become the majority. Well, with war looming on the horizon, real soldiers would again enter into their own.
That thought having much improved his mood, he looked at Göring and smiled. There were several changes he was already considering. The key one that he had this moment decided on he wouldn't bring up just now; it was to take the raid away from Göring's Luftwaffe and put it under a newly created division of the SS: planes, pilots, everything. Cooperative or not Göring would interfere too much in the months to come and probably find some way to botch the job. Still, he would have to be careful. He had to gain complete control without alienating Göring. The man was simply too close to the Führer to let him become an enemy. Perhaps it should be Hitler's idea.... "There's one point to the plan I've been considering," Skorzeny finally said, diverting the conversation to less potentially explosive terrain.
"Yes."
"I had suspected as much before we started, but now it is obvious: I must be on the ground when the strike comes in."
"What?"
"It simply took too long to get my command organized, and even with practice it will still take too long. Furthermore the entire run-in is blind except for the navigator in the lead plane — and once he leads them into the area everything depends on the individual pilots, especially the transport pilots, being able to successfully identify their particular targets. And for that matter we are not even sure we have actually targeted all the sites; our intelligence promises it will get the information but I can't count on that. Infinitely better if the strike commander examines them up close just before the strike."
"How?" Göring asked curiously. "The moment you drop, the alert will be on."
"I won't drop. I plan to infiltrate into America a full week before the assault on Oak Ridge starts, and then travel as a civilian to the target area."
Göring's eyes widened incredulously.
"Think about it, Herr Air Marshal. The Americans have no concept of proper travel control. No permits needed, and everyone minds his own business compulsively, as if it were a virtue to ignore state-security needs. And now think about this: If I direct the attack from the target area, we will win."
CHAPTER SIX
February 22,1946 A Training Camp, Somewhere in Germany
Standing before these men, Otto Skorzeny was as nearly happy as a man like him could be when not in combat. To his right stood his second in command, Karl Radl. Across the map table from him stood the five company commanders of his strike team: Captains Holzer and Ulrich, who had both been with him for the raid on Leningrad; one-eyed Muhler who had come up through the ranks and was an expert with demolitions; Richer and Lenz who had both stuc lied in America, and thus had the special skills he now needed. Behind them stood the rest of his staff and the second in command for each company.
Covering the table between them was a highly detailed surveyor's map. An easel covered with an apparently made-to-order map that covered an area that included the United States, the Atlantic south to the Equator, and Western Europe stood to his left.
"This morning I met with our Führer and received his final approval. The attack date is scheduled for April twenty-first, fifty-eight days from today. You've been training hard for the last two and a half months. Now it is time that you learn what you are training for."
He gestured at the table map. This is Oak Ridge, in the state of Tennessee."
Openly consumed with curiosity, his staff leaned over the brighdy lit table, the men behind craning for a look.
T've traveled through that region," Richer murmured, breaking the ensuing silence. "In fact, there was this girl in Nashville----" He hesitated, then smiled with a boyish grin that his comrades found a bit chilling. Richer had the reputation of being absolutely pitiless, especially when it came to women. "Anyway," he continued after an uncomfortable
That thought having much improved his mood, he looked at Göring and smiled. There were several changes he was already considering. The key one that he had this moment decided on he wouldn't bring up just now; it was to take the raid away from Göring's Luftwaffe and put it under a newly created division of the SS: planes, pilots, everything. Cooperative or not Göring would interfere too much in the months to come and probably find some way to botch the job. Still, he would have to be careful. He had to gain complete control without alienating Göring. The man was simply too close to the Führer to let him become an enemy. Perhaps it should be Hitler's idea.... "There's one point to the plan I've been considering," Skorzeny finally said, diverting the conversation to less potentially explosive terrain.
"Yes."
"I had suspected as much before we started, but now it is obvious: I must be on the ground when the strike comes in."
"What?"
"It simply took too long to get my command organized, and even with practice it will still take too long. Furthermore the entire run-in is blind except for the navigator in the lead plane — and once he leads them into the area everything depends on the individual pilots, especially the transport pilots, being able to successfully identify their particular targets. And for that matter we are not even sure we have actually targeted all the sites; our intelligence promises it will get the information but I can't count on that. Infinitely better if the strike commander examines them up close just before the strike."
"How?" Göring asked curiously. "The moment you drop, the alert will be on."
"I won't drop. I plan to infiltrate into America a full week before the assault on Oak Ridge starts, and then travel as a civilian to the target area."
Göring's eyes widened incredulously.
"Think about it, Herr Air Marshal. The Americans have no concept of proper travel control. No permits needed, and everyone minds his own business compulsively, as if it were a virtue to ignore state-security needs. And now think about this: If I direct the attack from the target area, we will win."
CHAPTER SIX
February 22,1946 A Training Camp, Somewhere in Germany
Standing before these men, Otto Skorzeny was as nearly happy as a man like him could be when not in combat. To his right stood his second in command, Karl Radl. Across the map table from him stood the five company commanders of his strike team: Captains Holzer and Ulrich, who had both been with him for the raid on Leningrad; one-eyed Muhler who had come up through the ranks and was an expert with demolitions; Richer and Lenz who had both stuc lied in America, and thus had the special skills he now needed. Behind them stood the rest of his staff and the second in command for each company.
Covering the table between them was a highly detailed surveyor's map. An easel covered with an apparently made-to-order map that covered an area that included the United States, the Atlantic south to the Equator, and Western Europe stood to his left.
"This morning I met with our Führer and received his final approval. The attack date is scheduled for April twenty-first, fifty-eight days from today. You've been training hard for the last two and a half months. Now it is time that you learn what you are training for."
He gestured at the table map. This is Oak Ridge, in the state of Tennessee."
Openly consumed with curiosity, his staff leaned over the brighdy lit table, the men behind craning for a look.
T've traveled through that region," Richer murmured, breaking the ensuing silence. "In fact, there was this girl in Nashville----" He hesitated, then smiled with a boyish grin that his comrades found a bit chilling. Richer had the reputation of being absolutely pitiless, especially when it came to women. "Anyway," he continued after an uncomfortable
Similar Books
