Page 9 - Tales the Maggid Never Told Me

The Herati Gambit

several fronts. The Axis has already made great advances, seizing and
controlling territory in Europe, Asia and Africa. Some of these
campaigns are tactical, isolating and neutralizing opposition. But
occupations have a price in extended supply lines and diversion of
forces. That price must be justified or compensated for by strategic
acquisition of assets essential to carrying the war to a successful
conclusion. The modern mechanized army and navy depend on oil,
and the Axis powers have none of their own. Germany and Italy will
fight for the Middle East oil fields; Japan has taken Southeast Asia,
with its developing petroleum resources. But those regions are on the
periphery of their spheres of influence, and have quickly drawn the
Allies into a fierce contest for them. That will leave the Axis
vulnerable. Is that how you read it, Herr Nishtikstein?”
The German bobbed his head. “I do. The possibility of defeat or
retrenchment is only implied here—it would not be politically wise
for any Axis official to suggest it openly. But it has to be a serious
concern among the planners in the highest ranks of command. Their
enemies, the people who went to the trouble of placing us in these
roles knew something important was being plotted in those exalted
circles. But they had no spies, no hidden microphones to let them in
on what was evidently a high-priority project related to prosecuting
the war. When it became necessary for a conference such as this to
take place, the German and Japanese choice of representatives must
have been obvious—to our sponsors, as well. They were ready,
independently, to insert us into these positions. And here we are.”
Goh continued to study the map. “Briefed and soon to be escorted
on a tour of what has been accomplished. What is called the Great
Game, as the British have played it for many years, is the denial of a
warm-water port in the Indian Ocean to the Russians. That explains
the repeated use of Afghanistan as a battlefield and the curious
contours of national borders in Central Asia. But oil has been found
around the Caspian Sea. The indigenous Moslem peoples of that area
have no great loyalty to Stalin and his purges. The Axis believes that
it could keep the Soviet Union preoccupied on the Eastern Front
while it quietly goes about drilling for oil in friendly territories, and
that sufficient petroleum reserves can be exploited there to keep its
tanks and planes and ships operational for as long as it takes to push

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