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  DIE GLOCKE

  M.C.DRAKE

  Copyright © 2018: DIE GLOCKE

  First Edition – 31st October 2018

  M.C.DRAKE

  All rights reserved.

  ISBN-13: 978-1727771831

  DEDICATION

  I dedicate this novel to my first son who is due to be born at the end of October 2018.

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  The wonderful works of Michael Crichton have inspired me; Especially Jurassic Park and Congo. If you have not read any of his work then I highly recommend that you do.

  Along with Stalingrad by Antony Beevor which is a great non-fiction account of one of the most horrific battles of World War Two.

  The Second World War had been raging for five years. Germany’s Blitzkrieg warfare had overrun Europe at the beginning of the decade, but now the World’s great superpowers were beginning to converge on Germany herself. The Allied powers from the west, along with the great and seemingly endless Red Army from the east.

  The Nazi party grew progressively desperate to stem the tide; increasingly they turned to the mysterious ‘Wunderwaffes’- super weapons that they believed would swing the balance of the war in their favor.

  The United States, along with their British allies, fearing the potential of the war changing ‘Wunderwaffe’, had destroyed the Vengeance rocket V2 testing facility at Peenemunde, nearly killing the brilliant scientist Wernher von Braun in the process. This had set back the weapons program critically but the allies knew it had not stopped the threat. Allied commanders became obsessed with intercepting the Nazi’s coded messages and finding any other secret weapons programs.

  The Nazi's, fearing the complete destruction of all of their technological and material assists began work on ‘Project Riese' – ‘The giant', which consisted of multiple underground structures and bases. Hundreds of thousands of tons of earth and rock were dug from beneath the Owl Mountains, Bielawa, Poland. Hans Kammler -German engineer and SS commander, personally oversaw the construction with brutal efficiency. Thousands of Jews and prisoners of war lost their lives in appalling conditions as the facility was constructed. Many died from malnutrition and pure exhaustion.

  October 1944 - The Third Reich was in full retreat from the red army across a war-torn Poland. The Polish home army ‘Armia Krajowa' had just been defeated by the German Army after the Warsaw Uprising. In retaliation, the Wehrmacht razed the Polish capital to the ground.

  Allied codebreakers had intercepted top-secret communications between Hans Kammler and Hitler himself. The messages alluded to a weapons testing facility at Wenceslaus mine, buried deep under the Owl Mountains, near the Czech border. The Führer was adamant that testing must continue unabated to unlock the key to the weapons potential.

  United States commanders quickly assembled together a large force in top secret that was to become the 7th Rangers Battalion. The forces gathered under a shroud of darkness and misinformation, secretly helped by the Polish forces who were all too happy to deceive the Russians in retribution for their lack of support during the Warsaw uprising.

  The Red Army was in battle at least three days away from the facility. This gave the Americans the window of opportunity they needed. The following declassified military files tell the story of what happened on those fateful two days in late October 1944 and in the intervening years.

  Operation Eclipse

  It was before dawn on a cold October morning. A chill hung in the air and a thick ground frost caked the makeshift airfield. Staff sergeant Brooklyn ‘Brookie' Johnson stifled a yawn as he wrote a letter by the fading moonlight for his wife back home. He cursed as cloud cover kept shutting off his only source of light.

  Dear Alana,

  I hope you are well and the constant worry about my safety isn’t getting you down. Smile; show the world that beautiful smile of yours as it will all be over soon. Germany is on her knees waiting for the final knockout blow. Remember, I survived the hell of Midway because I made you a promise, a promise I will keep.

  I have been given a new toy from our commanding officers, I can’t tell you where I am or what it is yet but I look forward to retelling you the story when I get home. I can’t wait to tell Brooklyn Jr when he is old enough. The picture of you two back home in Hawaii keeps me going through the tough times as well as that rum that you sent over, I shared it with the boys, they send their love too.

  Keep safe both of you and I will write soon,

  All my Love,

  Brooklyn

  Brooklyn let out a deep breath. ‘This will do’, he thought as he shoved the letter into an envelope. He roused himself to get dressed, as the mission briefing was scheduled for ten minutes time.

  “Hey Brookie, you up yet you lazy bastard?” A man in his late twenties said as he began to shake the thin material of the tent.

  "Yeah, Jim you little idiot I'm up. Race you to a cup of Joe", Brooklyn raced from the entrance of his tent and the two men traded positions all the way over to the cookhouse.

  They were met at the entrance by another young man, who just shook his head while handing them a steaming cup of foul tasting coffee.

  “Stop pissing about Sir.”

  Brooklyn laughed “no problem private Doolittle”, and he gave him a slap on his back. “If you are going to be in my Squadron we are really going to have to slap that humorless head off ya.”

  The three men laughed before heading over with the other aviators that the 7th Rangers Battalion had stolen from other army and navy groups.

  The briefing tent was small and hidden by camouflage netting between the trees in a small wooded area. Groups of men were leaving slowly from their briefing. Brooklyn pulled one of them aside.

  “What’s a matter? Looks like you had the stuffin knocked out of ya?”

