Major Rauch was full of questions, but he did not want this oberleutnant to know he was not fully aware of what was going on.
Not a chance!
He must sit there, listen to Schneider direct the driver and take it.
After about twenty minutes of no conversation, Schneider leaned forward toward the driver.
“About one kilometer ahead, we turn right and proceed down the road with the fences on each side.”
“Yes, sir!” responded the driver.
The car and the six trucks pulled down a narrow road lined with huge oaks that opened into a large field covered with dozens of tents.
Rauch noticed guards just off of the road eyeing them as they sped past, not even slowing.
Before them was a veritable tent city of German troops.
Schneider ordered the driver to stop about 100 meters down the road in an open area that was a staging ground for the troops bivouacked here.
Rauch could see the fires around the tents and the outdoor cooking area setup beside the two large mess tents. The car pulled up in front of the headquarters building, a small frame farmhouse with two guards out front, and stopped.
“I will see to this, sir,” Schneider said quickly, correctly realizing that the major was already in no mood to have to do anything more than what he had to.
Schneider got out of the car and motioned for the trucks to form a ring around the area pointing back out the way that they had come.
He reached into his pocket for orders as he marched stiffly into the headquarters building.
Rauch opened the car door and stepped out to stretch.
He watched Schneider walk into the house.
He noticed their arrival was being totally ignored by the soldiers milling around smoking.
I guess not much impresses these guys, he thought.
In some ways it must be nice being a grunt.
Just do what you are told and that’s that.
Rauch slowly shook his head letting his mind wander when he saw Schneider bolt from the house with a young leutnant.
“Over here,” guided the leutnant.
“I have your men all ready.”
“Excellent!
The trucks are ready.
Put four men in each truck.
Have them ready to go in two minutes.”
Schneider felt important giving orders and watching men jump.
The young leutnant ducked into a tent near the lead truck and began barking out orders to those inside.
Schneider smiled inwardly as he heard what sounded like a tornado running through the tent and watched the sides of the tent vibrate with movement.
Whatever the hell was going on in there, he did not want to be involved.
In less than one minute, the first of twenty-four soldiers with their gear began piling out of the tents and split up, four to a truck.
The entire process was all over in less than two minutes.
The men were rousted, loaded and ready to go.
Oberleutnant Schneider checked each truck, ensuring there were four men per truck, and strutted over to Rauch, who was now amazed at the efficiency of the young man.
“All of the men are loaded and ready to go, sir,” as he snapped to attention directly in front of Rauch.
“Very well,” said Rauch, who was clearly impressed but was not going to let this young officer know it.
“Let’s go.
It’s getting colder.”
They exchanged salutes and Rauch pulled his collar up and stepped back into the car.
Schneider ran around the car, got in and they were off with all six trucks following as darkness overtook them.
March 28, 1945
On the Road, Germany;
9:30 p.m.
It was definitely getting colder as the sun set.
Rauch noticed the road snaked through a forest.
They had not passed a house or other building for miles.
He also noticed the road was rising, climbing into the mountains west of the headquarters.
Where the hell were they going?
There is nothing out here… nothing.
What kind of a wild goose chase was he involved in?
The questions just poured over him.
And that just made him madder and madder.
He clenched his teeth and looked out at the near total darkness.
After about forty kilometers, Rauch was jolted awake as the car turned off of the road onto a narrower one.
He had fallen asleep.
This new road looked like an old logging path.
He cleared his eyes.
It was pitch dark outside.
“We will travel this road for thirty-five kilometers,” stated Schneider to the driver, relishing the power he had over an SS major.
“Keep your present speed and make sure the trucks are following.”
“We have been traveling for two hours, Schneider.
How much longer do we have?” asked Rauch, now not only half awake but clearly upset.
Schneider saw this and tried to explain.
“Sir, we are very close now.
We should be at our destination in just a few more hours.”
Rauch could not hold it in anymore.
His anger was beginning to spill.
“Are we to drive all night?
Where the hell are you taking me?
Just why in hell do we have to go out to the middle of nowhere for whatever we are supposed to do?” he snapped angrily.
“I am very sorry, sir,” Schneider said trying to not show any fear although he was beginning to get upset with a major screaming at him.
“But I am just following orders, sir.”
Schneider glanced over at the major and thought that it might be better if he just told him where they were going.
It would violate his orders but who would know?
They would be there in another few hours anyway.
He pursed his lips and considered his position.
