Summary

While Hank Reed's task force is heading toward Hostau, Alois Podhajsky hears the sounds of gunfire approaching his refuge in Upper Austria. Alois receives his final military order: to defend the village for Germany. Alois vows to himself that he will defend the village "by doing everything he could to aid a rapid surrender and to minimize violence and bloodshed" (205). Alois distracts those who are eager to fight the approaching Allies by ordering them to guard against looting. Alois gets out of an order to block the roads by arguing that this might hinder the movements of German soldiers. The Americans arrive and take over the area without bloodshed.

Alois knows that, although the horses have survived the war, the survival of the Spanish Riding School as an institution is still at risk. Luckily, one of the American...