The dinner at the Wannsee Villa
"...a whole army lost, Göring. Lost! I should've never listened to you. 'We'll supply them from the air', pah!"
"Mein Führer, my planes need airstrips to land! Paulus should've defended them better, then this would've never..."
"Unfug!"
Somebody else spoke, but softer, their voices not getting through.
"You think so, Guderian?"
More quiet conversation. Lena focused on hearing, listening, imagining her ears growing bigger and bigger. Maybe she could risk creeping a little closer?
Just as she was about to get closer, the door opened and one of the men stepped outside, awkwardly stretching his legs, staggering off toward the restrooms, probably.
"...as a viable option." That seemed to be Kemmel. Couldn't the bastard speak up a little?
"You are not suggesting a full-scale operation, are you?" Lena couldn't place that voice.
If Kemmel answered, it wasn't audible.
"What do you think, Guderian?"
"Mein Führer, I believe this to be a fool's errand..."
"IT IS NOT A FOOL'S ERRAND!" answered a male noise, high-pitched, seemingly enraged. "I have spent a good part of my life and the better part of my fortune on this. It works! But we are stretched thin!"
Someone scoffed. "You and everybody else. You think we couldn't use a 1000 more planes or a 1000 more tanks, more oil, more everything?"
Someone drummed on the table. "What would be the minimum required to enable Sonderkommando N to continue?"
"We need men, tanks, planes, trucks, supplies..."
Göring started laughing.
"I might be able to spare a regiment. Would need to be handpicked men, of course. Would that be sufficient, for now?"
"Yes, Reichsführer SS. I know just the man for this."
"That's settled, then. Are you happy now, Donnersmarck?"
"Mein Führer, I... I..."
"Are. You. Happy?"
There was a pause. "Yes, mein Führer."
"Good. Bormann, make sure that the paperwork is in order. I want to meet the commandant of this regiment before he's officially assigned. And don't forget the engineers we talked about earlier. Any materials needed will need to be obtained locally. What else?"
"What do we do with Paulus?"
The man who had left earlier returned from whatever he had been doing and Lena ducked back into the shadows. The man closed the door behind him and the conversation was dampened again.
This message was last edited by the GM at 10:20, Wed 01 July 2020.