Near Kiew, November 9th, 13:08
The Panzergrenadierdivision 12 Maréchal de Saxe had been formed of the former parts of the UT French forces, consisting of the former Franco-German brigade and other French volunteers. The French soldiers who had been affected by the Event as well – the only other foreign UT unit was the Dutch Marines – had accepted the NATO responsibilities after Germany had invoked Art. 5. Some few had left to fight for France again, even if it wouldn't be enough.
Their only stipulation had been that they wouldn't have to fight on the Western Front, so the others were used at the Eastern front instead. In a few days the division would be switched again after seeing some heavy fighting. Many of the French soldiers were still longing for a home that no longer existing. Sure, their families had been with them during the Event, but their home country had turned hostile towards them. How could a proud Frenchmen (and even worse, women!) fight alongside the archenemy? Some regarded them even as traitors, clamouring for them to be trialed should ever come back to France. They couldn't understand: Germany had done so much, atoned for its past crimes and had extended its friendship towards France who had taken it happily. And now everything was supposed to be forgotten? It had been such a shock for them, as it had been for the Dutch as well, who hadn't received a warm welcome at home either.
For legal reasons the French soldiers had accepted a commission in the German army, as France of 2014 didn't exist any longer. However, they fought for Germany as they were sure their German comrades would do the very same if their roles were reversed.
The French 1st Infantry regiment was used at the very front and saw heavy fighting. They had stopped here, at the road to Kiew. A captured T-34/85 was used as a gun turret within the fortifications. Officially, it was damaged and should have been left behind, but nobody wanted to give up the firepower without need. In case of a retreat, the tank could guard the light vehicles of the infantry. At least against Soviet tanks.
Corporals Jean Baptiste Lemarc and Pierre Dumoulin were manning the tank. Their lieutenant had was suffering some 'health troubles' after eating the sausages Jean-Louis had 'organized' from an undisclosed location. Both were chatting about their girls when they suddenly saw a lone rider with a white flag coming up to them.
>Pierre, look! Over there!< Lemarc exclaimed.
>I have him.<
>Are you crazy? He wears the white flag. Someone wants to parley!<
>I am not so sure.< Dumoulin countered. >Look! There´s a truck and a Jeep as well!<
Before something could happen, Capitaine Picard ordered all of them to not commence any offensive actions. He let the gates open and waved with a white flag as well. The Soviets, who had stopped a few hundred meters away, started to drive to the checkpoint. Within a minute they were there.
"Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the French, erm, Bundeswehr." he saluted after recognizing the leading officer as a Soviet general. Surprisingly a female German Hauptmann was with them.
"You aren't the captain of the space ship Enterprise, are you?" the woman joked in English. He was thrown off, as he didn't expect anyone around here to have knowledge about that particular show. He had heard the joke before. Often. But that showed him, that she was real German officer and not just an impostor. "I am Hauptmann Annika Schröder, German Bundeswehr and former prisoner of war. This is Marshal Konew, who is here to start armistice talks with Generalfeldmarschall Heinrici. I would suggest calling the HQ."
"Monsieur le maréchal," he continued speaking a heavily accented English, "I am honoured to have you as my guest. Please come to the officers' quarters. I will phone the HQ immediately; unfortunately, you won't be able to talk to the Feldmarschall. He suffered an accident yesterday and is in hospital. I am however, sure that we will find someone else."
General Dietrich von Saucken stood in the central room of his HQ in order to assess the situation. A short while ago, he had been only second in command, but then Feldmarschall Heinrici's helicopter had crashed. Fortunately, the Feldmarschall had survived, but his arms and legs were broken. He would be out of action for some time. A replacement had not been found yet and so the leadership of the Heeresgruppe Süd fell to him.
The plan had been to attack with this group. Heinrici should have taken over the Heeresgruppe Nord and Guderian the Heeresgruppe Süd. Therefore, they had made plans for totally different units which they now weren't in command of. But war plans never survived for long anyway and now they were hoping to fool the Soviets as they would not expect an offensive in the North. For Saucken this was bullshit and he had said that openly.
Nevertheless, he had his orders and he would follow them. He was still looking at some data sheets, when he received a call from a French captain. A few months back that would have been crazy, now it was a normal occurrence. Nearly, at least. Though, a captain calling a general never meant a chat about football. After the call ended, von Saucken called three helicopters to bring the Soviet armistice delegation to him. Afterwards he called his staff to get information about this Marshal Konew. Finally, he called the Ministry of Defence, where he need to inform Minister von der Leyen about the events that had transpired.
"Frau Ministerin, I have to report a Soviet delegation asking for an armistice arriving in soon," he told his superior.
"Very well, Herr General. You're authorised to start the negotiations. I will have my staff sent you an E-Mail with our preliminary positions," von der Leyen replied.
She didn't seem to be very surprised by that turn of events., which was a surprise to von Saucken, though.
'She already knew something before I got the call,' he thought to himself. 'Politicians. Typical!'