Follow orders which would be worthless in a couple of hours or soothe a pissed-off major that he has to be with for a while.
How the hell did he get into this mess?
He made his decision.
What use was there to hold back now?
“Sir, we are to lead these six trucks to a secret location to pick up valuable cargo.
I do not know what the cargo is.
All I know is that it takes six trucks and twenty-four men to handle the loading.
I don’t even know where we are supposed to take the cargo.
That will all be in our next set of orders to be given to us with the cargo.”
“I see…” murmured Rauch.
“So I am not the only one in the dark about this,” he said, letting down his guard slightly.
“This secret location you call it, what is its function?”
“I do not know, sir,” Schneider answered sheepishly.
After all this he felt he should know more so that he could impress the major with the information.
But he really had no idea.
“My orders merely state that I accompany you and supply six trucks and men to pick up cargo.
Beyond that I am clueless.”
“Well, I guess we will find out together, Oberleutnant.
I guess we will find out together.”
“Yes, sir, Herr Sturmbahnführer.”
The car continued to lead the trucks deep into the night.
The men in the back of the trucks were trying to get some sleep.
For these men it was the first time in days the constant rumbling of artillery was missing.
The droning of the truck engine and the squeaking of the springs as the truck headed down the dark road lulled them to sleep.
Several pulled out blankets and wrapped them tightly around them.
At least they had those.
They had strict orders for no cigarettes.
It was nearly a crime to put humans in this situation.
In the back of a piece of crap truck with no heat driving all damn night.
But as German soldiers, it was their job to endure such situations, “Everything for the Fatherland”.
This was actually a respite from the action Corporal Hans Kruger had seen prior to being ordered to board the beat-up Opel transport truck that evening.
Kruger was very happy to leave the front lines.
Things were not going well for the German army in general or his battalion in particular.
His squad suffered heavy losses over the past several months.
He lost several good friends.
War brought men together and then tore them apart.
For several of his friends, the war ended just as their life ended… suddenly.
Hans yearned for peace, yearned for the war to be over.
He was tired.
He simply wanted to go home and put an end to this madness that Hitler brought upon them.
But he dared not state that out loud.
Everything seemed to have ears.
So he kept his thoughts to himself like a good German and followed orders.
When the trucks pulled up on the road behind his bivouac, Hans was told nothing more than to get his gear and get in the back of the truck.
He picked up his meager belongings, his mess kit, a couple of blankets, his backpack and his rifle and trudged off to the rear of the truck.
“What’s going on?” he asked the leutnant, who unlatched the truck’s tailgate. “Where are we going?”
“I don’t know,” the leutnant grunted.
“I don’t ask questions.
I just do what I’m told.
I have orders to put you in the truck.
That’s all.
The driver knows where he is supposed to go.
I have no idea.
Just get in.”
Hans got in with three other soldiers from another unit.
They huddled in the back of the truck as the canvas covering the rear of the truck was closed.
At least he was not alone.
He sat across from the three other soldiers.
They looked like they were happy to just be doing something other than fighting.
Hans moved to the front of the truck bed, hoping that with the canvas top and his sitting behind the cab it might keep him warmer.
As he settled on the wooden bench seat, the leutnant slammed the tailgate and closed the back flap.
The truck began to move as Hans pulled out his blankets and began the soldier’s well known skill of making any place a place to sleep.
He looked around in the dim light.
One of the other soldiers was well ahead of him and had staked himself out a bed and was already beginning to snore.
Damn.
What luck to be able to go to sleep so fast!
The musty air from the wet canvas in the closed back of the truck seemed like a large animal coming out of his lair to consume them.
He decided to get some sleep himself.
One thing he learned as a soldier, sleep when and where you can.
The others were bedding down as well.
The jerking of the truck woke Hans and his three comrades.
No one knew how much time passed, but it was very dark.
They were turning onto another road.
One of the men slid back and opened the flap to see what was going on.
Through bleary eyes, Hans saw nothing but darkness.
No lights, not even the road behind them.
And it was cold.
He sat back; very thankful he was in this crappy truck.
“Ah,” said the soldier as he climbed back up to the front of the truck, “I see you are awake.
Great!”
“Yeah, I am,” answered Hans as he moved into another position, his ass sore from the hard bench seat.
“What did you see?”
“Not a thing.
We are in the middle of nowhere,” said the soldier, “but at least we are riding, not walking.
I’ll take a ride any day.
My name’s Mauer, Johann Mauer.”
He moved over and sat by Kruger.