“And I note that even those may be contested by Volkov,” said Himmler. “The Abwehr has turned up information that Volkov is now sending operatives to Iran. He already controls Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Armenia. Now he has an army in northern Iran, ostensibly to assist our Operation Phoenix, but mainly to keep troops very close to Baba Gurgur. I have no doubt that he will soon reinforce those troops, and Guderian has little to spare to garrison any of Northern Iraq. All his forces are tied up in this siege of Baghdad.”
“Yes,” said Hitler. “That is very true. In fact, I just ordered another division to be sent to him, so that he can move south towards Basra.”
“Well, my Führer, I can now report, and with good authority from our operatives inside Iran, that Volkov is assembling more forces here, along the Iranian border with his province of Turkmenistan. He is also actively courting the favor of the Iranian regime, and seeking to extend the agreement he has to transit Iranian territory with military units. Why, may I ask, has there been no successful operation mounted by Orenburg against the Soviet defenses on the upper Volga? Why has Volkov insisted on taking over the Volgograd operation? Why does he keep forces breathing down Barenthin’s neck at Baba Gurgur? Why is he mustering armies on the Iranian border? Where could they be going? Surely not to Tehran. They must certainly be meant for Abadan and Basra. Oh yes, he would say he is doing this to assist us, but look at all the oil and gas development he has planned on this map!”
“Orenburg will control everything!” Hitler said, coming to a whole new assessment of Volkov’s war aims.
“Yes,” said Himmler. “We have already flung entire armies at the Soviets, and all to eliminate troops that have been at war with Volkov for decades. We do the heavy lifting, my Führer. We drive all the way to Volgograd. Who has it now? And it may be that we drive all the way to Basra only to find Ivan Volkov smiling at us as he sits on all those oil and gas reserves with a strong new army. This is why we have seen no campaigns against the Soviets in the north. Volkov pays us lip service, he promises to send us oil, but where is it? Just a little more, he tells us. You must eliminate the Soviets in the Kuban. Then he will be free to ship us oil through Rostov. But will he? First he must have the Kuban back. But we have seen virtually nothing come our way from all these vast operations he has within his Federation. We still rely on fast diminishing reserves at Ploesti, and even those may soon be subject to Allied bombing attacks. You were wise to seize Crete as you just did. But look at this map, my Führer. Look who will be sitting on all the world’s key supplies of oil and gas when this war ends—Ivan Volkov. Then he calls the tune. It will be his hand operating the pipelines. Unless we eject him from Baba Gurgur completely, nothing may ever flow to benefit of the Reich.”
Hitler seemed aghast. Himmler was seeding and watering a deepening suspicion that was already within him concerning Volkov and his Orenburg Federation.
“He begs us for planes to pursue objectives against the Siberians,” said Himmler. “And now I learn that you have sent Raeder and some of our finest ships into the Black sea to get rid of the Soviet Black Sea fleet—all part of Operation Edelweiss, which will really only serve Volkov’s ends. Do you honestly think he will simply turn over Maykop, Grozny and Baku after we defeat the Soviets there? We say we eliminate the Soviet fleet to insure oil shipment over the Black Sea. But Volkov will control all the ports on the coast of Georgia. He can therefore choose to send us whatever he wishes, controlling the flow, or denying it as he sees fit. He can, in effect, choke the life breath out of the Wehrmacht, and simply by denying us oil.”
“He would not dare!” said Hitler.
“You may think this, but what a man can do, he might do. This I have learned all too well. Pipelines are being laid by Volkov even now—from Baku to Astrakhan, and from Astrakhan to Orenburg. I note that there are no projects underway from Baku through Azerbaijan and Georgia to the Black Sea Coast. He serves his own interests first. Do not think of Volkov as a vassal of the Third Reich. In the end, my Führer, after we have toppled Sergei Kirov and broken the Red Army, Volkov will remain unfought, and in control of all these vast resources.”
“That will not be permitted,” said Hitler forcefully. “Does he think I am a fool? When this war ends, I will make my demands of Orenburg, and Volkov will either comply, or face the wrath of my armies.”
“Oh, he may play quite the diplomatic game at that point,” said Himmler. “He will say he needs time, for the pipelines to be built that he now ignores. He will say the fields remain undeveloped, and seek money and technical support from the Reich to build them out, all under his watch, and with his troops guarding all the key oil centers. He will equivocate, delay, and all the while he will use that oil to build up stockpiles, as he is already doing now, and build up new armies.”
“There is a limit to my patience,” said Hitler. “If he does this, it will mean war.”
“Most certainly,” said Himmler. “Then, if we do strike, what will he do? He will destroy the fields, all the facilities we get close to will be demolished. You see, my Führer, he who controls a thing, can destroy it at his whim. Imagine that, the fields at Maykop burning, and at Grozny and Baku. Look at that map. He doesn’t even need them for his own forces. He has this extensive field developed just south of his capital at Orenburg. And if we push through towards Astrakhan, he could destroy those fields as well. War with Volkov could be very dangerous. In this event, it will be years before we see any of that oil, and the Reich is already thirsty now.”
“Then we must secure as many of these fields as possible before he ever gets the chance to do what you say. Perhaps I was far too stingy with Operation Phoenix. OKW tells me that no more than twelve divisions can be supported over the Berlin to Baghdad Rail, but we support far more over that decrepit rail system in Russia, and we had to convert the gauge of all those rail lines to use them with our rolling stock. The Todt Organizations will be mustered again in force and sent to Turkey. I will promise them that we will pay for everything, the complete refurbishment of their rail system. If we can do this in Russia, then we can do it in Turkey. And I will see that Guderian gets everything he needs, for we simply must get to Basra and take that oil as well. As for Baba Gurgur, I will find a division to go there this very week! Volkov will not cast his shadow over the things my troops have fought so hard for. That oil goes to the Reich!”
“Yes,” said Himmler. “In this light, Volkov’s loyalty to the Reich can no longer be taken for granted. He must be seen as a great strategic rival, out for his own aims, which are quite evident from this map. In fact, what if Volkov were to wait for us to tidy up the south for him in the Kuban, and then simply switch sides—before we have defeated the Soviets this year? That would immediately free up seven Soviet armies now deployed on the Volga Front, and also set all of Volkov’s forces against us. Then we would have to continue the war all along his entire frontier, a vast new front that we never planned for.”
Hitler nodded, as if finally seeing the menace Volkov represented on his far flank. He had been so obsessed with the fighting in Russia that he could see nothing else. When Operation Phoenix dawned in his mind, it was as if he was finally coming to a new clarity of thinking about this entire war. Most of his army was fighting Sergei Kirov, and he had starved Rommel, seeing the Allies take back all of Libya, and now Morocco and Algeria as well. If they won the battle for Tunisia, then they would be masters of all North Africa.