"Erm, of course. However, there is still the question of protocol. Marshall Konew is leading the delegation. I am only general..."
"I see," von der Leyen hummed. "When were you promoted to general?"
"In July," he answered.
"Then you shall get another one, Herr Feldmarschall!" she proclaimed.
Von Saucken was a bit stunned. "Madam, I do not want a promotion I haven't earned. I ..." He couldn't finish the sentence, as he was interrupted by her. "Well, if this helps end the war in the East, then we shouldn't get hung up on technicalities. Besides, it isn't as if you don't have the experience and the deeds under your belt to make General, anyway. But, von Saucken, please don't mess it up! Oh, and prepare for the arrival of the chancellor in a few hours!"
Then she ended the call, leaving a confused von Saucken behind, who still wondered, how the government in Berlin had known before him.
http://www.jmarkpowell.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Von-Saucken-looking-left.jpg
Dietrich von Saucken
The following moment was one of the most surreal Annika had ever experienced: She sat at the table with a French unit at the Eastern Front and was drinking tea from a Samovar that seemed to have been "liberated" from somewhere. She didn't stay long for very soon three helicopters arrived to taje them to the HQ near Kiev.
The city had suffered much fighting and you could see that.
Most of the city was in ruins, buildings completely destroyed. However, it was remarkable, that civilians still lived in some areas, as she could see children playing. It was very dangerous, though. And she didn't really want to think about their living conditions.
The helicopter landed at a free area near a large building. Annika assumed that this had been a hotel before the war. Here one could see the damages of war as well: There were only few windows still unbroken. It had been partly repaired, at least in a makeshift manner.
Annika got out of the helicopter after the delegation members of the Soviets had already exited. And there she saw him: If there was the arch-type of a Prussian officer, then he would be it. A figure surrounded by an aura of dignity and strength. He carried a monocle and a cavalry sabre. Only the Bundeswehr uniform didn't really fit. After he had greeted the Soviet delegation, she did make her report.
"Herr General, erm, pardon, Herr Feldmarschall," Annika started, recognising the rank a second too late. "Hauptmann Annika Schröder reports for duty." She saluted. The Feldmarschall responded ain kind. "Herr Feldmarschall, I have two letters for you and Chancellor Merkel. I gave my word that I would give it to her in person." Annika doubted, though, that he would simply accept that.
"Frau Hauptmann, I accept the letter. I will also make it possible that you give the letter to the Chancellor in person," he replied. "You must be tired and hungry. Please join Major Krantz. He will show you a room to rest and will have the staff prepare you a meal."
"Jawoll," Major Krantz said and led her away to her room.
+++
For the Feldmarschall the situation had suddenly become much more interesting. The letter was addressed to him as well as to the commanding officer of Hauptmann Schröder. He was more astonished, though, that Stalin himself had written the letter. When he opened the envelope a small piece of plastic fell out of the envelope and landed on the ground. A member of the staff picked it up and handed it back to him. It was written in bad German and, surprisingly, seemed to have been printed by one of the modern printers.
"Herr Feldmarschall,
It is very uncommon that the supreme commander of an enemy nation writes the commanding officer of an army group. Nonetheless, this letter had to be written. I have to report the bravery of Annika Schröder, Hauptmann of the Bundeswehr. I have enclosed a chip with the recordings of her latest deployment. As you can see on it, Ms Schröder has done everything to fulfil her soldier oath and even more. Simply unparalleled in bravery is her last action, where she alone forced a whole company to seek cover due to her MG fire and thus allowed her own platoon to escape. Her leadership and her combat actions deserve the highest praise. If she was a member of the Red Army she would have got the Lenin order just for this.
Unfortunately, there have been several overeager officers of the NKWD to interrogate her later. These officers, as well as any other individuals who overstepped their bounds with her, have been severely punished. Despite the enhanced interrogation techniques that were used on her, Miss Schröder remained silent or gave only worthless information or simple lies. She was never broken. That, too, would justify the Lenin order.
This I can personally testify.
Josef W. Stalin
P.S.:..."
He couldn't read further, as he was called in for the armistice talks.
Annika was laying in one of the HQ´s hospital beds and thought about how unreal the last few hours had been: After she had rested and eaten she had been taken to Chancellor Merkel herself to whom she had given the letters that Stalin had entrusted to her, telling the woman that she believed that the dictator was genuine in his attempt at peace talks, at least in her impression. She also mentioned that she had seen some modern amenities, such as the tablet, being used in Moscow, which meant that there seemed to be a thriving black market for modern German goods. They didn't interact any further, as Mrs. Merkel had her hands full with the new developments.
Afterwards, Annika had been ordered to the hospital ward, again, this time for a thoroughly examination. When they wanted to do a rape kit on her, she had refused incidentally, but in the end she had relented, fuming that apparently everything that had happened to her was already public knowledge somehow.
There was something else, though, which the examination brought to light: Annika was pregnant. When the nurse told her, all those awful memories of her times at the hand of the Soviets tried to resurface, but with brutal ruthlessness Annika squashed it down. There was a war going on; she had no time to be weak.
