“Carry on then,” Hans said.
In the booth, Scharf watched the exchange. He carefully studied Anna’s features.
“Clever… too clever,” he said finally to himself, quiet enough that no one else heard. “Brüske,” he barked.
Brüske came over and watched the monitor. They saw the guard stamp Anna’s passport, then wave her on.
“Follow her,” Scharf ordered. “See where she stays in the West, who she makes contact with. Observe only, then report.”
“Yes, Comrade Colonel.”
In moments, Brüske was on the platform, following Anna as she boarded a train to West Berlin.
The next morning, the Defense Minister called Hans into his office. Hans had been sending regular reports to the council and had been present in many meetings with the Minister. This, however, was the first time since his appointment that he had been summoned to the Minister’s office alone. The Minister greeted Hans with a handshake and gestured for him to take a seat in front of his desk. Hans took a seat and placed his visor cap on his thigh.
“I read your recommendations for technological improvements to the border,” the Minister began. “Very good. You have some insightful suggestions. The only question, however, will be how we can get funding for their implementation.”
“Yes.”
“Your ideas are innovative; they look toward the future. That is what we need. But how we secure funding in the council or the Politburo—well, that is another matter. The realities of our duties are difficult.”
Hans nodded in agreement.
“I want to increase the scope of your duties. You have done well with evaluating the defensive condition and recommending a course of action for our Anti-Fascist Protection Wall—but I’d like you to also examine the advantages the Wall may give us from an offensive standpoint. Are you familiar with the details of Operation STOSS?”
“Only generalities.”
“We’ll be holding a large-scale exercise this summer in Magdeburg. It will simulate an offensive invasion of West Berlin. We’re naming it ‘Border’s Edge 85.’ General Thorwald will take charge of this exercise. I want you to work alongside him. Familiarize yourself with the details of the operation. I want you to apply the same kind of analysis you have done with your reports to this new assignment. Is that clear?”
“Yes, Comrade General.”
That night, Hans wrote a postcard to Anna. On its face was a picture of the Neptune fountain in East Berlin. The TV Tower loomed in the background. On the back, Hans wrote:
’Staying longer after the funeral. Finalizing the estate plans.
Enjoying time with old friends.
Opa’
It would be the only notice he could give her that his duties were not yet finished. Now he had an opportunity to get the Operation STOSS plans directly into his hands.
At the Normanenstrasse Stasi headquarters, Scharf conferred with Brüske in his office. Brüske had just gotten back from a day-long surveillance on Anna in West Berlin. Another Stasi agent had taken over, tailing her movements while Brüske gave his report. “Now that we’ve verified the attempt originated in West Berlin, shouldn’t we strike?”
Scharf shook his head. “No. Now, we can wait. I want to see the scope of the network. Who she’s working with… especially her contacts in the East.”
“I don’t think she’ll come back here.”
“Perhaps, but that doesn’t rule out contact with them. Watch her, monitor her movements. Then we can ferret out the conspirators.”
“What about the invasion?” Brüske asked.
“This attack has given us all the justification we need to move forward. We don’t need to create a NATO false flag operation when there are already imperialist bastards penetrating our security and assassinating our officials. But I’m not going to present this to the council until we have proof. Besides, we can afford to wait. We’ve convinced the Defense Minister to conduct an exercise this summer simulating Operation STOSS.” Scharf smiled. “Why not let our boys have a rehearsal?”
Brüske nodded in agreement.
13
The last weekend in June, the command group for Border’s Edge 85 gathered in a village outside of Magdeburg. They stationed their headquarters in a small theater. Hans sat with the brigade commanders and other officers in the theater seats and waited for General Thorwald and his generals to arrive for the initial mission briefing. A large map was projected onto a screen on the stage. Although the map read “Magdeburg,” the features were clearly that of West Berlin. The city was divided into sectors labeled “American,” “British,” and “French,” and the border crossing checkpoints were clearly marked.
Within moments, Thorwald, the Minister of Defense, and several generals, including the head of the Soviet 6th Motorized Rifle Brigade, approached the stage. With the sharpness of military protocol, the soldiers filling the theater seats stood and snapped to attention. Thorwald stepped forward. “Be seated. Comrades, the purpose of this exercise is to determine our organization, execution, and decision-making in joint operations in a major urban area. The scenario here is based on an escalation of provocations from the West, and a NATO action against our Warsaw Pact allies. In order to eliminate further provocations, especially within our immediate geography, we are to invade, divide, and conquer a Western garrison holding the city of Magdeburg.”
Thorwald turned toward the map. “Our forces number approximately 35,000 men, including our comrades-in-arms, the Soviet 6th Motorized Rifle Brigade. Principle units include the 1st Motorized Rifle Division, the Border Troops, paratroopers, People’s Air Force, artillery, and Alert Units of the People’s Police. I will explain the details of your assignments in a moment.
“First, your objectives. Magdeburg is to be conquered in four days’ time. You will divide the enemy within the first two days of the operation. Once divided, any pockets of resistance will be destroyed in the following two days. By day four, the city will be occupied by our forces. Now, comrades, this is urban warfare. Our objective is to avoid building-by-building combat. A swift and skillful application of overwhelming force, in addition to the psychological work of political organs should give us a decisive victory in short order. That, comrades, is the supreme objective.
“As this is an exercise, most of our movements will be conducted on training fields and a partial mockup of a town we’ve created outside of the city. All movements, however, will be coordinated from here, and each of your assignments will be considered part of the consolidated attack on the city, as shown on the map. Our attack will commence with a nine-minute simulated air strike on Allied command and communications centers, as well as the airport. Next, three artillery bombardments of varying duration will commence. Their objective is to neutralize enemy artillery, anti-air and anti-tank capabilities, and eliminate any tactical nuclear weapons harbored within the city. Our shock paratroopers will seize the airport by air drop and helicopter delivery.
“Now, for the ground forces: in order to not alert the enemy to our intentions, all tank and troop units must maintain a line of departure from 1 to 3 kilometers from the “East German-Magdeburg” frontier. A half hour before the 1st Motorized and 6th Rifle Brigades begin to move, engineer units will clear the border defenses to enable tanks and armored vehicles to pass through.”