World War Three May 1946

[video=youtube;N9dCsogl2nM]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9dCsogl2nM&list=UU9e3o9kQXm4UCslZBwSIQeQ& index=7&feature=plcp[/video]

 

Fair doos.....lot of work been put in there...well done. What now...Who wins any peace if there is any? Are the Russians filtering back a la Germans ww1 and is Moscow about to have its guns set on the returnees by the Kremlin guards...Seriously though...Good read...Belsar is having kittens with all the boaty thingys.

 

When I win 37% of the next forum election and become Forum Emperor for life my first territorial demand will be that all avatars be of Battleships!

 

The True Numbers Must Never Reach the Kremlin

Field Head Quarters of the Northern Forces
Office of Marshal Sokolovsky
June 20th, 1946
10:34 hours

This is a catastrophe. This is a calamity! How could this have happened? Who is responsible? Where was the air force? Get me Novikov on the phone...no wait! What can I do...what can I do? How could this operation have gone so wrong? We have to think of something. Some way to appease comrade Stalin. Andrey do something. Think of something or it's our heads.
Well maybe we could appease the Kremlin by giving them a quick victory...say Denmark? We weren't supposed to attack until after France was defeated but ...

That's it! Order Bagramyanand his 10 fastest divisions to take Copenhagen and close off the Baltic from the English pigs. Yes that will soften the blow. Get me General Bagramyan on the line NOW!

General Bragramyan you are ordered to take 10 of our fastest and most powerful divisions and capture Copenhagen. Yes Denmark! I want Copenhagen and the Baltic closed to the capitalist navy in 5 days. I'll give you everything you need...Don't worry about politics Bragramyan just get moving and attack! Let nothing stand in your way. This is a direct order!

But comrade General we cannot attack a sovereign nation until we are ordered too.

I have learned over my career that it is better to accomplish a difficult task first and then ask for forgiveness later after a great victory.

In the mean time keep this news from reaching the Kremlin. Hopefully the capitalists will want to wait a few days to announce what they did. Those tanks and all those men lost. What did this Andrey? Is this their atomic bomb at work?

No Marshal we have ample evidence that it was a massive naval bombardment. From the testimony of the survivors and evidence from unexploded ordinance suggest that it was done by naval units.

Ships...This was done by Ships! Why were they not discovered and sunk? Where were our planes? WHERE WERE OUR PLANES!

 

A Smashing Victory!

Pentagon
Washington, DC
June 21st, 1946
8:10 hours
Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

Well admiral that certainly floored em. How many Reds did you figure we killed?

Over 200,000 and over 700 tanks.

Quite an operation...congratulation!

Well thank you but as you know it's just a drop in the bucket. It gave the public a much needed victory. I hope they got it on film.

Yeh too bad we just don't...

Attention!


At ease gentleman.

Welcome Mr. President.

Thank you General. Now explain to me again real slow why we aren't attacking after such a smashing victory.

Sir, as you may recall we had only 22 very under strength divisions in Western Europe. After the May attacks we were effectively down to 11 and again these were about half strength at most even with the stragglers from the destroyed units. Our air force in Europe was largely destroyed on the ground. All our supplies in Europe have been largely over run and are being turned against us by the Reds. Our only untouched military force is the Navy. Unlike Pearl Harbor the Navy is able to be used for offensive operations and is not just running for its life or trying to stay alive.

Our other military arms are just not able to respond yet. It's only been 50 days since May 2nd. We're lucky that we have any forces at all left that can try and at least slow down the Reds. My god sir we just reinstated the draft 2 weeks ago! We just don't have the bodies yet much less the ability to match up supplies and transport to those bodies.

Yes we could feed them into the meat grinder of Western Europe brigade by brigade by you know as well as I do that is not the plan. We have to form a cohesive and strong defensive line. That's were all the new units are going somewhere that they won't be cannon fodder. Somewhere where they can be trained and equipped yet still on the mainland of Europe so we don't have to pull another D-Day.

Those new brigades are digging in now and setting up defensive positions in depth. So far we are only talking about 3 divisions worth of rookies. Our veterans have yet to heed the call but they will if we can only hold on till then we'll be OK.

