THE RED GAMBIT SERIES

If I'm not mistaken, some of the Resistance factions in Occupied countries like France were Communist. During a war like this I doubt that they would sit idly by on the sidelines. Some of them might commit acts of sabotage in support of the Soviets, while others might well have inflirtrated into the French and other Allied armies, where they could still do some damage.

Also, the Soviet massacre at the town of Geesthacht was kind of surprising, since from 1918 to 1933 the place was actually a center of Leftist parties, such as the German Communist Party, so wouldn't at least part of the population cooperate with the Soviets if not collaborate with them?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geesthacht

Wouldn't such an atrocity have an effect on local Communist supporters?

BTW, how much of the population of Geesthacht lost their lives total would you say?

Geesthacht first. The sympathies of the place in real terms are one thing. The wounding and death of a beloved commander, as in the book, would be sufficient for enough Russian soldiery to set reason aside. There are sufficient examples of this in the friendly Ukraine with the German troops. Funnily enough, I don't do numbers, so off the cuff, I have no idea. Best info I could find gave a population of between 8000 and 8,800 indigenous persons, with anything up to five thousand in transit or in temporary accomodation. Bearing in mind, the figures would now fall under the heading of alternate, I would probably say that teh total persons present would probably have fallen below 8000 in total. I suppose, it would not be beyond the realms of possibility that the number slain could stray into four figures.

In Om, there is sabotage across Europe, from radar sites to the PLUTO installation at Ambleteuse. I don't have Om to hand at the moment, but I'm sure I indicated that it was communist sympathisers, as well as special troops, doing the wrecking. In OM, the sabotage and destruction was initially widespread, but it has petered out now, as clearly the cells and special forces were mopped up. There are some existing elements, such as those in Ireland, the french sub base and north-west Spain, still in existence, and maybe they will do something in the fullness of time. The problem I face as an author is trying not to do a complete explanation fo everything, which would be processional and boring, but rather infer and allude, which permits the reader to work some things out for him/herself.

The problem with a project such as RG, is that there is so much information and possibility, that I, as author, have to make a decision what to rightfully set aside unspoken of, what can be referred to and then left to the reader to sort out, and what is imperative. As I know the story I am trying to tell, it may appear to some that I include unnecessary pieces and miss out other more pressing matters, whereas I am trying to journey to my end point with as much explanation and story as possible. I had a discussion with a friend, who is an avid reader of the series. He was taken up by the story of the 92nd Infantry. Here, I decided to use teh book as a vehicle to highlight the existence of discrimination in the US Army at that time, and went further still, bringing in discrimination between different black soldiers from social backgrounds that were poles apart. he had no idea that such was the case, so I felt very gratified that I had 'informed', albeit through a fictional work, and had encourgaed him to research the matter further. I hope that he is not the only one on that score. There are other examples throught the work that are inserted purely to inform. Most, however, is there for a very good reason, one which will become apparent shortly before I type 'THE END'. Thanks for your post.

"Bearing in mind, the figures would now fall under the heading of alternate, I would probably say that teh total persons present would probably have fallen below 8000 in total." 

In other words, quite a few people left when they heard the Russians were coming. Wise decision on their part.

"I suppose, it would not be beyond the realms of possibility that the number slain could stray into four figures."

I had simply wondered if the entire population was wiped out. 

That would be a definite no. Had that been the case, then it would have drawn more words in OM. :-)