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24-31-March/1915
''Hauptmann, we've arrived'' said someone shaking me.
''What? Ah…'' I said, wiping the drool from my lips, looking around as I woke up. ''Where am I?''
''Vilnius, you got here by truck a short while ago'' the soldier replied.
''Ah… right'' I said, moving my neck since I had slept in an awkward position.
''You're expected in that building, many of the generals are there planning the defense against the Russian offensive, but they want your report'' said the officer.
''Yeah… of course… I understand'' I said yawning and stretching as I got down from the truck.
I began walking toward the building where Hindenburg's forces had established their HQ and entered, receiving the same looks as always that everyone had when I returned from these missions.
I smelled like hell, and even worse was my clothing. The only thing we had been able to wash were our camouflage suits, since they were turning black in the white areas, so we had to wash them a couple of times whenever we found water that wasn't frozen and had the time, but we had gone months without bathing.
And it showed, as the others smelled us they made horrible faces, covering their noses while trying not to look at me.
I entered where I had been directed and it didn't take long to see the generals leaning over a map discussing how to stop the Russian advance, but I noticed the expressions they all made when my smell entered the room.
''Hauptmann'' said Scholtz making a face, trying to hide his reaction.
''Getting yourself in proper condition was not an option?'' said Hindenburg while covering his nose and looking at me sternly.
''I was told you wanted to see me as soon as possible… what I wanted most was to take a hot shower and sleep, but you need my report'' I said stretching my neck as I moved it from side to side.
''Yes, because we have information from different sources and we wanted to hear it firsthand'' said General Mackensen, looking at me with his arms crossed.
''Do you need a full day-by-day report or…?'' I said looking at him, but Hindenburg stared at me directly.
''We want to know exactly if it was you who killed the commander of the Russian 5th Army, Pavel Plehve'' said Hindenburg seriously.
''I'm not sure, to be honest'' I replied thoughtfully.
''What do you mean you're not sure? You left a note claiming responsibility for the assassination of that general, along with hundreds of officers and their subordinates'' said Hindenburg raising an eyebrow.
''Ah… so it's confirmed then that he was a general. The thing is, I don't know if he was the one I think I shot, because I don't know who I shot. I just know I shot someone in the chest while he was being saluted, but since I didn't know the general's face, I thought I was shooting a high-ranking officer… so you're confirming it was me'' I said placing my hands on my waist, smiling.
''Yes… but why did you decide to kill him? Your mission was to sabotage bridges and trains'' said Hindenburg narrowing his eyes.
''I had too much time available and while we were moving we decided to observe the area, and during a raid to get supplies we found a lieutenant colonel who told us where his general was, and I wasn't going to say no to the chance of killing a Russian general… after that we spent several weeks circling the city until we found the opportunity to strike, and that's when we approached and opened fire, killing everything we could before fleeing north, stealing horses and losing ourselves in the forests while a heavy snowstorm hit'' I replied calmly.
''Good… then… we know for certain who ended his life… his death caused the Russians to become disorganized… although it's a shame how the life of a career officer ended… he didn't even get to see his killer's face'' said Hindenburg bitterly.
''Everything else went well? Any problems before or after placing the explosives?'' asked Ludendorff, looking at Hindenburg.
''No… the Russians, even though they were supposedly looking for us, were not reinforcing the guards on the bridges, since the prisoners we captured in the area told us they thought we were already returning to Germany and therefore were not searching for us there, so we placed the explosives calmly, splitting into small groups to cover all the locations where we had to plant them'' I replied.
''And after that, were there casualties?'' asked Scholtz.
''Unfortunately yes… after the explosives went off the Russians started hunting us like never before… we lost 14 men, very good men who didn't make it back… on the bright side the groups didn't scatter, so we managed to recover their bodies and brought them with us once we hid in the deeper forests of the area… and I lost a Leutnant'' I said lowering my head.
''How did he die?'' asked Hindenburg.
''He was shot in the chest and even though we managed to close the wound, the cold was brutal. With the blood loss he had, hypothermia killed him. We couldn't do anything… we couldn't even light fires because the Russians were hunting us… and carrying dead and wounded we couldn't save him'' I replied.
''Good… we will assign you missions to help with the Russian offensive we are facing, which is forcing us to abandon our gains, but the Kaiser has other plans for you, Karl…'' said Hindenburg.
''Always at the service of His Imperial Majesty'' I replied.
''The Kaiser wants you to return to your position as a trainer, although he expects we may move you to larger facilities… since he wants to train more snipers and I don't think Poznan can hold the thousands of men he wants you to train… the rest you will have to discuss with the Kaiser… but for now you can take a few days off from missions to recover from this operation'' said Ludendorff.
''Would it be possible to return to Poznan temporarily? I want to check if the order the State placed with my company has been fulfilled or if there are more contracts to deliver'' I said looking at Ludendorff.
''Yes you can… although the order has already been delivered as requested and the results are already being seen on the battlefield with the deaths of several thousand Russians so far, so snipers are proving to be an important tool for the armies'' replied Scholtz.
''Good… then anything else or may I be dismissed with your permission?'' I said looking at all of them.
''You may leave'' said Hindenburg.
I nodded and quickly went to find the first place that had hot water. I took my well-deserved bath and washed my clothes, finally getting rid of the stench I had been carrying after months in a long campaign.
I decided to be more efficient than usual and, instead of sleeping, I got on a train heading to Poznan, and that's where I slept, followed by my company who were just like me, sleeping on the train after an extremely long mission.
Arriving almost the next day, getting off at the Poznan train station as if nothing had happened.
We returned to the barracks where we prepared everything for the next batch of recruits that would arrive and expanded the areas so the others could sleep, building new structures using local workers.