The remaining 11 divisions that have survived the Red assault are making their way to the defensive line. Because of Operation Louisville Slugger they were able to separate themselves from the Reds and are making their way south to get re-armed and put into the line. As you know sir the defensive positions were picked a long time ago just for this contingency. We should be able to hold with 15 full strength divisions. Even with their recent losses the Reds are fielding close to 80 with more coming.

Sir, we have indications that Denmark is on the next to fall under the boot of the commies.

Are we able to assist them?

Not in any significant way sir. We can keep the Reds away from parts of the coast but we can't go to far into the Baltic at this point for fear of the Soviet Subs and mines. We could give them a hard time but we would be risking too much in my opinion. The chances of a major tactical defeat is too much for not enough gain. Again our only hope would be to slow them down and delay the inevitable.

Supply is still not a concern for the Soviets who are still living off the land and our supply depots. We have to pull them deeper into Southern France eventually and increase the length of their supply line. It will take 6 months at least before they will be able to take advantage of their newly gained territory. Believe it or not the people of some conquered countries have vaguely communist sympathies at the moment and we expect not much in the way of partisan attacks in the short run. The Soviets have been remarkably restrained compared to what they did in Germany. From what we can gather they have been treating the civilians pretty well even by our standards.

From what MI6 and G2 tell us we cannot expect any serious sabotage efforts until the fall at the earliest and then only if the Soviet soldiers strip the countryside bare and go on a rape, pillage and burn campaign. There is a very strong wait and see attitude. Workers paradise and all that crap.

General Kenney where are we on the bombing campaign?

Well sir it is just going to take time to ramp up again. We'll test their air force within the next 30 days to see how they plan on countering the B29. As of May 1945 they had no real counter to the Superfortress but who knows what they have cooked up in the mean time. As you know sir our plan is not to hit them from England so we have to develop our other bases first. We are shooting for October to begin the destruction of the Soviet Empire. We will hit them and hit them hard but in the meantime we have to concentrate on building up the infrastructure and counting on the Army to keep them away from our new bases.

We know that Stalin is aware of our lack of atom bombs and the means to deliver them so we have to be real careful in using the 6 we have on hand currently. The Pit should be done in England by the middle of July. If the correct target presents itself we may try and fly a raid with a couple of Atomic bombs just to let the public know we are striking back and to encourage any rebellions in the Soviets newest allies. Per your policy we will stay away from using the Atomic bomb in Western Europe.

We have very limited knowledge on where a good target might be that is within fighter range. I'm not sending in naked bombers until we know their defensive capabilities. The few conventional bombing raids the Brits have launched were met with stiff resistance but nothing we haven't seen before. Their losses were acceptable. They have yet to reach very far into enemy territory however. Their raids have involved less then 300 bombers and the losses were under 15% which is high but again acceptable at this stage in the war.

It does more harm than good to bomb blind at night on our former allies in Europe. Their factories are in ruins still and their cities burned out. We have to be patient and wait till we can reach out and hit the Soviets where it hurts and then hit them hard in conjunction with our counter attacks.

So Admiral it sounds like the navy will be our left jab for the time being. Moving and sticking and moving to keep em off balance. Is that the plan?

Yes Mr. President. Using our mobility we will use our conventional forces to run interdiction raids, concentrate on supply depots and to keep them away from the coasts as much as possible and we will be able to assist greatly at the flanks of the projected defensive line that is being implemented as we speak. We will be busy sir and I'm sure old Ivan will feel our jabs until we can follow up with a right hook or so.

So let me put this into boxing terms. The Navy and Marines keep jabbing and moving and wearing em out. The Airforce goes for the body and makes em drop their hands. Then in the end the Army starts throwing haymakers until we connect with the head. We wear em down and then knock em out. Is that about it gentlemen?

YES SIR Mr. PRESIDENT! YES SIR!

