'Madam President, we have confirmation that both storage sites have been secured. Though the inspection teams that went in with the Marines are still in the process of inventorying the nuclear devices, we're sure we got them all.'

Wilson nodded. Then she looked up. 'Casualties? How bad were our losses?'

The colonel smiled. 'Initial reports say they were minimal.'

Wilson frowned, looking down at the floor. Minimal, she thought. Minimal to whom? To us, the people who had issued the orders? How would she, a mother, like it if someone told her that her son had been one of the minimal casualties? She wouldn't. She knew that. But this was not the time to make an issue of the colonel's poor choice of words.

Instead Wilson simply thanked him and turned her head back toward the window. There, in the privacy of her study, she would be the first to mourn for those minimal casualties, whoever they were.

CHAPTER 20

24 JANUARY

At first, no one seemed to notice. The excuses rendered by those who failed to show up for work were, given the time of year and the advent of a new strain of flu, quite reasonable. Only when the flood of absenteeism spread to the General Staff did Colonel Hans Kasper begin to realize that the absences were not acts of God but wholesale desertion of Ruff's government. Following the example of General Lange, more and more officers openly declared their support of the unilateral cease-fire declared by the Parliament or simply failed to report for duty.

Even more ominous was the action of entire units that were declaring 'active noninterference' with American forces. Not satisfied that acceptance of the unilateral cease-fire was enough, commanders of battalions, brigades, and even divisions were lending logistical and medical support to American units as they streamed north. Some even intentionally maneuvered themselves between American forces marching to the sea and German units still considered loyal to Ruff, raising the danger of civil war. When Kasper, in a private conversation with the commander of the 5th Panzer Division, mentioned this, the general became quite blunt. 'Your Chancellor Ruff will be gone soon. And I hope the devil takes him. But we and the German people will still be here to atone for his sins. Someone, Herr Colonel, has to defend the soul of Germany. Because when this is over and our day of reckoning comes, we will have to be able to stand up and show that we Germans truly understand right from wrong and that we deserve to sit at the table with other civilized nations.'

Those words, like Lange's words to him a week before, haunted Kasper as he moved about the half-empty offices of the Chancellery, trying hard to catch up with the work that used to be done by those who no longer could support a man that they themselves had elected into office. This was not easy. There was no way that Kasper, with the aid of a handful of loyal staffers, could replicate the effort that had required twice their number. But they tried and for the most part succeeded by judiciously dealing with only those matters that were absolutely essential. Since Kasper was a trained General Staff officer, this was a relatively simple task. With a firm hand and a trained eye that was quick to sort out trivia from important information, Kasper was able to keep Ruff informed. This additional work was for Kasper a godsend, since it kept his mind busy and left him little time to ponder the questions of right and wrong, good and bad, and, even more pressing for an officer, duty versus a vague notion of personal conscience.

Still, Kasper had nagging doubts that Ruff himself did nothing to quiet. Rather than embarrass the General Staff, which was losing its officers to the Parliament at a prodigious rate, Kasper himself gave Chancellor Ruff the early-morning update on military operations in progress and those planned for that day. Kasper kept these updates brief, for he quickly realized that Ruff didn't seem to have much of an interest in the detailed workings of the military machine which he had so recently tasked to perform a mission that was now tearing it apart from within. Ruff was satisfied with a quick overview of where major American units were and what they were up to, where units still loyal to him were and what they were doing, and, most important of all to the Chancellor, how many Americans had been killed and wounded in the last twenty-four hours. His insistence on knowing the precise number of American losses, neatly broken down into the number of killed, wounded, and missing, bothered Kasper, since he showed no similar concern for the cost of this war to Germany.

At first Kasper thought he was imagining things. For three consecutive days he had briefed Ruff and after enumerating American losses had been dismissed before mentioning German casualty figures. This caused Kasper to wonder what was going on inside of his Chancellor's mind. So he decided while walking through the quiet halls of the Chancellery that morning to test a theory he had. He was going to present German losses first and not mention anything about American figures.

Looking at his watch, Kasper saw that he had only a few minutes to finish putting his update together and he still lacked the information from the General Staff. Reaching over to the secure line that went directly into the joint operations center used by the General Staff, Kasper punched in the number for the duty officer. When Colonel Siegfried Arndt answered, Kasper was surprised. 'Siggie, this is Hans. I thought you were on duty last night? What are you still doing there?'

Arndt's voice was tired. 'I'm still here because my relief hasn't reported for duty yet.'

Since duty watches ran twelve-hour shifts and the night duty officer should have been relieved at six in the morning, over an hour ago, this meant that chances were good that another officer had come down with what was being referred to in private as the parliamentary flu. When Arndt spoke again, there was a less than subtle hint of disgust in his voice. 'I'll tell you, Hans, if it weren't for the easterners who had been senior officers in the former East German Army that Ruff had insisted on reinstating, work over here would have come to a grinding halt yesterday. Word's out this morning that the entire operations staff has gone over.'

This piece of news caused Kasper to stiffen upright in his seat. 'Then who's in charge of current operations and the plans section?'

Arndt sighed. 'They're still discussing that. I suppose another easterner will take over those duties.'

'Yes,' Kasper responded, trying not to betray his dismay, 'of course. Listen, I called to get an update on what's happening. I brief the Chancellor in a few minutes.'

'All right, here it is. The lead elements of the American 55th Division are just outside Bremen. We expect them to bypass that city to the west and strike north to Wilhelmshaven. Unless something stops them, which is unlikely, they will link up with the American forces in Bremerhaven tonight or early tomorrow. The American 4th Armored Division continues to screen the eastern flank of the American line of advance from a point just north of Paderborn, across the Mittellandkanal. And the 14th Cavalry Regiment continues to screen the rear and to the west.'

'Who,' Kasper interjected, 'are they screening against in the west?'

Arndt chuckled. 'Good question. The 7th Panzer, of course, has assumed a posture of active noninterference. It is the fuel from their supply trains that's keeping the American march going. The 5th Panzer, as you know, has assumed defensive positions in the east to protect the Ruhr east of Dusseldorf.'

'And who are they protecting the Ruhr from?'

Ignoring Kasper's last question, Arndt continued. 'The 1st Panzer expects to commence its attacks against the American 4th Armored later this morning with two brigades. Its axis of advance will be due west from Hannover north of the Mittellandkanal. The 2nd Panzer Division, which will not be in place until late in the afternoon, will join that effort, attacking on the right or north flank of the 1st Panzer. The commander of the Second Corps, coordinating the effort, expects to be able to penetrate the 4th Armored Division's screen and, with luck, isolate most of that division.'

Pausing to look over his notes, Kasper asked why the 1st Panzer was attacking with only two brigades. ' 'The other brigade, the 1st Brigade, is not responding to orders. They have gone into an assembly area south of Hannover and refuse to acknowledge all communications with their division headquarters.'

'And the other divisions?'

Referring to a summary that he had prepared an hour ago, Arndt went through them one by one. 'Well, as you know, the 4th Panzergrenadier was badly mauled and is unable to get around the rear guard of the 14th Cavalry Regiment. Those bastards continue to make the 4th Panzer bleed for every kilometer. The 10th Panzer, after its lackluster performance several days ago in central Germany, hasn't moved. It still needs time, according to its

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