AUTHOR'S NOTES
War never changes. When we get down to it war is nothing else but the attempt of one group to impose over the other through force. And it generally ends in a grisly fashion for people from all the parties involved. War is bloody, is ugly, is unforgiving. And it's also chaotic, a turmoil of crisscrossing events all happening at the same time. Because combat is chaotic, and Murphy is always looking, always prepared to bring misfortune to some unwitting victim. And this has been so since immemorial times.
VII
CRUDE AWAKENING
The Cromwell didn't fire immediately. Instead it moved a little further and stopped, taking careful aim. Then several things happened at the same time.
After being informed that the tanks he'd asked for had already arrived and were facing the enemy paratroopers, Colonel Messner had decided to send a part of the troops he was gathering for the counter-attack ahead to help the newly-arrived. He also gave them the few Panzerfausts in the battalion's possession. The first squad rushed into the field when the Cromwell got Duck Team. One of the men, a sergeant who was still young but had lived through all the years of that war, run to the ruin of a tank and saw what was happening.
He fell over one knee and grabbed the metal tube on his back. The Panzerfaust was a crude weapon made out of desperation by a strained industry. In didn't have the fancy aiming mechanisms of the Bazooka or the Panzershreck, but compensated that by being as simple to use as it could get.
So the sergeant aimed and fired. And failed.
The rocket missed the tank but by an incredible streak of luck hit the main gun, piercing right through it. Flames erupted from the two new holes and the muzzle started to spew smoke like if it was on fire. Noticing he was now completely alone in the front, the sergeant decided to throw the now useless launching tube to the ground and run back to his comrades.
When the explosion happened Maria froze in place, her mind going blank. It took her a few heartbeats to realize she wasn't dead yet.
To her right the wounded Cromwell rolled forward, the crew surely realizing their main gun was now compromised. It joined the M22s, who were coming back into the fight. The 38(t) fired at the British tanks and missed once again. They replied in kind right after.
One of the rounds went too wide, but the other scraped the Panzer IV's glacis and then hit the straight metal plate above, jumping in the air with a loud rumble. Maria immediately lost it and sunk into the turret, falling over the commander's seat with a whimper.
Shocked, Ysabelle reached for her hand, squeezing it gently. Meanwhile Simone was yelling from her post. "What do we do?"
Think… Maria was trembling, her mind empty, listening only to her own heartbeat.
"Maria, we have to do something." Hanna tried to seem calm, but her features were hardened, nervous.
Think.
"Maria, we can't stay here!" Simone was almost crying.
Think!
"We need to pull back." The words left Maria's mouth almost automatically. Then she turned to Meike. "Two hundred meters in reverse, go!" And to Simone. "Tell Anja to do the same."
The tank started moving and then it jerked and stopped, the engine going silent.
"What happened!" Maria demanded to know.
Meike peeked into the fighting compartment, her eyes wide open and her shoulders trembling. "We're out of fuel..."
At that moment Maria felt completely overwhelmed. She was smart and she was calm, but that was too much. And so she stood there, looking at Meike with her mouth open, trembling in panic. Involuntarily she squeezed Ysabelle's hand, seeking for some sort of comfort.
Not now…
The ambush group had gotten lost.
Although Kirstein was the one in command of the infantry troops, it was Armin who assumed the responsibility of finding the way to the point where Maria wanted them to make the encirclement. Unfortunately Kirstein also had his own ideas about how to get there, and Augusta didn't know what to do to balance them both.
Inevitably the directions got mixed up and at a certain point no-one was certain where they really were, only that it was pitch black. Eventually Kirstein, who rode on the back of the StuG III because the M3 didn't have enough space, got fed up with the twists and turns they were taking and decided to be assertive.
"The gunfire is in that direction!" He yelled at Erwin's ear, "So we are going there, directly through the woods if we have to!"
And thus the vehicles rolled out of the road and into the woodland, the desperate drivers doing their best to find openings big enough for them to go by in the dark. At this point they were already moving at a staggeringly low pace. Some of the infantrymen actually jumped out of the tanks and walked besides them.
When the Type 89 was hit the huge ruckus reverberated across the whole landscape, even among the trees. They knew they had to be close although they couldn't yet tell their comrades had been harmed in the incident, especially because at that point the radio chatter turned into a series of panicked cries. That got them worried, but Augusta ordered the crews to move forward anyway.
A few moments later they finally found a clearing that led to the fields where the battle was raging. This time they stopped, trying to find their bearings. Kirstein noticed that they couldn't yet tell where either friends or foes were.
