Grand Alliance (Kirov Series)

by John Schettler

  “Then how do we get back?”

  Fedorov gave him a look of real sympathy and understanding, then spoke quietly. “That may no longer be possible.”

  “What? You mean we’re marooned here, for good?”

  “For good or for ill, but you are here, that much you will inevitably come to realize and believe, just as we did. And being here is a matter of grave concern, not simply for your own fate, or the lives of the men you command, but for the fate of this world. Do you understand what I am saying now, general? You are no ordinary man here—not in this time and place. This is the Western Desert of Egypt in 1941. You know what is happening here now, and why men with names like Wavell and O’Connor are before you. And you will soon hear of another familiar name—Rommel. He is here as well, and undoubtedly up to the same old tricks that confounded the British for years in this campaign. But you can change all that, General Kinlan.”

  “Change it?” Now Kinlan remembered his own impulsive vow to Major Sims, that he would kick Rommel’s ass half way to Berlin if he found him.

  “Yes,” said Fedorov. “That is the real dilemma now. We faced it, talked endlessly about it, debated it, and then we realized we could not remain here in the midst of this terrible war without choosing sides. And General, there was some contention among our ranks over that choice. There were those who were very embittered over the hostility and enmity that has grown between our nations in our day. It was a struggle, but my Admiral held firm and eventually opted for reason in the face of all this insanity.”

  “Admiral?”

  “Leonid Volsky. You have heard of this man?”

  “Volsky. He’s the commander of the Red Banner Northern Fleet, or at least he was before your ship went missing.”

  “Correct, and he was to transfer to the Pacific Fleet just as the incident at the Diaoyutai/Senkaku Islands ignited hostilities there. That little squabble was going to become something that would eventually devour the entire world. The missile attack you experienced was undoubtedly a part of all that, and your presence here may be the only safe ground you could have found for your men and vehicles. You know damn well that there would have been a second strike, and a third if your air defense prevented that.”

  “Is that what you were here for, Battle Damage Assessment?”

  “No General, you must understand that I was never there—never in that time. I was here all along, with my Marines and helicopter, and we were out here doing exactly as we have told you, looking for General O’Connor. You see, when we found ourselves here, in this time, we realized there was no way we could stand apart from this conflict. We had to take sides, one way or another, and knowing that Russia and Britain were allies once eventually guided our thinking to the right path. So it is as I have told you. My ship is out there right now, waiting for my return. Kirov is cruising with Cunningham’s Royal Navy fleet, and ready to do battle in support of the British here—and it is a grave hour indeed. Believe me, General, it’s all in shreds and patches now, but you will piece it together soon enough, just as we did, and the quilt of your understanding could save your country now—here—in 1941.”

  Chapter 2

  Shreds and patches… That was as good a way to put things as he could fathom. Here he was, a king of shreds and patches, just as Hamlet put it. Yet he wanted to shout at this man as Hamlet’s mother had… ‘No more! Your words are like daggers, please no more, sweet Hamlet. Angels in heaven protect me with your wings!...’ A ragtag king he was, lost, completely out of his world, but a king indeed. That was what this man was saying to him now, that he was here and that meant something. He had a responsibility here, and it would begin with the same choice this Russian Captain had made, to be or not to be, here and now, in this war, taking up arms against a sea of trouble and by opposing…

  “You’re asking me to fight here… now?”

  “Where else?” Fedorov gave him a thin smile. “We fought. We were misguided by a headstrong Captain at first—the very man I replaced. His was a hard line, and he had no love of the West, or the British. But my view was that if we could somehow prevent the enmity between our nations from ever taking root after this war, then we might prevent the one that comes after, the searing fire that you have only just escaped. Understand, General? You are here. This war is here as well. Your countrymen fight even as we speak. We have joined them. That decision should be much easier for you.”

  Popski was following the essence of this, but could not see why this Fedorov would have to try and convince a British serving officer as to which side he was on in this damn war, and he said as much.

