Divided We Fall
United We Stand

Chapter 33 – Albin Counter Attack

by raihaikyo

The Albin Counter Attack is an uncommon defense move in chess. It may appear that black is on the losing side, but this can lead to the so-called Laskar Trap in which white hopelessly loses. Black and White chess pieces represent the two superpowers in this story. Can you figure out, who is black and who is white?

Oh yes, it trully has been while...

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16.07.1962

"How are we doing, Braginsky?"

"The travels are successful, First Secretary. The assumption is we are building a new base in Chukotka." The taller man handed him a file containing photos and documents concerning the progress of the mission.

"Good, good. If they set up missiles in Turkey and Spain...Why don't we place a hedgehog at uncle Sam's pants, right?" (1) The Americans can try spying with their planes as much as they want. They won't find out what kind of cargo these 72 ships carry."

Ivan saw, how the man got fired up about the whole operation. The stout man could be really daring and unpredictable sometimes. It did pose a problem now and then. "They might try to stop them." He understood the need to do it all. This was about pure survival at this point.

"Oh, they can try and the ship will be blown to pieces. Each of them has one person whose sole purpose is to act in case of the enemy trying to stop them and that will open the next major conflict. Americans fear that the most, because they have no information of the USSR's weapons capabilities or the lack thereof." The Soviet leader explained, looking up at his nation's embodiment. Ivan Braginsky and he were officially working together a couple of years now. They even travelled together to tour the United States of America. Khrushchev's first ever visit. It had been exciting and educational for the human.

During all this time, he just could not figure out this Ivan Braginsky. He had met other embodiments of course, mostly from the union. All of them had something that set them just a bit apart. They looked human, but the way their eyes looked was different What exactly, was impossible to tell. Ivan had that too and more. The way he carried himself in a regal manner reminded him more of a Khrushchev. His speech was well-mannered and when he called for attention to say something, everyone did so. It made one wonder sometimes if this was due to all those centuries he had lived. Khrushchev cleared his throat as if to clear his head from studying the platinum blond man. "Kennedy, that young fellow won't risk it."

Out of experience, Ivan liked to consider as many angles as possible. "His generals want an all out war."

"We'll see what happens and luckily they don't have the last word: their president does. They want to see us on our knees. I won't give them that."

He had respect for his First Secretary, for the man was a seasoned politician and smart, but like all humans possessed also faults. Ivan had to watch out that this conflict did not get out of hand. "You have my support since we're fighting for survival." My survival, he thought, looking at the old man.

"What about the GDR? He was witnessing the loading process. Is there something else, he can be used for?" Russia had an interest in keeping East Germany away from this conflict. For that he needed to know if his leader had any future plans.

"No. Everything else is classified."

~.~.~.~

America was sitting in the oval office on the couch, watching as Kennedy poured over aerial photos of ships being loaded in the far eastern region of the Soviet Union. Chukotka, the region was called. A region with winters very similar and just as cold as his 49th state of Alaska. The photographs were of tractors and containers with the word written for 'tools' in Russian.

"It looks like agricultural transport." Kennedy commented into the small round gathered in his office. Alfred had gone through the photos before, pretending to just skim through. The Cyrillic words had been the first thing that had caught his attention. There was a time when he avidly took an interest in the language and by now possessed more than enough knowledge to read and write. This fact was something he liked to keep secret. With the government seeing red everywhere, knowing the language could land him in hot waters. Such kind of attention he preferred to live without.

One of the generals standing opposite of the president's desk pointed to the underside of the ship. "According to our analyst Dino Brudgonni (3), it is too light. The ships are not loaded to full capacity."

Kennedy followed the general's finger to see exactly what the military man meant. "But it is not visible that these are weapons…"

Alfred got up, wanting to look at the photos too. "If the cargo are weapons, what kind are they transporting?

"We have information that the Soviets have rockets with nuclear warheads."

America understood the general's aim was to convince their head of state and motivate to prepare for a possibly aggressive action. The military brass saw enemies everywhere. Not a bad point of view in some circumstances. In the present situation, though, a dangerous approach and he called it into question. "But you have no evidence this is the case. Transporting these all the way from Russia to Cuba... It's half way across the world. That's crazy."

"Soviets are crazy, son."

A part of him wanted to retaliate at the 'son comment'. It was an old itch that wanted to be scratched. A little leftover of his old days when he felt of not being taken seriously by his representatives. America squashed it down with ease and just dismissed it.

Meanwhile, the head of state listened to the exchange without saying a word. Unlike the general, who had moments of being misled by how young Alfred Jones looked, Kennedy on the other hand took the embodiment's opinion into consideration. "We have no evidence. I'm not going to take action on some hunch. Keep me informed on their movements, though."

Alfred nodded, feeling relieved that at least someone has a reasonable state of mind. If you reacted too fast, it would spell disaster for them. Russia should not be taken lightly or be underestimated. He was an old nation, far older than he and in many things wiser. Alfred would not admit this openly, though.

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Thanks for reading and comments are appreciated!

Additional notes

(1) „Why not throw a hedgehog at uncle Sam's pants?" A direct quote from Nikita Khrushchev at a meeting.

(2) The State of Alaska, formerly known as Russian America became the 49th state at the official proclamation in 1959 signed by Eisenhower.

Dino Brudgonni (1921 – 2015) was an analyst and played a significant part in establishing imaginary intelligence as a national asset to solve intelligence problems. Imaginary analysis means extracting meaningful information from images. Brudgonni had the task to analyse photographs taken by U2 spy planes from the ships heading to Cuba and then later from Cuba itself.