BlitzKrieg: A Return to War

BLITZKRIEG

A RETURN TO WAR

Early May 1945: Berlin

The German officer stood in his communications bunker and listened to the radio broadcasts. From the speakers of his radio unit he could hear the ominous thundering

of the Russian artillery shells falling on Berlin. Relentlessly the Russians and their artillery pounded on into the heart of the once proud and powerful

Reich. Over the speaker the voice of old grizzled home guardsmen began speaking. The roar of artillery was gradually replaced by the sounds of small arms fire, popping in the background.

"To any units within range of this broadcast this is Feldgable Earnst Mann. I’m speaking to you from the command post protecting the Chancellery in Berlin. We can now hear voices in Russian from outside our bunker doors here. This will be the last broadcast from this post, Gott Mit Uns...." Then a loud blast was heard over the airwaves and many rifle and machine gun blasts, and then static. The man who had been listening turned to his right and faced the other men who had been listening with him. The man began to speak." This is a great blow to the Reich and our cause but we knew this day would come, did we not?" At this there was much grumbling and nodding of heads from the surrounding men." But this is why we are here, why we will once again grow strong, and will carry on as the Fuhrer ordered. I will at this time offer any man relief from his duties to return to their homes if they so wish to do so." He stood for a moment silently and waited but no man in his command offered to take his offer. "Very well. Deep in the mountains of southern Germany lays our destination. Roughly 175 kilometers over tough terrain and while dodging allied patrols and aircraft. My orders were to report to this destination in the event that communications are cut off with OKW, (or the armies high command), in Berlin. I don’t know what to expect to find there short of rumors but that is where we head. Sergeant Shufel, take command of the remains of the 14th Panzer and lead off the column. You will be followed by Hans Kleine with the 216th Panzer Grenadiers, with the 12th SS PanzerLehr in the rear. Any stragglers we come across are to be given the offer to return home or join us. The allies must not know of our forces and that we escaped from the front here. You all have your orders let us be moving along quickly."

Two weeks later the quiet stillness of a mountain meadow deep in the mountains of Germany was broken by the deep rumbling and squealing of Panzer engines and treads. The sounds of laboring engines in the trucks and halftracks soon all coughed to a halt. After deceiving numbers of allied patrols and recon aircraft they had finally arrived at their destination. The German officer who had led them here jumped down from his tank. He turned and slowly looked around the valley stopping to glance back down the long winding mountain road and the long line of tanks, trucks marching troops and other items of war. Tired, hungry, all that remained of the once proud multi million man wehrmacht. He noted the old stone buildings and signs as another man walked up to him. "So Herr Field Marshal, why have we traveled all this way to an old army post in the middle of nowhere?" The man turned to his old friend and sighed. His name was Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, or "The Desert Fox", as he had been known while commanding the Afrika Korps in North Africa. "Come with me" was all he said then he began to walk towards one of the stone buildings. Inside the building was a completely different scene than the outside would lead one to believe. An immaculate and well lit hallway led to a large steel desk flanked by two stern faced SS Sergeants. Rommel nodded to the men and they moved aside smartly and one depressed a button in the wall behind them. the desk lowered into the floor and the wall behind where the desk had stood slid open slowly revealing a large cargo elevator. The two men stepped into the elevator and with the faint sounds of machine in operation the elevator began to descend. The elevator seems to continue descending for minutes when with a loud clang of metal on metal it came to a halt. The giant steel doors slid open revealing an immense underground chamber. It stretched far enough off into the distance one cold not see the end of it, and it was so high that moisture vapor condensed along the ceiling to form small wispy clouds. A small group of men stood waiting at the elevator doors for the two men who had ridden it down. Rommel’s eyes widened in shock and amazement when he began to recognize some of these men. There stood the Reichsmarshal Herman Goring, the little fat man wearing his robins blue uniform of the German Luftwaffe, or air force. The quiet and Dangerous Heinrich Himmler, chief of the SS, and the Gestapo. But the biggest surprise was the last man present, the leader of the third Reich and the reason for its demise, Adolf Hitler. "Meine Fuehrer!" Rommel barked and gave the Nazi salute, as did the other man with him. Hitler nodded and Rommel dropped his salute asking, "How? We were told that all was lost when Berlin Fell. The Russian radio reported finding the cremated body of the Fuhrer behind the chancellery in the gardens. Rommel was clearly dumbfounded. All of the men in Hitler's party smiled at this. "The man found by those filthy Bolsheviks were planted doubles, surgically and dentally altered by my doctor Dr. Morell" Rommel nodded and glanced around at Hitler’s party to look for the Dr. Hitler noticed this scanning of his people and smiled." The good doctor had to be liquidated; we could not risk his capture by the allies or by the Russians.” Hitler shook Rommel’s hand and began to walk with him through the vast cavern. Upon coming around a wall of crates Rommel stopped with awe at the contents of the vast cavern. Row upon row of Panther and Tiger and tiger II tanks. all lined up in orderly fashion. Millions of crates and boxes of weapons and ammunition.

