Rastenburg, Königsberg, East Prussia – 20 July 1944
The aeroplane landed without a hitch. As it slowed down on the runway, so too did its rotors start spinning slower and slower until they finally came to a halt. The door opened, and a soldier got out before he stood to the side of the open door and raised his hand in a Nazi salute. A few paces from the door, a car was waiting. Its occupants – the driver and a soldier – stood at the ready on the left side of the car, raising their hands in salute facing the aeroplane. An officer stepped out of the aeroplane.
"It's nice to be back on solid ground," he said as he stretched his arms.
Although his comment was lighthearted, his face did not change. It was still grim with a hint of anxiety. His aide-de-camp Werner von Haeften came out after him.
Stauffenberg stepped forward and told the soldiers to be at ease.
"Are you our ride?" Stauffenberg asked them.
"Yes, sir! We're to escort you to the Wolf's Lair."
"Alright, good. Come on, Heinrich. And don't forget my briefcase."
Jan stepped out of the aeroplane carrying a brown, nondescript briefcase. Right now, he was not Jan Adler, but rather Heinrich Arnold, a soldier in the German Army and a personal adjutant to Lieutenant Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg. He felt ill at ease in his German Army uniform, as if at any given moment someone would notice his discomfort and find out who he was and what he was doing here. But even after entering the car, nobody batted an eye, and they were off. Caspar, or rather Simon Schwarz, and another Assassin named Andreas was in a separate car following them.
They drove through the village of Rastenburg without a word. Soon, the village houses made way for forest as they got closer to the so-called Wolf's Lair – Adolf Hitler's command centre for the Eastern Front. It was a pleasant ride in the open-topped car as the wind hit Jan's face. Hitler had summoned another military conference, and as Chief of Staff to General Fromm, Stauffenberg was to sit in on the meeting. Jan and the others could not join him inside, but they could wait just outside so that when it happened, they could be the insurance policy.
It, of course, being the bomb inside the very briefcase Jan had on his lap right now.
They passed through several checkpoints until they finally reached the bunker in the middle of the forest. It was heavily guarded, Jan counting no less than a hundred soldiers. And they were just the ones Jan managed to see. The bunker itself was a massive, rectangular structure of stone. It felt like a high wall had suddenly appeared in the middle of the forest.
They exited the car as it came to a stop. Behind them, Caspar and Andreas too were leaving theirs. The five of them began walking towards the stone staircase that led to the entrance of the bunker. There, they were allowed entry and led to the room where the conference would be held. They were early, and there were few attendees yet, so they stayed outside. Caspar and Andreas were a bit behind them, while Stauffenberg spoke with Jan and von Haeften.
"Everything set?" Jan asked him.
"Yes," he said. His breathing was slightly ragged, and his eyes kept flittering left and right.
"Calm down."
"I'm calm!"
"No, you're not. Let's go over the plan one more time. What's the plan?"
"I-I'll bring in the briefcase."
"And then?"
"I'll step out to go to the washroom, and with von Haeften's help prime the two bombs."
"Good, and then what?"
"I'll place it as close as I can to him, and then when the phone call comes, I'll step out."
"Good."
"And you're good on your end, r-right?"
"We're the insurance policy. If he survives, we'll make sure to change that."
They nodded to each other. And soon, the officers began entering the conference room. Jan checked his pocket watch. 12.25 pm. The meeting was about to begin soon. Jan, Caspar, and Andreas waited outside the conference room. Each of them made sure that their weapons were on hand. Jan counted the number of soldiers right outside the conference room. Half a dozen. They would make quick work of that.
At 12.30 pm, Stauffenberg came out of the conference room with the briefcase. He avoided eye contact with Jan as von Haeften went to his side. The two officers made their way to a washroom and disappeared into it.
A few minutes later, a soldier went out of the conference room and went to the washroom. He knocked on the door.
"Sir? Are you alright?"
"Y-yes, I'm fine."
Jan could just barely hear what they were saying.
"The meeting is about to start."
"Alright, I'll be right out."
The soldier left, and not long afterwards Stauffenberg came out of the washroom with his briefcase. Once he was back in the conference room, von Haeften came out of the washroom and went towards the Assassins.
"Everything went fine?" Jan asked.
Von Haeften was jittery. Sweat was falling down his face. Jan didn't know whether they were hot or cold, seeing as the day was a very hot one.
"There was a little problem," he whispered back. "We didn't have time to arm the second bomb."
Damn it! Jan thought to himself. With one less bomb, the chances of success were reduced.
"The first bomb?"
Von Haeften nodded.
"That one's fine. It's inside now."
"Well, we better hope that's enough to do it."
A few minutes passed, and a soldier came through and knocked on the conference door. He was promptly let in, and a few seconds later he came out with Stauffenberg, who nodded at von Haeften and the Assassins. Von Haeften followed him, and so did Jan, while Caspar and Andreas waited behind.
"It's ready?" Jan asked him as he matched Stauffenberg's pace.
"Yes. I placed it under the table near him."
They went into a room where the soldier left them, and Stauffenberg took the planned call. After the call, they went outside towards Stauffenberg's car.
And then there was an explosion.
Everyone in the vicinity turned their attention towards the source of the sound. A thick, grey smoke was coming out of the conference building. There were people thrown out of the windows, and wood splinters all over the ground.
"Yes!" said Stauffenberg, positively beaming with happiness. "We did it."
"Now, wait. Hold on," Jan cautioned. "We need to confirm it."
"There's nothing to confirm. Look at it. How could he have survived that?" he said as he and von Haeften entered the car.
"Where are you going?"
"Staying here will just get us caught. Come on, get your friends and get in."
"We need to confirm it first. We can't just leave!"
"Suit yourself! I'm not waiting here just to be caught. I need to be in Berlin as soon as possible. Are you and your friends coming or not?"
"Fine. Go. We'll confirm it and catch up to you somehow."
Shrugging, Stauffenberg told von Haeften to step on the gas and the car left. Jan watched it leave then turned around and headed towards the conference building once more. That's when gunshots began.
Jan ran back inside, where there was an intense gunfight. Through the smoke and gunfire, Jan just barely made out Andreas. He was shooting from behind a corner, while three soldiers were shooting back. The three soldiers had their backs to Jan. He took a breath and took out his two handguns.
And he shot two of them in the back. The other soldier only realised what was happening before Jan put a bullet in his head.
Andreas came out of the corner ready to shoot with a rifle he was holding, but Jan held his hands up.
"It's me!" Jan shouted. Andreas lowered his rifle.
"Where's Caspar?"
"He's chasing him."
"Him?"
"Hitler! The bastard survived!"