Frans. Heinz blushed for a while, and said in a trembling voice, "Can I smoke?" ”

"Please," Lindemann said from between his teeth, leaning over to take his cigar.

Heinz puffed out the smoke and excused: "Mr. Commander, this little crew is really nerve-wracking. If the strongest team had been sent to attack them in time, I don't think they would have existed a long time ago. But that's not my purview, you know that. ”

Lindemann glared at Heinz coldly and asked, "Can you kill them now when they leave the tank?" ”

Frans pondered for a moment, then replied slowly, "Maybe I can give it a try." ”

Lindemann gasped for relief, invited Heinz to sit down at the table, and called the adjutant and said, "Herbert, bring us some coffee." ”

"Wait a minute." Herbert said as he walked out of the office.

Within ten minutes, a red-haired, freckled, and fat orderly pushed the door in, put a goblet of French brandy and a small bowl of black coffee on the table, put down his cigar, and walked out.

Lindemann sat across from Heinz, raised his glass, and whispered, "Hey, Frans! Cheers to our victory in the great battle for the capture of Petersburg. Soon, I am sure, soon we will celebrate this victory in the conquered Petersburg. ”

"God willing!" Heinz said, taking a sip of the brandy and picking up his coffee again.

Lindemann became excited, and began to discuss: "Every corps commander wants his divisions to be the first to storm Petersburg, and I am certainly no exception. All measures I can take will be taken to enable my troops to receive this honour. For this reason, Frans, your task should be to fortify my position. I am sure that there will be no more of that odious Russian tank in front of our positions. ”

"Mr. Commander! In order to carry out the orders of our Great Führer and you, my subordinates will do their best, if not more, to do better. I am convinced that in this great battle, the honor of being the first to enter Petersburg will belong to you. ”

Lindemann smiled and exclaimed, "This will be the happiest day of my life." God will bless us. ”

Lindemann was sipping brandy, and Heinz was sipping coffee.

"The battle will be difficult," Lindemann lamented, "and many of the best descendants of the Germanic peoples will die on the battlefield, and we will have to pay a considerable price for the capture of Petersburg." For now, things are not as smooth sailing as we expected, and the winter in Russia is just too bad. The soldiers were frozen, the uniforms to protect them from the cold had not yet arrived, and the various regiments were feeling short of supplies and fuel. To be honest, I was apprehensive about this, having reported to the former commander of Army Group 'North', Field Marshal Loeb. Although he also said that he was trying to solve it in every possible way, I knew that not everything depended on him. ”

"But we're going to take Petersburg anyway." Frans. Heinz said sympatheticly.

"Yes, we should present this New Year's gift to the Great Führer. But Frans, what is the enemy doing in our rear? You're not hiding anything from me, are you? ”

Frans placed the cup of unfinished coffee on the plate, pushed it aside, then flipped through the paper clip and began to report.

"Last week, the situation in the offensive zone of your troops was relatively calm, while the guerrillas, who were mainly operating in the wooded area, overturned two columns with military equipment and troops and burned one column loaded with fuel."

Lindemann frowned.

Heinz did not pay attention to his expression and continued: "A total of 142 of our officers and men were killed and 226 wounded, including 15 officers. In retaliation, we burned five villages and shot nearly a thousand hostages, mostly local residents. Nothing else. ”

Lindemann thought for a moment, stood up, and walked over to the military map on the wall.

"Mr. Heinz, please look at the map, in this direction, there are several important airfields of the air force deployed here, although they are well hidden, if that odious Russian tank leads the Russians to attack from this direction, then it can easily cross the line of our troops, and lead the Russian planes to our air base, and the base will be blown to pieces by enemy aircraft."

"Mr. Commander, I will definitely send my most elite men to destroy this hateful crew."

"Don't drag it out for too long, act boldly and resolutely. If possible, it would be better to capture them alive and then publicly execute them in front of the positions in order to demoralize the Russians and puncture the panic that the Russians had concocted. ”

Lindemann said that he would not know at this time that his words would not only ruin all efforts of the SS Special Brigade, but would also cause more German officers and soldiers to lose their lives.

"What if our men didn't leave the tank when they met them? Aren't we going to give away the lives of many soldiers in vain? The brigade commander asked timidly.

Lindemann pondered, turned his back and paced around the room, then turned to Heinz and said in a frightened voice: "Brigade commander, you are responsible for the security of my unit. On the eve of the general assault on Petersburg, I could not allow them to continue their actions that threatened us. Be sure to eliminate them before the attack begins. As for how to do it - it's your business. If there is any need for troops, I will do my best, of course, to the extent practicable. ”

"Mr. Commander! I thank you for your wise advice, but not with the support of your troops. I fear that this will startle the Russians and make them slip away. Maybe it's better for us to deal with them through secret channels. As you wish, it is better to capture them alive and punish them with the most severe punishment in the presence of the Russians. ”

"Well, it's all up to you, Frans." Lindemann said.

"Mr. Commander! Allow me to go back and begin preparations for this operation. ”

"I wish you success! Please report the results of the battle in a timely manner. ”

"Yes, Mr. Commander," Frans said. Heinz jumped up from the circle chair like a spring, picked up the paper clip on the table, clattered the heel of his leather shoe, threw up his right arm, and shouted: "Hi, Hitler! "Walked out.

Frans. As soon as Heinz returned to his office, his deputy, SS SA flag chief Stein, came to see him. The pale white eyelashes, which were very noticeable on his red face, fluttered from time to time, and his complexion looked very pale.

Seeing his appearance, the special brigade commander turned gloomy, glanced at Stein, and asked, "Albright!" How do you feel about yourself? ”

The flag commander stood upright with his hands down and blurted out, "Excellent." ”