LITMIR.BIZ

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dive-bombers exploded in midair, tumbling down on the anti-aircraft trenches without dropping their deadly cargo, but most of the bombers still managed to break through the heavy fire and drop their bombs.

      The density of anti-aircraft fire had decreased noticeably, but the air defense positioning area was still far from being destroyed when I saw something, that made me clench my fists to the point of pain. The computer sounded an alarm and illuminated the clouds of whitish fog rapidly spreading out from the bomb sites with a flashing orange light. On the left, at the edge of my field of vision, a chemical formula and a brief note about the gas used by the Germans popped up. It was something no country in the world had ever used before. No mustard gas, cyanogen chloride, lewisite, phosgene or adamsite. Sarin! It is a terrible nerve gas, which affects the nervous system, makes muscles involuntarily contract, causing respiratory arrest and a total loss of control over all bodily functions.

      Where the clouds of gas spread over the ground, the fire of the anti-aircraft guns that had survived the bombs subsided instantly, and by the time the remaining 19 dive bombers began their second approach to their targets, only the individual small-caliber guns were firing on them, those had not yet been reached by the gas clouds.

      “"Mole", this is "Viper 2". We are being attacked by unknown war gases! We've lost mid-caliber gun crews. The sticky slurry…”

      Four minutes into the attack, fire from the ground ceased completely. In the freezing no-wind conditions, the entire position of the anti-aircraft gunners was covered with swirling clouds of poisonous fog that drifted into the trenches and dugouts, leaving no chance of survival for anyone who fell into the zone of chemical contamination.

      “"Viper 2", respond to the "Mole"!” The on-duty communicator kept calling the anti-aircraft gunners.

      “Stand down, Staff Sergeant, they won't answer,” I stopped the radio operator in a hoarse voice, “I need a connection with the General Staff. Now!”

      It didn't work immediately, but about ten minutes later I heard Shaposhnikov's concerned voice on the phone: “Report, Lieutenant Colonel.”

      “Comrade Marshal, what I warned you about happened. The Viper 2 position area was attacked by dive bombers armed with chemical bombs. I'm afraid no one survived there. Apparently, this is something new. Gas masks don't help much, although I don't think many people had time to put them on.”

      Shaposhnikov was silent, and I tried to answer myself the simple question, "why did the Germans hit the anti-aircraft gunners with toxic chemicals?"

      There was only one answer – they really wanted to get me, and if I was really in position with the 85 mm guns, they probably would have succeeded. Even my body could not cope with such a dose of nerve poison, especially in a situation where there was no one to get me out of the contamination zone. By using sarin gas, the enemy revealed their plans ahead of time, but apparently the Germans thought the goal was worth it.

      Chapter 3

      “How did the British and USA ambassadors respond to our appeal?”

      “They expressed great concern, Comrade Stalin,” Soviet Foreign Minister Molotov grimaced irritably, “they promised to tell us the position of London and Washington as soon as possible. There seems to be little hope for the Americans. After the Japanese hit Pearl Harbor and the Imperial Army landed in the Philippines, they are, to put it mildly, not interested in us. Apparently, it was feared that once the war with the Samurai had begun, Germany would declare war on them, but so far this has not happened, and Roosevelt certainly will not want to provoke Hitler[1].”

      “With the current situation at Moscow and the beginning of the British offensive in North Africa, all Hitler needed was a war with the United States,” Stalin's voice sounded irritated. “Roosevelt's apprehension is misguided, though it may only be an excuse for denying us effective help. And what do you, Comrade Molotov, think about the prospects of Britain entering chemical warfare?”

      “It's more complicated here, Comrade Stalin. The Germans lost the air battle for Britain, but it is unlikely that Churchill would want to expose his cities to the risk of chemical bombing. By drawing off the tank units of the African Corps, we have greatly relieved the situation of the British in Egypt and Libya, and now Churchill is in a hurry to turn the course of the war in Africa in his favor. He does not need any new problems, especially in view of the Japanese attack on the port of Hong Kong and the emergence of a real threat to Singapore and all of British Malaya. On December 10, the British fleet lost in the South China Sea the battleship Prince of Wales and the battlecruiser Repulse. This victory cost the Japanese only three planes, so the British and Americans have enough to worry about. It is possible that they can ask us for help themselves[2] – now they are in a situation similar to ours in June.”

      The Chief nodded slowly and switched to another topic:

      “After the gas attack on anti-aircraft positions near Vyazma, are there any other facts of the use of chemical weapons by the Germans?”

      “No, Comrade Stalin,” Zhukov entered the discussion, “but the intelligence data is very disturbing. All the signs of the enemy's preparation for combat operations in chemically contaminated areas are there.”

      “How ready are we for this?” Stalin shifted his gaze to Shaposhnikov.

      The Chief of the General Staff did not embellish the real situation:

      “Now the enemy is way ahead of us in means of chemical defense, but work is being done. All the necessary orders were issued immediately after the discussion at the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command of Lieutenant Colonel Nagulin's conclusions about the threat of the Germans' use of chemical warfare agents.”

      “The name Nagulin has come up too often in this office,” the Chief grinned indefinitely, “do you not think so, comrades?”

      “Given his role in key events at the front, it doesn't look like anything special,” Shaposhnikov answered cautiously.

      “Perhaps,” Stalin nodded, “however, the results of his actions against the Luftwaffe air bridge do not yet look as impressive, as the previous operations, although some successes definitely exist.”

      “Hardly anyone else in his position would have done better,” Zhukov, usually skeptical to all the endeavors of Nagulin, whom he did not quite understand, suddenly stood up for him. “The enemy's opposition is too great, and our resources are extremely limited.”

      Stalin did not seem to expect such words from Zhukov either, and he was somewhat surprised at the unanimity of the commander of the Western Front and the Chief of the General Staff.

      “When will Kleist strike?” The Chief suddenly changed the subject, temporarily "forgetting" about Lieutenant Colonel Nagulin.

      “Perhaps as early as tomorrow, Comrade Stalin,” Zhukov answered after a short pause. “In two days at the most.”

* * *

      Göring's "air bridge" crackled and swayed, but it had no desire to finally collapse. I gave the Luftwaffe a lot of trouble, but the forces and means at my disposal were still clearly insufficient, and I had nowhere to get additional forces and means.

      The Germans quickly realized that flying in tight formation at maximum altitude would be suicide and immediately abandoned this tactic. The enemy was in no hurry to repeat the attacks on the air defense positions. Apparently, the losses made a great impression on the Luftwaffe command, and it was not prepared to lose aircraft and, more importantly, qualified pilots, at such a rate. Nevertheless, the very fact of the chemical attack on anti-aircraft positions forced us to take emergency measures.

      We had to train anti-aircraft soldiers to fire in gas masks and anti-mustard gas capes, which had a big impact on their rate of fire and, consequently, on the results of their firing. This was clearly insufficient for protection against sarin, but no other means were available to the Red Army chemical troops anyway.

      In a way, I was even glad that the enemy started using chemical weapons immediately with the most dangerous gas. This enabled me to tell

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