  “I’ll admit I had my doubts about you when you gave us the rough treatment up front,” he said to Kinlan, “but forgive and forget, General.” This man here seems to think he needs to persuade you to take up sides here, as silly as that may seem.”

  Kinlan gave Popski a look, then realized that if any of this were true, then this man was not of his day and time. He was a man of this era, the very same man he had stared at in the data files on his library pad. He was ‘Popski,’ head of the PPA, a fringe element of the Long Range Desert Group, the Number One Demolition Group, to be more accurate. He wanted to dismiss all this with one boisterous ‘bloody hell,’ but that would not do. What he needed now was more than the evidence he had before him. He needed information on what was happening here in the desert.

  “So tell him to look at the uniform I’m wearing,” he said to Popski. “That should answer his question.”

  “Clear enough, General,” Popski returned. “Not that I can say as I’ve ever seen kit like that before. So I’m thinking you’re a special unit, seeing as though General O’Connor doesn’t even seem to know anything about you. But you had old Wavell on the blower a while back. What did he say?”

  “Popski,” said Fedorov urgently, picking up some of what he had been saying. “Don’t converse. Please stay with me and translate. This is urgent now.”

  “Alright, alright. Don’t get all hot and bothered. The man is obviously a British serving officer, and so there should be no question as to whether or not he will do any fighting, and which side he’s on.”

  “He said that? He’s willing to engage here? Ask him again. I need to be certain of this now.”

  “Very well… General, this man wants to know if you’re prepared to engage here—take up the good fight, eh? I’m not sure what your orders are, but Wavell must have given you an earful.”

  “That he did,” said Kinlan. “Tell him Wavell was just a tad upset, but he’s grateful we’ve found O’Connor. Yet he doesn’t seem to know much about my unit here… secret and all, even from the up and ups.” He gave Popski a wink.

  “That will be the case at the outset,” said Fedorov through Popski. “You are a great unknown. There will be questions, a good many questions, and it would be wise if you allowed me to assist you in answering them. You see, only a very few men alive here know the real truth concerning our presence here, and the operations we are presently undertaking.”

  “You were ordered here by the Russian government?”

  “No. We are acting independently. Our present intention is to try and reverse what is looking to be a very desperate situation in the Mediterranean at the moment.”

  “Well, we know how it all turns out,” said Kinlan, still inwardly shaking his head to hear himself admit the insanity of the thought that this man was telling him the truth, and this was, indeed, 1941.

  “We know how it once turned out,” said Fedorov quickly, in halting English, wanting to make certain Popski got it right. “This time things are different,” he said again to Popski in Russian. “Tell him that the Germans have taken Gibraltar.”

  “What’s that you say? Gibraltar?”

  “Yes,” said Fedorov. “And if you know this history at all, then you know that was never supposed to happen.”

  “Know what history?” said Popski.

  “Just translate what I said! We’ll have time to talk later.”

/>   Kinlan could see that Popski was in the dark. He did not really know who this Russian was—at least who he claimed to be. So he decided to explore this ground briefly.

  “These men don’t seem to know the whole story, Captain,” he said. “Have you told them the same tale you’ve spun out for me?”

  “Only one man here knows the whole truth—two actually.”

  “Wavell?”

  “No sir, General Wavell has not yet been briefed.”

  “Is this man here in the know?” He nodded to Popski.

  “No,” said Fedorov directly, his eyes carrying a note of caution that he did not wish to try and put into words.

  Popski knew what they were saying, but if this was something that Wavell was not even privy too, then he was in good company, and he did not let any of this bother him. Yes, this was some secret unit assembling out here. Perhaps that’s why the LRDG has units down at Siwa, and why Jock Campbell is there now.

  “Look General, this is the situation as far as I understand it. I was in Alexandria yesterday, and with Wavell himself, along with Admiral John Tovey, who has been fully briefed in this matter.”

  “Tovey?” Kinlan knew the name, and knew Tovey had been the man in charge of Home Fleet during these years. “Who else knows?” he asked.