 

Ulsers Cafe

New York, NY
June 21st, 1946
02:30 hours

Gentleman now that you've each met other here is the official poop. Until we know who the spies are in the Atomic bomb program, Army, Navy etc. were going to be the clearing house for the coordination of all military operations. Just us peons, the President and the JCS will know the whole picture and will have access to all the planned operations of the JCS.
Some how we got lucky on Operation Louisville Slugger so we know we can trust the bunch who planned that. Amazingly, even thought we included the Brits, the operation went off without a hitch so their Navy must be clean so far. I think we can expect more activity from the commies as they try and infiltrate the US and British Navy however.

Your right Jim and now is the time to get some double agents in the mix. We have to come up with some plausible and disgruntled sailors who will hopefully be contacted by the Reds. We either have to get some of our guys to be real good actors or convince some already red loving sailor boy to work with us. We have to use a combination of carrot and stick with the stick being a firing squad just to make sure.

Yah some kid with a history of student agitating but then somehow joined the armed forces or better yet was drafted. We're going to need a bunch of em and they all have to be under our control. Did you know that the Limey's had caught and turned every Nazi agent in England during WW2? Yes everyone. We'll leave that kind of stuff up to the real spies Sam.

So by compartmentalizing and exclusively using "need to know" we should be able to eventually track em down. Then we just have to wait for them to slip up. If a certain set of operations continuously blow up in our face we can concentrate on that set of officers and their staff until we nail em to the wall. We're going to have to keep track of transfers and new additions. It will be a nightmare but eventually they will screw up they always do. Just a matter of time.

So let me get this straight Bill, a lieutenant, Flight Lieutenant and two captains are the only ones who will know the exact specifics of all the major military operations from soup to nuts?

That's right Sam only us, the President and the Joint Chiefs will have all the information on the exact dates and specifics for every major operation. Everyone else is need to know only. That way if an operation is blown then we can start to focus in on who might be the spy or spies. It will have to be confined to someone with direct knowledge of that particular operation. It will drive rest of the Admirals and Generals nuts but hey war is hell. We also have to help coordinate all the branches so they work together but we will do that through our special contacts in each planned attack.

We are to remain anonymous, blind drops, pigeon holes, no last names, the whole espionage ball of wax. We are the gate keepers of the collective knowledge of the Pentagon on the operational level. Do not slip up, screw up, make a mistake, talk in your sleep etc. We all unmarried for a reason and we have to keep it that way as long as we hold these positions. No one night stands... basically no sex or drinking for the next year at least. We were all chosen for this reason. I understand that Sam and Bill are Mormons so that helps.

What are you implying Bill?

Nothing Sam nothing. It's just that's one of the reasons you where chosen. John I know that the Marines are part of the Navy technically but as with the Airforce and the Army that may change so they are going to keep you separate from your counter parts so here's the line up.

Bill is Army, Sam you are Navy, Jim is Airforce and John your Marines. You are to assume civilian identities but will have special passes etc. to get where you need to go. Some kind of congressional oversight deal that will get you anywhere, anytime. You will be given contacts for every operation in planning and you will only communicate to them using the training and techniques you have just learned. It is up to you to decide what method you use to communicate with each of your contacts. Vary your methods for each operation.

Your only function is to watch for overlaps, coordination problems, equipment needs, basically anything in one operation that can screw up another operation because you will be the only ones with all the info on all operations out in the field. An example might be if there is going to be a hit on a submarine pen by the Airforce on the same day that the Marines are going to raid the same area. Things like that. Just keep each operation from killing each other by accident.

It's really no different than the way we were doing things. An example might be that MacArthur in the Pacific didn't need to know what day or even if we were going to invade Italy. It was need to know and as I said there are going to be a lot of bent noses in the high command but tough crap. This comes straight from the President.

We will all be employed by a front company... Superior Tool Company and will come into work everyday and sometimes nights, weekends and holidays. Whatever is needed. To the world you are salesmen specialising in tools for the military. We will talk among ourselves, compare notes and then figure out the best way to avoid mix ups and mistakes and then inform our contacts in those operations if there is a problem. Get back to the JCS if there is a conflict and they will solve it. All contacts with the JCS will be through Rose at the office. She is a highly trained agent and very cute so don't go getting any ideas. She can kill you with a glance.

