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  “Sorry, sir; I must see your identification papers. Those are my orders!” the messenger snapped as he stood so stiffly at attention Rauch thought the soldier might break.

  Rauch reached into his tunic and presented his papers. The messenger smartly reviewed and returned them to Rauch along with the message pouch.

  “Thank you, sir. Heil Hitler!” The messenger clicked his heels and snapped his right arm into the extended position of a Nazi salute.

  Rauch casually returned the salute with a half-hearted wave of his right hand. The messenger returned to attention.

  “Good day, sir!” snapped the messenger as he whirled around, clicked his heels and strode out of the headquarters with the guard following.

  Rauch took the pouch. He glanced around the room, noticing everyone was watching his next move. That lasted for just a second. Almost immediately they returned to their work as if nothing had happened. Rauch had a thin smile on his face as he strode down the hall to an empty private office. Thank God the army realized his importance by selecting him. It was about time. He closed the door and placed the pouch on the table in the center of the room, still relishing the fact that he got this critical set of orders. It did make him feel important. He checked that the door was locked. He smiled to himself and sat down, enjoying that he was opening significant orders; orders from SS headquarters no less.

  The leather pouch was exquisite. Made of fine glove leather, it had a finely embossed seal of the Nazi Crest. He ran his fingers over the lead and wire seal making certain the pouch had not been opened. The SS stamp on the seal was only for top secret SS orders. Of that he was certain even though he had never received a pouch like this. He had seen such pouches but never one addressed to him.

  Rauch reached into the desk drawer and pulled out a hefty letter opener to relinquish the seal’s hold on the contents of the pouch. He opened the pouch and found a single typed page. That seemed odd. He took out the page and placed the pouch on the desk and turned his attention to the paper. He began to read.

  As he read the orders, his brow furrowed. What was this? He tried to understand what he was being ordered to do. It was not an elaborate, secret mission. At least it did not look like it. But it must be important. It was coming from a very high ranking SS general. At the time Rauch did not know that this was to be the most important order of his life.

  By the orders of SS Standartenführer Franz Lintz,

  SS Sturmbannführer Reinhardt Rauch:

  Sturmbannführer Rauch is to report to the SS headquarters depot in Erfurt. He is to meet Oberleutnant Maximillian Schneider. Oberleutnant Schneider will requisition six trucks. Sturmbannführer Rauch is to proceed to the regimental headquarters and requisition twenty-four soldiers. Sturmbannführer Rauch is to proceed with these men to a location designated. Such designation will be on documents entrusted to Oberleutnant Schneider. Proceed at the fastest pace possible to reach the destination denoted by the quickest route and report directly to the site commander. No orders will be shared with anyone and no one will discuss these orders with anyone about this mission. Sturmbannführer Rauch is to leave immediately upon receiving these orders. Sturmbannführer Rauch is ordered not to report the mission to his superiors or any other officer.

  Signed: Lintz, Standartenführer, SS

  Rauch was totally puzzled. He flipped the paper over. Surely there was something else. There had to be something missing. He checked for missing pages. All he was being ordered to do was ride nursemaid to an oberleutnant and twenty-four soldiers to some location across Germany. And he was not told where they were going? What the hell was that? His heart sank. There was no grand mission. Hell, he could not even believe that an official SS message pouch was used to deliver such orders. But there must be a reason… there has to be a reason. Rauch slowly stood up and carefully folded the orders as to not crumple them. He unbuttoned the left chest pocket of his tunic and placed the orders inside. He returned to the main room down the hall leaving the message pouch behind.

  “Sir, I have the reports from the regimental commanders,” a sergeant reported as Rauch returned to his desk. Rauch sat down still pondering his “mission”. He ignored the sergeant. He had tried to look important but he could not shake off the orders; go ride in a truck…

  “Sir?” pressed the aide holding the reports out for Rauch to take.

  “Place the reports in my in box, Sergeant. I will review them in a moment.”

