Chapter Twelve: Gott Mitt Uns!
"I have resolved never to start an unjust war, but never to end a legitimate one except by defeating my enemies."
-Carolus Rex 1697-1718
Kuzumaki, Viggens High School, August 22nd, 9:18 A.M.
Oslofjord stood with her staff in the top of the hill, the bustling camp behind them. 46,000 Troops were preparing for the upcoming battle, eating their breakfasts and getting their weapons ready. The artillery was preparing to bombard the enemy positions across the forests and fields. Trucks were being refueled to carry squads of soldiers to the battlefield. Even antique cavalry was called up for the decisive battle, armed with carbines and swords. This was the entirety of the Viking Fisheries army, called up to conquer Viggens in a campaign intended to be quick and easy.
Oslofjord looked at her enormous army. "Look at this!" She exclaimed. "Look at my girls. Today is the day we will finally beat Loki and claim this land as our own!" Her officers smiled and clapped. Oslofjord smirked. "I will personally command our army to victory, as the leader of our great school."
"Commander!" Oslofjord turned and saw a soldier saluting. She saluted back. "What is it?" She asked.
"The scouts have returned, and have reported the enemy has less than 20,000 troops with them." The scout reported. Oslofjord grinned. "Great! The wind is blowing even harder in our favor."
"And it seems they are led by Loki herself." The soldier added. Oslofjord raised her eyebrows. "Oh my," She said. "I guess she wants to witness her own defeat." A sneer grew on her face. She turned back to face the Viggens position. "Hear me, Loki!" She shouted. "Surrender, you are hopelessly outnumbered! If you value your life, and the lives of your girls, surrender and I shall treat all of you like a close friend!" She proclaimed.
She slumped down, breathing heavily. "Heh, hopefully she listens this time," She panted out. Then she straightened back up. "Come on Loki. Go ahead, resist me. Today will become your Poltava for sure!"
The Viking Fisheries soldiers were eating their MREs by the campfires. They were all cheerful and elated, excited for the great victory that was about to come. One squad of girls just came out of makeshift baths, their skin wet and hair steaming.
"We can't win looking like rats now, can we?" One girl joked, her brown hair swaying in the light wind. Another girl looked at her. "Hey, do we need our makeup? I have some spare lipstick if you need any." They both started to laugh, until their officer stopped them. She had chestnut hair, and was around five feet.
"Hey now, you two should take things seriously." She said, putting a hand on their shoulders.
"Okay…" The two girls stepped back. The officer grew a smile. "Don't forget your mascara," She told them. "Come on, get your weapons. We're moving out." The two girls saluted. "Yes, commander Nora!"
The army stood in formation in front of Oslofjord, who cleared her throat. "This is the day we have been all waiting for! The main enemy force is just beyond these hills, prepared to repel our advance. But fear not! Our numbers will overwhelm them and we will destroy their fighting capacity! Our victory will resonate throughout all of Japan, and we will become the respected school we have always deserved to be. No school will underestimate us anymore, and our prestige will soar to new heights! Now go, heroes of our school, march forward and fight to victory!" She roared, and the army responded with a tidal wave of cheers and hollering. They jumped into their trucks and the tens of thousands of girls began moving towards the Viggens positions.
Meanwhile, on the other side the soldiers of Viggens High School were entrenched behind sandbags and trenches, their machine guns and field guns trained on the black forest a few hundred metres away. The small town behind them was cleared of all civilians beforehand, now each house had become a bunker, filled with cannons and machine guns. There were howitzers and AA guns in the streets.
The girls were on guard, their eyes flickering towards the Viking Fisheries base camp. This was their entire army, just 18,000 troops gathered up to defend their school. They knew this battle would decide the entire war, and were very nervous as a result.
In the main Viggens military base camp, the commanders were fretting over the strategy.
"We should split our forces in half and flank them!" One officer cried.
"Are you crazy? With these numbers?" Another one shouted.
"We should hole up in the town!" A third girl suggested.
"That's suicide!" The first one exclaimed.
They continued to argue until they heard the tent flap open behind them.
"What is going on?" Loki's voice boomed out. The officers quickly saluted as she marched in.
"Commander?" One girl squeaked.
"How many soldiers does the enemy have?" Loki demanded. The most senior of the girls stepped forward. "Nearly 50,000, ma'am." She answered reluctantly.
To their surprise, Loki started to laugh. "Hahaha! Oh, man! Oslo is really bent on crushing me! She really does overestimate herself, and underestimate me!" She wiped tears from her eyes. "Have no worries. Numbers are not everything in war. Raw strength can be made useless with skill and strategy," She said. "We will hold our positions until the last enemy reserves have dried up. Then we will counterattack. It is that simple!" She declared. Her officers stared at her with gaping mouths. She shrugged. "What? Is there anything else we need to do? How about this; If we lose this battle, I will resign as head of school." She said nonchalantly.
"What? Please take this more seriously! Our very survival is at stake here!" One officer screamed. Loki took a step back. "Hey, calm down. Do you really think we're going to lose this one? Ha, you're out of your minds!" She laughed. "I tell you, I have a good feeling about this." She boldly proclaimed.
"But…." The officer stuttered, and she stepped back. Loki took a step forward, towering over the officer, looking down at her with a menacing stare. The officer scrambled back, terrified.
Loki grinned as she drew back. She then glared at the officers one by one. "If any of you doubt our victory, you may run from these fields with your lives, but not with your dignity." With that she turned around and left the tent.
She walked out of the base camp, and right upto the defenses set up by the soldiers outside, followed by Aesir.
