Chapter V: Et Viam Pacis

"Regard your soldiers as your children, and they will follow you into the deepest valleys; look on them as your own beloved sons, and they will stand beside you, even unto death."

-Sun Tzu

Hauptmann Gerhard Köln

Wustermark, Berlin Outskirts, Germany

28 April 1945

1251 hours

"Feindlicher panzer!"

"Panzerfaust, forward now!"

"They're pinned down behind us!"

Gerhard cursed, looking back behind him. The very tip of a Panzerfaust rocket could be seen poking out from the building the person carrying it was hiding behind. A sudden shower of rocks and dirt forced him to cover his face as a spray of machine gun fire hit the cover he was hiding behind. Muttering a few more curses, the man looked to Ella, who was crouched down behind the same piece of cover. She shook her head, indicating that she had failed to bring any anti-tank grenades. The hauptmann checked his gear again, ensuring he didn't have any himself, then looked to Hans and Nikolas, both of whom were too busy taking potshots at the Soviets advancing with the tank to notice him. With little else to do, he sat and listened to the squealing of tank treads bore down on his position.

Suddenly, the air was filled with shouts of alarm from the Soviets as the buzz of an MG42 came from a side street. More fire joined in, along with shouts in German, and, to Fourth Platoon's relief, the sound of a Panzerschreck firing. With the Soviets stalled and torn between Gerhard's unit and their new foe on their flank, the hauptmann popped up and fired a few rounds towards the Russians, noting that the T-34 was now retreating and turning to face the new threat. "Vierter Zug, los!"

The loud report of Nikolas's MG34 filled Gerhard's ears as he continued laying fire down on the Soviets before him. From behind them, the soldier with the Panzerfaust took the opportunity to move up, moving into point-blank range of the T-34 as Gerhard and his squad picked off the Soviets attempting to kill him. The tank itself was now presenting its side to Gerhard's unit, instead facing its front to the threat of the Panzerschreck on the side street.

A sudden blast deafened Gerhard as the T-34 discharged its main gun at the German reinforcements. As the smoke cleared, part of the building next to them, damaged by the resulting explosion, crumbled, partially blocking the friendly troops' line of fire. The turret of the Soviet medium began to traverse back towards Gerhard's platoon, leaving them only moments before they would be pinned down once more. "Erich, now!"

The aforementioned soldier stood, Panzerfaust already under his arm and ready to go. Swiftly looking around to clear his backblast, he steadied his aim and then fired, a tongue of flame marking the shaped charge's arc through the air to its target. The round punched through the side plate of the T-34's armor, leaving a visible hole in the steel plate, but causing no immediately visible damage.

Just before Gerhard demanded another shot, however, the tank erupted, the turret unseating from the hull and crashing down near some of the infantry. The Soviets, demoralized by the sudden and grisly demise of their supporting armor, began to retreat, occasionally firing over their shoulders at the German troops advanced freely, the two attacking forces linking up and chasing the enemy some ways down the road before the command to hold was given

Fourth Platoon gathered around Gerhard, followed shortly by the members of Sixth Platoon as they climbed over the building the Soviets had dropped on them. Withdrawing his map from his satchel, the hauptmann looked at the route he had marked down a few days ago, when he had received the orders to secure this portion of the prospected corridor. In only two days, the 12th Army had fought, tooth and nail, across nearly 60 kilometres of Germany, taking and securing strategic locations that would open a path from the heart of Berlin to the Tangermünde Bridge, where the Americans would, hopefully, be waiting to accept any desperate souls that came across the bridge. Then, the task had seemed insurmountable. Now though, only a few blocks remained to be taken before General Wenck's plan could be realized and the evacuation could begin in earnest.

"Gerhard?"

The hauptmann looked up to see the combined Fourth and Sixth Platoons watching him as he reviewed his plans. Another officer came over and the two discussed their options for a few minutes while the others patched each other up, took stock of their equipment, and caught a break in the brief lull. The two officers managed to finalize their plan in the meantime, and before long Gerhard was rolling up the map and stowing it back in its place.

"Gunther, what's the headcount?"

"Forty-three, not including the wounded." the obergefreiter responded promptly. "Fifty-two with them."