  The soldier was clearly an infantryman in his early thirties perhaps. A wry smile crossed the man's face.

  “Sorry flyboy, your turn is next but your mission might be just half as exciting as ours!” The smile left his face. “Good luck mate, we are all going to need it.” The man left with the rest of his group.

  “What’s his problem?” Jimmy Doolittle asked.

  “We will find out in a minute, but we all know the brass wouldn’t have assembled us all here together if they didn’t have a big op on. Looks like we are in for a tough time.” Brooklyn shook his head slightly.

  Inside the spacious tent rows of chairs sat facing a makeshift stage, an array of maps and other documents were housed in a pull-down display. The words ‘Operation Eclipse’ were headed over the documents in a foreboding black font. In front of the display stood two extremely powerful men. Brooklyn Johnson let out a low inaudible whistle as he recognized them. There for the first time in front of his very eyes stood ‘Henry Arnold - General of the Air Force’ and at his side, ‘Dwight D Eisenhower - General of the Army’.

  He raised his hand in salute.

  “At ease Staff Sergeant, take a seat please.”

  The tent filled to an almost silent crowd as military royalty stood in front of these highly trained and highly experienced groups of air force pilots. Bomber and fighter pilots sat side by side as they eagerly awaited their new mission.

  General Arnold spoke first. “Good Morning gentleman. I know you are wondering why we have taken you from your units to form this new group. Trust me gentleman it is for a good reason. We have had some of you training in the new P51 Mustang over the skies of Britain for the most important mission you will embark on in this war.”

  General Eisenhower took over. "That is right." He pulled down the first map and pointed to a mountain chain down by the Czech border. "This is our target. We believe a Nazi super weapon is being tested in an underground facility."

  Eisenhower looked around the room
, keeping eye contact with everyone who dared to reciprocate his gaze.

  "This is a joint coordinated operation between the air force, armor, and infantry. The ground forces will strike after the bomber group led by Sergeant Major Jarad Griffin have softened up the Nazi defenses."

  “After that...” Arnold continued, “The fighter group will strafe the hell out of the remaining positions to give our boys on the ground the best chance of pushing through quickly and decisively.”

  Brooklyn raised his hand.

  "Yes, Staff Sergeant?"

  “Sir, what about the Fritz air force?”

  General Arnold waved a dismissive hand. “They have been battered into submission and besides, any remaining Luftwaffe forces will be tied up with the Soviets.”

  "We need to move quickly because the Red army is only three days away, so when you have turned the Germans defenses into mush, the armored units will advance, mopping up any resistance. Finally, the infantry will smash through into the facility and secure the device and hopefully any surviving scientists."

  General Eisenhower then pulled down various specifications of enemy units. Then he inspected enemy units.

  “We believe the facility is defended by crack SS units. Our intel is patchy due to the fact we aren’t supposed to be in Poland.” …. “However, we think it is the 5th SS Mountain Corps and the 5th Panzer army.”

  "We are expecting a large number of Panther tanks and a reasonable amount of Tigers but in the main, the Polish reconnaissance team recorded the bulk of battle tanks to be Panzer IV’s”

  General Eisenhower stressed the point about how well trained the troops are and advised the aviators not to get shot down and captured as these men were responsible for some of the greatest atrocities in the East.

  “Our intel suggests that SS Commander Hans Kammler and SS Gruppenführer Jakob Sporrenberg are in charge of the facility. This raised our suspicions that this base is more important than we first believed.” Eisenhower looked at Arnold then continued. “We don’t know what to expect when this attack begins in one hour, but you are to fly out under the cover of darkness and bomb the shit out of the area so my boys can head in and steal this facilities secret right under the nose of these SS bastards! You understand me?”

  The men rose and roared in unison, “Sir, Yes, Sir!”

  “Good, anything you want to add General?” Eisenhower asked.

  “Do me and your country proud boys. Go and get em! Dismissed.”

  “Yes, Sir.” They shouted again.

  Brooklyn and his squadron left the tent in a slight daze, the excitement slowly taking over. They each took out a cigarette, lit them and inhaled the toxic fumes. “No fucking escort bullshit today boys. Let’s go and fuck the shit out of them Jerry bastards.”

  "Yes, Sir." They all roared then high fived. Despite the fact they wouldn't be facing their German counterparts in the air they were still scared. Not that they would admit it. None of them wanted to face a Superweapon again.

  Brooklyn had the misfortune of witnessing the much feared V2 rocket and its unstoppable destruction while he was training in England. It was a primal fear when you faced something that could kill you without you having a hope in hell of stopping it, you placed your fate deeply in the hand of lady luck. He was not too pleased of the prospect of facing the crack army that would be defending the facility either.

  The SS were villainized above anything else through the propaganda streams but talking to soldiers that had faced them; they were an unrelenting professional fighting force that would fight to the last man. A chill went through the staff sergeant’s spine.

  Jakob Sporrenberg

  Sporrenberg was prowling the tight corridors. He moved quickly and with purpose. He wore the tired look of a man under immense pressure. The first man to have the misfortune of bumping into him was his second in command, Hauptsturmführer Berndt Krause.

