Chapter XI: Retreat

Hauptmann Gerhard Koln

4th May 1945

1430 hours

Not long after their earlier battle and reunion, Gerhard and his squad, once again on the engine deck of the Tiger, were making their way towards the highway, hoping to find easier access to Tangermünde and the general's promise of safety and an end to their war. From all around, the sounds of distant battle echoed out across suburban Berlin as the final remnants of the German army made their final stand against the Soviet vanguard forces thrusting into the heart of the city.

'Far from over, it seems.' the hauptmann thought silently, grabbing onto a nearby handrail as the Tiger rolled over some rough terrain. The tank shuddered for a few brief moments until the pavement smoothed back out. Removing his hand, he glanced over to Maho, who was unbuttoned from the tank and reviewing the map he'd given her earlier that day. His gaze lingered for a few moments, watching her study the route she'd marked out as the Tiger was repaired, likely judging where likely ambush spots were or some such. He did the same thing all the time with his own maps, and assumed the young woman was more than familiar with the practice.

Maho glanced up, just for a second, looking around on one of her usual scans of the area, and in doing so caught Gerhard watching her. She looked back down before what she'd seen seemed to process and she looked over at the German officer, humming questioningly as she folded up the map and placed it in her breast pocket.

"Nothing." Gerhard replied to the unasked question. "Just watching you do your thing." Maho nodded and huffed, placing her hands on the rim of her cupola and leaning forward. The officer grinned faintly and went back to scribbling down the events of the morning in his journal, leading up to their regrouping with the beleaguered Tiger crew, who had nearly expended their ammunition by the time his squad had arrived. The Soviet troops that had been attacking them had scattered once they'd arrived to reinforce the Tiger's crew, and aside from a few very light probing attacks, they'd been mostly silent as the group beat its retreat.

Gerhard continued penning in a few other notable things, especially his squad's reactions to the battleground around the Tiger; hundreds of Soviet troops were wounded or and nearly ten tanks had been destroyed by the young women crewing the tank, something that had caught many of the Germans off-guard, though having seen a small display of that tenacity and skill when he'd been shot forward in time, Gerhard hadn't been too shocked. If anything, the man was glad the young women found it in themselves to be able to do the dirty work that would keep them alive.

"Gerhard."

The man in question looked over his shoulder, seeing Gunther looking lazily at him. When he made eye contact, the older man nodded to the east, towards the city center. Turning his gaze, the hauptmann saw hundreds of shapes in the air, lazily flying over the city. As he watched, the former pilot made out a small wing of six or so aircraft swooping in and out of the bomber formation, futilely fighting the massive enemy raid. A trail of fire erupted from one of the shapes, tracing a long arc of flame and smoke through the sky as the plane hurtled towards the ground. The man sighed, thinking back to his time in the Luftwaffe and how things might have been different had his unit never been disbanded.

"Do you miss it?"

Turning back to the front of the tank and bowing his head, Gerhard slowly nodded with a shrug. "I do." he said after a moment, remembering the feeling of being in the air, locked in combat with his foe. It had been a different world up there, in the air. Little else mattered beyond skill and willpower, where a good pilot with both of those could hold his own against formidable odds.

Gunther said nothing, simply choosing to nod and look back towards the bombing raid, where the enemy aircraft were turning back for home. Over the kilometers between them, the distant booming of bombs exploding resounded through the air, the explosions throwing dirt into the hazy air. Gerhard, on the other hand, shared another brief look with Maho, who gave him a small smile before placing her hand over his and giving it a reassuring squeeze. The officer mouthed his thanks, maintaining the contact.

"We should be reaching the highway in about ten minutes." Maho stated quietly as Yukiko made a turn, taking the heavy tank down a slightly wider road. Gerhard nodded in acknowledgement of her words as he looked about warily. Bursts of machine-gun fire rattled from behind them, much too far away to be of concern, but the soldiers all started for a moment, hands jumping to weapons and weight shifting in preparation to be on the move at a moment's notice. After a few seconds, the troops relaxed, though some hands remained on or close to their weapons still, ready to be drawn in seconds.

Lightning forked across the sky ahead of the tank, lighting up the sky for a moment before the darkness of the rainy afternoon set back in. Thunder rumbled not long after, and the hauptmann raised his head to the sky, realizing the storm was getting closer. Yet another look was shared between the two commanders at the uptick in storm activity, the pattern familiar to them both. Maho disappeared into the tank, leaving the officer to his own thoughts for a moment as he finished scribbling in his journal.