Any questions gentleman? Yes Sam?

Are you sure John is a Marine? He's way too smart and good looking. He can't be a Marine.

See you at work tomorrow gentleman.

 

July 3rd, 1946

30 miles from LeHavre, France
HQ of the Northern Group of Forces
11:23 hours

Well Fillipi old Bagragramyan did his job as he was told and we now have Denmark to present to Stalin. It was very fortunate that it happened without complications...now how can he complain? What was done with few casualties, in a few days and it shuts the door on the toy boats of the British and American fleets. A new country joins the Soviet Republics in a matter of a week.

Well Marshal you have not received a command to report to Moscow so all must be well.

Yes it seems we have dodged a possible bullet. Stalin probably is thinking like I am that this was a major failure of Soviet air forces and that arrogant con man Novikov. If I had not been blind I would have avoided the whole affair. How can you not know that there is a massive fleet just off the coast. It was a ridiculous display of ineptitude.

Get that clown on the phone and find out what he is going to do about those boats so we can finish this phase of the operation and get those troops out of Paris. Paris and Soviet discipline do not go together well.

 

RAF Mildenhall

Headquarters No. 3 Group, Bomber Command
Office of Group Captain W.H. Merton
July 5th, 1946

So Ralphie I understand that we finally have a target worth going after? Not much in the way of acceptable targets since we've gotten back up to strength. The bloody Reds have moved so fast and from what MI6 tells us they don't have much of a supply trail so far. Kind of living off the land as it were. Using our own supplies to defeat us. Not very sporting I must say.

Don't worry Willy we've come up with a grand target. It's an American supply depot that the Reds are about to over run and then use. It's still going to be heavily defended by their own air cover but it should be a good test of things to come. We can gauge just how well they can counter our future raids by what they can bring to bear on this operation. Kind of a twist of fate that we should be trying to destroy US government property and the Reds trying to save it.

So it should be our Lancs and Lincolns against their Yaks and Lags eh. I've always wanted to take the measure of those Yak 9s. The Germans had a hard time of it but under different circumstances. We'll see how the Red pilots stack up to our Spits and bombers guns. Rather like attacking a porcupine while a hound is nipping at your behind. I dare say the Reds have never seen a 200 plane raid of escorted heavy bombers before.

I'm sure they will have some tricks up there sleeves and we are to be the guinea pigs. The Yanks have not yet recovered from their initial losses when they were caught on the ground. Our bombers will not be able to fly as high or fast as the Yanks Super Fortress but it should be a good indication of what to expect.

At least we won't have any ack ack to put up with. the target is still behind our lines. We just can't spare the ground forces to destroy it. It really is a perfect test run for us.

Yes Ralphie it is an odd situation but one we shall overcome. It is well within the range of our Spits. I will welcome their presence. Always good to have little friends around. I understand a few Mustangs will be joining us to add to the fun.

Yes they will handle high cover to let our Spits do what they do best lower down. Doubtless they will drop down to join the fun once things heat up. They do love to "boom and zoom" as the Yank pilots say.

They best not get into and turning fight with the Reds Yaks and Lags. That's what our Spits are for. I do hope they don't get in the way. Their time will come soon enough. From what I understand the whole strategy is to bomb the Reds to rubble and then walk into Moscow.
Sound's pretty simple but one has to wonder what Stalin was thinking. He must have studied what we did to the Krauts and Japs.

Just you make sure Ralphie that our boys are on their toes and don't get caught napping or get complacent. This is a dangerous foe that must have a plan to counter our bombers otherwise Stalin is a fool and I do not get that impression that he is

 

RAF Mildenhall
Headquarters No. 3 Group, Bomber Command
Observation Deck
July 7th, 1946

178 out of 214 ... not good but not disastrous. How many fighters are missing?
They said 8 out of 48.

That' not good at all Raphie. What happened?

Just a numbers game Willie. They out numbered us 2 to one. We did pretty well considering. We will get up to our 1945 levels as we ramp up and they suffer losses. You know how it goes. Just like the last war. We have to wear them down.

