Iron Cross

Rank soon met Otto Skorzeny in the head of state's office. Although this man only had the rank of captain, he left a deep impression on him as soon as they met - he had a strong and sturdy physique, more than 1 meter tall. 9's height is very oppressive, and his whole body is lean. The obvious scar on his left cheek adds a bit of evil.

Skorzeny was also observing Rank. As soon as he saw Rank, he looked him up and down with his piercing eyes. He felt that Rank was a little thin and his skin color looked dark due to the North African sun. . Under the gaze of the other party, Rank felt as if a scalpel was dissecting him, which made him very uncomfortable. However, the other party still respectfully performed the necessary etiquette. It was obvious that he was a man who knew how to advance and retreat.

"Let me introduce you. This is my Austrian compatriot Otto Skorzeny. He graduated from the Engineering Department of the University of Vienna. He was one of my guards in the Standard Guard a few years ago and later went to the Eastern Front. The battlefield armed SS unit only returned to the country at the beginning of this year, and is now the commander of a secret commando team. "Hoffman personally introduced the two of them, "This is Rank, the newly promoted Knight's Cross recipient. His origins and experiences are rather complicated. I will let Dargos send you the files for review later, so I won’t introduce them for now.”

It seems that Skorzeny became the commander of the secret commando team thanks to Hoffmann's drastic measures to deal with the treasonous group. The Brandenburg Force that performed secret special missions in the original German military system was established by Hipple, the Secret Second Division of the Military Intelligence Agency, and was directly led by Admiral Canaris. The fall of Canaris also implicated his confidant Hipple, and the Brandenburg troops, who were closely related to the Military Intelligence Agency, fell into an embarrassing situation. According to the opinion of the High Command of the National Defense Forces, this unit must be disbanded, because members of the old-school officer corps regard the military profession as extremely mysterious and noble. Wearing enemy uniforms in the line of duty is an affront to their personal honor and even to the country's honor.

This obviously idiotic idea was of course not accepted by Hoffman. Not only did he demand that the Brandenburg force be retained, but he was also prepared to give it a more important role. The only compromise between the two parties was to temporarily relieve Hipple from his post and at the same time provide the Brandenburg troops with a more important role. Landenburg's troops select a new commander. Worried that the special forces commander would become powerful if he had direct contact with the head of state, the Supreme Command's selection criteria required a commander who was bold, energetic, and technically sound, but he should also be a wise man. A simple, easy-to-control soldier with no political ambitions. They do not want to see the birth of a second Röhm or Himmler.

At this time, Skorzeny had just returned to Berlin from the hospital in Vienna after recovering from his injury. He was transferred to the 1st SS Armored Division and was responsible for technical service and maintenance work at the Lebstadt Armory outside Berlin. He was busy and monotonous. The work made Skorzeny, who had a combative nature, feel bored. He gritted his teeth and endured it for six months. Feeling that he was really not qualified for this kind of work, he decided to find a big shot to change his position, even if he returned to fight on the Eastern Front. At this time, news came of the selection of a new commander of the Brandenburg troops. Because he often led his subordinates to adopt cunning and unconventional combat methods in battles on the Eastern Front, this experience attracted the attention of some senior SS officers. In addition, the new director of the Reich Security Service (RSHA), Karldenbronner, was also an Austrian, and he recommended Skorzeny without hesitation.

Himmler, Bormann and others also recommended their favorite candidates. Among the many candidates, Hoffmann chose Skorzeny at a glance without looking at others. The superficial reason seemed to be because he was the Austrian compatriot of the Führer. , and was recommended by the Director of the General Security Bureau, who is also from Austria. But in fact, only Hoffman himself knows the reason for his choice - who else can be used instead of "the most dangerous man in Europe"? As a result, Skorzeny was promoted to captain and became the new commander of the Brandenburg troops eight months earlier than in history. However, due to the ongoing political review and the fierce fighting on the Eastern Front, the resources of the Brandenburg troops he controlled were different from those controlled by Hipple. He only had a company-level establishment of more than 100 people, while the latter had a staff close to the regiment level. standard.

"Do you know why I changed your partner?" Hoffman suddenly asked Skorzeny.

In fact, no one knew the power of the Englishman Eddie Chapman, the partner originally chosen by Bowman for Skorzeny. He was a gangster who had been involved in the underworld, stealing, lusting, and blackmailing, and finally got into the fold. prison. As the island where his prison was located became a German-occupied territory, Chapman voluntarily applied to serve the German army in order to return to Britain and gain freedom. The various qualities of this little gangster were noticed by the German intelligence agency, who gave him rigorous training and prepared him to return to the UK to act as a spy. As the most famous double agent in history, Chapman's codename "Zigzag" caused Germany to suffer a lot. From the first moment he learned his name, Hoffman knew that this person was unreliable. So it was never released. He had been struggling to find the right person until Rank's name lit up in front of his eyes like lightning.

