26-June-9-July/1915
The infiltration into Russia had begun as always, slipping through the cracks of an offensive. The Polish army had been ordered to launch an attack against Russian positions trying to block the German advance toward Kiev, which left multiple openings that we used to move while Russian troops repositioned to seal the most direct route.
Our objective was different. Strike the railway lines in the rear, far from the main combat zone.
It was clear that the Russians had multiple armies in the region. While the German Tenth Army on the Daugava River was only holding back two Russian armies, here there was a massive concentration of forces. Seven Russian armies, more than a million men, possibly close to one and a half million, defending the area against German and Austro-Hungarian offensives.
On paper, the situation looked balanced. Germany had the Eighth and Ninth Armies, along with the Polish army and four Austro-Hungarian armies. But efficiency was not the same. Austro-Hungarian forces left much to be desired, and the Russians on this front were proving more effective than expected. In combat, the balance was not real.
The area was saturated with Russians, or with the many nationalities that made up their empire.
Even so, we managed to cross their lines during the night, taking advantage of constant troop movements that left temporary gaps.
Russian patrols were frequent. They watched small villages and moved through the vast Ukrainian wheat fields. Because of that, most of our movement was through those fields, using camouflage adapted to the color of the terrain. The crops served as cover. Locals barely watched them, except for a few farmers checking the harvest, which was already close.
For days we advanced like that. We used the daylight to sleep in safe spots, either inside the wheat or in positions where we could observe anyone from hundreds of meters away.
Finally, we reached the first sabotage point, the Kiev–Kursk line. Hans and his company stayed behind in the area, preparing the plan to place explosives and identify possible Russian detachments that could be attacked at the same time as the detonation.
An additional objective was to determine the schedule of Russian trains. If we could coordinate it, we would not only destroy the tracks, we could also blow up a moving train, eliminating soldiers or destroying supplies.
The other groups continued the mission undetected. My estimates had been conservative. The vast wheat fields allowed us to move faster than expected, without needing to stop for hours.
In just four days, we had reached the first objective.
As for me, I stayed with a small group of twenty men who were, in essence, the best you could find in a battalion. Among them was Friedrich, who had become my spotter and, to a large extent, the one helping me maintain control of the group, since he was the only Unteroffizier present. Ferdinand and Hans had both been promoted to Hauptmann, and Ernst had stayed supporting Hans. The other junior officers I had personally promoted remained with their companies to maintain unit cohesion.
Our group carried two machine guns, eighteen submachine guns, and our precision rifles, along with a large amount of ammunition so we could fire without limitation if needed.
For my part, I had two additional objectives that I considered interesting based on the intelligence I had received. There were small cells of Ukrainian collaborators who usually passed information to Austro-Hungarian forces. Many of them were part of local police or garrisons in small villages. I could try to contact them, since I spoke enough Ukrainian to hold a basic conversation without raising too much suspicion.
The idea was to coordinate possible local guerrilla actions to harass Russian movements, especially during a retreat if our sabotage succeeded. A Russian withdrawal would be the perfect moment to hit them, fire into their marching columns, and disrupt any attempt to reorganize a new defensive line.
The second objective was more ambitious. Locate a Russian general, or better yet, the commander of the forces in the area. It would be a massive blow, though unlikely. Still, I would not ignore the opportunity if it presented itself.
We began moving toward the villages marked in the intelligence reports, navigating with map and compass, as well as the many Cyrillic signs I could read well enough to avoid getting lost.
When we reached the first village, I stopped to think about how to enter without drawing attention. Walking in with a ghillie suit and a steel plate on my chest was not an option. Anyone would spot us, and it was almost certain there would be guards or police watching during the night.
Speaking Ukrainian gave me a small advantage. I could deceive a Russian who did not know the language, but if I ran into a native Ukrainian, they would immediately notice I was not one of them. And without speaking Russian fluently, I could not pass as one either.
But it was the only option. I did not like risking myself like that, but I had to take the opportunity. Driving the Russians out of Ukraine at this point would practically mean winning the war. Russia would fall into food shortages and workers would begin pushing with strikes.
So, in one of the houses on the outskirts of the village, I stole peasant clothes. I hoped my scar would not draw too much attention.
I left my men nearby, ready in case I needed to run. If something went wrong, I only had to make it out of the village and the sound of machine guns would take care of the rest.
In the middle of the day, I began moving through the village, looking for the address where the agent supposedly lived. According to the intelligence, he was a local policeman.
After finding the street and the house, I waited until evening, trying to stay unnoticed. I kept myself busy cleaning windows or moving things around, anything that would not draw attention. There was intermittent Russian military presence, so I avoided eye contact at all costs.
When it started getting dark and people began going inside their homes, I saw him. A policeman approached the indicated address.
I waited.