Hitler and Rommel began walking along the long lines of crates and boxes stacked almost 30 feet high filled with the material of war. Rommel began to notice an odd glow in the distance lighting the cavern that didn’t seem like natural light. As they walked Hitler began to speak. "I’m sure you remember Herr Speer?” This man had been Hitler’s chief architect and his Minister of Armaments and war production. Rommel nodded to this. "In early 1943 Herr Speer informed me that our physicists at Peenmunde had made a remarkable breakthrough. He informed me that not only was the ability to travel through time feasible, but it was possible. I thought the idea intriguing so I gave the project the highest possible priority for completion. In the beginning months of 1944 the necessary equipment had been developed and produced and the personnel trained for the mission.” At this the two men and the small group of Hitler’s inner circle came to a halt before a large machine, on top of the machine sat a large circle shaped window. The circle was approximately 30 feet in diameter. In the center of the circle pulsed a small blue white round ball and the metal of the circle seemed to shimmer and steam. Hitler began to speak again while looking at this machine. "The machine you see before you is the direct result of all those endeavors and of millions of Reich marks in research. We simply call it the gate. It is fully functional and has been used several times within the last few months. What I need from you Herr Field Marshal is to use this incredible discovery to reshape the future of the Third Reich. All of my great generals are gone, Guderian, Henrici, Von Rundstedt all captured, or dead. You are the last hope for us. If your memory serves you Field Marshal you will remember my plans for the big offensive through the Ardennes forest in December of 1944?"Yes, My Fuhrer, I remember well."Rommel spoke. Hitler nodded and continued on.” Now you will see why I had cancelled that attack so suddenly. All of those forces slated for that attack were rerouted instead to this facility and a few other holding areas close by. As we speak your forces up above are being shown to these hidden depots and being serviced and re supplied and will be joining you shortly. These units will make up the nucleus of the 1st Panzer Army. The troops and material in this cavern will be the 52nd Panzer Army under SS General Sepp Dietrich. He will be directly under your command."Rommel stopped and stared at Hitler in a renewed sense of awe. Hitler smiled at the expression on Rommel’s face and continued talking. "You see field marshal the gate can only be used once to any particular time and date. So therefore we sent the necessary equipment and personnel back through the gate to assemble the anchor gate to link our time and then. That date is may 26, 1861."Rommel’s eyes grew wide in confusion, "Meine Fuhrer why would we go then? Why the only historical significance of that time period would be....the united states civil war!!!" Exactly!” Replied Hitler. "Our goal is to see that the confederate states win their war against the USA government. The gate has already been in operation for 2 years in their time so our initial personnel and base their are firmly set up and in place. Your job is to train the men, produce the arms and ammunition you need, and to aid the confederate government when at all possible. You will be leaving immediately and the 201st Panzer grenadiers and the 4th SS Panzer Division will be dispatched shortly to join you." Yes, Meine Fuhrer. You can count on me and my men." "Good!” Replied Hitler.” Then you will be off.” Hitler said in dismissal. He then turned put his hands behind his back and strode off to talk to another officer about some other matter. Rommel then turned and strode up the ramp to the circle of pulsating light; he paused momentarily then stepped through. A flash of light appeared in the cave and then he was gone.

MAY 28, 1861

Rommel’s arrival two days earlier, though expected, threw the men’s morale sky high. Almost every German soldier knew of the "Desert Fox". His cunning on the battlefield was legendary. Upon his arrival he began furiously digging into his duties and now knew what his total strength, manpower and infrastructure was here in the confederate states of America. The Germans held an impressive 2500 acres of land around the town of Petersburg, Virginia that had been granted them by the confederate government. It was now a sprawling ground of factories, troop training areas, and assembly buildings.

MAY 30, 1861

Citizens and travelers alike stood still, the town of Grafton, Virginia was being occupied by federal troops from a unit of the Army of The Potomac. A few cheers rang out from a handful of pro union supporters, breaking the stony silence from the other citizens who were staunch supporters of the confederacy. All this was done with a somewhat vague explanation to the town authorities that it was for their protection.

