Hello folks! Back for Chapter XI! Got to say, finding the appropriate way to put the sound a DT machine gun makes into writing is hard.
Hope you all enjoy!
Chapter XI: Under Fire
"Ideas that enter the mind under fire remain there securely and forever."
-Leon Trotsky
Oberleutnant Gerhard Köln
POW, Luftwaffe, Tatsinskaya Detachment
1.5 kilometres from Rendezvous Point with Kuromorimine
1 January 2024
1034 hours
Gerhard paused at the edge of the treeline, breathing in the crisp, cold air. He'd been marching since first light, eager to get back to see Maho and make sure that she and the rest of the schoolgirls were still okay.
'What would be nice is if they left the area in general. I should ask why they haven't.' Shaking his head, Gerhard scanned the area in between him and the rendezvous. He saw no Soviet tanks, or any, for that matter. Just as he started moving, a flash of light blinded him momentarily. "What the…"
Looking in the direction the light had originated from, Gerhard noticed another familiar feature; a riverbed. Gerhard grinned; his airplane was in the way. It was a good chance to salvage anything else he might need.
Moving out again, the Luftwaffe pilot began a brisk walk through the snow, glad that the new snow here was thin and covered a nice, well-packed slab of snow. In short, he wasn't knee-deep in snow. A small smile on his face at his good fortune, Gerhard kept pushing onwards.
The walk was longer than it looked, but finally, Gerhard reached the wreck of his plane. The 109 was half-buried in snow, but the cockpit was still just reachable. He brushed off the snow and opened up the cockpit, sliding back the glass canopy.
Digging around, Gerhard went through papers, broken glass, and the occasional book. He saw one of his favorites, technically a banned American western novel, and grabbed it. If he got bored, at least he had something to do now.
Finally, Gerhard found his prize; the Maschinenpistole 40, along with the four extra magazines he constantly kept with it. He never trusted what would have happened if he'd been shot down in Russia, and the MP40 was his insurance, if you would. Not only that, but it was also a good deterrent for bears and wolves, as he'd had the misfortune to earn once.
Retrieving the submachine gun from the plane, Gerhard packed it all together and slung the weapon over his back. Satisfied, he continued on his way. Just over the ridge was his destination.
Leytenant Dimitri Izmaylov
Soviet 24th Tank Corps
T-34/1942
Rear Guard Defense Force
1.2 kilometres from Abandoned Village
1057 hours
Dimitri grunted as the T-34 went airborne over a snowdrift, crashing down on the ground hard, burying itself in the snow. The engine revved as Yuri pushed it. The tracks dug out of the snow and found traction again, and just like that, the tank was mobile again.
"Nicely done, Yuri!" Bogdan complimented, holding onto the cannon breech with a grin. Alexsandr gave his praise as Dimitri opened the hatch and cooled off in the rushing air. He hated the feeling of weightlessness.
Looking behind him, Dimitri checked that all the other tanks were still in formation. Three more T-34/1942s and two T-34/57s followed behind in a loose diamond formation. Dimitri and his men were getting a little mad; they'd been promised Germans to kill, and they hadn't seen any in almost two days. They were restless by now, and were itching to fire their guns in anger.
As the six Soviet tanks drove along their patrol route, they entered a small valley, with a small village in the middle. "All tanks, stop!"
The armored column stopped at the top of the ridge as Dimitri took out his binoculars and began scanning the area. "Yuri, radio."
"Da, komandir."
Dimitri took the radio and opened up communications. "This is Raven leader to any other commanders. I need an update on the battle situation."
There was static, then some more static, and some more. Not dissuaded, Dimitri tried again. "I repeat, this is Raven leader. I am…"
"We hear you Raven. This is Kestrel." Major Yakov's voice came through the radio set, sounding worn, but with a fiery edge. "We have been forced to retreat from the enemy airfield and are regrouping in the woods to the south. Keep your patrol route and meet us here at midnight."
"Yes sir! We will."
"Oh, and Leytenant? Keep an eye out for the enemy reinforcements."
"Da. Raven, out!" Immediately, Dimitri threw the radio back into the tank, causing Bogdan to curse and yell out in surprise. "Sorry, Bogdan."
