Rauch nodded, still perplexed.
He realized that it had to be something important, but what?
“Sorry, sir; I must see your identification papers.
Those are my orders!” the messenger snapped as he stood so stiffly at attention Rauch thought the soldier might break.
Rauch reached into his tunic and presented his papers.
The messenger smartly reviewed and returned them to Rauch along with the message pouch.
“Thank you, sir.
Heil Hitler
!”
The messenger clicked his heels and snapped his right arm into the extended position of a Nazi salute.
Rauch casually returned the salute with a half-hearted wave of his right hand.
The messenger returned to attention.
“Good day, sir!” snapped the messenger as he whirled around, clicked his heels and strode out of the headquarters with the guard following.
Rauch took the pouch.
He glanced around the room, noticing everyone was watching his next move.
That lasted for just a second.
Almost immediately they returned to their work as if nothing had happened.
Rauch had a thin smile on his face as he strode down the hall to an empty private office.
Thank God the army realized his importance by selecting him.
It was about time.
He closed the door and placed the pouch on the table in the center of the room, still relishing the fact that he got this critical set of orders.
It did make him feel important.
He checked that the door was locked.
He smiled to himself and sat down, enjoying that he was opening significant orders; orders from SS headquarters no less.
The leather pouch was exquisite.
Made of fine glove leather, it had a finely embossed seal of the Nazi Crest.
He ran his fingers over the lead and wire seal making certain the pouch had not been opened.
The SS stamp on the seal was only for top secret SS orders.
Of that he was certain even though he had never received a pouch like this.
He had seen such pouches but never one addressed to him.
Rauch reached into the desk drawer and pulled out a hefty letter opener to relinquish the seal’s hold on the contents of the pouch.
He opened the pouch and found a single typed page.
That seemed odd.
He took out the page and placed the pouch on the desk and turned his attention to the paper.
He began to read.
As he read the orders, his brow furrowed.
What was this?
He tried to understand what he was being ordered to do.
It was not an elaborate, secret mission.
At least it did not look like it.
But it must be important.
It was coming from a very high ranking SS general.
At the time Rauch did not know that this was to be the most important order of his life.
By the orders of
SS Standartenführer
Franz Lintz,
SS
Sturmbannführer
Reinhardt Rauch:
Sturmbannführer
Rauch is to report to the SS headquarters depot in Erfurt. He is to meet Oberleutnant Maximillian Schneider. Oberleutnant Schneider will requisition six trucks.
Sturmbannführer
Rauch is to proceed to the regimental headquarters and requisition twenty-four soldiers.
Sturmbannführer
Rauch is to proceed with these men to a location designated. Such designation will be on documents entrusted to Oberleutnant Schneider. Proceed at the fastest pace possible to reach the destination denoted by the quickest route and report directly to the site commander. No orders will be shared with anyone and no one will discuss these orders with anyone about this mission.
Sturmbannführer
Rauch is to leave immediately upon receiving these orders.
Sturmbannführer
Rauch is ordered not to report the mission to his superiors or any other officer.
Signed: Lintz, Standartenführer, SS
Rauch was totally puzzled.
He flipped the paper over.
Surely there was something else.
There had to be something missing.
He checked for missing pages. All he was being ordered to do was ride nursemaid to an oberleutnant and twenty-four soldiers to some location across Germany.
And he was not told where they were going?
What the hell was that?
His heart sank.
There was no grand mission.
Hell, he could not even believe that an official SS message pouch was used to deliver such orders.
But there must be a reason… there has to be a reason.
Rauch slowly stood up and carefully folded the orders as to not crumple them.
He unbuttoned the left chest pocket of his tunic and placed the orders inside.
He returned to the main room down the hall leaving the message pouch behind.
“Sir, I have the reports from the regimental commanders,” a sergeant reported as Rauch returned to his desk.
Rauch sat down still pondering his “mission”.
He ignored the sergeant.
He had tried to look important but he could not shake off the orders; go ride in a truck…
“Sir?” pressed the aide holding the reports out for Rauch to take.
“Place the reports in my in box, Sergeant.
I will review them in a moment.”
“Yes, sir,” the sergeant answered, noticing the curious look on Rauch’s face.
“Is anything wrong, sir?”
“No, Sergeant.
Carry on,” Rauch said quietly.
The aide nodded in response and returned to his desk.
Rauch stood up, still lost in thought.
Without another word, he stepped over to the coat rack.
He hurriedly put on his overcoat and gloves and left the room.
Well, he thought as his mind cleared, they may not be important orders, but no one else knows that.
He stood tall as he smartly walked down the hall and out of the building into the afternoon sun.