  “Ah, Hauptsturmführer Krause. Good morning.” Sporrenberg said with a false smile.

  Berndt stood immaculately stiff to attention and raised his hand in a salute.

  “Good morning Gruppenführer Sporrenberg.” Krause stood to attention unmoving like an ancient mountain.

  Sporrenberg smiled, “At ease Krause my friend. Have you seen my esteemed colleague… Hans Kammler? I need a word with him.”

  “No sir, not since the briefing.”

  "God damn it." Sporrenberg flew off the handle and smacked the concrete wall with his closed fists, making Brendt jump out of his skin. "Where is that coward hiding?"

  “Would you like me to send some men out to find him Sir?”

  As quickly as he had exploded Sporrenberg regained his composure. “No Krause, I expect the cowardly bastard has preached to us about standing and fighting to the last man, then run as soon as he got the chance.” He spat on the floor to emphasize his disgust.

  Sporrenberg issued his final orders before he expected the fighting to begin. They knew the assault was coming. It was inevitable but they did not know from whom, they were expecting the Red army.

  The 5th SS Panzer army along with the 6th Panzer corps had been preparing for the last two nights, practicing tactics and was in a position to defend key areas around the base. The shock troops of the newly formed 5th SS Mountain Corps were the best equipped in the Wehrmacht and were vastly experienced. They were a formidable fighting force.

  The alarm sounded out through the underground city, SS troops rushed to gather their equipment. The core of the troops was equipped with the revolutionary new Sturmgewehr 44 (StG 44) assault rifle. The troops felt a love for this weapon like no other as it gave the firepower and accuracy they sorely missed with its predecessor. The men received their final orders and each was given a fresh packet of Pervitin to pick them up before battle. The allies were not aware of it but the ‘pick me up' drug was a type of crystal meth that kept the Wehrmacht war machine fighting with a complete disregard for their own personal safety. In short, they felt invincible.

  Sporrenberg walked against the growing tide of battle-ready men going in the other direction towards the surface, they gave him as much space as they could in the tight rat run of corridors packed tightly under the safety of the mountain.

  Sporrenberg continued his descent through the cold reinforced tunnels; he passed the combat-ready soldiers into an almost deserted and poorly light tunnel. This tunnel led ever deeper into the complex and was officially marked as incomplete; they had even flooded part of the tunnel to create the impression of unfinished work.

  Sporrenberg knew better and crossed quickly on a tiny wooden boat. The small wall lights flickered once then went off completely plunging the tunnel into pitch black darkness, the faint alarm in the distance also ceased.

  SS Gruppenführer Jakob Sporrenberg sat gently bobbing in this tiny wooden boat; it was more of a floating wooden pallet then an actual boat. He continued paddling forward with a wry smile on his face. ‘Good, at least they still have the will to carry on the experiments.' he thought. The SS Group leader had reached the other side of the flooded tunnel; he grabbed carefully in the dark for the guide rope and then gently pulled the pallet out of the water. He continued cautiously, following the guide rope. After about ten minutes he rounded a corner when somebody shouted out a warning.

  “Halt. Identify yourself or we will shoot.”

  “Good eyes, Soldier,” Sporrenberg said, “SS Gruppenführer Jakob Sporrenberg, SS number 3809.”

  The two men relaxed but continued to watch the man through their sights.

  “Proceed Sir.”

  Jakob Sporrenberg approached the two guards who immediately stood to attention when they recognized the face in the eerie green glow of their weapons sights. Sporrenberg reached the huge ironclad door that barred his way. He knocked on the door and waited patiently for a response. A small piece of the door slid across and a bright brilliant purple light burst through, causing Sporrenberg to shield his eyes. A beady eye from inside the door studied him carefully before t
he metal slid across sharply, cutting out the only source of light. Seconds later the door swung open.

  Die Glocke

  The room was brightly lit and Sporrenberg had to shield his eyes before he was given a welding mask and could finally adjust his vision to view the room. The door was sealed and triple bolted behind him.

  The room was a small rectangle eight meters wide by six meters long but the far wall was filled with computers, radio transmitters and a large control panel on the far left that controlled the power supply. In the center of all of this a large reinforced transparent screen shielded the scientists from the immense electrical storm that was swirling inside the test chamber.

  The chamber itself was a huge box dug deep into the mountain and reinforced with layer upon layer of concrete. The Nazi high command was especially proud of this achievement as official plans suggested this room never existed but it definitely did. The room was filled with rows of electrical transformers with cables flowing and snaking their way to the very center of the room. There stood a large object elevated on a steel podium with hundreds of cables spread across its superstructure. The object was bell-shaped and stood an impressive 4.6 meters tall and was 2.7 meters wide, the device was housed in a steel casing with ceramic tile cladding. The object gave out a cold, dark and dangerous aura.

  “Status report Walther?” Sporrenberg asked.

  “Shh, this is a key part of the process.” Professor Walther Gerlach responded. Then he asked his assistant to increase the electrical charge even further.

  Sporrenberg did not appreciate the fifty-five-year-old scientist's tone but he let it slide, for now.