"What's wrong, sir?" Alexsandr asked from below.
"Our commander is a yellow-stomached coward is what!" Dimitri growled. "We didn't make it to the control tower on time, so he follows orders and retreats, despite being right there!" He shook his in a mix of disappointment and anger. "We are the pride of the Red Army! We never retreat! It is charge, charge, charge!"
"Da, but we need to follow our orders, or it is us that will be sent to the penal battalions."
"Mmmmm." Dimitri consented. He would simply just let his anger simmer. Continuing his search, he finally saw something. His eyes immediately lit up as he saw the best opportunity of his tankman career through his binoculars.
Ducking back into his tank, Dimitri told his men the news. "Yuri, tell the men. Let's get ready to fight. Forward, for the Motherland!"
"Ura!"
Maho Nishizumi
Kuromorimine Girls High School
First Panzertruppe
PzKpfw. VI H1 'Tiger'
Rendezvous Point
1114 hours
Maho sighed as she scanned the surrounding area again. Nothing. Noticing her commander's worried expression, Hisayo took off her headset. "Kommandant, I'm sure he's fine. Remember, he IS on foot." She grinned and looked at her fellow crewmembers, mouthing her thoughts so Maho couldn't hear.
Maho hummed in agreement with her radio operator, then stopped. "Hey! I'm not interested…"
The other crew members started snickering aloud as Maho grumbled, choosing to ignore her crew. She looked through her binoculars, feeling uneasy about the buildings blocking her view. "Azumi, do you see anything?"
"No." the other Tiger commander replied from her position. The two Tigers were covering each other's rear, while Aki's Panzer III kept a wide perimeter patrol out of the valley. "Aki?"
"Nothing yet, commander." Her voice turning sly, she added "Should we also be looking for the pilot, ma'am?"
"Will you not!?" Maho cried, getting annoyed. She wasn't actually mad, though, and, if anything that Darjeeling-san had told her, she knew exactly why. Sighing yet again, Maho took a breath and tried to change the subject. "On the other hand…"
Clang!
"Contact!"
Stopped short, Maho shut the hatch of the Tiger and began looking around for the enemy tanks. Gerhard had said it would probably be Soviet tanks attacking Kuromorimine, and so she was on the lookout for the T-34. She winced as another shot bounced off the turret. 'Well, at least the subject changed.'
"T-34 sighted, up ahead!" Riko called. "Sighting!"
"Fire!"
'BOOM!'
The 88-millimetre Kwk. 36 cannon fired a shot straight at the sighted target. However, the tank swerved and avoided the round, then resumed its charge.
"Kuso!" Riko muttered, resighting the target as another tank appeared from the right.
"Azumi, get back to back!" Maho ordered. "Cover each other's flank!"
"We can't!" the Tiger commander replied. "We're engaged from three directions!" The radio cut out for a second, then came back, but all Maho could hear was the sound of shouting and combat.
Putting the radio down, Maho started doing her job, sighting targets through the cupola's sights. "Riko, traverse right, twenty degrees." As the turret whirred, the Kuromorimine captain ranged the target. "Three hundred metres, load armor-piercing!"
"Hai!"
"Ute!"
The Tiger's gun boomed again, and this time, the T-34 stopped short, looking derelict in the snow. As Maho watched, three hatches opened up on the tank and three men jumped out, weapons in hand. They moved right, and disappeared behind a building, causing Maho to forget about them.
"Good shooting." Maho replied. As Riko expressed her thanks, the glass suddenly broke on the commander's cupola of the Tiger, showering Maho with the shards as she ducked and covered her face.
"They have an anti-tank rifle, Maho!" Yukiko called. "Enemy squads moving in on the far right!"
Knowing what targeting the men meant, Maho's mind immediately repulsed the idea of killing them, though she realised there was no difference whether they were in a tank or on foot. "Ignore them."
"Kommandant?"
"Just ignore them!" Maho shouted, looking down into the tank. When she looked back up, however, she realised she had made a mistake; she wasn't paying attention.
"Enemy tank! Left traverse, left traverse!"
