The River

Source

As the sun set on another day, Krafft yawned. He was exhausted, yet he felt another sleepless night forthcoming. Kurt Lang had taken a patrol west to see where the Russians might be. He feared that the assault on Küstrin had already begun, which would mean they'd have to cross the Warthe and the Oder. Something which seemed unlikely in the extreme.

"Worried, Herr Stabsfeldwebel?" Rudi Müller asked with concern in his voice.

"Yes, Rudi, I am. Kurt is a capable guy. Leutnant von Zitzewitz was smart to make him an Unteroffizier, but I'm still concerned. The Ivans seem to be everywhere, while they are focused on Berlin, they're smart enough to watch their flanks as well. Kurt may poke his nose someplace the Ivans don't like."

Müller thought about that for a moment, then stated frankly, "He'll be back, the bullet that kills him hasn't been made yet."

Krafft shook his head, "I hope you're right, Junge."

While that conversation was taking place, some five kilometers ahead newly promoted Unteroffizier Kurt Lang was looking down on a Soviet roadblock, not far from the river. Odd place for such a thing, he thought.

He hissed at Gefreiter Kaufner, "Willi, slide down to your left a bit, is there anything going on at the river?"

Other than the sibilance of the grass as Kaufner slid over it, the night remained as silent as the grave. The sun had gone down not 30 minutes ago. The Ivans had been standing around, smoking and chatting as if they hadn't a care in the word. When night fell, they went quiet as if they knew something was "out there," something which wanted their destruction.

Hearing his man moving through the grass again, Lang turned in that direction.

His lips close to Lang's ear, Kaufner whispered, "You're not going to believe it, two boats are tied up to a makeshift pier. Three men are on duty there. That roadblock is to protect those boats I'll bet."

Lang realized that they now had a way across the river, provided they could get their hands on those boats.

"Willi, can you find your way back to the company?"

Kaufner nodded, "Aber natürlich."

"Go then, tell Krafft and the Leutnant that we have a way over the river, if they come up quickly and quietly, stress that 'quietly' bit, okay?"

"Bestimmt.¹"

Then without another word, Kaufner vanished into the night.

"A boat you say?" von Zitzewitz couldn't believe it.

"Boats, Herr Leutnant, two of them, fairly good size. I think what's left of us could fit aboard easily." Kaufner explained, the lieutenant seemed to act like they had all night to act on this intelligence.

"Well ..."

Krafft put his hand on the lieutenant's arm, "It's worth checking out, Sir. But we don't have all night. We need to get up there, check out the situation and seize those boats."

Von Zitzewitz nodded, "How many Ivans did you say, Schütze Kaufner?"

"Three guarding the pier, five more on the road."

Krafft chimed in again, "If we move fast, Sir ..."

Von Zitzewitz nodded, "Very well, Staber, get the men up and moving. You take 2nd and 3rd platoons, I'll have 1st and 4th behind you. Stress to the men that they must be as silent as the grave. Otherwise they'll be in one before dawn."

"Clear your chambers, weapons on safe. I don't want anyone's weapon going off accidentally. This will be spade and knife work. If you can't handle that, you can hang back with the overwatch section. Questions?"

Von Zitzewitz deferred to his sergeant for this task. He wouldn't have thought of having the men clear the chambers of their weapons. Krafft had asked him to stay with the thirty men detailed to the overwatch group. They would take position on slightly higher ground to keep the road, and the men on it, in sight.

Lang was taking six men down to the pier, Krafft would take twelve men down to deal with the road block. Krafft had a number of Russian speakers in his group who would, if necessary, take uniforms off the dead and pretend to be Ivans should the need arise. Von Zitzewitz hoped that wouldn't be the case.

Krafft had said to him, "Don't worry Herr Leutnant, this will work instantly or not at all. We have no idea what else Ivan has in the general vicinity. A shot is fired, someone screams, and we could have all of Moscow on us before you know it. That's why we're leaving half the company well back from this site. If it all goes to hell, they might still have a chance.

The men at the pier were overwhelmed without a sound. Lang and two others had waded into the Warthe and come up from under the makeshift pier where the two boats were tied up. Each man, chosen for their experience in hand-to-hand combat, had pulled "their" Russian into the river and viciously cut their throats, at the same time holding them underwater. The Ivans either bled out or drowned in very little time.

At the road things hadn't gone as smoothly. Rather than five men there had been six, one man, an officer, had been sleeping in a small vehicle when the attack went in. One of his men, nearly decapitated by a sharply swung entrenching tool had fallen heavily against the side of the vehicle. Waking the man within.

He had stumbled out into a scene of chaos. One of his men, sans head, was lying at his feet. He saw another of his men go down with his skull split by a German shovel. The only Russian to not go down quietly had screamed as a German combat knife slid across his throat. The knife had initially missed anything vital. The second stroke cut off the man's scream in the middle.

The Russian officer reached for his pistol then dropped to his knees with Krafft's knife embedded in his skull. Krafft's blow had been powerful and swift, the Ivan had died before his brain could process what had happened.

"Everyone present?" von Zitzewitz asked as he looked at his men in the dim lighting near the pier.

"Yes Sir, two men are still up at the road, watching for trouble. They didn't bother to change into Ivan's uniforms, they just doused the lights. They're both fluent Russian speakers, if anyone comes along, they can handle it."

Krafft was anxious to get in the boats and get moving. A couple of the men had been commercial sailors before the war, they told him that the boats were in good working order and had full fuel tanks, as far as they could tell in the dim light.

"Very well, Lang go get our boys from the road. Run!"

Lang sprinted off and moments later he and the two Russian speakers were back and climbing into the boats.

"Cast off."

Moments later the two boats slipped into the Warthe, engines silent as the sailors explained that the current would carry them down to the Oder. Before reaching the Oder, they would pass along the Küstrin riverfront. If still under German control they would be safe to proceed to the Oder, after checking in with Küstrin's defenders. Provided they weren't roped in to that town's defense, which von Zitzewitz considered likely.

Source

"Not trying to be funny, Herr Leutnant, but let's cross that bridge when we get to it."

Lang pointed out that if Küstrin was still part of the Reich and they weren't stopped, they could land on the other side of the Warthe and march over the bridge at Küstrin-Kietz.

"Good point, Kurt." Krafft then looked at his officer, "Sir?"

"Sounds like a plan. I doubt we'll get in trouble with the Feldgendarmerie. They'll be looking for single individuals trying to get over, not a formed body of troops."

"Let's hope so." Lang offered.

"Hope ain't a plan, Kurt. Sir, shall we get moving?"

The lieutenant nodded. Engines rumbling to life, the small band of German soldiers continued towards home, and the unknown.

¹ Certainly.