Captain John Travell rode his horse in front of His Brigade, the 13th Ohio Volunteer Infantry Brigade. His orders had come from Secretary of War Staunton, and up till now the march had been unspectacular. Suddenly from ahead a multitude of gunshots were heard. From down the street a handful of troops came running back his way in disarray. Captain Travell stared in shock as his skirmishers ran past him, some without rifles and packs. Who could it be? He thought. He had no reports of rebel units nearby! Coming down the street to the open fields at the edge of the town he ordered his officers to form up the unit for battle. While he was halted and the unit formed, the captain scanned the edge of the forest at the far end of the field seeing nothing.

Thinking of the skirmishers who had fled past him just moments ago he grunted angrily and spoke to himself,” Green Troops. They probably ran into a reb sympathizer from town and a few of his buddies and just got scared. No troop commander would let the enemy unit form up without attacking first." He turned back to his men and began yelling and cursing to get his men formed up into their battle lines. Turning his horse to face forward he yelled the command over his shoulder for the unit to move forward.

His line of federal troops made it halfway across the open field when the gates of hell opened wide open. From the tree line directly ahead of Captain Travell and his troops an intense barrage of lead erupted. The sound of so many shots firing so close together led the Captain to believe he had erroneously judged the enemies strength of numbers. Looking to his left and right while riding forward on his horse he could see his men falling like harvested corn stalks. His horse received a bullet of unknown caliber throwing him violently to the ground. He picked himself up and shook his head to clear the cobwebs out from the impact. He turned to run forward with his men and the last thought he had was the brief view he glimpsed of men in a strange uniform and shiny hats firing a strange repeating gun on a stand. Then a 8mm round from a mauser sniper rifle found the Captains head splitting it like a ripe melon. Lieutenant Hans Murdlich gave the order to cease firing. The smoke from the thousands of rounds of machine gun fire quickly began to dissipate on the quickening breeze. Slowly the lieutenant rose from his dug in position and looked out over the brief battlefield. It seemed to be covered in a blue blanket of federal soldiers. Over 400 blue clad men lay dead and dieing out in the heat of the field. the Lieutenant was used to the tactics of the soldiers in his time and this loss of life on this level shocked him. He looked to his left and right where the other 3 MG 42 machine gun nests had been. his 16 men had all but destroyed the federal unit before him, a sign of more things to come, he thought to himself. He then turned to his men and equipment to prepare for the counterattack that would inevitably come from the federals.

Later that day the German controlled area in Virginia, rapidly becoming known as New Munich, was alive with activity. Throughout the day beginning about mid morning men, machines, and tons of items used to wage war began to arrive through the gateway. By 4pm that evening Rommel had amassed an army roughly equal to the size of the entire federal Army.

RICHMOND, VIRGINIA: SAME DAY

President Jefferson Davis, the Confederate President looked across his desk at the three men sitting before him. The report he had just read still fresh in his mind. "Field Marshal Rommel your men handled themselves with exemplary action today at Grafton! My compliments to you and your men sir!" Rommel nodded his head, breaking into a small grin. "My pleasure Mr. President. It will be quite sometime before their troops try to seize that town again sir, and when they do they will use a larger force, so I am preparing a special surprise for the invaders." Both of the other men in the office leaned forward in interest at this news, but neither spoke yet. The man to the right of Rommel wore a grey uniform with a red sash and a cavalry hat with a somewhat flamboyant feather of the same red color. This man was General Thomas Jackson, a recent replacement for General Beauregard who had become ill a week before. He was definitely a man of airs, and a strict disciplinarian to his men. He was so brilliant in the field, and universally loved by his men that he was an easy choice to appoint. The other man was General Robert E. Lee, a special military advisor to the president. Before the war while still commissioned in the US Army, he had been offered command of the US armies. He had declined the invitation stating that he would never be able to fight against his home and brothers. President Davis spoke again.” Field Marshal Rommel, what were those machines we saw training today called again?"

