Chapter 337
Von Stauffenberg tried to seize up the two British. The older and more senior Officer (and they were clearly that) was just frowning at him while the other, more younger one was leaning against the bonnet of the BMW stared at them with enough hatred behind his eyes to melt steel.
He questioned the wisdom the British had shown in sending him but they clearly were the real deal. He had been told to expect two men in these uniforms, with these decorations and of that general description. The appropriate code-phrases had been exchanged so it was clear that these two were at least to some degree speaking for the Allied leadership.
It had been an Allied gun that had given him this broken arm and nearly cost him an eye but if they were to save Germany they had to work with the enemy.
“Well, now that we have heard each others credentials,” the older one said after a few minutes, “what is it that dragged me away from my wife and child and here to the arse end of nowhere?”
Von Stauffenberg knew that the British had made extensive preparations for this meeting, in fact he himself had supplied them the date of when the German Military attachee in Switzerland and his second were to be replaced.
“The...General cannot leave Berlin at the moment. I believe that has something to do with the way your forces are behaving in Austria.”
The younger one now let a flash of genuine humour flash across his face but it was almost instantly gone.
“But anyway,” he went on and switched to English, “there is a reason why we sought contact with...your superiors. The war hasn't developed entire to our advantage and we believe that certain elements in the Government might not like that.”
“And you wish to get out of it before we come and make you say uncle?”
von Stauffenberg nodded even though he did not really understand that saying.
“That's about it, Major.”
Ian glanced at Felix who just gave his crooked smile and then went on.
“I will need some proof for that.”
Ian looked hard at the German's face but he was already convinced that von Stauffenberg was sincere in so far he desired the war to end. How sincere he felt was another matter entirely.
“Here. Read this to see how mad he is.”
Von Stauffenberg tossed Ian a thick wad of papers. Ian only read the first page to make his eyebrows want to reach the moon without the assistance of a rocket. Without a word he handed the wad to Felix who was by now standing near the open window of the car.
“Bloody hell!” he exclaimed, though still barely audible.
Order No.21. Case Barbarossa. The German Wehrmacht has to be prepared even before the end of the war against England to defeat Soviet Russia in a quick campaign.
The upper half of the page had what seemed to be signatures of half the OKW on it, including that of the Austrian himself so Felix was inclined to believe this was genuine. Judging by the date on this particular copy they had started planning at least as early as just after the fall of continental France and if he had to bet he would gladly lay down a tenner on there being a similar document in a cupboard in Moscow somewhere.
“So let's say I believe you,” Ian said in German, “But what exactly could we do for you? We can hardly just waltz into Berlin.”
“Leave that to us. What we would...like is that your superiors not make any more advances and after we have dealt with..certain problems agree to a cease fire and a general peace.”
Ian had to admit, without his decade of experience in this business he might have fainted there and then and without looking he knew that Felix was trying to keep his own face under control. It was a bad sign that the German was reaching out this early and this trustingly. He had to be desperate and desperate men did desperate things and that was usually not a good sign for their chances of success.
“And what would your terms be?” he asked. He didn't expect and definite answer but he had to sound out how serious these Germans were.
“Peace, within the borders of 1939 with the exceptions of Alsace which we will hand back to France and in the east where we would like 1917 borders.”
Ian didn't visibly react to this. He didn't claim to be that well connected but he doubted No.10 or the Palace for that matter would accept anything like this. Since the French had so bitterly disappointed him the Prime Minister had become the Poles' biggest supporter in London and anything that wasn't at least 'pre-war borders guaranteed' was unlikely to find a sympathetic listener in Winston Spencer Churchill.
“It...” he tried to say diplomatically, “it is above my station to make any promises, in fact I have been specifically ordered not to do it.”
He never found out what von Stauffenberg was about to say because before the man could speak Felix turned around on his heels in a flash and merely exclaimed: “Watch!”
But before he could go for his gun four men armed with the nasty looking MP40 that the goons seemed to prefer over proper rifles appeared out of nowhere. Ian cursed himself for not seeing to better security but at the very least Felix seemed to have had that part in mind. Standing near the rear of the car he had tossed the papers through the open window to the inside and stood in a way that kept the side where he had his gun pointed away from the goons so that they would not immediately see it if he was armed, with his back to the others.
It was then that a voice yelled: “Do not move one inch.”
The speaker stepped onto the small clearing and all present recognized him at once.
“Do you really think that we hadn't kept close tabs on anyone with access to the papers you stole, traitorous scumbag?”
“So what brings the head of the German Intelligence Service here in person?” Ian asked, deliberately failing to speak to the man with the station he considered his due.
Reinhard Heydrich, head of the RSHA and thus what passed for the German intelligence services these days had been given this job at the recommendation of Reichsführer Himmler after the death of Admiral Canaris and the failure of the Abwehr to get rid of all the incriminating evidence in time. He neither knew that these two men were British (though he suspected it) nor that his efforts at counter-intelligence were heavy handed and not particularly effective.
