Impasse (The Red Gambit Series) Read online

  ‘Impasse’

  The fourth book in the ‘Red Gambit’ series.

  1st NOVEMBER 1945 TO 24th DECEMBER 1945.

  WRITTEN BY COLIN GEE

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher and copyright holder. The author has asserted the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

  Warning! This book contains some scenes of a sexual nature that could cause offence and upset. That is not my wish and I have written them only because I felt they were necessary to convey the full story in a proper manner.

  I have included a warning at the beginning of the phase so that those who do not wish to read it may bypass it without being exposed.

  Apologies to anyone who reads the piece and is subsequently offended.

  It is not my wish to offend, but I felt that I could not gloss over the events of which I write, so gave them my best efforts without wishing to be gratuitous. I can assure you that it was not easy to write.

  Please note that the book is written in, and checked in, English. There are fundamental differences between US English and English that have been highlighted by comments regarding poor spelling.

  In many, many cases, that would appear to be because an Englishman sees an Americanism, and vice versa.

  In general, I will use the American version solely when it is in regard to something American.

  By way of example, Armor [US] and Armour [UK], Honor [US] and Honour [UK]. Whilst I accept that there will probably still be basic spelling errors, please try to remember the national differences. Thank you.

  Series Dedication

  The Red Gambit series of books is dedicated to my grandfather, the boss-fellah, Jack ‘Chalky’ White, Chief Petty Officer [Engine Room] RN, my de facto father until his untimely death from cancer in 1983, and a man who, along with many millions of others, participated in the epic of history that we know as World War Two. Their efforts and sacrifices made it possible for us to read of it, in freedom, today.

  Thank you, for everything.

  Overview by Author Colin Gee

  If you have read the books leading up to ‘Impasse’ then, I hope, you will already understand the concept behind ‘Red Gambit’. Therefore, my words now will be mainly for those who have come in at this moment.

  After the end of the German War, the leaders of the Soviet Union found sufficient cause to distrust their former Allies, to the point of launching an assault on Western Europe. Those causes and the decision-making behind the full scale attack lie within ‘Opening Moves’, as do the battles of the first week, commencing on 6th August 1945.

  After that initial week, the Soviets continue to grind away at the Western Allies, trading lives and materiel for ground, whilst reducing the combat efficiency of Allied units from the Baltic to the Alps.

  In ‘Breakthrough’, the Red Army inflicts defeat after defeat upon their enemy, but at growing cost to themselves.

  The attrition is awful.

  Matters come to a head in ‘Stalemate’ as circumstances force Marshall Zhukov to focus attacks on specific zones. The resulting battles bring death and horror on an unprecedented scale, neither Army coming away unscathed or unscarred.

  As the war progresses throughout the three books preceding ‘Impasse’, other agencies are at work across the continent and, sometimes, beyond.

  Soviet organisations, such as the NKVD and the GRU [Soviet Military Intelligence], come together or clash, depending on their masters, and their agents reach far and wide.

  Across no-man’s land, their rivals, SOE, OSS, the FBI, MI5, and the Deuxieme Bureau retaliate, seeking out advantage over their clandestine enemy.

  In the Pacific, the Soviet Union has courted the Empire of Japan, and has provided unusual support in its struggle against the Chinese.

  In the three previous books, the reader has been presented with the facts of the matter, all the way to November 1945. That has taken him or her on a journey from Moscow to Alamogordo, the Haut-Kœnigsbourg to Hamburg, Ireland to Greenland, and brought them to other places that have since become synonymous with the horror and pain of those years, such as Trendelburg, Reichenberg, and Bloody Barnstorf

  We all know that what came to pass was known as the ‘Cold War’.

  This series is written about the alternative that our forebears could have faced.

  From this point forward, the writing will be done in such a way as to reflect an historical record of events.

  Much of what has been written before is factual, and sometimes, in the research, I wondered why it was that we did not come to blows once more.

