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The Crossing - Part 28 free porn video
An escaped British POW living as a woman in Nazi Germany during the dying
days of the Third Reich, I now found myself faced with a decision that
could take me into the very belly of the beast.
THE CROSSING - part 28
by BobH
(c) 2016
- 64 -
Over the next couple of months the news went from bad to worse for the
Jerries. At the end of January, the Red Army crossed the Oder River into
Germany putting them less than 50 miles from Berlin while the 'Colmar
Pocket', the last German foothold west of the Rhine, was destroyed by the
French 1st Army early in February. But the event that shocked me the most
happened several days later when Allied air forces dropped vast numbers
of incendiaries on Dresden, creating a firestorm that destroyed large
parts of that historic city. Helmut, Gerda and I had taken to listening
to BBC news broadcasts - which I translated for them - as well as the
German ones, reasoning that each would likely play up their victories,
downplay their defeats, and that we might get a clearer picture of the
situation that way. German reports from Dresden painted a grisly picture.
I'd once had firestorms explained to me by someone familiar with the
theory and I soon realised that's what this must be. What I didn't
understand was summed up by Helmut.
"Why?" he said, as the scale of what had happened became clear. "Why
would they do this to Dresden? I can't see the military reasoning behind
creating such an inferno."
"Perhaps there isn't any," said Gerda, "perhaps it has no meaning beyond
simple revenge."
A disturbing thought occurred to me.
"Or perhaps it was an experiment," I said.
"Explain," said Helmut.
"According to the news reports we're hearing this was something new, a
firestorm. A result like that isn't an accident. It's an outcome based on
a theory. In more civilised times you couldn't test such a theory on a
city full of people; in war time you can."
I hated that I might be right. We were unquestionably the good guys in
this conflict, and the good guys are supposed to be better than that. But
then it's been observed that no side ever comes out of any war with
entirely clean hands. I wish it were otherwise.
"You seem very well-informed on the subject," said Helmut, looking at me
curiously.
"I read a lot, remember?" I said. "I think I must have read about it in
one of the scientific journals you receive here."
"Hmmm," he replied. "I don't remember such an article. What with my other
responsibilities I've fallen behind in my reading. I should rectify
that."
"Yes you should, my darling."
But hopefully not any time soon.
As winter receded and the snows began to melt, Allied advances increased
their pace. Something else whose pace increased as it got warmer was
Helmut's drilling of the village Volkssturm unit. I would occasionally
watch these drills, impressed by how much improved they were and saddened
by how apprehensive the men all looked. I was a spy and they were the
enemy, but while I was committed to an Allied victory I'd known them long
enough to feel sympathy for them. Everyone in the village was worried.
Only a simpleton would not be. The increased tension was such that people
were drinking more and our captain of police Joachim Steiner found
himself being called in to break up brawls outside the village inn with
increasing frequency. It was the uncertainty that was getting to people,
knowing conquering armys were converging from both directions but not
knowing which would get here first, or when.
Early in March, the western Allies captured Cologne in the west, and the
German army begin to evacuate Danzig in the east. Of greater significance
than either of these was what happened around the same time at Remagen.
Here, German troops failed to dynamite the Ludendorff Bridge over the
Rhine and it was captured by the Americans. It's difficult to overstate
the importance of this since it meant they were able to start crossing
the river and the heart of Germany lay open before them. This was the
first army group to reach the Rhine, but far from the last. On the 23rd,
the day after an audacious raid by the RAF on Gestapo headquarters in
Copenhagen, US and British forces crossed the Rhine at Oppenheim. Twenty
four hours later British troops under the command of Field Marshall
Montgomery crossed it at Wesel. However, it was what happened next that
both surprised and worried Helmut. From news reports over the following
few days it was clear what had happened.
"The western Allies have slowed their advance," he said, frowning at the
wall map where he plotted the course of the war as best he could.
"Are they suffering resupply problems again?" I asked. "We've been
hitting Antwerp pretty hard with V-2s after all."
"I wish that was the case, my love, but I'm kept informed about the V-2
offensive and it hasn't been as effective against Antwerp as we'd hoped.
No, this is something else, something deliberate. I think they've slowed
their advance to allow the Red Army to be the ones who take Berlin. If
so, then God help Berlin!"
"And Hans," said Gerda. "Hans will be on the front line of defenders when
they reach the city."
"Have you heard from him recently?" I asked.
"No. The last letter that managed to get through was three weeks ago. He
couldn't say so directly, not with military censors reading every letter,
but the tone of his words and what he didn't say spoke volumes to me. I
think he would rather be almost anywhere else."
"Who could blame him?" said Helmut.
Over the next few days Frankfurt fell to the western Allies, and Danzig
to the Red Army. By this point German troops were in full retreat
everywhere as the proportion of the country controlled by the Nazis
continued to shrink by the day.
