Eisenhower looked around the room, keeping eye contact with everyone who dared to reciprocate his gaze.
“This is a joint coordinated operation between the air force, armor, and infantry. The ground forces will strike after the bomber group led by Sergeant Major Jarad Griffin have softened up the Nazi defenses.”
“After that…” Arnold continued, “The fighter group will strafe the hell out of the remaining positions to give our boys on the ground the best chance of pushing through quickly and decisively.”
Brooklyn raised his hand.
“Yes, Staff Sergeant?”
“Sir, what about the Fritz air force?”
General Arnold waved a dismissive hand. “They have been battered into submission and besides, any remaining Luftwaffe forces will be tied up with the Soviets.”
“We need to move quickly because the Red army is only three days away, so when you have turned the Germans defenses into mush, the armored units will advance, mopping up any resistance. Finally, the infantry will smash through into the facility and secure the device and hopefully any surviving scientists.”
General Eisenhower then pulled down various specifications of enemy units. Then he inspected enemy units.
“We believe the facility is defended by crack SS units. Our intel is patchy due to the fact we aren’t supposed to be in Poland.”
“However, we think it is the 5th SS Mountain Corps and the 5th Panzer army.”
“We are expecting a large number of Panther tanks and a reasonable amount of Tigers but in the main, the Polish reconnaissance team recorded the bulk of battle tanks to be Panzer IV’s”
General Eisenhower stressed the point about how well trained the troops are and advised the aviators not to get shot down and captured as these men were responsible for some of the greatest atrocities in the East.
“Our intel suggests that SS Commander Hans Kammler and SS Gruppenführer Jakob Sporrenberg are in charge of the facility. This raised our suspicions that this base is more important than we first believed.” Eisenhower looked at Arnold then continued. “We don’t know what to expect when this attack begins in one hour, but you are to fly out under the cover of darkness and bomb the shit out of the area so my boys can head in and steal this facilities secret right under the nose of these SS bastards! You understand me?”
The men rose and roared in unison, “Sir, Yes, Sir!”
“Good, anything you want to add General?” Eisenhower asked.
“Do me and your country proud boys. Go and get em! Dismissed.”
“Yes, Sir.” They shouted again.
Brooklyn and his squadron left the tent in a slight daze, the excitement slowly taking over. They each took out a cigarette, lit them and inhaled the toxic fumes. “No fucking escort bullshit today boys. Let’s go and fuck the shit out of them Jerry bastards.”
“Yes, Sir.” They all roared then high fived. Despite the fact they wouldn’t be facing their German counterparts in the air they were still scared. Not that they would admit it. None of them wanted to face a Superweapon again.
Brooklyn had the misfortune of witnessing the much feared V2 rocket and its unstoppable destruction while he was training in England. It was a primal fear when you faced something that could kill you without you having a hope in hell of stopping it, you placed your fate deeply in the hand of lady luck. He was not too pleased of the prospect of facing the crack army that would be defending the facility either.
The SS were villainized above anything else through the propaganda streams but talking to soldiers that had faced them; they were an unrelenting professional fighting force that would fight to the last man. A chill went through the staff sergeant’s spine.
Jakob Sporrenberg
Sporrenberg was prowling the tight corridors. He moved quickly and with purpose. He wore the tired look of a man under immense pressure. The first man to have the misfortune of bumping into him was his second in command, Hauptsturmführer Berndt Krause.
“Ah, Hauptsturmführer Krause. Good morning.” Sporrenberg said with a false smile.
Berndt stood immaculately stiff to attention and raised his hand in a salute.
“Good morning Gruppenführer Sporrenberg.” Krause stood to attention unmoving like an ancient mountain.
Sporrenberg smiled, “At ease Krause my friend. Have you seen my esteemed colleague… Hans Kammler? I need a word with him.”
“No sir, not since the briefing.”
“God damn it.” Sporrenberg flew off the handle and smacked the concrete wall with his closed fists, making Brendt jump out of his skin. “Where is that coward hiding?”
“Would you like me to send some men out to find him Sir?”
As quickly as he had exploded Sporrenberg regained his composure. “No Krause, I expect the cowardly bastard has preached to us about standing and fighting to the last man, then run as soon as he got the chance.” He spat on the floor to emphasize his disgust.
Sporrenberg issued his final orders before he expected the fighting to begin. They knew the assault was coming. It was inevitable but they did not know from whom, they were expecting the Red army.
The 5th SS Panzer army along with the 6th Panzer corps had been preparing for the last two nights, practicing tactics and was in a position to defend key areas around the base. The shock troops of the newly formed 5th SS Mountain Corps were the best equipped in the Wehrmacht and were vastly experienced. They were a formidable fighting force.
The alarm sounded out through the underground city, SS troops rushed to gather their equipment. The core of the troops was equipped with the revolutionary new Sturmgewehr 44 (StG 44) assault rifle. The troops felt a love for this weapon like no other as it gave the firepower and accuracy they sorely missed with its predecessor. The men received their final orders and each was given a fresh packet of Pervitin to pick them up before battle. The allies were not aware of it but the ‘pick me up’ drug was a type of crystal meth that kept the Wehrmacht war machine fighting with a complete disregard for their own personal safety. In short, they felt invincible.
Sporrenberg walked against the growing tide of battle-ready men going in the other direction towards the surface, they gave him as much space as they could in the tight rat run of corridors packed tightly under the safety of the mountain.
Sporrenberg continued his descent through the cold reinforced tunnels; he passed the combat-ready soldiers into an almost deserted and poorly light tunnel. This tunnel led ever deeper into the complex and was officially marked as incomplete; they had even flooded part of the tunnel to create the impression of unfinished work.
Sporrenberg knew better and crossed quickly on a tiny wooden boat. The small wall lights flickered once then went off completely plunging the tunnel into pitch black darkness, the faint alarm in the distance also ceased.
SS Gruppenführer Jakob Sporrenberg sat gently bobbing in this tiny wooden boat; it was more of a floating wooden pallet then an actual boat. He continued paddling forward with a wry smile on his face. ‘Good, at least they still have the will to carry on the experiments.’ he thought. The SS Group leader had reached the other side of the flooded tunnel; he grabbed carefully in the dark for the guide rope and then gently pulled the pallet out of the water. He continued cautiously, following the guide rope. After about ten minutes he rounded a corner when somebody shouted out a warning.
“Halt. Identify yourself or we will shoot.”
“Good eyes, Soldier,” Sporrenberg said, “SS Gruppenführer Jakob Sporrenberg, SS number 3809.”