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Pov of German spy
6-April-1921
''I do not know… Truthfully, I do not like that this is in the middle of a street. I thought it would be like those clubs that are farther away from the city, so it is probably better to go for one of the cellars that are more isolated and where there is not so much police presence'' I said while observing from the street the building we had thought of robbing.
''Yes. There are night patrols here every thirty or forty-five minutes. That is far too little time to attempt it. Between dealing with the guards and getting inside, we would have to have someone distracting the police. It is better to look for a less central place and study one of those peripheral warehouses'' Lewis replied almost immediately.
''We could force entry, but we also cannot kill anyone over this. That would be too serious an escalation. A death means the police will begin investigating for real and, besides, it will appear in every newspaper. That would be too much attention for us. We are barely laying the foundations of the operation; doing something like that would be stupid'' I added while beginning to walk toward the intersection.
''What about the other job? It seems much simpler. There are fairly long periods with little police presence and, according to the worker we have inside that cellar, only one guard remains there during the night. If we manage to get him out of the way, we would have enough time to take out a good part of whatever is stored there'' Lewis commented.
''Let us take a look. And what about the trucks? Did they get the ones our men were supposed to bring?'' I asked while slightly raising the collar of my coat, trying to cover my face as much as possible from some drunks who were in the street drinking alcohol they had obtained God knew where.
''Four trucks. They got them outside the city and now they are hidden in different places, waiting for us to call them if we need to move merchandise'' Lewis replied.
''Good. Then let us continue'' I said.
As the cold wind blew, we began walking quickly through the streets of Chicago, carefully observing the nightlife.
It was curious to see how alcohol, even with all the prohibition and the temperance movement, continued to have an enormous presence in society, especially among the working classes.
It did not take us long to discover what seemed to be some kind of clandestine bar. Several people entered after nervously looking toward both sides of the street.
Although they clearly did not do it very well.
If we could discover it simply by walking through there, it meant they were not taking even the minimum precautions to hide the place. As soon as the door opened, we could distinguish several people drinking alcohol inside, as well as some women with very little clothing.
''This society is degenerating quite quickly even without us lifting a finger. What the hell are the Americans doing to allow such a number of degenerates in the streets?'' I murmured with some disgust at the ease with which their own citizens violated the law.
''We cannot feel pity or empathy for the state they are in, William. We came precisely to make things worse… Police ahead'' Lewis replied while looking forward.
A group of three officers was walking directly toward us.
''All right. The information matches. This patrol passes at approximately the same hour every day'' I whispered before adjusting my hat and politely greeting the policemen when they were close enough.
''Hey, you fellows are not drinking, are you?'' asked one of the officers, a man already somewhat older.
''Us? No, no, no, my good sir. We come from a long day of work and the only thing I want is to return home to eat something warm prepared by my wife'' I replied with a slight smile.
''Indeed. A long day of work'' Lewis added while nodding.
''Can you breathe out for us, please?'' another of the policemen asked.
''Of course, why not?'' I replied while doing what he asked.
Lewis did the same.
''Sorry for the trouble. You may continue. But there are too many drunks on this street getting alcohol illegally and we have to do something about it'' explained the policeman who seemed to lead the small group.
''Completely understandable, officer. Continue with your work and correct the behavior of those degenerates'' I replied while properly placing my hat back on and continuing to walk.
''Come on'' I heard the policeman say.
The three continued advancing and soon headed toward the drunks we had seen earlier.
''Take note of that officer. He seems to be one of those who truly respects the law and, therefore, probably not someone we can count on to look the other way'' Lewis commented once we had moved far enough away and were alone again.
''Nothing more for now. Let us keep walking and see what we find. As soon as we have an easy option, we will coordinate with the others'' I replied while we continued in our direction.
Walking in silence, we continued observing the city until we reached one of the largest warehouse districts in Chicago and, given the hour, which was already quite late, there were practically no people around.
''11:30. It is time for the police patrol to pass. At any moment we should see them go from east to west through the streets while making their round… there they go'' Lewis said, soon pointing to a group of policemen who were talking as they walked through the empty streets.
We hid in one of the side streets and let them pass while managing to hear some of their words, although they were really only talking about how shitty it was to have to patrol at night, especially because the nights were quite cold around those dates.
''We have two hours. Go find the others and have them bring the trucks while avoiding being seen by the police. I will see if I can neutralize the guard easily'' I said while taking out some lockpicks I had hidden in one of my pockets.
''I will handle it. I will have them here as soon as possible'' Lewis replied.
While I watched my companion move away, I crossed the street while looking around me and putting on the balaclava. Since it was a sector focused mainly on cellars and warehouses, there were no residential areas too close, so no one would be able to see us from some window if they heard noise and, at most, they would think some box had fallen inside one of the buildings.
So, walking around the surroundings of the warehouse, I saw a door that was not guarded and, after jumping over a small fence that barely needed a little push to cross, I was already inside the perimeter.
I immediately crouched down and tried to see if the door was open, which was something quite obvious that surely would not be the case, but it never hurt to check, and then I began picking the lock.
I noticed immediately that it was a very simple mechanism and it did not take me more than thirty seconds to open the door.
When I did so, I heard the creak of the wood and noticed that the hinges did not seem to be in the best condition either.
''Who goes there?'' I heard a voice inside the building.
Without making a sound, I closed the door again and pressed one ear against it, where it did not take me long to hear footsteps on the other side.
