Patton looked distressed. “Explosions, burns, even blindness from the glare are things I can understand, but what the hell is this radiation thing you mentioned? It sounds like some goddamn death ray.”
Ike checked his notes and decided to defer. “Burke?”
Steve stood up. His knees were shaking. Even though it was intoxicating, he still wasn’t used to this kind of audience.
He focused on Patton. “Sir, as you doubtless know, atomic material in the bomb, uranium, gives off invisible rays called radiation. In years past, people died from what they thought was harmless radiation, such as those workers who applied radium to watch faces to make them glow in the dark. I was told by Colonel Tibbetts that a couple of scientists developing the bomb in New Mexico got exposed to radioactive material and died after becoming quite sick. He said the effect is very much like some kinds of cancer. What the scientists don’t really know is exactly what the effects will be when an explosion takes place and the radioactive material within the bomb is disseminated over a wide area, making anyone and anything in that area radioactive to the degree that they are exposed. Tibbetts said that some of the scientists believe that the effect will diminish to nothing within a couple of days, while others feel that the effects could linger on for years, even decades. Perhaps,” he said, suddenly aware of the utter silence in the room, “for centuries.”
“Jesus Christ,” said Patton. “That’s not war. That’s fucking slaughter. Burke, are you implying that the ground that the bomb radiates might not be livable for years, even longer?”
“Yes, sir. At least, that’s what some scientists feel.”
“And what about the people affected by this radiation?” Bradley asked, his face pale. “Will all of them die?”
“General, there is the strong possibility that many apparently unhurt people will sicken and die within a couple of months, while others might not show the effects for years.”
Bradley was stunned. “And we’re going to use this thing, this death ray?”
Eisenhower responded and was firm. “Yes, Brad, we are. Truman has ordered it and I concur. We all believe that the current pause is just so the Reds can resupply and that they’ll commence their attacks as soon as possible. Using the bomb will save American lives, and that’s all there is.”
“What do the Germans know about this?” Alexander asked.
“Very little,” Eisenhower admitted. “We told them we were going to intensify the bombing in the area and that there would necessarily be many civilian casualties. They accepted that.”
Patton chuckled. “Gawd, are the Russians going to be surprised. I just hope we can someday drop one right down Stalin’s throat.” Burke noted to himself that Patton had quickly gotten over any reservations regarding the use of the bomb.
The discussion then focused on the matter of selecting a specific target. Alexander wondered whether conventional carpet bombing of an area wouldn’t be as effective and less sinister than an atomic bomb. Ike agreed to a point but insisted that the shock value of a single atomic bomb would be so much more effective.
Within the Russian perimeter west of the Weser, there were three major areas of concentration. Ike reviewed the virtues of each and decided on the northernmost area and that the bombing would occur as soon as possible. The next morning if it could be done. All were in agreement that the sooner the terrible bomb was used, the more devastating the effect would be, as the current massive troop concentrations could easily disperse.
With that, the meeting began to break up. Burke was concerned. The generals had missed a point.
“General Eisenhower,” he said, “may I speak?”
This earned him a deadly glare from Beetle Smith that told him whatever he was doing had better be worth it.
“About what?” asked Ike.
“Sir, it’s about the Russian command psychology and how using the bomb might affect that.”
Eisenhower, who had risen, sat back down and smiled slightly. “All right,” he said and turned to the others, who had paused. “Gentlemen, before joining us Burke was General Marshall’s resident expert on the Soviet Union and, most particularly, an expert on our antagonist, Josef Stalin. He is also the man who brought Marshall the warning that the Reds were going to attack the Potsdam column what seems an eternity ago.”
Burke saw many eyes staring at him with surprise. Even Patton seemed respectful. “General,” he began after taking a deep breath, “the Russian command structure is very tightly controlled. The Russians are taught to obey their orders and not to deviate from them. In the past, anyone who deviated in the slightest from Stalin’s orders was dismissed, even executed.”
