North Reich (13 page)

      
Finally, he gave up and put down the tweezers.
 
He would play with his stamp collection some other time.
 
He looked at Marshall and smiled.
 
"So, our good neighbors in Berlin are getting nervous.
 
Wonderful, couldn't happen to a nicer bunch of monsters.
 
I'm also glad to see that the army and the navy are cooperating so nicely."

      
"The presence of Nazi soldiers on our border does help to clear the mind, sir.
 
We don't need any more sudden shocks like that."

      
Only a few weeks after the collapse of England, a flotilla of German transports had appeared at Halifax where they'd unloaded several thousand German soldiers.
 
A second group appeared the next day and steamed up to Toronto where they disembarked more Nazis.
 
It was all done without warning and without the knowledge of the United States since the intelligence provided by the English at Bletchley Park had been shut down.
 
There had been minimal resistance from what remained of the Canadian military, but that soon ceased as a result of orders from London and Ottawa.
 
Fighting would only endanger the Allied soldiers being held either as prisoners or as hostages by the Nazis.
 
Their men would be used as leverage.
 
The Germans entered Canada and stayed.

      
Roosevelt had seethed in anger.
 
His only alternative, however, was to use force to expel them and that would have meant declaring war with Hitler.
 
FDR wanted that war, but an attack on the German forces while the U.S. was still fighting the Japanese would have labeled the Americans the aggressor and earned the anger of many in Congress who felt that Japan was the primary enemy.
 
The president had discussed this with congressional leaders and was certain that congress would not approve any aggressive action against the Germans.
 
There were too many Americans of German and Italian descent, along with Americans who hated England, for this congress to act, at least not yet and not without extreme provocation.

Above all, Americans wanted Japan paid back for Pearl Harbor.
 
Great Britain had lost the war with Germany, and so what if they wanted to hand a degree of control over part of Canada to Germany?
 
It was their country, wasn’t it?
 
The presence of a few thousand German soldiers did not represent a threat to the United States.
 
As to the Jewish question, many people believed that the stories of vast killings and systematic massacres were the strident cries of Zionist extremists trying to get the United States to fight for them.
 
Many felt that the Zionists were so desperate to get their homeland that they’d lie to achieve it.
 

      
Now, however, there were upwards of two hundred thousand German soldiers in Canada and the number was growing each day.
 
The Germans had a formidable force in Canada, one that would be hard to expel without a major effort and much bloodshed.
 
However, it might just come to that.
 

British code-breaking efforts had moved from Bletchley Park in England to Camp Washington and were again beginning to bear fruit.
 
It was clear that the Germans were planning aggressive action against the United States and in the very near future.
 
The only questions were why and precisely when?

FDR had a devious mind and he felt he understood his enemy. Code breaking transcripts called “Ultra” helped shape his thoughts as well.

"The Germans don't want the Japs to fail,” he said, “at least not yet.
 
They want time to consolidate their conquests.
 
They have millions of men stationed all over Europe from France to the heart of Russia and the Balkans.
 
If they show weakness, they are afraid that the conquered peoples will explode.
 
Our ambassador to the Soviets says that the Red Army is re-forming itself and might be ready for offensive action by this coming summer."

Marshall did not agree.
 
"It'll be longer than that, perhaps much longer.
 
The Russians are having a very difficult time feeding themselves, much less building up their army.
 
They moved a large part of their population and much of their industrial capacity to a desolate region of their country that cannot support their basic needs.
 
What they have accomplished was a marvel of hard work and ingenuity, but they need a lot of help."

FDR smiled, "Which they might just get if, when, Japan falls.
 
If we wish we will then be able to reinstate Lend-Lease using the Siberian port of Vladivostok, as well as routes through Iran as back door ports of entry.
 
We would only ship humanitarian supplies, such as food and medicine, of course."
 
He chuckled, "At least at first.
 
Germany wants us unable to support Russia, so she is willing to chance a war with us and utterly defeat the Red Army and conquer the rest of Russia before we can enter the fray on behalf of the Red Army.
 
If that happens we would be even more isolated than we are now.
 
Besides, general, isn’t our source of information about Russia coming from Nazi code intercepts?
 
How do we know that the German’s information is accurate?
 
The Reds could have a monstrous army at their disposal."

Marshall's face showed his displeasure at being doubted.
 
"I concede the point, sir, and I hope the Russians are ready to take on the Nazis, but I still doubt it.
 
I further believe it would be utterly impossible to ship enough supplies via those lengthy and convoluted routes to make even a dent in Russia's needs.
 
It doesn't make sense."

"Hitler doesn't make sense either, does he?
 
He's like the dog who chases the car and, when he catches it, doesn't quite know what to do with it.
 
He has conquered virtually all of Europe and now sees shadows.
 
He has utter contempt for America, so he isn't concerned about us being able to expel his army in Canada before he can send in massive reinforcements."

      
Marshall concurred.
 
