Hammer of God (Kirov Series Book 14) Read Online Free PDF Page A

fiction, but seeing his ideas take such
a formidable shape, and at such a desperate juncture in this war, is most
astonishing. What a mighty sword we have here in this brigade!”
    Churchill had read Wells’ story, The
Land Ironclads, in 1903 about 100 foot long machines equipped with remote
controlled guns and able to carry troops of riflemen. “The captain
. . . had look-out points at small ports all round the upper edge of
the adjustable skirt of twelve-inch iron plating which protected the whole
affair,” wrote Wells, and Churchill had embraced the concept as a hearty early
proponent of tank development. Now he saw his Land Ironclad realized in a way
that would have dazzled the mind of Wells himself.
    “Who knows,” he said jubilantly.
“Perhaps old HG. is one of your own, slipped through some other crack in time to
lay out all these stories of days to come.”
    After the exhilaration and
amazement, the meeting then finally settled down to what must be done now with
the gift of iron and steel sent to them from afar. Tovey was pleasantly
surprised to learn that Churchill would not take much convincing.
    “You were completely right to
insist on this meeting here,” said Churchill, “and to keep this force
segregated from the rank and file of Wavell’s army. I know in time that may
change, but for the moment this must all be considered a matter of the most
urgent and darkest secrecy. No one else must know of this, not even the war
cabinet, or God forbid, anyone in Parliament. The knowledge is simply too
shocking for the common man to hold in the palm of his hand. It would unhinge
the world and haunt the dreams of men and women who would not understand it,
even as it will likely fire my own imagination as to how we can put this mighty
champion to the best good use.”
    Wavell and O’Connor shared the
plan they had devised, the reason the Brigade had assembled here at Siwa, and
the operation soon to be launched against the Italians at Giarabub. Churchill
agreed that it was a sound plan to place this mighty axe right at the edge of
Rommel’s neck.
    “Let him try running half way
across Cyrenaica again with his tanks,” said Churchill. “With Brigadier
Kinlan’s force poised on his flank, we can chop off his head in one fell swoop!
Now then… what this buys us in the short run, gentlemen, is a most needed
currency, and ironically, that coin is time. I now see that my plan to try and
get Wavell his tanks by pushing the Tiger convoy through the Mediterranean is
not necessary. He’ll still need them, but they can go round the cape with any
other naval reinforcements Admiral Tovey might choose to assign here. This foil
we can hold at the enemy’s throat will keep him at bay while we get back on our
feet here.”
    “My thoughts exactly,” said
Wavell, and he detailed the operation planned against Benghazi, and related
other concerns concerning Crete, Iraq and Syria. “I had planned to send the 7th
Australian Division out west with the rest of the ANZAC Corps, but given these
ominous warning about Crete, and the rumblings of Rashid Ali and his golden
Square rebellion in Iraq, I have second thoughts. We also have the Vichy French
stronghold in Syria to worry about.”
    “We could not help Greece, and I
have paid a political price for that,” said Churchill, “but what about Crete? The
Joint Intelligence believes that a combined sea and air attack is imminent
there, and it must be stubbornly defended.”
    “That intelligence may be
accurate,” said Wavell, “but may I now introduce a new arrival to this
conference, the Captain of the Russian ship that has been operating in league
with our naval forces here, Anton Fedorov. He made some very telling points on
this matter that I think you should hear.”
    Fedorov had travelled to the conference
on the KA-40 with the others, but was meeting Churchill for the first time now,
and was greatly awed by the moment. He had been relieved that Churchill saw the
need to