I also heard an irritated murmur inside the warehouse as the footsteps came closer and closer.
Finally, the door opened and I saw a guard who looked half asleep, so without hesitation I struck him with all my strength in the liver.
When my fist hit, I heard the air escape from his lungs and the man fell backward while bringing both hands to the area of the blow, his mouth open and his eyes completely bulging, letting out an almost imperceptible gasp as he tried to say something.
Without thinking much more, I entered and forced a piece of cloth into his mouth, blocking it completely, in addition to tying his legs and arms while covering his eyes and stuffing cloth into his ears so he would not hear much. Afterward, I quickly dragged him inside and remained watching outside to check whether anyone had heard us, but no one looked out or appeared to investigate, so it seemed we had gone completely unnoticed.
Now calmer and inside our target, I began searching for the warehouse manifest and, after checking one of the offices, found what I was looking for, as well as confirming that, apparently, that man was the only guard in the entire place.
It did not take me long to hear the sound of an engine outside, in the street, so using the guard's keys, I opened one of the doors and saw that the rest of the group had arrived.
''Everything all right?'' Lewis asked while taking the manifest I was reviewing from my hands.
''Yes, everything is fine. One punch to the liver and I sent the guard to sleep almost immediately. That trick they taught us works very well'' I said with a smile, although because of the balaclava no one could see it.
''I imagine. Well, it seems we have a few tons of whisky, brandy, rum and gin… What the hell? And the beer? Do these people not know how to enjoy a good beer?'' Lewis said while reviewing the manifest.
''Beer is not exactly supposed to be their strong point, so meh… let us load the trucks and get out of here'' I said while crossing my arms and watching as the men we had brought began loading the crates, barrels and bottles of fine liquors we had stolen.
In half an hour, we had filled the trucks.
''You know what? It is still early… The police will not pass by again for quite some time. Have them empty the trucks and come back. Let us clear this place out completely'' I said while looking at my wristwatch.
''You heard him. Get moving'' Lewis ordered.
For almost the entire night, we continued working and did not finish until around four in the morning. We dedicated ourselves to emptying the warehouse using the trucks, traveling through the almost deserted streets of the city and trying to avoid any unnecessary encounter with the night patrols. Every time some group of policemen appeared in the area, we simply stayed still and waited for them to leave.
When we finished, the warehouse had been left practically empty.
Finally, we returned to our own warehouse near five in the morning, when the sun was barely beginning to appear between the clouds.
''William… look at the front page'' Lewis said as he entered while I was still trying to sleep for a short while.
''Eh… what? I barely slept after all this shit'' I replied while stretching my arms and yawning. ''Ha… a perfect robbery… hundreds of thousands lost in liquors. Ah, but then we did not steal as much as we thought'' I added while looking at the newspaper and giving it a small tap with some disappointment.
''At legal price and considering what they originally paid for all of this. Now it may be worth one or two million dollars if we manage to sell it properly. We did not get exactly little; we probably removed a ton of liquor from that warehouse, perhaps even more. To give you an idea, I am already negotiating with some speakeasies to sell part of the merchandise, although we will have to do it little by little. All of this is still too hot and it could be dangerous to move it immediately'' Lewis explained.
''Tsh… fine, what can we do. Make sure to sell it calmly. Once our own production begins operating, we should be able to establish ourselves as a relatively stable supplier within the city. After that, we can continue expanding the informant network and find out which low-ranking policemen could be useful. Until then, we have to keep a low profile, continue gathering information and avoid attracting the attention of the agents responsible for enforcing Prohibition'' I said while leaving the newspaper on the table.
''Good. In any case, we have to work better on the hierarchy of our people. You know that the ideal would be to use Americans as a front. We cannot immediately place our own men in every visible position because, if they begin investigating us, everything must look simply like another ordinary local criminal organization'' Lewis commented while taking the newspaper again and beginning to review some specific pages.
''Yes, I know. I already have some ideas about how to organize the hierarchy, but first we need our people to prove themselves a little. It would be too strange for newly arrived men to immediately appear occupying important positions without having demonstrated absolutely anything. We can keep them doing low-level work for a while and observe how they behave''.
I remained thinking for a few seconds.
''Ah, by the way… what was that fellow called? Torrio, one of those Italians. He wanted to speak with us, so send the most charismatic man we have to find out what he wants. Afterward, we will see whom we place as the visible face of all this'' I said while settling myself again to sleep.
''I will handle it. We will see what they want and I will make sure someone presents himself as the leader of our organization. Naturally, without making it seem German. There are already too many restrictions and suspicions against Germans, and that would only attract the attention of the American Government much faster'' Lewis replied.
''You know what to do. And then sleep a little. Perhaps we can repeat something similar on another occasion; they found information about another important warehouse in the sector. Although first we will have to check how much the police habits have changed after what happened tonight'' I said while closing my eyes again.
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Choose from these options; then I'll add my ideas and put them to a vote
All P ideas:
-History of the French Revolution (Prussian or Spanish MC)
-Charles XII of Sweden
-Gustav Adolf
-The hundreds years war
-Diadochi war
-Warhammer Fantasy
-Baldwin without Leprosy
- Abdülmecid I or Selim III
-The Northern Crusade
-Qing Dynasty
Web novel ideas:
-Youjo Senki
-house of the dragon
-The Witcher