"I see. So we land the security element and bypass Torun on foot while the Queen moves upriver as merchants." Bayer says at Walter's information once it is translated. "In that case the only issue then is using the Queen to get the 89th across without being caught by the Torun garrison?"

Jan nodded in understanding about this being a region where the war was still being fought.  If he was to pose as a former Czech soldier then it was quite possible that he would be arrested and even shot as a deserter.  Better to leave clandestine missions like that to trained professionals like Jeff.

"Filipov, he said in English addressing Jeff.  "Do you have any papers or identification that could explain your presence in the area officially?"

When Konrad outlined one option of sending the Queen through as a merchantman with an all Polish crew while everyone else walked around Torun Jan raised an implication of that plan.

"Capitaine, that might be our only option but it means that we will have to leave the Vasilek here and not take any of the 89th's heavy weapons in payment for getting them across the river.  That does not mean that it is not a good option but we do not gain the heavy weapons that we wanted.

"Could we set the heavy weapons and the Queen up near the crossing point where the rafts are being built and lure the other boat into a trap?  If the boat always turns up then they must have an observation post."

"No, I said we will need to get them across without being implicated. Getting them across is how we gain the heavy weapons for payment."

"Setting a trap implicates the Queen, thus eliminating the option of passing through as merchants."

"If they have someone observing the crossing, we should take it out. That should help with the monitor as well. And if not, the 120mm mortar should." The Finn seemed currently more interested in obtaining his freedom from the Soviets than any contingency after that. First things first. "And I must say, we better keep the ship away from the monitor. The gun on it will reduce her in to a sinking mess with few well placed shots."

Confusion broke out on Jan's face.  "I understand that but have I misunderstood the next stage?  How do we get the heavy weapons past Torun without them going on the Queen if the Queen is being a merchantman and we are going overland?"

"The heavy weapons have to go on the Queen to pass as merchant, as they are our toll, to pass though."
This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 15:12, Wed 09 Jan 2013.

Comprehension dawned on Jan's face.

"Ah.  I understand now.  All of the heavy weapons are for potential trade to get down river beyond Torun.  We might have to trade all of them to get by but at least the Queen will get by.  What cargo can the Queen be carrying as well as the weapons though?  Merchants need a cargo.  Maybe if they want to take all the heavy weapons then Griet can trade them for another cargo in Torun."
This message was last edited by the player at 16:13, Wed 09 Jan 2013.

"Not all. We need to find a way to keep the vasilek." Bayer clarifies.

He then chuckles lightly at the second question and says, "I don't know Jan, I'm just going with this merchant idea since it was the only one put forth that could get the Queen past Torun."

"From what we've been told I think we can expect that the weapons will be a toll, not a trade."

Bayer then thinks for a moment and says, "How about our original contract. We are going upriver to collect civilians and bring them back to our employer. That explains the lack of trade goods... and it is realistic considering we are all here."
This message was last edited by the player at 16:37, Wed 09 Jan 2013.

"Skimming a bit off the top isn't the way I'd describe taking both the Zoo-Two and a 120mm mortar." Griet said, "We may well pose as traders who are trying to sell the weapons to the Russians in Torun but I wouldn't suggest we offer that as our bribe. We can probably manage with the booze and food that we have and then cut them a good deal on the guns for a better set of trade goods."

"That still doesn't solve the problem of getting the 89th across however. How we do that without being discovered will be the key."

"Ok, I am corrected. Even better then... that solves the vasilek problem."

"We'll have to eliminate the OPs. Even if they have radios, the distance to Torun is quite far, giving us time if they send a response."
This message was last edited by the player at 16:56, Wed 09 Jan 2013.

"The gap is nearly 200 meters wide," replied Thijs, "and, from what I could see, about 50 meters on each side of the channel was too shallow for most vessels.  That leaves about 100 meters of clear channel."

Walter frowns and breaks in, "We had a load of bicycles and sewing machines, though. An empty tug with heavy weapons going to collect civilians? Krakow didn't know that's what Adam was up to. If I was the checkpoint officer, I'd laugh in your face and call you a liar."

McClurg, quiet up until now, speaks up, "If these Torun Ivans have eyes on Wloclawek, then why doesn't the 89th come to us here? There's this snowstorm goin' on and if they wait until dark, what're the chances that the Torun OPs see them and send their monitor up? I mean, the Torun Ivans aren't this far up river or they would have sent the monitor here to check us out already, right?"

On a roll, McClurg continues, "If the 89th makes it here without being seen, we ferry them across somewhere near here, and then us NATO folks take the Vasilek and the ZU or whatever by land and meet up with the Poles and the tug downriver of Torun on the east bank. I mean, they'll have add a few horses to the deal, but that sounds fair doesn't it?"

Having shot his wad, he waits, looking expectantly at Konrad, Jan, LaRue, and Yvgenny.

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This message was last edited by the GM at 02:52, Thu 10 Jan 2013.

"I was thinking that there has to be more barges on the Vistula than the ones tied up in Krakow... Walter." Bayer says. "And any tug, no matter it's business, won't be in one set of hands long on this river if it isn't heavily armed."

Feeling stuck, Bayer looks at those who suggested the 'merchant ploy' for some help.

Bayer then looks to McClurg and then to the Russian, "Do the incomplete rafts not make this a problem?"

