The glass was drained and Truman signalled for a refill.
“We did not choose this, neither you nor me, but we must now deal resolutely with the challenges to come.
“Often in our lives, we come to a point where we, as nations and as individuals, must choose between alternative ways of life, between how best to deal with the rights and wrongs that life itself throws in our way.”
“That choice is often not a free one, for we can be confined by circumstances.”
“At this time, I say to you that we have no choices now. There is no other option than to fully prosecute this conflict to its swift and awful end, or we should see our future generations being threatened by the regime that has, once again, visited war upon us all.”
“You will know that we possess weapons of a type that can bring destruction on a biblical scale and that, for sound reasons, they were not employed in the recent conflict in Europe.”
Even those around him that knew the precise words to come held their collective breath, for the enormity of them would not be wasted on a listening world.
“I take this opportunity to assure you, the people of America, the free peoples of the world, and also, importantly, to the peoples of the Soviet Union and her Allies… we will not hold back… we will not restrict ourselves… and we will avail ourselves of each and every means at our disposal to end this conflict and bring the aggressors to their knees before us, totally defeated.”
Truman’s voice started to croak towards the end of the statement and he took a sip from the fresh glass.
“We know enough now to understand that nations do not make war.”
“It is individuals who bend their people to their own ends, their own ambitions, so I say this particularly to the Soviet people.”
“You will suffer for the sins of your leaders because that is the nature of war.”
“When this is done and we are at peace again, those leaders will have a day of reckoning, where they will stand accountable for their actions, a day when those who have brought all of us to the pits of hell once more will be tried and judged.”
“I ask you all, especially our enemies, to understand that the resolve of this nation is total.”
“We are now preparing to obliterate more rapidly and completely every productive enterprise the Soviets and their Allies have above ground in any city. We shall destroy their docks, their factories, and their communications. Let there be no mistake… we shall completely destroy the Soviet Union’s power to make war and I urge the Soviet people to heed our warning and remove themselves immediately from such factories, docks, and communications centres.”
He let that hang for a moment.
“We would wish to spare the Soviet people the total destruction that we can and will bring down upon them, so we make this one time offer to the Soviet leadership… and particularly Premier Stalin.”
“Surrender now… unconditionally. Preserve your nation and your people instead of pursuing your personal agendas.”
“I can assure you that if you do not now accept our terms, then you may expect a rain of ruin from the air, the like of which has never been seen on this earth.”
“Behind these air attacks will follow sea and land forces in such numbers and with such power as you have not yet seen and cannot imagine, and they will bring with them the fighting skills of which you are already well aware.”
He paused, the effort of the delivery making him momentarily light-headed.
“The clock is running… the sands are ebbing away… make the most of this time, for we will not falter in our resolve, and we will bring all the horrors of war to every hearth and home in the Soviet Union and beyond to her Allies.”
“That is our message… that is our position.”
“People of America and the world, good luck to you all, and I pray to God that we shall soon see an end to this latest round of madness.”
He closed his eyes and prayed the briefest of prayers for his country.
‘Dear God, bring an end to this insanity.’
“God bless America. Good night.”
0108 hrs, Sunday, 16th March 1947, the Kremlin, Moscow, USSR.
The radio was switched off, creating a loaded silence into which only one man dared to venture.
“We attacked? We’re the aggressors? The man’s a fucking idiot!”
Stalin shouted at anyone in distance.
“They attacked us… they… attacked… us!”
Those privy to the finer details of Raduga could not wholly understand their leader’s indignation, but nonetheless held their peace.
“Bastards! Fucking bastards! They’ll pay for this, Comrades!”
Voznesensky spoke up, voicing their collective thoughts.
“I cannot believe that our agencies did not see this coming. How could such an enterprise go undetected?”
Beria bristled.
“There was nothing… no information, fact or suspected, Comrades. Neither us, nor the GRU, had the faintest sniff of this treachery. Indeed, with the death of the capitalist’s high command, it would have been considered unlikely even if we knew something was planned.”
“None the less… you’ll check everything again. Find out if there’s been an error and who’s to blame for it, Comrade Beria.”
“Of course, Comrade General Secretary.”
“And order the woman back here immediately!”
Stalin turned his attention on the wider audience.
“So, the fool threatens us with his wonder weapons! We have our own, Comrades… and we’ll use them to counter this treachery… this betrayal!”
Not everyone around the room was privy to the existence of the Raduga Project and its array of weapons, and a number of men shifted uncomfortably in their chairs, hoping that their leader would hold his tongue.
“The Red Army will be ordered to resist this betrayal with every means at its disposal, and we will initiate our own plans for the mass destruction of our enemies!”
0121 hrs, Sunday, 16th March 1947, Friedrich-Ebert-Strasse, temporary government building #1, Magdeburg, Germany.
They had listened to the words of the American President, and then those of the British Prime Minister that followed an hour later.
Immediately afterwards, a secret military briefing had commenced, detailing just how incredibly well matters had gone.
Two Colonels, one German, the other Austrian, laid out the staggering successes of Undenkbar, and how not only their own forces, but also those of Poland, Britain, France, and America were now pushing into territory previously held by the Soviets.
The plan had been given such a huge boost with the unexpected death of Eisenhower and the propelling of Patton into the top job.
The latter had been spoken of, a sort of unattainable yet cherished hope, the circumstances of it unimaginable until fate took a hand and placed Eisenhower on Strong’s aircraft.
Such were the circumstances that had come together to put Undenkbar successfully in motion that those listening could not help but think their plans had been given help by God, and that such fortuitous events simply demonstrated that they were correct in both thought and deed.
Those without faith simply grasped that they had been handed success by an incredible amount of good fortune and luck.
The plans of the three countries, Germany, Austria, and Poland, had come to fruition and the Allies, enraged by the apparent Soviet aggression, and under the guiding hand of the aggressive George Patton, were already throwing themselves against the Red Army intent on revenge.
Von Vietinghoff’s account of Patton’s meeting with senior commanders only gave them greater hope that the enemy would be brought to heel in a final and terminal fashion.