"Girls!" She shouted, and the soldiers turned to look up at her. "Hear me! Today you will be the champions that will defend our homes! We may be outgunned, outnumbered and out of options, but we will persevere through this crisis. Our school spirit will push us through onto a glorious sunrise tomorrow!" She sucked in more air in her lungs, and bellowed out even louder. "You may have to lose an arm, a leg or even your lives. But do not cry, for the ones that fall here will become known as the martyrs that gave their lives for the great battle that saved our school! The enemy has underestimated us here, and I have no doubt they are already preparing their victory celebrations. They think today will be our Lützen; no, this will be our Breitenfeld!" A loud cheer erupted from the entrenched girls, and Loki smirked.
She coughed, and continued. "Our morale is high, higher than the overconfident enemy. Our arms are of better quality, and our officers are the best Shikoku has to offer. Even if we are outnumbered 20-to-1, we will emerge bloody, battered and victorious! I will personally lead you to victory! I will man the machine guns, I will lead the final charge. I will not fight not as your superior, but as your fellow comrade! So fight, fight and never retreat!" Another loud round of cheering. Loki grinned. "As a great Swede once said;
Framåt Karoliner
Fiendens dom är här
Låt oss krossa dom
Kasta in dom genom helvetets portar!"
"Somebody listened to too much Saba-" Aesir muttered before yelping as Loki glared at her. Loki turned around to face her troops. "Do not worry, for God is protecting us with his almighty hand! All shall pray, and we will be guided to a victorious conclusion. Gott mitt uns!" She rose her arm into the air. The soldiers repeated this and cried out a chorus of "Gott mitt uns!"
Then the earth began to tremble as artillery shells began crashing around them.
"Commander, please take cover!" Aesir screamed as she dove to the ground. A hail of dirt covered her and Loki, but when her vision returned Loki remained standing, unharmed. "You think this will kill me?" She scoffed. "God shall protect me with his glorious arms." She said coolly. "Artillery, return fire!" She roared.
Dozens of Haubits m/40 howitzers began to open fire, throwing shells into the air towards the Viking Fisheries positions as they themselves were under heavy fire.
Troops huddled together in their trenches as foxholes were blown up and houses were crushed. Artillery guns broke apart as the crews were twisted into unnatural postures. Bodies were thrown into the air, shredded by thousands of pieces of shrapnel. Arms and torsos landed back on the ground, with blood raining on top of the soldiers below. Girls cried as they were brutally killed, and more dug deeper into the ground. The soldiers in the killzone gritted their teeth and waited the artillery bombardment out.
On the other side, Nearly one hundred Rheinmetall 12 cm leFH 08 howitzers blasted continually in a horrendous crescendo, raking the entire land with explosives. The infantry all the while advanced under the cover of fire, and under fire themselves. Entire ranks were obliterated as shells plunged into formation. The grass was littered with the dead and dying as soldiers marched past them. Some girls tripped over body parts or slipped on blood. Screams of pain and agony echoed throughout the battlefield. Lorries filled with troops were blown up or flipped onto its back. Girls scrambled out of them, on fire. Horses whinnied as they buckled down on the ground.
Shells arced into the Viking Fisheries base camp, and staff officers were tossed into the air. Oslofjord stood like a statue as her officers died around her. "Hah! This scares you? Lily-livered cowards!" She dismissed the artillery bombardment that surrounded her. She stepped forward, taking out a pair of binoculars. She sneered as her artillery pounded the Viggens soldiers, a thick layer of brown dust covering the entire field. She saw brief bright flashes from within the cloud, and she imagined they were the artillery of Viggens.
She bit her lip as the soldiers below were being slaughtered. But no matter. She had made up her mind, and if a few thousand more girls died for it, then so be it. She must achieve this victory at any cost.
Two Hours Later
The artillery from both sides continued to rumble, churning the ground up like a meat mincer. The fields have been turned into the face of the moon, hundreds of craters dotting the land.
For the girls in the trenches, this was a living hell. Their positions were being pounded down from the skies, shells raining down on them like an angry storm. Machine guns and field guns became disabled as shrapnel embedded themselves into the barrels.
"Shit, keep your heads down!" One officer shouted before being covered by a sheet of dust. Dirt got stuck in her long, light blonde hair. She coughed as some dirt flew down her throat. "Fuck…" She muttered.
"How long is this going to last?" A girl next to her was thrown out of the trench, and the officer dared to take a peek. All that remained of the girl was a stump of a body, blood pouring out of the holes. The officer's eyes went wide and she stumbled backwards. "God dammit!" She exclaimed. She put her hands against her ears; they were ringing from the constant artillery barrages.
Then slowly but surely, the howitzers fell silent. The girls in the trenches let out a sigh of relief and began to reorganize themselves. There were wounded girls yelling for medics, and some soldiers started to dig out collapsed foxholes and reinforced bunkers. Bodies were taken out of the trenches and stacked at the edge of the defensive lines to be buried later. Nearly 500 soldiers of the Viggens army had been killed by the bombardment-already a significant loss for such a small force.
The officer stood up, her hat fallen on the trench floor. She picked it up and put it back on her crumpled up hair. "Damn, that was one hell of a ride." She mumbled. She narrowed her eyes towards the treeline and her eyes nearly bulged out. "Enemy formation marching right towards us! Everybody man your guns!" She screamed. Girls scrambled to grab their rifles and machine guns and aimed it towards the emerging Vikings Fisheries soldiers.
