Sir, The Men Are Angry...

(Source)

Major Jürgen von Lüttwitz looked up from his map at his two officers, Leutnant Manfred Sauer, commanding the 5th Company, and Leutnant Ralf Heinrich, commanding the battalion's armored detachment of one StuG IV and two Panthers.

"Meine Herren¹, we are a Panzergrenadier battalion in name only, we have no vehicles, other than our armor, and we are down to, what was it Manfred?" von Lüttwitz looked at Sauer as he asked the question.

"One hundred thirty infantry, well, most of them are infantry. I reorganized my 3rd and 4th Platoons into a single 3rd Platoon, those men were artillerymen and anti-aircraft troops, now that we no longer have those vehicles, I had to do something with them. The good news is that very few of them are raw recruits. Most of those died at Kreuzau or outside Köln. The ones who are left are good men, not really used to marching, but how far do we need to march anyway. What is it to Düsseldorf Ralf, maybe fifty kilometers? Two days?"

Heinrich thought for a moment, then nodded and said, "About that. But with these men, not used to marching, I'd say three days. Maybe your old Landsers could do it in two, I don't know."

"Call it three days then." von Lüttwitz said, "But..."

"Why go there at all?" Heinrich asked the question, which surprised Sauer. He knew von Lüttwitz as well as any man he'd ever known. The Major could see the increasing futility of resistance. They were losing men by dribs and drabs, one or two here, another three there. The battalion's strength had been cut by more than two-thirds in little over a month.

"Ralf has a point, Jürgen. The Americans are about to burst out of their bridgehead at Remagen, the Ic at division messaged me last night, I'm guessing your radio was off, the Tommies are preparing to attack north of the Ruhr, between Wesel and Duisburg. They are slow, but they are very methodical. Once they are across the Rhine, with the Amis rampaging to the south, whoever is defending the Ruhr will be cut off. They can either die or they can surrender. You know the SS will not surrender. The war is lost, we need to face that."

Sauer related all that in a matter of fact way, no dramatics, just the way he saw things. Von Lüttwitz noted that Leutnant Heinrich was nodding with each word Sauer spoke. His lieutenants were leaning towards surrender, he was starting to think in those terms as well. But one thing bothered him, a lot, that damned oath they had all sworn.

"The oath gentlemen, what about that?" Von Lüttwitz asked, "You remember it, yes."

He then recited it, from memory...

"I swear to God this holy oath

that I shall render unconditional obedience

to the Leader of the German Reich and people,

Adolf Hitler, supreme commander of the armed forces,

and that as a brave soldier I shall at all times be prepared

to give my life for this oath."

Sauer nodded his head, then said, "For me Hitler forfeited his right to my loyalty when he had Army officers convicted, and executed, for often spurious reasons, last summer. You remember that, yes?"

Heinrich nodded and said, "A very good friend of my father was arrested the day of the bomb plot. He was stationed with the Reserve Army in Berlin. The SS came in and took him and his staff away. Rumors were rampant that they were shot to death, without a trial. Shot summarily, out of hand. Hitler can lick my ass. That man was like a second father to me."

"Yes, I consider my oath to be null and void, the Party, led by Hitler, is destroying the Fatherland. But we must be careful, the GFP are active in the area. As are the Waffen SS and the SD. Think things over carefully, have your sergeants monitor the men's conversations on the march tonight, tell them that I'm concerned about morale, which I am. But I'm also concerned that some of the men might desert. If we give up, it must be as a unit." Von Lüttwitz rubbed his hands together, it felt like they were in for another cold night march. Hard decisions lay ahead.

The night was bitter cold, Sauer and von Lüttwitz, along with their platoon leaders and other sergeants, roamed up and down the column. Sauer figured that for each meter the men marched, he had marched three.

There was grumbling in the ranks, the men were tired and angry. Sauer had heard one man, he thought he recognized the voice of one of his messengers, grumbling, "Why are we marching north, why are we still doing this?"

Another man hushed him saying, "Be careful what you say, the Party has its spies everywhere."

One man tried to start a marching song, the German infantry had loved to sing in the early days of the war. As another man took up the song, yet another told them both to just shut up. Many agreed, they were too tired to sing.

After some twenty kilometers, the head of the column entered Bergisch Gladbach, just when it was starting to get light. There, hanging from a lamp post, was a soldier, a German soldier. He had a placard around his neck with one word on it: Verräter.²

Von Lüttwitz heard the men muttering, one cried out, "Is this what we're fighting for?" The man's sergeant quieted him immediately, but the grumbling got louder. Eventually, as they passed the dead man, the men in the ranks went silent. It was one of the most disturbing things von Lüttwitz had ever experienced.

He was quite sure of his decision now, they must find a way to surrender to the Americans. If they went much further north, the British would be there. He did not wish to surrender to the British, they had long memories.

Better the Americans, he thought.

Just then Leutnant Sauer caught up with them, "We must do something soon, Herr Major. The men are angry, almost mutinous I would say."

Von Lüttwitz simply nodded and said, "The Americans?"

Sauer agreed, "That would be best, I think."

¹ Gentlemen

² Traitor

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