Colonel Berry

Chapter Eighteen

Horst crumpled the two pieces of paper into his fist as he replied to the knock on the door, "Yes, come in."

The door opened and a man dressed in white stepped in carrying a large tray. "Your lunch, Sir."

After the steward had set the tray on the desk and left, Horst indicated a chair. "Please sit, David."

"Thank you." They settled into their chairs, remaining silent until Horst asked, "So, how do you see us cooperating?"

David steepled his fingers, tapping his lips as he thought. Yes. I'm the senior here. And from the directing country. "It would be easier to assess that if I had an overview of your structure and your activities."

"I'm directed by Karl, and I run teams into Bavaria, Saxony and the Thüring States, as well as parts of central Prussia."

And who directs Karl?"

"All he's told me is that it's a man in Bern."

Do you know anyone in Bern?" David chuckled. "Related to this, I mean."

"I think the man who supplies our explosives is from there."

"Do you know who he is?"

Horst shook his head. "Karl places the orders, but he's mentioned Bern."

"So, your activities in Germany?" 

"With the tightened security along the border and the difficulty moving explosives, now it's mainly observing and reporting war-related activities. We've seen an increase in new factories in areas far from the Front."

"Yes, with the longer range and heavier load of the French bombers, the Rhein Valley is increasingly a target. And your need for explosives?"

"To disrupt the rail and road lines." He shrugged. "Not as spectacularly as the December blasts in the Schwarzwald. The Alsatians did a superb job with those. But our small ones are effective in slowing the supplies to the Front."

David nodded as he thought. Doesn't need to know. Serve no purpose if he did know. He pointed to the tray of sandwiches. "May I?"

"Yes, I'm sorry. I should have offered."

They were quiet as they took bites and savoured, then David continued, "How do you get the explosives across?"

"We've been using remote sections of the border north of here, but it's become increasingly difficult as the Germans expand their posts and patrols."

David's probing continued as they ate, and when he sensed he had enough of an understanding, he said, "We've moved our focus from disrupting the shipments to the Front. We're now concentrating on ways to slow their production of munitions."

Karl nodded. "That makes sense. Move to the source."

"With the naval blockade, Germany's access to Chilean nitrate has been cut off, and with it, they lost an essential ingredient for their explosives." David shrugged. "Unfortunately, Haber devised a method to synthesise bulk ammonia to use as the nitrogen component, and shortly before the war, BASF built a synthesising plant in their facility near Mannheim in northern Baden. We've been —"

"BASF? I was told yesterday to investigate their clearing of a huge piece of land to the west of Leipzig."

David pursed his lips as he nodded. "Yes, we've suspected for a long while they'll be moving their ammonia production beyond the limits of the aerial bombers. I received word Saturday that we'll have a team assigned to investigate a suspicious new site in the central Elbe Basin."