"Keep marching!" Nora shouted as her soldiers stumbled on, through the thick underbrush and over their dead comrades. In the bombardment they suffered over 3,000 casualties, leaving a trail of corpses and blood in their wake. But they kept on moving, rifles on their shoulders. There was blood and mud on everybody's uniforms, sweat ran down every face.
"We're so close." Nora whispered to herself. The forest was dark, save for the occasional beam of sunshine that poked through the green roof above them. The 20,000 boots crunched over twigs and leaves as they made their way.
Nora wiped the sweat off of her forehead. She did not expect the battle to start in such a manner. The sights of shells wiping out entire formations, the rain of shrapnel and the shaking of the ground all flashed in the back of her mind. The exploding trucks, and the burning girls that ran out screaming so left a burning mark in her soul. She had to heartlessly leave them behind, but they were dead anyways. She had to keep her eyes forward, where the prize was. The elusive object called victory was almost in her grasp, just at her fingertips. One more lunge, and it would be firm in her palms.
She held in her breath as she saw the light in front of her. They were at the end of the forest. She raised her arm. "Everybody spread out!" She ordered, and the tight formation dispersed as the girls fanned out. They unslung their rifles and started to sneak up to the border of the forest.
Nora put her hand above her eyes to block the sunlight. She gripped her Konigsberg Colt in her holster as she inched her way to the bushes that covered her from the open fields. This was it, she thought. This is our moment.
Suddenly the air was lit up with machine gun and rifle fire, cutting down hundreds of girls in a second.
What the fuck! Nora screamed in her mind as she dove into the bush. I thought the artillery did its damn job! Girls screamed as bullets sliced through their bodies. Nora watched as blood spurted into the air, and girls falling down lifeless.
"Set up machine guns and mortars to suppress the enemy fire, while the infantry continue to advance!" She ordered, and soldiers took out Brandt 81mm mortars and setup Madsen machine guns. They started to fire back, tracers soaring through the fields. Hordes of infantry surged forwards, regardless of the tsunami of lead crashing down upon them.
The officer pulled the trigger of her m/1938 rifle, splitting the head of a soldier in half. "What the hell is wrong with them?" She muttered as she pulled the bolt back. "They're just walking like it's their backyard or something." She had no need to aim, as a column of infantry was literally in her sight already, all she had to do was point and shoot.
She emptied her clip and shoved a new one in. "This is too easy. They're making it too easy." She said through clenched teeth as dirt flew back into her mouth. The constant chattering of the rifles and machine guns almost blocked out the painful shrieks of the girls marching right towards her, and she felt a twinge of guilt. But no matter, she continued killing regardless.
Then the 10.5 cm Fältkanon m/34Ms opened up; these heavy field guns literally blasted hundreds of girls into little pieces, turning this battle into a true slaughter. The crews worked tirelessly, shoving shell after shell into the breech, each time killing at least half a dozen people every time it fired. Despite it being a clear, sunny day it rained limbs and blood in the hellish landscape.
For the private that was marching in the frontlines, this was a nightmare. In a matter of minutes many of her friends were slaughtered in painful deaths right in front of her eyes, the cannons and guns that were pointed right at her, and the awful sight of the bloody corpses all around her. Tears rolled down her cheeks while she solemnly stepped to her what was certain death. She was only 17, a tender age of youth that got mixed up in the bloodshed.
She winced when the girl next to her got sliced in half, her intestines flinging into the air like a boomerang. Her arms were getting tired from lugging the rifle for a long time, and she was getting extremely sick. She had to stop in her tracks and vomit, to which fellow soldiers jumped out of the way and screamed at her. But she couldn't help it; how could anybody not vomit at the sight of all of this?
A soldier next to her stumbled, a bullet had flown straight through her leg. Blood flowed down, and she became pale. The private grabbed her and set her against the ground. "Hopefully a medic will see you." She whispered apologetically. The soldier looked up at her with understanding eyes. The private wiped her tears and once again walked towards the enemy earthworks.
Trucks carrying soldiers drove alongside the advancing women. The field guns point their barrels at these vehicles and began picking them off one by one. They exploded, flames erupting from within. Girls tumbled out of the back, flailing their arms in an attempt to extinguish the blaze that engulfed them. One shell landed right next to one truck, flipping over to the side. The trucks also towed field guns; Ehrhardt 7.5 cm Model 190s to be exact. The trucks stopped, and girls jumped out to set the guns up. After several seconds they began lobbing shells into the Viggens trenches. Wooden palisades collapsed, crushing the machine gunners within. The pressure on the advancing army weakened as the defenders themselves became under fire.
Nora gritted her teeth as she ran across the field. Zigzagging behind dead bodies and burnt-out trucks, she crept closer to the enemy defenses. She gripped her Konigsberg Colt tightly as dashed out back into the open. She felt bullets cut the grass around her, wind whipping past her. She fired her Colt in the general direction of the trenches as a general deterrence against the defenders. Dirt flew up when bullets bit into the earth, and she grew nervous as she got closer. But she looked around her and saw thousands of girls around her and grew confident. "Come on," She yelled mostly to herself. "Keep on going!"
Girls knelt down, firing their Krag Jørgensen rifles. They cracked as the barrels jolted upwards. They unleashed a barrage of rifle fire into the Viggens trenches, their advance quickening.
All across the field the Viking Fisheries forces surged forward, being slaughtered by the entrenched enemy forces by the minute. Thousands of bodies lay silent on the ground. Even as they were being butchered, it was obvious that even without the use of submachine guns the Viking Fisheries troops were gaining ground. The defenders began to lose soldiers as well, being picked off by lucky markswomen or be be blown apart by Ehrhardt 7.5 cm Model 190s. The attackers even reached the outer trenches by twelve o'clock in the afternoon.