The radio was now left turned on constantly since you never knew when an
important piece of news might come through. On the 31st of March regular
broadcasts were broken into by another. Which is how we got to listen to
General Eisenhower demanding an immediate German surrender. But perhaps
the most worrying event during this period came when the Red Army entered
Austria.
"They can now come at us from the south as well as the east," said
Helmut, as he digested this new development. "I had hoped the western
Allies would reach Rumstahl first, but now it seems more likely it will
be Soviet boots tromping through our cobbled streets."
On April 12th, Franklin D. Roosevelt died suddenly and Harry S. Truman
was sworn in as the new President of the United States. This was shocking
news that came completely out of the blue. If FDR had been ill that fact
had been kept from the general public.
"Hitler will be beside himself with joy at the news," observed Helmut,
"but will it make any difference to the military campaign against us?"
"I doubt it," I said. "From the American perspective the war is going
well, so why would Truman change course now?
It was also going well from the Soviet persepective and we followed their
progress with particular trepidation, particularly the campaign against
Austria to the south. Their victory in Vienna the day after FDR's death
did little to calm anyone's nerves.
One afternoon a few days after this we got the phone call
we'd been waiting for. I was the only one present when the telephone
rang.
I picked up the receiver.
"Hello," I said, "this is Schloss Rumstahl, the Countess speaking."
"Eva? It's Wernher. Is Helmut available?"
"Hello, Wernher. No, I'm afraid he's not here at the moment.
Can I take a message for him?"
"It's nothing important. I was just reminiscing with someone here about
the time Helmut and I saw 'Frau im Mond' at Haus Ingeburg during a skiing
holiday many years ago. I was hoping he might be able to resolve an
argument we're having about the ending of the movie. Oh well, just tell
him I called, please."
"Of course. It's good to hear your voice again, Wernher."
"You too, Eva. Bye."
As I replaced the receiver my heart was pounding. So Wernher von Braun
and his rocket scientists were gathered at Haus Ingeburg, and this was
the signal for us to join them there. I only had one question.
"Where the hell is Haus Ingeburg?" I asked Helmut when he and Gerda
returned that evening.
"In Bavaria, atop a mountain plateau on the Austrian border," he replied,
rubbing his chin. "It's a resort hotel in the village of Oberjoch, not
far from Hitler's Berchtesgarden retreat. In better times Gerda and I
have gone skiing there."
"Then that's where we need to go," said Gerda, "but first I want you to
do something for me Helmut, and you can't say no."
I'd never seen Gerda look so determined. Helmut clearly hadn't either. He
frowned.
"What task is so important to you that I can't refuse it?"
"Hans," she replied. "I want you to get Hans out of Berlin. You can see
what's coming just as clearly as everyone else can. If he stays there
he's going to get killed. And I can't lose him, I just can't."
Berlin? Even with the optimistic slant news reporting was trying to give
to events, we knew the situation in the capital was awful and getting
worse. Bombing had reduced large parts of the city to rubble and news had
reached us via unofficial sources of food riots at the end of January in
the working class Neukollen district. Police were said to have opened
fire on a cold, hungry crowd who tried to sieze supplies. Several women
were apparently killed when they overturned a wagonload of potatoes.
*This* was where Gerda wanted her brother to go?!
"Hans is a serving officer with the Wehrmacht," said Helmut. "Even if I
could convince him to come with me, I don't have the authority to get him
relieved from duty."
"Yes you do. The letter of passage Hitler gave you and Eva as a wedding
gift gives you that authority. Present it to Hans's commanding officer,
tell him you need Hans to come with you, and he'll have to comply. And if
Hans has changed his mind and is pig-headed about staying at his post and
doing his duty you can use it to force his compliance, too."
"Look, I know you love Hans, but...."
"There are no 'buts', Helmut," she said, interrupting him, her voice
steely. "If Hans dies, I don't want to go on living. He's the love of my
life, the other half of my soul. Imagine if our positions were reversed
and it was Eva in Berlin. Wouldn't you feel the same?"
He stared at her for a moment, then sighed.
"Yes," he said, "yes I would. I can't imagine life without her. I don't
*want* to imagine life without her."
He turned to me.
"What do you think, my love?"
Despite my misgivings I didn't hesitate.
"Of course you have to do this...." I said.
He nodded.
"...and I'm coming with you."
******************************
To be continued
******************************
Note:
The good news is that I've now done the research I needed to and have
figured out the line the characters need to take through the events to
come, as dictated by real-world history. The bad news is that real world
demands might reduce the time I can devote to writing for a while. At
leat I think they might. We shall see. Ordinarily, when I post the next
chunk of this tale here it contains two or three chapters and weighs in
at double the length of this instalment. However, given the real world
demands on my time mentioned above it could be a little while before
chapter 65 gets written. So, since I've kept you waiting for the next
instalment for longer than usual, I decided to just post this one for
now. Think of it as something to tide you over 'til next time.
Virginia
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