Free On Desperate Ground by James Benn

Mack could only think that this arrangement would hardly make him popular at First Army HQ, where he would probably be seen as a SHAEF spy. It occurred to him that this was exactly what Prescott and Ike had in mind. He leaned forward and directed his question to Eisenhower.
    “General, are you asking me to spy on First Army for you?”
    “No, Captain,” Prescott cut in abruptly. “You will have access to all First Army G-2 and other readiness reports. What will be different is that we will also provide you, via courier, with summaries of all intelligence reports received here, from G-2 staff throughout Northwestern Europe. It will be your job to then compare that data with the situation in front of First Army.”
    “I want to hear from you directly, Matthew,” Eisenhower said. “If Army Group G-2 tells us that the enemy is weakening and running away in droves, I want you to tell me if First Army GIs are seeing their boot heels.”
    “What’s so special about First Army?” asked Mack. “What about Patton’s Third Army?”
    “We are also sending liaison officers out to Third, Seventh and Ninth Armies as well,” Ike explained. “But I chose you for First Army because I’m concerned about their area of operations. Their line of attack will ultimately bring them south of Berlin. This puts them astride the route between Berlin and this Alpine Redoubt we’ve been hearing about.”
    There were rumors of a Nazi stronghold in the Bavarian and Austrian Alps, where Hitler could hold out for an extended period of time and cause immense Allied casualties. Plenty of German troops were retreating from Italy, the Balkans, Russia, and the western front, and all of them could end up in the Alps, where the Allies would have to fight for every pass and mountain top.
    “Be on the lookout for any surprises as the Wehrmacht pulls back to defend Berlin, or for indications of large-scale troop movements into the Alps.”
    Prescott tapped the sealed envelope Mack held.
    “These orders give you full access to all the resources you will need to get the job done, including the use of a Reconnaissance Platoon from First Army’s Headquarters Company. General Hodges has been notified of your assignment, and General Eisenhower has personally asked him to extend you every courtesy.”
    “I understand,” Mack told the two men. “When do you want me there?”
    Mentally he surrendered to the inexorable. Everything had been planned for him. Generals were waiting for him. After the Generals were the GIs. Then the Germans.  
      “Transport has been arranged for the morning,” Prescott said.
    “Gentleman,” Ike said with a smile, “shall we join the others?”
    Mack felt little to smile about. He followed Ike out of the room, placing the sealed orders in his inside tunic pocket. As he did, he felt his rapidly beating heart and the sweat soaking through his shirt. Fear crawled over him, and a now familiar shudder ran through his body. They had not asked him if he wanted to go, or if he felt he was up to it. Or even if he wanted to spend his last night out on the town, instead of spending the evening making small talk with staff officers and journalists. He followed them, feeling weak, used, and foolish. After all he had done and endured for them, they were blithely ordering him to the front again. Using him again. Using him up.
      The conversation drifted past Mack as he sat through dinner. The other guests ignored him as they engaged in the witty chitchat of the powerful and the sure. They spoke with the certainty of those who knew they would not spend a single night in a freezing foxhole or ever be far from a warm meal or the cocktail hour. The orders in his tunic pocket pressed against his skin and reminded him that another, far different and uncertain world awaited him. He drank heavily and it did not help.
     
     

 
     
     
    CHAPTER SIX
     
     
    22 January 1945
    Saint Ludwig’s Hospital
    Berlin, Germany
     
    Sister Anneliese