Winter (MM to Tr Promotion) by Len Deighton

Author:Len Deighton [Deighton, Len]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Unknown
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Published: 2011-01-24T21:10:09.268000+00:00

Pauli had this filthy influenza. Inge said it was his fault for not wrapping up well, but anyway he couldn’t shake it off. He’d been running a temperature for two days and he should have been in bed, and would have been except that Lothar Koch had made such a fuss. In any case, the last place he should have been at 4.30 a.m. on Saturday, June 30, 1934 was standing in front of the passenger buildings on the silent, empty and icy-cold Oberwiesenfeld, the airport for Munich.

The breath of the two men condensed on the night air. ‘He left Bonn at two a.m.,’ said Lothar Koch. Behind the airport buildings a line of big cars were parked. The drivers had been sleeping. But now they’d been wakened and were wiping condensation from the glasswork and running the engines to have them warm and ready.

Pauli wiped his nose and didn’t answer. It was all right for Koch. He was used to outdoor duties, and he had woollen underwear to wrists and ankles; and his new heavy black leather overcoat. Leather was the only thing that offered protection against this sort of cold wind, and Pauli decided to buy one from the same shop where Koch had got his. It had a removable woollen lining in a hideously vulgar plaid, not even a genuine tartan. Pauli’s Scots nanny had taught him to despise such fakes, and he had decided against buying the coat. But this morning he wouldn’t have cared what the lining was like. Anything would have been warmer than his thin raincoat. ‘Arc! you sure the Fuhrer himself is aboard?’ said Pauli. He huddled in the shelter of a mobile generator, but it gave little protection against the piercing wind. ‘Why would he come so early? He’s not due in Bad Wiessee until eleven a.m.’

‘Something very special is happening. The teleprinters have been going all night,’ said Koch. ‘I was in the Brown House last night soon after Sepp Dietrich arrived with two Berlin Criminal Police officers.

He’d come directly from a meeting with the Fuhrer. He said that two companies of the Leibstandarte are coming from BerlinLichterfelde. Does that bring back some happy memories?’

Pauli nodded and wiped his nose again. Lichterfelde barracks. It was odd to think of the black-uniformed LAH, Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler - the Fuhrer’s SS bodyguard - occupying the old Prussian army cadet school. Nineteen fourteen - that was a long time ago. He’d been just a child, and the world was foolish and innocent. If only he’d known what was waiting for him.

‘Oh, yes,’ said Koch. ‘The Leibstandarte are on their way by train to Kaufring, near Landesberg am Lech. Sepp Dietrich is meeting them there with transport to take them to Bad Wiessee.’

‘I don’t see any special significance in that,’ said Pauli. ‘The Leibstandarte companies have to provide security for the Fuhrer’s meeting with Rohm.’

‘Rohm and all SA ObergruppenFuhrer, and GruppenFuhrer and inspectors. All the SA top brass will be there,’ said Koch. ‘My pal from the Kripo got a look at the Fuhrer last night.

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.