Chapter IX is here, actually sooner than I thought it would. I have state testing the rest of this week, however, and won't be able to work on Chapter X until all is said and done. So, hope you enjoy!
Thank you everyone who has reviewed, followed, and favorite so far! It means so much to me as an author, and I love to get your input! Now, on with the story!
Chapter IX: Readying For War
"Hope for the best, prepare for the worst."
-Chris Bradford
Glavnyi Fyodor Yakov
24th Soviet Tank Corps
Main Attack Force
T-34/1942
German-Held Airfield
30th December 2024
2024 hours
Fyodor scanned the surrounding area for threats as the wind died down a little. He detected none and he hopped down from the tree he'd climbed into. All around him, the tanks of the main attack force were quiet as their crews warmed up and ate dinner around small campfires. This deep in the treeline, there would be no way for the Fascists to find them unless they were to come in themselves.
Walking over to his T-34/1942, the major clambered up and retrieved the radio headset. "Leytenant Makarov, do you read me?"
"Da, komandir." was the reply Fyodor received. "How may I help you?"
"How are the perimeter patrols doing?"
There was a minute or two as Fyodor's subordinate contacted the various squads keeping watch on the perimeter. As Fyodor waited, he lit a cigarette and took a long draw, letting the tobacco smoke into his lungs before exhaling. "Too bad we can't find more of these."
"Sir?"
"What?" Fyodor replied, mildly annoyed at the interruption.
"Our patrols have found nothing for the past three hours. However, one of our snipers is missing in action. We feel that it is safe to presume him dead."
"Very well. Continue your duty. My own infantry will relieve you in two hours."
"Yes sir." Makarov replied. "Thank you very much. Makarov, out."
Fyodor replaced the radio into his tank and took another long draw at his cigarette. "Now, to get some food."
Katyusha
T-34/85
Pravda Girls High School Tankery Team
Outside Abandoned Village, 7.32 km S of Airfield
2136 hours
Katyusha kept her head on a swivel as the tankery team moved through the snow. With her was the entire Pravda Tankery Team: 15 T-34/1943s, 20 T-34/85s, 5 Su-85s, 3 Su-76s, 10 Su-100s, 4 BT-7s, 2 KV-1s, the KV-2 and IS-2. In the centre of it all, the biggest gun on the Pravda team was rumbling along: the ISU-152-2, carrying the monster BL-10 152mm anti-tank cannon.
Despite the massive force she had at her disposal, as well as the numerous well-trained girls who were under her, the short blonde felt nervous about the events that everyone predicted were to come. Seeing Maho, her counterpart and friend (off the battlefield) laying on the ground with a gunshot wound was shocking, to say the least. As soon as she had heard the news, she'd jumped out of her tank and proceeded to run to where Nonna had said she was.
When she got there, almost all of Kuromorimine was crowded around a small building, and Katyusha could hear the harsh tones of the German pilot barking short phrases out. When she and Nonna finally broke through the crowd, they found him on the ground next to Maho, furiously using a few medical kits to try and mend the damage while Nicole helped him. Finally, he stood and nodded his head, then said something in German to Nicole. Even though she could barely understand him, she was able to get the general idea: it was time to go.
Which leaves us here. Katyusha came out of her thoughts as she felt a tap on her foot. Looking down, she saw Tomoko Ogawa, her radio operator, motioning for her to answer her radio. She nodded and pressed the switch on her headset. "This is Katyusha."
"Katyusha, this is Nonna." Katyusha perked up at hearing her sub-commander's voice, even if it was only over the radio. "What is it?"
"I believe we should find a place to set up camp for the evening. Preferably, somewhere where we can hide well." Nonna replied.
Katyusha nodded, reviewing her knowledge of the surrounding area. "Do you think the old village will work?"
"In the south?" There was a pause as Katyusha's sub-commander presumably pondered the idea. "I suppose. There's plenty of cover there, and it isn't hard to get out of there." Katyusha nodded, thinking back to how her team had been humiliated by Ooarai a few years ago. Then, they fought for the thrill of Tankery. Now, though, they were fighting for their lives.
