The Mistery of Belicena Villca gentlemen , that our German leaders had a pretty good idea of what would happen in Tibet if Kurt von Sübermann joined Operation Altwesten . More clearly , I think they , Hitler , Himmler , Heydrich , Rudolph Hess , and God knows who else kn ew that certain enemies would react with extremeviolence when discovering Von Sübermann : enemies who are perhaps extraterrestrial beings , possessors of terrible weapons , incomparable to any earthly arsenal . If they knew what might happen , why did they allow the enemy to lock us in a death trap ? This is a question for which I lack response . I have a feeling that they wanted to check specifically the effectiveness of Von Sübermann to cause the reactions of the " Demons " of Chang Shambhala and perhaps underestimated the enemy : perhaps they thought that the White Fraternity would close the damn doors of their hideouts , and they dismissed the possibility that the Demons tried to kill us all . Whatever it is , I am persuaded that Von Sübermann will never reveal to us the secret on why he inflames the Demons . In summary , I hereby terminate Operation First Key ; the evaluation of its results will be done in Germany by the corresponding General Staff . And , as SS Standartenführer in charge of the execution of the First Key Operation , I order the immediate return to Germany . Do you agree , Kameraden , with the Recap of the Situation and the conclusions ?
What else could Oskar Feil and I do , but accept unconditionally the decisions of Von Grossen ? The Tibetan monks , for their part , never discussed orders and , once again , they were ready to support our plans .
We would leave at dawn . Meanwhile , we formed a circle around the fire and hugged each other to transfer heat , a posture also adopted by the mastiff Vrune . Despite the prevailing cold at dawn , we all managed to sleep , due to the great psychic fatigue that we accumulated during the last days . We didn ' t even have a blanket or cape , only what was worn , and that ' s why we squeezed with each other to avoid freezing , although it was evident that it was not as cold here as it was on the top of the Kuen Lun Mountains . And as for the weapons , we only kept the daggers and Lugers of Karl , Oskar and Me , and the two Schmeisser submachine guns that we carried across our backs : for this fearsome weapon , we had only two clips each , same as for the Luger . Insufficient to travel through a country in civil war , but always better than nothing .
All the Kâulikas , on the other hand , had their daggers , scimitars , and quivers with the fifty arrows . For the rest , no food , no water , no supplies of any kind , except what we were carrying at the time of fleeing from the disastrous glen . There were few things , very few if we had been much more lost in Tibet ; they were enough to get to Sining-Fu .
Chilled to the bone , since dawn we marched parallel to the Sining-Ho River . Von Grossen surprised us all by extracting from inside his jacket the canvas card holder and unfolding a map of the Western region of China . And from his pockets , like inexhaustible Pandora ' s boxes , came the inseparable magnetic compass , a folding scale ruler , and a compass ; useless elements , except for the magnetic compass and the map .
Before leaving , I made a burial mound of stones and buried the unfortunate Daivas dog . I was not in the habit of praying , but this time I concentrated for minutes and raised my Self to the sphere of the Gods , using the Scrotra Krâm toget them to listen to me : then I spoke to Wothan , to him personally , and asked for a glass of Mead for the feat of Heinz , Hans , and Kloster . Yes , I said to the Gods : this time They should toast for those three warriors of the Eternal Germany , welcome them as Heroes in the Valhalla ; and , if possible , they would have to make room for the Daivas dog , the dog of Shiva that carried the warriors flying like Vâyu , the Wind !
Originating in the meridional mountain chains of Nan Chan , the Sining-Ho descends towards the South and empties into the Tatung-Ho , after passing under the bridge of the Great Wall and bathing the walls of the city of Sining : the Tatung-Ho , for its part , continues towards the S . E . and tributes its waters to the Hoang Ho or Yellow River in the Lan Cheu confluence . Around noon , we reached a small fortified village surrounded by rudimentary crops : it was Hwang-yugn , one of the posts of the Chang-Lam road !
In the village there was a Buddhist Temple , several inns for pilgrims and merchants , and a free market of respectable size . The stable of horses belonged to the Kâula Circle and we headed to its establishment with promptitude . There we calmed down , and we ate the first hot meal in 24 hours . According to its report , the men of the Prince of Koko Nor searched for us a few days , and eventually they returned to Tibet . It would be difficult for them to come back unless someone summoned them , which would not happen if we acted with prudence and we went unnoticed . Anyway , the power of the revolted Tibetans reached only as far as Hwang-yugn , a town located on the North side of the Great Wall , in a region traditionally disputed by Mongols and Tibetans . A few kilometers ahead , behind the Great Wall , was the Chinese province of Kansu and the city of Sining , where the power of the Kâula Circle was considerable .
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