Von Paulus's raised eyebrows told von Neibermann that the name meant nothing to him.
"The Argentine, Herr General," von Neibermann explained. "Hauptmann Jorge Alejandro Duarte."
Von Paulus, now remembering, was genuinely sorry to hear this too. The young Argentine Cavalry captain had been an extraordinarily nice-looking young man; and during the few minutes of the Argentine's courtesy call, von Paulus had realized that Duarte did not view his attachment as an observer as a vacation from his duties at his embassy in Berlin but as a learning experience for a professional officer.
"I don't quite understand," von Paulus said.
"Captain Duarte volunteered to fly the mission, Herr General."
Von Paulus now remembered Hauptmann Duarte telling him with the enthusiasm of a young, energetic officerthat he had asked for and been granted a detail to the Aviaci?n Militar branch of the Argentinean Army. In his words: "Aircraft are the cavalry of the future."
He was not supposed to do that,von Paulus thought. He was an Argentine. Argentina is neutral. Taking an active role was a violation of the Geneva Convention.
Not that the Russians would have paid any attention to his neutral status if they'd been able to lay their hands on him. That was probably his rationale for doing what he should not be doing.
"Have we recovered the bodies?" von Paulus asked.
"Von Zainer's men recovered them within minutes, Herr General," von Neibermann said admiringly. "The Storch went down in the Volga."
If the Russians had found the bodies and had recognized an Argentinean uniform, there might have been complications,von Paulus thought. And then he wondered, Is that what's bothering von Neibermann?
"Be so good, Herr Brigadefuhrer, to inform me of the time of the burial service. I would like to attend."
"Herr General, there are political ramifications of this unfortunate incident."
"You mean because he was flying the airplane when he should not have been?"
"I mean because he died fighting communism."
"I don't quite follow you, Herr Brigadefuhrer."
"I think the body should not be buried here," von Neibermann said. "It should be escorted to Berlin, and turned over to the Argentinean Ambassador. I would not be at all surprised if they wished to repatriate it."
Von Paulus said nothing. He waited, his face impassive, for von Neibermann to continue.
"There is enormous propaganda potential in this incident, Herr General," von Neibermann said. "This brave officer's unfortunate death at the hands of the communists could well serve to maintainindeed, to buttressArgentine sympathy for our cause."
"What exactly do you think I should do, von Neibermann?"
"I believe Captain Duarte's remains should be transported to Berlin immediately, by air. I have been informed that your permission, Herr General, is required for space on a transport aircraft."
"The transport aircraft are being used to evacuate our badly wounded," von Paulus said, thinking aloud. "And officer couriers."
"I respectfully submit, Herr General, that this is an extraordinary circumstance."
"Very well," von Paulus said, and raised his voice: "Von Steamer!"
Oberstleutnant von Steamer appeared almost immediately.
"Arrange for a priority for Brigadefuhrer von Neibermann to transport a body to Berlin..."
"For the body and myself," von Neibermann added. "I think under the circumstances that is appropriate."
And it will give you a chance to go to Berlin, won't it? And regale the Austrian Corporal and his henchmen with tales of your bravery at Stalingrad? Perhaps with a little luck, you might not have to come back.
"Do it, please, Willi," von Paulus said.
"Jawohl, Herr General," von Steamer said.
[THREE]
Headquarters, Company "A"
76th Parachute Engineer Battalion
82nd Airborne Division
Fort Bragg, North Carolina
1345 5 October 1942
Captain John R. McGuire, commanding Able Company of the Seventy-sixth, had not been told why it had been deemed necessary to demolish and remove from the site the World War I power-generating station. The stocky, muscular, twenty-four-year-old graduate of West Point had been informed only mat his company was charged with the mission.
The station was situated in a remote corner of the enormous Fort Bragg reservation on what was now a 105- and 155-mm artillery impact area. It consisted of several sturdy brick buildings, now gutted, and a 150-foot brick chimney. The rusting hulks of half a dozen World War I Ford-built tanks were scattered around it, as if protecting it. Most of these were half buried in the ground, and were also now showing scars where they had been hit by artillery.
The mission could be regarded in two ways: As a dirty, unnecessary job dreamed up by some jackass at Division Headquarters. In an artillery impact area, it would be just a matter of time until the chimney and the buildings around it were reduced to rubble. Or as an opportunity to give his men some realistic, hands-on training in demolitions and using bulldozers and other heavy equipment.
Captain McGuire elected to see the mission in the latter regard. He thus received permission from Battalion to delay the prescribed company training for five days, successfully arguing that it would benefit the men of his company more not only to practice their skills, but to become familiar with how other specialists performed their duties.
In other words, the entire company would watch the second platoon rig explosive charges on the chimney and the gutted buildings (these would be designed to knock the chimney down and reduce the massive brickwork to large chunks). Then the entire company would watch the first platoon, using air-hammers, reduce the large chunks of masonry to sizes which the third pla toon would then load onto trucks and haul away. During all of these operations, everyone would lend a hand, wherever possible; they'd all get their hands dirty. Finally, everyone would get a chance to watch the company's bulldozers scrape the area and turn it back into bare ground.
Since Captain McGuire thought of himself as something of an expert in the skills required for this project, he had given it a good deal of thought. In his judgment, it would take two days to lay the initial demolition charges. Using the available engineer manuals, he had precisely calculated the explosive needed to topple the chimney and shatter the brickwork of the surrounding buildings.
It would then take another two days, using both explosives and air-hammers, to reduce the chunks to manageable sizes, and a final day to load everything up, truck it off, and bulldoze the site.
He had kept this information to himself. In his view, the best way for his platoon-leading lieutenants to learn how to do something was to do it themselvesusing the available manuals as a guide, of course.
Because Second Lieutenant Anthony J. Pelosi commanded his second platoon, he was charged with toppling the tower. After Pelosi surveyed the site, he came up with an Explosives Requirement that, in Captain McGuire's judgment, was woefully insufficient for the task.
Even so, McGuire decided to let Pelosi fail. When Pelosi blew his charges and the chimney and the buildings still stood, he would learn the painful and humiliating truth that he didn't know nearly as much about demolitions as he thought he did.
Pelosi's overconfidence was perhaps understandable. Very soon after he arrived in Able Company, Pelosi informed McGuire that in Chicago, where he came from, his family operated a firm called Pelosi and Sons Salvage Company; his father was one of the sons. McGuire instantly concluded that the firm was connected with used auto parts or something of that nature; but that did not turn out to be the case. Rather, the business involved the salvage of bridges, water tanks, and other steel-framed structures. The first step in the salvage process, Lieutenant Pelosi went on to explain, was knocking the structure down. This was normally accomplished by explosives.