On Desperate Ground (50 page)

“Elsa!” Dieter ran to her.
 

She fell into his arms. Mack began to walk over to them, a million questions forming in his mind. He paused to look down at Faust, whose eyes showed some slight movement.
 

Jost joined him, and put a hand on Mack’s shoulder, shaking his head, gesturing that they should leave the couple alone. He kicked the Schmeisser away from Faust and they both stood over him, watching his pupils dart back and forth, as if searching for a clue as to what happened.

All Faust could see was sky. White billowy clouds drifted overhead as he tried to take in what had happened. Why couldn’t he move? He couldn’t feel his legs or move his arms. He felt helpless, and there was still so much more to do. He wanted to get up, feel a gun in his hands, and take his revenge, but he could do nothing. Nothing. Nothing but watch the clouds roll overhead, until the last one passed and bright sunlight arced out from behind it. It bathed him in a pure light, shining down on his broken body as his own blood seeped into the ground beneath him.
 

Anna? Mother? Father?

It’s all right, Johann. Come to me now. It’s all over.

He saw Anna, he saw them all, standing with the blue sky and green fir trees of their homeland at their backs. The bright sunlight seemed to change into Anna’s long blonde hair, caressing his face as she held out her hands to him.

I can’t, Anna. I can’t.

He tried to rally one last time, to answer the bugle call of destruction he had so carefully planned and organized. Then, it was over. The best part of him, the part that had fallen in love with Anna and had always cherished her memory in a secret part of his destroyed and cruel heart, smiled and took her hand, leaving the rest behind, lifeless on that desperate ground.

“Elsa, how did you get here?” Dieter held her close. She was shaking, and Dieter could see she was exhausted as well as terrified.

“I followed you. I was going to follow you to the Americans, so we could be together and you wouldn’t have to worry about me.” She began to cry softly. “I was hiding in those bushes since yesterday, waiting for you to go. I didn’t want you to know I was here because you would leave me behind.”

“You saved our lives, all of us. Come, sit down.”
 

He led her around Faust’s body and they sat near the radio. Mack came back from checking on Luther, confirming he was dead. Dieter quickly explained to him who Elsa was and how she had gotten there.

 
Mack took Elsa’s hand and said, “Thank you very much.
Danke
.”
 

She smiled faintly back at him, nodding her head in understanding. Jost came over and gave her a drink of water from his canteen, watching her with fatherly concern.
 

“Dieter,” Mack said evenly, “I hate to interrupt this reunion, but we still have to stop Gambit and we’ve run out of options.”

“Jost,” Dieter said in German, “see if you can get Hans back on the radio.”
 

He turned to Mack and spoke quietly, even though Elsa and Jost couldn’t understand them, as if what he had to say must not be said out loud.

“There is one way left. We can only do it if we are sure that this will become something far worse,” he said gesturing to the battle raging below them, small arms fire rattling across the fields. “Only if we are certain Gambit will succeed.”

“I don’t know what you have in mind, Dieter, but I’m pretty damn sure it is succeeding. First, that Base radio unit won’t have a hard time reaching Eagle Leader. They can’t be that far behind, and the fighting isn’t hard to find. Second, the Russians are ready to believe the West would attack them. They are absolutely paranoid. I know. I’ve dealt with them.”

“I agree,” Dieter answered. “Gambit is actually working even better than we planned it. We have to act now.”

He looked over to Jost, who nodded in the affirmative as he talked to Hans on their radio.

“So?” asked Mack.

“If Gambit succeeds, do you think more men will die than all those fighting here, now?”

“Definitely,” said Mack. “Many, many more, soldiers and civilians. Tell me what you’re thinking.”

“I can stop that battle. Now.” Dieter’s face was grim and fearful.

“How, damn it?”

“I can call in artillery and air strikes. We have significant forces in reserve.”

“But they’re all so close together,” Mack said, then realized what Dieter meant.
 

“Everyone?”

“Yes. It would stop everything.”

“You’re crazy! Those are your own men down there! And you’re asking me to wipe out a couple of American battalions!”

Dieter drew in his breath and tried to speak calmly. “What I am proposing is that we jointly agree to stop this battle in the only manner possible, and to save tens of thousands of lives on both sides, if not more. To stop another war.”

“My God.”
 

Mack felt like he had been punched in the gut. The realization that Dieter’s idea was the only possible way to stop Operation Gambit made him physically ill. He half walked and half-stumbled to the outlook and the battlefield below. Gunfire and grenade explosions rippled across the meadows and woods as the fight continued.
 

Noise from the field radio lying next to Luther surprised him, as he heard another frantic message from Base. “Eagle Leader, come in. This is Base. I hear gunfire. We are moving towards the sound of gunfire to make contact. Repeat—”

Mack reached down and shut off the useless radio. He looked at Dieter.

“Oh, my God, we have to do it. And quickly.”

“Yes.” He turned and spoke quickly to Jost and Elsa. Jost’s face was stern and betrayed no emotion. Elsa’s expression was one of horror.

“No, no, you can’t! All those men!”
 

“Elsa, it’s the only way. If we don’t do this, and quickly, ten, a hundred times more people will die, as another war begins here!”

“But they are here, now! How can you be so certain?”

“Because, God help me, I helped plan all this, and it is working, perfectly. I know what will happen next. The Americans will radio back that the Russians are attacking them. Other American forces will come forward in support. All along the front, British and American forces will go on alert as word of the attack spreads. The Hiwis will pull back here, and allow the Americans to counter-attack, right into the oncoming Russians. There will be incidents all up and down the front, until the Americans and Russians are at war. And Hitler and the Nazis will still be in power in Berlin. I will not let that happen.”

Dieter turned from her, wishing he hadn’t inflicted the brutal logic of his decision on her. Elsa buried her face in her hands and wept. He held out his hand to Jost for the radio and looked at Mack, who solemnly shook his head.

