by Alan David
He listened to the echoes of his words, and almost immediately a female replied in a voice tremoring with fear.
‘Please don’t throw bombs. We are civilians hiding here from the war.’
‘Come out so we can see you,’ he retorted. ‘Show yourselves very slowly, and keep your hands in view.’
He motioned for a couple of the men to come up and back him, never taking his eyes off the cave mouth, and a few moments later a short, heavily-built Italian woman of middle-age appeared, carrying a baby.
‘Are you here alone?’ he demanded.
‘No,’ she replied in passable German. ‘There are half a dozen of us. We lived in the village where your men are now camped.’
Steine digested that information, wondering how women who were cut off in such a remote spot could know about events taking place in their village unless there were men around — partisans — who were keeping close observation upon German troop movements.
‘Are there any men with you?’ Steine demanded harshly.
The woman shook her head. She was clearly nervous, and Steine, studying her ample form critically, hoped there were younger women here. She would do if there was nothing better, but he could always hope.
‘We are alone. Our men were taken by the Germans for slave labour.’
Steine thrust out his bottom lip as he considered that information, aware that it might be true. But he did not think these people were innocent civilians. Women were fighting as partisans, he knew, and here they were close to one of the main German supply routes.
‘Tell everyone inside to come out,’ he ordered, and the woman turned and jabbered in Italian. Moments later other women appeared, all holding their hands shoulder high, although some of them had children. In all there were seven of them, and five children, and Steine had already selected the one he wished to rape. She was in her early twenties, a tall, slender, black-haired woman with a good figure under her rough clothing. Her legs and feet were bare, and when he looked at her she met his gaze with expressionless face but smouldering defiance showing in her dark eyes. ‘Is everyone out of the cave now?’ he demanded.
The middle-aged woman looked around, counting faces, then nodded.
‘Watch them closely,’ Steine ordered, and moved around the group to enter the cave. It stank and he wrinkled his nose as he peered around. When his eyesight became accustomed to the gloom he saw blankets strewn around the walls, and crates of food. The crates were of German military origin. When he found grenades and landmines he knew that his instincts had been correct. This was a partisan hideout. He picked up a machine-pistol that had been covered over with a blanket, sniffing at the muzzle, and his lips pulled tight when he discovered that it had been fired recently.
He turned and went back into the cave-mouth, standing behind the frightened women. His men were facing the cave in a semi-circle, and he shouted angrily at them, ordering two of them to watch the path. If they were jumped by the male partisans of this band they would be in trouble.
‘These people are partisans all right,’ he said sternly. ‘There are weapons and German supplies in here. Stay down in cover in case there are any men around. I’m going to take ten minutes in which to search this place thoroughly. Remain where you are until I get through, and if you see anything moving around then let me know.’
He turned to re-enter the cave, but paused to reach out and grasp the arm of the young woman who had attracted his attention. Steine slapped her heavily across the face. She fell to the rocky ground and he renewed his grip upon her arm and dragged her carelessly into the cave, out of sight of the watching women. When he pulled her upright she tried to knee him in the groin and he hit her on the jaw with his clenched right fist. She went down heavily and lay moaning and he stared at her through slitted eyes while he removed his machine-pistol, helmet and equipment.
By the time he was ready to attack her she was coming to, groaning and holding a hand to her face. Steine was filled with lust, his flesh throbbing painfully. He grasped and lifted her bodily, throwing her upon a pile of blankets, dropping to his knees at her side as she rolled quickly to avoid him.
He grabbed her, dragging her rough grey dress up to her shoulders. The sight of bare flesh further excited him and he caught his breath as he held her with one hand and feverishly opened his trousers with the other. She yelped like a kicked dog as his throbbing maleness was revealed. He chuckled harshly and threw himself across her, fighting her as she struggled, enjoying the close contact. Her body was soft in his arms, her flesh warm and vibrant, and he held her in a merciless grip.
