«ZUGZWANG OF OBER LIEUTENANT BRUNO THEVS» Page #3

A warm handshake. Stalin I.V. with a wave of his hand invites the Afghan delegation to sit down at a long table. The Afghans pass by and take their seats. Following them, on the contrary, the Soviet delegation sits down. Negotiations begin. Silence.

Stalin I.V. puffs on smoke from a smoking pipe, slowly looks at the members of the Afghan delegation, stops his gaze at Ghulam Siddiq Khan.

Ghulam Siddiq Khan speaks first, without taking his eyes off Stalin.

GHULAM SIDDIQ KHAN

(pompously)

Honorable Secretary General!

The Emirate of Afghanistan, represented by His Majesty

King Amanullah Khan, was the first foreign state to recognize the young Soviet Republic in 1919.

STALIN I.V.

(raising his palm, smiling)

The RSFSR, as you know, did not remain in debt – it was the first to recognize the independence of Afghanistan from the British colonialists!

GHULAM SIDDIQ KHAN

(emotionally)

At the moment, Afghanistan has been beheaded and is on the verge of civil war.

You are undoubtedly aware that the power in Kabul has been usurped by the war criminal Habibullah Kalakani. We are here to convey the request of His Holiness Emir Amanullah Khan: in the name of peace on the land of Afghanistan, to form a special detachment on Soviet territory from among the Red Army soldiers and Afghan soldiers of various levels who have left the country. We assure you that as soon as the special detachment crosses the Soviet-Afghan border, it will immediately be replenished with thousands of loyal supporters of Amanullah Khan, ready to give their lives for their emir. Consequently, the need for further participation of the Soviet military in the operation will immediately disappear, they will safely return to their homeland.

17. NAT. THE BANK OF THE AMU DARYA RIVER — NIGHT, PREDAWN.

TITLE:
SOVIET-AFGHAN BORDER 1929.

It is quiet, only the sound of gurgling water is heard. On an open, elevated place visible from everywhere on the northern bank of the Amu Darya border river stands the international formation of a special detachment of the Red Army (Workers' and Peasants' Red Army) of 2000 soldiers from national units of the Central Asian Military District (SAVO) - Uzbeks, Turkmens, Tajiks, Kazakhs, Kirghiz, Uighurs, Russians, Cossacks all dressed in Afghan military uniforms.

The commander of the detachment, Vitaly Primakov, with the call sign WITMAR, is dressed in the uniform of an Afghan officer, reading out a combat order.

WITMAR:

(in a commanding voice)

The detachment is tasked with infiltrating the adjacent territory to perform a responsible government task. For the duration of the operation, in the presence of the Afghan population, address each other with distributed Muslim names.

18. NAT. THE BANK OF THE AMU DARYA RIVER - IT'S GETTING LIGHT.

The advance group of the Witmar detachment secretly swims through the water barrier of the Amu Darya River and silently removes the Afghan border outpost. The main forces of the Witmar detachment with 4 mountain guns, 12 machine guns, 12 light machine guns, powerful mobile radio stations, a supply of provisions are loaded onto motor boats, barges, kayaks, and force the river.

19. NAT. THE BANK OF THE AMU DARYA RIVER, DESERT — DAWN.

TITLE:
SOVIET BORDER AREA, AFGHAN TERRITORY.

Six Soviet airplanes equipped with bombs and machine guns appeared in the sky. Together with Witmar's detachment, they cross the Soviet-Afghan border and fly into Afghanistan. Airplanes fly around the Afghan border post Patta-Gissar twice in a circle and, descending, make a fire raid. The Afghan border post, barracks, and most of the Afghan border guards have been destroyed. The shelling of the Afghan territory from the air continues. In response, the Afghan border guards occasionally shoot at Soviet planes with their rifles, but all in vain, only two of the 50 border guards remained alive. Afghan border guards are retreating to a neighboring border post, reporting an attack by the Soviets.

Witmar's detachment is moving deep into Afghanistan. Reinforcements arrive to help the Afghan border guards in Patta-Gissar. The arrived Afghan detachment is destroyed by the fire of machine guns of the Witmar's detachment. Fighting is taking place near the city limits of Kelif. The Afghan formations are desperately repelling the attacks of the Witmar's detachment. Witmar's fighters have pushed forward guns, and the first cannon shots and machine-gun bursts destroy and morally break the Afghans. The Afghans are fleeing from their positions, leaving their weapons.

20. NAT. MAZAR-I-SHARIF, AFGHANISTAN — DAY.

TITLE:
MAZAR-I-SHARIF, AFGHANISTAN.

Witmar's detachment attacks the bastion, smashes the gates of the Mazar-I-Sharif fortress with direct artillery fire, breaks into the city.

The defenders of the garrison are crowding and fleeing. Piles of motionless, bloody bodies lie near the Afghan guns. The losses of the Afghans are great, in the Witmar detachment they are isolated. Witmar's squad has broken into Mazar-I-Sharif, rushes to the attack with the traditional Russian "Hurrah". Russian obscenities are heard everywhere on the streets. Soviet airplanes are raiding Mazar-I-Sharif from the air, dropping bombs on Afghan positions, and additional weapons to the Witmar fighters. Mazar-I-Sharif is occupied by Witmar's detachment.

Afghan tribal formations dressed in national Afghan clothes - robes, turban - arrived to help the Afghan detachments in Mazar-I-Sharif. Tribal formations immediately engage in battle, trying to knock Witmar out of the city. Large in number, tribal formations are poorly organized, resume attacks in open terrain one after another, advance in a dense formation, but are cut off by oncoming gun and machine-gun fire from Witmar fighters.

21. INT. TF-47 HEADQUARTERS — NATURAL LIGHTING.

TITLE:
KUNDUZ. TF-47 HEADQUARTERS, COMBAT CONTROL CENTER.

A room with a large number of telephones, military maps, where the borders of provinces, counties are outlined, the names of settlements are marked. Oberst Jung gathers deputies and commanders of special forces groups for a meeting at the "Combat Control Center". The room is filled with officers.

OBERST JUNG:

Our agents have revealed the plans of the Taliban leaders — Moulawi Shamsutdin and Mullah Abdul Rahman, to organize a series of attacks on columns of German military equipment and to commit a terrorist attack on the Bundeswehr garrison in Kunduz. Based on strategic expediency, TF-47 begins to develop an operation plan codenamed "Joker". The analysis of intelligence data with a high degree of probability indicates the appearances and permanent residence of the leaders Shamsutdin and Abdul Rahman. The objects are monitored around the clock.

(Jung suddenly turns to Bruno)

Despite your lack of practical experience in the participation and planning of special operations, for a speedy entry into the combat environment, I include you in the list of developers of Operation Joker. I hope it pays off!

And now, Ober-lieutenant Thevs, read the intercepted fresh report.

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