We had been driving for about a day and the weather was starting to get annoying. The autumn weather felt really cold compared to the summer we had just had. We had to stop at a gas station in Lodz to refill. We would have left had Zophia not wanted to stop and look around the town for a bit. Not wanting to upset her, knowing that she'd just keep pestering him to stop at every town from then on out, Oskar decided to park the car and we stopped at a few shoppes along the way.
"BANG! BANG! "Hey, Fredrik," called Grangkner. This was the second time he had slammed my door. "Ven are ve going to be at ze checkpoint?" "Vill you stop asking me zat?" I yelled back at him, "Ve vill be zere ven ve get zere, alright!" "Ok," I heard him call from the back of the halftrack. Having to drive one of these halftracks was enough, but having to put up with constant nagging from my gunners was a pain in my arsch and having to stop every time the one in front of you stops is just schricklich! Plus, it didn't help that the traffic in Poland is scheisse and Fronzfurd is a terrible Panzer driver.
We walked out of the last store and put our things in the back of the car's trunk. Zophia seemed to be pleased now that she had what she wanted. When we got in the car Oskar turned to Zophia. "Do you want anything else before we leave?" he asked with a sarcastic tone. "No, I'm good," she said snapping in her seatbelt. Oskar whipped his brow in relief and started the engine.
No sooner had he started the engine that I felt an odd rumbling. "Oskar," I said to him. "What is it, Dominik?" he said annoyed. "Stop the car and turn off the engine," I said, "I feel an odd shaking." "That's the car, you moron." Bruno said, rolling his eyes. I got out of the car to see if it was the engine. It was not. "Guys," I said with a panicky tone, "you might want to see this. Oskar shut off the car and they all got out. "What is it Domin…OH MY GOSH!" said Oskar. Rounding the corner of the street was a German Panzerkampfwagen Mark 3 followed by 3 German Sd. Kfz. 251C halftracks.
The Polish were staring at us as we drove by. They had obviously never seen a Nazi tank, considering that they had a very puny army. I was trying to figure out whether to tell Hekter and Grangkner to start shooting the civilians or whether they should hold off. I couldn't remember what the Kommandant had told me. All he said was to make it to the outpost before o funfzehn-hundert. No excuses. And I was determined to follow that order. At any cost.
"Is that real?" Bruno asked, surprised. "It seems pretty real to me." Zophia answered, "what type of tank is it, Oskar?" "It's a German Panzer mark 3." He said, "and the vehicles behind it are model C halftracks." "What are German vehicles of war doing in Poland?" I asked. "I don't know," Oskar said scratching his head, "Maybe they are here to offer an alliance?" We all watched as the tank rolled down the street until it was forced to a halt. An accident had happened right in front of it. A car had tried to pass the convoy and had hit another car in front of the tank. The tank stopped on a dime, while the halftrack behind it bumped into the tank. The other 2 halftracks stopped before any more damage could be done.
*crack* "Verdammt!" *crack* Yogkolf's voice came over the radio. He was the driver of the halftrack in front of me. "Vat happened now?" I asked over the radio. *crack* "I don't know, Fronzfurd just vent full moron!" *crack*. "Fronzfurd, vat is going on zat you break-checked Yogkolf?" I asked annoyed. *crack* "Some dummkopf tried to pass me and hit ze car in front of me." *crack*. I had had enough with this Polish traffic. If we kept up like this, we were never going to make it to the checkpoint. I decided to take action. "I am sick and tired of zis Polish traffic!" I said to the drivers, "Everyone follow Fronzfurd. Fronzfurd," *crack* "Ja?" *crack* he replied. "Just run zem over!" I said. *crack* "But…" Fronzfurd started. "NOW!" I shouted into the radio.
"OOOooo." Oskar said as the sickening crunch of the 2 cars meeting echoed through the air. "Looks like that tank isn't going anywhere." Bruno said, pointing out that the tank stopped. Multiple people ran to the scene to try to help the people in the crash. The stopped car was being driven by a single man in his 30s and the moving car had been driven by a 40-year-old woman who had her two children in the car. The women and her kids got out without any injuries, but the man was stuck underneath one of the cars. "I hope that man is alright." Zophia said. "I'll go help him," Bruno said starting to run over to the car.
Then a second sound filled the air. It was one we had heard just moments before. Then it hit me. It was the sound of the tank's 12-cylinder engine starting up again. "Bruno, wait!" I shouted. He heard me and stopped. The people down at the crash stopped too. Then we watched as the tank's treads began to spin in a forward motion. The people who were once helping the man were now running in fear as the tank rolled up the first car. The man screamed but only for a second before the tank's treads came crashing down on top of the second car. The crunching of the car underneath the 23 tons of metal was like the crumpling of paper.
Watching the tank crushing the cars under its treads was one of the coolest things I had ever seen with my own two eyes. I then decided that we shouldn't stop for anything. "Grangkner," I said out the window. "Ja?" He asked. "If anyvone steps vithzin 2 feet of Fronzfurd, you gun zem down." I said. He was startled at first, but then gave me an evil grin of glee as he turned toward the crowd and tensed up on his trigger finger.
"OH MY GOSH!" Zophia shouted as the tank landed and began to move forward. "What the hell?!" Oskar said, wide eyed. "There's no chance in hell that they want an alliance." Then, we heard the clip clop of a police officer's horse rounding the corner. He had heard the crash and come to see what happened, but when he saw the tank, he froze. Just for a few seconds, but that was all the time the Germans needed to recognize his uniform. "POLIZEI!" one of the German halftrack gunners screamed, turning his gun. I grabbed Zophia and pulled her behind the car and Oskar and Bruno jumped for cover behind it.
Then there was a sound. A horrible, evil sound. It was very brisk, about 2 seconds, but oh, was that sound evil. It was like the someone had grabbed a handful of stones and threw them at a glass window. The gunner had opened fire with his MG 42, sending small 7.92 mm rounds into its target. There was a neigh from the horse and a cry from the officer. I opened my eyes and watched the officer fall off his horse and on his back. His pistol fell from his hand and landed next to me. Some stray bullets hit the window behind him, shattering it. The horse tried to run but only got about 4 feet before the MG gunned it down.
I helped Zophia to her feet. The officer's coat was covered in small, bloodstained holes. He lay motionless on a blanket of shattered glass. We heard the short bursts of machinegun fire as civilians shook their fists at the Germans. Then it struck me. The Germans were here for war. They didn't care who they killed whether it was civilian or soldier. They would kill anyone who stood in their way. I clenched my fists until knuckles cracked. "What is it, Dominik?" asked Oskar. "Those Germans aren't here to make peace," I said, enraged, "They are here for war. Those are our people who are getting slaughtered by those bastards and I'm not just going to sit around and watch it." It was time for action.