It had been such a long time since he had enjoyed a woman in this position. He had never been able to appreciate a female. The best he had managed over the past months was one up against a wall in the standing position. Now he meant to take full advantage of this situation. But there was a noise at his back and he turned his head to see Sieber standing in the cave-mouth, peering at him.
‘What the hell do you want?’ he snarled. ‘There are other women. Grab one and help yourself.’
‘I’ve spotted movement down at the entrance to the gully,’ Sieber reported.
‘Who’s down there?’ Steine was immediately alerted. ‘Some of our men or partisans?’
‘Not our men. They’re not in uniform. I think they must be partisans. Some of them are armed.’
‘Well you’ve got your machine-gun. Set it up to cover them. Let them get well into the gully before you open fire. When you do shoot, make sure you get them all. Let them all get in view, then start shooting at those to the rear. Pin them down. I’ll be out in a moment. Leave a couple of men to watch the other women.’
Sieber nodded and hurried back outside while Steine cursed his luck. There was always time to do one’s duty but never enough time for pleasure. But he discovered that the urgency of the situation relit the flames of his ardour, and he clenched his teeth as his flesh began to stiffen. He resumed his determined action: there was no sound of shooting and he knew he had a few moments to spare.
Suddenly a long burst of spandau-fire ripped through the heavy silence. He arose hurriedly, buttoning his trousers and grabbing his equipment, donning it with the practised ease of one who had performed the same actions for years. He snatched up his machine-pistol and grabbed the girl’s arm, dragging her with him to the cave-entrance. He found all the women and children crouching in the bush around the cave mouth, and thrust his victim down among them.
Turning to take in the situation, he motioned to one of the men to watch the female prisoners then hurried forward to Sieber’s side. The muzzle of the machine-gun was smoking slightly, pointing down the path they had ascended.
‘What’s going on?’ Steine demanded.
‘There were about ten of them, Sergeant,’ Sieber reported. ‘I waited until they were all in the open then shot them up, starting from the rear. I hit most of them, but there are some lying behind that big rock down there.’
‘They can’t get out unless they make a dash back the way they came in,’ Steine said instantly. ‘Cover that area, Sieber. I’ll put them out of action with a couple of grenades. I don’t want any of them to escape. You got that?’
Sieber grinned, his eyes never leaving the area below them. ‘You know you can trust me,’ he said tightly. ‘All I ask is a chance at one of the women before we finish them off.’
‘Let’s get this settled quickly then, before the sound of action attracts Eckhardt or Reinfeld. They’re nosing around somewhere. Be ready to cover me in case I need it.’
Sieber nodded as Steine pulled a grenade out of the top of his left boot. The rest of his men were down in all-round defence, and Steine slid forward until he was directly over the rock where Sieber had reported survivors were sheltering. He threw the grenade and it landed exactly where he aimed. When it exploded there was a sharp detonation and a cloud of dark smoke. Three bodies were hurled upwards into view, and, as they fell back to earth, two more men arose and ran back down the gully tow
ards the exit. Sieber’s spandau rattled immediately, and both men went sprawling, riddled with bullets. The smoke of the grenade drifted away and Steine looked around.
‘Okay, two of you, go down there and check that they’re all dead. Shoot any who are still breathing. Don’t take any chances. Cover each other. When you’ve cleared the gully, remain down there by the exit. Stay under cover. We’ll clean up around here.’
Two of the men started down the path and Steine arose and turned towards the sobbing women and children. The rest of his men were coming into the open again, and already Sieber was crossing to the women.
‘Make it quick,’ Steine shouted. We’ve got to get moving. You’ve got five minutes, that’s all.’
Sieber and one of the other men dragged a couple of the younger women into the cave and the sound of their cries and screams rang out, upsetting some of the children. Steine, his lusts temporarily satiated, approached the middle-aged woman with whom he had spoken at the outset.
‘So you are partisans, eh?’ he demanded.
‘No, no!’ she protested. ‘We are women and children.’ ‘Those men who were coming in here. Who were they? Your husbands and sons?’
‘There are partisans in these mountains. We do not know who they are.’