  We must all give thanks it did not all go badly wrong in that hot summer of 1945, and that the events described in the Red Gambit series did not come to pass.

  Again, I have deliberately written nothing that can be attributed to that greatest of Englishmen, Sir Winston Churchill. I considered myself neither capable nor worthy to attempt to convey what he might have thought or said in my own words. The pressure to do otherwise is mounting.

  My profound thanks to all those who have contributed in whatever way to this project, as every little piece of help brought me closer to my goal.

  [For additional information, progress reports, orders of battle, discussion, freebies, and interaction with the author please find time to visit and register at one of the following:-

  www.redgambitseries.com, www.redgambitseries.co.uk, www.redgambitseries.eu,

  Also, feel free to join Facebook Group ‘Red Gambit’.]

  Thank you.

  I have received a great deal of assistance in researching, translating, advice, and support during the years that this project has so far run.

  In no particular order, I would like to record my thanks to all of the following for their contributions. Gary Wild, Jan Wild, Jason Litchfield, Mario Wildenauer, Loren Weaver, Pat Walshe, Elena Schuster, Stilla Fendt, Luitpold Krieger, Mark Lambert, Simon Haines, Greg Winton, Greg Percival, Robert Prideaux, Tyler Weaver, Giselle Janiszewski, James Hanebury, Jeffrey Durnford, Brian Proctor, Steve Bailey, Paul Dryden, Steve Riordan, Bruce Towers, Victoria Coling, Alexandra Coling, Heather Coling, Isabel Pierce Ward, Hany Hamouda, Ahmed Al-Obeidi and finally BW-UK Gaming Clan.

  One name is missing on the request of the party involved, who perversely has given me more help and guidance in this project than most, but whose desire to remain in the background on all things means I have to observe his wish not to name him.

  None the less, to you, my oldest friend, thank you.

  The cover image work has been done by my brother, Jason Litchfield and, as usual, his skill has produced a cover of excellent quality. Thanks bro.

  Quotes have been obtained from a number of sources, which have included brainyquote.com and quotegarden.com. I encourage the reader to visit and explore both sites.

  Wikipedia is a wonderful thing and I have used it as my first port of call for much of the research for the series. Use it and support it.

  My thanks to the US Army Center of Military History and Franklin D Roosevelt Presidential Library websites for providing the out of copyright images.

  All map work is original, save for the Château outline, which derives from a public domain handout.

  Particular thanks go to Steen Ammentorp, who is responsible for the wonderful www.generals.dk site, which is a superb place to visit in search of details on generals of all nations. The site has proven invaluable in compiling many of the biographies dealing with the senior officers found in these books.

  I should also thank the
website redbrick.dcu.ie for the Irish Republican quote.

  If I have missed anyone or any agency, I apologise and promise to rectify the omission at the earliest opportunity.

  This then is the fourth offering to satisfy the ‘what if’s’ of those times.

  Book #1 - Opening Moves [Chapters 1-54]

  Book#2 - Domination [Chapters 55-77]

  Book#3 - Stalemate [Chapters 78-102]

  Book#4 – Impasse [Chapters 103 – 125]

  Author’s note.

  The correlation between the Allied and Soviet forces is difficult to assess for a number of reasons.

  Neither side could claim that their units were all at full strength, and information on the relevant strengths over the period this book is set in is limited as far as the Allies are concerned and relatively non-existent for the Soviet forces.

  I have had to use some licence regarding force strengths and I hope that the critics will not be too harsh with me if I get things wrong in that regard. A Soviet Rifle Division could vary in strength from the size of two thousand men to be as high as nine thousand men and in some special cases, could be even more.

  Indeed, the very names used do not help the reader to understand unless they are already knowledgeable.

  A prime example is the Corps. For the British and US forces, a Corps was a collection of Divisions and Brigades directly subservient to an Army. A Soviet Corps, such as the 2nd Guards Tank Corps, bore no relation to a unit such as British XXX Corps. The 2nd G.T.C. was a Tank Division by another name and this difference in ‘naming’ continues to the Soviet Army, which was more akin to the Allied Corps.