  “Yes, sir,” the sergeant answered, noticing the curious look on Rauch’s face. “Is anything wrong, sir?”

  “No, Sergeant. Carry on,” Rauch said quietly.

  The aide nodded in response and returned to his desk.

  Rauch stood up, still lost in thought. Without another word, he stepped over to the coat rack. He hurriedly put on his overcoat and gloves and left the room.

  Well, he thought as his mind cleared, they may not be important orders, but no one else knows that. He stood tall as he smartly walked down the hall and out of the building into the afternoon sun. His car was waiting.

  “SS headquarters, Erfurt, quickly,” he barked to his driver as he dove into the back seat of his staff car slamming the door.

  “Ja Siroberst,” snapped the driver as he started the car and drove away. It was 6:45 p.m. and the sun was well into its descent behind the trees.

  It took less than an hour to make the trip to the SS headquarters. Rauch glanced out of the window to see a beautiful sunset in the clear sky as the car pulled up in front of the main building. He found himself lost in thought. How serene the sunset looked. With all of the hurry of war around him, it seemed as if time stopped for just a minute as he savored the sight. He caught himself smiling slightly as his mind turned from the beauty of the sunset to the situation at hand. Beauty, serenity; shit, he could not be bothered by such childish issues. He was an SS major with a mission, an important mission. He stepped out of the car and stood on the bottom step of the headquarters, turning to survey all of the action going on around him. He had another reason as well. It also let everyone see him.

  Across the way, Oberleutnant Max Schneider saw the staff car pull into the area and stop in front of the headquarters building. Recognizing an SS major, he quickly checked that the drivers and trucks were ready to go and briskly walked over to the major.

  “Good evening, Major,” Schneider barked as he snapped to attention, his heels clicking together. “Oberleutnant Schneider at your service, sir.” His salute was crisp and perfect.

  “Ah, Schneider,” Rauch answered, still playing his self-importance role, thinking to himself how important he must be to this mere oberleutnant. He removed his gloves and flicked his hand holding the gloves up near his right brow…a smug, semi-salute he learned from his superiors. It was a very poor excuse for an answer to Schneider’s crisp salute but Rauch did not care.

  Rauch turned, looking over Schneider’s shoulder. “You have the trucks, I presume?” he asked, trying to be as nonchalant and detached as possible.

  “Yes, sir; the trucks and drivers are just over there,” Schneider answered using his left arm to guide Rauch’s eyes over to the six parked Opel 3-ton covered troop transport trucks. “They are all ready for us, sir!”

  “Very well, Schneider. Let’s get moving before dark. You have the orders and our destination?”

  “Yes, Major.”

  The two officers turned and walked over to the trucks. Schneider motioned to the drivers, who were standing around a burning ash can trying to keep warm. All immediately threw away their cigarettes and swiftly manned their trucks.

  Rauch quickly looked over the line of trucks. He was not impressed.

  “These are the best trucks you could find, Oberleutnant?” asked Rauch as he disappointedly scanned the small line of trucks. It was bad enough that he was given these idiotic orders, but to have to use these crappy trucks made him feel like he was leading some sort of a garbage run.

  Each driver got behind the wheel with another taking h
is place on the passenger side. Rauch was at least thankful he did not have to ride in these pieces of crap. The trucks were well worn with weakly upholstered seats that had split from the uncaring hundreds of riders that had preceded him. Schneider noticed the major was not impressed. He just wanted to avoid any more comments that were surely soon to come from Rauch.

  “I am very sorry, sir, for the trucks. I requisitioned the best six trucks available. I even evoked your name. This was the absolute best they had on hand,” the worried Schneider said.

  “Very well. If that’s the best they have, it will just have to do. Let’s get going,” a clearly disgusted Rauch sighed. Rauch turned and began to walk back to his car.