'-pushing on towards the Elbe, with the hope of salvation and, with luck, an end to this long war of ours. The weather seems to be in our favor to allow a final 'event' to occur, to allow Maho and the others to return home as well, and hopefully they will not have to worry about making decisions as they've had to make while trying to survive in this time; decisions no one should have to make.'

His thoughts on paper finally, the hauptmann marked his spot and closed the journal, binding it shut with the leather band and stowing it in his pocket. As he did, Maho reappeared from within the tank, watching him close up his jacket before meeting his eyes. "The others know about it." the woman stated, waving to the sky. "We're hoping it isn't too far off now." Gerhard nodded and offered his hand again, which the Tiger commander took with little hesitation, a small smile gracing her lips as she did, alongside an extremely subtle red tinge on her cheeks. Though he raised an eyebrow, the officer said nothing, instead choosing to grin internally at the young woman's attempt to remain stoic.

"What are you planning to do?"

Immediately, the man's victorious internal smile faded. Maho had broached this topic before, but Gerhard had constantly shied away from the conversations. Mainly due to the fact that he was actively fighting a war, but also due to his uncertainty on the matter. It was quite an offer, and one only made even more lucrative given recent events. However...

"It's a lot to ask, you know." he said, nodding at an older man who was standing on the sidewalk, watching the Tiger roll by. "There's not much left for me here, true; my family was killed by Allied bombers in Dresden, and I don't have a home anymore." Gerhard sighed and looked back to his front, idly tapping the loaded magazine of his rifle. "At the same point, who knows what awaits us after this war? Will I be needed? Will I not? At the very least, I can help Germany rebuild from what's left."

Maho listened to the man's short monologue, simply nodding where she felt appropriate until he finished. When he had seemed to pause, the young woman hummed neutrally, preparing to make her case, something she'd been trying to do over the past few days. As the Tiger turned onto another side street, she cleared her throat and looked to her counterpart. "I know it's a lot, and it's sort of selfish of me to ask you to completely uproot yourself." She paused for a moment, then snorted as she grimaced. "Okay, it's definitely selfish of me to ask. But still...I'd appreciate it. And you wouldn't have to worry about all the fallout from this war. You could have a quiet life again, like you had before all this."

Gerhard nodded at her words, taking it in. It was all true, and it would rid him of the uncertainty of Germany's future. Despite that, though, he was a patriot still, and he wanted to see Germany back on the world stage, eventually. Perhaps it wouldn't happen in his lifetime, but being able to set the building blocks for his nation's future?

Not many people could claim having done that.

Still, the offer of a peaceful, quiet life was more than enticing, especially after six years of war. And in the end, he'd be spending it with someone he'd gotten rather close to; someone who'd be willing to help him through whatever troubles he'd have.

The hauptmann sighed before relaying all this to Maho, who tried to suppress her grin as he spoke. He realized that he was leaning more towards agreeing with her, but truth be told, he was still undecided. As such, he shook his head slightly. "Maybe, but I'm not sure. Let's try and get to safety, at least."

Maho Nishizumi

1448 hours

Maho nodded at Gerhard's answer, biting the inside of her cheek as she recalled what she'd read following the events at Abashiri and her search for the German officer's records.

'He ordered his men to fall back as he took over a machine gun position and held off the advancing units. During a pause in combat, Hauptmann Köln's body was recovered from where he had given his final order.'

She was completely unsure of whether or not she should tell the man what she knew, that he would more than likely be killed, perhaps hours from now, or tomorrow, or perhaps the day after. Of course, she wanted to, to at least make the officer aware of the matter, but at the same time, she knew that he would heed the warning with little concern for himself.

Before she could make up her mind, Gerhard startled her as he shifted over and leaned his head on her shoulder, letting out a deep sigh. "You don't mind, do you? Sorry, should have asked before..."

"No...no it's fine." Maho said quickly, only imagining what Hisayo would say if she saw the position she was in right now. "Just surprised me is all."

Gerhard chuckled shortly before letting out a loud, over-dramatic sigh. They rode that way for a few minutes, Maho still battling with her inner thoughts, now invaded by the acute awareness of the man resting on her shoulder. Yet again, before she could decide on her course of action, Gerhard cut her thoughts off. "Since you've got me thinking about your time, how is Nicole doing? And Erika?"

Maho raised an eyebrow, pulling back from the contact slightly as she looked at her companion. "You still remember their names?"