Gerhard nodded, shifting his weight as he dropped the nearly empty clip from his rifle and slid a new one in, picking the discarded one up for later. "Good enough." he replied before raising his voice to be heard by all. "We continue on. Hotel Wustermark is just ahead, and from there we can take the bridge across the canal and link up with 4th Battalion." Gerhard looked to his fellow officer as he continued on. "Gustav, take your squad, flank around to the north as we discussed. Your platoon will take Potsdamer Allee while we push up Brandenburgerstraße." The other man nodded and took his platoon to the side as Gerhard did the same.

Fourth Platoon gathered around as their hauptmann finished his battlefield breifing. "We'll push up as far as we can without overextending before meeting Sixth Platoon on the east side of the hotel and then finish with a push to the bridge. Understood?"

"Jawohl!"

Gerhard grinned at the ferocity of those he commanded; even at this, the final hours of Germany as they knew it, the fighting spirit of the German soldier, of the people, remained strong. "Very well. Move out!"

With that, the final push towards the heart of Berlin began.

Alva Weber

Near Zollchow, Germany

1320 hours

Alva sighed as she stopped, looking around at the forests around her and her family. Once the soldiers had swept through Brandenburg, the few that remained had urged the citizens to leave as soon as possible and head west. Not one to ignore sound advice, her mother had Alva and her brother pack a case of their dearest things, and they set out with the rest of the population for Tangermünde, following the signs that still remained. All along their route, the refugees saw troops of the Wehrmacht setting up defenses and digging in, as though they expected to hold what little ground they had taken.

However, the question of what the soldiers could, would, and were doing was not of her concern, and they even made it apparent. The only requests they made of the groups of civilians was to hurry along the road to the Elbe, where they promised 'help would be waiting'.

As the young girl and her family continued on, Alva looked around at the others in their small group. An elderly man, at least 60, pushed along, ahead of them, carrying nothing but a small briefcase in his left hand and his cane in the other. Behind, a family of four was walking along with literally nothing in their hands, bringing nothing but the clothes on their back and each other; it gave Alva a start as she realized that, compared to some, her family could be considered more fortunate than others.

A sudden whine from overhead shook the girl out of her thoughts, causing her to look around at the grey skies in apprehension. The soldiers around her began to scatter for cover as the sound of aircraft became clearer.

"Alva!"

The young woman ran to take shelter with her mother and brother under a copse of trees as two aircraft suddenly roared overhead, deafening the people below as they sped off before banking around slowly. The marking on the wings identified the planes as British or similar, the sunlight glinting off of the cockpit glass as it broke through the storm clouds and smokey haze above.

"Allies?"

"Ja, I think so."

Alva watched as the two pilots finished their turn, coming back for another pass. As they buzzed overhead, the lead pilot waggled his wings before the two pilots shot off into the clouds, heading back to where they had appeared from.

'A good sign, I think.' Alva thought as they got back on the road and resumed their long trek. 'Maybe there really is some hope at the end of this all.'

Hauptmann Gerhard Köln

67 Kilometres From the River Elbe

Wustermark, Berlin Outskirts, Germany

1338 hours

"Otstupat'! Slishkom mnogo!"

Gerhard fired as two Soviet troops broke cover from behind the sandbags they were using, bringing one down before the DShK on the near side of the bridge reloaded and began firing at him. The gunner only got off a few rounds, however, before one, then two grenades detonated in the nest, killing him and most likely wrecking the weapon.

"Los!"

The combined forces of Fourth and Sixth Platoons, as well as a few others who had linked up with Gerhard's squad, came out of their cover and continued the push on the Wustermark Bridge, leapfrogging forward and approaching the river itself. Behind them, a trail of wounded or killed soldiers marked the bloody path Second Battalion had carved into the Soviet lines. To the hauptmann's left, Nikolas pushed up with Amelia, the two entering a building and disappearing briefly. After a moment, they reappeared on the second floor and began laying fire down on the Soviet troops defending the approach to the bridge and helping the German troops push up with near-impunity.

"Fourth Platoon, on me!" Gerhard shouted as he sprinted forward, taking cover behind the wreck of a BMW 327. Looking behind him, he saw Ella, Hans, Bernard, and Gunther pushing up behind him as Nikolas's MG34 continued to keep the heads of the Soviets down. Further back, Gerhard saw a mortar team setting up in a shell crater. Moments later, the distinct 'Wump!' of a round discharging sounded, followed by an explosion.

Peeking up from his spot, Gerhard saw the Soviets were still refusing to retreat, despite the fact that they seemed hopelessly outmatched here. He fired off a few rounds, then ducked back into cover to check his equipment.