They jumped into the trenches, swinging their rifles and firing their pistols. Brandt mortar shells plummeted into the narrow trenches, tossing the overwhelmed defenders into the air. The two sides crashed into each other, butts and barrels smashing against each other's faces. The Viggens soldiers were forced on the defensive, the spilling of their blood long overdue in the carnage.
The soldiers advanced swiftly, taking the foremost Viggens positions in the field. They have inflicted many casualties upon Viggens, but suffered many more themselves. The remaining Viggens soldiers slowly retreated, firing their rifles as they stepped backwards.
The private cried in relief as she slumped down in the trench. "Finally, some cover!" She shouted as she leaned against the dirt. However, she shot back up as her back slipped on some wet blood. She looked to her left and saw the empty eyes of a dark-haired girl staring right at her. She shrieked and almost poked her head out above the trenches. Only the whizzing of bullets forced her to pull back down. "Shit!" She said, taking ahold of her Krag Jørgensen.
"This is only the beginning, soldier." Another girl reminded the private, who grumbled in anger.
Viggens Left Flank, 12:02 P.M.
Nearly one thousand cavalry rode through the hills, their chests jutted out with their proud uniforms, swords dangling by their hips. Their horses neighed and snorted as they galloped towards the small town, and the single trenchline that preceded it. They sped past the infantry, who unfortunately had to contend with the dust cloud the hooves of the horses had kicked up.
"Come on girls, let's show these fools how a war is fought!" The cavalry officer bellowed. Her strawberry-blonde hair fluttered in the soft wind. She laughed as she lead the charge, throwing her head back. The thundering hooves shook the earth as they got closer to the town.
They saw flashes of light, and then the first horses buckled down as they were cut down by the machine guns. Soldiers from the houses aimed down at the cavalry, throwing the girls off their mounts. Field guns and AA guns blasted away at the horde at the cavalry, creating holes in the formations. The trenchline opened up as the horses entered their range.
"Charge!" The cavalry officer screamed, kicking the sides of her horse. The horse snorted and took off like a train. The officer looked around her and saw other girls galloping right behind her. Bullets arced around them, taking down other unfortunate riders.
A shell exploded right next to her, showering her with dirt. She ducked down against her horse and rode underneath the curtain of shellfire. She ignored the screams of her soldiers and the whinnies of the horses. She cursed as she unsheathed her sword.
Then her entire world crashed around her; a fusilade of bullets crashed into her horse, and she rolled into the dirt. She coughed as she stood back up, and noticed the blood rolling down her arm. She watched with frightful eyes at her gaping wound as the silhouette of a stallion, in a pained frenzy raised its front legs within the clouds of swirling dust behind her.
The suicidal charge was finally stopped by the salvo, which after the dust settled hundreds of girls and animals lie dead. Only the occasional horse was trotting around the field, riderless.
Viggens Center Position, 12:27 P.M.
The officer ducked down as a flurry of bullets flew above her. "Shit. they're coming in faster than my paycheck." She muttered. She stood up and fired a shot, shooting out a chunk the torso of a Viking Fisheries soldier. "How many are there?" She asked herself.
A soldier next to her gripped her Kpist M/37, its entire body shuddering as it spat out bullets. A whole squad of enemy soldiers fell by her submachine gun. "Holy shit," The girl panted. "This is crazy."
She turned to the officer. "Officer Skadi!" She called out. The officer turned to face her. "What is it?" She asked.
The soldier faltered. "We're severely outnumbered here, aren't we?" Skadi shrugged. "Yeah, we definitely are." She replied with a smile. She reloaded her rifle and went back to shooting, taking down three enemy soldiers.
She heard a soft thud beside her. When she turned her head her eyes widened. "Fuck, get down!" She shouted. She shot her hand down and threw the object out of the trench as fast as she could. She dove down in the trench, until she heard the loud pop and cloud of smoke.
"Was that a grenade?" The soldier asked nervously. Skadi nodded in confirmation.
Viggens Right Flank, Around 1:16 P.M.
By now the Viking Fisheries advance had pushed the Viggens forces back from their forward positions. They pushed on all fronts, slowly enveloping the enemy defenses. However, they were having great difficulty on the right flank, on a hill called Ounichi Hill. On the hill were 1,800 girls, known as the Karoliners, the elites of the Viggens armed forces stationed on the hill. More than 5,000 Viking Fisheries troops marched up the hill, ready to storm the hilltop.
"Commander Tyr, they're coming." The short girl said. The taller girl next to her nodded. They both stood in the trench, looking down at the Viking Fisheries troops below them. Tyr tied up her pink hair up into a knot, and put her helmet on. "Don't fire until we can see the whites in their eyes." She ordered. The short girl sighed. "Ma'am, that'll be too late." She said.
Tyr looked at her. "What? We're a disciplined force. We can do it, Freyja." She said. She peeked through her binoculars. "There's around, a thousand down there I guess."
Some of the more forward Viking Fisheries troops knelt down and fired up at the trench. Bullets zipped past their heads.
"Uh, ma'am. They're firing at us. Maybe we should return fire?" Freyja asked in a bored tone. Tyr groaned. "Fine." She touched the cross necklace around her neck, and muttered a small prayer. "Girls," She ordered. "Open fire!"