Well it should get a lot better when the Americans join in. They have better, faster bombers and they will be escorted by the new jets...what do they call their Lockheed P80 again?

Shooting Star I believe.

Yes that's it. Hopefully they will release some of our Meteors for escort duty.

Yes that would be capital.

How many victories did we claim?

Hum...lets see... 58 claims but of course they have to be checked out with the gun cameras etc.

58 ... just about even per ship but we lost many more men of course with the bomber crews and all, but still not too bad for the first show. Assuming that they had their best and brightest up there and we had fairly new recruits not too bad at all. We can sustain that as long as the mission was successful.

Yes it was right on target. No more ice cream for Ivan today anyway.

When the veterans realize that one way or the other they will have to get back in it we should do substantially better. It will be a while I'm afraid before we will be able to do much in the way of night bombing. Just too damn inaccurate for these kinds of missions. As we get more Lincolns and longer legged escorts we can join the Americans in their operations down south but right now we have to wait and protect the homeland as it were.

The Reds don't really have a bomber force so there shouldn't be another Battle of Britain but they will try and destroy our fighter force. Lots of fighter sweeps and the like I presume. They can do a lot of damage even with their medium bombers as the Germans found out. I wonder if their German "guest" scientists are assisting them or if they are just locked up in some gulag. I certainly hope for the later as our "guests" are proving invaluable.

Yes I've heard I'm glad the war ended when it did. Some the of things I've seen make my hair stand on end. The Germans were very close to completing many of their wonder weapons.

Well thank God none of those weapons showed up today.

Hear, hear.

 

United States Army Air Force HQ

Pentagon
Washington, DC
July 8th, 1946

Well Hap when are we going to hit them back? I'm tired of getting licked and turning tail. I know that Operation Louisville Slugger should give us something to cheer about but we need something more substantial. When are you going to be ready?

There have been a few problems to overcome as you might well imagine Mr. President. First we had to recover from the losses we took in the initial Soviet attack. Not just in planes but in manpower and expertise. All our best mechanics where on the front lines and are now in Soviet prisons (I hope). Your plan for the draft is working and we are starting to get many veterans back but it is just taking time. It's only been two months since the Reds attacked.

How's that damn pit in England coming? I want to show them the power of an atomic explosion if they don't back down.

Again sir it's a little more complicated than you would imagine. You have ordered and rightfully so, that we don't use the atomic weapon on Western European soil and I totally agree. We cannot leave a atomic wasteland as our legacy. We also don't want to just kill a bunch of Soviet civilians. Stalin will hold them hostage and even if we tell them that we are going to bomb Moscow for instance he would not let them evacuate. He would turn tail and run anyway and just keep fighting from somewhere else and use the civilian deaths as martyrs. So we have to choose our targets very carefully even if we had atom bombs to spare, which we don't.

Our conventional bombing campaign in Europe taught us some very good lessons.

1. Bombing civilians will not destroy their moral. It only makes them want to fight harder.

2. Concentrating on many industries just doesn't work. For example we blasted the German's plane factories yet they produced more than ever before in 1944.

3. Bombing transportation hubs and rail lines is only marginally effective.

4. The way we defeated the German air force was by shooting them down faster than they could train good pilots. There were plenty of planes but no one to fly them. Just like the Japs.

Now can we do that to the Reds? Can we out produce them in good, trained pilots? They have had a years head start on us. Their air force was bigger than ours at the end of the war. They just concentrated on tactical and operational level and not on strategic level like we did. There is no intelligence to say they have not changed their focus and retrained their Sturmovik pilots to fly fighters. They've had a lot of time to do that.

5. They only have to concentrate on fighters while we have to have both bombers and escorts. There's many a co-pilot in those bombers who could be a good fighter pilot. They have the luxury of training that co-pilot to fly a fighter.

6. Bombing oil production and refineries works. You have to keep at it but it eventually works.

7. We can reach their oil but they can't reach ours but they can reach Europe's oil in the Mid-East and of course add it to their own.
Well what about the atomic bomb? Once we have enough we'll just use them to destroy their country and industry.

