Hammer of God

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Fedorov had been dreading the meeting in Alexandria, but the presence of Admirals Tovey and Cunningham, and the support of both General O’Connor and Brigadier Kinlan had conspired to make it much more bearable. They had come to initiate a new member into the grey priesthood of the knowing-those who grasped the full truth concerning Kirov and the newly arrived 7th Brigade. The ability to speak directly to Wavell in Russian eased the language barrier, but it was still difficult to simply come out with the story of all that had happened in the desert.

Wavell displayed the expected surprise and disbelief, but here he had Admirals, Generals and Captains off strange Russian ships in front of him, and they all held fast to the same belief. Beyond that, he knew very well that he had no armored force in the southern desert. It had been all he could do to send a single battalion from the 6th Australian Division there to cover Siwa and try to scout out the enemy position at Giarabub. In the end, the argument that had finally won him over was the simple fact of Rommel’s retreat. The Germans had been set to roll in on his last strategic reserve in theatre, the 2nd New Zealand Infantry Division. The battle had been joined, and he had also sent the Carpathian Brigade in to try and backstop the position at Bir el Khamsa. As the first reports of the action came in, he soon received an urgent communication from O’Connor.

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