‘Don’t you? And by the way, no smoking. Führer’s express order.’
‘Damn!’ Ritter said, for his pain was constant and cigarettes helped.
‘Sorry,’ Hoffer said sympathetically. ‘But coffee we do have and it’s the best.’
He turned, went to his desk and picked up the phone.
When the guard opened the enormous door to Hitler’s study, Canaris was surprised at the number of people in the room. There were the three commanders-in-chief, Goering for the Luftwaffe, Brauchitsch for the Army and Raeder for the Kriegsmarine. There was Himmler, von Ribbentrop, generals like Jodl, Keitel and Halder. There was a heavy silence and heads turned as Canaris entered.
‘Now that the Admiral has deigned to join us we can begin,’ Hitler said; ‘and I will be brief. As you know the British today gave the Poles an unconditional guarantee of their full support in the event of war.’
Goering said. ‘Will the French follow, my Führer?’
‘Undoubtedly,’ Hitler told him. ‘But they will do nothing when it comes to the crunch.’
‘You mean, invade Poland?’ Halder, who was Chief of Staff at OKW, said. ‘What about the Russians?’
‘They won’t interfere. Let us say there are negotiations in hand and leave it at that. So, gentlemen, my will is fixed in this matter. You will prepare Case White, the invasion of Poland on September the 1st.’
There were shocked gasps. ‘But my Führer, that only gives us six months,’ Colonel-General von Brauchitsch protested.
‘Ample time,’ Hitler told him. ‘If there are those who disagree, speak now.’ There was a profound silence. ‘Good, then get to work, gentlemen. You may all leave except for you, Herr Admiral.’
They all filed out and Canaris stood there waiting while Hitler looked out of the window at the rain. Finally he turned. ‘The British and the French will declare war, but they won’t do anything. Do you agree?’
‘Absolutely,’ Canaris said.
‘We smash Poland, wrap things up in a few weeks. Once it’s done, what is the point of the British and French continuing? They’ll sue for peace.’
‘And if not?’
Hitler shrugged. ‘Then I’ll have Case Yellow implemented. We’ll invade Belgium, Holland, France and drive the English into the sea. They’ll come to their senses then. After all, they are not our natural enemies.’
‘I agree,’ Canaris said.
‘Having said that, it occurs to me that I should demonstrate to our English friends as soon as possible that I do mean business.’
Canaris cleared his throat. ‘Exactly what do you have in mind, my Führer?’
Hitler gestured towards the huge map of the world that hung on the far wall. ‘Come over here, Herr Admiral, and let me show you.’
When Canaris returned to the reception hall at the Chancellery an hour later, Hoffer was seated behind his desk with the two orderlies. There was no sign of Ritter. The SS Captain stood up and came to greet him.
‘Herr Admiral.’
‘My aide?’ Canaris asked.
‘Hauptman Ritter was badly in need of a smoke. He went back to your car.’
‘My thanks,’ Canaris said. ‘I’ll find my own way.’
He went out of the huge doors and stood at the top of the steps, buttoning his greatcoat, looking out at the rain. He went down the steps and had the rear door of the limousine open before his driver realized what was happening, and climbed in beside Ritter.
‘My office,’ he called to the driver, then closed the glass partition.
Ritter started to stub out his cigarette as they drove away, and Canaris sat back. ‘Never mind. Just give me one of those things. I need it.’
Ritter got his cigarette case out and offered a light. ‘Is everything all right, Herr Admiral? I saw them all leave. I was worried.’
‘The Führer, Hans, gave us his personal order to invade Poland on September the 1st.’
‘My God,’ Ritter said. ‘Case White.’
‘Exactly. He has been negotiating with the Russians, who will do a deal. They’ll let us get on with it in return for a slice of eastern Poland.’
‘And the British?’
‘Oh, they’ll declare war and I’m sure the French will go along. The Führer, however, is convinced they will do nothing on the Western Front and for once I agree. They’ll sit there while we wrap up Poland, and his feeling is that once it’s an accomplished fact, we can all get round the negotiating table and get back to the status quo. Britain, as he informed us, is not our natural enemy.’
‘Do you agree, Herr Admiral?’
‘He’s right enough there, but the British are a stubborn lot, Hans, and Chamberlain is not popular. Since Munich his own people despise him.’ Canaris stubbed out his cigarette. ‘If there was a change at the top, Churchill for example …’ He shrugged. ‘Who knows?’
‘And what would we do?’
‘Implement Case Yellow. Invade the Low Countries and France and drive whatever army the British had brought across the channel into the sea.’
There was a pause before Ritter said, ‘Could this be done?’
‘I think so, Hans, as long as the Americans don’t interfere. Under the Führer’s inspired leadership we have reoccupied the Rhineland, absorbed Austria and Czechoslovakia plus one or two bits and pieces. I have no doubt we’ll win in Poland.’
‘But afterwards, Herr Admiral? The French, the British?’
‘Ah, well now we come down to why the Führer kept me back when everyone else left.’
‘A special project, Herr Admiral?’
‘You could say that. He wants us to blow up the Suez Canal on the 1st of September, the day we invade Poland.’
Ritter, in the act of snapping his cigarette case open, said, ‘Good God!’
Canaris took the case from him and helped himself. ‘He got the idea from this Colonel Rommel who commanded the Führer’s escort battalion for the occupation of the Sudetenland. He thinks highly of Colonel Rommel and with reason and there is a certain mad logic to the idea. I mean, the Suez Canal is the direct link to the British Empire. Cut it and all shipping to India, the Far East and Australia would have to go by way of Africa and the Cape of Good Hope. The military implications speak for themselves.’
‘But Herr Admiral, how on earth would we get men and equipment into the area?’
Canaris shook his head. ‘No, Hans, you’ve got it wrong. We’re not talking direct military action here, we’re talking sabotage. The Führer wants us, the Abwehr, to blow up the Suez Canal on the day we invade Poland. Put the damn thing out of action. Close it down so fully that it would take a year or so to open it again.’
‘What a coup. It would shock the world,’ Ritter said.
‘More to the point, it would shock the British to the core and make them realize we mean business. At least that’s the way our beloved Führer sees it.’ Canaris sighed. ‘Of course, how the hell we are to accomplish this is another matter, but we’ll have to come up with something, at least on paper, and that’s where you come in, Hans.’
‘I see, Herr Admiral.’
The limousine pulled in to the kerb outside the Abwehr offices at 74–6 Tirpitz Ufer. The