1:30 AM, Soviet Army Headquarters

Ivanov had just received a secret directive from the major general and left the command room with mixed feelings.

In the hallway, he ran into Major Popov.

"Ivanov, did you get the order too?" Popov’s expression was grim.

"I did." Ivanov nodded. "To cooperate with our German comrades in executing ’Operation Rose’."

"Do you think this is the right thing to do?" Popov lowered his voice. "Locking the people in a cage?"

Ivanov glanced around, and after making sure no one was eavesdropping, he said, "Popov, we are soldiers. Our duty is to obey orders."

"But..."

"No buts." Ivanov’s tone was firm, but his eyes darted away slightly. "It’s the Politburo’s decision. We just have to carry it out."

Popov sighed. "I just feel... this will make us lose the people’s hearts."

"Lose their hearts?" Ivanov gave a bitter smile. "Popov, you’re too naive. In this game, hearts have never been the most important thing. Control is."

He clapped Popov on the shoulder. "Besides, don’t you think this is also an opportunity?"

"What kind of opportunity?"

Ivanov narrowed his eyes. "An opportunity born from scarcity. When two worlds are completely divided, the passage between them becomes priceless."

Popov froze, then he understood what Ivanov meant.

***************

2:00 AM, Brandenburg Gate

The first line of barbed wire defense was being rapidly erected.

East German soldier Peter Hoffman stood at his post, submachine gun in hand, watching the busy figures of the workers. The barbed wire glinted coldly in the searchlights, like a great steel serpent.

"Peter," the old veteran Max beside him said in a low voice, "do you know what we’re doing?"

"Following orders," Peter replied mechanically.

"We’re locking our own countrymen in a cage." Max’s voice trembled slightly. "My sister lives in West Berlin. My niece is only three years old..."

Peter didn’t answer, but his palms were slick with sweat.

Just then, a commotion arose in the distance. A few citizens of East Berlin had spotted the barbed wire under construction and were trying to get closer.

"Halt! Don’t come any closer!" a sentry shouted.

A young mother, holding a baby, cried out, "My mother is in the West! I have to see her!"

"Go back! Go back immediately!"

"Please, just let me pass! Just this once!" The young mother knelt on the ground. "My mother is very ill..."

Peter watched the scene, his heart twisting in agony. ’He thought of his own mother. What if she were on the other side...’

"Peter!" The company commander walked over. "Focus on your duty! Don’t let these people affect you!"

"Yes, sir."

The company commander looked at the weeping young mother, his face expressionless. "This is for national security. Sacrifices are necessary."

Peter clenched his jaw, forcing himself not to look at the mother’s tears.

*********************

2:30 AM, Brandenburg Gate, West Berlin

The news spread quickly.

BBC reporter John Smith was the first Western journalist to arrive on the scene. When he saw the frenetic activity on the other side of the barbed wire, he immediately realized this was a major story.

"This is Berlin, the time is 2:30 AM, August 13th," he spoke into his tape recorder. "The East German Government is sealing the Berlin border. This may be the darkest night in the history of the Cold War."

More and more citizens of West Berlin gathered near the Brandenburg Gate.

They stared at the scene on the other side of the wire, shocked, angry, and incredulous.

"Hanna! Hanna!" an old man from West Berlin yelled toward the other side of the wire, waving his hands frantically. "It’s Dad! I’m here!"

Across the barbed wire, a young woman heard his calls and waved back, tears streaming down her face.

The father and daughter, separated by this sudden barrier, could only communicate through gestures.

"Those bastards!" the old man shouted angrily. "They’ve locked up my daughter!"

Just then, a commotion erupted on the eastern side of the wire. A young man from East Germany took advantage of a gap in the soldiers’ patrol and made a sudden dash for a section of barbed wire that hadn’t been fully secured.

"Run!" the crowd on the West Berlin side shouted immediately. "Come on, get over here!"

The young man leaped over the low barbed wire. His body was torn and bloody from the barbs, but he made it! The West Berlin citizens immediately surrounded him, and someone took off their coat to wrap his wounds.

"Welcome to the free world!" The crowd erupted in cheers.

But East German soldiers quickly arrived and fired a shot into the air. The gunshot echoed in the night sky, and everyone fell silent.