Something I had noticed since I arrived and when I left was that the number of unemployed had decreased a lot, either they had joined the army or found work in factories that had shifted to supplying the military.
So there wasn't as much labor available. My factory itself was in perfect condition, since even though there were no orders, production continued, because at any moment an order from the German army could arrive, so even though the previous order had already been delivered, production continued at a loss, although that wasn't a problem since I still had several thousand marks available and nothing prevented me from asking my father for another loan now that I knew how profitable the business was.
Before I had much more money, but I had spent it continuing to buy land and building greenhouses, because it was still too early for German agriculture to collapse. This would probably become noticeable during harvest season, when due to the lack of workers and fertilizers the crops wouldn't be enough to feed everyone, and the naval blockade would become much more intense.
So I had to be ready for when the harvests failed and be able to provide food and fill my pockets selling the simplest things that could be grown from the land.
Without doing more training, I immediately traveled to my father's house to talk with him about how things had been going.
''Son… you didn't reply to my letters'' said father with a slight smile.
''I was in enemy lines… practically from December until a few days ago'' I said with a smile.
''Are you alright?'' he said, showing some concern.
''Yeah… tired… mostly… everything went well, except I lost a couple of men. The Russians can be vicious when they're promised things for getting my head, and there were also some who wanted to grab me because I took out their general'' I said with a wide grin forming on my lips as I remembered the shot I gave that Russian general.
''You killed a Russian general?'' said father, standing up from his chair, surprised.
''And all the officers who were near him… we caught them with their pants down… by the way, have you heard anything about my brothers?'' I said looking at father.
''There haven't been any naval battles yet, only some skirmishes between the British naval forces and ours'' father replied.
''I see… a shame they can't be here… well, I don't know how long I'll be able to stay here, the Kaiser wants to see me and as soon as I get free time I'll have to move wherever the Kaiser calls me'' I said with a slight smile as I stood up from the chair.
''The Kaiser? The Kaiser? Do you realize this is a golden opportunity? The Kaiser might reward you with who knows what… a noble title… land… or lifetime incomes… any of those things would be phenomenal… oh son, I'm so proud'' said father almost unable to believe what he was hearing as he moved to hug me.
''It's to train more shooters, mostly… I don't think it's that kind of reward, it could be, but I doubt it… more than that… I'm worried about how my lands' harvests are going, do you have the documents?'' I said looking at father.
''Yes… here'' said father returning to his desk. ''The tomatoes you ordered planted were harvested a few weeks ago… very good tomatoes, I must say… the potatoes still need a few more days… but the fact they grew in winter… that's what surprises me the most… is this always viable?'' father asked while showing me the documents.
''Yes, the temperature is stable, and we have workers to carry out tasks like fertilizing and handling pests… also if the production seems to have been good… without industrial fertilizers it makes sense… but we can always use something in between, since everything is being used for explosives, so I thought I could use organic fertilizers… so I'll have to negotiate with pig farm owners and probably buy waste from the fisheries in Danzig to use fish remains…'' I said smiling.
''So can we apply it to my farms?'' father asked.
''Of course… we need to make a solid investment and cover maintenance costs, but by producing all year you can get between 3 or 4 harvests instead of one or two, which is normally what happened'' I replied.
''Good… what can you do with 160,000 marks?'' father said.
''Ah… what I returned to you'' I said raising an eyebrow.
''That's what we have, we'll have to wait for the next harvest to have more income… and as you said, fertilizers are hard to get'' father said.
''We'll have to work'' I replied.
After that conversation I began to review in more detail what had happened. Taking advantage of the free time, I checked the greenhouses, observing that the workers were following their tasks, cleaning organic waste from the plants while preparing everything for the next harvest.
Of course, this required the use of organic fertilizers, since due to the war economy we couldn't use industrial fertilizers, so I began buying pig manure from all the local farms, as well as those surrounding the city, to let it compost for the next 6 months.
For that reason I couldn't plant tomatoes again or we would have a lack of nutrients in the soil, so we had to switch crops to something much easier to grow: mushrooms, using a substrate of pig manure, straw and plant waste, filling the greenhouse with substrate to grow mushrooms, obtaining spores from a local merchant who sold mushrooms, spreading them everywhere and increasing the humidity of the greenhouses.
I also ordered the purchase of all fishing waste: bones, fat, skin… everything could be fermented and turned into an excellent fertilizer. I also gathered all the ash produced by firewood during winter, offering to collect it from all houses in Poznan for free with my workers.
I also went to farms to ask them to start collecting animal urine so it could be diluted in water and used as another natural liquid fertilizer rich in nutrients.
And finally I bought all the bones from nearby butcher shops and meat processors to boil them, remove all the fat and grind them into a good bone powder.
During those free days I was running everywhere to gather natural fertilizers and build a supply chain, with large quantities beginning to accumulate: barrels full of fermented fish, diluted urine, areas outside the city turned into massive compost sites for pig waste, along with continued accumulation of wood ash, gathering large quantities of fertilizer.
Since I would keep buying land and building greenhouses… Germany would not go hungry… although feeding tens of millions is beyond my current funds… but I had one hope… the Kaiser… if I could convince the Kaiser… Germany would not go hungry if I managed to convince him of my idea.
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I remind you to leave your ideas or what you would like to see.
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Personally, I don't really like having to do this, but the economic situation here is going to hell, and since I still have work,I'm taking the lawyer's oath at the end of next month,fuel prices are about to skyrocket, and with that, all prices because of the situation with Iran and the United States, so I'm seriously considering breaking one of my principles by charging for the extra chapters
That's why I want to ask those of you who could pay for that page,which I can't name here to get extra chapters (although personally I don't like that idea since I write based on your feedback).Would you do that?
Give me some ideas on how to do it