"They were called Panzers, Mr. president.” Said Rommel

Davis mumbled his thanks and nodded at Rommel who returned the gesture. It seems to me that horses will be rapidly outmoded by these machines."Rommel nodded and said,” Yes, sir they will be so, once the use of my panzers become more widely spread in use.” President Davis seemed to think a moment then spoke.” How hard would it be to outfit one of our cavalry divisions with these Panzers?’ He asked Rommel. "Not very. Once the men have gotten used to the noise and had the proper training to maintain and care for the machines then they will have to be schooled in panzer tactics. If I had a year Mr. President I could give you a complete division of Panzers and their support infantry troops called Panzer Grenadiers, or Mechanized Infantry." Davis smiled and slapped his hand on the desk top. "Very well Field Marshal Rommel. I am giving you permission to establish a proper panzer training school in or around Goldsboro, North Carolina. It is right off of the rail line so transport for your men and machines should prove to be no issue.” Davis then nodded to Jackson and continued.” General Jackson will do his best to keep the Federals busy until your troops are trained and reequipped." As Davis went silent all the men present nodded to one another and the meeting had come to a close.

JULY 20TH, 1861 MANASSAS JUNCTION, VIRGINIA

General Jackson stood smiling and returned the salute given to him. "It’s about time you joined this party General Johnston.” He said still smiling. Johnston laughed and spoke.” You didn’t think me and my men would miss out on giving the Yankees a good old southern style licking, did you?” He slapped Jackson on the back with a hearty laugh. Both men then turned to walk back into the camp to stand under a canvas awning over the camp table that held Jackson’s Maps of the areas around the army. "So what is the situation?” Spoke Johnston. General Jackson took a deep breath and pointed at the map beginning to speak.” The Yankees are here, around Centreville, about 55,000 men under McDowell. But he’s flailing around like he’s blind as a bat. General Stuart has seen to that. He thinks this army is still somewhere around Winchester. So he’s kept Patterson and his 18,000 men at Charleston block you from flanking him and cutting him off from his supplies. I also have Holmes division enroute from Aquia Landing but whether they appear on the field in time for the battle is yet uncertain.

11:30pm JULY 20-21 1861 MCDOWELL'S HEADQUARTERS: CENTERVILLE AND BULL RUN

General Irven McDowell smiled cleverly, his commanders surrounding the map table gaining confidence from their Commanding General. "Tomorrow we will crush the enemies troops and end this rebellion and be home before Thanksgiving."He spoke confidently."I have discovered a weakness in the enemy lines and we will exploit it here.” His finger pointed on the map to a spot over Bull Run where an old stone bridge stood over the small creek. McDowell, hoping that a surprise strike at the Confederate flank would cave in the enemy defenses, made a grievous error instead.

The next morning McDowell, at 0500 hours, gave the order for his massed artillery barrage. This alerts the already prepared Confederate troops. Confederate General N.G. Evans quickly put his troops in position to meet McDowell’s oncoming attack from Sudley Ford. Evans troops, some of the first to be equipped and trained by the new German advisors took up their positions.

The federal troops under Generals Heintzelman, Burnside, and Hunter approach the confederate positions and pause in some confusion. Where there should have been a confederate line of troops awaiting there is none. The attacking federal officers are puzzled and waste valuable time sending runners to their superiors asking for orders. A few of the Federal officers spy movement inside the tree line, among rocks and makeshift breastworks. This military behavior is contrary to accepted practice, so the federal officers come to the conclusion that the men seen hidden must be a reb picket line, lightly manned and armed. Echoing along the federal lines the order to fire is heard. The federal troops fire blindly with few targets to actually aim at. Their firing is thick and furious and within a few moments the union officers give the order to cease firing. The powder smoke from the hundreds of musket shots slowly begins to dissipate. In the tree line and rocks and trenches the hundreds of confederates lay still. Dressed in new German style grey uniforms and wearing helmets instead of wool hats, armed with schmisser machine pistols and kar98 rifles with mg 42 machine guns situated every 100 yards, death silently waited for the federals. Above the silently laying confederates the trees are pockmarked with shot from the furious union firing shortly before. Very few men are reported injured along the long line. Most of the men smile and silently joke in good humor. These new tactics will save many lives and that was something even the lowliest private in the army could appreciate.

Confederate Generals Evans, Bee, and Bartow stood in the large living room of the house. Being up on the hill it had been a perfect choice for headquarters. The commanding general Thomas Jackson had paid the Mathews family in gold for the use of their house. He could have just as easily commandeered it, but being the god fearing and honest man he was he chose to pay for its use instead. The three men stood around a plain brown table studying a map of the battlefield. In the corner another confederate sat at a table monitoring yet another amazing gift from the Germans. It was called a radio and enabled headquarters to be in contact with troops in the field immediately, eliminating the need for flags, and runners. Behind the hill that the Mathews house stood on sat a long line of large metal wagons with box shaped tops and large gun barrels pointing from the top of them. The Germans had called these mechanized artillery. But too many confederates had a problem with those words so many had adopted the name horseless artillery for them, and the name then stuck. All these guns were manned by German artillerymen with confederate trainees. At the radio of the artillery headquarters a radioman listened to the sudden all for artillery support from the battlefield far forward. The German wearing the headset smiled and nodded to the confederate beside him. The information was then relayed to the artillery guns.

