The two guards stepped forward, tough, cold-looking men. One on each side, they left the
The closing of the door shut him out.
The guards escorted him back through the maze of corridors and halls downstairs, deeper into the bowels of the mountain. Guards were everywhere. There was none of the normal slack discipline that usually occurs when one has been out of action at a safe job for too long. These men were not bored, they were deadly in their intensity and devotion to duty.
He was shown into a room without windows, large enough that he wouldn't bump into himself, but that was about all there was except for a comfortable-looking single bed, a night stand, and a small table with a marble top that he presumed was what he would eat on.
When Langer inquired as to the length of his captivity, Zeitsler would merely say, 'Patience, my dear man, what's a few weeks to you?' 'I believe I know what the Elder'—he referred to Himmier in this manner when they were alone—'I believe the Elder has some definite plans for you that will require your leaving soon. Personally, I'll be glad when you do. I'm really not cut out for the role of a jailer. Once you leave I can return to my troops and at least be able to participate in the final struggle. Ah, death, where is thy sting?'
Several times medical personnel visited him to take blood and tissue samples. What they found out, he didn't know. Perhaps they were trying to learn why he was what he was. He really didn't know or care, but Zeitsler more than once upon reading the analysis of his examinations had whistled softly between his teeth, a thing he did only when he was truly amazed or surprised. February gave way to March and the war raged on again after its brief respite. This was the final blow. Germany would be once and for all completely destroyed, to never rise from the ashes they would leave her in.
A thousand bomber raids by the Americans followed by the huge night raids of the Royal Air Force pounded the major cities from the air while victorious armies swept in prisoners by the tens of thousands, men without weapons or fuel to resist the overwhelming logistical and material superiority that engulfed them. There were isolated victories in small actions for the Germans, but these only delayed the inevitable by minutes.
The SS continued to fight fanatically, usually to the last man or bullet. They knew full well what awaited them if they were taken alive, especially by the Russians. When they fought the Americans or British to the last bullet they would often surrender. When they fought the Russians to the last bullet, they saved it for themselves.
Breslau, Torun, and Poznan were surrounded and held out for a few weeks. But by the end of February, the Russians had a firm front in depth on the Oder River less than forty miles from Berlin.
Bulgaria, Romania, Poland, and most of Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia were firmly under their control as well as part of Austria.
In the west, the Americans of General Hodges's 1st Army crossed the Rhine after capturing the Re-magen bridge intact. The Netherlands, Belgium, France and Luxembourg were clear of German forces.
Langer waited out the weeks impatient, yet helpless, to do anything about it. One thing, though, that he had always had on his side was time. On 18 April, Zeitsler came for him with the word that he would be leaving. A Feisler Stroch had flown in and would be taking him to the field at Templehof in Berlin. Himmler would be awaiting his arrival. There was a special event about to occur and he didn't think Herr Langer would want to miss it.
The passenger seat in the light reconnaissance aircraft had been fitted with a special hookup to keep its passenger chained while in the aircraft. The flight was bumpy if uneventful until they neared Berlin. They had flown low, dipping in and out of the valleys until they hit the plains, and then stayed low to the ground, often flying at no more than four or five hundred feet. The pilot was good and took every measure to avoid the possibility of encountering American or Russian fighters. Night was approaching as they flew onto the field at Templehof. The smoke of the burning city could be seen for a hundred kilometers, but the full impact didn't hit until they made their approach onto the runway, passing over the gutted shell of the city that once housed millions. The Stroch touched down and quickly taxied into a protected concrete hangar.
Four members of the A.H. Leibstandarte awaited his arrival. They hustled into a Mercedes staff car and raced through the streets. Twice, Russian fighter bombers flew overhead and halfheartedly fired off a few rounds at the car and went on to easier, less mobile targets. A hospital off Wilmersdorf received their attentions and four hundred men burned alive in their beds. It was a hospital that specialized in the treatment of para- and quadraplegics.
The Mercedes had to make repeated changes to avoid streets that were blocked by the rubble of destroyed buildings until they could finally reach Wilhelmstrasse leading to the Reich Chancellery. From there, they parked the car in the shelter of the Reich Chancellery basement.
What the Soviets would call the Battle of Berlin had begun officially for them two days before. Thousands of guns pounded the city endlessly, one every thirteen feet around the perimeter.
Ivan was content for now to let the long range of his guns do the greater part of the killing. They knew that thousands of them would die in the street fighting. Let the guns do as much as they could first, they were in no hurry.
Following a passage, his escort led him down to a lower basement where a number of facilities were established. One in particular was guarded by tough professionals from the front. Entering, he once more led into the presence of
'It is so good to see you again, Herr Longinus. And now perhaps I will have time to fill you in on what is going to be happening to you while you are our guest. First, I have removed your bonds, for as the Elder Dacort knew, we know that it would not serve our purpose to have you confined or in chains. One never knows when the messiah may come again, now does one? And we have certainly done our best to create the conditions described in Revelations. But if he is going to come I fear he must hurry or it will be all over.'
This then was to be his home until the
Germany was almost at the end of its tether. The winter offensive against the Americans in the Ardennes had failed. The weather and stubborn resistance had slowed the German forces down until they had literally run out of fuel.