Patton whistled. “What a nasty bastard. And he was our ally?”
Burke continued. “When their war with Germany started, most of the Russian generals were sycophants who had survived on their loyalty to Stalin, not because of their military abilities. Stalin is a pragmatist, so, when the defeats began to pile up, he replaced those toadies with real generals like Zhukov, but the psychology of the structure remains the same. You obey your orders, no matter what they are. Disobedience can be fatal, even if that disobedience results in victory. Stalin cannot stand the thought of a rival.”
Ike leaned forward. “What will happen after the war to men like Zhukov?”
“Sir, Zhukov and others have been given considerable latitude in order to win the war against Hitler, and now against us. As a result, they have become personalities and heroes. In my opinion, they will either be banished or executed when their usefulness is over.”
Patton laughed. “Shit, I think I prefer our method of retirement, even with the lousy pay.”
After the chuckles stopped, Ike asked Burke just how that would affect their target selection.
“Sir, if you can take out their commanders as well as cause casualties, the survivors will be a leaderless mob until such time as Stalin is able to correct things. If the bomb is as good as it is supposed to be, that might be never.”
“Burke,” said Bradley, “are you suggesting we murder Zhukov and other leaders?”
“Yes, sir,” he responded without hesitation.
“Why not?” chided Patton. “They’re all soldiers, aren’t they? Didn’t we go after and kill Yamamoto in the Pacific? And didn’t we spend some tense moments last December when it appeared that the Nazis were going to try and kill Eisenhower?”
Ike tapped the table with his pencil. “Brad, do we have a good idea where Zhukov is?”
Bradley nodded. “Yes. The OSS people we left behind have reported that he is with Chuikov and they are just east of Paderborn. We can’t pin it down to a precise place, but we are pretty sure they are in the center cluster, not the northern one. It makes sense when you figure that the center is where Zhukov’s old command is.”
“Then,” Ike said grimly, “it’s decided. We hit the center group. Brad, see if you can get more specifics on Zhukov’s possible location and convey them to Tibbetts. I still want them hit tomorrow, if possible. The sooner we kill Russians, the more Americans are saved.”
The generals left the bunker, and Burke found he was almost alone. “Now you’ve gone and done it,” said Godwin. “You’ve given yourself a place in the history books, at least the larger ones. Not bad for a clerk or scribe,” he teased, “but do you really understand what you’ve caused?”
“I’m not certain,” said Burke.
“To begin with, you’ve just been instrumental in determining the place where the weapon that will change war and history will be used.”
“That I understood.”
“But, by helping to change the target from the northern group to the middle one, you also just condemned men who were scheduled to live to instead die a horrible death, while others, whom Ike had previously determined would die, get to extend their lives. In short, you’ve played God, just like a real war leader. Rather much for a university professor, wouldn’t you say?”
Burke walked up the stairs and in
to the night. It had gotten dark since the meeting started. He walked briskly to his tent. He would have to write down everything that had transpired at this meeting before his memory dimmed. Somewhat against regulations, he had been keeping a journal since that fateful night in Washington when the Russian colonel slipped him the message.
If the atomic bomb did work and wiped out the Russian command, his comments could have indeed affected history. What would Natalie think of what he had done? And, he thought, what about his future students? They would be told as well. What would their reaction be? Would they consider him a hero or a murderer? Suddenly, he had doubts.
He could hide behind the fact that the ultimate decision was Ike’s, but his comments had affected the choice of where the most horrifying weapon in mankind’s history would be used. He had the feeling that the date of August 6, 1945, was going to go down in history.
A MACABRE PREDICTABILITY developed regarding the Russian artillery barrages at Potsdam. Although infrequent, the bombardments always began during the night and shook Logan and his men out of their sleep, so that they spent the rest of the night either cringing from the shells or awaiting the infantry attack that they all knew would someday follow. With the fighting on the Weser coming to a head, it seemed logical that the Russians would soon decide to end the siege of Potsdam once and for all.
