Chapter 103: Espionage War
While most capitalist countries in the world were still struggling in the economic crisis, Germany, having been the first to survive it, was bustling with prosperity.
Propaganda posters of Akado were plastered all over the walls, and slogans of the Führer saving Germany were everywhere. Newly built factories and shops, as well as the renovated wide streets with various Mercedes and BMW cars running on them, decorated Berlin with a more modern atmosphere.
Wilhelmstrasse, Berlin. The newly built Royal White Orchid Hotel, the most luxurious in the world. In the magnificent lobby, under the gorgeous chandelier, waiters nodded and greeted every guest who walked in.
In one of the hotel’s features, a business cafe set up in a corner on the first floor, a young man wearing an SS officer’s uniform was carefully savoring his coffee. Opposite him, a bearded man in a plaid suit sat down silently.
“I’m sorry, this seat is taken, so please leave.” The SS officer said with a light smile.
“The sun at four o’clock in the afternoon really has a Cossack flavor. Taking a sip of vodka at this time and then dying would definitely be the happiest thing in life.” The bearded man looked around and said in the quietest voice.
“It’s very safe here. The White Orchid Group is the Führer’s property, so no one would think that we would meet here.” The young SS officer glanced at the bearded man and persuaded him softly.
“Better safe than sorry! Nice to meet you, Mr. Vodka.” The bearded man picked up the newspaper on the table: “You are the only remaining nail of the Comintern in the German high command.”
“I took the risk to bring this intelligence out because the implications are significant, do you know? There are also traitors in the Bolshevik high command, which is why we lost a large number of comrades.” The SS officer whispered, throwing banknotes on the table as he spoke, then stood up and walked out.
The bearded man followed him with the newspaper. One after the other, they walked out of the hotel gate, then turned two corners and came to an empty alley.
The officer handed two rolls of film to the bearded man: “Take this document to Slovakia, someone there will cover your departure from Germany. I found this document at the Führer’s headquarters in Prague when I was on a business trip. At that time, this batch of documents was about to be taken away, so I could only take photos.”
“Can you get the original? You know that the more this kind of intelligence involving high-level personnel, the more accurate it must be.” The bearded man stuffed the two rolls of film into his pocket and confirmed with a frown.
“If you want the original, you can get it yourself. In the basement archive of the Führer’s office, there is a storage room made of four-foot-thick reinforced concrete. The main entrance has seven checkpoints, four iron doors, and three different combination locks.” The young SS officer said angrily: “Let alone me, a small lieutenant colonel, even the highest commander of our department, Major General Gascoigne, has to have the Führer’s order to enter.”
“Okay! I am only responsible for sending this intelligence back. As for how the higher-ups deal with it, it is not something a person of my level can influence.” The bearded man sighed: “Is there anything else you want to say?”
“In the other roll of film, there are approximate parameters of a German submarine. It has a displacement of 1100 tons, which is much better than the stuff sold to us. I got it out together this time, hoping it can help you.”
“Long live communism.” The bearded man took out an envelope from another pocket: “Here is 10,000 US dollars, spend it sparingly. I deposited the remaining part for you in a Dutch bank. When you retire…”
“Come on. Everyone knows that no one in our line of work can live to retirement.” The SS officer sneered and mocked himself: “I don’t believe it myself.”
“Take care.” The bearded man patted the young man on the shoulder: “After returning to the country, I’ll treat you to vodka.”
“Is it enough for me to return to the country if I get another piece of intelligence?” The young man thought for a while and asked: “I’m still short of one top-secret intelligence, and then I can retire. If there is a chance, I will find a way to get the design drawings of the German Panther tank.”
“Do what you can.” The bearded man turned and left without stopping. He found the atmosphere wrong, it was too quiet around, and no one passed by.
“If nothing happens, leave a message at the old place…” The young man flipped open the holster on his waist belt, found a crossroad and ran in another direction. Seeing a staircase, he turned and got in. The reason for meeting here was because he had an apartment here that he didn’t use much. He could get in at any time and lie on the bed as if nothing had happened, waiting for the searchers to pass.
Just as he closed his door, he heard gunshots not far away. Two crisp shots, and then there was no sound. Not long after, the fragmented sound of leather boots tapping on the stairs came from the corridor outside the door, followed by rapid knocks on the door one after another.
