Chapter XIX
Claudia rushes towards the armed thug, he notices her but it is too late. A swift punch lands on his shoulder. He backs off a bit and loses his grip on the would be victim, that person runs away.
“I’ll gut you dyke!” The thug shouts furiously.
They struggle for a while, locked in a deadly dance as Gefreiter Bosch dodges his knife while he attempts to avoid her jabs. But ultimately it seems Claudia knows what she’s doing, he doesn’t even manage to get the blade close while she keeps hitting him, making him lose balance. Eventually she manages to disarm him and subdues him with ease a moment later.
“That’s not how you use a knife you idiot.” She says as the thug keeps struggling even when his face is facing the pavement.
“Good work Gefreiter, however never run off like that without an order!” You scold her. “Do you understand me?”
“Hesitation is the mark of cowards.” She replies angrily.
“Do you have a problem Gefreiter?!”
She remains silent.
“I thought so.” You say coldly. “Drag this piece of shit into the
transportpanzer, just wrap him up nice for Orłowski. We’ll tell him Christmas came early this year.”
Claudia drags the thug into the Neinmask. You drop him off at the Karenwall Strasse Police Department on your way back to the base.
*
The transportpanzer stops just behind the Garrison’s HQ. Even from here you can see that not everything is quite right.
Pulaski Strasse which runs just behind the HQ complex is completely cut off from the rest of the city, the same applies to the two streets intersecting with it right next to the HQ itself. Checkpoints have been set up with soldiers and riot cops in full-gear guarding this rear-entrance, normally while there were some soldiers here they never blocked the streets. The situation doesn’t look good, the General is preparing the worst it seems.
“Tight security, it looks like trouble.” Osterhagen says.
“We’re in the Army Gefreiter, trouble is the only thing with we deal with.” Muller tells him, you can’t help but agree with him.
“Look at all those people, it’s a bloody mob!” Sarah adds after a quick look in the crowd’s direction. The entirety of the
Platz is filled to the brim even despite the falling snow and cold, it is as if a concert was supposed to take place. Unluckily for you that is not the case.
“Hope they didn’t bring the pitchforks and torches with them, or worse.” You say to the squad.
The front entrance from
Kościuszki Platz remains open to all, although at this point you honestly doubt if the word “open” can apply when it’s clogged with such a huge mass of people. Very angry people at that. There are also many journalists there, along with people with cameras and phones who keep filming the protest that is happening in front of the building. All of them trying to immortalize the event and the scene - this sea of people standing in the glow of city lights on this December evening.
“Reich Raus! This is Gdynia not Gdingen! This is Poland not a
Spezial Zone!” They shout together, unified in their discontent. Even here, behind the barricades, you hear it. They keep repeating that chant like a battle cry.
The Major attempts to contact you via your netlink, you answer his call.
“You’re already there I see. Give me a status report.” He orders, it doesn’t appear he’s in a good mood. Better not piss him off you guess.
“We’re dealing with at least five thousand people. So far they’re just shouting but it’s clear they don’t like us.” You answer.
“It’s just like the others said then.” The Major comments, he’s definitely sounds troubled by this whole ordeal. “Well you have Skorzeny and Thomerson’s squads there as well out of our company, work with them. I need to stay here and monitor the situation in case a crowd *suddenly* appears at the base or the ECK compound in Langfur.”
“Understood, I’ll contact them ASAP. Westgard out.” You tell him as you end the conversation. Well the Major clearly prefers to stay out of this, you honestly wonder if he honestly has to stay back in Danzig or if he’s just trying to weasel himself out of this. With all the nagry people and the media around that would be hardly surprising. You open a channel to Skorzeny and Thomerson.
“This is Westgard, I’m at the location. What is the plan?” You ask them.
“We’re supposed to help the riot police secure the perimeter,” Skorzeny tells you, “cover all but one possible exit so that the crowd can’t spill all over the place if this goes sour. Limit their movement and hopefully keep them in line and to provide fire support if bullets do start flying.”
“Makes sense, so what are our options?” You query once again.
“I’m sending you a visualization.”
“The north is already cut-off, it’s there for evac in case things get really hot. We can let the crowd in and out of the
Platz from the west, east and south.” Skorzeny calmly explains. “To the west is
10 Februar Strasse that’s pretty much the main street running through the entire Zentrum along the east-west axis from the
Platz.”
“The entire Zentrum? I image that if a riot breaks out, we’ll have to fight them inside skyscraper lobbies and the other buildings along the street, if they run inside which they probably will. I don’t think this is a good idea.” You object.