But the bombardments, although heavy, came at intervals. The shells would land all along the defenses and then the Russian artillerymen would walk their following rounds through the perimeter and in the general direction of the river. It was as if, lacking solid knowledge of specific targets, they were going to try to destroy everything. As before, American counterfire was limited to specific targets to conserve ammo and not give away the guns’ locations. The American command wondered if the Russians had gotten more ammo or they were using up all they had.
By midafternoon it seemed apparent that this day’s softening-up process would continue for a while, although the outposts had noted no signs of any major Russian troop movements in the direction of the American positions.
“We got us another lull,” said Bailey. He was covered with dirt from earthshaking near misses, as were Logan and the others. “You gonna check?”
Logan was in agony. Were they safe? But could he leave his men?
“Lieutenant,” snapped Bailey in a low voice the others couldn’t hear, “get the fuck out there and find out. All of us want to know. You’re not the only one who likes her.”
Logan darted from the bunker and found one of his men’s bicycles undamaged on the ground. He mounted and pedaled furiously to where Elisabeth and Pauli had been sheltered in the basement of a church. When he arrived, there was a crowd around the entrance and there were bloodied bodies on the ground.
“No,” he said, and then he saw Lis and Pauli, bedraggled but unharmed, standing a short distance away. He dropped the bike and ran up to them, and they hugged.
“What happened?” he asked, although the answer was fairly obvious.
“Part of the roof collapsed under the shelling. It was terrible. The screams of the injured were awful and the blinding dust made helping them almost impossible. So many are dead. It was just like Berlin.” She started to shake, and he held her again to calm her.
After a moment, Logan grabbed her arm and she pulled Pauli along. “Let’s go.”
“Where?” she sobbed.
“If I can’t find anyplace else, I’ll take you back to my bunker.” At least, he thought wryly, the roof had held up so far. The sight of the ruined shelter confirmed his worst nightmare. The military bunkers were far better constructed than those for the civilians, and the carnage among nonmilitary personnel was bound to be awful.
The three of them ran, painfully aware that the Russians could begin shelling at any time. They were in the misleadingly calm eye of a military hurricane. Suddenly, Logan stopped and stood in amazement. An airplane was coming straight down the street at him. It was Ames the reporter in his Piper Cub. He had found a stretch of level ground and was planning to take off.
“He’s leaving,” yelled Logan. He ran directly in front of the slowly moving plane and waved. Ames, looking pale and confused by the interruption, stopped, but did not cut the engine.
“Get out of my way, soldier.”
Logan opened the passenger door and grabbed Ames by the arm. “You’re taking two people out of here.”
“Bullshit, this plane is full.”
Logan pulled his pistol, cocked it, and placed it next to Ames’s skull. Ames paled and tried to pull back. With his free hand, Logan yanked on Ames’s duffel bag and threw it on the ground. “I say this plane has room.” Logan grabbed another sack and flung it to the ground.
“Hey,” screamed Ames, “some of that stuff doesn’t even belong to me.”
“Tough shit. And don’t move this plane when I take this gun off your head. If you even try, I’ll put a bullet through you or that gas you got stored in the back. If it goes up, you’ll be just another large grease fire.”
Ames glanced back at the stack of five-gallon cans loaded for extra fuel, gulped, and nodded reluctant agreement. Logan picked up an unprotesting Elisabeth and pushed her into the plane. Then he handed her Pauli, and the boy settled in on Elisabeth’s lap on the seat behind Ames.
“Now,” Logan snarled at Ames, “get the fuck out of here.”
A relieved Ames needed no further encouragement. Logan stepped away as Ames turned the little craft in the direction of the clear ground. Logan stared as Elisabeth looked at him through the small window. Neither attempted to say anything. He tried to memorize her pale and frightened face. It had all been so sudden, and one way or another, she and Pauli were actually leaving Potsdam.
