The Red Effect (Cold War) Read online

  About the Author

  A qualified parachutist, Harvey Black served with British Army Intelligence for over ten years. His experience ranges from covert surveillance in Northern Ireland to operating in Communist East Berlin during the Cold War where he feared for his life after being dragged from his car by KGB soldiers. Since then he has lived a more sedate life in the private sector as a director for an international company and now enjoys the pleasures of writing. Harvey is married with four children. For more from Harvey, visit his website at www.harveyblackauthor.org.

  Also by Harvey Black:

  Devils with Wings Book 1

  Devils with Wings Book 2

  Silk Drop

  Devils with Wings Book 3

  Frozen Sun

  Praise for Harvey Black

  “I loved it, I read this great book from cover to cover and whole-heartedly recommend this book. A great debut book, a talented author.” – DG Torrens

  “Harvey Black is on to a winner here. A well researched first book with a gradual build up of confidence in the prose which bodes well for the future.” – Paul C

  “The story is well paced and very well researched. The authors own military background comes though in his writing.” – Nick Britten

  “An excellent first book, full of historical facts and clearly written by someone who has a passion and deep knowledge for his subject. An author to watch out for in my opinion.” – Melanie Tollis

  “The amazing writing ability of Harvey would be missed, the atmosphere, the daring the drama, all are brought out on a tale well woven and well paced and so well written.” – Parmenion Books

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  Title page

  Copyright Notice

  Published in 2013 by SilverWood Books

  SilverWood Books

  30 Queen Charlotte Street, Bristol, BS1 4HJ

  www.silverwoodbooks.co.uk

  Copyright © Harvey Black 2013

  The right of Harvey Black to be identified as the author of this work

  has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright,

  Designs and Patents Act 1988.

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,

  stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means,

  electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise,

  without prior permission of the copyright holder.

  This novel is a work of fiction. Names and characters are the product

  of the author’s imagination and any resemblance to actual persons,

  living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  ISBN 978-1-78132-088-4 (paperback)

  ISBN 978-1-78132-089-1 (ebook)

  Map

  Helmstedt – the inner German border, 1984.

  Foreword

  From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic an iron curtain has descended across the continent.

  Winston Churchill 1946

  At the end of World War Two, the already strained relationship between the Soviet Union and the Western Allies broke down completely.

  With the West angry over Stalin’s refusal to give up land occupied by the Red Army during the advance to Berlin and Stalin’s paranoia and fear over the atomic bomb, relations stiffened and a mutual distrust developed.

  With some high ranking officials in both America and Britain pushing for an immediate attack on the Red Army using captured German forces if necessary, both sides maintained large armies in Germany as a bulwark against attack. It wasn’t until the detonation of the first Soviet atomic bomb in 1949 that the threat of a conventional land war receded. In its place, developed a proxy war which became known as the ‘Cold War’. While the Soviet Union and the USA couldn’t attack each other directly for fear of triggering an all-out nuclear war, they did use their allies to hinder and frustrate each other.

  With the Soviet Union and her Warsaw Pact allies in the East and the US and NATO in the West a game began of ‘my enemy’s enemy must be my friend’. This resulted in the democratic West courting and supporting despots and dictators around the world, supplying them with arms and training as long as they propagated an anti-Communist agenda.

  The Soviets, meanwhile, trained and armed Marxist and Communist rebels whose aim was to overthrow any government who were friendly to the West, with notable successes in Cuba, Africa and Asia. The rise of Communism in Asia during the 1950s and 60s was a major concern to successive American administrations and led to the deployment of Western ground forces in Korea and Vietnam. With Soviet backing, the Viet Cong inflicted an embarrassing and damaging defeat on the US military – an achievement the CIA were happy to reciprocate in Afghanistan during the Russian’s ill-fated invasion of the late 1970s.

  In place of the large set piece wars, the Cold War became one of spying and espionage. Vast teams from the CIA and their Soviet counterparts, the KGB, were dispatched across the world to cause mischief and trouble for the other side.

  Spy planes flew over enemy territory to determine their latest strengths and distributions. The space race was a direct consequence of the need to keep ahead of the other side, the pride and prestige of winning the race meant more to the Soviets than any actual advantage they may have gained by it.

  While the chances of World War Three breaking out were relatively slim, both sides maintained huge armed forces as a buffer and a deterrent against invasion. For example, in the mid 1980s, the Soviet Air Force had some 770,000 men fielding 7,260 combat aircraft. Compare those numbers to 594,500 and 3,925 for the US Air Force, respectively. In effect it meant that for every 106 Soviet airmen, a Soviet interceptor or strike fighter was available for action somewhere. For the US, only one aircraft per 151 airmen was present.

  The Soviets supported their large inventory by keeping older equipment in service long past the time when other nations would have retired them. From the late 1970s to mid 80s; the Soviets had nearly 51,000 tanks for an army of 1,800,000 men. During the same period, the US made do with 12,000 tanks in a ground force of 780,000. While it looks impressive, a large portion of the Soviet tanks were old and inferior T-54/55 series vehicles. But, with the introduction of the T-64, T-72 and T-80 main battle tanks, quality was catching up with the West. Despite this, Soviet generals believed that given the numbers, the balance of forces was in their favour.

