By using both the carrot and the stick it is hoped that the British will come to their senses and join the workers of Europe in their rebuilding effort. By making it fully known that if fighters do not rise to defend British airspace, and bombers do not take off from her airfields, the Red Army will not attack her soil.
In a startling turnabout Stalin has indicated that he will negotiate a prisoner exchange with both the U.S. and Great Britain, if his demands are met:
1. No future attacks by land, sea or air emanate from Great Britain and her empire.
2. A six-month truce will take effect.
3. The British allow the Soviets unrestricted overflights of their territory.
4. The immediate withdrawal of the British troops from Iberia.
A message is sent through diplomatic channels, and the wait begins.
43,324 feet above
The West Ham neighborhood of London
August 15th, 1946
Pilot Senior Lieutenant Yuri Nikitin enjoys the view from his new Yak-9PD.
Time to turn back. This has been an interesting flight. I guess it has served its purpose. Interesting demonstration if you ask me. Why would you demonstrate the capabilities of a new machine to the enemy before using it in combat? Some new concept of intimidation by the STAVKA. Scare them into doing what you want. Seems kind of silly to me, but then I am only a pilot, and no one asked me for my opinion. Surprise and delighted that everything is working like it’s supposed to. Not the usual type of circumstances; seems like I will have no need for my bailing wire and chewing gum to keep this machine airborne; a most welcome sign that the quality of our machines is improving.
Royal Air Force Headquarters
London
“How far did they penetrate our air space?”
“Three flights flew as far as Ireland before turning back.”
“Did MI-6 have any indication that they had this capability?”
“Yes, we knew that both the Yak-15 ‘Feather’ and the MiG-9 ‘Fargo’ were capable of overflights at 13,000 meters’ altitude, but without knowing their destinations or targets it is virtually impossible for us to intercept them. Conversely we should be able to do the same thing to them. They have infinitely more territory to hide their secrets in, and we have to fly much longer flights in order to reach anything of value. We knew about the Yak-9DD because they helped escort in Romania and we became aware of their range. The appearance of those Yak-9PD’s was an unpleasant surprise. We think their flights were attempts to intimidate us with their range and altitude capabilities, and quite frankly they are an eye-opener old boy. It is now confirmed that they can fly at very high altitude and have the range to escort their bombers throughout the whole of the British Isles. That was something that we didn’t have to worry about and was greatly to our advantage, during the first Battle of Britain.”
“How were they able to skirt our defenses?”
“The interceptions were based on old presumptions of their capabilities. We thought we knew their maximum range and altitude restrictions. It turns out that we were wrong on all accounts. They can fly higher and farther than we had anticipated, and that left our interceptors too low and far out of position. They definitely got all the pictures they wanted, of everything they wanted. We must now assume that they know everything they need to launch an all-out attack. We did get a few, mainly by luck but our latest estimates are that over five dozen of their recce flights were successful.”
“Additionally they’ve amply demonstrated to all, that the whole of the British Isles is vulnerable to attack. I’m sure we won’t publicize today’s events but I have a feeling they will.”
“Yes this is food for thought. Not to mention that the shoe is now on the other foot as far as intelligence is concerned. Against the Germans we had Ultra. Conversely, we are now blind and they have what appears to be one of the largest spy rings we have ever encountered. My God man, ordinary citizens are turning on their own government, following a pipe-dream of a workers’ paradise that can’t possibly work.”
“You have to realize old boy, that for the most part the late ’20’s and ’30’s were hell for the average person. The Great Depression, the starvation of thousands, the greed of the wealthy, the almost utter failure of the world’s governments. It’s no wonder that new and untried ideas are popular. America seems to be humming along, but our empire is on the verge of being completely lost and the rest of Europe now is under new management. To the average Briton things aren’t looking too rosy, and now they are being asked to do it again, to once again sacrifice everything, without major changes to society as a whole”
“But how can you turn on your own people; your own government that you have just fought for? To me it is beyond comprehension.’
“I would concur, old boy. I’m just trying to give you all the facts. But we wander too far afield. Our task is to see that these overflights do not happen again.”
“Of course, you’re right. The Meteor can reach their altitude but lacks the range to…”
Chapter Twenty-Four:
The Situation
Imagine that you’re in a spotter plane flying the length of the Pyrenees Mountain Range, from east to west. Within thirty miles of the east coast not much is happening. The Soviets avoid the area because of the potential for naval bombardment. It seems the old battlewagons, and their sixteen-inch guns can still dictate a virtual ‘no man’s land,’ if given proper air support; an expensive use of oil, but an effective one.
Just a little beyond the 30-mile mark you start to get a real feel of what the fighting is all about. A typical battle will start with intensive artillery and rocket bombardment almost as devastating per square mile, as the twenty-two battleships demonstrated in ‘Louisville Slugger’. Tens of thousands of rounds of high-explosive rockets and shells concentrating on this hill, or on that mountain top.
The unlucky mountain top that is the recipient of the title ‘critical’ to the current offensive, is just the most recent recipient of a technique used in modern coal mining. In modern times, they have started to mine coal by using a method called ‘mountain top removal’. Tons of flying metal and explosive gives the term new meaning.
If the defenders are lucky they retreat to the other side of the mountain until the worst of the barrage is over. They return to fill the massive craters with their living bodies in an attempt to prevent other living bodies from entering their now critical crater.
The air war is pretty much a standoff with local victories giving the ground forces a leg up for a short time until the other side manages to gain air-superiority, and drop some of the most hideous inventions that man has ever devised to kill other men down on their respective heads.
Then, there is the lack of water. This is probably the worst malady that plagues the defenders and attackers alike. It’s almost impossible to get water supplies to soldiers fighting in mountains while under fire. It is more critical to the battle, than ammunition.