The man nodded as if it were obvious. "Of course; someone makes a big impact in your life like that, their names will stick out to you."

"What did Erika ever do beside grumble and complain at you the whole time?"

"Being chased through the woods by a Tiger II and the rest of her company was not fun, you know."

The two went silent, smiles slowly crossing their faces before they both started laughing quietly, the memories of that time coming back. After a moment, Maho composed herself, nodding. "They're both well. I'm grooming Erika to take over as commander of the team when I leave for college, and she, in turn, is getting Nicole ready for vice commander." She smiled at the thought of her two friends, both of whom were probably worried sick about her. "They'll be a good pair, I know it."

Gerhard watched her for a moment before fully withdrawing from Maho's shoulder, standing up and motioning to the rest of his squad behind them. "I'll go check on these guys, make sure they're doing alright. I'll be back." The Tiger commander nodded in acknowledgement and watched the man as he carefully jumped down onto the engine deck, starting to speak in rapid German. After a brief look around to confirm there was no danger, she ducked into the tank, surveying her crew.

Niko was asleep, leaned back in her seat and against the side of the turret. On the other side, Riko was re-shelving some of the ready-use ammunition, replacing some of the armor-piercing with the high-explosive rounds they'd picked up from a derelict Tiger some kilometers up the road. They'd also snagged what machine-gun ammo they could, but there was hardly enough to top off the tank entirely, and it was both her hope and Gerhard's that the group would not be facing any more combat.

Down below, Maho could hear Hisayo and Yukiko singing the Panzerlied over the sound of the engine, seemingly in a good mood. She grinned, humming along quietly as her eyes turned to the side of the turret, where the paint had been peeled away and the cracked carbon-fiber lining was exposed now.

The discovery had been a shock for the Tiger's crew; the very lining that kept the crew safe during countless matches in Japan had been stretched to the limit against the Soviet armor they'd faced, and despite all the safety guarantees and impressive tests that the engineers had done before the material had ever made it onto a tank in Japan, it seemed it did have its limit, and they were reaching it. Maho traced her hand along the damaged lining of the tank, trying to calculate how much the repair would cost. Not that it was an issue; Kuromorimine had more than enough money to repair their entire panzergruppe ten times over, let alone a single Tiger.

"How're things?"

Maho blinked, looking down at Riko, who was sliding another shell into the rack. The loader motioned to the roof of the tank, indicating her meaning.

"Good." the commander replied, withdrawing her hand and instead going to where her face had been cut by some of the shrapnel. "We should be on the highway soon, I think. And it seems quiet around here."

Riko nodded as she reached for the next shell, reaching around the cannon breech to grab it. "And what did your boyfriend say?"

Maho felt some heat rise into her face at the statement, but swiftly pushed past her embarrassment. "About?"

"Coming back with us, if it's possible." At Maho's surprised expression, the loader tapped her comms device around her neck. "You forgot to switch it off when you started talking. We all listened in." Riko grinned widely at Maho's disdainful reaction, but quieted down as the elder Nishizumi sister absently tapped her knee.

"He seems interested, really." she responded. "He just seems more focused on getting his squad to this evacuation site and us home."

"That's very selfless of him." Riko said, finishing with the round she had and stretching. "Ayyy, that feels good." With a huff, the loader reseated herself and looked back up, seeing Maho's slightly downcast face. Eye raised, she leaned forward, holding onto the cannon breech. "Don't worry about it, Maho. He likes you enough to come with, I think he just has a lot of other stuff on his mind right now. When the time comes, he'll join us." The young woman's playful grin resurfaced and she looked to her friend. "The you can show him to your mother and see what she thinks."

Maho glared at the other girl, then rolled her eyes and exited the tank again, checking back on her surroundings. Behind her, the hauptmann was busy speaking to his squad, appearing to have a good time as they conversed. She smiled and watched the group for some time, then looked up to the sky as the storm above rumbled, the rain failing to let up as the Tiger plodded on towards the Elbe.

Hauptmann Gerhard Koln

1456 hours

"-heading west on the side roads instead of taking the highway." Gerhard finished, folding up his map and looking to his subordinates. The older ones nodded in agreement, while the younger ones simply looked blank, not as familiar with the area around them. He'd just finished discussing the newest course of action he'd come up with, that being to take off-branches of the main highway that had been the official evacuation route, thereby avoiding the clamor of refugees fleeing to the Elbe.

