Kirov II: Cauldron Of Fire (Kirov Series) Read Free

this
end, I can assure you that Great Britain will do everything in her power to
drive a stake into Herr Hitler’s heart and end this misguided and obscene dream
of his Third Reich. You may consider the whole of our island to be an unsinkable
aircraft carrier. I suggest we also develop bases in Iceland as a logistical
support for your planes as they transit the Atlantic. We’re likely to take the
brunt of whatever the Germans have left in the cupboard to throw at us. It will
certainly be another ordeal, and God help us if they unleash one of these
rocket bombs on London. I have sent a formal warning to the Germans telling
them that we also have these weapons in development, and that I will destroy
Berlin, Hamburg or any other city, tit for tat, should they revisit us with
their new wonder weapon. Let us see if they believe it, but I should be
grateful to have something more than my squadrons of Wellingtons in the event
they call my bluff.”
    “You’ll have
them, Winston. We’re going to put everything we have into air and sea power at
the outset. And my admirals tell me a large, effective submarine fleet could be
useful as well. With these weapons we believe we can keep the Germans at arm’s
length while we build up strength and supercharge the development of this new
atomic weaponry. I can’t tell you how long all this will take, as my generals
and admirals cannot yet tell me. But it will happen, Winston. I give you my
pledge. And by God, we’ll stand with England to the bitter end. There will be no
separate peace, if you agree, and we’ll prosecute this war until Germany is a
cinder heap.”
    “That is
exactly what I have longed to hear from you, sir. I have little doubt that we
will prevail. Yet we must also give some thought to the Russians. The Germans
are likely to go for Moscow this summer. Russia is a big country as well.
Perhaps they can hold out, but considering these developments, we cannot count
on that. What if they capitulate? In that event we could see the Germans taking
a second look at invading our islands next year as well.”
    “Winston,
don’t you worry about that for one minute. I can put fifty divisions on English
soil if you invite me to do so.”
    Churchill
smiled, raising an eyebrow. “But Franklin, the boys at Bletchley Park say you
haven’t got nearly that many in hand.”
    “At the
moment,” said Roosevelt. “We do things quickly when we have made up our minds.
The main thing is this: the United States will never accept the occupation or
capitulation of England. We will fight to secure your freedom with everything
we have.”
    Churchill
smiled broadly. “Mister President,” he said. “I think I should like to try one
of those Cuban cigars, if you don’t mind. And perhaps you and I could drink to
all this over a brandy.”
    “We’ll shake
on it first,” said Roosevelt, and he took Churchill’s hand in a firm handshake.
    “I suppose
we should draw up some mutual declaration concerning these matters,” said
Churchill.
    “Why not
call it the Atlantic Charter. We have long been one people separated by that
ocean, and a common language,” Roosevelt smiled. “Let the ocean be a bridge
between us now, and by God, I don’t care how many of these new raiding ships
the Germans have. I’ll fill that ocean with fire and steel in due course. It’s
ours, Winston, all ours. We’ll stomp on these U-Boats and bottle up the German
fleet in the Baltic. I think our first order of business will be to secure the
Azores and Canary islands and build up long range bomber bases there, then on
to North Africa to do the same. I want a ring of flying steel around Germans by
the end of next year. We’ll bomb them day and night. They’ll need a thousand of
those new weapons to stop us, and I don’t think they have more than a handful
now, if even that many. This may have been their only existing warhead.”
    Churchill
took a deep breath, nodding his head. “The Atlantic Charter. It has I nice