  The Army Group was mirrored by the Soviet Front.

  Going down from the Corps, the differences continue, where a Russian rifle division should probably be more looked at as the equivalent of a US Infantry regiment or British Infantry Brigade, although this was not always the case. The decision to leave the correct nomenclature in place was made early on. In that, I felt that those who already possess knowledge would not become disillusioned, and that those who were new to the concept could acquire knowledge that would stand them in good stead when reading factual accounts of WW2.

  There are also some difficulties encountered with ranks. Some readers may feel that a certain battle would have been left in the command of a more senior rank, and the reverse case where seniors seem to have few forces under their authority. Casualties will have played their part but, particularly in the Soviet Army, seniority and rank was a complicated affair, sometimes with Colonels in charge of Divisions larger than those commanded by a General. It is easier for me to attach a chart to give the reader a rough guide of how the ranks equate.

  Fig#1 - Comparative ranks.

  Book Dedication

  My best friend and I have often discussed what we would have done, or where we would have chosen to serve, had we been called to arms in World War Two.

  As you might expect, personal safety plays a huge part in our discussion, and he and I agree totally on the place we would least like to have served.

  In a number of conflicts, struggling over the same lands, and confronting the same terrible enemies, both man-made and those created by nature, man endured the unendurable in one corner of the planet; one that, in regard to 1939-1945, still seems to be ignored in favour of its more well-known and more overtly dramatic cousins.

  From the days of the 1941 Japanese invasion to the struggle of the Fourteenth Army in Burma, men, more often than not forgotten by those for whom they fought, endured the unendurable.

  When silence fell in May 1945, it was not long before others were called to serve over the same battlefields, such as the French Army, whose soldiers and Foreign Legionnaires fought and died in Indo-China.

  The fighting and the dying only ended when the last US marines and soldiers came home in 1975 or, in some cases, later.

  Even then, the suffering was incomplete, something I remember seeing on newscasts, a final ignominy visited upon some returning US veterans, all of whom were worthy of an honourable reception; soldier’s welcome from a grateful homeland.

  Some were solely greeted with derision, others were abused, sometimes spat at, and many were simply ignored.

  I, even at that young age, was horrified, and I take this opportunity to say my piece now.

  To those that did such things to your military, you are forever shamed and I offer you nothing but my utter contempt.

  Therefore, it is with due deference and admiration, that this book is dedicated to those soldiers who, from 1940 to 1975, earned their spurs in the ‘Big Green’, the Boonies, or whatever expression is used to describe the awfulness of the jungles of Asia.

  Although I never served in the Armed forces, I wore a uniform with pride. My admiration for our young service men and women serving in all our names in dangerous areas throughout the world is limitless.

  As a result, ‘St Dunstan’s’ is a charity that is extremely close to my heart. My fictitious characters carry no real-life heartache with them, whereas every news bulletin from the military stations abroad brings a terrible reality with its own impact, angst, and personal challenges for those who wear our country’s uniform. Therefore, I make regular donations to ‘St Dunstan’s’ and would encourage you to do so too.

  As 1945 draws to a close, I found myself thinking more about the innovations and advances that would have been made, given the continuance of war.

  Some weapons that progressed slowly out of the war years might well have been developed a lot quicker, had combat been shouting its needs in the ears of those working on engineering and design.

  To that end, from this point forward, it is possible that the reader may find equipment appearing before its rightful time.

  At no time will it appear before a time that I consider wholly feasible or, I hope, that is unacceptable to the reader.

  Table of Contents

  Series Dedication

  Overview by Author Colin Gee

  Author’s note.

  Book Dedication

  Chapter 103 - THE CHANGE

  1033 hrs, Thursday, 1st November 1945, Headquarters of SHAEF, Trianon Place Hotel, Versailles, France.

