"Outline Blue called for the two columns to converge simultaneously on the Casa Rosada. The First Infantry would move down Avenida del Libertador, while First Cavalry and the Second Infantry would move down Avenida Cor-doba. As I'm sure you'll understand, that will have a certain psychological ef-fect. As a matter of fact, the simultaneous arrival of the two columns was your father's idea."
"Yes, Sir."
"The First Cavalry and the Second Infantry have been halted, as General Rawson told you, at Pueyrred¢n and Cordoba. Now, if we can send word to the First Infantry to bypass the resistance at the Naval School, we can start the First Cavalry and the Second Infantry moving again. But since they are so much closer to the Casa Rosada than the First Infantry, we again have the problem of arranging for them to move in concert. At the moment, we have communication with the First Cavalry and the Second Infantry, but we cannot count on the tele-phones continuing to be operational. You see the problem?"
"Yes, Sir."
"Once we start the First Infantry moving, do you think it would be possible to observe it from the air as it moves down Avenida del Libertador?"
"Yes, Sir, of course."
"And then, when they are the same distance from the Casa Rosada as the First Cavalry and the Second Infantry, to drop a message to them to resume their march?"
"There is only one problem I see with that, mi General," Clete said. "Or two. The first is that I'm not qualified to make an assessment like that. I would have no idea when the two columns were, time-wise, an equal distance from the Casa Rosada."
"Oh. I didn't make myself clear. General Rawson would be in the airplane. His presence at the Naval School is essential to the whole idea. So he would be with you; and he would make the decision when to order the First Cavalry and the Second Infantry to resume their march."
"The second problem, Sir, is that while I can fly the Lockheed by myself, should that be necessary, Capitan Delgano cannot."
"I think by now we can safely say that the success of Outline Blue is a given," Ramirez said, "and we will not need your aircraft. What we must do now is finish the operation with as little loss of life as possible. What I'm say-ing is that the honor of the officers defending the Casa Rosada will be satisfied when clearly irresistible force-the simultaneous appearance of the two con-verging columns-makes further resistance obviously futile and surrender hon-orable. Lives will be saved!"
"Yes, Sir. I take your point."
"God go with you!" Ramirez said emotionally, and grasped both his shoul-ders. "Your father would be proud of you, my boy!"
Here lies Major Cletus H. Frade, USMCR, who survived Guadalcanal and slept through most of the Argentine Revolution of 1943, but-for reasons that have never been made clear-died while trying to land a Piper Cub on a soc-cer field. General Arturo Rawson, who had just been appointed President of the Governing Council of the new military government, was also killed in the crash.
[THREE]
The Office of the Military Attach‚
The Embassy of the German Reich
Avenida Cordoba
Buenos Aires, Argentina
0525 19 April 1943
Standartenf?hrer Josef Goltz, Oberst Karl Heinz Gr?ner thought, looks to be in complete possession of his faculties; Der grosse Wienerwurst looks as if he's about to wet his pants.
Goltz was shaved and in uniform. First Secretary Anton Gradny-Sawz was unshaved, his hair was mussed, he was not wearing a necktie, and his face was flushed.
"We almost couldn't get through," Gradny-Sawz announced. "There are troops all along Avenida Cordoba. We were stopped-"
"The First Cavalry and the Second Infantry Regiments," Gr?ner said, di-recting this information to Goltz. "Obviously headed for the Casa Rosada. I have no idea why they have stopped. If there were resistance, gunfire, I would have heard it."
"Will their coup d'‚tat succeed?" Goltz asked.
"I would think so. These units may be ahead of schedule, and are waiting for others to show up. I haven't been receiving much information-the loyalists have shut down many of the telephone trunks. But what I have suggests that al-most all of the troops in the Buenos Aires area have placed themselves under Ramirez and Rawson. I have no idea what's going on in the rest of the country. It's impossible to call in or out of Buenos Aires. I was surprised that I was able to get through to you. I can't reach the Ambassador." Goltz grunted.
"General Rawson has been appointed-or has appointed himself..." Gr?ner stopped to read from a clipboard where he had written it down: " 'Pres-ident of the Governing Council of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Argentina.'"
"That's not good news," Gradny-Sawz said. "Why do you say that?" Goltz asked.
"Oberst Per¢n told me that Rawson is one of those who believe we were re-sponsible for the death of Oberst Frade. They were close friends."
"Oberst Per¢n was the late Oberst Frade's closest friend," Goltz said. "He understands why the death of Frade was necessary. Believe me, Anton, Rawson will come to understand that, too." There was a knock at the door. "Come!" Gr?ner said.