  Schneider followed Rauch back to the staff car, motioned to the truck drivers and ducked into the back seat. As the car pulled away the trucks followed in single file. They drove past the makeshift guard shack and turned left onto the road headed towards the mountains.

  “You are clear as to where to go?’ asked the major.

  “Yes, sir. We are to go to regimental headquarters and pick up twenty-four men,” answered Schneider.

  “And after that?” quizzed the major.

  Schneider squirmed. “I’m sorry, sir. My orders are secret and cannot be discussed with anyone, including you, sir,” answered Schneider apologetically. “I’m very sorry, sir. I can only direct your driver as we reach our waypoints.”

  Rauch huffed, “I see, Oberleutnant,” clearly upset. “Well, you do what you must.”

  What a crock, Rauch thought. Here he was sent on a trip with a mindless oberleutnant on a mission that was so secret that he was not to be informed. He had a good mind to stop this stupidity right now and turn the convoy around. What the hell was going on? Yet if this was an important mission, he would hate to see what would happen to him if he disobeyed the orders. He had seen other officers shot for much less. This damned army. Here we are with one foot in the grave with the Allies storming into Germany, the Russians streaming in and he is ordered to ride around in the night with an oberleutnant and move a handful of troops around. All the while the line of trucks ambled down the dark, winding road and it was getting darker and colder.

  Major Rauch was full of questions, but he did not want this oberleutnant to know he was not fully aware of what was going on. Not a chance! He must sit there, listen to Schneider direct the driver and take it.

  After about twenty minutes of no conversation, Schneider leaned forward toward the driver.

  “About one kilometer ahead, we turn right and proceed down the road with the fences on each side.”

  “Yes, sir!” responded the driver.

  The car and the six trucks pulled down a narrow road lined with huge oaks that opened into a large field covered with dozens of tents. Rauch noticed guards just off of the road eyeing them as they sped past, not even slowing. Before them was a veritable tent city of German troops.

  Schneider ordered the driver to stop about 100 meters down the road in an open area that was a staging ground for the troops bivouacked here. Rauch could see the fires around the tents and the outdoor cooking area setup beside the two large mess tents. The car pulled up in front of the headquarters building, a small frame farmhouse with two guards out front, and stopped.

  “I will see to this, sir,” Schneider said quickly, correctly realizing that the major was already in no mood to have to do anything more than what he had to. Schneider got out of the car and motioned for the trucks to form a ring around the area pointing back out the way that they had come. He reached into his pocket for orders as he marched stiffly into the headquarters building. Rauch opened the car door and stepped out to stretch. He watched Schneider walk into the house. He noticed their arrival was being totally ignored by the soldiers milling around smoking. I guess not much impresses these guys, he thought. In some ways it must be nice being a grunt. Just do what you are told and that’s that. Rauch slowly shook his head letting his mind wander when he saw Schneider bolt from the house with a young leutnant.

  “Over here,” guided the leutnant. “I have your men all ready.”

  “Excellent! The trucks are ready. Put four men in each truck. Have them ready to go in two minutes.” Schneider felt important giving orders and watching men jump. The young leutnant ducked into a tent near the lead truck and began barking out orders to those inside. Schneider smiled inwardly as he heard what sounded like a tornado running through the tent and watched the sides of the tent vibrate with movement. Whatever the hell was going on in there, he did not want to be involved. In less than one minute, the first of twenty-four soldiers with their gear began piling out of the tents and split up, four to a truck.

  The entire process was all over in less than two minutes. The men were rousted, loaded and ready to go.

  Oberleutnant Schneider checked each truck, ensuring there were four men per truck, and strutted over to Rauch, who was now amazed at the efficiency of the young man.

  “All of the men are loaded and ready to go, sir,” as he snapped to attention directly in front of Rauch.

  “Very well,” said Rauch, who was clearly impressed but was not going to let this young officer know it. “Let’s go. It’s getting colder.” They exchanged salutes and Rauch pulled his collar up and stepped back into the car.

