After penetrating the Siegfried Line, I continued on, eventually reaching a city.
I didn't catch the name of the city at first, but I did run into an odd variant of the Panzer IV with some sort of protruding plates attached to its turret.
Whatever this variant was, it was no more difficult to destroy than an ordinary Panzer IV.
Shortly after I got the Panzer IV, I saw a sign that had the city name on it:
"Himmelsdorf"
It was at this moment that my heart sank.
I'd heard many legends about this city, some of which I now knew to be true, others I wasn't so sure of.
For one, I heard that despite Allied bombing raids, the city refused to fall, which reminded me of the London Blitz.
Made sense, considering how many buildings here were blown to pieces.
Another one I heard, and probably more frightening was this:
Few tank companies were able to penetrate the Siegfried Line or the less well-known "Ostwall", and of those that did, none of them ever came back when they came to this city.
Upon seeing a corpse of an IS-3, I felt pretty creeped out.
After all, if something existed that could actually kill an IS-3 so easily, then how would Goliath fare?
Quickly, I looked around for a good spot to set up.
Suddenly, my eyes spotted a hill with a castle upon it.
That looked perfect!
While heading for the hill, I was attacked by a VK 3001!
Luckily, Goliath's 152 put it out of action.
However, I came across a VK 3601 shortly afterwards, so I had to wait to reload.
In this city, with these circumstances, though, I didn't want to be caught by another tank while waiting to reload.
Luckily, the gun was reloaded with no trouble, so I drove out of cover and…
BOOM!
Another bad guy destroyed!
I continued climbing up the hill, when all of a sudden, a Panther snuck on me!
Only, this one had pathetic firepower for a Panther.
In fact, the turret was small for a Panther turret.
Regardless, because the M-10 had not fully loaded yet, I had to dispose of my foe using an anti-tank grenade.
At the top of the hill, I encountered no other enemies, but knowing that the worst was yet ahead of me, I parked Goliath in a bush next to the castle and shut the engine off.
I exited the tank, taking my PPSh-41 and the black diamond with me and concealing my friend with the camo net.
For the next phase of the plan, I entered the castle and went up about two floors.
Here, I waited.
After a few minutes, I saw a Löwe coming up the hill from the north.
At the top of the hill, it turned onto the grassy patch where Goliath & the castle were located.
I was afraid that they would stop and hurt Goliath, but they simply continued on.
When the time was right, I jumped out a window and landed on the tank.
I opened up the hatch and said to the crew, "Hey guys, I like your tank!"
The tank stopped.
"Achtung!" exclaimed the commander. "What is the meaning of this!?"
"Well, I like your tank, so I want you to give it to me!"
"Nein! You must be crazy to think that!"
"Come on, please give me your tank!"
"NEIN! Go away, you Soviet idiot!"
I presented the diamond to them.
"Here, I'll trade you this diamond for your tank!"
The commander and the others pulled their pistols on me.
"Go away!" said the commander. "We are not interested in your shiny rock!"
"Come on, take it!" I said.
"I said, we are not taking that stupid thing! Go away or you will be shot!"
"Please, take the diamond! I promise you, you can get an even better tank with it!"
"You have three seconds to leave us or we will shoot you!"
At this point, I brought my PPSh-41 to the ready.
"Come on, I could pump all your guts full of lead right now! Take the diamond or you're gonna get it!" I said.
"THAT'S IT!" shouted the commander.
The crewmen all fired some bullets, but they bounced.
I shot one of them in the arm as a warning.
"TAKE THE DIAMOND RIGHT NOW OR I'LL SHOOT YOU ALL IN THE HEAD!"
The crew complied.
The commander took the diamond and left the tank along with the rest of the crewmen, one of whom was carrying a medical kit.
In the meantime, I took control of the Löwe.
Again, it felt pretty weird compared to Goliath, but the controls were at least somewhat similar to the Panzer IV's.
Having driven a few kinds of tanks, though, I can safely say that there are a few constants when it comes to tank controls, so that certainly helped.
Once the Löwe was in my possession, I planted anti-tank mines at all possible entry points to the hill, making sure that the Löwe was away from the entry points, though.
Since I had the element of surprise, I chose to head to the north end of the city.
The Löwe seemed to go about as fast as the KV-3, though I think acceleration was a bit worse, barring the downhill speed boost, of course.
At the bottom of the hill, I spotted a GwPanther.
Though I was confident that the Löwe's cannon could lay waste to the GwPanther, I decided to ram it in addition to firing a shot.
Naturally, the GwPanther blew up quite nicely.
Now that I think of it, I shouldn't have to worry about artillery in this city because it's almost useless.
Suddenly, I got a radio call:
"Red Four, this is Red Leader, why are you late with your status report!? Over!"
Trying the best I could, I told him: "This is Red Four, sorry I could not respond! My vehicle had some mechanical trouble, over!"
