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overwhelm
the Soviets west of Moscow, and not commit the same mistake Napoleon made by
trying to drive on the city itself.”
    “Yet the Soviet Army may be more
resilient than you believe, my Führer. It is my understanding that they have
lately concluded an accord with the Free Siberian State. In this event, they
now have all of Siberia in their back yard, a place to retreat if we press them
hard.”
    “Siberia? There is nothing there
but endless forest and the backward Tartar cavalry the this Karpov has been
mustering. They flit about in those obsolete Zeppelins, with no air force of
any consequence. They are no threat.”
    “Yet one of those obsolete Zeppelins
bombed Berlin the other day, if the reports I received are true.”
    Hitler gave him a dark look.
“That was a fluke,” he said. “It will not be repeated. Yes, I have been told it
was the Siberians—the same man who recently met with Sergei Kirov to seek his
friendship. Rest assured, he will be held to account for that little stunt.”
Hitler folded his arms, looking at the map table now as he often poured over it
alone, his mind quietly moving his armies and ships about in the long hours of
the night.
    “And what of the British?” he
suddenly changed his tack. “They are clearly beaten but remain as stubborn as
that old Bulldog Churchill.”
    “It was always my thinking that
we should have proceeded with Operation Seelöwe,” said Manstein. “If we had
done so, we would not be discussing the British any longer. They would already
be under our heel.”
    “That was Goering’s fault,”
Hitler said with an obvious edge of bitterness. “He promised me he would crush
the RAF to allow for our invasion, and then never delivered.”
    “That plan was flawed from the
outset,” said Manstein.
    “Oh? Then why did you not say so?
Explain.”
    “Our fighters could not range far
enough over England to protect the bombers. This is why I believed the issue of
air superiority should have been decided over the English Channel, during the
actual invasion operation, and not over London, or god forbid, Birmingham.”
    “They bombed Berlin,” said Hitler
hotly. “I had to return the favor over London.”
    “And we have seen the results. By
that same logic we should be trying to bomb Novosibirsk to punish the
Siberians, but we can both see how impractical that would be.” Manstein knew he
was skirting a sore spot with the Führer now, but he was determined to speak
his mind.
    “All that said, the issue is
moot. We lost our chance to eliminate Britain in 1940, and now the possibility
of another front opening against us in the West remains a real possibility.”
    “From the British? They have done
nothing more than seize a few useless islands in the Atlantic. They have not
even moved to try and put troops into Portugal, because they know I would crush
them in a heartbeat if they tried.”
    “Oh? With what, my Führer? It is
my understanding that you have moved the heart of the Gibraltar garrison to North
Africa, or that you are planning to do so.”
    “16th Motorized Division remains
there, along with the 76th Infantry division.”
    “And if the British do land
troops in Portugal? Would they be enough to stop them before they got established
there? I think not. Why have you sent all these forces to North Africa?”
    “Ask Raeder, and when you are done
with him, you can then hear the same story from Paulus, Keitel, Jodl and even
Halder. Raeder’s Mediterranean strategy has infected the thinking of everyone
at OKW, even Halder. They insist I must deal with the British before I open a
new front against Soviet Russia. Do you agree?”
    “You will not knock Great Britain
out of the war in North Africa. Look what happened to Rommel! The British were
much stronger there than he thought, and now he is right back where he started
from, at Agheila and Mersa Brega. The man is a good officer, bold, aggressive,
but he is often rash. He did not have the strength to move