‘There are German supplies, weapons and ammunition inside the cave. Are you going to tell me you didn’t know they were there?’ Steine grinned at her slowly changing expression.
‘German pig!’ she cursed. ‘Soon you will be kicked out of Italy.’
‘But you won’t live to see it,’ he retorted, stepping forward and striking her with his fist. She fell to the ground, the baby slipping from her grasp and rolling away from her. She twisted and scrabbled for the child and Steine kicked her in the stomach.
‘Partisan whore!’ he cursed. ‘We’ve lost some good comrades because of your kind.’ He looked over the rest of the women and children. ‘You’re all going to pay for this. We’ll teach you to take up arms against us.’
He paced up and down, his jackboots dusty, and the toes were scuffed and scratched where he had rubbed them against the bare rock inside the cave. He looked at her. She was crouching like an animal in the bushes, and he felt again the slight stirring of lust inside but ignored it. He was satisfied temporarily. He looked down the path as a couple of shots crackled out, and saw that the two men he had sent down there were shooting the wounded partisans. One of them lifted an arm and waved to signal that everything was under control, and Steine pushed back his shoulders and drew a deep breath. He was now feeling on top of the world.
Going to the cave-mouth, he peered inside and saw Sieber and the other man. He grinned. Sieber had dropped his trousers and his bare rump was sticking up in the air.
‘Hurry it up in there,’ he called. ‘You’ve got just two minutes.’
He resumed his pacing, looking around at the inhospitable rocks surrounding them. There was silence in the area now and the sky overhead was a deep blue with white vapour trails showing far above as Allied bombers made their way to or from some unknown target. Then Sieber emerged from the cave, and a few moments later the second man appeared.
‘What about these women and children, Sergeant?’ Sieber demanded.
‘They’re partisans,’ Steine said grimly.
‘The men were!’ Sieber frowned as he considered. ‘These are just their womenfolk.’
‘There are weapons and explosives in the cave. These women would have used them if we’d given them the chance.’ Steine looked at the frightened females. Some of the children were crying plaintively. ‘Shoot them. You know the orders. No partisans to be taken prisoner. If we don’t kill them we’ll be in trouble ourselves. If in doubt, act first and ask questions afterwards.’
‘And the children?’ Sieber persisted.
‘We can’t leave them alive with no one to take care of them. Come on, I want to get out of here. We’ll leave the bodies where they are and report their position. We’ve got some more ground to cover before we can think of returning to camp. Let’s get on with it.’
Sieber looked as if he would disagree, but Steine cocked his machine-pistol and went to stand over the women and children. He fired the weapon in short bursts and it juddered in his hands, the butt slamming against his shoulder. The bullets struck living flesh and bored through, throwing up blood, stones and dust in quick spurts as the riddled bodies of women and children slumped quivering to the ground. The hammering reports of the shooting flung harsh echoes across the gorge, where they became trapped and reverberated sullenly.
Steine had a tight grin upon his face as he directed his fire at all the women and children. Orders were orders and he kept triggering the weapon until the magazine was empty. Even then all the women and children were not dead and he motioned for the nearest SS man to complete the job. He turned away as a second weapon hammered for a few brief moments then shut off, and, as he called the other men together, the last echoes faded away and an uneasy silence settled upon the place.
‘Let’s get out of here,’ he said. ‘Sieber, make a note of the number of women and children executed. I’ll count the men down in the gully. I’ll bet none of the other patrols have made such a good haul.’
‘I wouldn’t like to take a bet on that,’ Sieber replied, turning to count the bloodied corpses. ‘I’ve been hearing the sounds of shooting all day.’
They counted the dead and then withdrew, and Steine went ahead, following the route that had been planned for them, his thoughts roving back over the attack. He felt easier in his mind now, and began to look forward to finding more partisans for they were a threat that had to be eliminated…
Max Eckhardt was sitting in the back of his command-car as it roared along a dirt road into the heart of the area being searched by his Company. Fritz Leun was seated in the front beside the driver, and the Sergeant-Major was holding a machine-pistol. They were checking up on the platoons, and so far there was a very satisfactory count of twenty-five dead partisans within the Company, and Eckhardt still had Reinfeld’s platoon to check. He lifted the field glasses which were suspended from his neck by their strap and studied the left-hand slope then leaned forward and tapped Leun on the left shoulder.