  All of this hardware and men cost huge amounts of money, the US alone was spending 426 billion dollars by 1985. For the Soviets their creaking and antiquated economy couldn’t keep up with the powerhouse that was the West and its spending power. It was clear to most Soviet generals and politicians that the war was going to be lost and as we know, Mikhail Gorbachev managed to end the Cold War without triggering a conflict with the West.

  But what would have happened if Gorbachev hadn’t become leader of the Communist party? What if a more belligerent man had the reins of power and had been backed by an aggressive general staff to lead the Soviet Union into a show down with the West?

  As a member of British Army Intelligence, the author was on the front-line at the height of the Cold War. From dodging his KGB minders to trying to get pictures of the latest Soviet troop movements, Harvey lived and breathed the tension and excitement of Cold War Berlin. He brings that experience to the fore to tell the story of the Russian invasion in his new book, The Red Effect.

  Nick Britten – History Blogger

  readinggivesmewings.wordpress.com

  Introduction

  ‘Today, West German imperialism is United States’ chief ally in Europe in aggravating world tension. West Germany is increasingly becoming the seat of the war danger, where revenge-seeking passions are running high...The policy
pursued by the Federal Republic of Germany is being increasingly determined by the same monopolies that brought Hitler to power.

  ‘The Rhineland politicians fancy that, once they get the atomic bomb, frontier posts will topple and they will be able to achieve their cherished desire of carving up the map of Europe again and taking revenge for defeat in the Second World War.

  ‘One of the most ominous factors endangering peace is the bilateral military alliance that is taking shape between the ruling circles of the United States and the Federal Republic of Germany. This factor remains an objective of unflagging attention.’

  Leonid Brezhnev

  23rd Party Congress

  March 1966

  Chapter 1

  I repeat again and again: we do not seek military superiority. We have never intended and do not now intend to threaten any state, or group of states. Our strategic doctrine is a purely defensive one. Allegations that the Soviet Union is building up its military might on the European Continent on a scale not called for by its defence requirements have nothing to do with reality. This is a deliberate deception to the public at large.

  Leonid Baskov, October 1979

  BASKOV’S KREMLIN OFFICE. MAY 1981.

  THE RED EFFECT −38 MONTHS.

  He sat behind his large, over two metres wide, heavy, leather-topped, teak desk leafing through some papers brought in by his secretary earlier that morning. Directly in front of him stood an extension to his desk, like a large ‘T’; a meeting table of the same style extending away from him. Capable of accommodating up to sixteen visitors sat around it. On his desk, to the right, sat two telephones, a multi-compartmented container for pens and pencils, and, to his left, his elaborate intercom system: thirty buttons linking him to various offices and members of his Politburo within the Kremlin.

  Immediately in front on his desk was his favoured, elegant, calf brown briefcase, its gold combination lock glinting. He shifted in his low-backed leather armchair, a bit like a captain’s chair but without the swivel. As he leant back to read a memo, the contents of which made him smile, the chair creaked under his weight. He placed the memo back down on the desk and checked his metal bracelet wristwatch: five minutes until he was joined by his Head of KGB. He knew the man would arrive at exactly ten; he was always on time.

  Born into a Russian working family, Baskov started his career as an engineer in the iron and steel industry before being conscripted into the army. During the Great Patriotic War, World War Two, he served with distinction, leaving as a major-general. He then soon played a key role in Russian politics, becoming a member of the Central Committee in 1952. By 1964, he had succeeded Nikita Khrushchev as first secretary, finally inheriting the mantle of General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. At seventy-four years old, he was the most powerful man in one of the most powerful countries in the world. There was a knock at the door and his secretary stepped through into the office.

  “Comrade Aleksandrov is here, Comrade General Secretary. Shall I show him in?”

  Baskov checked his watch and smiled. It was ten o’clock exactly. “Yes please, and some drinks.”

  “Right away, Comrade General Secretary.”

  The secretary left the room and was immediately replaced by the Chairman of the KGB, Yuri Aleksandrov, who strode across the room towards the desk where Baskov had risen from his seat and come round to greet his fellow Politburo comrade. They hugged, kissed cheeks and shook hands.

  “Take a seat, Comrade Yuri.”

  The Head of the KGB, (the Komitet Gosudarstvennoy Bezopasnosti), or the Committee for State Security, was probably the second most powerful man in the Soviet Union, controlling over twelve directorates. From the First Chief Directorate responsible for Foreign Operations (Espionage) to the Operations and Technology Directorate, the research laboratories, covering such items as recording and surveillance devices, and the fearsome Laboratory 12, dealing in poisons and drugs.

  Aleksandrov pulled out a seat from the meeting table and sat down as Baskov went round the other side, picking up a model of an artillery piece as he did so. He sat opposite his Chief of the KGB.