"Very well." Katyusha finally responded, coming out of her thoughts. "We'll head southwest until we get there. Katyusha, out." The commander brought her hand away from her radio and replaced it on the rim of the turret hatch, steadying herself as the T-34 went over a particularly rough patch of ground. "Hana?"
"Hmm?" The T-34's radio operator looked up at the sound of her name, then back down to the radio set she was tinkering with. "Yes, commander?"
"How is that going?" Katyusha asked, noting that the girl's hair was a little out of place, likely from a shock the wiring had given her.
"It's...complicated." Hana replied. "I can't quite understand...why...it's…" She trailed off as she stuck a pair of needlenose pliers into the radio, fiddling with something. Katyusha sighed and let her be as she looked ahead for the village.
She was trying to get Hana to achieve radio communications outside of the immediate area, which were still strangely blocked. Why, Katyusha did not know, but she was working to get word out. If they could get the JSDF here, then Katyusha was sure that the massive problem, whatever caused it, would be solved, one way or another.
Maho Nishizumi
Pzkpfw. VI Ausfuhrung B 'Tiger II'
Kuromorimine Girls High School Tankery Team
2 kilometres from Abandoned Town No. 3
10.6 km WSW of German-held Airfield
2200 hours
Maho groaned as she started coming back to consciousness. Her mind was reluctant to leave the shelter of her blackout, but she knew she had to get up. For all she knew, she could be in enemy hands right now.
Gerhard tackled her to the ground as she felt something red-hot rip into her abdomen from the back. She let her breath out sharply at the sudden pain, wincing as she tried not to pass out. Gerhard immediately stood and pulled something out from behind him, resulting in a gasp from the people around the two of them. He shouted something as he fired off the pistol in his hand at something behind her; what, she couldn't hear.
Maho gasped as she felt the pain come into focus. It wasn't as sharp as she thought it would be; rather, it was the realization that she'd been shot with a live round. The pain started to fade as her mind tried to sink back into unconsciousness.
Maho made no move to object as she felt herself propped up, someone supporting her shoulders. She was disinclined to open her eyes anymore than she had them, and could only see blurred forms of people moving around. Sound was basic; around her, she felt the reverberation of the ground she'd come to associate with cannon fire. Behind her, where the pain was, she felt fingers probing the wound as hot blood seeped out onto her now-exposed skin. Involuntarily, she shivered.
Suddenly, Maho came back to full consciousness as the tank she was riding on jolted suddenly. She awoke to find the form of Nicole watching her, a worried look on her face. Behind her, in the commander's hatch of the Tiger II she must've been on, Erika was looking back at her as well, the same look on her face. "Captain."
"What happened?" Maho asked, trying to sit up. She found she was secured in place with a few tie-downs, as well as wrapped in a fairly thick blanket.
"You mean you don't remember?" Nicole asked as Erika ducked into the turret, saying something to her crew.
"I know we came under attack from the Russians, and no one was hurt." Maho replied, remembering back to the arrival of the T-34s. "We scared them off, and then I went to talk to Gerhard when…" Maho trailed off, then looked around, noticing the absence of the German oberleutnant. "Where is he?"
Her two subordinates exchanged a look before Nicole responded. "He told us explicitly not to tell you. And to be honest, no one knows."
Maho felt a rush of anger towards the pilot suddenly. He was the only hope they had right now, and he just walked off without telling why. "Are you able to tell me anything about him?"
"He said he'll meet us later at the village where we met Pravda the first time." Nicole said, taking over as Erika focused on commanding the Tankery team. "He said he'll be back as soon as he possibly can. He decided to go on foot, though."
Maho shook her head. Why she was getting so mad at Gerhard, she didn't know. No matter what though, her first priority was ensuring each and every one of the girls under her supervision were getting home safely.
"Get these off, would you?" Maho complained, tugging at the tie downs. Nicole nodded and carefully set about to releasing the restraints, ensuring she didn't fall off the Tiger. Once completed, she sat back down on her knees, which were slightly spread to provide more stability on the moving vehicle. Maho sat up, glad to finally be able to move freely. She felt a little spike of pain where the bandages were, but it quickly faded away. "Who helped me?"
