Dietrich paced back and forth inside his tent.
The reports coming in were not good. Rommel's forces had been beaten back yet again, and Dietrich and his men had been assigned to cover the retreating army's flank. It was a dangerous assignment, one that would leave many of his men dead on the sand. If not himself.
The pacing was a result of his worry. Worry over the coming skirmishes, the dead and wounded, the fact that one small error of judgement on his part could get countless men killed. His men were loyal to both him and the cause of driving the Allies out of North Africa, which made his job both easier and harder.
Easier because they'd follow him into whatever he decided.
Harder because he knew each man personally, some of them would die, and he didn't want to think about it. But it was time to go to war, and he couldn't shy away from his duty. He stopped pacing, and slumped into a chair near the tent door. A few moments of quiet and reflection before going outside and giving orders.
From outside the tent, strains of 'Lili Marlene' played.
One of the men had gotten bored, tired, or lonely and found the song on the radio – not a hard thing. A lump formed in Dietrich's throat, but he swallowed it down. Now wasn't the time to soften up, break down. He had a job to do.
But for now, for a few moments, he'd enjoy the music.