4 November 1936
West German Border
05:45 AM.
Fog drifted over the Rhine as three German columns advanced across the bridges at Cologne, Bonn, and Düsseldorf.
They came in silence.
Not a trumpet or drum in earshot only the sound of boots on steel and stone.
First came infantry in long rows, their rifles slung and expressions unreadable.
Then came motorcycles with sidecars, engineers towing signal gear, and light armored vehicles.
At the rear officers in open-top cars, scanning the horizon with binoculars.
Cologne Bridge was the first to fall with in Germany's step.
A single French observation post watched from a hill near Remagen.
Inside the bunker, two French sergeants stood stiff.
"They're marching," one said.
"I see them."
"Orders?"
The radio remained silent.
At the Cologne riverfront, an elderly woman held her hands to her mouth as the first soldiers stepped off the bridge.
Others emerged onto balconies.
A few raised cautious salutes.
One man shouted.