"Just remember that the main gun isn't properly aligned with the aiming sights." Tamara told Killian, who was acting as the gunner, from her driving position. "I'll try to compensate."
"I know, I know!" Killian snapped at her, trying to get a proper feel of the gunnery controls. Tamara, who was one of the girls who worked more in the StuG III, had explained him how everything worked during most of the trip but, of course, he had no practical experience whatsoever. He was a smart kid and could get the gist of it, but still had a lot to learn.
Suddenly a group of angular tanks appeared up ahead, in the limit of the visibility range. They were slowly rolling backwards, trying to escape the sudden advance of the German infantry. The ambush group, though, had no way to know that. For prevention the loaders fed the vehicle's guns fresh rounds.
Kirstein and his men spread around the tanks and deployed their equipment, never too cautious.
"Are those tanks ours?" Kirstein whispered, trying to see the markings on the tanks or other identifying details. He got to his feet and gave a few steps forward. Suddenly a soldier came into view, right in front of the tanks. He looked back at Kirstein, saw his helmet and yelled something to his comrades. Then he dropped to the ground and fired a short burst that went too wide.
"Scheiße! No! They're not!" Kirstein also dropped to the ground, holding to his helmet and to dear life. His men laid some suppressing fire, cutting through foliage and grass in the hope of hitting something. The British tanks kept moving but started turning their turrets.
That was more than enough for the tanks' crews. Aboard the M3 Saskia Münchberg fired first, the large 75mm gun mounted in the side sponson blasting over the grenadiers' heads, but the round went too wide and detonated harmlessly among the grass. Then Killian fired. The closest British tank simply exploded when hit, in a cascade de metal splinters and flames.
"We've hit something!" Erwin yelled on top of his lungs. Inside both vehicles the crews cheered in joy.
They hadn't much time to celebrate. A moment later two mortar shells fell around the tanks, making small volcanoes of dirt. Someone screamed.
"Pull back! Pull back!" Without military training and without knowing what was actually happening, Augusta was starting to act purely on instinct. Meanwhile the mortar barrage kept going. Inside the M3 Karina simply panicked, along with Jule and Saskia, and pulled back too quickly, digging the right track in the dirt until it got stuck. The bulky American tank rolled to the left and the blocked track snapped.
From his command hatch Erwin had a privileged view of the whole incident. He started gesturing frantically to the other machine's crew. If there was something he really knew about cars and such was that if something broke you shouldn't persist on the risk of making things worse.
"Kill the engine! Kill the engine!"
The warning wasn't actually needed. Right after the engine chocked and died. The StuG still went deeper into the woods until it trembled when it rammed its rear against a tree. Fearing she'd done something wrong, Tamara immediately killed the engine. And so, both vehicles stood still and silent among the trees.
Fortunately the British had stopped firing their mortars by that point. In the silence, Erwin, who was basically the only tanker still keeping some of his cool, realized the gunfire had watered down to some occasional bursts.
While he pondered the situation the side hatch of the M3 opened and Armin and Aaron got out of the tank, their ears still ringing from the girls' screams.
"I swear," Aaron yelled in irritation, "I'll never drive with a woman ever again!"
"What happened in there?" Armin moaned, looking absolutely perplexed. Meanwhile some confused and scared moans kept coming out of the wounded tank, the girls still recovering from their moment of absolute panic.
Corporal Kirstein didn't even try to hide his expression of disbelief when he got back to the vehicles and saw their sorry state. He simply shook his head and ordered his men to spread and form a perimeter.
"Hey!" Erwin called him. "What's happening?"
Kirstein shrugged. For him talking with Erwin seemed more natural than doing it with the girls, especially in that situation. Even more so, Augusta was still trembling in her command hatch. Truth be told, she hadn't been the best choice for a leader.
"I have no idea. Although I think the British are pulling back." He leveled his helmet with the tip of his index finger. "Can we use the radio in that thing to contact the Oberst?"
"We can try." Although he still had no idea how to operate the radio, Erwin promptly sunk into the tank. Meanwhile Kirstein glanced around. The surviving British tanks had retreated along with the infantry they were supporting. What had all of that been about?
"I can't believe we did it…"
While he stood there, Erwin pocked his head outside of the vehicle again.
"Are you coming, or what?"
"Going!" Well, whatever had happened, the Colonel would certainly be the one holding the answers. Him or someone above him, anyhow…
Lost in those thoughts, he almost forgot about the girls who'd held the line and paid the price for their trouble.