4:00pm JULY 21ST, 1861 MANASSAS, VIRGINIA

Evans, Bee, and Bartow's brigades had been pushed back to below Mathew’s house hill. But having been reinforced by Stuart, Early, Kirby Smith, Cocke, Holmes, and Ewell.The battle line now stretched from the Manassas-Sudley Road past Mathews hill to bull run where it turned south along the run to just past balls ford. A total of 32,000 confederate troops now sat on the field and facing them were 35,000 troops under the Federal General McDowell.

Around 4:30 McDowell, being pressed for victory by President Lincoln, ordered Generals Franklin, Porter, Sherman, Wilcox, and Howard to move forward and attack. Their orders are to take the old stone bridge crossing Bull Run. Confederate pickets spot the advancing federals and one of the confederates radio in with an artillery strike, the first confederate to do so. The Federal officers, a scant few minutes later hear an odd screeching sound, then explosions begin to tear into the union formations.

Union Generals Sherman, Burnside, and Hunter ride slowly down the Warrenton turnpike just a mile behind the units attempting to attack the bridge. The generals slowly mounted a rise to see over the field of battle and paused as the artillery becomes heavier for their troops attacking up ahead. The massive artillery barrage and rapid firing of the rebel troop’s positions was now beginning to cause these generals to begin rethinking their attack plans.

General Sherman reached up and removed his hat, wiping the sweat from his brow.” Hot fight our boys are putting up there, Generals.” He remarked But Burnside and Hunter who had met up earlier had already discussed the situation amongst themselves. Neither one shared Sherman’s opinion of the rapidly deteriorating battle out in front of them.

While the three generals began to bitterly argue their armies tactics and strategy, disaster struck. Burnsides troops facing heavy Confederate artillery fire accurately smashing into the union units, and a withering curtain of hot lead from concealed enemy positions, began to falter in their attack. At first single soldiers began to throw down their weapons, then dozens as the panic began to spread. The fear of death or capture the foremost thing in their minds. Sherman, seeing the first of his troops come running past him went livid with rage. Digging his spurs into the flanks of his horse, he galloped into the retreating soldiers. "Stand your ground!” He bellowed, drawing his sword into the air.” Form up on me, stand and fight the rebel scum."800 yards away Private John Bulkely of the 12th North Carolina sharpshooters rested in a tree scanning the field for targets. He had been German trained and equipped. He now carried the deadly 8 millimeter Mauser Sniper rifle. As he scanned the field a union officer rode on his horse into his field of view, waving a sword in the air he began to rally the union troops who were trying to run away from the battle. Bulkely Calmly slightly adjusted his rifle to face the union officer, looking into his scope mounted on the rifle. Through the scope the confederate private watched the mans horse stop as the man on it glanced from left to right as federal troops who had been in headlong flight began to reform up on the officer. Bulkely adjusted the crosshairs in his scope to center on the mans chest and then calmly pulled the trigger. The federal troops who had been forming up on either side of General Sherman, saw him fall from his horse and quickly lost their new found courage and once again began to flee the battle.

All along the long Confederate battle line the federal attacks had been repulsed with a horrendous loss of life on the union side. Reports now coming into McDowell’s headquarters went from bad to worse. Whole divisions were reporting 60 to 70 percent casualties. Some units were so depleted they couldn’t take the field again as an actual unit without massive replacements. McDowell sat down heavily on his camp stool and put is hands on his head in grief. After a few moments he gave the orders for the army to retreat north back across the Potomac River, and safety.

