaller.
It still thronged with activity. Thousands of repairman and engineers had flooded into the base after the German raid, trying desperately to repair as much as possible. The airfields had been one of the first priorities, and while the original aircraft had been destroyed on the ground or killed in the air, the heavy Fleet Air Arm force had landed and was primed to respond to the German assault. The Germans hadn’t given them an opportunity to take revenge, however, until now. The pilots, lost in their own thoughts, barely noticed as they boarded their aircraft.
The briefing had been surprisingly clear. “The Germans intend to send a raiding force into the Atlantic,” the Group Commander had said. “Our job is to put them off the idea.”
The pilots had laughed then, although they knew that it wasn’t going to be easy. The RAF and the Royal Navy had fought a series of political battles, every bit as intense as actual fighting in the air, over who should command the maritime aerial strike force until the Prime Minister had ordered the command be given to the Royal Navy. The FAA existed, at least in part, to provide support to the Royal Navy, and Atlee had ruled that the Royal Navy would therefore have primary command, although some of the FAA’s facilities were shared with the RAF.
They’d trained endlessly for assaults against shipping and had practised as best as they could with the RAF, but attacking a single German ship wasn't easy. There were five large German sh
ips in the fleet they were expecting…and one of them was a carrier. The Germans had copied Japanese designs and it showed. Their carriers held more aircraft and were regarded as being more fragile than British designs.
Baldwin’s lips quirked. That piece of wisdom would be tested today, along with the mettle of the squadron. The Germans were known to have powerful radars mounted on their ships and, unless the attack was timed precisely, they would have the support of land-based aircraft as well. He ran through his check-list as the propellers began to spin, before watching the first of the RAF Meteors leaving the landing field and climbing into the sky. He didn’t like the Meteors – the FAA didn’t have many jet aircraft and wouldn’t until someone produced a jet aircraft that could launch from a carrier – but there was no doubting their prowess in the air.
The Invasion of 1950 Page 29