Almost 2,000 rifles, machine guns and submachine guns opened up on the soldiers clambering up the hill. Soldiers tumbled down like bowling pin. Bullets ripped through the soldiers, and girls collapsed with blood pouring out of their shredded flesh. They unbuckled grenades from their belts and lobbed them towards the Karoliner trench. Soldiers dispersed as they exploded, shrapnel shooting out across the trench. Some shrapnel planted themselves into the skin of some soldiers, who gritted in pain and fell down.
Freyja reloaded her lmg Kg m/1939, putting the new magazine on top of the gun. With each tug of the trigger, a pair of girls would crumple down, blood spraying out of their bodies. She swiveled her body to face the enemies that came closest to the trenchline. "Woohoo, this is great!" She shouted as her body shook, both from the recoil and excitement.
Tyr grunted as she leaned her head against the bolt of her m/1939 rifle, hitting her target. "Don't get too excited. You might end up killing yourself."
"I am fine!" Freyja shouted, just as a bullet skimmed her helmet. It bounced around her head, causing her to lose balance and fall down. Tyr looked down at her with satisfaction. "There." She said. Freyja stood up and grabbed her lmg. "They cannot stop me from killing them." She announced. She lay low against the trench, only peeking up to fire her gun.
Then a torrent of explosions enveloped the hilltop. They ripped the summit apart, making the ground tremble like an earthquake. Shells thundered as they plunged into the ground, hurling the Karoliners into the air. The girls whimpered, fearing Thor himself had descended onto the battlefield.
"Shit, they're using artillery to try to flush us out!" Tyr realized. The section just left of her disappeared, the trench and girls being flooded by the cloud of dirt. She had to close her eyes as the dust flooded her trench as well.
Brown puffs of smoke emerged above the hill, showering the unfortunate girls with thousands of metal shards.
The Viking Fisheries girls used this bombardment to their advantage, setting up Madsen lmgs and firing their rifles upwards.
The death toll of the Karoliners grew as time wore on. Almost 300 have been killed in this battle, while up to 2,000 enemies were also killed. Tyr coughed and poked her head out. "Damn it," She cursed. "We're getting slaughtered here, and they're just growing in numbers." She ducked again as the boom of an explosion rang above her.
"Aren't we just sitting ducks here?" Freyja shouted at her. "We can't do anything up here."
"You're right," Tyr said. "Staying up here will only result in our deaths." She stood up tall, much to the surprise of Freyja and the other Karoliners.
"Karoliners! Reload your submachine guns and fix your bayonets! We will charge the enemy. If we engage the enemy in hand-to-hand combat the enemy gunners will not be able to fire for risk of killing their own troops!" She cried, attaching her a bayonet to her own rifle.
"Are you crazy?" Freyja exclaimed. "That's insane!" Tyr looked back at her with a large grin on her face. "That's why they will never see it coming!" She retorted. Freyja groaned in defeat and reloaded her Kg M/1939.
"Come on, girls!" Tyr shouted in exhilaration. "Fix your damn bayonets!"
The Karoliners, still under the curtain of artillery, rose out of their trenches and stampeded down the hill. The Viking Fisheries soldiers froze in shock as the Viggens soldiers rushed down to meet an enemy that outnumbered them. Then panic set in ; they fired their machine guns and shot point blank into the mob of Karoliners. But the Karoliners, letting out bloodcurdling screams, plowed through them, spraying submachine gun fire and brandishing their bayonets.
Tyr grunted as she jumped into the air, pointing her bayonet to the stupefied machine gunner below her. She tried to lug her machine gun up, but the gun wouldn't allow it. Tyr grinned when she slammed into the machine gunner, impaling her with the bayonet. As she pulled her rifle out, the Viking Fisheries soldier jerked up, blood squirting out of her wound. She jumped off of the body, rolling across the grass.
She looked up to see a soldier standing above her, lowering her rifle, with a bayonet attached. The blade plummeted down towards her, and she only had just enough time to move her head as the bayonet dug itself into the hard earth.
The soldier kicked the rifle away from Tyr's hand; it skidded away down the hill. The soldier pulled her rifle out of the ground and aimed it at Tyr's head.
Reacting in an instant, Tyr pulled out her knife and thrust it at the soldier's jugular. She used so much force the knife went in all the way up to the hilt.
The soldier's head snapped to the side; there was a pained expression on her face. When Tyr pulled the knife out hot thick blood splattered against her face. The soldier gurgled out blood as she clutched her neck in her final moments, crashing down on the ground. Tyr got up and watched the girl twitch, their eyes meeting.
The girl stopped moving, and Tyr kicked the corpse down the hill. She grabbed her blood-soaked knife and charged back into the fray.
Freyja's boots dug into the ground as she fired her lmg, killing all the enemies in front of her. The gun stopped shaking when the last bullet was discharged, and she began swinging it like a bat at any enemy soldiers.
Freyja hit one soldier in the head, making a sickening crack as the soldier fell to the ground. Blood slowly trickled out of the girl's head, and her eyes glazed over. Freyja smirked and swung her gun again, this time catching another girl who was charging her right in the face. She slipped backwards and fell on her head, screaming as she covered her face with her hands. Blood spilled between her fingers, silently trickling down her arm and silently trickled down her arm. Freyja beat the girl down with the butt of her lmg, the blood splattering across her uniform and face.
She stopped, resting her hands against her knees as she panted. All around her the Karoliners were carving their way through the mass of enemy troops, getting turned into ground beef in the process. Bullets ripped through their tender skin and hard bones. Blood vessels burst as they were torn. Limbs were severed and skulls cracked open.
But they charged on regardless. Even as their numbers thinned, their courage and fearlessness accounted for their blood-fueled frenzy. Their entire bodies were red, their weapons drenched and the expressions on their faces were of wild demons. They hollered out a warcry as they cut down any enemy in their way.