JULY 27TH 1861 WASHINGTON D.C. THE WHITE HOUSE

Major General Irwin McDowell stood at rigid attention before President Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln stood silently staring out the window of his office, back facing General McDowell. Looking out at the bustling capitals streets below, his mind kept returning to the debacle at Manassas junction. Three thousand casualties at the initial estimate, not to mention the missing and captured. Some reports spoke of a number as high at 8 to 9 thousand casualties total. Thinking of this higher number Lincoln silently shook his head in disgust. He turned to look at the general, silently picked up a document off of his desk and handed it to McDowell who took it and quietly began to read it. Lincoln sat at his desk and laid his arms on the desktop interlocking his fingers staring at the General while he read the note that Lincoln had passed him. "But, sir! This will ruin my career! I have given my life to serving my country sir! You can’t just take that away from me after all I have given!" Pleaded McDowell after reading Lincolns note. "No sir, Manassas ruined your career along with your gross negligence in command and your inability to take counsel in your subordinates.” Lincoln Countered. "But sir the enemy had more men, more and better arms and equipment than I. Such things as I have never seen before..." But Lincoln was tired of the Generals excuses and violently swung his arm through the air above his desk silencing the Generals on going rant. Ï also know of these alleged reports and they seem highly exaggerated to me, sir. I believe not one of them and you will not use them as excuses for your ineptitude and to cover what you lack, General. You are hereby relieved of the command of the Army of the Potomac, and you are dismissed from my office, sir. Report to the Army personnel office for reassignment effective immediately." Face red with rage, McDowell saluted, and abruptly left the presidents office slamming his door behind him. Lincoln sadly shook his head and called for his military adjutant. "Kindly request General McClellan attends me in my office at his earliest convenience. I wish to speak with him on important matters concerning the Army." The adjutant saluted and hurried off to carry out Lincoln's wishes.

July 30, 1861 Jefferson City, Missouri

As the clashes between pro union and pro confederacy forces in Missouri continued, the pro union forces slowly began to get the upper hand in that state. Behind the back of the pro confederacy Governor Claiborne Jackson, and his secretary of state, and lieutenant governor, the pro union forces call for a state convention in Jefferson City to oust the confederate sympathizers.

The still early morning quiet of the city is broken by a distant rumbling that the citizens first hear who live on the edge of the city. Within a few minutes the first elements of the 31st SS Panzer (confederate) Division begin driving into the outer edges of the town. Citizens of the town hide in their homes and businesses in terror at the noise and smoke from the Panzer engines and exhaust. None have ever seen such metal monsters before. The higher placed confederate leaning officials had prior knowledge that the confederacy would be sending in cutting edge military aid to solidly secure that state and protect the elected government. The word spreads like wildfire through the city and pro union forces all rush to leave out of the northern side of the city and the confederate metal war machines enter from the south. One enterprising group of union forces near the city center area get the idea they would be safe if barricaded inside a building while taking shots at any confederate forces that happen to come by. Inside the building a nervous man, Private Albert Oriel peers out a window at a few grey clad soldiers who slowly seem to be walking down the street escorted by one of the new confederate war machines. Private Oriel takes aim at the metal machine and fires, and stares in shock at the spark from the bullet bouncing off the machine. Private Oriel is amazed and had only enough time to think he would have better luck standing out there throwing rocks at the machine. When the crew inside the tank hear the ricochet of the armor plate from the wasted rifle shot they immediately halt. The tank commander relays to the gunner the location he suspected the shot came from. Down on the ground in the street the confederate troopers accompanying the Panzer are pointing to a building with barricaded windows, and local citizens rush up to inform us that the last union supporters in the city are locked in there. The Tiger tank slowly turns its turret to face the building and the long muzzle of the 88 mm tank cannon are pointed at the building. the command,” fire”, is given. The loud cannon blast echoes through the city and the front of the wooden building disintegrates. A few union troops come wobbling out of the destruction and are immediately cut down. This marks the first and last true defense put up by the union forces in the state of Missouri and by 10pm that night a message is sent to President Davis declaring Missouri is firmly within the Confederacy.

