1600: Smolensk Command center; hangar 1

Hammer company met in the hangar after an early dinner. We were due to roll out at 1700, arriving at a predetermined point 5km south of Pagorki around 2030 to set up a temporary camp. Ideally we would remain undetected and attack early in the morning. I was one of the last ones to arrive. "Evening sir," Ivan greeted me, looking concerned.

"What's on your mind?" I asked.

"I'm a little nervous about going into battle in a tank I only have 3 hours experience with, and all that is from this morning."

"I had never commanded a T-26 until yesterday," I tried to reassure him. "If we can do that well with no experience, you can do fine driving a new tank tomorrow."

"You had us practicing smooth driving and snap shots today. Why is that?"

"None of our tanks can face off against a German vehicle at range, they have better sights. We need to get in close, so smooth driving and on the move firing will be important."

"Thank you sir," Ivan said, visibly much more relaxed now. "I feel much better."

"Any time," I answered.

At that moment, Alex walked up to us. "Ivan, Dim-err I mean commander," he said in greeting.

"I don't mind you calling me by my name Alex," I told him with a slight laugh.

"As you wish, Dim," He answered with his trademark troll face.

"All set guys?" someone behind me asked.

I spun around coming face to face with my unit commander. "Yes Commander Putin!" I told him with a salute.

"Good. Looks like the last ones," he said looking around the hangar. "Lets go!"

"Right sir," I responded. "Alex! Ivan! Mount up!"

"Yes sir!" both of them responded, climbing into the tank. I waited a second for Alex to clear the cupola before clambering in after him."

"Hammer squad, hammer lead. Report ready." Commander Putin ordered over the radio.

"Hammer 7, ready to roll," I replied once the five tanks between us had reported in.

"Hammer company, proceed to staging," Putin said once everyone had reported ready. "We'll meet up with Star and Crimson companies and move out together."

"Driver, ahead slow," I ordered. "This is a major movement so you can keep the hatch open."

1825: Smolensk; staging point

The 25 minute drive to the staging point flew by, but the extra 10 minutes we spent waiting for the slower heavies of Star and Crimson didn't. It felt like we had been waiting for hours when they finally arrived. "Oh good you made it," Putin said once they did. "Star lead, by order of Mayor Borzov you will have overall command."

"Understood," the commander of the KV-2 known as star lead replied. We are going to proceed north parallel to the railroad tracks. The tracks turn east after the town of Phrohorovka. But we will continue due north towards Pagorki. Understood?"

"Affirmative," I said, jumping the gun slightly.

"Roll out," Star lead ordered once all 45 of us had confirmed the route. "Soiuz nerushimyj respublik svobodnykh," he started singing. "

I automatically joined in, along with the all the tank commanders. "Splotila naveki Velikaia Rus. Da zdravstvuet sozdannyj volej narodov Edinyj, moguchij Sovetskij Soiuz!"

"Slavsia, Otechestvo nashe svobodnoe, Druzhby, narodov nadezhnyj oplot! Znamia sovetskoe, znamia narodnoe Pust ot pobedy, k pobede vedet!" the entire company recited the chorus.

"Skvoz grozy siialo nam solntse svobody, I Lenin velikij nam put ozaril. Nas vyrastil Stalin - na vernost narodu Na trud i na podvigi nas vdokhnovil." Just the commanders dang the next verse

"Slavsia, Otechestvo chashe svobodnoe, Schastia narodov nadezhnyj oplot! Znamia sovetskoe, znamia narodnoe Pust ot pobedy k pobede vedet!" Everyone recited the chorus again.

"My armiiu nashu rastili v srazheniakh, Zakhvatchikov podlykh s dorogi smetem! My v bitvakh reshaem sudbu pokolenij, My k slave Otchiznu svoiu povedem!" Just the commanders sang the last verse.

"Slavsia, Otechestvo nashe svobodnoe, Slavy narodov nadezhnyj oplot! Znamia sovetskoe, znamia narodnoe Pust ot pobedy k pobede vedet!" all of us finished. Flushed with victory, our morale hit an all time high as we rode off into the sunset.

2105: 7 Km south of Pagorki

One of Crimson Company's T-34's had thrown a track crossing the railroad near Prohorovka, so we were running late. I was driving, much to the relief of a very exhausted Ivan who was sleeping in the gunner's seat. "Tree ahead, go right," called Alex, who was guiding me from the commander's seat.

"You know," I said, pulling back on the right brake, "I see why Ivan gets so tired doing this. Clutch and brake steering is hard on a driver." I released the right brake and pulled back on the left one, pivoting the tank around the center of the left track and clearing the tree by less than half a meter.