That's true sir but there are a few more things that you have to know before making an educated decision on this matter. The atomic bomb pretty much destroys and makes uninhabitable the area it explodes over. We can't even use the affected area to even travel through. The radiation contaminates everything and kills over time. The area in the short run is useless for any normal human purpose including an invasion route.

Another thing to keep in mind is that the combat radius of a Silver Plated B29 is less than the 1600 mi at 25,000 ft. carrying an atomic bomb. Those bombs are over 10,000 lbs and take an enormous amount of fuel to deliver. We can get much better range at lower altitude but then the bulk of the Soviet air force can reach us. So we really have to concentrate on their oil production and killing their pilots like we did with the Krauts and the Japs. Killing their civilians will not be productive in the long run and we have only a vague idea where their critical factories are.

All well and good Hap but as you are quite aware of no one ever won the next war by fighting it like the last war. So there could be all sorts of twists and turns we are going to have to adapt to.

You're right sir but the bottom line is that we have the atomic bomb and they don't.

I know Hap but I just can't go throwing around atomic bombs like they are candy. Most of the civilians in those Soviet cities are completely innocent. A number of questions come to mind such as can we deliver it effectively before they develop one of their own? Can we make them say uncle before then without having to invade that God awful place? Now that we are only starting to ramp up again how long will it take till we hit somewhere near full production? Then there is the question of the assembly teams.

As you know Hap we have a number of traitors and spies in the atomic program. We have to find them and find them quick
Yes sir we have some problems to overcome. I have to say sir you're a very quick learner.

I've had to be Hap...I've had to be.

 

Kremlin

July 11th, 1946
11:23 hours

So Novikov you are confident that you can accomplish your task?

Yes your Excellency. With the limited tools that Sergo has given us, the foreknowledge of where the raids will occur and a week to prepare we can make the Americans pay for any bombing raid they attempt. On hand we have 102 of the advanced Pe 9s we will be able to use the Vozduh-vozduh X4 weapons system. We have over 600 X4s with 50 a month being made. It is very time consuming work but Sergo has done a good job of using those thieving Poles and Jews. It must be all that practice as pick pockets that allows them to be so good with their hands.

We have had time to practice with the X4 and can realize a 58% success rate under simulated combat situations. Our hope is that the Yankee dogs will be so surprised that despite our pilots having limited combat time with the weapon we can achieve a high success rate. The X4s will be plentiful in another 12 months but right now we can only count on 613 and they have to be used for the correct purpose. With your endorsement the plan that was proposed will be adopted I'm sure. We should concentrate on the nuclear planes and let the others fall to our other weapons. Yet we have to mask our true attentions from the Americans so that they do not figure out our "magic".

The Pe 9s are another problem comrade Stalin. They are very complicated machines that require special metals which we cannot replicated at this time. Our German guest scientists are working on the problem but this is the most critical part of the plan. We were fortunate enough to liberate as much as we could. This is our weakness in our armor. Our true secret is that we have the X4, the Pe 9s to fire them, the knowledge of which planes carry the atomic weapon and the advanced knowledge of the target.
Without these things we are indeed in a hard place.

The work on the Yak 15 and MiG 9 is progressing nicely but again we will not have many. Possibly 25 of each by August. We cannot adapt them to use the X4 at this time so we project that they will be used to distract and engage the escorts while the Teppops take out the nuclear bombers and enough other bombers to make it look convincing.

Another deception will be the TU2s. They will be loaded with conventional missiles. Every 3rd missile will act erratic like it has a mind of it's own...a defect if you will that will mask the X4 and which platform is launching it. The TU2s will be the mask behind which the Pe 9s will hide and do their deadly business. The Teppops will be vulnerable to the American P80 jet so they must be protected and disguised.
In addition we will have our ground launched missiles as well. Again with the foreknowledge of where the attack will be we should have enough time to set...

Enough for now my lunch is here. You can brief me later in the week.

Of course comrade. Enjoy your meal.

