1945 Read online

  "One atomic bomb will have an explosive force equal to a thousand-plane raid by British Lancaster bombers in which by magic all the bombs exploded simultaneously. Three or four atomic bombs would annihilate Berlin. Most cities would be destroyed by a single one. The Führer learned early last year that the Americans were engaged in making this new weapon. Alas, our planners had previously decided it was technically impossible to make such a bomb within a meaningful time frame. They were wrong, it seems. Now we are racing to catch up, but a stern chase is a long one, and this is a very stern chase indeed. If the Americans get it first, you can well imagine what such a catastrophe will mean for the Reich."

  Now he had their attention.

  "Our mission is to destroy Oak Ridge. Gendemen, mark me: Only if we succeed can the Reich possibly have this weapon before the Americans. Thus the survival of the Third Reich is in our hands. I do not exaggerate." He paused for a moment, then added, "Our mission will be coordinated with a full-scale attack on England, and the timing of that attack is based on our mission requirements. More than that, the Führer assures me that if it were not for the necessity of our mission there would be no attack upon England.

  "Consider also that if we fail, it will be worse, far worse, than had we not tried. If we fail, the Fatherland will be faced with an enraged America in sole possession of this ultimate weapon. If we fail, the Reich fails.

  "We must not fail."

  He paused to glare at his now-rapt audience.

  "We will not fail!"

  Relaxing slightly, Skorzeny nodded to the room's lone civilian, gesturing him over to the table. The man who came to stand beside Skorzeny was thin and bespectacled. He had receding hair, his double-breasted suit was several years out of date, and his vest was speckled with cigarette ash.

  "Gendemen, I introduce to you Herr Doktor Professor Friedrich von Schiller. He's here to brief us on our target He's been in on the planning of this mission from the beginning and understands what needs to be accomplished at Oak Ridge better than anyone else, so pay attention."

  Smiling with the genial contempt natural for such men toward academics, the company officers looked at Schiller as if he were a professor who had wandered into the wrong lecture hall. But their attitude subtly changed when he leaned over the table and returned stare for stare. Clearly he had no doubts as to the tightness of his presence here— while they were a group of students in grave danger of failing a surprise examination. Perhaps he had seen combat in the Great War. Certainly these human wolves did not make him the least bit nervous, which fact probably played a role in his selection as their instructor.

  He began to speak. "Listen closely. This will be difficult enough to understand even if you do." The remaining smiles faded and disappeared as he continued without further preamble: "In late 1941 President Roosevelt was informed by a group of physicists that it was possible to make an atomic bomb. Research and development on this weapon was begun shortly thereafter, but given only a moderately high priority from 1942 to 1944 because of their war with Japan, a war that they knew would be over before the bomb could be produced. With the coming of peace, however, and with the new administration, this project, code-named 'Manhattan,' has been made a crash program.

  The Americans currently have two sites for this project. One is in New Mexico, where the assembly team is currently developing the actual bomb mechanism. The second site is here"—he gestured at the map with a metal pointier rather like a swagger stick—"at Oak Ridge. A third site is under construction in the state of Washington, but will not be completed for another twelve to eighteen months." "How do we know this?" Richer asked.

  The professor looked at him blankly.

  "That is none of your affair," Skorzeny interjected. "Now be silent and listen."

  Schiller nodded acknowledgment to Skorzeny and then continued. "You have been training for the destruction of Oak Ridge and the three key industrial sites around that city." He leaned further over the table and tapped the sites with his pointer as he lectured. "The workers, of whom there are nearly seventy-five thousand, live in the town proper. Most of them are security forces and unskilled or low-skilled labor, but at least six to eight thousand are technicians, engineers, scientists of various levels, and project managers. These other three sites, located to the west and south of the city in separate security areas, are code-named Y-12"—tap —"K-25"—tap—"and X-10"—tap.