His car was waiting.
“SS headquarters, Erfurt, quickly,” he barked to his driver as he dove into the back seat of his staff car slamming the door.
“
Ja Siroberst
,” snapped the driver as he started the car and drove away.
It was 6:45 p.m. and the sun was well into its descent behind the trees.
It took less than an hour to make the trip to the SS headquarters.
Rauch glanced out of the window to see a beautiful sunset in the clear sky as the car pulled up in front of the main building.
He found himself lost in thought.
How serene the sunset looked.
With all of the hurry of war around him, it seemed as if time stopped for just a minute as he savored the sight.
He caught himself smiling slightly as his mind turned from the beauty of the sunset to the situation at hand.
Beauty, serenity; shit, he could not be bothered by such childish issues.
He was an SS major with a mission, an important mission.
He stepped out of the car and stood on the bottom step of the headquarters, turning to survey all of the action going on around him.
He had another reason as well.
It also let everyone see him.
Across the way, Oberleutnant Max Schneider saw the staff car pull into the area and stop in front of the headquarters building.
Recognizing an SS major, he quickly checked that the drivers and trucks were ready to go and briskly walked over to the major.
“Good evening, Major,” Schneider barked as he snapped to attention, his heels clicking together.
“Oberleutnant Schneider at your service, sir.”
His salute was crisp and perfect.
“Ah, Schneider,” Rauch answered, still playing his self-importance role, thinking to himself how important he must be to this mere oberleutnant.
He removed his gloves and flicked his hand holding the gloves up near his right brow…a smug, semi-salute he learned from his superiors.
It was a very poor excuse for an answer to Schneider’s crisp salute but Rauch did not care.
Rauch turned, looking over Schneider’s shoulder. “You have the trucks, I presume?” he asked, trying to be as nonchalant and detached as possible.
“Yes, sir; the trucks and drivers are just over there,” Schneider answered using his left arm to guide Rauch’s eyes over to the six parked Opel 3-ton covered troop transport trucks.
“They are all ready for us, sir!”
“Very well, Schneider.
Let’s get moving before dark.
You have the orders and our destination?”
“Yes, Major.”
The two officers turned and walked over to the trucks.
Schneider motioned to the drivers, who were standing around a burning ash can trying to keep warm.
All immediately threw away their cigarettes and swiftly manned their trucks.
Rauch quickly looked over the line of trucks.
He was not impressed.
“These are the best trucks you could find, Oberleutnant?” asked Rauch as he disappointedly scanned the small line of trucks.
It was bad enough that he was given these idiotic orders, but to have to use these crappy trucks made him feel like he was leading some sort of a garbage run.
Each driver got behind the wheel with another taking his place on the passenger side.
Rauch was at least thankful he did not have to ride in these pieces of crap. The trucks were well worn with weakly upholstered seats that had split from the uncaring hundreds of riders that had preceded him.
Schneider noticed the major was not impressed.
He just wanted to avoid any more comments that were surely soon to come from Rauch.
“I am very sorry, sir, for the trucks.
I requisitioned the best six trucks available.
I even evoked your name.
This was the absolute best they had on hand,” the worried Schneider said.
“Very well.
If that’s the best they have, it will just have to do.
Let’s get going,” a clearly disgusted Rauch sighed.
Rauch turned and began to walk back to his car.
Schneider followed Rauch back to the staff car, motioned to the truck drivers and ducked into the back seat.
As the car pulled away the trucks followed in single file.
They drove past the makeshift guard shack and turned left onto the road headed towards the mountains.
“You are clear as to where to go?’ asked the major.
“Yes, sir.
We are to go to regimental headquarters and pick up twenty-four men,” answered Schneider.
“And after that?” quizzed the major.
Schneider squirmed.
“I’m sorry, sir.
My orders are secret and cannot be discussed with anyone, including you, sir,” answered Schneider apologetically.
“I’m very sorry, sir.
I can only direct your driver as we reach our waypoints.”
Rauch huffed, “I see, Oberleutnant,” clearly upset.
“Well, you do what you must.”
What a crock, Rauch thought.
Here he was sent on a trip with a mindless oberleutnant on a mission that was so secret that he was not to be informed.
He had a good mind to stop this stupidity right now and turn the convoy around.
What the hell was going on?
Yet if this was an important mission, he would hate to see what would happen to him if he disobeyed the orders.
He had seen other officers shot for much less.
This damned army.
Here we are with one foot in the grave with the Allies storming into Germany, the Russians streaming in and he is ordered to ride around in the night with an oberleutnant and move a handful of troops around.
All the while the line of trucks ambled down the dark, winding road and it was getting darker and colder.