  “That isn’t important now,” said Fedorov. “But what is important is that your unit here is going to eventually be discovered. You had orders to withdraw to Mersa Matruh? Thankfully that was still in British hands when we left yesterday, though it may not be theirs for very much longer. Now it’s time I gave you a good briefing. Gibraltar was attacked last September, and the Germans have closed the entire Western Mediterranean. All traffic to Egypt now has to go by way of Capetown, and that’s the least of it. To take Gibraltar the Germans persuaded Spain to join the Axis, and the Vichy French have followed suit. That means all of North Africa, from Casablanca all the way to Tobruk, is now Axis controlled territory. The British still have Tobruk itself, or they did yesterday, but Rommel is here early, and he’s doing what he did so well before—raising hell. We’ve saved O’Connor, which may be a real plus, but for now the British are overmatched. The Germans have already sent the 15th Panzer Division to reinforce Rommel’s 5th Light Division and, after recent operations, the British have nothing in the way of mobile armor left.”

  “You say they still have Tobruk?”

  “Correct, and I spoke to Wavell about that personally. The 6th Australian Division is there, but the rest of the army has fallen back on Bardia and Sollum. That’s a strong position, a natural castle in the desert. The escarpment there means Rommel will have to go some 80 kilometers further east if he wants to outflank that position.”

  “How is it you have Wavell’s ear, Captain, if you don’t mind my asking?”

  “Because we matter, General. That’s the simplest way to put it. You know what my ship is capable of, and we’re about to take off the gloves here and get serious.”

  “You’re an active combatant?”

  Fedorov did not want to go into any of the events that preceded their arrival to 1940—or to hint in any way that they once were actively combating the British! He had to get to the heart of the matter here, and get Kinlan to see that he mattered as well—that his force could be decisive here.

  “Yes, we fight for the British. We have helped them secure the Iceland gap against German raiders, and intervened on more than one occasion to support their operations. Up until now, my Admiral has been reluctant to fully engage, but events have taken a real turn for the worse in this war, and so now we fight. We are prepared to use the full power of our ship and crew to try and reverse the setbacks lately suffered by the British. If we do not, and Egypt falls to Rommel, then it will be more difficult than ever to prevent a German victory in this war.”

  “I seem to recall that you Russians had a good deal to do with stopping Hitler.”

  “True, but my homeland is no longer whole. The Soviet Union, as it was once known, exists only in part now. The country has fragmented into three warring states. We think we know how this has happened, but the implications are staggering. It took all these states, strongly unified under Stalin, to stave off the German invasion that may happen later this year. Without a unified Soviet state, I fear that the West has little prospect for victory. Remember, it is January of 1941, and the Americans are not in this yet.”

  “He says the Yanks aren’t in it yet,” said Popski. “So it’s a nice private little fight for us now, just like my PPA—that’s Popski’s Private Army. Got that right from Hackett, if you know the man.”

  “So you see, General,” said Fedorov, “What we can do at sea in the Mediterranean, you can do here in the desert. How was it Lawrence put it when he was trying to enlist Arab support with Feisal? The desert is a sea in which no oar is dipped, and on this sea you can go where you please, and strike where you please, and this is what you must do now.”

  Kinlan’s eyes narrowed. In the face of this whole impossible day, he at last had his hand on something solid. Here I was, he thought, about to preside over a withdrawal on the brink of World War III, and worried about how I could save these men here. Now I’ve gone and landed in the last war instead if this crazy talk holds. But if that is so… If I am here, with the 7th Brigade at my command, well then it is exactly as this man puts it—I matter here, we matter a very great deal. I can do exactly what I told Sims, and I can kick Rommel’s behind any time I choose.

  Wavell had been hopping mad. He had no idea who he was talking to, and wanted to speak with O’Connor straight away. I had to feign a communications lapse to get out of that one, and I still have this O’Connor fellow on ice in the other FV432. I know it sounds crazy, but something tells me I haven’t heard the last from this Wavell, and that O’Connor is going to want to get right back in the saddle as soon as he can. That thought brought a question.