"With that?" Nicole clarified, nodding towards Maho's abdomen. When she received a nod in return, Nicole continued. "Gerhard. As soon as he realised what happened, he started working on getting you healed." Nicole paused for a moment as the two listened to Erika yelling into the radio incoherently. "I think he was actually scared for you. He kept focused though, finished in about half an hour."
Maho, though not exactly surprised by the response, was still taken aback. She began to revise what she had originally thought of the pilot. 'I guess he can be trusted, at least to an extent.' Her thinking done, Maho started transitioning into her earlier commanding mindset "Erika!"
The shouting in the turret of the Tiger II stopped, followed by Erika poking her head out of the hatch. "Hai?"
"Where are we?"
After a brief exchange with her crew, Erika responded "We're about a kilometer away from our destination. Why?"
Maho stood up slowly on the rocking engine deck as the battlegroup passed a stand of dead trees. "Get us back to our tanks. And have the Panzer IIIs split out: one up front, one to the rear. Have them report on anything they see."
"Okay." As she carried out her orders, Maho looked to the rear of the formation. 'What the hell do you think you're doing?'
Oberleutnant Gerhard Köln
POW, Luftwaffe, Tatsinskaya Detachment
8 kilometers from Rendezvous Point with Kuromorimine
2217 hours
Gerhard sighed as he followed the tank tracks north, his breath steaming in the air. He continued trudging through the snow as best as he could in his ironshod boots. His feet were freezing, but he wouldn't let that stop him before he got to a sufficient shelter. Looking around, he realised he knew approximately where he was. Up ahead, about fifty metres away, was a clearing with a few busted-down trees. Those left were riddled with enough bullet holes to pierce the armor of a panzer.
'This is where I was captured.' Gerhard thought, a small grin on his face. He sped up, retracing the path of his earlier dash for freedom as best he could. It was less of a challenge than he thought it would; he just had to follow the path of destruction Erika and Nonna's tanks had made as they chased him.
After another ten or so minutes, Gerhard saw the stand of trees he had been hiding in. Inside, the remains of his campsite were still intact: the burnt-out campfire, the stack of spare firewood, and a couple cans of rations he'd left behind in his rush.
Feeling safe, Gerhard sat down next to the campfire and set to work. In about fifteen to twenty minutes, he had a fire blazing away and a can of rations cooking in the bowl he had finally fashioned out of his aircraft's scrap metal. Satisfied, he sat down on the remaining firewood and pulled out his spoils.
When the two Japanese schools had finally departed the old base, Gerhard had immediately set out to where the sniper had fired from. Against what he thought, the sniper was eliminated, likely from the massive high-explosive barrage the treeline had sustained. But, even luckier is what he found lying feet from the dead Soviet soldier: his rifle, completely intact. The Mosin-Nagant looked to be in good shape, though there was a little wear on the stock. Gerhard salvaged whatever else he could from the soldier, then gave him a quiet, proper burial.
Looking back over the rifle, Gerhard appreciated how well-kept it was. He remembered going to basic training, where he had been noticed for his exceptional marksmanship. He decided that he wanted to fly, however, and hadn't really thought of it since. Setting the rifle aside, Gerhard also pulled out the twenty-three rounds of ammunition he had found as well. He loaded one into the chamber, topping off the loaded clip.
Next, the pilot unrolled the winter clothes he had found as well, glad to have a spare set. As much as he wanted to, however, there was no way on Göttes name he was taking clothes off out here. It was too cold, and Gerhard rather liked not having frostbite or hypothermia. However, he did exchange the ushanka for his pilot's helmet. Shortly thereafter, he felt his ears warming up for the first time in weeks.
The fire crackled as the German pilot put the clothes in his bag along with the ammunition. He kept the rifle out, ready to go in case he needed it. The sky had faded into darkness long ago, and the light cast eerie shadows among the trees. Feeling unsafe, Gerhard started digging into the snow for a place to spend the night. Once completed, he extinguished the flames, and, feeling warm and full, crawled in and started falling asleep. Just before he passed into his subconscious, he thought of Maho and her team; for good measure, he prayed to God they would make it through this.