"Can't find any issues with it." Hans mused, shifting his weight off his injured leg with a small hiss. He shook his head at Ella's concerned look, and reached for his canteen, taking a long swig before continuing. "As long as we get there in one piece, I doubt anyone has objections." Nods from all around confirmed the man's statement, and Gerhard gave a quick nod of his own.

"Very well then. I'll relay that on to the others in a moment." the officer stated, leaning up against the toolbox. The other squad members eyed up their commander briefly, prompting him to raise an eyebrow. "Yes?" A chorus of quiet 'nothing's were his response, only serving to make Gerhard more intrigued at what his soldiers were getting at. He looked to Gunther, the unspoken question on his face. The man simply grinned, nodded to the young woman who had reappeared out of the Tiger, then back to the hauptmann. "We're all glad for you, Gerhard."

Gerhard simply let out a dramatic huff, rolling his eyes and getting a laugh out of some of the others. He put his head back and closed his eyes, resting for a moment while they still had some peace and quiet. The engine of the tank droned on, nearly putting Gerhard to sleep before he forcefully snapped his eyes open, the various pressing matters on his mind preventing him from getting any real rest. The rest of the squad had gone back to doing their own thing, be it writing, drawing, talking, or taking care or their weapons. For a few more minutes, he watched the road behind the tank, tracing it back as far as he could see while thinking long about everything that had happened these last few days, and what might happen in the next few to come.

With shake of the head and a grunt, the hauptmann suddenly pushed himself up and cleared his mind, refusing to be distracted by the past right now; there'd be time to reminisce later. He steadied himself and returned to Maho's side, who showed no further sign of noticing his arrival than a quick nod of the head, keeping her binoculars up and scanning the field to the left of the tank. "We've come up with an idea."

"Oh no...that can't be any good." Maho replied immediately, sending a sideways glance at the officer, who was lightly taken aback by the sharp reply before a small grin split the face of the young woman. "Calm down, I'm just poking fun. What is it?"

Gerhard shook his head and handed Maho his map, directing her attention to the new path he'd drawn. "Instead of taking the main route and having to push through all of the refugees, I was thinking about taking the side routes and try to gain some time." He sat back and let her examine the map a little closer before continuing. "It'll be a little more dangerous since we'll be on the fringes, but we should be at the Elbe by tomorrow evening, I'd think. Maybe in the morning after."

Maho nodded, then disappeared into the tank. Gerhard simply raised an eyebrow, curious as to what caught her mind, before Maho reappeared, her own copy of the map in hand with a pen. As she began copying the new route over, the hauptmann watched, noting how she seemed to be looking for something. "What is it?"

"We need a fuel depot soon." Maho replied, almost absent-mindedly. "We won't have all of what we need to get to Tangermünde, even with the diesel engine." She sighed and looked over to him. "I know you won't want to, but we'll have to."

The officer nodded and scanned the map over Maho's shoulder, looking for any familiar symbols or marks. "Here." he stated, pointing to a small dot, labeled Rathenow. "It's along the way, and there'll be bridges to get us across the river there." He sighed and sat back on his heels, thinking about the small town. "It should have a small fuel dump there, and with luck, some fuel for the Tiger."

Maho gave a hum of agreement and resumed tracing the route, adding the stop onto the list. When she'd finished, she returned his copy to him, folding her own. "I'll give this to Yukiko and have her take us there. I guess, in the meanwhile, hang out?"

With that, Maho slid back into the turret of the Tiger to hand off the information, leaving Gerhard alone atop the turret as he looked back into the sky. Far above, the grey clouds only got darker and the storm ever more restless, filling the man with a sort of mad anticipation as to what would come next.

Kanonier Felix Schafer

1522 hours

"Fire!"

Felix and the gun crew ducked and covered their ears as the 15-centimeter howitzer jerked back, ejecting a spent casing from the breech. The other three guns in the battery followed suite, the scream of the shells fading into the stormy grey skies above as they arced towards their targets.

The young artilleryman looked to the left, where a long line of people, both civilians and soldiers, gave the artillery post a brief glance before continuing their march towards the Elbe. Only a few kilometers behind them lay the reported destination, where the Western Allies were said to be fully accepting the surrender of any German troops without issue. As much as the man wanted to just drop everything and run, he kept in mind that their orders were to fire until they were out of ammunition, covering the evacuation as best they could from what reports the lieutenant received through the radio.

"Elevate another four degrees, and offset left by three."

Felix grunted and made the corrections given by said leutnant, sighting the gun as Peter and Otto slammed a new round into the gun. As soon as they'd finished, they pulled away from the gun, Peter holding the firing cord as Felix finished sighting the weapon and scrambled back. "Clear!"