"They know that they have to hold here, or else Zhukov's going to have a massive breach in his lines." Hans said, having joined his squad leader only a few moments ago. The two went over their stock as the mortar continued to shell the Soviets, who, as the obergefreiter had mentioned, seemed reluctant to leave their positions.

Finally, Gerhard found out why the Soviets were so stubborn to retreat.

A loud cry went up from the Soviet troops as a wave of Guards troops charged across the Wustermark bridge, taking advantage of Nikolas reloading his MG to cross the open ground. Moments after, an IS-2 rolled across as well, the symbol of the 1st Guards Tank Army proudly displayed on the side. 'Schiesse.'

Gerhard's mental curse was echoed by Gunther and Hans, while Ella simply blanched at the imposing force now pushing back the thus-far successful German platoons. As he watched, the Soviet tank traversed its turret and fired a round over their heads, eradicating a pile of sandbags a few troops from another squad were sheltering behind, as well as the troops themselves, causing the German captain to wince. 'At least it was quick.'

The Guards troops continued their push, the IS-2 helping push the Germans back despite their best efforts to hang on. Another soldier came up to Gerhard, panting and with barely-contained panic in his eyes. "Sir, we have no more Panzerfausts on this side of the line! We have to fall back!"

Gerhard blinked and looked around behind him as another burst of automatic fire was caught by the rubble he was virtually cowering behind. Indeed, a swift look showed that the squad had no more ranged anti-tank weapons, leaving the infantry defenseless against the Soviet armor. He looked back to the young man. "We have to do what we can."

The soldat nodded, the look in his eyes being replaced with grim determination as he watched the hauptmann retrieve a smoke grenade from his bandolier. Tossing the grenade out, he waited for the smoke to obscure the majority of the street before making the call. "All units, retreat to the park! Prepare to hold there!"

The others shouted affirmatives as they fell back under the cover of the smoke. Gerhard knew that the Soviet troops were, without a doubt, also making use of the visual cover, and the sound of tank treads notified him that the IS-2 was doing the same. Together, the young soldier and Gerhard sprinted to rejoin their comrades, bullets whizzing by them as the enemy fired blindly through the smoke. In short time, the two made it to cover, and Gerhard was reunited with his squad members, finding Amelia and Bernard behind a low wall. "Sir."

"Be ready." he warned in reply. "We have to try and bait the IS-2 to grenade range." The two nodded, and it seemed the other squad realized the hauptmann's plan for falling back to the closed spaces of the small park as well; a few troops moved to hide near where the Soviets would appear, and Gerhard could make out the shape of anti-tank grenades on their persons. Moments after the last German soldier ducked into cover, the IS-2 barreled around the corner, followed shortly by the accompanying infantry.

"Infantrie, feuer frei!"

With defiant yells, the German troops opened up with everything they had, cutting down quite a few of the Soviet troops before they could return effective fire. The commander of the IS-2 swiveled his roof-mounted gun around to fire, but jerked back before he could depress the trigger, a bullet in his forehead.

Grinning at Leopold's swift relocation and unerring accuracy, Gerhard chucked a grenade out at the enemy. While it missed, the explosion made the Soviet infantry wary of moving up. However, the IS-2 crew had no such qualms, and slowly moved up as they began surpressing the German defense.

'Right where we needed you.'

The two soldiers that had daringly moved up earlier took their chance to toss their grenades at the IS-2, three successive explosions obscuring the Soviet heavy in smoke momentarily. The two brave soldiers, however, would never see the results of their work; the Guards infantry rushed forward and cut them down mercilessly, even as Gerhard and the others tried to cover their retreat.

Finally, the smoke cleared around the IS-2, and for a moment, it seemed as though the tide had turned; the enemy tank had been detracked and a scorch mark over the engine deck suggested a fire had just been put out. However, no sooner had Gerhard noted that then the great turret traversed and seemed to aim directly at him.

'Fick mich.'

"Wake up kommandant! Up!"

Opening his eyes, Gerhard became aware of two things. One, Ella was shaking him vigorously while Hans was bandaging his arm. The second, more annoying fact, was that his ears were ringing louder than anything he'd heard in recent memory. And that was saying a lot.

"There you are, you blundering idiot."