The Viking Fisheries troops began to flee in terror, the Karoliners right on their tails. Bullets entered their backs, and they fell down screaming. The Karoliners cleaved with their bayonets, leaving a path of death and destruction behind them.
Tyr jumped onto the back of one girl and sunk her bloody knife into her back. The girl cried and struggled but Tyr drew out her knife and pulled the girl's head back, putting her hand over her mouth. The girl's muffled cries were ignored as the blade slid across her throat. A thin red line appeared like a noose, and she stopped struggling.
Tyr let go of the girl and pounced on her next prey, putting her knife into the girl's nape.
The thousands of Viking Fisheries soldiers ran from the hill to save their own lives, while the Karoliners finally stopped chasing them, advancing far from their defensive position. They had lost over 800 girls, but lay behind them lay the bodies of over 4,000 enemy soldiers.
Viggens Central Position, 3:41 P.M.
"Keep firing!" Skadi shouted as she fired her M/1938 rifle. They emptied their magazines into the swarm of enemies that leapt over the abandoned Viggens trenches and sandbags. Hundreds were cut down, their rifles dropping onto the ground.
"Shit, they keep on coming!" She cursed, pulling the bolt back. She had killed scores of soldiers today, but it seemed the enemy reserves were endless. They fired their Krag–Jørgensen rifles and Madsen lmgs, and launched shells from their Brandt mle 27/31 mortars into the Viggens trenches.
Just then a bullet flashed above her, and her hat flew off of her hat. A single bullet had put a hole in her hat. Skadi looked up and saw the smoking barrel of a Krag–Jørgensen pointing right at her. The soldier smirked as she pulled the trigger and aimed again. Skadi's eyes widened, and she reached for her gun, only to find it out of ammo. This is it, she thought. This is the end for me.
"Commander!" The soldier dropped her rifle as two dozen bullets hurtled through her. She dropped to the ground, dead.
Skadi turned to her right to see a soldier with a Kpist M/37 smg. She lowered her smg and smiled at Skadi. "Come on commander," She said. "We've got your back."
Skadi grinned. "Thanks." She replied as she reloaded her rifle. She rose up and fired her M/1938, hitting a girl in the hip. She fell over, only to be replaced by another soldier.
Nora crawled through the war-torn ground, sloshing through blood and guts. She stood up, aiming her pistol at the trenches before her. A Viggens soldier with a m/1938 rifle tried to shoot her, but Nora shot her in the chest twice. She slid into the trench, slipping a new magazine into her pistol. The trench was filled with the bodies from both sides.
"Damn," She muttered as she stalked through the trench. More soldiers jumped into the trench for cover.
"We've almost pushed them all the way back!" One soldier exclaimed. A mortar team set up position in the trench and launched shells into the air. The infantry fired their Krag–Jørgensen rifles and heaved their grenades. They charged towards the secondary fortified Viggens positions. They dropped like flies, but they continued to stampede relentlessly.
Nora stepped up the trench parapet, waving her gun in the air. "Come on," She prompted. "Victory is within reach! Attack!" She ran after her fellow comrades, eager for the final moments of the battle.
"Gah, they're charging again!" The soldier wailed as she reloaded her Kpist M/37 submachine gun.
"They will not give up." Nora groaned. She aimed her rifle and fired once, her shoulder shuddering as the stock pushed back against her body. The waves of thousands of enemies came closer, their yelling and hollering unnerving Skadi and the other soldiers.
Viggens Left Flank, 4:05 P.M.
The KSP m/1936 heavy machine guns rang as it fired hundreds of bullets towards the assaulting Viking Fisheries soldiers. The machine guns, positioned behind sandbags and windows of the houses sprayed entire formations down, while snipers picked off the officers. Hundreds of figures were struck down as bullets burrowed through their bodies and out their backs.
The town was in the middle of a bloodbath. Each street became a place of death as both sides exchanged gunfire and grenades. The Viggens soldiers holed up in the houses as the Viking Fisheries troops broke down the doors and windows. They charged up the staircases, only to tumble back down with bullets riddling their chests.
Field guns from both sides belched out shells at point blank range, the Viking Fisheries Ehrhardt 7.5 cm Model 190s destroyed entire houses, covering half the town in a cloud of dust. The Viggens soldiers, armed with automatic weapons were much more suited to this kind of warfare but were nonetheless overwhelmed by the enemy numbers.
The soldiers barricaded themselves with cars, crates and anything else they could find, putting them at the end of the street. They waited with nervousness as they heard the sounds of warfare tiptoe closer.
Then suddenly the first Viking Fisheries girl appeared from behind the street corner, and the soldiers opened fire. The girl was turned to mush as hundreds of bullets shredded her flesh apart.
More soldiers emerged, kneeling to fire their rifles, suppressing the troops behind the barricade. One by one, they killed a Viggens soldier, thinning out the defense. The defenders returned fire, gunning down at least a dozen soldiers. The hail of bullets were too much and what remained of the defense were forced to fall back further into the town.
The massacre had spread to the town square, where two groups of soldiers brawled with their fists, rifles and blades. One girl pulled the hair of a Viggens soldier down before slitting her throat with a knife. Using knuckledusters, a Viggens officer beat a soldier to death. One soldier armed with a Sjögren shotgun ripped a Viking Fisheries girl to pieces, her intestines flying out in little pieces. Machine guns mowed down girls from both sides indiscriminately.