  "The purpose of these three sites is to manufacture enriched uranium isotope-235 and plutonium, which are the explosive materials for the bomb. Though the process of manufacture is on a very large scale indeed, the actual quantities of material are small. You could hold the amount of plutonium or uranium needed to destroy a medium-sized city such as Stuttgart in one hand."

  Schiller pointed to the K-25 site. This building, which ironically enough is U-shaped, is nearly a half mile long from one end to the other. The facilities housed within it extract from uranium ore the almost infinitesimal portion that is uranium of a special kind, isotope U-235, by a chemical process known as 'gaseous diffusion.' The Y-12 site, just a mile south of the residential area, also extracts isotope U-235, but using an entirely different technique, called 'magnetic separation.'

  "Apparendy the Americans were not sure which — if either—process would work, so designed and built the facilities in parallel. As it turns out, both methods work. Finally, the X-10 site is an atomic reactor of a particular kind, a 'breeder,' which can turn the more common form of uranium, U-238, into the element plutonium, which we think but are not positive is as useful as U-235 for the fabrication of explosive devices."

  The professor noticed that he was losing his audience. They were trying to stay with him, but they were — soldiers. "Never mind that now. You'll understand what you need to know by the time you need to know it. That's my job, to teach you enough to know who and what it is vital to destroy when you are on the ground in Oak Ridge." His audience began to look more comfortable. Killing people and breaking things was some understood very well.

  Having comforted his victims, he continued. "Those of you assigned to strike the industrial plants will have one of my assistants by your side throughout the mission to direct you as to which instruments and papers are to be taken rather than merely destroyed, and to assist in demolitions. Let me add here that while uranium and especially plutonium are not particularly dangerous —you can hold them in your hand safely enough—some of the materials necessarily present in the extraction of U-235 and the transmutation of U-238 into plutonium can quickly kill you. Primarily by inhalation of poison gases in the first case, and contamination by dust that emanates deadly rays in the latter. So listen carefully to your advisors' instructions as to exactly how to proceed with the demo—"

  "That information is not to be shared with the men," Skorzeny suddenly interrupted in his command voice. "I repeat: for now, no hint of that information is to go beyond this room. I will decide later what exactly the men are to know, and when they are to know it. Until such time as I have informed you, say nothing at all on this subject. Please continue, Herr Professor."

  Though over his initial startlement at the harsh interruption, the professor still needed a moment to regain his train of thought. Schiller was a brave man, but Skorzeny was... Skorzeny.

  After that brief moment spent composing his thoughts Schiller redonned his professorial persona. But his excitement grew as he continued. "Success with this mission will result not only in the destruction of the facilities but will also poison the entire area so that it will require months, perhaps years before it can be used again. It will cripple the American program. It will give Germany a lead in atomic development that I promise you will forever end war, leaving the Fatherland the sole and final victor. Truly, as foretold by our Leader, our Reich will last a thousand years!"

  Skorzeny shared the pride and repressed excitement that vibrated in Schiller's voice. He had toured the German facilities hidden near the Polish-Ukrainian border and saw the frenzied leve
l of activity there as they desperately raced to catch up. No one in that project, other than Schiller and five of his assistants, knew that in less than two months it would be the Americans who were desperate to even stay in the race.

  "Thank you, Professor Schiller," Skorzeny broke in, resuming control of the meeting. "The Herr Doktor Professor will brief each of you later as to the details of the target to which you are assigned, and team you with your specialist assistants—who will train with you from now on. You are to defer to the judgment of your assistants as to what is to be destroyed, photographed, and, if possible, taken once on the ground. You are also to do your utmost to keep them from killing themselves during training.

  "Now as to the actual plan of attack," he continued, "our total force will consist of one hundred and seventy of the new Me-264E bombers. One hundred and forty of them will be configured as standard bombers. The others will serve as transports, tankers, and gunships.

