The weather has clearly improved during the night. Though cloudy, it is now grey clouds with a touch of rain, that are covering us with a north-east gale.
Moltke is again in the lead. What happened on the deserted island will have to be explained at the metting-point, which we should reach in half a day if my reading of the clearly falsified maps is correct. His ship is making more speed than I should think possible with such a crew and especially such a current.
It seems to be pulling, again to the south-east. By evening we should be near the object of our mission, unless these untimely weather-phenomenoms keep on breaking the rules of all knowledge of the baltic strait.
lørdag den 29. januar 2011
fredag den 28. januar 2011
The Catacomb V
Before dawn I was roused by shots fired by Moltkes expedition, the visibility was too low for seeing even flares of the guns, but the sound rang through the fog clear enough. I counted 13 shots, sergeant Müller and boatswain Frankel, who had been on guardduty at the time(I do not dare to leave any of the sailors alone on but minor projects anymore) testified as to hearing screams and muffled shouts both from land and from the ship commandered by Moltke.
I believe that sergeant Müller must have been affected by the illness of the crew through the atmosphere on the nightwatch, as Motkes crew was clearly working with a speed which ensurpassed everything I had seen before on the voyage.
I gave the man hospital duty to keep his weakened mind from the un-German chatter of the superstitious northerners and let korporal Böhm take his place. A man of excellent physique and mind to deal with such a situation.
I believe that sergeant Müller must have been affected by the illness of the crew through the atmosphere on the nightwatch, as Motkes crew was clearly working with a speed which ensurpassed everything I had seen before on the voyage.
I gave the man hospital duty to keep his weakened mind from the un-German chatter of the superstitious northerners and let korporal Böhm take his place. A man of excellent physique and mind to deal with such a situation.
The Catacomb IV
Not just the savages manning the ship, but also the Alsatian swines of the Royal Cartographical Society seem to suffer from mental wasting.
At approximately 11:32( the clocks are malfunctioning due to the permanent moisture of the air) we passed a larger island westwards and witnessed fishing boats scattered along the coastline. I was unable to locate the island on any of the maps on board and the sailors seemed to have a mutual understanding in avoiding it altogether.
I am fearing for the consequences of this attitude. If it continues so our mission shall be greatly compromised, unless steps are taken to prevent it.
Thankfully Moltke had better control over his crew than Grimm and myself, and we watched his ship sending boats ashore to the part of the coastline dotted with shacks and overturned boats, all the while the superstitious vermin behaved in straight agitation over the sight of their colleagues stepping ashore and surrounding the village.
Not a movement was to be seen anywhere on the foreign land, outside of the circle of Prussian heroes. I noticed a ruined castle, some miles up the barren hills to the vest. It reminded me of pictures I had glimpsed as a student, antique wonders of Greek and Scotish prehistory, the way it lay up there; dead and unforgiven.
I mentioned this to the men not affected mentally by the hysteria of the Lübecker idiots and the emptyminded privates and they all agreed to the sight.
Ass the day progressed we followed Moltkes expedition scanning the land and attempting a scaling of the cliff on which the ruin perched. But before they could acchieve this it had begun to rain from strange yellow-coloured clouds and a thick fog was drenching the landscape.
By 1600 we could just about make out their campfires as they had evidently chosen to remain in the village.
At approximately 11:32( the clocks are malfunctioning due to the permanent moisture of the air) we passed a larger island westwards and witnessed fishing boats scattered along the coastline. I was unable to locate the island on any of the maps on board and the sailors seemed to have a mutual understanding in avoiding it altogether.
I am fearing for the consequences of this attitude. If it continues so our mission shall be greatly compromised, unless steps are taken to prevent it.
Thankfully Moltke had better control over his crew than Grimm and myself, and we watched his ship sending boats ashore to the part of the coastline dotted with shacks and overturned boats, all the while the superstitious vermin behaved in straight agitation over the sight of their colleagues stepping ashore and surrounding the village.
Not a movement was to be seen anywhere on the foreign land, outside of the circle of Prussian heroes. I noticed a ruined castle, some miles up the barren hills to the vest. It reminded me of pictures I had glimpsed as a student, antique wonders of Greek and Scotish prehistory, the way it lay up there; dead and unforgiven.
I mentioned this to the men not affected mentally by the hysteria of the Lübecker idiots and the emptyminded privates and they all agreed to the sight.
Ass the day progressed we followed Moltkes expedition scanning the land and attempting a scaling of the cliff on which the ruin perched. But before they could acchieve this it had begun to rain from strange yellow-coloured clouds and a thick fog was drenching the landscape.