  Baskov inserted a shell into the gun and pulled the lanyard, but it didn’t fire. “I must get some spares for this from the Egyptians,” he said, looking up at Aleksandrov from beneath his bushy eyebrows. “Well, Comrade Yuri, you have some concerns about our American foes?”

  The sixty-six year-old politician, with his heart-shaped face and his heavily receding, steel-grey hair, looked back and nodded slowly. Aleksandrov was the son of a railway official Vladimir Aleksandrov, and his mother Lilya Brashmakov, the daughter of a wealthy Muscovite business man. Initially educated at the Water Transport Technological College in Rybinsk, he too ended up being conscripted into the army. A Russian World War Two war hero, he took part in partisan guerrilla activities in Finland. After the war, he was elected as Second-Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Karelo-Finnish SSR, Soviet Socialist Republic. He later held the position of Ambassador to Hungary during the Hungarian Revolution in 1956 where he played a key role in crushing the revolt by convincing Khrushchev to use military intervention. The Hungarian leaders were later arrested and executed. As Khrushchev’s protégé, he quickly rose through the Communist Party ranks. After serving in the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Central Committee, he was appointed Head of the KGB in 1967. Six years later, he became a full member of the Politburo.

  Yuri and Leonid looked at each other across the table. Both dressed in plain suits. Aleksandrov’s was grey with a metal pin in the shape of a Soviet flag in his left lapel, whereas his leader wore a black flannel suit with a white shirt and polka-dot tie, and a display of medals pinned across his broad chest.

  “Yes, Comrade General Secretary. I recommend that we increase our intelligence efforts if we are to establish any contingency plans President McKinley’s Administration may have to launch a nuclear strike against our motherland.”

  Baskov continued to pull at the lanyard, but the artillery piece still wouldn’t fire. “You are suspicious of everyone, Yuri.” The squarish, jowly face continued to smile as he persisted with tugging in frustration at the lanyard. Before Aleksandrov could answer, Baskov held his hand up as his secretary knocked on the door and proceeded to bring in a tray with china cups and saucers, a decorated, slender coffee pot and a small plate of biscuits. They sat silently as she poured their drinks, adding milk and sugar in the quantities she knew they liked, and placed the cups and saucers in front of them. Baskov thanked her as she left the room, and he indicated that Aleksandrov should help himself to the biscuits.

  “Is there something particular that has you so concerned, Yuri?”

  “There are a few things, Comrade Secretary. We know they are sneaking around the Greenland-Iceland-United-Kingdom-Gap. We are also aware of their incessant clandestine activity around the Norwegian, Black, Barents and Baltic Seas.”

  Baskov crunched on a biscuit and took a sip from his cup, pulling at the lanyard yet again. This time it went off with a loud bang, making them both jump. Baskov laughed. “It was originally designed to fire paper caps, like you find in children’s toy guns. But they wouldn’t work, so they developed these blank shells for me. Anything else?”

  “They’re getting too close to some of our key military bases. Their forces are obviously testing our detection systems and seeing how quickly we react, and, more importantly, if we react.”

  “Do we respond well?”

  There was a pause before Aleksandrov replied. “They respond as best they are able, Comrade General Secretary.”

  “Is there more?” Baskov got up and grabbed some more shells from his desk then returned to his seat.

  “They have started to fly squadrons of bomber aircraft directly towards our airspace, peeling off at the last minute. It’s a very provocative act, Comrade Secretary.”

  “Ah, I see how this works now. You have to pull this lever.”

  Al
eksandrov smiled. “It won’t help us stop a US nuclear strike, Comrade Secretary.”

  “Very true, Yuri, very true.” Baskov pushed the artillery piece aside and started to fiddle with his signet ring. He pointed to it. “It says on the inside To Leonid Baskov from Novorissisk. It is a memento of a full year I spent there: three hundred days of battle with no retreat. We were allies with the West then. It does sound ominous, Yuri, but surely they are just testing our systems and reactions yet again?”

  Aleksandrov put his coffee cup down and leant forward. “But are they covering for something else, Comrade General Secretary?”

  “What are you proposing?”

  “Operation RYAN.” RYAN, or RYan, was an acronym for Raketno-Yadernoe Napadenie, or Nuclear-Missile Attack.

  “What will this involve, my old friend?”

  “The First Directorate will take control. Every one of our agents, our residents abroad, will be tasked with monitoring all American personnel who are associated with the launch of a nuclear weapon, and any facility that is associated with nuclear launch sites.”

  Baskov frowned for the first time. “That will require a huge amount of resources.”

  “If they are preparing for a nuclear war, Comrade General Secretary, we must know when they plan to launch. RYAN will be the most comprehensive intelligence-gathering operation in our history.”

  “Go on.”

  “If we can establish when they plan to launch, we can initiate a pre-emptive strike of our own.”

  “I agree with you, Yuri. The McKinley puppet would like nothing better than to push the nuclear button and obliterate our motherland. You must initiate your plans immediately. Don’t forget to use the army’s GRU assets.”