Opening Moves

“Herr Sturmbannfuhrer, we have few alternatives as I see it. Bear in mind kameraden, it is some time since I visited here. Firstly, there is the obvious one of the railway on which we presently sit. Without a doubt, there will be other traffic in due course, going the right way. Over the other side of the Donau there is another track; I think it’s a place called Ybbs, which could take us to Salzburg, but equally into Northern Italy or back in the direction of Wien. Into Italy should still see a meeting with the Allies obviously.”

His face split into a grin in an effort to lighten the moment.

“Obviously, crossing the river will not be without its interesting moments!”

There were some smiles but mainly inner thoughts on swimming a river in their condition or having the audacity to cross a bridge undoubtedly guarded by watchful Soviets.

“There is always river traffic; boats plying their trade up and down.”

A grateful puff on the last cigarette doing the rounds and he continued.

“Road is a possibility but would not be without its problems, particularly with security obviously.”

“Lastly, there is always walking to fall back on, but I’m sure we are a minimum of twenty-five kilometres from the probable border as we understand it, so not for the faint-hearted.

“Thank you Moeller. So unless anyone wishes to steal a plane and fly out of here, that’s the options.”

Discussion quietly followed, as each man made a play for his preferred choice, surprisingly, agreement was reached quite quickly.

Walking and the road had no takers.

Moeller and three others would take their chance on crossing the river and finding a train direct to Salzburg.

Olsen, the 12th SS Hauptsturmfuhrer, the Brandenburger Leutnant and one other would go for another train from their present location, heading north-west.

All the others opted for the boats, and so Krantzschen and Kloss with two comrades would try their luck in one party, with Uhlmann, Braun, and Shandruk in the second.

Now all they needed was the opportunity to get out of the small rail yard and into some decent cover.

The group had already spotted some old sheds partially concealed in undergrowth on the Schloss side of the track, but there was a distance of thirty metres to run without a single shred of cover making life difficult.

A watch had been set to try to establish the safety of these sheds, and it seemed there was no patrol that looked at them. They were probably safe. However, there were haphazard movements of uniformed men all round the area that did not bode well.

The problem was exercising everyone’s mind until Kloss spoke a low warning. German eyes looked through the gaps in the wagon’s side at Soviet troops assembling down both sides of the main track. In short order, it was possible to see at least sixty Soviet soldiers guarding the rail line. More soldiers could be seen leaving two large huts to the north of the rail line. The activity grew as five old Wehrmacht trucks hove into view and were waved to a halt by the rail guards.

The rain gently started to fall on this assembly, the sky becoming suddenly grey. The area took on a surreal aspect as yet another summer storm prepared to visit itself upon the locale.

No one thought to question the fact that the Soviets were running their train security in daylight.

Rolf watched as a few men climbed down from the trucks for cigarettes and was startled to identify them as German soldiers. Admittedly, it was a difficult light but the cut of the German panzer uniform was very evident on two of the figures, as was the fact that all bore the signs of blood upon their clothing.

In a moment of pure clarity of thought, Uhlmann understood what he was seeing and what exactly those lorries contained and, more importantly, where the contents were going.

“Listen to me Menschen. Those Soviets are waiting for a through train and we must move when it passes. We have no time to lose.” He gesticulated at the vehicles and shared a knowing look with Braun. “Those lorries are coming to this train to load up.”

He gestured to one of the group.

“Get ready on that door. First group out will be Moeller, second Krantzschen, third Olsen and lastly mine. Go on my order as I will observe.”

Nods from all, the urgency of Uhlmann’s tone inspiring them.

“Quickly tidy up anything that might show we have been here,” and looking at Braun and his pile of soiled letters and envelopes, “Anything.”

Shandruk started picking up screwed up letters, stuffing them in his left trouser pocket before stopping dead as some words on one caught his eye. He put that one in his other pocket.

Within seconds, the sound of an approaching train became evident, its noise growing in proportion with the sound generated by the increasing rain.

Again, fortune favoured the Germans, for Mother Nature provided her own additional distractions as lightning preceded thunder once more.

A train slowly came into view and Rolf prepared to send Moeller on his way with the drop of a hand.