Designated Targets

“Real-time drone surveillance and signals intercepts indicate that German forces are moving rapidly into final position for an assault on the British Isles. Army Group Central is on the move out of Tours, Orleans, and Lemours. Army Group North is consolidating rapidly in Caen, Dieppe, and Calais.”

As Lieutenant Williams spoke, icons depicting the various units began to move north toward the Channel.

“The Luftwaffe has ninety percent of its five operational air fleets either up or in preflight. Some formations are already moving into position for raids on all air-defense-sector assets. Allied air units are being vectored on to the incoming hostiles by Fighter Command via Trident’s battlespace management system.”

Churchill saw Air Chief Marshal Portal nod vigorously.

“Kriegsmarine capital ships are moving out of Norwegian waters at full steam. At least sixty U-boats are converging on the Channel from the North Sea ahead of them, taking up a position between the Tirpitz battle group and the Royal Navy’s Home Fleet.”

The lieutenant flicked his controller at the screen again. As Churchill watched, a mosaic of smaller windows filled the screen. They seemed to show movies of airfields with transport planes banked up.

“The first German forces we can expect to directly engage will be airborne units. The Fallschirmjäger which dropped onto Crete. They have regrouped and will most likely be joined by specialist Waffen-SS airborne units which have been hastily put together in the last few months. At this stage, we cannot provide a projected drop zone with any certainty. But there are a limited number of options. It appears the assault will go ahead without the Luftwaffe establishing air superiority . . .”

A chorus of mumbled astonishment greeted that statement of the obvious. It was a measure of Hitler’s desperation that he would persist in the face of such odds. A measure of his criminal insanity, too, thought Churchill.

“Taken in concert with the capture of multinational elements and technology by the Axis powers, it does raise the prospect that the Germans have rushed the development of some weapons systems with which they hope to tip the balance in their favor. As of this moment, however, none of our sigint or Elint scans have returned data which would help clarify that issue.”

“Thank you, Lieutenant,” said Churchill, who did not wish the meeting to descend into an undergraduate bull session about the specter of Nazi superweapons. “And so to our reply, General?”

General Wavell, recently returned from North Africa with General Montgomery to coordinate the defense of the British Isles, got to his feet.

He turned to an old-fashioned map at the opposite end of the room to the PM.

“We expect a seaborne assault across the narrowest section of the Channel, landing at Dover, probably near Ramsgate and Margate. Army Group Central is expected to make their attempt between Weymouth and Sidmouth, placing immediate pressure on the defensive position to the south of Birmingham and Wolverhampton. These are the logical avenues of German advance and we have prepared our response accordingly . . .”

Wavell frowned and seemed to lose himself in the map for a moment.

“Of course,” he resumed, “it is entirely possible that the attack will not follow a logical course. Many of the Wehrmacht’s better commanders have been lost to the purges since the Transition. We shall not have to face Rommel on our own turf, but Field Marshal Kesselring will probably do just as well. And while the Germans do not have our advantage in drone technology, they have had enough old-fashioned planes flying overhead to make a reasonable guess about our preparations. With this in mind, and given that they can probably only get four divisions ashore in the first wave—”

Churchill sighed audibly at that. Only four divisions!

“—we will hold in reserve the Canadian First Army, Free French Second Armored, and American infantry divisions on the GHQ Line, with our XXX Corps armored and infantry units advanced to engage the enemy at the bridgehead, wherever that may be.”

Wavell swept his hand across the breadth of the map covering all of the southern counties.

“The imponderable question is where General Ramcke’s paratroopers will land. Here I think we find the hinge of victory or defeat. Without control of the air or the sea-lanes, the Germans must plan on massive losses for their seaborne forces. We know they have made a massive investment in rebuilding the Fallschirmjäger, and Himmler has personally overseen the creation of a Waffen-SS air-assault division. Wherever they land, we must fix them and destroy them. To this end, I am holding in reserve the Guards Armored and the First Infantry Divisions.”

Wavell, who had been reading from a paper on the table in front of him, looked up from his eyebrows at Lieutenant Williams.