Himmler put an end to the excruciating performance with a wave of his hand. He spoke in a reasonable tone, attempting to soothe everyone with the equanimity of his reaction. Having been on the receiving end of Hitler’s ungovernable fury more than once, he knew only too well what a double-edged sword it could be. Terror was a marvelous inducement to perform one’s duties well, but it also clouded judgment and made it less likely that a leader would hear what he needed to hear, rather than simply being told whatever might avert another episode of explosive rage.
“The fьhrer did not know of the Bolshevik atomic threat,” he said, sounding more regretful than anything. “If he had, he would have recognized it for the mortal danger it is.”
There was still a great strain in the drawn faces and stiff postures of the men who stood facing him. But as Himmler spoke with-he hoped-great forbearance and composure, some of the more palpable tension began to ease.
“I am afraid the foreign minister had no good news to offer me when I spoke to him an hour ago. The British and Americans have very foolishly rejected our offer to establish a common front against Stalin. If we should fall, they will come to regret that decision. I believe that the very future of civilization will be decided in the next few days. The democracies are corrupt and hopelessly flawed, but beyond certain political matters they are not entirely alien. We share histories and enjoy many cultural meeting points with them. We are Aryan societies, after all.”
A few heads nodded here and there.
His SS troops never once relented in their machinelike surveillance of the room, but he felt as if everyone was beginning to relax, ever so slightly, despite the menacing presence of the guards and the press of events. The Reichsfьhrer-SS-no, the fьhrer-removed his hat and placed it on the map table in a consciously theatrical gesture. He sketched a thin smile.
“It has never been my way to downplay our setbacks, or to attempt to make more of good news than it deserves-to gild the lily, as the English say.”
Another smile. A noticeable relaxation in Zeitzler and the other army staffers.
“There is no point in looking to our own atomic program for salvation. I can tell you now that we are nowhere near close enough to testing a device in the hope that we might use it against the Bolsheviks.”
He registered the shock and disappointment on all of the faces, except those of his own men, who remained impressively stone-faced.
“However, we are not entirely defenseless. The Reich Ministry of Advanced Armaments Research isn’t the only body to have had responsibility for developing the Emergence technologies. Given the exposure of so many traitors within our midst, the late fьhrer and I judged it prudent to quarantine some of the research efforts, keeping them solely within the control of the SS.”
Radio receivers crackled in the background, relaying desperate messages from front-line units. Himmler was distantly aware of an air raid somewhere above them, perhaps miles away. It was more an intimation of destruction than anything, a faint rumbling and the slightest of vibrations felt through the soles of his feet.
“We have worked very closely with the Japanese on a few small but now vitally important programs. We do not yet have an atomic warhead capable of battlefield delivery, but we have other weapons, powerful in their own way. General Zeitzler,” he said, taking an envelope from his jacket and passing it over to the stunned Wehrmacht officer, “you will coordinate the release of these stocks to our forces on the Eastern Front. Specialist Waffen-SS units will be responsible for deploying the weapons. Your men will need to be inoculated beforehand. Rest assured, they will be perfectly safe. The necessary supplies have been pre-positioned for the most expedient dispatch.”
His hand shaking, Zeitzler took the sealed orders.
Himmler raised an inquiring eyebrow, and Zeitzler remembered his position.
“It shall be done immediately, Mein Fьhrer.”
“Good. Be sure that it is.” Himmler pulled himself upright to his full height. He hardened his voice and pitched it to carry to the back of the room. “As terrible as was the weapon that destroyed the garrison at Lodz,” he said, “we shall stop the Bolsheviks dead in their tracks. Quite literally. In conjunction with Japan, we have developed a biological weapon, a form of anthrax that can be fired from an artillery shell. We possess a sufficient quantity to seal our eastern borders.”
He noted anyone who looked unreasonably horrified by the prospect. If they could not be trusted, then, like Reichsmarschall Gцring, they might need to be dealt with.
“I will not lie to you,” he declared. “We are in desperate straits. As radical and, I admit, as dangerous as our strategy in the east will be, it is only half of the picture. There is still the Western Front to be considered. Zeitzler!”
The army chief of staff came rigidly to attention this time. “Mein Fьhrer!”
“I am ordering you to execute Plan Orange. Pull all forces back to the Rhine defenses immediately. Leave such elements there as are necessary to secure that front for two months, and transfer the balance to the east. Release the strategic reserve to join them.”
“Yes, Mein Fьhrer.”
Stillness, then. Nobody moved or said a word.
Himmler allowed himself the briefest of interludes to enjoy the feeling of absolute power that was gathering around him, before the bleak realities of the situation made themselves felt again. There was just one more thing to say.
“We have made mistakes. Myself. All of us. Even our former leader. We can no longer afford mistakes. I am not a military genius. If any of you have concerns about this plan, I need to hear of them within the next twenty-four hours. The Reich is depending on us. The world is depending on us.”
A Luftwaffe general, Helmut Lippert, stepped forward nervously. “Mein Fьhrer. Reichsmarschall Gцring was escorted from here some time ago. Will he be coordinating Luftwaffe deployments for-”
Himmler shook his head. “The only thing Gцring will be coordinating is his defense before a people’s court. You are now the acting chief of the Luftwaffe, Herr General. Give yourself six hours to prepare a brief for me on what forces you have available to meet the Communists. And I want the truth, Lippert. No matter how unpalatable it may seem.”
Himmler allowed a genuine smile to creep across his face for the first time in days. “Blame the bad news on Gцring, if you wish. It’s probably his fault anyway.”
Lippert’s rubber-faced anguish was almost too much to bear.
“It’s a joke, Herr General. You may smile.”
The new Luftwaffe chief laughed weakly.
“Excellent,” Himmler said. “A cheerful disposition can be worth an entire battalion at the right moment. Is that not so, Lippert?”
“Yes, Mein Fьhrer.”