Breakout

Source

Oster looked at Krafft, not sure how the man would receive this plan. Lately the sergeant's emotions had been all over the map, but when it came to taking care of his men, Oster thought Krafft to be one of the best men he had.

Krafft looked down at the ground, they were holed up in yet another forest, not far from Hohenseeden, two days after ambushing the Russian reconnaissance unit, two days after the death of Oberst von Balck and perhaps 30 other members of their little Kampfgruppe.¹ They were southeast of the Elbe ferry at Rogätz, which was 16 kilometers from their position. But the destination they were making for, Tangermünde, still lay some 30 kilometers to the north. Only a few people other than Krafft knew of this ferry. One of his soldiers had mentioned trying for that instead of a "might be intact" bridge further to the north.

"I hate to say this, Herr Hauptmann, but I agree. There are just too many of us to try and make it as a body. Breaking into smaller groups gives us a chance, no matter how small it may seem," he had decided, for now, to keep the knowledge of the ferry close to the vest. No sense telling everyone, though it pained him to keep it a secret from Oster.

Oster looked around the small group of sergeants and corporals, "My suggestion is that we break down into our constituent platoons and each group make its way as best it can."

"This is ludicrous, a death sentence!" Gefreiter Heffenbach erupted with passion. "Together we are strong, together ..."

Krafft looked at his man, "Together we are a Gottverdammte target, Ernst! There is no safety in numbers out here. We are all likely doomed, however, breaking into smaller parties we might slip through. You can hear the guns at night, can you not? Berlin is still standing, the Ivans are still focused on that. Once it falls, they will begin rounding up the stragglers. That's what we are, Ernst, stragglers."

"But Staber ..." Heffenbach protested.

Lang stood up and walked over to Heffenbach, "Why don't you sit down and shut up boy? Haven't you figured it out yet, the f**king war is over. We're waiting to be mopped up. I'd rather be mopped up by the Amis, not the Ivans."

Heffenbach hung his head, "I know you're right, Kurt, it's just to give up."

"It's either that or die, Junge." Krafft said quietly.

The decision was made, they would break up into groups, each no larger than twenty men, and try to break out on their own. They would leave at intervals, Krafft's group, he'd assented to bringing Heffenbach and the remains of his platoon with his group, numbered twenty one men and one woman, Frau Schmitz.

She and Krafft were in deep conversation some twenty meters from the rest, Lang, as was his custom, sat somewhere between the main group and his friends.

Liesl's eyes glistened in the dim light from the stars and moon above, the forest blocked most of the light, but not all. "Are we going to survive, Dieter?"

Krafft sighed, "I don't know, Liebling, I certainly hope so. If it was just you, me, and Kurt, we'd have a 50/50 chance."

"Only 50/50?"

"The SS and the Feldgendarmerie are still out there, hanging deserters. They'll bully small groups, three to four, and hang them. A half-platoon, armed? That might give them pause. Remember most of them are bullies and cowards, if they were real men, they'd be at the front. Or making for home. This is their last chance to lord it over others. When the war ends, we'll all be slaves."

She gave him a harsh look, "You are so negative, my darling."

"I am a realist. Our only hope is that the West and the Ivans fall out, and I think they will. Then, and only then, will we Germans be needed."

The hour arrived, the group was gathered, they were told that their path was due west. One of the men pointed out that Tangermünde was to the north.

"Do you think such a long river is only bridged at one place? Do you not think that there might be ferries along the river?" Lang pointed out.

"But the ferry boats, won't they be destroyed already?" one of the younger soldiers asked.

"It's possible, but it's also possible that the boats are on this side of the Elbe, our side. After all, we want to deny the Amis the ability to cross, not our own ability. I reckon that the boats which remain are on this side of the river." Krafft answered.

"Unless the verdammte Ami terror flyers have sunk them all. We don't want them on our side of the river, they don't want us on their side of the river. It's a crap shoot lads. Let's just stay alive and keep moving. For now whether that ferry exists or not, that's not a problem for right now." Lang pointed out.

"Enough chatter, let's move, single file, no talking. I hear it ..." Krafft began.

"And I'll make sure the chatterbox goes silent forever." Lang added.

Lang hissed to Krafft, "We're also hoping for a bridge over the Elbe-Havel Kanal as well, right?"

"There's one just east of Ihleburg, should still be up. If it isn't ..."

"Then I guess we learn to speak Russian." Lang added.

"If I were a praying man, I would start right now."

"Way ahead of you, Dieter, I think I was born again somewhere around Kharkov."

"Took you that long?"

"Would you both shut the hell up?" Liesl hissed at the two men.

Krafft put a finger to his lips and nodded. There would be time later, he hoped, for banter. Now was certainly not that time. Then he blew a kiss at Liesl, she smiled.

Lang, ever the comedian, blew a kiss back at Krafft.

All Krafft could think was, "Dear God, at least let these two survive."

The night was alive, though the rain had stopped in the late afternoon, water still dripped from the many trees. It helped masked the noise of the group's movement, tomorrow could be a problem, they all knew that.

Though they had no way of knowing it, roughly 100 kilometers to the east in Berlin, Adolf Hitler had just shot himself. The Thousand Year Reich would last one more week.

The war in Europe was winding down, fighting raged in Berlin, hundreds more Germans and Russians would die in its streets, but the end was near.

¹ Battle group, a grouping (often ad hoc) of combat units, usually smaller than but could be the size of, a brigade. These groups were task focused and late in the war could be composed of the remnants of multiple units.