When he took out his keys and opened the door, I walked in behind him. The moment he crossed the threshold, I pulled out the pistol hidden under my clothes and pressed it against his back.
"Move forward and don't say anything… I have a gun" I said in Ukrainian quietly, pushing him inside.
He tensed for a few seconds, but obeyed. We entered and I closed the door behind us without lowering the weapon.
"Agent V-37" I said in Ukrainian.
"Yes…" he replied, slowly turning to look at me.
"We need to talk" I added, pointing toward the hallway.
"My wife and children are here… put the gun away" he said, annoyed.
"Don't try anything stupid" I replied, keeping the weapon close, though partially hidden under the vest.
"I won't" he said, walking toward the back of the house.
As we entered, I saw a woman in the kitchen working over a pot. Four children, three boys and a girl, were helping clean.
"Kateryna… I brought someone I know for dinner" he said, gently taking his wife's hands.
She turned and looked at me carefully.
"Did you do something wrong?" she asked.
"Not at all. We'll talk about a few things and he'll leave" the agent replied.
"Ah… I see. Nice to meet you" she said with a nervous smile.
"The pleasure is mine" I replied with a slight smile.
"Come… this way" the agent said, pointing to a wooden staircase leading down beneath the house.
"The food will be ready soon" the woman added, looking at her children.
"We won't take long" he replied as he started going down.
We descended the stairs. The moment we reached the bottom, the agent moved quickly. When he turned, he already had something sharp in his hand and I was pointing directly at him with my pistol.
"Who do you work for?" he asked, breathing tensely.
"The Deutsche Kaiserreich" I replied without hesitation.
"Oh…" he exhaled, relaxing. "I thought I had been discovered…".
He set the object aside and began searching through some crates.
"If you had been discovered, you would already be chained and under interrogation" I said without lowering the weapon.
After a few seconds, he pulled out several papers and handed them to me.
"You could… you know… stop pointing that at me" he said with a nervous smile.
"Fine" I said, holstering the pistol but kicking the sharp object away from us.
"Alright… sorry. I really thought I had been exposed. Look, here I have the Podpolkovnik's itinerary, the train schedules passing through the town, and the addresses of the other agents" he said while handing me the documents.
"It's in Cyrillic… I can't read Cyrillic.I can recognize some words, but I can't read" I replied, looking at the papers.
"But… then why did you come?" he asked, studying me.
"Because I wanted to know if it's possible for Ukrainians to rise against the Russians. It's only a matter of time before they are pushed out of here, and when that happens we will need people who can turn their retreat into hell" I said, holding his gaze.
"Well… yes… but I don't know how many. And we don't have weapons. I have a pistol and little else" the agent replied.
"There is an arsenal here. This is a train station, Russian forces must be armed. You can take their weapons when they're dead. But you need to gather as many people as possible inside the village. When the time comes, you act. If not, you will be the ones who die when the front moves" I said coldly.
"How much time do we have? How long to speak with the others? Most are Ukrainian… many would agree" the agent said.
"You have two weeks. I don't know exactly when the German attack will happen, but that is your window. And for your safety… you never saw me" I replied as I started heading upstairs.
When I reached the top, I saw the family gathered. The wife and children were setting the table. There was beet soup, boiled potatoes, and pork fat.
"It's ready. We didn't account for your guest, so we'll have to reduce portions" the woman said.
"I'm leaving already, don't worry" I replied, walking straight toward the exit, hearing the family murmuring behind me.
I left the house and moved through the streets before it got completely dark. Some guards looked at me, but I didn't raise suspicion. I returned to where my men were hidden and we moved out.
During the following days, before the charges were detonated, I focused on contacting other agents using the same method. I entered as a peasant, covered in dirt after a day of work, enough to look believable.
I moved from village to village, speaking with policemen, merchants, and some craftsmen. I couldn't do much beyond planting the idea. Coordination required time, identifying targets too, and speaking to the wrong person meant being captured.
Even so, I managed to establish contact with several agents. They would handle asking questions and recruiting those willing to switch sides. I also gathered information on the movements of high-ranking Russian officers. Most were well protected in camps, waiting for offensives, so eliminating them directly was risky. The best option was to ambush them during a retreat.
I coordinated with Hans, who was in charge of placing explosives on the railway lines. We tried to cover as many routes as possible, positioning men near main roads to intercept any vehicle transporting officers.
The days passed like that, speaking with Ukrainian spies from the Austro-Hungarian network and trying to ensure local police and soldiers would switch sides when the moment came.
We positioned ourselves on the outskirts of several villages, waiting.
Finally, the day came.
Without radios, we could only trust that the agreed date was correct.
July 9, 6 AM.
Dozens of explosives detonated along Russian railway lines. At the same time, multiple telegraph lines were cut.
And in parallel, the attacks began.
Hans' groups initiated skirmishes in several villages.
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