“Sevastopol has surrendered?” screamed Borodin. “Get some troops down there! I want a new commander in place today! We cannot lose control of the Black Sea,” he shouted to the people in the room.
“It is too late for that,” said one general. “Everything we have is being thrown at the Allies in Poland. Even that will probably be over in the next week,” he said. “We have done everything possible to make this happen, yet our supplies and troops can’t even get to the front anymore. They attack our trains, truck convoys, our ships, everything!” he exclaimed. “It is as if they are watching everything we do.”
A man came rushing into the room and handed Pusko a message. He quickly scanned it. “We just received word that Vladivostok is surrounded. The commander says it is the Americans and the Koreans,” he said numbly.
“The Koreans? They aren’t even in this war,” Borodin wailed.
Pusko sighed. “It seems we underestimated how much support the Poles and Americans would get,” he lamented.
Borodin pointed a finger at Pusko. “You told me this would be over in a month. You told me there was nothing the Allies could do to stop us. You told me it would not impact the rest of our people. Now you say we have lost? That is unacceptable. How many are carrying arms right now?” he demanded.
“A little over two million carrying arms,” said one of the men.
“Well, two million is a lot of troops! Pull them from everywhere we can. Let the internal security forces deal as best they can with disturbances within our borders. Get them to the Polish border and tell them to move!” Borodin shouted.
“The way our people have been killed, it may not be enough,” said the first general.
“Then we will make it enough,” Borodin said angrily. “How many tactical nuclear weapons do we have ready to move?”
The men in the room grew pale. It had now come to this. None thought this was the way to go. “Bringing nuclear weapons into this will surely bring retaliation from the Allies,” said one man.
Very well, we have chemical and biological weapons, do you propose using those?” Borodin asked.
“Definitely not! We would be killing our own people almost as fast as we kill the Allied troops. Besides, our equipment is not that good,” said Pusko.
“Then ready the tactical weapons.”
“It will mean our people will have to march through the areas we just obliterated. The residual radiation will make some sick and others will eventually get cancer,” said another.
“I don’t care about long term effects. Once we get across Europe and this is over, we can take care of the after effects,” said Borodin.
“There are over 5,000 warheads we can use for this. Most are artillery rounds, while some are for our bombers. They range in strength from two kilotons to twenty kilotons. Once we start using them, our people could march through the next day and be relatively safe. We will immediately start issuing protective gear and dosimeters to each soldier. That will let us know what to expect later on,” said Pusko. “We can start on a broad front, then narrow the area and use them as needed to keep the Allies out of the way,” he said.
“Then do it!” demanded Borodin. “You have one week before we begin operations. Get the troops in place and equipped by Saturday or we start regardless,” Borodin said as he turned and stamped out of the room.
The generals looked at each other. “You realize they will respond with weapons of their own,” one man said.
“It is the end of us all,” said another.
“Show some backbone!” demanded Pusko. “The Allies are as frightened of these things as we are. They probably will never use them. In the meantime, our troops will be able to get behind their lines and move out.”
“You realize this leaves the rest of our nation without Army support. We won’t be able to protect the rest of our borders.”
“Give more arms to our internal security forces. They will have to make do until this is over,” Pusko said. “Make the plans and get them executed. I will be attending the latest graduation from the academy day after tomorrow, then will be back for your reports,” he said as he left the room.
The men looked back and forth at each other. This had to end. Russia was bleeding to death and they simply wanted to open the wounds further. Somehow, they needed to make it stop.
Chapter 15
Decisions
Ivan Olevski, President of Belarus, stared at the messages in his hands. The Allies were now at the border with Belarus and the Swiss Ambassador had brought a message from the Allied leaders asking what his intentions were. “Allied forces are now at your border. We do not desire to bring the war to your country; however, we are ready to do so. If you wish for Belarus to be a neutral in this war, all Russian troops must leave. Any desiring to surrender, may do so, however those desiring to continue fighting have two days to leave Belarus before we enter. Allied forces will enter the country beginning in forty eight hours. The Allied nations are at war with Russia. Our intentions are to cross your country in this effort. Your decision will determine if we come through as friends or as enemies. Please relay your decision via the Swiss delegation,” he read aloud.
He lifted the other message and also read it. “This one is from Borodin. ‘Nothing is to be left which may benefit the Allies. Burn and destroy everything in their path. Your troops must help your fellow Russians holding the line against the aggressors,’” he read. Olevski threw the message on the floor. “The fool thinks he’s Stalin. Of course he wants to bring back scorched earth, because it’s our earth that will be scorched. He started this war and wants our citizens to pay for it,” he spat. He turned to his defense minister. “Do they have any chance of turning this around?” he asked.
The Defense Minister shook his head. “The way I see it, there is none. They are getting desperate. Look at this,” he said handing over a small device.
“What is this?” Olevski asked.
“It is a dosimeter. It’s used to measure radiation. They have started handing these out to all the troops,” he said. “It can only mean one thing.”
Olevski looked at the device in horror. “Scorched earth. Only in this case he’s ready to ignite a whole world. This has made up my mind.” He turned to the Swiss delegate. “Thank you for bringing this to us. Please let the Allied commanders know Belarus is neutral and will not oppose their advance through our nation. Please ask if they can send a delegation to discuss things further with us,” he said.
I will be happy to do so,” said the delegate. Please feel free to use our consulate in anything that can bring about peace,” he said as he shook Olevski’s hand and left the room.
Olevski turned to his Defense Minister again. “Get with your people. Make sure our people are ready. Then inform our Russian troops they must either surrender to the Allies or leave Belarus within forty eight hours. But offer this as an alternative. They can transfer to Belarus control and become a part of our army if they desire. That may be a better alternative than either surrender or continuing the fight,” he said.
Olevski looked back at the others. “Now let us send a response to our former Russian friends,” he said.
“Neutral?” cried Borodin. “He has lost his mind!” he screamed. “Where are our troops?”
“They have told them to leave Belarus within forty eight hours. We want them to stay, of course, but if they do, the Belarusian Army will begin attacking us as invaders. We don’t have the men to retake Belarus and keep the Allies back,” said General Alexev. “On the other hand, bringing our troops back to our borders will give us more time to get ready for this thrust. Even if we must use our weapons in Belarus, it should not delay us much in the long term. Let them come back. It will take time for the Allies to come through and time is something of value to us,” he said. “When the weapons go off, our men will be rested and ready to move to France,” he said.