Tovey nodded. American collaborators? Well, he supposed it was inevitable. Someone would always kiss the ass of the new playground bully. When they were caught they would hang, but first they had to be caught. And what did she mean by taking her pride? He thought he knew and decided not to ask. And what about free American prisoners?
She looked at him eagerly. “I grew up around here and know the area. I had family on both sides of the border. I can find you a path around the Germans.”
“And how do I know it isn’t a trap?”
She shrugged. “I will have to go with you to show the path to you. If it’s a trap, you can shoot me.”
“Fair enough,” Tovey said and went off to find Lejeune.
Two hours later, the column of Texans snaked its way south of the now stalled fighting and around the German lines. Dressed in men’s clothing, Martina guided them along a path that was barely fit for goats. Tovey now had no doubts as to the truth of her tale.
Slowly and carefully, they marched through the night. A couple of men were injured falling down the almost mountainous terrain. Martina was exhausted but didn’t complain. Once, she stumbled and he grabbed her arm to steady her and she ripped it from his grasp.
She glared at him and then softened. “I’m sorry. You meant well. It’s just that I’m not used to kindness yet.”
Dawn found them approaching a compound of several dozen tents. It was a supply depot for the troops defending the hill. Wagons and trucks were parked nearby and there were some more of their damned cannon. The men in the compound were facing the hills and didn’t notice the Texans approaching from the wrong direction.
On the other side of the hill, American and German artillery were dueling and they could hear rifle fire. Lejeune said he’d attack at dawn whether Tovey made it or not. Son of a bitch, Tovey thought, it was time to get moving. He noticed that Martina’s eyes glowed with a near-maniacal fury.
Tovey ordered his men forward at a steady run. The Germans continued looking ahead and not behind. They didn’t turn and see them until the Texans were almost on them. Screaming and howling, the Texans tore through the camp, shooting and killing as they went. Scores of Germans surrendered, while others ran in all direction.
“Up the hill,” Tovey ordered. Now they would take the main German lines in the rear.
They didn’t have to. Within minutes, German soldiers began to withdraw from their trenches and pour over the crest. They’d heard the fighting behind them and could see that their camp had fallen. The American Army was both in front and behind them and it was time to get the hell out of this place.
The Texans took up firing positions and now it was the Germans’ turn to die. Out in the open, Tovey’s men cut them down by the scores and then by the hundreds. Advancing Marines appeared over the crest line and joined in the slaughter. German soldiers began throwing down their weapons and holding their arms up high.
Tovey walked over and looked at the vaunted German soldiers. It was the first he’d seen them up close. Their field gray uniforms looked like they were good camouflage and their coal scuttle helmets looked like good protection. They appeared to be good soldiers, but not superhuman like people said they were. They bled and died like ordinary men. The ones who were trying to surrender looked terrified and some were crying, although a number looked furious. Their generals had betrayed them.
Lejeune found him. “Well done, Marcus. This is one Kraut regiment that won’t pester us again.” Then he shook his head sadly. “I just wish it hadn’t cost us six hundred men to do it.”
He found Martina staring at the carnage. The fury was gone from her eyes, now replaced by deep sadness. At first she’d wanted to accompany him on the attack and he’d threatened to use force to stop her. She’d relented and stayed behind, just not too far behind. He wanted to comfort her, but remembered how she’d recoiled from his inadvertent touch before.
“Enough killing,” she said softly. She turned and put her head on his shoulder. He put his arm around her and held her as she shuddered. “Where are you going now?” she asked.
“On to southern California. We’ll visit San Diego and maybe Los Angeles.”
“Then I will go with you, at least part of the way. I need to see some people and make sure they’re okay.”
Lejeune said, “We’ll be heading that way, but we’ll be walking.”
Tovey looked down the line. The tracks had been ripped up as far as he could see.
Was there anything more majestic than a German battleship? thought the crown prince. Given his birthright as the Kaiser’s heir, he’d been on a number of them, but this was his first trip to a glorious monster like the Bayern, the flagship of the mighty German Pacific Fleet.
The Bayern was truly imposing. She displaced thirty-two thousand tons and her main armament was eight fifteen-inch guns in four turrets. They were larger than anything the Americans had and only equaled by the Royal Navy’s Queen Elizabeth class battleships.
Her secondary battery consisted of sixteen 5.9-inch guns and a multitude of smaller guns and a handful of torpedo turrets. She could steam eight thousand nautical miles without refueling and do so at twenty-two knots. Many cars, he thought, could not achieve that speed. She and her three sister ships, the Baden, Sachsen, and Wurttemberg, were the mightiest ships in the German Navy. Only the Bayern was off California. The others remained in Germany.
The prince carefully climbed the stairway to the deck. A stumble would not do for the imperial dignity and, despite calm seas, the massive ship was moving slightly. He was greeted by Admiral Hipper and Admiral Trotha. The ubiquitous Captain Canaris stood behind Hipper. The prince reviewed the immaculately uniformed crew and then the men retreated to Hipper’s quarters for lunch, brandy, and cigars. The prince found himself wistfully thinking that it would be wonderful to have such a movable fort on land. He mentioned it to the two admirals who chuckled.
“We could build it,” Hipper said cheerfully, “but how in God’s name would we ever move it?”
Hipper gave an almost invisible signal and Trotha departed, leaving him alone with the prince. “Sir, I am honored that you came.”
“And I am honored by the invitation. Your ship is truly marvelous.”
“Indeed, sir, but neither she nor her sisters have yet accomplished a thing. I know that blockade work is essential, but it is anticlimactic, boring, and does nothing for the reputation of Germany’s newest weapon, her mighty fleet.”
The prince sighed. He had expected this. “I assume you wish to share in the final assault.”
“Sir, our honor demands it. I have brought four minesweepers to clear the channel. All I need from you is the date and time of your attack and my fleet will blast its way into San Francisco Bay. When the Americans realize they are being assaulted by land and sea, they will panic and resistance will crumble.”
“You will lose some of your ships,” Wilhelm said quietly.
“As you will lose men, sir.”
The prince frowned. The German Army had suffered another ten thousand casualties storming the American’s second line. Intelligence said that the Yank third line was the most formidable and was where what machine guns and artillery they had were massed. He was confident he could carry it, but at what price? Anything the Navy could do to make his job less bloody would be welcomed.
There were other factors, political factors, affecting the admiral’s request to be included in the fighting. Germany’s reputation was that of a land power and the proud German Navy was a new and basically untried force. Worse, it hadn’t accomplished much in the 1914 war and very little in this fight. Modern ships were exorbitantly expensive and the money men in Berlin were questioning the new navy’s usefulness in a modern war. Hipper and the other admirals feared that their navy might be relegated to a secondary force, and they had good reason to worry. No new capital ships had been launched in three years. Wait and see was Berlin’s attitude, while the generals sat back and smirked. A joint victory by the German Army and Navy would ensure that more warships joined the navy.