Three Kings

“We will hold Krasnodar and stop that attack, but even so, Maykop is one of our smallest fields, no bigger than the new facilities we have near Grozny. The real oil is much farther east, at Baku and the northern Caspian basin, and that is what we are here to really discuss. Yes?”

“Of course,” said Hitler. “Ploesti will only take us so far.” He was careful to include Volkov in that statement, a vacant smile adorning his words. “I will need your oil, and the means to get it to Germany where I can put it to good use. We now have two good ports here atCostanza and Varna. Can you ship the oil there?”

“Possibly, though all of this depends on the outcome of this fighting in the Caucasus. Sergei Kirov has one thing I lack-a navy. Yes, I have my airships, but they cannot guarantee safe passage of the Black Sea while the Soviets maintain a strong naval squadron at Sevastopol. They have an old battleship, five heavy cruisers, eighteen destroyers and over forty submarines! Add to that the eighty odd torpedo boats and you can understand why a sea transit of the Black Sea will not be possible for any large movement of the oil… Unless you could assist us in neutralizing that fleet in some way.”

There it was, thought Hitler, the first request. He smiled. “I have no navy in the Black sea-for the moment. I have only just moved heavy units to a position where they can soon enter the Mediterranean.”

“That was a most significant victory at Gibraltar, just as I predicted,” said Volkov.

“Indeed it was. But before my battleships could hope to assist you in the Black Sea, there is still the Royal Navy to be dealt with in the Eastern Mediterranean. We have plans for that, yet even after they are concluded, and we dominate the Mediterranean Sea, there is still the matter of Turkey and the Bosporus.”

“What about your Luftwaffe? They might easily deal with the Russian Black Sea Fleet.”

Of course, thought Hitler. That is what this man wants from me now. He flits about in those obsolete zeppelins and yet he has no modern air force. He needs my Luftwaffe to neutralize Kirov’s ships and protect his Black Sea ports in Georgia. Well enough.

“You realize that no state of war presently exists between Germany and Soviet Russia. That said, I will speak to Goering on this, and I will give you whatever support you need. We can sell you the planes and train your pilots in their proper use. After all, I will be wanting a good price from you on that oil! This is in my interest as well. I cannot have Sergei Kirov sitting there with a naval threat in the heart of the union we must now forge. Your oil, my steel, Volkov. That is the formula that will win this war. We are so close! Only Kirov and Turkey stand between us, and that is what we should now set our minds on. You must settle this business in Siberia quickly, and then move those divisions to stop Kirov in the Caucasus. I will give you all the support you need with my Luftwaffe. Then we must discuss Turkey.”

“Ah yes,” said Volkov, “the old Ottoman Empire, creaking and rusty, and ready to fall.”

“Well are you in a position to strike from the east?”

“Not at the moment. I will need those troops to stop this attack in the Caucasus. Yet with your air support, we may finish that job sooner, and then I can shift forces from Siberia and Kazakhstan to the Turkish frontier.”

“Excellent! And while you do this I have a few preliminaries to take care of here in the Balkans. I have Hungary, Bulgaria and Romania. Yugoslavia is next. We are calling it Operation 25, after my Fuhrer Directive by that same number. I anticipate a swift campaign, but Mussolini has complicated matters by meddling in Greece.”

“That will be to your advantage,” said Volkov, knowing the history of these events very well. The Devil’s Adjutant had more than oil and military support for Hitler. He also had vital information, foreknowledge of how the war played out, and every success and failure. He had sent a message to Hitler earlier when asking for this meeting, and strongly reinforced the need to cow Spain and take Gibraltar. He knew that Turkey would try to sit out the war as a neutral state, with leanings toward Great Britain. That had to be changed.

“Advantage? Mussolini will prompt the British to reinforce Greece, possibly even Yugoslavia. This will complicate matters.”

“No,” said Volkov. “See this as a benefit, not an obstacle. The British can ill afford to reinforce Greece now. They are already weak in the Middle East as it stands, and everything they send there will weaken them further.”

“Yes. I finally convinced Mussolini that he had to take action against Egypt, and that is now underway.”

“It will fail,” said Volkov darkly.

“Fail? Graziani has three times as many divisions as the British now have in Egypt. He crossed the border largely unopposed.”