The captain smirked at Hans's good-natured quip as Ella sat him up. The obergefreiter finished bandaging him and packed up his gear, handing Gerhard his rifle before the two helped him up. Looking around, Gerhard noted the IS-2 that had nearly blasted him into the next decade was now wrecked, a few holes in the side armor.

"Yeah, seems a few panzers are still left around here." Hans said, noticing his look of confusion. Ella eagerly added to the explanation. "A Panther crew came around right after you got knocked out. They're currently leading the push across the bridge."

Gerhard nodded in understanding, a little miffed he'd been sidelined momentarily. Shifting his rifle, he grinned. "Well, let's not let everyone else have all the fun, shall we?"

"Go! Move, move!"

Having rejoined the push, Gerhard now sat behind an overturned car on the Wustermark bridge itself. In front, the last vestiges of the Soviet resistance in this sector were starting to falter, the combined forces of Second Battalion pushing the balance firmly in favor of the attackers. Sadly, some meters behind him, the wreck of the Panther that had come to his squad's rescue sat burning, turret knocked to the side after a Soviet anti-tank gun had dislodged it and killed the crew. That same anti-tank gun had met swift retribution when a brazen volkssturm recruit ran up and lobbed a satchel charge at it.

A few more soldiers ran past their captain as he and Nikolas provided suppressing fire long enough for them to take positions up on the far side of the bridge. Taking stock of the situation, Gerhard saw his chance to wrap up the fight, and wasted no time in giving the command.

'Zweiter Bataillon, angriff!'

As one, the German troops charged through the disoriented Soviet defenses. Gerhard and Hans stayed side by side, firing at will as they advanced at the center of the group. The Soviets began to panic, their shouts growing louder with each passing second as the German soldiers, supposed to be on their last legs and retreating, cut through their lines as they had the encirclement of Berlin itself. Faced with the vehemence of the German troops, the last defending Soviet soldiers began to withdraw, their lines and morale broken as they fell back to the nearest outpost.

"Hold your fire! We've done it!"

A cheer went up all around as Second Battalion reveled in their unlikely, hard-won victory. Without delay, Gerhard called for a radio, sending out his message quickly before hanging up the headset and collapsing on a nearby wall. Gunther walked over, a small grin on his face as he watched the antics of the younger troops. A moment later, he too took a seat, leaning back against the welcome support of the cold brick. "Nice job, sir. And I think you broke a record for human flight back there."

Unfazed by the banter subjecting his earlier plight, Gerhard sighed, looking down the street the Soviets had disappeared down. "The worst is yet to come, Gunther." The soldier set down his rifle and stretched, the bones in his back cracking as he did so. "You know it as well as I do, maybe better."

The grizzled veteran hummed in agreement, taking a deep breath. "That's true, but there's no reason not to take what time we have to enjoy this little victory. In the end, we may do more than we ever could have dreamed of." Gerhard simply nodded, too tired to continue the conversation.

The two watched as the men and women of Second Battalion dispersed, beginning to set up defenses in preparation for the inevitable counterattack ahead of them. Overhead, the storm clouds that had been menacing Berlin for days finally let loose and rain began to fall in earnest, but even that failed to put a damper on the high spirits of the German troops.

Gefreiter Rudolf Hess

Stakken

15.8 Kilometres From the Reichstag

1402 hours

Rudolf sighed as he scraped the last portions of his meal out of the tin can they came in. He nodded his thanks to the young girl and her mother, who had provided the meal and respite from the weather outside when he had shown up earlier that week. The two had been gracious enough to hide away the stranded soldier after he'd gotten separated and lost behind the Soviet lines. Here, it seemed, is where he would witness the end of his war.

As the older woman stood and began to pick up the dinnerware, the radio started crackling, a voice making it through the waves. Interest piqued, he went into the next room where the radio was, curious as to what station would be live right now; very few remained operational, and most that were were spouting the most fanatic of propaganda as the capital city was crushed under the heavy Soviet boot.

"Are we on?"

"Ja, herr."

There was a pause, wherein Rudolf heard the clearing of a throat. Behind him, the frau and her daughter walked into the room, the former peering at the radio, listening intently.