  "It's the new stretched 264E that makes the raid possible," Skorzeny continued, "and even with it, to attempt a raid straight from Europe would so limit our load capability as to make the raid pointless. Therefore we will use the French-held island of Martinique"—he gestured toward the map on the easel just behind him — "as a staging area. Of course it was originally intended as a dagger aimed at their Panama Canal, to be used or not as the Führer chose, but it will serve our purposes very nicely. Wasn't it nice of our allies the French to build it for us?" The group chuckled along with Skorzeny. "As they land, the planes will be immediately refueled and take off again. Thirty additional 264s will accompany us but not be part of our mission, and that is all you need to know about them."

  Skorzeny picked up a pointer and traced out their route. "We will penetrate the United States at low level along the Gulf Coast, here, and fly directly inland for four hundred and fifty miles. From there we will proceed in single-line formation to the city of Knoxville, thirty miles south of Oak Ridge. That will be our navigational fix for the final approach. Once over Knoxville, we will break into our separate attack formations and make the final run into the target area, pick up the Clinch River and follow it into the target area. At this time the 264s that are actually configured as bombers will separate into four attack groups.

  "The first group of thirty bombers will strike the main building at K-25. The second group of thirty will strike Y-12, and the third group of sixty will strike the town of Oak Ridge, aiming at the security headquarters, and the residential area most likely to contain the top personnel. The fourth bomber group of twenty planes will be a reserve force and loiter over the target area to supply additional treatment as needed. In addition, there will be twenty Me-264s, converted to gunship configuration flying with the transport group. Ten will strike secondary targets in Oak Ridge and ten will be held in reserve."

  Skorzeny looked up and smiled. "Now comes our job. Our assault team will be aboard ten transport-configured bombers, forty men and their equipment per plane. Holzer, your two transports will join up with the bomber group assigned to K-25. Ulrich, your two will join the Y-12 group."

  Skorzeny nodded to his oldest, most trusted friend. "Karl, you and your eighty men are assigned to X-10, the one with the atomic reactor. Muhler, you will be Karl's second-in-command. Because of its nature, the reactor is constructed in such fashion that it might as well have been intentionally fortified; an initial bomber assault might leave it intact but so buried in debris as to be made unapproachable given the time constraints that will be imposed upon us by the US military."

  Skorzeny paused indulgently while his commanders dutifully chuckled at his little joke, then continued. "Because an initial softening up might do more harm than good, yours will be the one group not to be preceded by a bomber attack. Instead you will arrive five minutes before the rest of the strike. If all goes well, that should give you total surprise and negligible opposition—an important consideration, since it is vital that the reactor be well and truly destroyed. Since your job is so crucial, Dr. Schiller himself will be your specialist-advisor, and in addition will brief you at length on what you must look for and the exact procedure to be followed, insofar as we can specify an exact procedure without having actually having seen the reactor."

  So Schiller would be with them on the sharp end. The men looked at the graying professor with new respect. Nearly middle-aged and obviously of great value as a scientist he could clearly have avoided this duty. "We will work especially hard to keep you alive, Herr Professor," Muhler said with a friendly laugh that Skorzeny and the others joined.

  "Please do. I am very valuable, and quite fragile," the professor deadpanned to renewed laughter.

  Still smiling, Skorzeny returned them to the matter at hand.

  "On your departure from the area you will call in the reserve planes to apply the finishing touches to your work. I've planned the ground strikes so that if we lose a plane going in, half the team should still be able to carry out the mission. If we should lose both planes assigned to a given target, we will divert one from one of the other strikes. In your case, Karl, if we lose even one of your planes another will be assigned to either you or Muhler, whichever of you is still alive."

  Again Skorzeny paused momentarily, this time with an inward expression quite unsuited to him. "The remaining hundred and sixty men, commanded by Richer and Lenz, will drop into the town." Skorzeny looked at the men in question. "Your men will be dressed as American military police. Their job will be to kill as many of the technicians and scientists as possible. You will receive blowups of this map on which every single building is marked. The houses marked as E and F units, which are clustered primarily toward the center of the town, are the ones for the top personnel. I expect each and every one of those homes to receive a visit. No one is to be left alive."

