“Did you learn to swear like that when you visited the United States?” Josef asked. As a young woman Magda had spent a number of months in America and spoke English fluently.
They had stopped by the road so the children could answer calls of nature and had been shocked when the two fighters had suddenly appeared. But now they were gone and the danger was over. She called the children who ran and laughed as they got back into the ambulances.
Josef Goebbels was pleased with their progress. Another day or two would see them at Hitler’s mountaintop retreat at Berchtesgaden, the Eagle’s Nest, where there had been happy memories of the glory of the Reich. Not enough memories, he thought sadly. The war had interfered with mountaintop festivities. From there they would go deeper into the mountains, and safety in the Redoubt.
During their travels they had seen the stark and brutal evidence of Germany’s demise. Roads had been cratered by bombs. Destroyed vehicles and burned out tanks were everywhere. It was impossible to ignore the stench of burned and decaying bodies still inside them. While they traveled during the day, they were able to see camouflaged tanks and troop carriers. They were hiding and waiting until the dark when they could sneak down a road a few more miles to wherever was their destination. Josef Goebbels wondered if many of them were headed south towards the Alps and the Redoubt. He also wondered if many of the other ambulances headed towards the Redoubt would make it.
Even this day, as the American planes had zoomed past, they felt hidden eyes on them. The German soldiers watching them must have wondered who they were to have commandeered the ambulances. Perhaps some of the soldiers had recognized the Goebbels family from the numerous photos taken of them and published throughout the Reich. If so, Josef Goebbels wondered if they thought he was a coward for hiding behind the Red Cross and instead of being in Berlin with the Fuhrer. He decided he didn’t care.
* * *
“Where the hell is Remagen?” yelled General Evans. He raced across the office and started pawing through maps.
There was a flurry of activity while his staff pored over maps of Germany. “Got it,” said Tanner. “It’s a small town north of here on the Rhine.”
Evans grinned wickedly. “And I’ll bet the map shows it’s got a bridge, doesn’t it? Well, as of a few hours ago, that bridge became ours and Bradley’s First Army boys are pouring across it into the heart of Germany. Hot damn! We’re in and ahead of that son of a bitch Montgomery.”
Cheers exploded in the large tent that was the division’s temporary headquarters. If the Rhine had been crossed anywhere, it meant that it would probably be easier for the next force across to exploit. Maybe the German armies on the other side would indeed collapse. Maybe pigs would fly, Tanner thought. On the other side of the Rhine was a defensive line called the West Wall or the Siegfried Line. No one knew how strong those works were and how well they were manned.
Tanner decided to be bold. “General, if you look at the map, Remagen doesn’t do anything or go anyplace. It’s just a little town with a bridge and one rail line heading east. If we’ve now got a base in Germany proper, it looks pretty accidental. I just wonder how it can be exploited. And what does that do to Montgomery’s planned big jump?”
“That’s for Ike and Bradley to decide, just like it’s going to be up to Devers to figure out how to get his army across. When that happens, maybe we can cut off at least some of the German army heading to the Alps. You know damn well that Patton is chomping at the bit to cross and now that we have this Alpine Redoubt to worry us, I’ve got money that says we’ll be crossing just as quickly as possible.”
Montgomery’s planned massive combined forces jump across the Rhine was code-named Operation Varsity Plunder. Critics of the British general’s plans held that Varsity Plunder was overplanned and overlarge. It even included massive airborne assaults that had, in the past, resulted in heavy casualties.
Evans waved grandly to his grinning staff. “The Seventh Army and this division are going to cross that damn river. And when we do, we’re going to smash that Alpine Redoubt and then be on our way home.”
There were more cheers. Tanner decided he needed some fresh air and stepped outside. As usual, the weather was damp and foggy. He decided that Germany in the winter wasn’t the most wonderful place in the world. South of them and closer to the Alps was supposed to be great ski country. Too bad he didn’t ski.
Mitch Cullen, a captain and another member of the division’s G2, or intelligence section, joined him and shrugged. “Crossing the Rhine sounds like a fine opportunity to get shot at.”
“Are you criticizing our beloved general?”
“Horrors, no. It’s just that Evans is a lot more enthusiastic about invading Germany than a lot of people, and that includes me. I just want to get this over, get out and go home.”
“Pretty much my idea, too.”
Sergeant Hill emerged from the tent and joined them. He didn’t salute. Nobody did. Even though the area was supposed to be safe, there was always the risk of a sniper. Saluting identified the person being saluted as someone important. Saluting, therefore, was prohibited, particularly by those who were important.
“Captain Tanner,” said Cullen, “you missed the best part. General Evans had already gotten a change in orders from Ike. We are to cross that river as soon as possible. In particular, Captain Tanner, he wants you to find and gather as many small boats as you can find.”
“Captain Cullen, did someone tell our general that the Germans had either taken or destroyed all the boats along the Rhine?” Tanner asked. He had three weeks’ time in grade as a captain. This made him the senior of the two.
“General Evans said he knows that and that he believes you are a very resourceful officer who will solve your part of the problem and do so without getting your feet wet.”
“Shit,” Tanner muttered while Cullen laughed.
Hill smiled. “It gets better, or worse depending on your perspective. I’m supposed to help you.”
CHAPTER 4
Tanner looked through his binoculars at Germany. He was in the upper floor of a two-story hotel located outside the village of Vogelgrun and on the west side of the Rhine. He could see the mist-covered river and Nazi Germany beyond it. The scene looked peaceful, but it was deceptive. Just past the Rhine lay the Siegfried Line. It was said that the wall was obsolete and that the troops manning it were second and third rate, but no one would know for certain until the river was crossed and the defensive line attacked. Tanner had the terrible feeling that the blood price would be very high, regardless of any obsolescence or lack of training.
He handed the binoculars to Cullen. “What I would highly recommend is lining up every artillery tube in the world and pounding the crap out of everything within five miles of the river for a week or two and then sending a thousand bombers over the place to finish the job.”
Cullen nodded. “Sounds like an effective use of military resources to me. Unfortunately, it ain’t gonna happen. Did you happen to notice that there’s not much to see on the other side of the Rhine? Like that bridge at Remagen, the Germans don’t seem to think this part of the Reich is all that important. There’s nothing out there but farmland and that little town of Briesach just to the north.”