“True enough,” said Kirov. “They moved another infantry corps to the border near Moldavia. That is where they will cross soon, and drive on the Crimea. They would be fools to try and push for Moscow.”
“They did both in the history I know,” said Karpov.
“Yes… I learned that the hard way on one of my excursions up that stairway. They swept all the way to the Volga!”
“Where you have divisions presently facing down Ivan Volkov. If they do this again, they will bring misery and hell to your world, Kirov, and eventually to mine. Hitler and Volkov-what a pair they make. I wonder if Volkov is smart enough to realize what Hitler will eventually do to him after he gets his oil. So yes, I came here to seek an alliance. There is much I can offer you. I can bedevil Volkov on his eastern front and force him to keep a substantial military presence there. You don’t want him free to use those divisions against you, do you?”
“Certainly not, but as I see things Volkov has already decided what he wants to do with those divisions, and that is to crush you.”
“Let him try. He’ll get more of the same medicine I gave him at Novosibirsk-and that’s another way I can help you. I have information, Kirov, knowledge of how this war played out once, and knowledge of all the advanced weapons systems that were born from it. I can be very useful to you and your war industries. Your tanks, for example. Most of your units are still equipped with older T-26 infantry tanks, and the light BT-Series tanks. They will not do the job when the Germans come.”
“Don’t worry, we have other designs on the drawing board.”
“Yes, the new T-34. But your generals want more of the older tanks, do they not? You must silence them and shift all production to this new tank. Believe me, Kolchak found out the hard way in our skirmishes with the Japanese. The T-26 is a metal coffin in battle. It is prone to catching fire, because you don’t use diesel fuel. Beyond that, the welding is bad, and the riveted armor plating is a faulty design. One hit from an enemy shell and the rivets break off and become steel bullets inside those tanks. They are all but useless, and this was against an inferior tank fielded by the Japanese. If you do not quickly build this new T-34 tank, you will be crushed when the German Army comes east. I can tell you what to do, warn you of wrong turns in the production cycle. I can be very useful.”
Kirov’s eyes narrowed as he considered this. “I could get this same information from your Admiral Volsky.”
“Possibly, but I am here, and Volsky is out to sea. The war will be won or lost here, Kirov. Hitler will not invade England, and at the moment he has no more than a few divisions deployed in North Africa against the British. You think he is serious about that little side show? No. He is planning to move on the Crimea, just as you say. That will stop your drive into the Caucasus. You want the oil at Maykop. Yes? Well you had better hurry, because once the Germans invade you will have a very short lease there.”
Now Kirov began to hear things that struck close to the bone. This man knows why I have opened my offensive in the south. He knows I need the oil too! Maykop is nearly within our grasp, but what he says is true. How long can I hold it? And if the Germans take it, then where do I get my oil?
“Go on,” he said quietly. “What do you propose, Karpov?”
“It’s very simple. You can build these new tanks, but you’ll need the fuel to keep them operating, Just like Hitler covets the oil Volkov is sitting on. Well you may be interested to know that I’m sitting on billions of barrels of oil at the moment. Reserves are found in Siberia that make Russia one of the top producing oil countries in the world in my era. I know exactly where these fields are, but we do not have the means to drill for them, nor the equipment. You can provide that, and if you do so we can get you all the oil you would ever need. And we have men who will fight, tough, hardy soldiers. The Siberian divisions were among the very best in the war. But we lack the heavy industry to give them the tanks and artillery they will need. Don’t you see? By cooperating we are much stronger together than we could ever be alone, and if we do not join hands now, we will fall under Hitler’s shadow, and that is a certainty. Oil and industry, Kirov. That is what will win this war. How many of these new tanks do you have in production?”
“That is classified.”