 

July 9th, 1946

30 miles from LeHavre, France
HQ of the Northern Group of Forces
08:23 hours

This is ridiculous! Unacceptable! Insulting! We need to push the capitalist armies into the sea. Why can’t the whole Soviet Air Force deal with a few ships. They have defeated every other force in their path, yet a few dozen boats and their air cover can prevent us from cleaning the European land mass of every visage of capitalist corruption.

Calm down Marshal Sokolovsky. There is a solution to the problem. You know that strange companion of Stalin…that Sergo? He has been working on the solution that we all want. Combining Soviet science and the Nazi genius for killing, a plan has been hatched that will cripple or sink one of more of the “boats” as you call them. That should convince the capitalist pigs to vacate the English Channel and leave France all together.

So this plan comes from Stalin himself?

Yes.

That's very good. Do you know why Fillipi?...Of course you don't...you're an idiot. If the plan fails our necks are not in the noose. I want to nothing further about it so we can deny that it was our fault. We do not need another fiasco to add to the growing list. Believe me Fillipi If I have a fall from power so will everyone on my staff.

Understood Marshal.

 

Flag Ship BB South Dakota

Operation Louisville Slugger
English Channel off Le Havre
July 10th, 1946

Something’s up admiral we just got a message that the Soviets have moved dozens of long range bombers near Brussels. From the reports we have received these bombers appear to be the PE8s. From the intel we have these bombers are large, lumbering, virtually defenseless, heavy, level bombers. It appears they are getting them operational for some mission involving our battle group. They are being loaded with armor piercing 500 lb bombs.

Do you mean to tell me that these museum pieces are going to try and attack the fleet? Even if they somehow fought their way through our air cover the track record of attempting to level bomb maneuvering ships is less than abysmal. It sounds like virtual suicide to me.

Our planning team concurs with your assessment sir but I would suggest that we have to be prepared for all contingencies. Remember how we caught the Japs at Midway. By any measure we should have lost that one.

All right then let’s take no chances... Captain order the CAP to stay with the fleet, and under no circumstances are they to engage the heavy bombers. Your orders are to let the Army Air Corps and RAF deal with the heavy bombers outside of our operational area. We will let the Navy take care of the Navy if they somehow break through. I want a maximum effort on this once radar picks anything coming our way. Set up a plan to use even those ground based airfields to launch fighters when the time is needed. We may have a need to supplement our carriers CAP capabilities.

Yes Sir!

Draft an order to that effect and have it on my desk in 30 minutes. Get me NATO HQ and confirm that the air zone over the fleet will be the Navy’s responsibility. I want to reiterate that how don’t care how juicy the targets are we don’t want any interference within our airspace. We just don’t have the communications capability to control planes from the other services.

 

July 11, 1946
05:15
Dover, England

Radar picks up multiple incoming bogies from the east.

It appears that the Soviets are stirring up a hornets nest. Hundreds of fighters and medium bombers and 30 PE8 heavy bombers start to form over Brussels. It is clear a major effort is underway. The weather is clear with temperatures in the low 70s F. The few clouds that appear seem to be spectators in what just might be the Battle for the English Channel.

 

The Bridge

TF77 Flag Ship BB South Dakota
Operation Louisville Slugger
English Channel off LeHavre
05:22

GENERAL QUARTERS…GENERAL QUARTERS… THIS IS NOT A DRILL…

What’s the story so far Captain?

We’ve been alerted that the Soviets are making their move Admiral. Ground reports of over 1000 fighters and 30 heavy bombers vectoring in from the East Northeast from Brussels. Our radar has since pick up the bogies and this ain’t no drill sir! They are coming and they are coming in force. We have about 20 minutes before they hit us. It must be driving their fighters crazy escorting those heavies. They are virtually crawling towards us. I think a TBD can outrun em.

Alright you know what to do. Reissue standing order 258 and get our CAP in the air. Remind all your flight leaders that under penalty of courts martial are they not to leave our air zone of control. The Soviets are up to something and I think this heavy bomber attack is just a decoy and we will not be suckered. Do I make myself clear gentlemen!

YES SIR!