The turret slowly traversed, but the T-34 was too quick and got around behind the Tiger. As it drove by the Tiger, Maho clearly saw the red Soviet star emblazoned on the side of the turret. At the same time, the action seemed to slow down as the T-34's turret turned, looking at the rear of the Tiger. 'Someone help us.'
The T-34 fired.
Nicole Silverstone
Kuromorimine Girls High School
Second Panzertruppe
PzKpfw. IV Ausf. H
KGHS Second Panzertruppe Staging Area
1056 hours
Nicole looked at her watch, muttered a curse in German, then looked back out over the area. With her was the entirety of the tanks under her command: 7 more Panzer IVs, 4 Jagdpanzer IV/70s, 10 Panthers, and 2 Panzer III L scout tanks. Thinking about it, if one disregarded the tank destroyers, Maho's First Panzertruppe resembled the elite German Schwere-Panzerabteilung of World War II, while Nicole's was more similar to the standard panzer battalion. In fact, some of the more historically-minded girls felt that the Panzerkraft team should reorganise the Sensha-do teams so the tank destroyers were in their own Panzerjager Abteilung.
Nicole shook her head. She was getting sidetracked. Opening up her comms set, she radioed Maho, only to hear silence. A little concerned, the young girl tried the sub-commander.
"What is it?" Erika said, sounding like she was just waking up from a nap.
"Have you heard from Maho recently?" Nicole asked, ignoring the fact that the school's second-in-command was sleeping. Even if she didn't completely understand the whole scope of the situation, it might be for the best. Nicole remembered a saying from the American military; 'Never stand when you can sit, never sit when you can lay down, and never stay awake when you can sleep.'
"No." Erika said. A yawn. Then… "Did you try to talk to her?"
"Yeah. Her radio's off or something." Nicole pondered what might have happened. They were in a war zone now, and anything could have happened. "Should I go see what happened?"
"That would probably be good." Erika replied, sounding more awake now. "Report back when you find her."
"Roger." Nicole changed the radio setting so she was only broadcasting locally. "Hana, Mio, and Sakura, follow me. We're going to see where the commander is." Nicole paused as she waited for Aoi to start up the engine again. The Maybach stuttered once, twice, and on the third attempt roared to life. "Meisa, you have command of the Panzertruppe until we return. Keep the radio on."
"Hai!" the Jagdpanzer commander replied. She sounded unsure of herself, but Nicole trusted her.
"Reconnaissance Group Nachtigall, roll out!"
Oberleutnant Gerhard Köln
POW, Luftwaffe, Tatsinskaya Detachment
892 metres from Rendezvous Point with Kuromorimine
1 January 2024
1101 hours
Gerhard put his map and compass back into his backpack, assured he was on the right course. He was looking forward to getting back to other people, even if he could only speak with one of them without a translator.
'Maybe I should get Nicole to help me refresh my Japanese.' he thought as he kept a steady pace across the snow-covered fields. Just one more thing to add to his to-do list. 'I should really stop giving myself things to do for once.'
Coming across a pile of rocks, Gerhard set down his pack and weapons, taking a seat on the cold stone. After the initial shock of the cold wore off, he relaxed for a moment, glad to take a reprieve from his long walk. Just a little further.
Feeling a little overheated, the pilot undid the straps on his 'borrowed' ushanka and uncovered his ears, letting some of the heat escape. As he began to relax, a sudden noise made him stop and tense up again. 'No rest for the weary.'
Standing and grabbing the MP40, Gerhard listened again, breathing through his mouth as to be as quiet as possible.
'Drtttttt-drttttttt-drtttttt!'
'BOOM!'
Gerhard's eyes widened as he recognised the sound of a DT machine gun and a large cannon discharging. From the sound of it, it wasn't too far, and it was in the direction of the rendezvous point. Now that the thick ushanka wasn't covering his ears, he could hear what sounded like a full-scale battle going on.
"Scheiss!" Forgetting about his rest stop, the German pilot grabbed his weapons and gear and began to run towards the valley, trying to find out what was going on. At best, Soviet patrols had run into German patrols. At worst...well, he didn't want to think about that.
Unslinging the Mosin-Nagant from his shoulder, he ran across the open field, hoping a Soviet patrol wasn't watching him.