One small Viggens girl shook in fright as the battle raged around her. She grasped her rifle tightly as she took a step back away from the killing. I'm going to die, she thought to herself. I'm just going to become one of the dead in this godforsaken place!
A Viking Fisheries soldier kneed her in the gut, launching her into the brick ground with a loud thud. The girl coughed as the Viking Fisheries stood over her with a smirk, pulling the bolt of her rifle back. The girl emitted a small moan of pain and terror and crawled away, but the enemy soldier only closed in on her.
"No, no, no no no," The girl whispered as the soldier raised her rifle up to her eye.
The girl watched as the soldier's head was split open by a single bullet, blood spraying out like a fountain. None other than Loki stepped forward, a smoking pistol in her hand. She wore not a general's epaulettes and medals, but rather a simple private's tunic and common field hat. There was dry blood stained on her uniform, indicating she had been fighting on the frontlines as well.
She turned to face the small soldier; there was a warm glow to her smile as she extended her hand. "Stand up soldier, and wipe your tears," She said in an affectionate tone. "There's nothing to fear, our victory's been assured." The sunlight had radiated her in a ray of white, and a feeling of hope washed over the girl as she took Loki's hand. Loki grinned. "That's it. Everything's alright."
She pulled the girl into an embrace, and stretched out her arm. "Hakkapeliitta, attack!" Her voice echoed in her loud, authoritative tone.
Suddenly from the alleyways Stridsvagn m/37 tankettes and Landsverk L180 armored cars rushed out, firing their machine guns and cannons. They raked the square, killing many of the Viking Fisheries soldiers. This reinvigorated the Viggens soldiers, who mounted a counterattack with Loki at their head. The Viking Fisheries soldiers began to flee in a panicked rush, their morale instantly shattering.
They retreated from the town as the tankettes gave chase, gunning them from behind. They turned to the center of the field, where the Viking Fisheries assault was strongest.
Five thousand girls and eighty armored cars left a dustbowl behind them, to the awe of Skadi and the exhausted soldiers that held off the enemy attack for hours. They cheered when Loki passed them, and joined the great push.
"One more push, and the field is ours!" Loki hollered, and the rumbling of propellers filled the air. From out of nowhere a dozen J 9 fighter planes appeared, strafing the Viking Fisheries soldiers on the ground. Bombs fell on the Ehrhardt 7.5 cm Model 190s, destroying the field guns and their crews. Because of this, the Viking Fisheries retreat became a full on rout, running full speed back to their side of the field.
The private joined her squadmates running away from the fight. "They have tanks and planes? We can't fight against that!" She cried.
The sounds of an engine above prompted her and the others to look up, and to their horro plane was right behind them. The girls screamed and increased their pace. They outran the private, whose own pace was getting slower.
"Hey, wait!" She called, and then her body slammed to the ground as she tripped over a dead body. "Ah!" She wailed as she tried to get up, and then she heard the crackling of the machine guns. Hundreds of .30cal bullets drilled through her body, and her corpse slumped down against the ground, the J 9 flying past her.
"What are you doing? Stand your ground!" Nora shouted as her subordinates dropped their weapons and fell back. "You cowards!" She reloaded her Konigsberg Colt and turned to face Loki, a look of determination on her face. The serious demeanor scared Nora, who stepped back and raised her gun. Loki fired first, putting a bullet in Nora's temple. She stepped over Nora's corpse and continued to lead the advance.
"Commander!" Loki turned and saw Tyr march right up to her. She saluted. "I didn't think you would be in the mud fight too!" She shouted. Loki grinned. "I see you survived." She replied.
"I'm damn thankful you've come with support we oh so needed," Tyr said. "Why did it take so long for the armor and air support to come?"
Loki sighed. "They had to refuel and rearm, those machines are really high-maintenance." She groaned.
"At least they came." Tyr shrugged her shoulders.
"Yeah, that's all that matters." Loki agreed, smirking. "They've assured our victory, and I want that Oslofjord to pay."
The fleeing Viking Fisheries soldiers were faced with utter destruction as artillery and bombs pounded from above and the tracers of machine guns sliced them from behind. Some soldiers faltered in their running, raised their arms and halted, allowing themselves to become prisoners.
Viking Fisheries HQ, 4:49 P.M.
The state of the base camp was anarchy; officers gathered everything they could and shoved them into lorries, before jumping in themselves and driving away. Anything heavy, like artillery guns were being abandoned as a stream of soldiers came with the news of the sudden and terrible rout.
"How the hell did this happen?" Oslofjord screamed in anger, throwing the binoculars at the ground. "I had such an advantage...how could this have happened?" She looked around anxiously at her officers, who were sweating profusely.
"Commander, we should retreat." One girl advised. Oslofjord glared at her. "And leave the field? That is a dishonor!" She hissed. The girl trembled. "But we've already lost. There's nothing we can do."
They all looked up to see the silhouette o rush past them, strafing the basecamp. "We must evacuate!" The girl shouted, this time in fright. Oslofjord stamped her foot. "We cannot now! Think of how this would reflect on me!"
"Ma'am, would you rather be killed here?" The girl cried. Oslofjord stood still, her face red with fury. "I…" She mumbled.
"Commander!" A girl holding her arm stumbled over. Blood flowed down her face. "The enemy commander, Loki was on the field, leading the enemy charge!" She reported. Loki instantly turned white. "What? That-" She said but the girl cut her off. "She was calling your name. She wanted you to surrender to her, to grovel at her feet. And she is heading right over here!" She reported, before falling down, dead.
A conflicted look came over Oslofjord. Emotions swirled and twisted in her chest, and she hung her head low. "Retreat," She muttered. "We're leaving." She said, clutching her chest as if in shame.
