“Atomic!” Eric exclaimed.
Kammler was enjoying himself. Slowly he was giving out the information to astound and frighten his two guests. Now they would see the brilliance of the entire scheme. “But of course they are atomic. Did you not know that Germany had its own atomic weapons program? Did you not know we were very close to having our own weapons at the end of the war? Unfortunately many of the underground units were able to inhibit our obtaining all the necessary ingredients, but once the war was over those impediments went away. Like the rocket programs, our scientists were snatched up by the victors, but I placed our people in the right places so that the Americans had the best. And look at all you have been able to do!”
“Why just the Americans? Why not the Soviets as well?” Eric asked.
“Very simple. The Americans had the money to make things work within the timeframe needed. I actually had one of my people within your Manhattan Project from the very beginning. We let the Americans spend the vast sums for the hard work and then it was delivered to us. Do you know of a man named Fuchs?” Kammler asked.
Both shook their head.
“He was on the British and American team. Then in the late 1940s he gave the information about the bomb to the Russians; after he had shared it with us as well. That way we were able to make sure both sides had the same types of weapons. Your people eventually caught him, but he is presently in East Germany still providing information to the Soviets, and now the Chinese,” Kammler said. “But this too we had planned. Now they have been able to get us the materials we needed for our own weapons.”
“But how? The security around nuclear weapons is so tight,” said Eric in disbelief.
“Yours, maybe, but not the Russians. Although it was difficult, it was not insurmountable. You see, the Russians love counting things, not taking the steps to insure perfection, as we do. To my knowledge, they are still counting the bomb casings we removed the warheads from five years ago,” Kammler said.
“But surely, even if you have these terrible weapons, you have only four of them. What could that do to a country like the United States or the Soviet Union?” asked Anna.
“Ahh, now we come to our reason for being. You see, Fräulein, it is not where you use them, but how you use them. Just look at what is happening in the world right now,” Kammler said. “Right now the two largest and most powerful nations in the world are staring at each other across a small, 90 mile strip of water south of your state of Florida. Each has a finger pointed at the launch button of their respective atomic arsenals, just waiting for the slightest provocation to begin a whole new war.”
“So that’s it,” said Anna who suddenly grasped what Kammler was doing. “You plan on launching your missiles against each of the powers. They won’t really know where the missiles came from, but will immediately assume it was the other side!” she exclaimed.
“I am glad you can understand so clearly,” Kammler said smugly.
Eric nodded. “I must say general, it is a brilliant plan. You have strung our nations along all this time so that everything would fit together at just the right moment. I must give you credit.”
“Why thank you Herr Anderson.”
“However there are a few flaws you have not yet considered,” Eric said flatly.
“And what might those be?”
“Well, for example, just how many warheads do you expect the United States and the Soviet Union to use? I can tell you there are well over 1,000 such weapons in our missiles and bombers. There are even more in our submarines. Assuming the Soviets will launch the same number we will, that would make over 2,000 nuclear explosions between the US and the Soviet Union. Of course we cannot leave out the British and the French. They, along with Germany and other European nations, are our NATO allies and have vowed to wage war if any of the other NATO nations are attacked. They have their own arsenals so they would probably launch as well. The Soviets will anticipate this and target some of their weapons in France and England too. Then there are the tactical nuclear weapons. They are much smaller, but those could be all over Europe, including Germany. I doubt the Soviets would bother to care where they might be. They will simply explode some more of their own all over the European continent. So, if we say roughly 2,500 nuclear weapons are launched and explode on target, with each yielding between 500,000 kilotons to 1 megaton each, that would generate over 1.5 billion tons worth of explosions happening at almost the same instant. Say each weapon raises a minimum of 1,000 tons of dirt and dust. That will put the equivalent of 2.5 million tons of radioactive dirt, dust and debris up to 60 miles into the atmosphere. That will completely obliterate the sun for the entire northern hemisphere. The radiation will kill animal life and will eventually drift southward and contaminate the southern hemisphere as well. Germany will be sitting at the heart of all this. So even if you get underground, it will probably take over 100 years for the radiation levels to go down enough to come outside again. By then, there will be nothing much to eat and nowhere to go. So don’t you think you should reconsider your position Herr General?”
Kammler appeared to be getting angry. He obviously didn’t like anyone disagreeing with him. “And who has told you about such things? Your own government? All they want is to frighten the population into letting them build more. I saw some of the results from the tests. Very little was destroyed and the weapons they make now are much more sophisticated than the early ones.”
“For us maybe, but the Soviets?” Eric pressed. “They could care less if a weapon is dirty. All they want is to beat their chests and tell people they have the damned things. They want to be the big guy on the block. I doubt they even know what their own weapons might do when they go off.”
Kammler considered that a moment. The young man was right about the Russians. Of course Kammler didn’t think very highly of any of the Slavic nations. But this young man simply wanted to scare him into not carrying out the plan. Nothing could do that. He and the Führer had worked years to make it happen. The smile returned to his face. “And I could care less as well. I seriously doubt the superpowers would use all the weapons in their arsenals. I also doubt the results you seemed so proud to recite. The results will be the destruction of all the infrastructure of both the US and the Soviet Union. Germany will be in a unique position to become the leader of the world, and I fully intend to see that it happens,” he said firmly.
“You intend to see? Just who the hell do you think you are?” growled Anna. She stood there with her hands on her hips and her chin thrust out. Her eyes focused straight into General Kammler. If they had been guns, they would have gone off. “Eric is right about what will happen. We all know it. You have been down here in your hole so long you have no idea what is really going on in the outside world. You are still living in 1945! Well, the world has changed and we have all changed with it. Now you want to take us back — not to the 1930s but back to the Stone Age! You had your chance and as the Americans say, you blew it. Europe suffered for eight years under your rule. Millions died, economies crumbled, people lost everything and Germany almost ceased to exist. Now all you want to do is kill off another generation, if not the rest of the world just so you can beat your drum again. Well, take a look. Eric and I are a part of the new generation and we don’t want you or your kind around. No one from Austria wants anything to do with you or your great plans. Most of Europe would hunt you down and shoot you like they would a rabid animal. Even Germans are ashamed of what happened while you and your kind were in power. You made Germany the brunt of every joke and every jeer. So if you think people like me will support you, you can think again. Do yourself a favor and give up now. No one wants you. Everyone I know will fight you to the last breath,” she said defiantly.