 

[h=2]USAAF HQ[/h]Dover, England
05:26

Scramble all available fighter aircraft. Remember to stay in your lanes gentlemen. The Navy has given strict orders to not venture into their Air Zone of Control. We don’t want any friendly fire incidents. It’s hard enough to keep all the players straight as it is.
I heard that besides our YP80s there will be a squadron or two of Meteors flown by Brit pilots and to make matter worse a few former German Aces flying ME 262s have been thrown into the mix.
You heard right Lt. This is a maximum effort and we need all the help we can get.
I got a real bad feeling about this Major…
Keep your thoughts to yourself Lt…unless you want me to call General Kenney and tell him my First Lt. has a bad feeling.

No sir, thank you sir, sorry sir.

 

USAAF HQ

Dover, England
05:26

"Scramble all available fighter aircraft. Remember to stay in your lanes gentlemen. The Navy has given strict orders to not venture into their Air Zone of Control. We don’t want any friendly fire incidents. It’s hard enough to keep all the players straight as it is."

"I heard that besides our YP80s there will be a squadron or two of Meteors flown by Brit pilots and to make matter worse a few former German Aces flying ME 262s have been thrown into the mix."

"You heard right Lt. This is a maximum effort and we need all the help we can get."

"I got a real bad feeling about this Major…"

"Keep your thoughts to yourself Lt…unless you want me to call General Kenney and tell him my First Lt. has a bad feeling."

"No sir, thank you sir, sorry sir."

 

The Bridge

TF77 Flag Ship BB South Dakota
Operation Louisville Slugger
English Channel off LeHavre
05:45

Admiral ground radar is picking up 30 more bogeys that just appeared near the bombers. They appear to be traveling at a much higher rate of speed than the bombers.
How much faster damn it!

They are going at around 400 mph and will be in range in 15 minutes.

****! Some kind of missile. Captain order a simultaneous turn to line abreast, full flank speed heading 345. Get Kenney on the horn and tell those Air Corps flyers to hit the PE-8 mother ships with all they got. They must have some kind of guidance. Get that Brit expert up here and fire up those gizmos they used against the German guided bombs. Rig for impact. All AA guns look to the east northeast for targets. Keep our flyboys close just in case.

 

Cockpit of former German AR234 Blitz Bomber Serial number 140312

96 meters above sea level
801 kmh
Over Lion-Sur-Mer, France
05:56

This is it Yuri. This is what you’ve been trained to do. Six months and you’ve seen a lot of comrades die trying to perfect just what you are about to do. Keep the speed up. That is your greatest weapon…your speed. Be steady on the throttle. Watch for flame out. No sudden acceleration or large increase in fuel. Jumos catch fire easily. Only the Yankee Shooting Star can keep up with you. That’s why you don’t have any forward firing guns and just the 20mm in the back. Every enemy will be behind you but not for long as you speed past their astonished faces… you hope. No need to worry. You were the best shot in attack school. No one can touch you in your Terror Bomber. The same does not go for Sirnove. He was a terrible shot but the best dive bomber they have ever trained. Too each his strengths. Keep it below 100 meters. No radar for you to tell of my arrival. Look at the faces of the trolls on the ground as you fly by. What’s the matter have you never seen death so close and moving so fast? You are an arrow flying straight into the heart of the enemy. The NATO pigs will pay for my brothers death. They will pay today and for many todays to come. There is the coast... time to climb straight up and pounce while their mouths are still gapping in astonishment. Ahhhh the force…don’t black out…just like you trained…breath…Oh you beauty how you can climb. Damn…2000 meters in seconds. There is the target nice and fat. Hello Yankee Pigs here I am. Here is death.

 

Operation Louisville Slugger Naval CAP

Red flight
3046 meters above sea level
321 kph
Over Lion-Sur-Mer, France
05:57
Jesus…bogie at 12:00 low…what the hell is that?
Cut the chatter Red four and dive on me…Red two stay high…where did that son of a bitch come from and what is it? Control we are diving on what looks to be a bomber climbing from wave top almost straight up over the fleet. We can’t catch it. Damn there are three more with him control. I repeat we can’t catch them even in a dive. Suggest you open up with every gun you got and lead the sons of a bitch by a country mile. Jesus they are fast. Some sort of jet bomber.