Chapter 20:
Surrounded by seventeen other generals, both Heer and Luftwaffe at an extraordinary long conference table, General Albert Burkhalter silently listened to one of Goering's right hand men discuss the progress of the war for the Germans and brainstorm new combat methods to take the Allies down before they had a chance to advance any further on the Western Front. An army general was about to suggest a counterattack of some kind, when the door to the meeting room slammed open, and Carter and Kalina came barreling in. They desperately scanned for Burkhalter and felt a two hundred pound weight lifted from their shoulders the minute they lay eyes on the burly general.
"General Burkhalter!" Kalina cried, running to his side.
"Kalina!" Burkhalter exclaimed, shooting to his feet as his dark eyes nearly bugged out of his head.
"Boy General, have we never been so happy to see you in our entire lives," Carter said, stopping only several feet away from the German officer, while Kalina wrapped her arms around Burkhalter's large waist and buried her face into his side.
"Carter?" Burkhalter gasped. His wide eyes narrowed, his pale complexion turning into a rosy pink agitated one. "What is the meaning of this? How did you two get out of camp? And why are you dressed like that, where did you get those uniforms?"
"I bought them, Herr General, but none of that matters right now. We need you now. Papa, he's in danger, he needs help."
"Your father? What kind of situation has he gotten himself into this time?"
"General Burkhalter," one of the generals' questioned, completely baffled by the disturbance. "What's going on here? Do you know these two?"
"General Burkhalter, please," Kalina pleaded, hot tears burning down her face. "A mad American colonel took over camp. He killed Colonel Hogan, and he's gonna kill Papa next, please, Herr General, don't let him kill my Papa!"
"It's true, Sir," Carter stepped in. "Colonel Hanley's got American Nazis all over…"
"HANLEY?!" Burkhalter cried, in horror. "That monster has command of Stalag 13?"
"He had plastic surgery to look just like Colonel Hogan and brainwashed several of my American comrades to believe he's the real one. He killed Colonel Hogan, overthrew Klink and the guards, and he and his Nazis have total control of camp. Cut off all communications with outside the wire, too, to make sure no one rats him out to Hochstetter or the Gestapo. If we don't get your help to get rid of him, he's gonna try and take over all POW camps in Germany. Maybe even the entire city of Hammelburg."
"I can't lose Papa, General Burkhalter, I can't lose Papa. General Burkhalter, do something."
A second general got to his feet, his face pale as a bedsheet with the knowledge of who Hanley was. "Should I call in some of my men from Berlin, General Burkhalter?" He asked.
"No," Burkhalter answered, putting his cap on and grabbing his jacket. "I will call in my own men. Get a hold of Major Hochstetter in Hammelburg and tell him to assemble his best men for a combat division and to hold off on further action until I get there."
"Jawohl, Herr General," the second general said.
"Gut." Burkhalter looked at Carter and Kalina and nodded. "Follow me," he ordered. "We'll take an airplane back to Hammelburg, it's the quickest way there." The group of three stormed out of the bunker, waved down Burkhalter's driver, then boarded the car and went straight to Hanover Regional Airport.
It took less than an hour and a half for Burkhalter's plane to land in Hammelburg, and the group of three met up with one of Hochstetter's men at baggage claim and left straight for Gestapo Headquarters. When they got there, Burkhalter's men ordered from nearby posts were entering the brick building with Hochstetter's men like a flock of geese.
The general, Carter, and Kalina followed everyone inside and upstairs to a ginormous conference room, Hochstetter and Burkhalter standing in the center with Carter and Kalina, as they hovered over a large map of Stalag 13. Gestapo and Luftwaffe guards alike surrounded the quartet, their eyes and ears on full alert to every order given by the two leading officers.
"We'll surround the entire camp with our men," Hochstetter said. "General, your men will go on the north and south ends of camp; mine, you'll take the east and west ends. A mix of Gestapo and Luftwaffe men will barricade the front gate with General Burkhalter and I up above on the hill. I'll have a megaphone to give orders and communicate with Hanley's men. Do whatever you want with his men, but I want Hanley alive."
"Major Hochstetter," Kalina said, shaking, standing incredibly close to Burkhalter's side for safety. "What about me and Carter? Where will we go?"
"You will remain behind us and out of sight," the major answered. "Hanley's men see the two of you, and they might start firing at the four of us." He made his fiery gaze back to the army of Gestapo and Luftwaffe personnel surrounding them. "Everybody have their orders?"
"Jawohl, Herr Major," all of the military men spoke.
"Good," Burkhalter remarked. He turned to Hochstetter, his hands clasped behind his back. "Let's get going before Hanley has a chance to gain more followers than he already has." He moved his eyes to Carter and Kalina. "Kalina, Sergeant Carter, you'll come with me and Major Hochstetter. We'll follow the others from behind in my staff car, then walk the rest of the way to camp for the element of surprise."
The two of Hogan's friends nodded as they hurried downstairs and out to the massive motor pool Gestapo Headquarters had outside in the back, Burkhalter and Hochstetter following them from behind. They found Burkhalter's staff car and driver, jumped inside the vehicle, then Burkhalter's driver stepped on the gas and followed the several trucks headed for Stalag 13.
