“Yes sir.”
“Now, not so down, Major Von Drehle. It’s quite possible Ivan won’t be interested in it, won’t consider it worth sending troops. He can’t get tanks up there, and it’s quite likely, given his lack of attention to details, that he’ll just ignore it. It may be like a summer vacation for your fellows, and when you get the signal, you can blow it, come out of the Carpathians, having had a nice rest.”
“On the other hand, we could get hit by a battalion-sized unit, isn’t that right, sir? All fifteen of us?”
“Major, if that happens, I know you will inflict massive casualties on the enemy before withdrawing. And if it’s close, between you and me, I don’t give a damn if you engage the enemy or not. Just blow the goddamn thing and come through to Uzhgorod.”
“So we just wait until the signal and blow it?”
“Well, there’s another thing. While you’re up there, you’ll have to assist Police Battalion.”
“Rounding up Jews?”
“I think most of them have been rounded up,” said the general. “It’s one of the things the SS is reasonably good at. No, it’s not that. Evidently at some high level, one of our intelligence agencies has learned that Comrade Stalin himself has sent a sniper in to liquidate the senior group leader.”
“I’ll happily hold the rifle for—”
“Sergeant Bober, you flirt with destruction both in and out of battle. There are people in the very next room who would have you shot for uttering such a thing. Von Drehle, if you can’t control him, I’ll have a couple of large sergeants tape his mouth shut.”
“I understand, sir,” said Von Drehle.
“I can watch my tongue, but not my brain,” said Bober.
“A fair compromise. Anyhow, the word is that this sniper isn’t a him, it’s a her. It’s a woman who has operated in battle against us in Stalingrad and at Kursk. Her name is Petrova, she’s got over a hundred kills, she’s very skilled. In the east, they have a name for her. They call her the White Witch.”
Von Bink narrated the adventures of the White Witch in evading the ambush and probably preparing to assassinate Groedl.
“Police Battalion has been conducting sweep operations and intelligence gathering in the villages beneath Natasha’s Womb. I believe hostages have been shot and interrogations are vigorous. Typical SS operating procedures.”
“Aren’t they run by some kind of Arabian pimp, sir?” said Von Drehle.
“As I understand it, he’s not a pimp but the cousin of an important Reich supporter who broadcasts to the Middle East from Berlin these days. This cousin is a very determined young man. Do you know him?”
“We’ve had words.”
“So he has developed some information that suggests one area as a likely hiding spot for this White Witch. He means to run a sweep with dogs up that way. If she’s there, she will head for Natasha’s Womb and escape into uncontested country.”
“What is the Russian army going to be doing this time, sir?”
“Almost certainly attacking. Yes, it will be quite busy around here. The First Ukrainian Front has over one-point-two million men, twenty-two hundred tanks, and twenty-eight-hundred planes. Sometime soon they will launch all of them in our direction. We have only Army Group North Ukraine spread through these parts, about half as many men and machines, and the men are, many of them, Hungarian, perhaps not that inclined to give their all. So when Ivan comes, he will come in deadly earnest. And in the middle of that will be poor little Battlegroup Von Drehle, hunting for a single girl. Your job is to catch her, if indeed she makes for the Womb, and hold her for Police Battalion. Please pay no attention to the one-point-two million Red soldiers.”
“Yes sir.”
“I’ve made arrangements for you to draw ammunition and other supplies. You’ll also have a radio transmitter, and you know how hard to get they are. Division intelligence has already put a map package together for you. I want you to check with them for detailed briefing; they’re expecting you. Your transportation will get you through Yaremche tomorrow at 0630, and I want you in place by 1200. I’ll want a daily report, as will Police Battalion. SS must be kept in the communications network or they’ll make trouble, and this Police Battalion officer has Groedl’s ear.”
“Understood, sir. One question, if I may.”
“Go ahead,” said Von Bink.
“If I’m in the shit and I have to hold on against a large attack, I’d dearly love to have a Flammenwerfer in my bunker. Ivan hates the bite of the Flammenwerfer. A few squirts of burning fuel and he loses his taste for the charge.”