He replied: "Red Four, your voice sounds funny. What's going on? Over!"
"Sorry sir, my voice has become worn out from stress, over!"
"OK then, just take it easy! Red Leader out!"
"Red Four out!"
Whew, that was a close call!
In the meantime, I sighted a VK 2801 and fired at it.
"Help, this is Blue Three, I'm under attack at the north side! Over!"
"Blue Three, this is Blue Leader, identify your assailant! Over!
"It's one of…"
BOOM!
"Blue Three, what happened!?"
"Blue Three, respond!"
"We've lost contact with Blue Three. Backup units, check it out now!"
"Roger, this is Gold Leader, my team will be coming along as backup! Gold Leader out!"
"Copy that. Blue Leader out."
I pressed on, going to the west side of the city, where I spotted an unknown SPG in a rail yard.
Whatever it was, it was HUGE.
It was also quite far away from me, so I figured that if I could engage it now, then I could destroy it without fear of reprisal.
I took aim at the thing and fired.
Naturally, I hit it.
The Löwe's 105mm cannon appeared to have similar damage and penetration characteristics as the KV-3's cannon, but it seemed to be a bit more accurate, too.
However, powerful as it was, it couldn't kill the artillery gun.
"This is Red Five", said its commander, "I'm under attack! Attempting to locate assailant, over!"
However, it couldn't locate me before I destroyed it.
I kept going, when…
"Blue Leader, this is Gold Leader, I've spotted the attacker…oh no, it's one of our own! Alarm, ALARM! All personnel, Red Four has gone mad! He is attempting to eliminate us and he's attacking me now! Over!"
"Understood. This is Red Leader, all units on maximum alert! Don't let the traitor get away! Red Leader out!"
"Roger, Gold Leader out!"
"Confirmed, Blue Leader out!"
I continued my firefight with Gold Leader, a VK 3002, until…
BOOM!
Vehicle destroyed!
That wasn't all, though, as I had to deal with an incoming VK 3001 and a VK 3601.
The VK 3601 was quite worrying to me because of its rapid firing rate and its ability to penetrate the Löwe.
However, even though a few shots missed my body by a few centimeters, they were otherwise doing little actual damage to the Löwe.
In contrast, the 105mm KwK 46 of the Löwe was tearing the VK 3601 apart.
The VK 3001 tried to charge at me and interfere, but I wasted it with an anti-tank grenade.
In the meantime, I defeated the VK 3601 and proceeded further into the city.
When I got into the city itself, I was attacked by a heavy tank of an unknown design.
Based on my judgment, the hull appeared to be a Porsche-type with the slack tracks and the turret looked almost the same as a Tiger II turret.
Maybe this was a new tank in the Tiger series?
Whatever it was, the first shot I fired at it bounced off.
However, it fired a shot at me and damaged my tank.
We both backed into cover.
After I backed in, about a second later, I made a risky move and charged right back out.
I had decided to flank the bastard.
I proceeded down the street and turned left into a central courtyard, where my "friend" was still expecting me to cross his path from the front.
I took aim at his turret and hit him hard, then backed into cover.
Naturally, whoever was piloting that mystery tank came for me.
I tried moving to a different position, but the slow acceleration of the Löwe hampered my ability to do that, so I stopped trying.
Besides, whatever tank I was facing had better acceleration than me.
I turned around to face it, but it damaged the Löwe in the process.
Still, I took aim at his commander's cupola and blew that open.
His next shot bounced off my tank.
Next, I hit the MG mount on the hull, causing a shower of smoke and flames to emerge from the tank.
The crew - or whoever was left of them - bailed out and ran.
A few seconds later…
BOOM!
They're knocked out!
Having scrapped another one of their tanks, I kept going.
Proceeding through the alley on the west side, I turned a corner and found another unknown tank heading away from me.
This one looked like a Tiger II with a Panther II turret.
I took aim at it and fired, slicing its track, after which I quickly backed off.
"Red Two to Red Leader, we're immobilized! No sign of our target yet! Over!"
"Red Two, just hold your position! I am closing in! Red Leader out!"
"Copy, Red Two out!"
I gave the unknown tank a few seconds of mercy before driving back out again.
I spotted the crew getting back into their tank and turn around.
I aimed right at their hull, and…
BOOM!
Somehow, I destroyed their tank with only one shell.
How did that happen!?
At first, I just kept driving and tried not to think so much about it, but the sheer uncommonness of the situation was too powerful for me to ignore.
After a while, I deduced that I hit the tank's ammo rack and detonated it.
I remembered hearing something about that at the academy, but I don't know exactly when.
In any case, I got a radio call:
"Red Four – if that truly is you – you have interfered with us long enough! These things cost us a lot of time and resources, and now it is time for you to pay that price!"