As the end of the night came closer to approaching, Olsen and Bregman did one last patrol around Stalag 13 before calling it a night and switching off with the night shift men. The air was cool, the occasional gust of wind making the temperature more frigid than it needed to be. The POWs had turned in for the night, and the compound was peaceful and quiet, while the American officers Hanley had recruited from Oflag 74 were in the recreational hall attending another training meeting.
"The recruiting process is going on real smoothly, isn't it, Stewart," Bregman said.
"It's certainly progressing, that's for sure," Olsen answered, doing his best to hide the displeasure in his tone of voice.
"You know, if the Colonel keeps up at the rate he's currently going at, we could have complete control of Hammelburg by New Year's."
Olsen stuffed his gloved hands into his jacket pockets. "I wouldn't count on that, my friend," he said. "There's quite a bit to be done before trying to take command of an entire city."
"Oh, a few more officers and some more men in this camp, and we can start branching out to other POW camps. I'm certain it won't be too hard to convince other Americans in other camps to overthrow their kommandants and take over command. It's not that difficult when it means taking out an evil bastard like Hitler."
"Yes, but I can't help but feel like I'm becoming one of his men when the Colonel wants to kill off every German in existence."
"I know it's the same kind of military procedure as Hitler's men, but you have to look at it this way, my friend; Hitler is killing innocent people for no damn reason. We're killing people to stop Nazism from spreading around the globe. Every German is a Nazi, which unfortunately means killing them out of evolution. It's hard to swallow when first joining the movement, but once you look at it in the correct lighting it makes much more sense to the American mind."
"That may be true, but…" Olsen paused mid-sentence as he spotted something in the distance slowly approaching the front gate of Stalag 13. A massive group of black specks that gradually turned into uniformed men. Many in black, the others in dark blue and forest green. Gestapo, Heer, and Luftwaffe. They were coming to rescue them.
"Holy snot," Bregman gasped, his face draining of all color. "It's Gestapo."
Olsen sprinted off from Bregman's side and went straight for Klink's guest quarters.
Hanley's second-in-command snapped out of his shock the minute he felt Olsen leave his side and looked off in the direction the sergeant had run off in. "Don't just leave me here!" He cried. "Olsen!"
With the Gestapo and Luftwaffe slowly surrounding the entire camp, and not knowing what else to do, a frantic Bregman sprinted to the kommandantur to get Hanley for help.
As Olsen continued to race to the kommandant's guest quarters, Klink was pacing back and forth across the living area floor, while Schultz, Langenscheidt, and Hogan's remaining three men were scattered throughout the little hut. Newkirk and LeBeau were on the sofa trying to play a game of gin to keep their mind off of things, Kinch leaned against the wall while thinking of ways to overthrow Hanley, and the two guards wandered around the room aimlessly.
Everyone was brought out of their thoughts when Olsen came barreling inside and closed the door behind him. He approached Kinch and Klink and pointed to the window. "You might wanna look outside, Kommandant," he said. "The cavalry has arrived."
"The cavalry, I don't understand," Klink remarked, baffled.
"Colonel Hanley," Hochstetter's voice could be faintly heard from outside. "This is the Gestapo and the Luftwaffe. Come out with your hands over your head."
The group of seven hurried for the large window and felt their jaws drop when they saw the large division of Gestapo and Luftwaffe personnel surrounding the entire camp. To the left, to the right, to behind them and back again. An entire ocean of black and blue uniforms blurred together as one unit. A rescue unit.
"Major Hochstetter," Klink gasped, a bright grin coming to his face. "Oh, thank Heavens, we're saved!" When he realized what had just come out of his mouth, his face drained of all color and put his hand on the back of his neck. "What am I saying?"
"There has to be over a thousand of them out there," Langenscheidt remarked, his mind completely blown away from the turn out.
"What did I tell you, I knew André and ma petite would find him, I knew it," LeBeau said, full of pride and excitement.
"Nice job, you two," Kinch said softly, knowing that Carter and Kalina could not hear him, but hoped they could feel how proud everyone was of them.
"Colonel Hanley, this entire camp is surrounded," Hochstetter's voice again rang out through the camp. "Come out and surrender yourself, you have no chance at getting out of here alive!"
Hanley's men weren't giving up without a fight, though. One of his men near the front gate narrowed his eyes, cocked his rifle, and fired at one of Hochstetter's men. Hochstetter's man, a young corporal, went down with a gunshot wound to the shoulder.
Seeing the brief exchange, Kalina latched onto Carter, biting her finger as she realized what was about to happen. She buried her face into the sergeant's side, while Carter simply stood there, shaking his head with his jaw hanging from its hinges.
"Raise your rifles, fire." Hochstetter commanded his and Burkhalter's men.
It was final. This was the way this nightmare was coming to an end. The way Hogan had wanted to avoid most. The way everyone had wanted to avoid: through gunfire and bloodshed.