“Or we can post men inside them beforehand and not let them get the opportunity.” Thomerson suggests.
“That will surely piss off the owners.” You tell her.
“True, but we’ll be able to cut them off and box them in the fastest. Rapid containment.” She replies, she appears to be confident that this will work.
“I see your point Frau Thomerson. What about the south Herr Skorzeny?”
“That’s
Sankt Johannes Strasse, the city’s *representative* street.” He answers.
You sigh. “This just keeps sounding better and better Skorzeny.”
“Well, we’re in quite a mess to say the least.” He reinforces your doubts about this whole thing. “The good news is the buildings along the damn street are smaller and they mostly belong to boutiques, lawyers, jewelers and the occasional bank.”
“Lawyers and bankers, even better.” You comment, the last bits of hope that this may not end up as one giant mess just faded away. It just keeps getting worse, better just find a way to avoid getting hit by the inevitable fallout – you think.
“Well they’ll be more likely to not raise a media shitstorm, if they get paid for any damages. Probably won’t stop the journos from saying the Bundesreich plundered and scorched the very heart of Gdingen’s Zentrum.” Skorzeny continues.
“Tell me that last eastern option is better.” Somehow you know it probably won’t, but you say it anyway.
“Well the Platz goes all the way towards the bay and there’s not much around it, however it is very wide.” He keeps explaining. “If they try to run to the sides it is going to be a while before our people get into position cut them off. Likewise we can’t control who gets inside as well.”
“Some will probably get away.” Frau Thomerson adds.
“Exactly, there is also one other issue.” Skorzeny continues. “At the part of the Platz that extends into the sea two museum ships are moored. An old destroyed from the second World War and a Frigate which was used to train seamen in the early and middle twentieth century. It would be rather bad if those suffered due to a riot.”
“Scheisse! You curse. “Is there any part of this damn city that can get scorched without destroying something that will piss off the population?”
“Probably not Herr Westgard, probably not.” Skorzeny coldly replies.
*
A wall of policemen behind barricades separates you from the restless horde, a horde which grew to about twelve thousand by the time the policemen and soldiers got into position. Their chants changed but the message remains the same. It is pretty clear you are not welcomed here.
They managed to erect a soapbox somewhere in the middle. Various individuals came on top and off of it. Each one with a sermon of his own, but in the end all of them babbling about Europareich tyranny. Then one person you think you recognize comes up on top off the black synthetic crate and pickups the megaphone.
“They violate our rights, they censor information and repress the free press!” The young woman shouts through her amplification device. “They even raided my apartment because I had the audacity to seek the truth about the clinic bombing!”
“Well bloody hell, look what the cat dragged in.” Gefreiter Smith muses as she notices who just climbed on top of the makeshift podium.
Yes that’s Miss Żuławska, the safe proclaimed martyr of free speech. Harassed by
volksdeutsche and fascist cyborgs. She just never gives up does she?
“I tell you this, these whole bombings, they’re all a lie! A giant plot to take away the few remaining freedoms we have. All so this
Generalgouvernement für die besetzten polnischen Gebiete right here in Pomerania and the Tricity, can justify enacting martial law and the further subjugation of the Polish people!”
“End the occupation! Reich raus!” The crowd shouts in agreement. This is getting really bad real fast. You have to admit, she knows how to stir up the crowd.
“We must go forward now! No, not next year, next month or next week. We must charge and retake what is ours at this moment today, starting from this building in front of us! Don’t let these
volksdeutsche and the Gestapo stop you! They are nothing against the strength our nation!”
“Reich Raus! Death to Europareich!” The crowd chants.
“We have to act fast, the bitch is going to turn this into a revolution!”
Out of the possible deployment patterns you picked the one where…
A)…the crowd is funneled through 10 Februar Strasse in the west.
B)…the crowd is funneled through Sankt Johannes Strasse in the south.
C)…the crowd is funneled through Kościuszki Platz in the east.
Miss Żuławska is inciting the crowd to violence and it looks like she may indeed succeed, you will try to stop her by…
1)…trying to shoot her with your rifle. She can’t talk if she’s dead.
2)…ordering the police to deploy non-lethal weapons and disperse the crowd. You won’t give them a chance to try to storm the HQ.
3)…grab a police megaphone and attempt to talk the crowd down.
4)…do nothing. Let others take the initiative.
Before you ask, the entire available squad is with you at this moment. However if it has to split up the team you picked will go with you.