"And he is under tremendous pressure to release some of his enormous army and get Germany back to peacetime prosperity.
 
None of this can happen while he perceives threats from us or Russia."

      
"Or Britain's Commonwealth nations," FDR added.
 
"Herr Hitler wants a final peace with England and the British are doing a marvelous job of stalling.
 
To prove his point, Hitler has taken a part of Canada and is holding it hostage.
 
What will be next?
 
Ah yes, South Africa and then perhaps India.
 
Germany would have allowed the Japs to take Australia and New Zealand, but we’ve stopped them so that isn’t going to happen.
 
We must have war with Germany, but, general, whatever happens regarding Canada, the Nazis must be the aggressor."

      
"I understand, sir.
 
But my people, along with Admiral King's, will be ready to retaliate as immediately as is humanly possible.
 
With knowledge of their plans, we will be hitting them back much sooner than they expect and with much greater force."

      
FDR nodded approval.
 
"It would help so much if we knew a precise date."

      
"Perhaps they don't know it either," the general mused.
 
"Perhaps they are waiting for their forces to be stronger or perhaps they are waiting for pieces of the puzzle to fall into position."

      
"Which means, general, that we don't know all that we wish, doesn't it?"

      
"Correct, Mr. President.
 
We simply don't know what additional surprises Herr Hitler might have up his sleeve."

Chapter Five

Missy Downing decided that it was time for everyone to have a little fun.
 
War or no war, Christmas and New Years had come and gone with minimal celebrations.
 
A few pathetic little Christmas trees had dotted the Pentagon and Missy, a plump, happy little woman with graying hair, felt there should be a break.

      
Thus, she proclaimed a party and invited a number of her and her husband’s friends and co-workers to their house at Fort Meade. Fortunately, it was a good-sized four bedroom colonial. The only requirement was that there would be no uniforms.
 
She wanted none of what she told her husband was that "rank bullshit" interfering with people having a good time.
 
He concurred and all complied although some, like Sergeant Major Farnum looked like fish out of water in civilian clothes.

      
The army had what she considered a ridiculous rule against enlisted men and officers drinking together, so she informed everyone that enlisted men and officers would drink separately.
 
If they happened to be in the same room and talking to each other while they were doing it, well, so what?
 
Besides, it was her house, her booze, and her rules.
 
There were no complaints.

      
The weather outside was cold and damp, but inside it was warm, congenial, and loud.
 
Someone was playing Andrews Sisters songs on the record player and that added to the din.
 
Tom was nursing his second beer when he did a double take.
 
If it wasn't for the bandage on her nose and the discolorations on her face, he wouldn't have recognized her.
 
She still had stitches visible on her mouth, but they too seemed to be less raw.
 
Better, she had fixed her hair and was wearing a long pre-war dress that hugged her figure, confirming that she had great legs without actually putting them on view.
 
She was with a couple of other women and her face lit up, or so he thought, when she saw him.

      
"You're looking great," he said.

      
"Thank you.
 
Even the memories are fading."

      
"I didn't know you knew the Downings that well."

      
"Missy called me a couple of times to ask me how I was doing.
 
We hit it off.
 
Even went to lunch.
 
She's impossible to dislike and virtually insisted that I come to her party."

      
There was a pause.
 
"You know," Tom said.
 
"I don't know quite how to do this.
 
I'd like to talk to you some more, maybe buy you a free drink, and get to know you, but?”
 
He shrugged.

      
She laughed and interrupted him.
 
"You're worried about the rank thing?
 
Aren't we supposed to drop rank for this evening?"
 

      
"Yes, but let's face it, it's almost impossible.
 
Can you imagine Sergeant Farnum calling me Tom and me calling him Dick?
 
And the colonel, of course, will always be the colonel."

      
"You're right.
 
Look, I'm still relatively new to this woman's army and I really don't know how things work even though I am an officer.
 
Also I'm not going to make it a career, so it won't matter so much if I make a faux pas.
 
After what happened, it wouldn't break my heart if they discharged me and I went back to teaching spoiled adolescents.
 
So what if we quietly agree to use our first names for this evening and see where it goes."

      
Tom was delighted and she continued.
 
"By the way, I've been told that I may be put in for a Purple Heart, although it may have to wait until we actually start fighting the Germans.
 
Certainly the two men who were with me deserve it."

      
Tom thought he saw the conundrum.
 
If the army gave her the medal for being wounded in action, they would be admitting that they knew the assault was by Germany, which would inform the Nazis that the U.S. was on to their game.
 
Deferring the medal wasn't fair, but it would have to do.
 
As the old saying went, life isn’t fair.
 
The way things with Germany were deteriorating, he didn't think she'd have all that long to wait before she got it.

      
They grabbed another drink and went outside.
 
The veranda was cold but relatively private with only a handful of people getting either fresh air or privacy.
 
Missy had also declared no smoking in her house as it was so crowded, so clouds of cigarette smoke wafted upwards.
 
He rarely smoked and she said she never did, and that was fine by him.