Order of Battle by Ib Melchior

Author:Ib Melchior [Melchior, Ib]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: General Fiction
ISBN: 9780595007592
Publisher: iUniverse
Published: 1973-09-06T05:00:00+00:00

1316 hrs

“Plewig!” he said. “Josef Plewig!” His voice was cold with contempt.

It was Krauss. He stood leaning casually against a four-foot-high brick wall topped by a wooden trellis woven through with thick, withered vines. With his work pants spattered with fresh-dried cement flecks, his soiled leather cap pulled down over his forehead, he almost melted into the drabness of the little suburban side street. It was deserted. It usually was.

Krauss fished a battered old metal tobacco box from a pocket in his threadbare jacket. He seemed preoccupied with his task, yet he was acutely aware of the other man, unseen behind the wall. He knew it was Heinz. He could picture him; the patch over his eye, the pinned-up empty sleeve of his stripped Wehrmacht uniform jacket. An object of pity. Krauss ignored his presence. It was, of course, important that they not be seen together.

Heinz’s voice came softly through the concealing vines. It throbbed with subdued vehemence.

“Verdammt nochmal! When?”

Krauss opened up his little metal box. Carefully he selected one of a half dozen partially smoked cigarette butts.

“Four hours ago,” he said, intent upon his box.

“Direction?”

“The road to Viechtach.”

“Their command headquarters! Why didn’t you make contact before?”

Krauss deliberately placed the selected butt behind one ear under the leather cap while he put the metal box away and brought out a box of wooden matches.

“One must be cautious,” he said slowly, “or one is dead.” He took the butt from behind his ear and lit it.

“Has he talked?”

Krauss puffed on his butt. He contemplated the smoke thoughtfully.

“They would not have taken him to their headquarters had he not,” he commented to the spiraling cigarette smoke.

“We will take care of him,” Heinz said. The statement was cold, emotionless—and therefore deadly. “And the two Americans. We don’t know how much they have found out. We can not afford to let them live.”

“And Krueger?” Krauss cupped the butt in his hand. It was getting almost too small to hold.

“He will be warned.”

“It is risky.”

“He must know. He will want to take steps. We will use the Munich relay. Ask instructions.”

“The Munich station has not yet been overrun?”

“Not yet. Munich will be held as long as possible. The SS is making certain the people resist. There will be no sheets of surrender on the road to Munich. The Americans will have to fight and die for every foot! Go now. There is not much time. We must move today.”

There was a small rustling sound behind the wall. Krauss thought he could hear the limping footsteps of Heinz die away. Perhaps not. His butt was only a smoldering ember. He squashed it out between two work-hardened fingers and brushed the ashes off on his pants.

For the first time he glanced quickly at the vine-covered wall. Then he walked off.

The Road to Munich

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.