1st July 1945, Whitehall.
Sir Charles strode into the conference room.
" Good morning gentlemen, shall we begin please?"
" Yes Sir" replied the staff officer whose turn it was to conduct the morning briefing. He swallowed hard. This was his first time up the front and Sir Charles' sharp mind and acid tongue was legendary.
" As you are aware today marks the 76th day since hostilities commenced with the Soviet Union, and the 61st day since Operation Nicholas was put into effect. The situ...."
" Yes we are aware of that, please get on with it - I am briefing the King in an hour."
"Of course Sir. We will follow the usual format - agenda items will be 1. European Situation, 2. Asian Situation, 3. Air War Status, 4. Intelligence Estimate. If I could direct your attention to the European operations map on the wall behind me:
" As can be seen the front line continues to remain static. As you aware some provinces have been lost in Hungary and and few provinces from East Prussia and Eastern Poland, but we have not seen the wholesale collapse of the French Army that we were expecting. However we have detected significant reinforcements crossing the bomb line which we expect means a major offensive in East Prussia within the next 1-2 weeks. Please refer to this image captured from a photo reconnaissance Valiant yesterday:
"Excellent. More mouths to feed. The more troops Stalin pours into the logistics cauldron the greater the starvation will be" observed Sir Charles.
" Quite Sir. But of course these units will be fully operational for 30 days before we see the impact. We are lucky that it appears to be mainly marching infantry."
"What's the situation in Budapest?"
"Quiet Sir. The 51st Highlanders and the 1st and 6th Airborne Divisions have reported no activity in their sectors, and Transport Command is experiencing no disruption to it's resupply flights. At this point we believe we can hold indefinitely."
"What's that French Chappie doing out their all on his own?"
"Well sir, its the damnest thing. They were originally part of the garrison, and then one day they just sort of.......left. No one is in contact with them, the French High Command have washed their hands of the whole affair, and well no one seems to be able to get them to come back."
"How extraordinary."
"Indeed Sir, now if I can direct your attention to the Asian situation map on the opposite wall:
" Here Sir the situation appears rather different. You'll note immediately the major concentration of Soviet armour and mechanised troops. This does appear to be where they are making their main effort. Northern Korea is proving a tough nut for them to crack - their armoured units are not performing well against the Australian, Dutch, French and American infantry divisions that have entrenched in the mountains. I'm afraid the situation in mainland China is not looking good. Although we have been able to contain and reduce the pocket at Shanghai through logistics attacks on the ports, the French just don't have the troops to hold the line."
"I see. Any good news?"
"Yes Sir the Americans have finally taken charge of a foothold on the Asian continent rather than fighting under French command. They have taken over responsibility for the Dalian pocket. We believe this signals an increasing commitment on behalf of our cousins to finally go toe to toe with the enemy."
"Excellent - now tell me what's happening in the air."
"Well Sir, all good news there. Operations along the corridor continue to be unhindered by Soviet air activity. The few times we have encountered Soviet fighters they have been clearly outclassed by our aeroplanes:
"We are also seeing the first signs of supply disruption at the front - these reports have just come in over the last few days:
"The groups are reporting they are starting to run out of targets - particularly in the Pripyet Area which was woefully underdeveloped in the first place. For example yesterday No 4 Group dropped 6300 thousand pound bombs on what they described as a Livestock Logistics Corridor."
"A what?"
"A goat track Sir".
"I see. Best delete that one from the minutes Henderson, don't want to upset the Treasury needlessly".
"Of course Sir"
" So Sir, it appears our strategy is starting to work, and that leads us to the intelligence assessment, item 4 on the Agenda."
" Yes, do go on the clock is ticking."
"Of course sir. Well, I don't quite know how to say this. Please forgive me for being so direct, but Sir when you take into account all of the above, and assess the big picture, it rather appears that we have cocked up".
Sir Charles' eyes narrowed and a deep frown creased his forehead "Do go on".
"Well Sir, you can't but help conclude that we have built our logistics barrier on the wrong side of the world. We missed the main Soviet thrust, and now it appears our allies are fighting the main war in Asia, and Sir we're just not where we should be."
"In hindsight it is all clear. I rather think the Soviet high command in Europe was just as surprised at Stalin's move as we were. You see, the best Soviet units had been shifted to Asia to fight the Japanese, and when Japan surrendered and Stalin immediately declared war on us, they were caught with their troops in Asia. So it appears sir they have just carried on. I'm afraid our assessment is we are only up against third raters at best in Europe."
Suddenly Sir Charles sat bolt upright and stared intently at the Asian map - old hands had seen this before, the old man was having one of his legendary revelations.
In a quiet voice he addressed the Senior Intelligence Officer in the room, Air Commodore Wilson.
"Wilson, tell me about the logistics routes for the Soviet Pacific Theatre."
"Well Sir, they really only have the Trans Siberian railway and a few roads which are any good, and in a few places the corridor is quite narrow, only a few provinces wide......." the Air Commodore's voice trailed off as the implications of what he was saying hit home.
A couple of the brighter Staff Officers leapt from their seats and ran in the direction of the photo reconnaissance room, they had already anticipated what Sir Charles was about to say next.
"Gentlemen, if we can find and bomb those provinces, we have the chance to starve an entire Soviet theatre. I expect an operations plan within 24 hours."
"Now if you'll excuse me Gentlemen, the King is waiting."