Gerhard finally reached the ridgeline overlooking the small village that was marked as the rendezvous point. As he feared, two of the German school's, Kuromorimine, if he remembered correctly, tanks were locked in combat with five Soviet T-34s of varying models. A sixth one lay derelict, obviously knocked out.
It seemed the two Tigers were managing themselves well, though, as they were slowly backing up to one another and covering the flanks as much as possible. It was apparent that the Soviet tankers were not too eager to get their tanks destroyed as they tried to take out the two German heavies. Gerhard smiled. Even 80 years later, German engineering was dominant.
'Well, not really 80 years later.' As Gerhard looked through the scope at the different combatants, he recognised Maho's Tiger was under fire from three of the T-34s, yet she was making sure that her armor always faced the enemy tanks, and kept the others from getting behind her.
As Gerhard watched though, he saw a flash of movement. Diverting his attention, he saw a squad of infantry slowly moving up to attack the other Tiger. With them, they carried a PTRS-41 and, on closer inspection, some anti-tank grenades.
Cursing for the fifth or sixth time that half-hour, the pilot steadied his aim and began to slow his breathing. Remembering what his instructor had told him all those years ago, he singled out the highest-ranking soldier he could find, a leutnant.
'Crrrr-rrack!'
The butt of the rifle kicked into Gerhard's shoulder as the report snapped through the cold air, only to be drowned out by the fierce skirmish below. The shot went low, though, and only served to alert the squad they were under attack. Gritting his teeth, he set up again, compensating for the information he had gained. He'd get one more chance before the Soviets attacked the Tiger; he wasn't about to let the young women in that tank die if he had the ability to stop it.
'Crrrr-rrack!'
This time, Gerhard let the rifle push his shoulder back, lessening the amount of tension from recoil while keeping the barrel from kicking up. As a result, the Soviet officer went down, a bullet in his chest and his blood staining the snow around him. Without pause, Gerhard moved on to the soldier with the PTRS, the next round having already replaced the spent round in the chamber.
'Crrrr-rrack!'
Another Soviet infantryman went down, and the remaining members of the squad finally turned off from their target, deciding Gerhard was the bigger threat. He picked two more of them off before switching over to the MP40 and moving on. If he could, he'd get down to Maho's Tiger.
However, even as he moved, he looked up and caught his breath. The turret of Maho's tank was trying to track a T-34, but it was too slow. Gerhard watched as the Soviet medium tank got to the rear armor and fired a shot straight into the engine block at point-blank range. He saw no ricochet, meaning the round must have gone in.
"Nien!" he shouted in defiance. Even as he swore to destroy that tank, the T-34/1942 went up in flames as multiple shots came in from the other side of the valley. Gerhard looked to see four Panzer IVs, Nicole's in the lead, charging down the hillside and into the town. The Soviets appeared to be panicking and started to retreat, the remaining four tanks moving in Gerhard's direction as they picked up scattered infantry squads. The remaining Tiger and four Panzers grouped together and stopped, not following the retreating Soviets any further than the limits of the village.
"Gott, solltest du besser nicht tot sein." Gerhard muttered as he charged down the hill, almost going head over heels multiple times. He saw the guns of three tanks turn on him, but they stopped as Nicole unbuttoned her hatch and called out to him. He waved her off however, and finally made it to Maho's tank, throwing everything off of him and climbing up, opening the commander hatch.
Maho Nishizumi
Kuromorimine Girls High School
First Panzertruppe
Rendezvous Point
PzKpfw. VI H1 'Tiger'
1129 hours
Maho looked up as her commander's hatch opened, sunlight streaming through and causing her to squint as her eyes adjusted to the sudden brightness. Her eyes finally adjusted, and she realised she was looking at a very panicked looking Gerhard. Upon seeing her, however, he let out a massive sigh and rested his head against the side of the hatch. "Mien Gott, sie Angst die Scheisse outta mich."
Maho took his words as a statement of relief and held out her hand. He grasped it and hauled her out of the tank. Upon seeing Nicole, she said "Haruka is hurt. We need to get her out." She nodded to Gerhard, indicating her request for Nicole to pass on the information.
The pilot responded to Nicole, who translated. "He wants to know how badly she's injured, and how none of you are dead." Gerhard said something else, and Nicole added "He says that a hit like that would usually knock out half the crew of a tank."
