out of their hat? This is an important development, Tyrenkov. Get me all the information you can on this new British tank.”
Being a navy man, Karpov did not immediately recognize the British tank as a Challenger II. The photograph was taken in low light, very grainy, and hastily shot, as the agent was obviously at great risk.
“That is what will eventually win this ground war,” said Karpov. “Tanks! It is the one area in which we lag well behind the other powers. There is too little industry here in Siberia, and we will have to rely on cooperation and handouts from Sergei Kirov. My god, we strained to simply build these airships, and there is no way we will ever have any tank production here of any consequence unless Kirov builds them. Do you know we built entire new cities in the Siberian Urals? There was a massive armaments plant called Uralmash at Yekaterinburg, but it has not been built in this world. We must consider rooting better production facilities there.”
“Perhaps you should bring this up with Sergei Kirov at your upcoming meeting,” Tyrenkov suggested.
“Don’t worry. Kirov will soon be packing up his factory equipment and shipping it all east. Over 1500 factories were evacuated in Soviet Russia and moved here. For the moment, we will just have to make do with the manpower resources we have. But rifle divisions will only take us so far. Volkov is building tanks in Orenburg, and he still controls Chelyabinsk, Magnitogorsk, and Omsk, which were all places where the Soviet factories were relocated. We control Yekaterinburg, and so we must keep it well defended. I predict that place will again become a major armaments production center, as in the history I know, and in exchange for welcoming Sergei Kirov’s factory workers and equipment there, we will get our fair share of tanks. Yet that is a year or more off, and much will happen in that time. What is the situation on the German front?”
“They have crossed the border in force. The Soviet air force was smashed at the outset, and the Germans are making rapid progress. Yet much of that is because Kirov has ordered his troops to fall back—especially his armored and mechanized divisions.”
“He is no fool, Tyrenkov. Remember, that man knew about the stairway at Ilanskiy. Who knows how many times he went up those stairs? If he did so, and it took him to these years, then he would have seen much of what was happening in the war. So it will be no surprise to me if the Soviets try to avoid the major encirclements and massive losses they suffered in the summer and fall of 1941. If Kirov is crafty, he will trade space for time, husband his armor, and build strong defenses on the Dnieper. That will be the major obstacle to stop the Germans this year.”
“At the moment, the Soviets appear to be falling back on Minsk.”
“Yes, but they will not save that city, and if they attempt to do so they will lose 600,000 men in the Minsk pocket. Did you send that message packet I prepared to Kirov?”
“Yes sir. The information was delivered securely, and with no problems.”
“Good. Then Kirov will know what happens at Minsk. He will be much better off screening Moscow and holding at Smolensk, or forward of that position if he can. And he must hold Kiev as long as possible, and all the line of the lower Dnieper. As for us, we must do all we can to deal with the significant threat posed by Volkov. That man will have just enough force to tie down hundreds of thousands of Soviet troops on the Volga. How is the planning going for Autumn Wind?”
“We have most of the Tartar and Cossack Cavalry Divisions moving through Perm now,” said Tyrenkov. “The first six rifle divisions will deploy through there soon, and ten more will follow. Soviet buildup on the upper Volga has been slow, so we cannot yet assign a firm jump off date for the offensive.”
“And Volkov?”
“As you predicted, sir, the Ob River offensive has been cancelled. In fact, Volkov has pulled his mechanized divisions out, and he is moving them west to the Volga front.”
“Of course,” said Karpov. “He will leave five or ten rifle divisions on the line, and a strong reserve at Omsk, but I have every intention of taking that city back as soon as possible.”
“Yet we have only eight divisions on that front,” said