Thirty minutes later...
Loki marched through the abandoned camp, her voice booming. "Oslofjord, you scoundrel! Come out!" She hollered.
"She's gone, commander," Aesir said behind her in an annoyed tone. "I cannot believe you would actually go out and fight."
"What? That is the duty of a soldier, is it not?" Loki asked. Aesir rolled her eyes. "Your duty is to command, not to fight." She retorted. Loki turned around. "Aesir, you don't understand," She stepped forward, putting a hand on her shoulder. Soldiers crowded around them, getting a glimpse of their leader.
"I strive not to be a superior to these wonderful women; I want to be their equal. I will not set myself above everybody else because of my stature. I will live and work with my girls, do the jobs nobody else wants to do. I will share in the misery, pain and discomfort the grunts will have to face. If they do not have enough to eat or a place to stay I will refuse my luxuries to push through together with what we all have. Whatever my victory will be, it will be shared with all ranks. We are all comrades together." Loki said with a dazzling smile. Aesir was taken aback. "I-I-I-" She stuttered.
"Commander," One soldier stepped forward, tears in her eyes. "I can't believe you would be-" She hiccuped and started to cry. More soldiers stepped forward, crying.
"You think of us that way." One girl sniffled.
"To be under your command is an honor." Another soldier wailed. The throng of soldiers surrounded Loki and Aesir, tears rolling down their faces.
"Hail our commander!" One soldier exclaimed, and knelt down. The other girls followed suit, and within seconds hundreds of sobbing girls knelt in front of Loki, who took out her cross necklace.
"We're all equals under God. All of the suffering we face will only result in our glorious entrance to Valhalla. So do not despair girls, we must march forward together. Together we will fire our guns in our hands and blood on our uniforms. The fight will only get harder, but we will persevere under God's arm," Loki preached. She raised her cross necklace into the air. "Gott Mitt uns!" She shouted.
"Gott Mitt uns!" The soldiers repeated, their voices filled with immeasurable joy and pleasure.
7:19 P.M., a Few Kilometers Away...
A small black car drove past the column of broken soldiers, their eyes hollow with the slaughter of the previous day and the degrading rout that topped it all off. Their once proud uniforms were in tatters, and what self respect they had were all but gone.
It began to rain; this was the final nail in the coffin for the poor soldiers, who saw it as an insult from the heavens themselves. But still, the exhausted soldiers had to haul themselves back home. Fortunately for them, the Viggens forces had neglected to pursue them, already regrouping and gathering more soldiers for the counterattack into Viking Fisheries school itself, so the ragtag force had to reinforce their defenses as soon as they could.
Oslofjord sat alone in the backseat, crying. She had shed her military uniform, which was tossed haphazardly across from her. There were tear stains on her cheek, and her face were red and puffy.
"Commander, please," The driver said somewhat harshly. "Please get yourself together. This was your first battle, what were you expecting?"
Oslofjord ignored her and continued sobbing. The driver relaxed her expression, and softened her voice. "You're just stressed. Let's just go home and rest." She sighed and pushed on the gas pedal.
"It's my fault," Oslofjord whimpered. "It's my fault half my army's dead. It's my fault we even came here."
The driver furrowed her eyes. I guess it is true, she thought, but knew saying something so insensitive would further drive in her commander's despair. She had no response, and kept her eyes on the darkening road.
And so the battle ended, with Loki and Viggens victorious. They had lost 6,000 soldiers, a third of their entire force. But they had killed over 22,000 soldiers of Viking Fisheries, with more than 6,000 prisoners captured. With that, less than 15,000 soldiers under Oslofjord escaped back to Viking Fisheries that day, out of the original 46,000+ army.
This victory would send shockwaves throughout Japan, and within a month Loki and her armies would be propelled to mythical status, with every enemy crumbling before them, and even Kuromorimine, Pravda and Saunders would fear for their own safety as a new superpower was born from that fateful day.
For Viking Fisheries, this would be a only serve to turn Oslofjord into a laughingstock, even her allies pitying her.
The battle of Kuzumaki would become one of the most humiliating battles in the entire war.
Did you all enjoy that? This is what happens when you listen to nothing but Sabaton for two straight weeks. I have now decided Viggens will become an important player in the war, something I would not have expected otherwise. And yes, Loki is religious, Viggens will have a religious motif around them. If you hadn't figured out by now, I am basing Viggens around the Swedish Empire(stormaktstiden, or Era of Great Power in Swedish; damn, even their own name sounds badass), and Loki off of Carolus Rex/Charles XII, as well as Gustavus Adolphus. Don't judge, I am a huge history nerd. This story will not only be about the obvious WWII story, but of also other wars I've looked into(WWI, Napoleonic Wars, Great Northern War, etc) so expect more of this kind of stuff. This is also the longest chapter so far, just saying.
Karoliner, or Caroleans in English were the infantrymen of Charles XI and Charles XII, who would utilize aggressive tactics to gain an advantage over the enemy. They would fire one volley of musket fire before they charged in with swords and bayonets. They were also very religious, as they did not drink and prayed everyday. They would eventually be wiped out in the aptly named "Carolean Death March", where thousands of Karoliners would freeze to death in the Norwegian mountains near the end of the Great Northern War.
Hakkapeliitta were the Finnish light cavalry that fought for King Gustavus Adolphus during the Thirty Year's War.
Thanks to RedSS and SeekerMeeker for helping me out with this particular chapter, and along with aGuestfromGreece45 always helping me out with my story. And until next time, Panzer Vor!