When the question is translated for him, Yvgenny responds, "Well, yes. We would either have to disassemble them, bring them here, and reassemble them, or make use materials available here to make new ones, or just make many trips across the river on your tug. But, if you think it would be better to move the 89th here, I could suggest it to the commander. He is a reasonable man." After a brief pause, he adds the poignant footnote, "We just want to go home."
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:42, Thu 10 Jan 2013.

"If you're looking to get face-face with these guys," Carlisle offers "I have picked up a little Russian from my hosts over the last few months. Mostly enough to keep me from getting shot: 'You there. Dig a hole. Lift a rock. Build a bridge. Blow up a dam.' That kind of stuff."

He shrugs. "For what it's worth."

"Hey," he adds, perhaps finally catching a whiff of himself. "You guys all look pretty clean and healthy. If this tub is a steam conversion, you must have hot running water, right?"
This message was last edited by the player at 06:13, Thu 10 Jan 2013.

Jan pondered the various ideas being suggested as well as the issues people were outlining.  The basic problem for the 89th was that they were trying to build their rafts too close to Torun and they hadn't figured out that moving up river was a potential solution.

"OK, I have a plan to suggest Capitaine.  The 89th abandon their current rafts like they have decided to try something else, just in case the troops in Torun recee the site, and move to here.  Here we build a couple of new rafts and then ferry the 89th across while the heavy weapons are set up as a blocking force in case the other boat arrives.  Once most of the 89th are across we break down the heavy weapons and put them on the Queen as cargo before taking the last members of the 89th across.  That should get them across and us a cargo like merchants.

"We then split into two groups, those staying on the boat as merchants and those walking.  The walkers take a long route round Torun and meet the Queen on the far side.  The Queen sails close to Torun and then offers to trade some of the heavy weapons to the Russian commander in exchange for another cargo and permission to pass down river.  We don't end up as well armed as we had hoped to be but we progress."

He paused to take a long drag on his cigarette.  "Does that plan sound feasible?  What are the problems with it that we need to resolve?"  He looked around everyone, indicating that it was not just a question for Konrad but a question for all.

Craig lingered over his meal and followed the conversation back and forth. What had been suggested sounded plausible and his first thought was a recce of some sort.

"If I am not needed for the recce I would like to get the weather deck in top order if we are going to be here for a day or so. It mite mean taking down a couple of the structures to gain the required 4x2, but it should bring the entire deck back under the equivalent protection it had before the last engagement."

He sat back and slowly slipped a cup of something hot.

"Don't stop working on the current rafts," Connolly puts in. "If it looks like the 89th has a new plan, the guys in Torun will want to know what it is and they'll push out more patrols.  That increases our chances of detection.  Show them what they expect to see and filter people out a squad at a time."

Bayer looks at the Russian for a moment, a little unsure as to why he simply hadn't mentioned it was possible to move their crossing site, but then remembered the man didn't speak English. He then turns to Jan and says, "Yes, that will do. Quite feasable."

"Any problems?" he echoes.

Bayer then motions for the tranlator to pass this along and adds, "Tell them to bring as much of the materials as possible, namely any rope or other crucial items."

Jan nodded in response to Konrad before adding a comment.

"Boots has a good point Capitaine and we should tell the 89th to do that."

"Hmmm... depends on how quickly it takes for them to assemble the rafts." Bayer says, looking to the Russians for some feedback.
This message was lightly edited by the player at 12:29, Thu 10 Jan 2013.

In reply to Jan Cerny (msg # 166):

"We need to find out how far the Ruskie's at Torun patrols go out from the 89th so our recce team can try to go around them and maybe who the locals are loyal to."

In reply to Anders Mattson (msg # 154):

"If we have to attack, both are good suggestions," Griet said to the Finn, "but assume we can do this without fighting. How long do your reckon it would take to build a raft on the aft of the Queen? Something that could take ten or so horses or fifty men?"

She looked at the others, "It might be possible to do that, expand our after deck and just make lots of trips. There are good landing points on both sides and the river is under three kilometers wide here. If we could do it we could make the trips in less than twenty four hours."

"What do people think, is it viable?"

"I don't really have that much experience on transporting horses across rivers or constructing rafts - I was in the blue-water navy, so river operations are pretty much new to me. I believe the lieutanant here can provide you with more information about the rafts. But I believe, if we have a raft or two, we can easily transport them across."

Once what has been said has been translated for Yvgenny, he responds, "The Torun patrols travel out at least as far as Wloclawek is from Torun- a 20km radius perhaps. That's how they found us. The weather was better then, though. And they said they had plenty of food up there, when they were trying to convince us to join them, so the locals must be somehwat cooperative. The division's control of the area is good, at least."

"As to the rafts, a couple are built already, and waiting in the woods. We'd have to take them apart and bring the pieces here with us or leave them hidden. It takes about two hours to build a raft that can take twenty men or four horses. We haven't tested them, though- we didn't want the scouts to see them and call the monitor up again. It looks like your decks could take a couple dozen men on a short trip across the river. The horses are the tricky part. It'll be dark in a few hours. If we're going to move here once the sun goes down, the rest of the 89th is going to have to start making preparations right now."

Walter then adds, "If our cargo is heavy weapons, they're going to ask how we got a hold of them. If we use our Krakow papers, they're going to wonder why Krakow didn't just keep them. It's too suspicious. We have to have business both up river and down river to be convincing. Maybe we could pose as merchants in search of a cargo, working on consignment. That would explain an empty hold. That's not quite as suspicious as carrying a hold full of heavy weapons and looking for a customer, I don't think."

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This message was last edited by the GM at 00:51, Fri 11 Jan 2013.