  “O’Connor… Does he know all this?”

  “No sir,” said Fedorov, “he has not been briefed either. The only other man in theater that is fully briefed is Admiral John Tovey.”

  “Tovey knows. He’s heard everything you’ve told me here?”

  “Yes.”

  “And he believed it?”

  “He’s seen my ship in action. That can be very persuasive.”

  “I suppose that is so.” Kinlan rubbed a cramp from the back of his neck, the least of his worries. “So what will I find if I do proceed to Mersa Matruh now?”

  “That will depend on how far east Rommel has moved. The last I knew he was operating near Bardia.”

  “That’s 200 kilometers west of Matruh.”

  “About that,” said Fedorov. “If you get there soon you will likely appear well behind British lines—assuming there is still a line. If I can get through to Wavell I can determine what the situation is. Then again… If you go north for Bardia, you might appear behind German lines, which would be a very unpleasant surprise. May I ask how big your force is?”

  “He wants to know just how many lad’s you’ve got here,” said Popski.

  Kinlan passed a brief moment thinking he was about to divulge information to an enemy, but then he realized that the Russians of 2021 knew full well the composition of his force when they took their pot shot. Telling this man what cards he had in hand would not affect the game one way or another.

  “Tell him I’ve a full brigade, 7th Armored Brigade, to be precise.”

  “He says he has a full brigade here.”

  “Can he be more specific?” Fedorov gave Popski a nudge.

  “I have the 12th Royal Lancers for starters, with one company in Dragons and the rest with the old Scimitars.”

  “Just an armored cavalry unit?”

  “I said for starters,” Kinlan corrected. “Right behind them are the Royal Scotts Dragoon Guards, and not the 2020 light cavalry configuration. They sent the big boys here to settle this business at Sultan Apache. See those two tanks over there?” Kinlan pointed to the two Challenger II
tanks that were part of his headquarters troop. “Well, I have four Sabres—a full battalion of 60 tanks, and a few more tucked away in HQ troops. Then two mechanized infantry battalions are in support, the Highlanders and 3rd Mercian, both Armored Infantry in Warrior IFVs. That’s a real fist full of war fighting for you. Throw in a battalion of Gurkha light role infantry and supporting engineers, supply, and logistics troops to round it all off. It’s a lot to keep on my mind, and none of those boys have heard this wild tale were spinning out here.”

  That brought another whole can of worms to the discussion. If this were true, how in the world would he tell his men about it? How could he tell them there would be no sealift units waiting for them at Mersa Matruh. They were scheduled to rendezvous there to meet several RoRo units, the ‘Roll on—Roll off’ ships that could accommodate his heavy vehicles. Hurst, Hartland, Anvil Point and Eddystone were to be in attendance to move the 7th Brigade to Toulon in several trips, for deployment in Europe. But that would never happen now. That was all gone. Even if we were still where we should be, it might still all be gone, he thought. If the Russkies lobbed warheads our way, they would have hit those units at Mersa Matruh as well.

  “So that’s what I’ve got out here,” said Kinlan. “If this had happened a few days ago I’d have a squadron of Apache attack helicopters too, but they left early and missed the party.”

  Fedorov nodded. “It may not feel that way now, General, but you were the lucky ones. Speaking of helicopters… can we sort this out and get my men back aboard our KA-40? We were to get General O’Connor back to Alexandria, but your presence here has changed everything. That said, my helicopter can give you some very good airborne reconnaissance. Care to take a ride with me? I’ll give you a good sitrep on the whole situation up north.”

  “The Captain here invites you to accompany him on that helicontraption of his, and believe me, General, that’s a royal ride if ever there was one.”

  Kinlan thought about that. “Well,” he said at last. “I’ve a good deal on my plate just now, the least of which is advising my men on this situation.”