  "Including children?" Lenz asked quietly.

  Skorzeny hesitated.

  "If they get in the way you are not to hesitate. The Führer has ordered that we are to be successful no matter how difficult the task."

  Lenz nodded slowly.

  "As for myself, I will be there, directing the attack as it comes in."

  The men around the table looked over at Skorzeny in surprise.

  Skorzeny smiled.

  "A week before the strike I will be in the vicinity of Oak Ridge with my personal team to do a final recon on the target. Our information flow out of Oak Ridge is too slow and something vital could change. A last minute delay would be a disaster, it cannot be postponed no matter what. This attack is but one part of a far greater plan. Even if visibility over the target is zero still we must strike. That means someone has to be there beforehand."

  "And I'm not going with you?" Karl asked.

  "Karl, you will be in command of the strike force until we link up." Skorzeny nodded toward the white-haired officer with the mashed-in face. "Hans is going with me, along with eight other men. If something happens to me Hans will take over the group until you land, at which time he will place himself under your orders."

  Karl barely turned to acknowledge Hans, as if the man had won a coveted prize. Hans grinned broadly, his battered features lighting up with open delight at having been chosen.

  Skorzeny realized that Karl's acceptance of his role was an important factor in the mission's overall likelihood of success. Besides, he knew just how his friend must feel right now. "Karl, I need you with the strike group to ensure that the reactor is destroyed. Furthermore, if something should happen to me only you could make sure the assault takes place just as it would if I were still giving the orders."

  Skorzeny paused again, looked at each of his men in turn. "This will be our only chance. A day after this war starts they'll have a thousand fighters covering this facility, and penetration will be impossible. This attack will be like the Leningrad extraction and the surprise we were planning for Stalin. The mission will go on regardless of weather, or even detection by the Americans.

  "Over the next couple of days I'll review with each of y
ou the various contingency plans. If all goes according to schedule, I'll be over the base in a light plane as close to the administrative area as possible. Our pickup point will be this new airstrip"—he outlined the area with his pointer— "southeast of the administrative area. It will be taken over by a platoon from Lenz's team supported by two gunships. Once the airstrip is secured the same transports that dropped us will land to take us out.

  "When you have completed your missions, you will commandeer vehicles and assemble at the rendezvous point for pickup. If there's time we'll continue to hit the town, eliminating as many surviving personnel as possible.

  We'll drop antitank weapons with Lenz to secure the main approaches into our pickup area.

  "Holzer, you'll be the farthest out from the pickup, over fifteen kilometers. Richer and Lenz, your men will have the most territory to cover between the administrative buildings and the residential area. Nearly a thousand homes will have to be serviced."

  "Is there any possibility that their security is strong enough to block us?" Richer asked.

  "They are relatively few, and their focus is espionage and sabotage. The worst they have contemplated is a small team going for the reactor. The combination of gunships and antitank teams will be more than adequate."

  Skorzeny paused for a moment. "Of course we all know that nothing is certain in an operation such as this. But even if the Americans turn out to be supermen, or by bizarre coincidence an armored unit is conducting exercises nearby, consider this: the ten support bombers working as backup will each be carrying five thousand kilograms of jellied gasoline. One strike from such a plane can turn an area half a kilometer on a side into an inferno. If there are any troop concentrations building up, these planes will be diverted to handle it."

  "What about resistance from the civilians?" Karl asked. "I understand that most Americans own guns and know how to use them."

  Skorzeny shook his head and laughed. "Maybe in other parts of the country, but Oak Ridge is special. The Federal government runs the facility and in a typically brilliant display of bureaucratic wisdom has decreed that no one living in Oak Ridge may own a firearm. If it wasn't for that our job would be a lot more difficult."