  Schneider ran around the car, got in and they were off with all six trucks following as darkness overtook them.

  CHAPTER THREE

  March 28, 1945

  On the Road, Germany; 9:30 p.m.

  It was definitely getting colder as the sun set. Rauch noticed the road snaked through a forest. They had not passed a house or other building for miles. He also noticed the road was rising, climbing into the mountains west of the headquarters. Where the hell were they going? There is nothing out here… nothing. What kind of a wild goose chase was he involved in? The questions just poured over him. And that just made him madder and madder. He clenched his teeth and looked out at the near total darkness.

  After about forty kilometers, Rauch was jolted awake as the car turned off of the road onto a narrower one. He had fallen asleep. This new road looked like an old logging path. He cleared his eyes. It was pitch dark outside.

  “We will travel this road for thirty-five kilometers,” stated Schneider to the driver, relishing the power he had over an SS major. “Keep your present speed and make sure the trucks are following.”

  “We have been traveling for two hours, Schneider. How much longer do we have?” asked Rauch, now not only half awake but clearly upset. Schneider saw this and tried to explain.

  “Sir, we are very close now. We should be at our destination in just a few more hours.”

  Rauch could not hold it in anymore. His anger was beginning to spill.

  “Are we to drive all night? Where the hell are you taking me? Just why in hell do we have to go out to the middle of nowhere for whatever we are supposed to do?” he snapped angrily.

  “I am very sorry, sir,” Schneider said trying to not show any fear although he was beginning to get upset with a major screaming at him. “But I am just following orders, sir.” Schneider glanced over at the major and thought that it might be better if he just told him where they were going. It would violate his orders but who would know? They would be there in another few hours anyway. He pursed his lips and considered his position. Follow orders which would be worthless in a couple of hours or soothe a pissed-off major that he has to be with for a while. How the hell did he get into this mess? He made his decision. What use was there to hold back now?

  “Sir, we are to lead these six trucks to a secret location to pick up valuable cargo. I do not know what the cargo is. All I know is that it takes six trucks and twenty-four men to handle the loading. I don’t even know where we are supposed to take the cargo. That will all be in our next set of orders to be given to us with the cargo.”

  “I see…” murmured Rauch. “So I am not the only one in the dark about this,” he said, letting down his guard slightly. “T
his secret location you call it, what is its function?”

  “I do not know, sir,” Schneider answered sheepishly. After all this he felt he should know more so that he could impress the major with the information. But he really had no idea. “My orders merely state that I accompany you and supply six trucks and men to pick up cargo. Beyond that I am clueless.”

  “Well, I guess we will find out together, Oberleutnant. I guess we will find out together.”

  “Yes, sir, Herr Sturmbahnführer.”

  The car continued to lead the trucks deep into the night.

  The men in the back of the trucks were trying to get some sleep. For these men it was the first time in days the constant rumbling of artillery was missing. The droning of the truck engine and the squeaking of the springs as the truck headed down the dark road lulled them to sleep. Several pulled out blankets and wrapped them tightly around them. At least they had those. They had strict orders for no cigarettes.

  It was nearly a crime to put humans in this situation. In the back of a piece of crap truck with no heat driving all damn night. But as German soldiers, it was their job to endure such situations, “Everything for the Fatherland”. This was actually a respite from the action Corporal Hans Kruger had seen prior to being ordered to board the beat-up Opel transport truck that evening.

  Kruger was very happy to leave the front lines. Things were not going well for the German army in general or his battalion in particular. His squad suffered heavy losses over the past several months. He lost several good friends. War brought men together and then tore them apart. For several of his friends, the war ended just as their life ended… suddenly.

  Hans yearned for peace, yearned for the war to be over. He was tired. He simply wanted to go home and put an end to this madness that Hitler brought upon them. But he dared not state that out loud. Everything seemed to have ears. So he kept his thoughts to himself like a good German and followed orders.