AUGUST 10TH, 1861 ALONG THE VIRGINIA BANKS OF THE POTOMAC RIVER

The Long lines of Horseless Artillery lay silent, waiting for the orders to fire. The Confederate artillerymen, now with German observers instead stood idly by their guns. Smoking cigars, and a new invention the Germans introduced, cigarettes. Some played cards, some just talked, or wrote to loved ones back home, but all were trained to the peak of perfection. General Thomas Jackson, General Robert E. Lee, and General James Longstreet stood on a small hill overlooking the river and beyond at the federal Capital of Washington DC. behind the trees and hills stretching along the banks of the Potomac the Mighty Army of Northern Virginia lay silently waiting. Almost the entire army had been outfitted with new German design arms and ammunition. Most of the men had been trained in the use of small hand bombs that the Germans called grenades. Many units of German troops had joined the Army and with the Confederates using the same grey color and pattern uniform the difference between German and confederate was hard to tell. This added to the illusion of the size of the army of Northern Virginia. A horseless carriage rode up and President Jefferson Davis stepped out of the marvel of engineering. He smiled and was followed my Field Marshal Erwin Rommel the Leader of the German soldiers. As Davis walked up to the small gathering of Generals he spoke.” Well Gentleman I have not heard yet from Mr. Lincoln over there if he is amiable to opening a dialogue yet concerning peace proposals between our two respective governments.” Davis paused and sighed, looking over the Potomac at the union side of the river.” How I do wish he would just throw in the hat and the federals would go their own way and we would go ours." He said. If the federal government doesn’t respond by 2pm this very evening gentlemen then I hereby authorize the pre attack bombardment of the capital of Washington DC." The generals nodded at Davis and he took one more wishful glance over the river and strode off to speak with the soldiers in the area. Rommel shook hands with the Confederate Generals and then began speaking.” Generals, I have a special surprise in stock for the federal city over there. When the order to commence firing is given please let me know if at all possible before we open fire with artillery." The generals, who all by now trusted Rommel implicitly, agreed. There would be no artillery fire until Rommel’s surprise was unwrapped.

As the 2pm deadline approached no news came from the federal side over the one remaining bridge still standing. Suddenly at 1:55pm a lone union officer on horseback rode across the bridge with a white flag. He asked to speak to General Robert E. Lee who now commanded the Army of Northern Virginia. Lee met eh federal officer after a few moments wait and was handed a note from the union government. Lee read the note then looked into the officer’s eyes a moment, handing it back to him. "Do you know, sir what this says?” He asked the federal officer who brought it over. The man nodded, unable to find his voice in fright. Le turned to his Generals and spoke. I have here a note from President A. Lincoln USA. He says that since the confederate government doesn’t exist he can’t give us our demands, and he again orders us to stand down and surrender to the lawful forces of the United States Government.” Dozens of men nearby in earshot of the exchange started to laugh at this and many made derragotery comments about the USA.

Lee turned back to the federal messenger.” Son takes this back over to your side and please tell the president, directly from me that with a heavy heart I will order the assault on that city. Also please tell him that should he reconsider to have a red star shell shot into the air and I will order an immediate cease fire to discuss the surrender of the city.” The soldier nodded and mounted his horse to go galloping back across the bridge over to the federal side of the bank. Lee checked his pocket watch and nodded to Rommel who had been watching him. Rommel spoke to his radio operator and then all was silent. After 15 minutes of relative silence a distant humming could be heard from the sky to the south. As the moments passed objects could be seen in the skies over the city and then they began to drop other objects on the city below. Within minutes large explosions and deep rumbling could be heard from inside the city. Rommel smiled and the spoke to Lee. "General Lee what you are seeing is the Luftwaffe, our air force. Those craft up there are airplanes and they are dropping 500 pound and 1000 pound bombs on the city. If you would kindly order the Artillery to commence firing I can guarantee that the federals will not be in any shape to stop us from just walking and rolling into town and taking it over." General Lee nodded and waved to an orderly standing nearby.” Please kindly go to the command post and have them give the order to our artillery to open fire, sir.” Said Lee

Moments later the thunderous roar of the bombs exploding in the city was outdone by the much closer roar of 150 Artillery Guns firing at once. Inside the city the President and his family was hurriedly rushed to a waiting carriage and driven north out of the city to a home that the army had quickly appropriated in the country. Lincoln arrived at the home with his wife and child and stood looking at the flashes and hearing the booms and crashes in the dying light of the day coming from Washington. Lincoln knew that the confederate military would look to exploit this new technology they had by invading and trying to hold Washington, but he was determined to hold at all costs. He slapped his fist into his hand in determination. "By god those rebels will never take our capital.” He mumbled to himself.

