Re: Blood and Iron - Chapter 932: The Ghost of Toulon

Chapter 932: The Ghost of Toulon

Maximilian frowned as he heard those words spoken.

We have a problem…

They were not all that rare in his field of work. But when they occurred it was never a simple solution.

He sat there still, as he calmly and coldly prepared himself for the worst possible outcome.

“What happened?”

Annemarie sighed and shook her head.

“I’m losing control of them… Pierre, and the others I mean…. They want to meet the son of de Gaulle in person. But you and I both know that he’s sitting at the bottom of the Mediterranean with the rest of the Courbet and its crew.”

Maximilian sat back in his seat and nodded his head in silence. Clearly contemplating how to proceed with this information.

If Annemarie was bringing this to his attention, then it wasn’t as simple as a request for a meetup with the Philippe de Gaulle, it was clearly a demand.

They wanted to know that the blood, sweat, and tears they had spilled over the course of years were being given for more than just faith in an absent leader. Or if there was some truth behind their movement.

It was natural that as Réveil de France began approaching the end of its usefulness that its members, especially the more intelligent among them, would begin to feel the walls closing around them.

As Annemarie had said, this presented serious difficulties, the easiest solution would be to quell the leadership of Réveil de France and its many cells after Operation Bern Junction was completed.

But, this might actually have the adverse effect on Berlin’s desires. And after thinking about it for a few moments, Maximilian sighed and poured both himself and Annemarie a glass of wine.

“This is indeed problematic… but it is not impossible….”

Annemarie looked up at and over at her boss with an incredulous look on her face.

“What the hell do you mean? Philippe de Gaulle is as dead as his father. Hell, he died before his old man blew his brains out. One of the first things we did when we declared war was bomb Toulon and all the ships stationed at its docks. ”

Maximilian chuckled at this, shaking his head as he sipped his wine.

“That is true, but how many people actually know this truth? You, me, perhaps maybe a dozen or two other people within German intelligence circles, and the Chancellor in Berlin. We confirmed Philippe’s death when the war began in 38, but we never reported on it. It’s why we have been able to so carefully maintain this ruse until now. So all we need to do is dress someone up to play the part of de Gaulle’s late son.

Annemarie stared at Maximilian as if he had gone absolutely insane. Standing up from her seat, she was quick to protest the idea.

“Max, you can’t be serious? Do you honestly think they would fall for such an obvious lie? I mean what if, God forbid, one of them had met with Philippe before he died, I mean….”

Maximilian however seemed not the least bit dissuaded by the idea, as he responded calmly and clearly.

“They haven’t… we have confirmed this. In fact, there are very few, if any surviving images in circulation about what Philippe looked like before his death. He wasn’t exactly a public figure, even if his father was the self-proclaimed president of France.”

Annemarie sighed heavily and sank back into her seat, drinking her cup of wine with fierce gusto. Her cheeks swiftly flushing as she accepted the proposal no matter how crazy it may seem to her.

“I suppose we have pulled off more crazy operations in the past. Can we at least get someone who looks similar to Philippe?”

Maximilian chuckled and poured himself and Annemarie another glass.

“Of course, what do I look like, an amateur?”

The two of them would drink long into the night as they discussed how they planned to convince Pierre and the others that the son of de Gaulle was alive, healthy, and commanding their war from behind the scenes.

—

Pierre stood in the center of an abandoned warehouse, gathered before him were twelve other men and women.

Each one of them was younger than twenty five, and they were all the leaders of Réveil de France’s remaining cells.

One of them stood up from his relaxed position where he leaned against the wall and quickly cornered Pierre.

“So? What did she say?”

Pierre looked up at the man who stood nearly a full head taller than him. And then around at the others who encircled him as if they were about to beat the information from him if he didn’t give them what he wanted.

But he did not flinch. Pierre instead sighed and shook his head. He was dreading this moment, but he had to give an answer all the same.

“She said she would convey our concerns to the son of de Gaulle. That is… No promises, but no rejections either….”

They all remained silent for some time. This wasn’t exactly the news they were looking for, each one reacted in their own way. One kicked a rock down the hall, another simply walked away before coming back.

Pierre allowed them all to make their peace with the response they had received before speaking up again.

“Either way… there’s nothing we can do for now. I wouldn’t press the issue if I were you. Her reasoning was solid, even if expected. We continue with operation Bern Junction, and after we have completed it, we find out what the hell is really going on!”

The cell leaders all nodded in agreement. There wasn’t any more discussion to be had.

Sure, many of them wanted to debate the issue, but they knew the matter had already been settled, and that their input wouldn’t change anything.

They now had their orders, and they were the last orders they intended to fulfill with blind loyalty to an absent leader.