"Nice one commander," Alex shouted over the engine. Why are we going through the forest anyway?"

"Stealth. The Germans have good night optics, but they still can't see through trees."

"All vehicles, star lead," our force commander called from his position nearly a kilometer ahead of us, "I can see the clearing, stop on my position. We'll set up camp in the forest for concealment."

"Star lead, hammer 7 roger," I confirmed, not a necessary procedure but I like my commanders to know I heard them. Crossing the last kilometer, I brought the T-46 to a halt next to one of the support vehicles, a repurposed KV-2. USSRS was created for defensive war, and as such we were under equipped when it came to logistics vehicles. When one of our KV-2's had a German shell fly down the gun barrel and smash the breech block, a shot I still can't believe happened, it was decided that it would be easier to replace the tank than to repair the gun. Since no one wanted a gunless tank, we took advantage of the massive turret by converting it into a mobile storage hangar. Not carrying over 1300 kilos of ammunition meant that the vehicle could carry that much more equipment. For this mission, we had loaded it with 1100 kilos of extra fuel in tanks strapped to the engine deck and packed the turret with camping and survival gear. This kept the fighting compartments of our actual combat vehicles relatively clear in case we had to go into battle unexpectedly. The only thing to get in the way was our personal gear in a single rucksack each.

"Hey buddy, we're here," Alex whispered to Ivan, gently shaking him awake. I waited to make sure our half asleep driver could climb out on his own before crawling out the driver's hatch and joining my crewmates next to the repurposed KV-2.

"3 man crew," I shouted to the soldier standing atop the giant turret, who tossed down 3 sleeping bags and one tent. "And fuel for a T-46," I added as an afterthought. The request was repeated to a mechanic standing nearby, who jogged over and connected our vehicle to the appropriate fuel canister.

"Wait here," the mechanic told us. "By my count we still have over 20 tanks to refuel so I need you out of the way as soon as possible." At that moment, a fuel pump elsewhere clicked off. "Excuse me for a second," he said, climbing back over the stack of fuel tanks to disconnect a line from the T-34 that was being serviced on the other side. The medium tank pulled away and another T-34 took its place for servicing. He returned once our tank was fully fueled and disconnected us.

I looked over at Ivan, still half asleep, an decided I should be the one to drive the tank to the temporary staging point. "You guys go set up camp," I told my crewmates. "I'll drop off the vehicle and then meet you there.

"We need our personal gear," Alex reminded me.

"Just a second, I'll get them," I said, reaching into the turret. I tossed the bags down and climbed into the driver's compartment. "See you at the site," I said before starting the engine and driving off.

2120: Pagorki; Russian camp - vehicle staging

All of the tanks were arranged into three coils, one per company, for rapid deployment. A marshall guided me into position and instructed me to turn towards the outside of the coil. I had shut off the engine and was climbing out of the tank when I noticed the vehicle coming in behind me. It was another T-46 with Katerina at the controls. I waited for her to park up and approached. "Key Kat!" I said to her. "Covering for your driver too?"

The last part of that was drowned out by a KV-1 of Crimson company passing by. "Sorry, Didn't hear you!" She shouted over the roar of the V-5K engine.

"I said are you covering for your driver too," I repeated.

"Yep. Poor Valentina just about collapsed when I relieved her," she responded.

"Same with Ivan. I never realized how hard driving is. I was always told it takes something like 20 kilos of force to make a turn, but that's just a number until you have to do it yourself."

"Tell me about it, we should get to camp."

"Right behind you Kat."

2130: Pagorki; Russian camp- Hammer company site.

Commander Putin was waiting to greet us as we walked into the camp. "Your crews are over there," he told us, pointing at a pair of tents about 10 meters away.

"Thanks," I told him, walking in that direction.

We reached the camp, and Ivan stood and saluted. "Commander," he greeted.

"Don't salute me," I told him. "That tells enemy snipers who the officers are."

"Sorry," he said.

"Don't be, that can be hard to get used to. Where's everyone else?" I inquired.

"Sleeping," Ivan answered.

"You should too," I told him. "You can't fight tired and we're moving out early tomorrow."

"Yes sir," he responded and jogged over to our tent.

"We should turn in to," Katerina said to me.

"Right," I replied. "Good night."

"Night," she said before heading off to her tent. I turned and did the same. Between an early morning patrol, an afternoon training session, and a two and a half hour drive just now, we were all exhausted, and sleep found me quickly.


If by some miracle anyone is still waiting, I owe you a bigger apology than I can possibly give. My life has been extremely insane for the last many months and. I have been unable to work on this. On the bright side, I have an idea where. I want to go for the next several chapters. If anyone is still here, thank you so much for your patience. Coming up next: The battle for Pagorki!

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