‘Up there to the left, Leun,’ he rapped. ‘Someone is ascending the slope. See him?’
Leun turned his head, rapping out an order for the driver to stop the vehicle and lifted his machine-pistol when he caught a glimpse of movement in the area Eckhardt had indicated.
‘I see him, sir,’ Leun replied. ‘He’s not wearing a uniform. He could be a partisan.’
‘Yell for him to halt,’ Eckhardt snapped.
Leun bawled out in his best parade-ground voice, and Eckhardt lifted his glasses to get some details of the man. He saw a bearded face that was turned towards them at Leun’s shout, and then the man lifted a rifle and turned to drop to one knee and fire a shot. Eckhardt called a warning to Leun, who immediately lifted his weapon and fired a quick burst. The machine-pistol stuttered. It had a maximum range of around eighteen hundred yards but was effective at two hundred, and dust spurted up around the man’s position. Leun adjusted his aim and fired again, and the man pitched sideways, the shot he had fired striking the front of the truck before screeching away at a tangent.
‘Good shooting, Leun,’ Eckhardt commended. ‘Take the driver and bring the body down. We’ll leave it by the road so that it can be spotted by the recovery truck.’
Leun nodded and spoke to the driver, who pulled his machine-pistol from the clips fixed by his side, and they went up the slope to where the man had fallen. Eckhardt looked around, wondering if an ambush had been set for them. Perhaps the man had shown himself deliberately in order to get them to stop. He reached into his pistol holster for his P38, a 9mm Walther, and removed the magazine from the butt and checked that it was filled. He sat tensely waiting for Leun and the driver to return, and with each passing moment he fancied that no ambush had been set. There would have been more shooting di
rected at them by now, he surmised, if it had been a trap. No doubt the activity in the hills today was driving some of the partisans out of cover.
Minutes later Leun and the driver returned to the road and dumped a lifeless figure on the verge. Leun came to the vehicle, holding up a rifle and a bandolier. He grinned fleetingly. ‘No doubt about him, sir,’ he remarked. ‘I wonder if there are any more of his kind around here?’
‘Reinfeld’s platoon is moving in this direction. Perhaps their forward elements flushed him out. I’m beginning to think that we should have moved some men in here in a cut-off position. We don’t want anyone slipping away unnoticed. But let’s get on. I don’t like being stationary in a situation like this. Keep your MP at the ready, Leun.’
‘Yes, sir.’ Leun nodded and climbed into the vehicle. The driver started the engine and they moved on. Eckhardt leaned back in his seat, and when they swept around a bend in the narrow road they spotted Reinfeld and his HQ squatting in a depression near the road. Several files of SS men were moving in towards the position.
Reinfeld came to the car when it stopped. He saluted Eckhardt, who alighted and glanced around.
‘I’m glad you’re here,’ Reinfeld said crisply. ‘Colonel Dantine has been calling over the radio for you to report to him. You didn’t take your operator with you.’
‘I ought to have done, but Leutnant Wald’s operator fell and broke his leg just after they set out so I lent him my man. Any idea what the Colonel wants?’
‘He wouldn’t tell me, sir.’ Reinfeld smiled thinly. ‘He asked for you to call him as soon as possible. My operator is already calling him up for you.’
‘Thank you.’ Eckhardt went to the depression where Reinfeld’s HQ Group were crouching and took the call that came in for him. Colonel Dantine spoke, his voice harsh but impersonal over the air.
‘Eckhardt, where is your radio operator? I’ve been trying to reach you for the last hour. Get your Company back here as fast as you can. We’re moving out immediately. I’ve already sent the first Company to the nearest railroad station. By the time you get in we’ll all be ready to entrain. Call in your platoons and make it fast. We’re leaving for Germany.’