Hiding the 10,000 US dollars separately in books and under the bed, deliberately making his officer uniform a little messy, then pouring some of the whiskey prepared on the table on himself, and drinking a few mouthfuls, this communist member codenamed Vodka waited for the SS to knock on the door.
“Bang, bang bang!” Finally, the knock on the door rang out, and a voice shouted outside: “SS search! Please cooperate! Open the door immediately! Otherwise, we will break it open! Hurry up!”
Vodka deliberately made his footsteps heavy, walked to the door and opened it, asking the people outside with a face full of alcohol and drunken eyes: “What… do you want to search? Hurry up! I want to sleep!”
“Long live the Führer!” The SS captain outside saw the rank and immediately stood at attention and saluted. The two soldiers behind him also stood at attention and held their submachine guns horizontally across their chests: “Long live the Führer!”
“Führer… long live!” Vodka replied shakily, then stepped aside from the doorway: “Please take your time looking! Don’t steal my wine! Hic… uh… remember to lock the door when you leave.”
“Sorry! Sir! There is no need to search your place! Sorry to disturb you!” The SS captain withdrew from the doorway very respectfully and helped close the door.
The moment the door closed, Vodka let out a long breath. It seemed that this time, he successfully dodged it.
But, could the bearded man dodge it? Only God knew. It seemed that the original contact point could no longer be used. He could only lurk in secret now, waiting for the organization to send someone to contact him proactively using the highest level code.
…
Late at night, less than a thousand meters from the Wehrmacht High Command, a secret Comintern contact station in Berlin’s 3rd District. Suddenly there was a knock on the door: “Thump, thump, thump.”
The interval between knocks was long and weak, but in the silent night, an old man in the room still heard the sound clearly. He stood up from his chair, walked slowly to the door, and opened it.
“Who is it? It’s so late, is there anything?” He asked as he opened the door, but heard no answer. He didn’t speak again either, because he saw a person lying outside the door, one side of his coat dyed red with blood. The person lay on his side on the ground, still breathing faintly. By the dim light, the old man saw that this person had a thick beard.
“Give this! To our comrades! Bring back… to the motherland…” After the bearded man finished this sentence, there was no more breath. The old man took the two rolls of film from the bearded man’s hand, stared at the corpse for a few seconds, then turned around, put the two rolls of film into the interlayer at the head of the bed, made the bed sheet, checked it once, felt it was foolproof, and then walked back to the door, letting out a scream: “My God! Come here! Help! Someone needs help here!”
“My heavens! What happened to this person?” A fat woman who opened the door to help was frightened by the scene in front of her. Several old neighbors like her also didn’t dare to touch the gradually cooling corpse, and flusteredly arranged for someone to report to the nearby police station.
The police came very quickly, and also brought a dozen SS soldiers carrying rifles. Obviously, they were also looking for this bearded man, but they just didn’t find this place so quickly.
“Old gentleman, when did you discover this corpse?” A police officer asked, holding a small notebook for recording.
“I heard a noise outside the door, like something hit the door. I thought it was a prank by a neighbor’s child, so I opened the door to take a look. The public security around here is very good, so I didn’t think much about it.” The old man replied: “Then I saw him lying outside.”
“Did he leave anything?” An SS officer who came along frowned and walked around the corpse, then asked.
“I don’t know. After I opened the door, I shouted for help. No one touched anything here. I don’t know what you are referring to. Sir.” The old man pointed to the old neighbors around and replied.
The police officer took the SS officer aside and whispered: “The people here are all old residents. They can prove to each other that no one took anything from the corpse. They have lived here for at least ten years, there is nothing suspicious.”
“This man has a gun. We have been watching him for a few days. Today he didn’t know who he was meeting there. We didn’t catch the other contact person, but it is certain that it is impossible for him to have gotten nothing!” The SS officer said very irritably.
“Then what do you want to do? Sir?” The person in charge of the police asked: “Take these old men and women back and torture them one by one?”
The SS officer stared at the police officer and didn’t make a sound for a long time. Finally, he scanned everyone present and gave the order viciously: “Withdraw!”
Published: 2025-07-22T02:03:01.000+00:00
Last Edited: 2025-12-14T04:55:35.000+00:00
URL: https://www.patreon.com/caleredhair/posts/mtr-c103-war-134621808
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