I replied: "I was just giving you some payback, you bully! Nobody breaks into my home turf and gets away with it!"
"Oh, but we are only researchers! We don't invade other peoples' lands; we just give weapons to those who do!"
I decided not to continue talking to him and instead decided to concentrate on battle.
It was less than a minute later that I spotted Red Leader, who was driving a Tiger II…or, actually…something.
This one was different somehow, but I just couldn't put my finger on it; I just knew it was different.
Anyways, I took aim at him and fired.
Unfortunately, that one bounced off, and he hurt the Löwe pretty badly.
However, my next shot went right through his lower glacis.
His next shot also hit me hard, but I was still okay…for now.
I struck his gun mantlet next, but I don't think I damaged him at all.
For his next shot…
BOOM!
That was the end of the Löwe!
Naturally, thinking me dead, he turned around and left.
Of course, just like before, I hopped out and lobbed an anti-tank grenade with all my strength.
The grenade hit the tank and damaged it, but it was still going, and that guy was angry now!
I ran for my life, taking numerous shortcuts and hoping to get back to Goliath before I was caught.
Eventually, after running for what seemed like miles, I made it back to Goliath, and I was pretty tired!
Nevertheless, I had enough strength and coordination left to control it.
By now, I got another message from Red Leader:
"Whoever you are, you can run, but you will only die tired! Now come back here and die honorably!"
I spotted him at the southern hill.
I took aim with the 152 and hit it dead on.
However, it was still alive, and it damaged Goliath.
Another hit like that, and I was done for!
I backed away to cover, but then…
BOOM!
That guy ran over some mines and blew up!
For the first time, somebody had gone into Himmelsdorf and lived to tell about it!
I had never felt so invigorated before!
In my state of invigoration, though, I never forgot to investigate my conquered foes.
They were another SS panzer division, the SS panzer division "Wunderwaffen", one of the most elite SS divisions in Nazi Germany.
These guys were responsible for testing out secret tank projects of Adolf Hitler, and even when things got out of hand, they just kept developing new and more fearsome machines.
We already know the "VK 3" series of medium tanks, but I hadn't seen their kind of Panzer IV up until now.
This one was actually a Panzer IV "Hydro", a variant with – if I understood correctly – a special drive system where the drive sprockets were connected to two oil pumps powered by the tank's engine.
Moving on to artillery, they had an artillery gun mounted on a Tiger II chassis, called the "Geschutzwagen Tiger".
It could be fitted with either a 170mm cannon or a fearsome-sounding 210mm mortar, but thankfully for me, the specimen they possessed had the 170.
As for heavy tanks, their Porsche-designed heavy tank had the designation "VK 4502".
This one could be equipped with two kinds of 88mm guns, or – as this specimen was – a 105mm gun that was shorter than the one on the Löwe.
This one was also odd because unlike most German tanks, it was powered by a Deutz-designed diesel engine.
What really caught my attention, however, was a new medium tank and new heavy tank, respectively named the "E-50" and "E-75".
These were part of a new series of tanks called the "Entwicklung" series, which appeared to be an attempt at making a new series of standardized tanks with common components.
I never saw any of the E-5, E-10 or E-25 class vehicles before, though I did see a resemblance between one of the E-10 JagdPanzers and the Hetzer, so I nicknamed the new tank destroyer the "Super Hetzer".
Of course, as I mentioned, there was also the E-50 medium tank and the E-75 heavy tank, which appeared to share the same hull, but the E-75 had better armor.
Terrifyingly enough, the E-75 could mount a 128mm KwK 44 L/55, but thankfully for me, their specimen only had a 105mm KwK 46 L/68.
The handbook mentioned an "E-100", but since there was no info apart from a single mention, I was inclined to believe it was a fake, but on the other hand, the IS-3 turned out to be real even when I thought it was a fake.
Well, look at me! I stood there and I seriously believed I could take on all this with a 152mm howitzer!
So far, I must have been very lucky, but then I remembered all the neat little tricks I'd kept up my sleeves since my career began.
Luck or not, I decided it was time to head home, so I deactivated all my unused mines and put them away.
There was just one more thing, though:
I had kept a Soviet flag in my tank as a good luck charm, but now, having conquered the city of Himmelsdorf, I took the flag and hung it up on the castle overlooking the town!
After that, I started up Goliath and started heading home, when suddenly, I spotted an enemy Leichttraktor!
How did I not see him!?
It wasn't a huge matter, though, because I ran over and crushed it like all the other Tier I tanks.
Why did these guys even have something so useless in their ranks!?
Did they run short on vehicles?
Or maybe they didn't care about vehicle tiers so long as they had a prototype to test.
Having done so much today, I went home and just relaxed, knowing that I wasn't going to be bothered by those bad dreams anymore.
Criticism is gold. Negativity and nitpicking are pyrite.