"Later. Right now, we need to get Haruka out and healed." Maho knocked on the turret of the Tiger, causing the driver's hatch to open up. Gerhard moved over to assist, and Maho's driver slowly came up out of the tank, Gerhard lifting her by her arms as Riko and Ami Igarashi, the radio operator, supporting her legs. Finally, Miyako Uchiyama, the loader, exited the disabled Tiger and assisted the rest of her crew and Gerhard in laying her on the ground. Riko said something to Gerhard, apparently forgetting his handicap. Nicole, however, translated for him.
"They've got it. You're good." Nodding, the pilot walked back over to Maho, grabbed her by the shoulders, and to her surprise, pulled her into a hug. He muttered something in German, loud enough for Nicole to pick up. "Uhh, removing the curses, he says you're lucky to be alive and that he won't be going anywhere again if this happens when he leaves."
Maho nodded, still unsure of how to respond to Gerhard as he pulled back. She looked over at Nicole, who had a smirk on her face. "What?"
"Nothing." she said as she climbed back into her tank. "We should move out before they come back with reinforcements."
"Good idea." Maho replied, ignoring the German-American's smirk. She felt she knew what it was about, and was more focused on taking care of current problems. "Haruka-san, are you okay?"
"Hai." the raven-haired driver responded, giving a thumbs-up. She stood and, along with the rest of the Tiger's crew, climbed back into the tank. Gerhard clambered onto the engine deck and steadied himself against the turret, a gun of some sort in hand. If Maho was correct, it belonged to the German MP series. As for the rifle slung across his back, she had no clue what it was.
Jumping back into the Tiger, Maho put the radio set back on, opening up the radio waves. "All Kuromorimine tanks, this is Maho. Regroup at the First Panzertruppe staging area and dig in. We will be there in a few hours at the most." As scattered replies filtered through the headset, Maho stuck her top half out of the commander's hatch, looking back at the German fighter pilot before scanning the area around the tank. 'That's twice he's helped bail us out of trouble.' she thought. 'And we still don't know why he's helping us. I doubt even he knows.'
Oberleutnant Hans Neumann
6th Panzer Division, XLVIII Panzerkorps
PzKpfw. VI H1 'Tiger'
German-Held Airfield, Main Gate
1235 hours
The commander of the Tiger smiled at Sven's remark about certain Soviet troops as the driver messed with the driving sticks, pitching the heavy tank about.
"Remember Hans, if they're charging anything, and especially a Tiger, it's usually because they've been ordered, not because they just want to."
"Ja." Ewald replied, looking around the tank. "The only time they do something like that of their free will is when they think they'll get the Order of Lenin or something." The crew chuckled again as Hans shook his head and opened the hatch of the Tiger to get a better view as they left the gates of the airfield behind them.
The Soviet attack had been successfully repelled, though the cost, for both sides, was high, as most engagements on the Eastern Front were. There was a reason they said the Iron Cross was easier to get here than a pair of fresh socks.
Thoughts aside, however, Hans motioned with his arm to the other tanks to his rear. At the signal, ten Panzer IVs of assorted types branched off to the northeast, their objective to hunt down the Katyusha launchers that had wreaked havoc on the airstrips during the attack. Meanwhile, Hans's 6-strong Tigergruppe, supported by multiple smaller tanks, was heading due south to engage any Soviet forces they could find. 'Find them and crush them before they regroup.'
Hans opened up radio communications. "All units, good luck, and destroy any Soviet you come across, whether on foot, in the air, or in a tank! Show them that the Führer's panzers are undefeated! Push forward!"
"Jawhol, herr!"
And that's a wrap! I put the English translations of phrases Gerhard said down below so you don't have to go searching. Anyway, please review if you would like to say anything, and I don't mind you hitting the follow button either! Anyway, 'til next time!
P.S.-If you review, guess who my favorite character from the movie is and you get a grand prize of...something. I don't know.
KTA334, signing off!
Gott, solltest du besser nicht tot sein.-God, you'd better not be dead.
Mien Gott, sie Angst die Scheisse outta mich.- My God, you scared the shit out of me.