By 1600 we could just about make out their campfires as they had evidently chosen to remain in the village.
onsdag den 26. januar 2011
The Catacomb III
The storm is getting worse. The visibility has dropped to 500 yards and a gale is blowing from the south-south-east.
The problems of navigation are being further expanded by a strange and frightening detail in the maps. None of them display the island we passed starboard not two hours ago at approximately 45 degrees longitude 30 degrees latitude. We will change course towards the southernmost part of Lolland if the target is not within reach by the morrow, due to the worsening weather conditions.
Some of the men, both among soldiers and crew, show signs of TB. I distinctly heard one midshipman converse in polish, perhaps with a soldier, I could not be sure.
The problems of navigation are being further expanded by a strange and frightening detail in the maps. None of them display the island we passed starboard not two hours ago at approximately 45 degrees longitude 30 degrees latitude. We will change course towards the southernmost part of Lolland if the target is not within reach by the morrow, due to the worsening weather conditions.
Some of the men, both among soldiers and crew, show signs of TB. I distinctly heard one midshipman converse in polish, perhaps with a soldier, I could not be sure.
The Catacomb II
As we cross the waters the clouds grow darker and the rain increases. A storm might be in the offing say the ableminded of the sailors manning my ship.
I find them hard to understand, they should be proper Prussian sailors, merely donning the attire of a Danish seaman for the sake of camouflage, but I am beginning to wonder if they might have some northern connections. Their eyes have a strange furtive look to them and several of the lower ranked have decidedly Slavic features.
We still have an excellent visibility betveen the ships in spite of the weather and we are alll following the course with only a half-hours delay, due to some freak-current not accounted for by the members of the Royal Cartographical Society. It is drawing us south-east at 2 kn. p. h. but we will escape this mishap when we reach the north-bound strait. Kommandant Moltkes ship seems to have avoided the current alltogether and is moving directly towards the rendez-vous.
I find them hard to understand, they should be proper Prussian sailors, merely donning the attire of a Danish seaman for the sake of camouflage, but I am beginning to wonder if they might have some northern connections. Their eyes have a strange furtive look to them and several of the lower ranked have decidedly Slavic features.
We still have an excellent visibility betveen the ships in spite of the weather and we are alll following the course with only a half-hours delay, due to some freak-current not accounted for by the members of the Royal Cartographical Society. It is drawing us south-east at 2 kn. p. h. but we will escape this mishap when we reach the north-bound strait. Kommandant Moltkes ship seems to have avoided the current alltogether and is moving directly towards the rendez-vous.
mandag den 24. januar 2011
The Catacomb I
Manuscript found in excavation of burial-mound.
20th of March 1849. I, Karl-Heinz Prinz, captain of the Royal Prussian Infantry, am penning this account of my last expedition, as an explanation of my failure to attain the much needed result of it as well as the opportunities for a succesfull second attempt. Where I am I cannot hope to understand, the blasted seamen took their secrets with them.
The problems began even before the docking of the ships to take us to the Danish isle, when I discovered that the mission was a tri-party one and that the general-commander would be major Moltke, who I had last parted with on no civilised manner. A further nuisance was the appointment of sergeant Grimm as the last member of the commanding unit. A man of no discernible faults, but with a strange pronunciation which seemed more like a Kieler than a Berliner dialect.
Due to the nature of the mission I made no mention of any kind as to the sobriety of my fellow-soldiers and no complaint was possible as the ships left that very evening.
The settings for a lightning-invasion were superb, as the harsh weather and the concentration of navalforces in these waters had isolated us from all living things.
Not a vessel was to be seen and no thing stirred as we passed the shoreline to the east.
20th of March 1849. I, Karl-Heinz Prinz, captain of the Royal Prussian Infantry, am penning this account of my last expedition, as an explanation of my failure to attain the much needed result of it as well as the opportunities for a succesfull second attempt. Where I am I cannot hope to understand, the blasted seamen took their secrets with them.
The problems began even before the docking of the ships to take us to the Danish isle, when I discovered that the mission was a tri-party one and that the general-commander would be major Moltke, who I had last parted with on no civilised manner. A further nuisance was the appointment of sergeant Grimm as the last member of the commanding unit. A man of no discernible faults, but with a strange pronunciation which seemed more like a Kieler than a Berliner dialect.
Due to the nature of the mission I made no mention of any kind as to the sobriety of my fellow-soldiers and no complaint was possible as the ships left that very evening.
The settings for a lightning-invasion were superb, as the harsh weather and the concentration of navalforces in these waters had isolated us from all living things.
Not a vessel was to be seen and no thing stirred as we passed the shoreline to the east.
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