"The next person to cross will be shot on sight!" a soldier warned loudly through a megaphone.

John Smith raised his camera and recorded this historic moment.

******************

3:00 AM, Friedrichstrasse border checkpoint.

Mathias Bauer arrived for his shift on time, but the sight that greeted him left him dumbfounded.

On the once-bustling Friedrichstrasse, temporary roadblocks and barbed wire had been erected. The asphalt and cobblestones of the road had been torn up to build heavy concrete fortifications. Machine guns were mounted in firing positions, and the barbed wire completely sealed off the road.

"Bauer!" the officer on duty came over. "From now on, no one passes!"

"Sir, what about the East Germans who work in West Berlin?" Matthias asked.

"That is not our concern," the officer said coldly. "Our mission is to ensure no one crosses the border."

Matthias recalled Werner’s words: "Soon you will find yourself at a crossroads of history."

Now he understood. This was the crossroads.

******************

4:30 AM, a certain street in East Berlin.

The situation on this street was particularly unique—the barbed wire ran straight down the middle, splitting the street in two.

Some apartment buildings on the East Berlin side of the road had one face directly overlooking West Berlin.

An elderly woman, Frieda Schulz, who lived on the third floor, was woken by the noise from below. She looked down from her window and saw soldiers stringing up barbed wire.

"My God..." she realized what was happening.

Her son lived in West Berlin, and now she was trapped on the East side.

Down below, her neighbors from West Berlin had already gathered on the street, waving to the East German residents in the building above.

"Frida! Frida! Jump!" shouted her old neighbor Hans from across the street. "We’ll catch you!"

Frida looked at the height of the third floor, then at the increasingly dense barbed wire below. She knew if she didn’t jump now, she would never have another chance.

"God help me..." She climbed onto the windowsill.

On the West Berlin side, a dozen or so young people had already readied blankets and bedsheets.

"Jump! Grandma! We’ll catch you!"

Frida closed her eyes and leaped.

The moment she jumped, two East German soldiers burst into her room, reaching out to grab her, but it was too late.

The young people in West Berlin successfully caught her, and the crowd erupted in cheers.

"She made it! She’s free!"

But immediately after, more soldiers arrived. They began to board up all the windows facing West Berlin.

On the second floor, a young father holding a baby was about to jump, but soldiers had already burst into his room.

"No! Please!" The young father clutched his child tightly. "I just want a better future for my child!"

The soldiers unceremoniously shoved him aside and began nailing up the boards.

The window was sealed shut.

The West Berliners below shouted in anger, "Let them out! Let them out!" 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

But the only response they received was more wooden boards and barbed wire.

*********************

5:00 AM.

Eva, holding her sleeping son, Little Hans, walked cautiously through a small alley.

She had chosen this route because she’d heard the barbed wire wasn’t completely sealed here yet. But as she neared her target location, she found the situation was worse than she had imagined.

The barbed wire was already up, but thankfully, it hadn’t been fully reinforced yet.

Moreover, she saw a glimmer of hope—just a moment ago, a young man had slipped through an unsealed gap in the wire and successfully crossed the line.

"Mommy, where are we going?" Little Hans woke up, rubbing his eyes.

"Shhh..." Eva gently kissed her son’s forehead. "We’re going to find a better place to live."

She hid in the corner of a wall, observing the patrol’s movements. Three soldiers, one patrol dog, making their rounds every five minutes.

But just as she was about to make her move, a gunshot rang out ahead. She saw a young man desperately trying to cross the barbed wire, his body covered in blood.

"Run!" someone shouted from the West Berlin side.

The young man made it, but the soldiers had clearly tightened their security.

Eva hesitated. With a child, she couldn’t rush through the barbed wire as quickly as that young man. And if they were caught...

Taking a deep breath, Eva held her son tighter and waited for the next gap in the patrol.

But at that very moment, a searchlight suddenly swung over to her.

"Halt! Don’t move!"

The blinding white light made it impossible for her to open her eyes, and her body froze on the spot.

Little Hans, frightened by the sudden light and shouting, began to cry.

"Mommy..." The child’s cries echoed in the night sky.

"The woman with the child! Hands up!"