But then again, nor had the efforts of the Kreisau Circle been effective. True, with Canaris dead the only man who had known everything was out of the way but even the SS had been able to follow their trail after two months ago they had taken a list of senior members.
It had been decided that since too many persons on that list were of too high a profile to disappear without the pretence of due process so instead they had been watched to unravel the entire ring.
One would deal with the two other, unknown Officers later.
What saved Ian and Felix was that they did nothing more, to show that they weren't dangerous.
Heydrich stepped towards von Stauffenberg without looking at the two British. Ian glanced at Felix who merely nodded slightly.
“What the hell is going on here?” Felix said as he turned towards one of the guards. The Guard didn't reply but instead just slammed the muzzle of his rifle into Felix' stomach. The way in which he went to his knees was only partly an act but not completely. The pistol lay half hidden in the shadows of the car and as Felix acted as if he was coughing up the remnants of his last meal but in reality he groped for the pistol with his right hand. For all the others he could
He had to suppress a cry of triumph when the holster snapped open and the cold metal of the grip slid half out. Felix bent forward to cover his next movement and flipped the safety off. He struggled to his feet and groaned. The guard was half listening to the heated exchange between Heydrich and von Stauffenberg so he didn't notice that Felix made a staggering step towards him and kept his right hand on his left hip.
When he was within inches of the guard's gun he dropped the pretence and jumped forward. His left hand slapped the gun aside and the other slammed the pistol between the man's ribs and pulled the trigger.
The whiplash of the shot ended all conversation. But since of all of them only Ian had known what would happen he was moving even before the shot had rung out. The whole exchange lasted less than twenty seconds but Ian moved as fast as Felix. He had been disarmed but the man still held his pistol in one of his hands so when Ian swirled around and rammed his gloved fist into his stomach he pulled the trigger, seconds after Felix and the MP40's bullets soared off into nowhere.
He grabbed both it and the pistol, rammed his foot into the other man's knee that cracked badly towards the wrong side and he made the few steps towards the car. Two rounds of the cacophony of bullets breaking loose came close, one went through his sleeve without hitting him, the other took off his hat, a few hairs and a scrape of skin on his forehead.
Before he even reached the car Felix had already torn open the driver-side door and was turning the key before Heydrich and his men even realized what was going on. Heydrich had pistol-whipped von Stauffenberg but the German had seen the two British move and if they were to get out and spread the news there was only one thing to do. He placed his soul and that of his family into the hands of god and drew his own pistol.
He was hit by the now more alert guards even before he had completed his turn towards where Heydrich was standing but he ignored the wound in his left arm and the impact of several more bullets in his body as he aimed the gun at the head of the Nazi Intelligence Services. But then he felt another impact and suddenly everything exploded in a world of pain.
He fell to his knees and fought the darkness, but he knew there was no point.
Somewhere in the pain he felt there was still something left of him and he fired the pistol at Heydrich.
The bullet smashed his knee, and exited on the other side. It would eventually give him a permanent limp but for the moment Heydrich screamed in agony and fell to the ground near the already dead von Stauffenberg.
While all this had happened Ian had entered the car and Felix had started the engine. It roared to life and before any of the Germans could move they were already halfway out of the clearing. Bullets zinged past them as they raced down the hill, with several hitting the car but not damaging anything vital.
Less than ten minutes later they were away from the town and racing deeper into Germany. If Heydrich had known where to find them he would most certainly know just where they had come from, after all Switzerland was the easiest way to access that part of Germany from Allied territory.
Both were bleeding from several minor wounds though luckily they hadn't been hit for real. The car however...
Felix noticed almost immediately after they had crossed the town limits that something was broken. The engine didn't pull as well as it had used to and it tended to pull slightly to the right if he braked hard enough.
“We have to get rid of this car.” Ian said and Felix agreed wholeheartedly.
“It has taken some damage, so from that standpoint alone it's a good idea. I say we ditch it once it's dark and we have some distance between them and us.”
Ian didn't reply that 'they' were all around them now as he knew that Felix was aware of that so he just nodded. Felix didn't need any guidance. At the first opportunity he had turned off the main road and now they were using back roads through farms, fruit orchards and along some hills vineyards.
Neither did either of them have to ask the question of “what now”. Ian had (against the wishes of Station CH-Switzerland) insisted that they be provided with contacts and codes for some of the agents operating in Southern Germany, in fact Ian had known some of them from his tenure as SOE Europe.
“The nearest one is near Stuttgart. Codeword Broadsword.”
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Comments, questions, rotten Tomatoes?
I thought I was the only antidullivial around here. Although given how much of a mess Vista seems to have been its possibly not surprising.