"To all citizen of Berlin: I am General Walther Wenck, commanding officer of the Twelfth Army. We have opened up an evacuation corridor from the Wustermark bridge to the west. This is open to any able to take it, to escape the fighting that has befallen our proud city. Our mission from here on is to defend this corridor as long as we can. I repeat, an evacuation corridor from the Wustermark bridge to the west has been opened. If you are able to reach it, evacuate Berlin immediately. To the troops of the Ninth Army, or any others that have been stranded inside the perimeter, by my authority, you have permission to fall back and escape from the city. Hurry up, we are waiting for you!"

Marshal Ivan Konev

Commander, 1st Ukrainian Front

1st Ukrainian Front HQ, Potsdam

1409 hours

"Marshal Konev!"

"What?!" the man said, looking up to see a lieutenant walking briskly towards him, a paper in his hand. Turning from his map, Ivan met the junior officer, who handed him the paper; two pieces, actually. "What are these?"

"A report from the marshalling point near the Wustermarck bridge sir. They were attacked and beaten back by German troops earlier today. The second is an intercepted message sent out over open frequencies less than a quarter-hour ago, sir."

The marshal read both reports carefully, eyebrows raising as he realized what had transpired. When the initial reports came in about a German counterattack from the west, he had doubts it was anything of import. Now though…

"Leytenant, instruct the radio operators to put out a notice regarding the corridor to all perimeter units. Begin mobilizing immediately; not one single German troop or civilian will escape this city." Marshal Konev turned on his heel and began to retreat to his office. "I must call Grand Marshal Zhukov and inform him of this. Be quick about your job lieutenant!"

"Da komandir!"

Maho Nishizumi

Abashiri, Okhotsk Subprefecture, Hokkaido

16 November 2025

0933 hours

Maho grunted as the Tiger hit a small rise in the terrain, the 60-ton tank getting a small amount of airtime before crashing back down into the snow, leaving a white plume in the air that obscured Maho's vision momentarily. "Yukiko, please try not to throw the tracks right now. I don't want to get stuck in this weather."

"Loosen up Maho." the young driver said as she took her hands off the control sticks for a few seconds, waving her hands around as though to show off. "No one's watching right now, we can have a little fun."

Maho simply sighed and shook her head. Opening the hatch up, the young commander surveyed the area as best she could, though there was little to see right now. Contrary to what the weather predictions had said, the poor weather failed to relent, instead only pausing for about twelve hours or so; just enough time to make her feel it was safe to bring the Tiger out for surveying. Then, not long after the Tiger crew had started putting the infamous beast through its paces, a virtual blizzard had blown up out of nowhere, causing a whiteout throughout the Abashiri training grounds.

'This storm feels way too familiar.' she thought as the wind gusted into her face, nearly taking her garrison cover and sending it into the mist. Somewhere above her, thunder boomed, the loud noise pressing against her ears. Yes, this reminded her too well of the storm that had happened a year ago.

'The same one that brought Gerhard here.'

At that thought, she remembered the German pilot, and the promise he had made to her right before he had gotten into the German scout plane. The memories that name brought back pained her, even more so when she thought about the file Erika had given her, stating that he had been killed in the fighting around Berlin. 'Still on my mind, a year later.'

"Maho!"

The dark-haired young woman was brought out of her thoughts as Niko Ueno, the new loader for the Tiger, tapped her leg. "What is it?"

"Yukiko wanted to see if you'd close the hatch. She says you're letting all the heat out."

Maho blinked, then sighed and nodded. Ducking back into the turret, she closed the hatch, securing it into place as Niko shifted back to her spot. Reduced to looking outside through the armored glass in the cupola, Maho sat back against the bulkhead of the tank, relaxing for a moment.

Without warning, the pressure dropped, making the Tiger crews' ears pop suddenly as thunder sounded right above the tank. As the five girls attempted to recover from their disorientation, the wind outside howled violently and obscured the Tiger in a cloud of snow, then dissipated just as quickly as it had come, leaving no trace of the Tiger or its crew behind.

Rewrite Notes

Et Viam Pacis - The Road to Peace

Nearly done with the chapter rewriting, and then it'll be on to the good old paper-pounding, write as I go and scrap ideas 20 times before I'm satisfied.

Still don't think anyone has seen these yet. Except maybe one or two new readers. Still, I'm satisfied with the result of these rewrites when I look back at them, so that should be good news for when y'all eventually see them.

To the new readers just getting here, thanks for being here! For the old-timers who've been with me for the age it's taken to get back, thank you for your patience, understanding, and continued support.

'til the next one's done, KTA334 is signing off! Ciao!