As the night became early morning the thunder of artillery had gradually tapered off and the quiet of the night set back in as thousands of confederate and German soldiers began the preparations to cross the Potomac river. The German engineers had built a pontoon bridge across the Potomac to get their Panzers across but a lucky mortar round had hit the bridge and smashed it near the far end of the bridge. The German engineers were furiously trying to repair the damage to that end but were under constant enemy sniper fire and rifle fire from troops up behind breastworks on the edge of the embankment. General Jackson, not a man to be held up by anything, ordered his corps to begin crossing the river. Hundreds of motorized assault craft on tracks like a panzer roared down the embankments to splash into the river, and begin the crossing. Hundreds more assault boats filled with 12 to 20 soldiers began paddling their was across as well. As they began to cross the river enemy fire began to become more apparent. A few union shells fell into the river, some bringing lucky hits to assault craft, or boats, the boats fared much worse in this contest as the cannon the federals used were shooting round shot which would explode inside the assault boats, sinking them and drowning the heavily laden soldiers, or killing them outright. The assault craft were armored on top and the sides and the round shells would bounce right off the armor plate. The first boats made the far shore and added their troops to the troops unloading from the assault craft who would back up and re enter the river to recross for another load of troops. The confederate troops slowly worked their way up the embankment and breastworks only to be forced back by superior numbers of fresh troops constantly being fed into the city by Lincoln and McClellan who now commanded the Army of the Potomac. A small group of confederate troops from Jubal Earlys division had found a small depression in the embankment giving them cover from the murderous fire of the Yankees above. Two German soldiers had managed to take cover with these men. One of the men had a device that the confederates had been informed of but not yet seen in action. The second German motioned to a confederate carrying a radio. "Private,” He said,” get on the command net and give the code work Klockwerk. The confederate nodded and did so. All along the embankment the troops began to put on masks over their faces. General Lee grunted in disappointment as he watched all of this through his binoculars. Just then an aid rushed up to Lee.” Sir, Someone gave the code klockwerk over the command radio net. Klcokwerk was the code the Germans had decided on using if they felt that the casualty rate would be too high to continue without a special weapon.

The gunners manning the confederate artillery repositioned themselves, and after having been given the order opened the special wooden boxes that the German soldiers had supplied them with. Each artillery shell was gently loaded into the gun and after all guns had given the ready signal they waited for the command to fire. General Lee and General Jackson stood with General Karl Linz of the 10th Panzer Grenadier Division. Lee stood silently watching the far river bank deep in thought. He was silently fighting a moral battle in his heart about the use of these special weapons he had been briefed on. The Germans had said it was a gas, something called mustard gas. When fired the shells would explode releasing the gas. On contact with skin it would cause severe blistering, and if inhaled would blister the lungs and suffocate the victim to death. To Lee it seems an ungentlemanly way to fight a war. But its uses would definitely outweigh the thought of so many of his good boys not ever going home to their loved ones again. He sighed, and turned to General Linz."General Linz, please order the special weapons to be fired. Verify all friendly troops are in their protective gear."Linz nodded and spoke with his radio man at the command post. After a minute, a single loud roar shook the stillness of the early morning as every gun fired in near unison. Lee watched the rounds landing on the city and saw the thick white clouds of gas expand as the shells detonated. Within a few minutes the firing had slacked off greatly as the gas overcame the federal troops. Even from across the great distance of the river Lee could hear the thousands of screams and cries as the enemy soldiers slowly perished from the gas. Lee lowered his head in shame and quietly spoke.” Gentleman, I do believe that history may not look upon what I have wrought here today with much kindliness.” Then he paused for a second seeming to gather strength for the next command.” Please order our troops over the breastworks and to take all of the land up to the city boundary." With a vast cry of hurrah! the thousands of troops on the far bank surged up and over the embankment like a grey tidal wave drowning what pitifully few blue colored defenders were remaining.

AUGUST 11TH 1861 WASHINGTON D.C. THE WHITE HOUSE

The grounds of the white house were surrounded by troops of James Longstreet Division. Inside the white house Generals Lee, Jackson, Stuart, Longstreet sat at a table across from a small group of members of congress. Outside the office windows the sounds of battle were slowly getting fainter as the battle lines swept through the city to the northern edge of D.C.

Us Senators Stephen A. Douglas, Henry B. Anthony, and William P. Fessenden sat at one end of the long table staring across at the Confederate Generals. Lee began to speak.” Gentleman, as you can see we now possess your nation’s capital, and as you no doubt know, the British government is expected to officially recognize the Confederate States of America at any time. When they do so, they have pledged to bring their powerful navy to our shores to break the unlawful blockade that the USA has put on our country. Very many fine young American seaman will be killed and many of your ships will be sunk. I wish to avoid more bloodshed gentleman. I am an American and regardless of where I call home I will always be an American first and a confederate citizen second. That being said I no longer wish to see American killing American, brother against brother and so forth. To this end I propose an immediate cease fire be put into effect and I will order all Confederate forces to halt immediately and begin an orderly withdrawal to pre war lines." The Federal congressmen leaned over and spoke to one another.