"I can guess a little bit."

"Tell me about it."

"The other party is unreliable."

Hoffman smiled: "Why do you say that?"

"Although our spy agency has trained him for a long time, I still think that there is deep cunning hidden under his seemingly submissive little eyes. Working for us is just an expedient for him. If we are not careful, we may be behind him. The boat capsized, so I warned myself every day to be careful and to keep an eye on his every move.”

Hoffman couldn't help but give a thumbs up in his heart: Historically, there has never been any interaction between Skorzeny and Chapman, but he guessed the truth based on just ten days of contact, and had to let him know. Man laments his terrible intuition.

"Where's this one?"

Skorzeny thought for a long time and then asked: "Can you tell the truth?"

"Of course..." Bowman also laughed, "You will be the closest partners in the operation, comrades who can trust each other's back and lives. What can't you say directly?"

"The first impression he gave me was that he was reliable, loyal, and able to dedicate himself to others. His shortcoming was that he did not have murderous intentions and might be merciful at critical moments."

"I am never merciful to my enemies!" Ranke responded unceremoniously, "I think there are many places where you are not suitable for this operation."

"Tell me about it." Now Bowman is interested. He thinks it's fun. This kind of secret operation is so exciting. It's a hundred times more fun than boring party work. No wonder the head of state always holds Karl May's adventure novels. I couldn't stop watching it, and at the same time I admired the heroic deeds of the British guerrilla warfare master in World War I - "Lawrence of Arabia".

"I still don't understand the specific content of the mission, but I can roughly guess some." Ranke said about his analysis, "This will be a capable and secretive team with not many people. The purpose is to sneak in secretly. To carry out sabotage on British soil, and in the process of sabotage, you need to pretend to be a British army...so I think you do not meet the requirements. "

"First of all, you are too tall. Your figure is relatively outstanding among the British. You can see it at a glance in the crowd, which is not good for concealment. Secondly, your marks are too obvious," Rank pointed at the shocking scar of the other party. , "Anyone will remember you after seeing you once. Once again, you are too old. It is embarrassing to play an officer at this age. If you are a high-ranking officer, it will appear that there are too few people in our commando team. If you are a low-ranking officer, it will be too inconsistent." Your age doesn't match up. Finally there might be a problem with your language, I don't know what your English is, but I hear you speak with a distinct Austrian accent - in German that doesn't matter, but in the UK it doesn't matter. Revealing this accent would be a fatal flaw and would be recognizable on the spot.”

"Bah bang bang!" Bowman clapped, "Wonderful! The analysis is wonderful! It's almost exactly the same as what we studied before. Major Rank, you can analyze it so clearly with just a few minutes of contact, I'm starting to be optimistic about it. You! I think you will be a genius of destruction - just like I don’t know that I have the genius of counter-espionage... Do you know how many spies and treasonous gangs I have caught in the past month? ?”

Bauman was speaking to the two of them. Behind him, Hoffman secretly made a face at the boastful back of the party chief, and made a "talkative" gesture with his right hand. Bauman himself was completely unaware of this. , both Rank and Skorzeny saw it, and they carefully suppressed their laughter to prevent any sound from coming out.

Fortunately, Bowman immediately realized that he was now in the head of state's office. He immediately stopped bragging, brought back the topic that had strayed away, and asked the two of them, "How is it? Can you two cooperate sincerely?"

"Can!"

"Very good! The name of this operation is called Tianlei Plan... I will give you three days to run in. You can further refine the relevant details, familiarize yourself with your respective situations and implement the division of labor. The entire operation plan is designed by Skorzeny, and the execution process is by Rank is in charge. I believe you two can adapt to circumstances and work together to handle all difficulties and challenges. If you need any supplies, equipment or personnel, please contact Comrade Bowman urgently. Today is September 27th, September 30th. You have to take the navy submarine out day and night, and it will deliver you to the designated location, and then everything else is up to you." Hoffman said in a serious tone, "Perhaps you will be attacked by the enemy at sea. sink, but I believe you are brave enough and lucky enough to complete the entire mission.”

Skolz quietly described the mission in Rank's ear. Rank was shocked and replied calmly after a moment: "Führer, please don't worry! Even if we all die in battle, Germany will still exist!"