The Piper Cub picked up speed and quickly lifted off until it was about fifty feet off the ground, then it began to settle back down. Logan screamed in horror, thinking it was going to crash, until it steadied at the ridiculously low altitude of only about twenty feet and headed toward the river. It was barely visible when he saw it turn left toward Berlin. He understood Ames’s plan. The reporter was going to try to fly northwest toward the Danish border. That way he might stand a chance of staying out of the great battles to the west. As to the low altitude, it would help him stay invisible and avoid any conflicts he couldn’t possibly win. Logan could only pray that Ames’s skills as a pilot were up to the demands of flying at what was less than treetop height. He also prayed that he had done the right thing for Elisabeth and Pauli.
He heard footsteps pounding up to him. “I ought to court-martial your ass!” snarled an infuriated and livid Captain Dimitri. “That was a dumb fucking trick to pull.”
Logan stood up. “Guess what, Captain, I don’t really give a shit! I just hope I did the right thing for them and that maybe they’ll have a chance to live. You saw what happened at the church. The civilians are going to die. Maybe we’ll get lucky and become prisoners, but not them. Even if they survive the artillery, they’re going to get butchered if we lose. If I saved them from that fate, then anything you have in mind for me is okay.”
Dimitri stared at him, his anger quickly ebbing. “Go back to your bunker, Lieutenant,” he managed to say. “We stay out here any longer and the Russians are going to start shelling again. We’ll talk about it later. If there is a later, that is.”
FIELD MARSHAL GEORGI ZHUKOV growled as the air-raid sirens went off again and then suddenly cut short, as if someone had pulled the plug. “What now?”
Chuikov put down a field phone and shrugged. “More American planes, comrade. Perhaps it’s our turn to be bombed. Shall we go to a shelter?” They were in the basement of a ruined farmhouse.
“How many planes?” asked Zhukov. He waited a moment while Chuikov asked for and got the needed information. Great waves of American bombers had been attacking to the north. These were fairly ineffective attacks, as his tanks were hidden and not parked in tight rows. Even so, they did cause damage. He needed at least one more day to co
mplete the allocation of scarce fuel among the vehicles to ensure a continuation of their attacks on the American positions.
“Just three,” said Chuikov. “Probably those damned photo planes they send over every now and then. That is why the sirens cut out so quickly.”
Zhukov accepted the comment and dismissed the planes as relatively unimportant. Once again he pored over the maps of the area and how they tied in with the complex plan for the next series of assaults. He would not let the Americans rest and recover, even though his own resources were severely limited.
“Look,” someone yelled. “You can see them.”
Curious, Zhukov stepped outside and stared upward. He could just barely make out the reflection on the distant belly of the plane. “What kind of pictures can they possibly take from that altitude?”
Chuikov laughed. “I have no idea, comrade Marshal, but should we not smile and wave? Or better, I shall have our soldiers expose themselves.”
Zhukov smiled tolerantly at his protégé. “Not now. And didn’t you say there were three planes? Where are the other two?”
A staff major was watching the sky with binoculars. “Two others peeled off a moment ago, sir. Oh, look, the bomber has dropped something.”
Chuikov was puzzled. It couldn’t be just one bomb, now could it? That made no sense at all.
Zhukov snatched the binoculars from the unprotesting major. He found the falling object fairly easily as it reflected light quite brightly. The plane was in a steep banking turn. Whatever the plane had dropped did look like it could be a bomb. But one bomb?
A feeling of sick dread seized him. What had he heard about the Americans and a secret weapon? A superbomb? The object seemed to grow as he watched it draw closer. He knew it was too late to flee.
At under two thousand feet in the sky, a second sun dawned with unprecedented fury. For many who saw it, whether they survived or not, it was the last thing their scorched eyes took in. Those farther away described it as a pink-white incandescent flare and an incredibly glowing orb. Almost immediately, there was a tremendous and deafening clap of thunder. It was followed by a howling, shrieking wind and a suffocating blast of heat.
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