In this moment Feldmarschall von Saucken entered the room.
"So, Hauptmann Schröder, how are faring?" he inquired.
"I am fine, thanks," she replied automatically. He just smiled, like you would smile at an upset child and sat down on the empty bed next to hers.
"I recognise when a soldier is lying to me," he commented nonchalantly. "You are not fine." Annika just shrugged.
"I can't change it, so I might as well go on," she answered.
"You're confirming my worst and my best expectations of women as soldiers," Saucken continued. "The worst because of what has been done to you and the best because of your actions. I saw the film made on your last mission. And I can say your bravery has ended my personal reservations on this topic." He paused for a moment before he continued. "However, you need help. No matter if the Soviets managed to break your or not, you still suffered a horrible fate."
"How can you be so sure?" Annika challenged him. "You don't know me. In fact, I could be a Soviet spy. I could have been broken and turned..."
"But you weren't," he stated firmly. She looked at him in confusion. "You weren't. I´ve known this since I first met you." His eyes were full of kindness and warmth. "Still you need help. Everyone, even I, would need it."
"I am fine," Annika kept insisting. She just wanted this talk to end. She really felt fine, at least that was what she was telling herself.
"I want to tell you the story of a man I once knew," Saucken spoke. "He received the highest orders. He was a man of great courage. He had fought from Liege to the retreat of 1918. All the years. He was lucky to survive. A year later he shot himself because of the problems. In the days back then we had no such possibilities as we have now. Perhaps he could still live. I don't know. But you need help."
"I am fine." she just answered.
Saucken sighed. "I hope you´ll change your mind."
In this moment four soldiers entered the room, carrying between them four large trunks. Annika recognised them as belonging to Marshal Konew.
"Where should we take them?" one of them asked Annika.
"I don't know. They aren't mine," she replied. "I´m pretty sure they belong to Marshal Konew." She was certain that this must be an error.
"No, these are yours," Saucken remarked. "They´re part of Stalin's compensation. We did search them, obviously."
"I don't know if I can accept...I have to ask..." Annika couldn't really express what she was thinking.
"Of course, you can," Saucken interrupted her. "Here is a permission written by Chancellor Merkel and me. And if someone troubles you, send him to me."
"We have a small break in the negotiations," Saucken informed her. "Everything´s going fine; better than expected, actually. We´ll soon have an armistice with the current front lines and no further operations taking place. Then peace talks will start soon, though we still need to find a suitable location. Shouldn't be that hard, to be honest. However, I´ll stop boring you with politics." Saucken laughed. "There are a few people who want to see you." He stood up and nodded towards one of the soldiers in the room, who then proceeded to open the door, through which three men, well known to her, entered; Johnson, her former Spieß, Schneider and Meyer. Annika was surprised to see them.
"Harry, Markus, Fritz!" she exclaimed in excitement. "What are you doing here?"
"We heard that you were back from your holiday in Moscow. Quite a shopping spree you had there, eh?" Markus pointed at the trunks.
"Who did it to you?" Johnson asked, his voice tense and quiet. He hadn't even greeted her.
"Did they tell...", Annika wanted to ask, but was interrupted by Harry, who simply exclaimed "No!" and looked at her.
"He was executed by Stalin," was all she said.
"He got lucky then," Johnson said, clenching his big black fists. "Very lucky, indeed."
It was that simply statement of friendship and trust that managed to make Annika cry. She felt like being on a sinking ship, thrown into the water and drowning because of the suction. Awkwardly, Johnson hugged her, careful as if he was afraid that she would break if he applied too much pressure.
Saucken, who until then had stayed at the door, left. He hoped Annika had now recognised that she needed help.
+++
In the late evening Annika still laid in her bed, alone for now. She read over the list of the things the trunks entailed. She hadn't yet opened them, even though she was allowed to keep them. A part of her told her that she should keep them. Another part said: 'To hell with them'. Well, until Annika decided what to do with them, she was now in the possession of a samovar, dishes, likely Meißen, golden silverware, some jewelry and a fur coat. A sable. Unlike others she liked fur, however, she wasn't sure she could even wear that coat, as it was way too costly. Like everything else.
Then her thoughts came back to the main problem now: She was pregnant.
The first thought that had crossed her mind in affect had been to just abort it and be done with it, but the longer she thought about it, the more unsure she was about it, conflicting feelings warring inside her. The baby was innocent. The boy – because she wanted a boy and was pretty sure it would be one – should not be punished for the crime of his father. But carrying the baby to terms would mean giving up her life as soldier, the only life she knew.
No, Annika thought, steeling herself, she would sell the stuff, abort the child and move on with her life. Like she had done before. She would go to Hamburg soon and abort the child, do her psych evaluation, as it was required by the Bundeswehr and then back to her unit. That was her plan.
"No battle plan survives first contact with the enemy."
Helmuth v. Moltke the Elder