“Yes, and God help us.”

“Hans, are you still there? Listen very closely—”
 

Within a few minutes, Dieter had given precise map coordinates for artillery and air strikes. He promised his friend he would come for him soon and get him a doctor. He ended the transmission, speaking in clipped military tones as tears flowed down his cheeks.
 

No one spoke.

Ten Arado AR-234B jet bombers took off from the Wittenberg airfield and formed up with their twelve Me 262 jet fighter escorts, as the two
Maus
Super-Heavy
Panzers
moved into firing position. Their giant tank treads slowly labored up a sloping hillside, the two
Jagdtiger
tank destroyers moving up with them.
 

The
Jagdtigers
were ready first, and opened fire with their 128mm guns, sending high explosive shells in an arc to the map coordinates over a mile away. The
Maus
Panzers
fired next, their 125mm and 75mm guns adding to the deafening noise. The fire kept up steadily, with the fifty supporting
Panzergrenadiers
around their flanks covering their ears and hugging the ground as it shook from the powerful recoils. The remaining men of the
Luftwaffe
paratroop company left the area when the firing began, following Benedikt’s last orders to the letter.

Mack heard the shells screaming in overhead and instinctively ducked as the noise passed over him. Explosions marked the field below as the
Jagdtiger
shells found their mark. The shelling increased in intensity as the
Maus
panzers joined in, and the meadows and forest erupted violently as more shells tore into the ground. Then firing ceased as every man on the field struggled to make himself as small as possible, to hide in the folds of the land and avoid the steel rain of death.

The sound of approaching jet engines drew Mack’s attention. In the distance, he could make out the low-flying forms of a stream of jet aircraft. The ten bombers came in five groups of two aircraft, staggered to cover the killing zone. The Arados visibly slowed as they came in on their runs, releasing their bomb loads exactly over the battleground. Huge explosions blanketed the ground with fire and death. Four of the Me 262 jet escorts flew high cover, circling overhead and keeping watch as the Arados departed and the eight other Me 262s descended and strafed the battlefield for several runs. Mack could see two peel off and swoop down on a target to the west. Smoke billowed up from where they struck. Base was destroyed.
 

They watched in astonished fascination and horror as the aircraft and shelling put a quick end to the battle. After the last strafing run, the shelling began again, finishing off any survivors. The landscape was blackened and ruined. Where minutes ago there had been meadows and woods, now there only smoking craters and shattered, burning trees remained. Nothing was recognizable and nothing moved. It was over. Gambit had failed, but only at this terrible price. Mack realized he was now probably the only American alive east of the Mulde River.
 

Mack and Dieter looked into each other’s eyes. They wore no expression and had no words. Jost held Elsa, comforting her in his arms as she cried. Dieter knew instinctively that he was not the one to give her comfort now, not after what he had done. He hoped that one day they would be able to console each other, and that this had not ruined what was between them. But today was not that day. He felt immense relief, but no joy.

“What do we do now?” Mack asked.
 

“I must try to help Hans. And we must find Benedikt and your Lieutenant Rose.”

With Jost supporting Elsa, they walked down the hill and found the Puma scout car. Mack and Dieter removed the dead gunner, the stink of drying blood washing over them. They quickly agreed to take Dieter and Elsa to the castle and leave them there to care for Hans. Jost would go with Mack to help look for Benedikt and Rose. Jost took the driver’s seat and started the engine. They rode in silence, the destroyed, smoking landscape muting any attempt at forming words or coherent thoughts.

Jost pulled into the courtyard. Acrid smoke filled the sky beyond the castle as the sun struggled to shine through. Dieter helped Elsa out of the scout car and turned to Mack with his hand extended.

“Captain Mackenzie, good luck to you. Perhaps we will see each other again.”
 

Mack took his hand and shook it.

“
Hauptmann
Neukirk, I—” Mack felt a lump in his throat. This man, whom he had only come to meet this day, had shared with him the most difficult decision of his life. And perhaps saved the world from another war. He gripped his hand tightly, then let go, staring at the sky and the gray, rolling smoke from the burning forest.

“Jost—” Dieter began. The two men looked each other in the eye, memories of their years together flashing between them. Words were useless. Nothing that could be uttered would equal what they had seen and experienced together. Jost smiled, and gave a slight nod, touching his hand to his forehead in a lazy salute.

Dieter tried to rally a smile, but failed. He turned, holding Elsa tightly in his grip, and walked into the castle to find Hans.

Jost drove off with Mack sitting silently beside him. They found Rose and Benedikt not far from the road at the bottom of the hill. Both were alive, but unconscious. Rose’s leg was badly broken, and Benedikt was even worse off. His jaw was dislocated and he was bleeding from the ears. As they loaded them carefully into the Puma, Rose stirred, his eyelids fluttering open.
 

“What—”

“Don’t worry, Rosie, it’s all over. Faust’s dead and so is Gambit.”

“Good. What about my Kraut pal?” In the cramped quarters of the scout car, there was no way to keep a man with a broken leg comfortable. Rose grimaced with pain, and Mack jabbed a shot of morphine into his thigh.

“Don’t worry, Benedikt’s here, and we’ll get you both to a doctor.”

Mack looked at Jost, and signaled that he should leave. There was no need for him to end up in a POW camp when he could easily disappear. The non-com looked at Benedikt, then back at Mack. He shook his head and stayed in the driver’s seat. He pointed to the road west and said simply, “
Los
.”

Mack didn’t need to understand German to know that the veteran
Feldwebel
was not about to leave one of his officers alone in enemy hands, even if that enemy was now a friend. They drove off toward the American lines, leaving hundreds of dead behind, and the certainty of an end to this war in the coming days.