Griffin W.E.B.: Honor Bound 02 - Blood and Honor

"I happen to have a source of coffee, good coffee," Goltz said. "I'll tell my office to send you a couple of kilos with the next messenger."

"And I was not really glad to see you, Josef, when you walked in here. I shamelessly accept."

"Friends should take care of one another, shouldn't they?"

"A noble sentiment."

As Hennig was setting the tray down, one of the three telephones on von Wachtstein's desk rang. Hennig moved to answer it but stopped.

"It's the red line, Herr Generalleutnant," he said.

A red-line telephone—so called because the instrument was red—was another symbol of status in Wolfsschanze. There were only fifty red-line instruments. The special switchboard for these had been installed so that Hitler and very senior officials could talk directly to one another without wasting time speaking to secretaries. Those who had red-line telephones were expected to answer them themselves.

"Heil Hitler, von Wachtstein," he said, picking it up.

"Canaris," the Chief of the Abwehr identified himself. "I understand Standartenf?hrer Goltz is with you?"

"Yes, he is. One moment, please, Herr Admiral," von Wachtstein said, and handed the phone to Goltz. "Admiral Canaris."

"Yes. Herr Admiral?" Goltz said, listened a moment, and then said, "I ask the Herr Admiral's indulgence to finish my cup of the Herr Generalleutnant's excellent coffee." There was a pause, and then, chuckling, "I'll tell him that, Herr Admiral. Thank you."

He handed the telephone back to von Wachtstein.

"Admiral Canaris said that if you have excellent coffee, you have the only excellent coffee in Wolfsschanze, and it is clearly your duty as an old comrade to tell him where you found it."

"Actually, Peter got that for me in North Africa. He ferried a Heinkel over, and brought that back with him."

"Maybe he wasn't asleep in church after all," Goltz said. "May I suggest you get your son's rank badges as soon as you can, and if you're going to send a letter, write it as soon as possible. Within the hour."

"You're very kind, Josef."

"Not at all. After all, since you served me the last of your African coffee, it is the least I can do."

"Please give my regards to the Admiral," Generalleutnant von Wachtstein said.

[FOUR]

Admiral Canaris was preoccupied. He did not acknowledge Goltz's salute, and although he looked up when Goltz entered, Goltz felt that his mind was far away.

But then, suddenly, he felt Canaris's eyes examining him coldly.

"This won't take long, Standartenf?hrer," Canaris said. "But I have a few things to say to you before you leave for Argentina."

"I will be grateful for any direction the Herr Admiral may wish to give me."

Canaris ignored that too.

"One. I agreed to the elimination of Oberst Frade with great reluctance. But in the end, I decided the risk that he would assume the presidency was unacceptable. It was entirely possible, in my judgment, that he might well have had sufficient influence to obtain a declaration of war against us—especially in the period immediately following the seizure of power by the Grupo de Oficiales Unidos. The implications of that should be obvious. Not only does Germany need Argentine food and wool, but as Argentina goes, so will go Uruguay, Paraguay, Chile, and probably Peru."

"I understand, Herr Admiral."

"His elimination, Standartenf?hrer, was not without price. I know the Argentine Officer Corps. While the great majority of Argentine Army officers are sympathetic to the National Socialist cause, they will deeply resent the elimination of Oberst Frade. Not only was he a popular figure, but the Argentines are a nationalist people. They understandably resent an action like that occurring on their soil. Meanwhile, it is to be hoped that in time the necessity of our act will be understood, and later accepted. The goodwill of the Argentine Officer Corps is an asset we cannot afford to squander; and I admonish you, Standartenf?hrer, to do everything possible to avoid further antagonizing them."

"I understand, Herr Admiral."

"For that reason alone, I did not sign your mission order until after the elimination had taken place. I did not want you suspected of any responsibility for it. That, in my judgment, would have been the case had you been in Buenos Aires at the time the elimination was carried out."

"I understand, Herr Admiral."

"Two. Regarding the Reine de la Mer incident. The Portuguese government has protested—has von Ribbentrop gone into this with you?"

The Portuguese vessel Reine de la Mer (really a replacement, replenishment vessel for German U-boats) was sunk in Argentine waters—by Americans, everyone believed but could not directly prove.

"I received a Foreign Ministry briefing, Herr Admiral."

Canaris looked at him for a long moment.

"Well?"

"I was informed that the Portuguese government has in the strongest possible terms protested the sinking to the United States government. I was further informed that the Americans deny any knowledge of this."

"The Portuguese have also protested strongly to the Argentine government," Admiral Canaris added. "More important, the Spanish Foreign Ministry called in the American ambassador to express their 'grave concerns' about the Reine de la Mer, and made it clear that there would be 'grave consequences' if anything like that happened in the future to a vessel flying the Spanish flag."

"So I was informed, Herr Admiral," Goltz said. "The Spanish said they would regard such an attack as 'an unpardonable act of war.'"

"Since the Americans do not wish to see the Spanish join the Axis, Standartenf?hrer, one would think that would be enough to make them think twice about attacking a Spanish-registered vessel in Argentine waters. Or even boarding a Spanish vessel on the high seas to search for contraband. Were you briefed thoroughly on this by the Navy?"

"I was informed during my Navy briefing: That the replacement replenishment vessel will sail from Sweden, via the English channel, directly to Buenos Aires. That she will notify both the German and British authorities she is bound for Argentina. And that she will have the Spanish flag on her hull floodlighted at night, so there can be no mistake as to her nationality and neutral status."

“'And'?"

"That five other Spanish and Portuguese vessels will be crossing the Atlantic toward Argentina at the same time—"

"Notat the same time!" Canaris interrupted impatiently.

"I misspoke, Herr Admiral. Pardon me," Goltz said. "At twenty-four-hour and forty-eight-hour intervals ahead of the Comerciante del Oceano Pacifico!'

"The idea is that the Americans, who expect us, of course, to send a vessel to replace the Reine de la Mer, will board any suspicious vessel. We have taken steps to make sure their agents in Spain and Portugal believe the other ships are suspicious. The moment the Americans stop Ship One, the vessel will radio that it is being boarded. The Portuguese or Spanish will immediately summon the American ambassadors in Lisbon and Madrid to protest. If the Americans sight the Comerciante del Oceano Pacifico —who will be doing her very best to avoid being sighted (she'll sail far into the South Atlantic, and then approach Buenos Aires from the south)—perhaps they will not be so eager to stop her after this has happened two, three, or four times."

"I thought it was a clever plan, Herr Admiral," Goltz said.

"It is overly complicated, and enormously expensive, and I would not give it more than a fifty-fifty chance of succeeding," Canaris said coldly. "It was justifiable only in that a replenishment vessel is essential for submarine operations in the South Atlantic."

"I understand, Herr Admiral."

"Two of three members of the OSS team which took out the Reine de la Mer left Argentina immediately afterward. The team leader, Oberst Frade's son, and a man named Pelosi. Pelosi returned four days ago. . . ."