"Firing!"

And once more, the howitzer boomed, digging into the dirt from the recoil and kicking dust up into the air before the artillery crew began the process again. For the last two days, it had been this same routine, the only breaks being when they had to unload ammo from the trucks going to a nearby ammo dump, or when another crew would take over for the night and allow the tired day shift to rest.

Receiving no corrections from his officer, Felix assisted the other two in reloading the weapon, then grabbed the spent casing and tossed it to the side, where it sunk into a mud puddle with a loud squelch. Just as the crew prepared to fire the next round, though, a loud cry went up from the north, causing all nearby soldiers to freeze for a moment as dread filled them at the only-too-familiar sound.

"URAAAAA!"

"At the ready! Take positions!"

Immediately, the German troops abandoned their artillery pieces and snatched up their firearms, many taking defensive positions as some directed their attention to the nearby highway, where the refugees seemed to be realizing the danger and were beginning to run, dropping everything they carried to lighten their load. Felix saw more than a few figures in ragged uniforms step out of the line and take up arms, settling down alongside the small artillery section as the thirty or so troops prepared to receive the Soviet charge.

Felix's eyes flashed towards the first movement he saw in the fading light of the late afternoon, rifle swinging over as the Soviet battlecry echoed around them, and he brought his finger to the trigger, already expecting this to be his last fight.

"Steady." the lieutenant said behind them, the man's eyes scanning the area sharply, pistol held at the ready. "Make it count."

Before anyone in Felix's crew could acknowledge their officer's words, tens of Soviet troops burst simultaneously from the treeline, immediately opening fire wildly on the German troops, with seemingly little regard for what lay behind their targets. Adrenaline pumping, the young kanonier responded, returning fire alongside the rest of the gun crew, the snapping of their older rifles failing to drown out the buzz of Soviet submachine guns and occasional grenade. No matter where their guns were aimed, nor how many Soviet troops fell, the forms of Red Army troops continued to spew forth from the trees. There would be no contest in this battle, if it could be called that; Felix doubted if this skirmish would even be recorded as a footnote in the annals of history.

"Hold as long as you can!" the lieutenant shouted, punctuating his order with a single shot from his Luger. "We must hold for the refugees! For the future of Germany! HOLD!"

"Für das Vaterland!"

The hopeful call from the small German platoon seemed to counteract the Soviet's war cries, the latter dying down briefly before increasing even more in volume, overpowering the German troops' own. As if enraged at the fact that such a small group dared to oppose them, the Soviet troops bore down on the pockets of defenders, relentless in their attack, and ruthless in their execution of their bloody job.

"Grenade!"

Felix glanced to his left to see a Soviet grenade in the dirt, causing his mind to go blank before a figure seemed to collapse upon the explosive a half-second before it detonated. The charge sent the now-lifeless body of the lieutenant half a meter or so from where he had jumped on the grenade, and Felix, still trying to process those last few seconds, stared at the older man's corpse until he heard his name and was clapped upside the head.

"Focus! Don't waste-"

Whatever Otto was about to say to scold him, Felix never heard, instead being spattered with the other man's blood as he took a burst of submachine gun fire from behind. Finally snapping out of his stupor, the young kanonier screamed as he hardened his grip on his rifle and fired at the Soviet assault trooper that had killed his crewmate, then continued to fire, emptying the five-round clip and slamming a new one in as the skirmish quickly drew to a close around him.

A shot ripped into Felix's chest, staggering him and instantly causing him to cough up blood as he went down , nearly prone. Wiping his face, the young man pushed himself up onto his knees, firing another shot in the direction of his assailants. He heard a grunt as his target joined him on the ground, and a grimace crossed his face before a volley of fire answered his single shot, sending the German soldier down to the ground for good. Felix heard the squelch of mud underfoot as the Soviets presumably approached him, and regretted not having a grenade of his own to use.

"Umri seychas, nemetskaya dvornyaga."

'BANG!'

Apologies for the wait on this one...it took me some time to figure out exactly how I wanted to end it, and since I've already broached the whole 'war crimes' subject, I decided to cut it off here with the death of our young soldier. Between that and work, I've been a little stuck.

This is a shorter chapter, yes. The next will be longer, and will bring about our end most likely. As always, I hope all of you are doing magnificently, and are managing through the current world tension and dredges of this pandemic. Keep strong folks; it's just about over!

As always, until next time! KTA334, signing off.