Read Online Kirov Saga: Devil's Garden (Kirov Series) by John Schettler - Free Book Online
Authors: John Schettler
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Great
Britain have also been working, feverishly, day and night, to harness this
great power, and we have succeeded.
“The weapons I now speak of are no
ordinary bombs. They have more power than 20,000 tons of TNT; more than two
thousand times the blast power of the British "Grand Slam," which is
the largest bomb ever yet used in the history of warfare…Until this dark day.
“It is an atomic bomb. It is a
harnessing of the basic power of the universe. The force from which the sun
draws its power has been loosed against us in an act of utter depravity. It is
our believe that the Russians thought they might frighten us, and so secure
their claims to territories occupied on the European Front and in the Pacific
where this dastardly crime was perpetrated.
“To strike at one’s enemy in war is
expected. But to betray your allies in arms with an act of this magnitude is
inexcusable, and it will not go unanswered.
“I can report this day that the
Russian forces responsible for this attack have already been hunted down and
utterly destroyed by elements of the United States Navy. Our own battleship
Wisconsin, sister ship of the stricken Iowa, has had the final word at sea, but
I will have yet one more word here today. The enormity of what the Soviet Union
has done cannot be pardoned. It is treachery at its blackest root, perfidious
betrayal of a wartime friend, and it shall be answered in no uncertain terms.
“I am today demanding, and ordering,
that all units of the Red Army west of the Oder River must withdraw to Russian
territory at once, and that no unit of the Soviet army will be permitted to
land anywhere on the Japanese mainland, or on any islands in the Pacific that
were the former territory of Japan.
“If the Soviet government does not
accede to this order and ultimatum immediately, they may expect a rain of ruin
from the air the like of which has never been seen on this earth. Behind this
air attack will follow sea and land forces in such number and with such power
as they have not yet seen…”
The
Russians, of course, denied any involvement in the attack the President was
speaking of, claiming Truman and Churchill sought to define the post war era in
their favor and refusing to withdraw from any territory then occupied by Soviet
forces. In truth, they had no idea what Truman was talking about, and said as
much.
The
Presidential order went out that same day, and it was answered by the 509th
Composite Air Group on the island of Tinian. And so three days after the Second
World War ended, the third war started, and it would rage for nine days of
continued madness until the world had finally had enough.
* * *
Colonel Tibbets got the call two hours later.
It was Go, Go, Go! The entire 509th would fly with him, as well as over a
hundred other B-29s in a massive show of force intended to convince the
Russians that any further deployment or use of atomic weapons would lead to
their swift and utter destruction.
In
truth, the United States was taking the gravest possible risk in hand with the
order that Tibbets received that day. Yes, they had the bomb ready just as
Truman had boasted, but there were only two available, and both were in the
Pacific. Operations at the ultra top secret Manhattan Project in New Mexico
were ramping up as never before in a desperate effort to enrich more nuclear
fuel and assemble more bombs should they be needed.
The
US was already well behind in the race to atomic supremacy. Now they believed the
Russians had tested their first bomb in the North Atlantic as early as August
of 1941, though the Allies had first thought the Germans were responsible when
the Mississippi went down. Years of intelligence work had slowly brought
them to another conclusion—that it was a Russian ship, and not the Germans, who
had attacked TF-16 in the North Atlantic. It was that conclusion that fed the
fires of suspicion where the Russians were concerned for the remainder of
Britain have also been working, feverishly, day and night, to harness this
great power, and we have succeeded.
“The weapons I now speak of are no
ordinary bombs. They have more power than 20,000 tons of TNT; more than two
thousand times the blast power of the British "Grand Slam," which is
the largest bomb ever yet used in the history of warfare…Until this dark day.
“It is an atomic bomb. It is a
harnessing of the basic power of the universe. The force from which the sun
draws its power has been loosed against us in an act of utter depravity. It is
our believe that the Russians thought they might frighten us, and so secure
their claims to territories occupied on the European Front and in the Pacific
where this dastardly crime was perpetrated.
“To strike at one’s enemy in war is
expected. But to betray your allies in arms with an act of this magnitude is
inexcusable, and it will not go unanswered.
“I can report this day that the
Russian forces responsible for this attack have already been hunted down and
utterly destroyed by elements of the United States Navy. Our own battleship
Wisconsin, sister ship of the stricken Iowa, has had the final word at sea, but
I will have yet one more word here today. The enormity of what the Soviet Union
has done cannot be pardoned. It is treachery at its blackest root, perfidious
betrayal of a wartime friend, and it shall be answered in no uncertain terms.
“I am today demanding, and ordering,
that all units of the Red Army west of the Oder River must withdraw to Russian
territory at once, and that no unit of the Soviet army will be permitted to
land anywhere on the Japanese mainland, or on any islands in the Pacific that
were the former territory of Japan.
“If the Soviet government does not
accede to this order and ultimatum immediately, they may expect a rain of ruin
from the air the like of which has never been seen on this earth. Behind this
air attack will follow sea and land forces in such number and with such power
as they have not yet seen…”
The
Russians, of course, denied any involvement in the attack the President was
speaking of, claiming Truman and Churchill sought to define the post war era in
their favor and refusing to withdraw from any territory then occupied by Soviet
forces. In truth, they had no idea what Truman was talking about, and said as
much.
The
Presidential order went out that same day, and it was answered by the 509th
Composite Air Group on the island of Tinian. And so three days after the Second
World War ended, the third war started, and it would rage for nine days of
continued madness until the world had finally had enough.
* * *
Colonel Tibbets got the call two hours later.
It was Go, Go, Go! The entire 509th would fly with him, as well as over a
hundred other B-29s in a massive show of force intended to convince the
Russians that any further deployment or use of atomic weapons would lead to
their swift and utter destruction.
In
truth, the United States was taking the gravest possible risk in hand with the
order that Tibbets received that day. Yes, they had the bomb ready just as
Truman had boasted, but there were only two available, and both were in the
Pacific. Operations at the ultra top secret Manhattan Project in New Mexico
were ramping up as never before in a desperate effort to enrich more nuclear
fuel and assemble more bombs should they be needed.
The
US was already well behind in the race to atomic supremacy. Now they believed the
Russians had tested their first bomb in the North Atlantic as early as August
of 1941, though the Allies had first thought the Germans were responsible when
the Mississippi went down. Years of intelligence work had slowly brought
them to another conclusion—that it was a Russian ship, and not the Germans, who
had attacked TF-16 in the North Atlantic. It was that conclusion that fed the
fires of suspicion where the Russians were concerned for the remainder of
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