  1251 hrs, Thursday, 1st November 1945, Rheine-Bentlage Airfield, Germany.

  2357 hrs, Thursday, 1st November 1945, GRU Commander’s office, Western Europe Headquarters, the Mühlberg, Germany.

  0400 hrs, Sunday, 4th November 1945, Frontline position, the Jade River, west of Jaderkreuzmoor, Germany.

  0433 hrs, Sunday, 4th November 1945, Frontline position, the Jade River, west of Jaderkreuzmoor, Germany.

  Chapter 104 - THE FEAR

  0435 hrs, Sunday, 4th November 1945, Frontline position, 400 metres north of Hinteregg, Austria.

  1349 hrs, Sunday, 4th November 1945, the Kremlin, Moscow.

  Chapter 105 - THE SUNDERLAND

  1005 hrs, Monday, 5th November 1945, airborne over the Western Approaches, approximately 45 miles north-west of St Kilda Island, the Atlantic.

  1304 hrs, Monday, 5th November 1945, Eastern Atlantic, 163 miles north of North-Western Éire.

  1411 hrs, Monday, 5th November 1945, Eastern Atlantic, 8 miles north of North-Western Éire.

  2031 hrs, Wednesday, 7th November 1945. Kildare Street, Dublin, Éire.

  Chapter 106 - THE COLONELS

  0819 hrs, Thursday, 8th November 1945, airborne over the Western Approaches, approximately one mile north of the Irish mainland.

  0820 hrs, Thursday, 8th November 1945, Headquarters, G2 Irish Special Branch, Dublin.

  1100 hrs Thursday 8th November 1945, the Alpine Front.

  1720 hrs, Saturday, 10th November 1945, Base Commanders Office, RAF Castle Archdale, Northern Ireland.

  1812 hrs, Saturday, 10th November 1945, RAF St Angelo, Northern Ireland.

  1900 hrs Saturday 10th November 1945, Rossahilly House, Trory, Northern Ireland.

  1712 hrs, Sunday, 11th November 1945, Base Commander’s office, RAF Castle Archdale, Northern I
reland.

  2142 hrs, Sunday 11th November, Glenlara, County Mayo, Éire.

  1039 hrs, Tuesday 12th November 1945, Headquarters of the 11th Guards Army, the Böhmer Haus, Stadtsee, Sulingen, Germany.

  Chapter 107 - THE ALPS

  1057 hrs, Wednesday 13th November 1945, Headquarters of 1st Alpine Front, Schloss Maria Loretto, Klagenfurt, Austria.

  0027 hrs, Thursday 14th November 1945, Allied defensive positions at Töplitsch & Puch, Austria.

  0937 hrs, Thursday 14th November 1945, Allied defensive positions at Töplitsch & Puch, Austria.

  1122 hrs, Thursday 14th November 1945, Divisional headquarters, 75th Rifle Division, Kellerberg am Drau, Austria.

  1500 hrs, Thursday 14th November 1945, Allied defensive positions at Töplitsch & Puch, Austria.

  0921 hrs, Friday 15th November 1945, 250 metres south-east of Barembach, Alsace.

  1100 hrs, Saturday 16th November 1945, Château de Fère, Fère-en-Tardenois, France.

  Chapter 108 – THE DISCOVERIES

  1201 hrs, Monday, 18th November 1945, Mikoyan Prototype Facility, Stakhanovo, USSR.

  1418 hrs, Wednesday, 20th November 1945, the heights, west of Muingcreena, near Glenlara, Mayo, Éire.

  2339 hrs Friday, 22nd November 1945, Glenlara, Mayo, Éire.

  1500 hrs Monday, 25th November 1945, two hundred and thirty miles west of the Isle of Lewis, the Atlantic.

  Chapter 109 - THE LANCERS

  0930 hrs, Thursday, 28th November 1945, Arnoldstein, Austria.

  1020 hrs, Thursday, 28th November 1945, the Gail River valley, Austria.