Dear Miho.

It has been nearly eight months since we parted, and now it seems like it will be many more till we can finally see each other once more. Russia is nothing like home in any way. It is flat and bare, without a tree or hill as far as the eye can see.

Other than that, I say I am doing well. Most of the men in my unit are reasonably well. Some have an odd sense of humor, and not everyone has as much enthusiasm for hygiene as you might be used to. But I have been able to fit in as well as I can. I truly hope you're ok without me, and that...

"Commander?"

"Yes?" Maho asked as she diverted her attention from her letter to one of her comrades.

"Do you know how much further it is till we reach the rest of the division, Sir?"

Reaching into her trouser pocket, Maho pulled out a map covering the campaign area. Overlooking it for a good idea of their location.

"Seeing that we passed several villages here on the map, I say it will be at least several more hours." She answered before placing it back into her pocket.

"Yeah, this country seems to just keep going on forever." The gunner said while looking out through the gun sight.

"They say that this will all be part of the Reich after the war." Another added in, just as the tank they were in was rocked by a massive rock on the road. "The possibilities will be endless for any man in the army then."

"What are you going to do after the war Karl?" The gunner asked him after his statement.

"Well I was thinking of settling in here, and start a huge farm for myself." Karl answered "You Markus?" He questioned him back.

"Well I'll probably help my father with his butcher shop back home in Leipzig." He answered him comrade in the loaders seat.

"Ok. You Hayden?" He asked the driver.

"I guess I'll go into the trucking business, if what you say is true, then the reich is going to be in need for a lot of drivers."

"I say that fits you. What about you Muller?" Karl asked the first man who was unoccupied in his spot at the radio.

"I guess go back home in Bavaria, I got a girl waiting for me."

"Well I guess she is one lucky gal." Karl complemented. "Speaking of gals, what are you going to do Lieutenant?"

"Yeah, what do you want to do after the war Commander?" Muller asked, with all of the rest of the crew turning to her in curiosity.

For Maho, her intended role was determined even before she was born. Replace her mother as head of her school after she retires. Then probably get engaged by her to a complete jerk, have children, and train one of them to do the same.

"That's none of your business." She responds harshly.

The inside of the tank grew to an ere silence after her answer to their question for well over half an hour, until the radio finally broke it.

"Lieutenant, the lead scouting unit has reported several fuel trucks ahead."

It has been well over a hundred kilometers since their last refueling, and the whole convoy was starting to become extremely concerned with their fuel gages coming into the red. The awaiting fuel was greatly needed good news that the crew needed to get out of the uneasy mood they were in.

"Proceed with the rest of the convoy for refueling."

"Yes Sir."


The refueling depot was absolutely bustling, with a limited amount of fuel that was catching up with the axis's rapid advance. A massive collection of vehicles of the German army and its allies huddled together in a mass of confusion in an effort to gain what little fuel they could. Though the Panzers of Paulus 6th army were always the highest priority in their race to cut off the Volga.

While the rest of the crew were moving throughout the depot for any fuel they could find, Maho was sitting on the turret of her panzer 3, using her binoculars to scan the terrain for any enemy movements. Though they were well almost a hundred miles behind friendly lines, and completely surrounded by armed patrols guarding the depot, you could never be too safe.

"Hello!"

Maho in response removed the binoculars from her eyes, and leaped down to the ground to see two soldiers in Italian Black shirt uniforms. While she did meet many foreigners on her travels since leaving the academy, and before the war, the one odd thing about them was, that other than herself, these were the first two female soldiers she has ever seen.

"Hello." She returned in her normal tone.

"I thought I heard something about another female tank commander in line! 2nd lieutenant Anchovy and Sergeant Major Carpaccio, Italian 3rd Cavalry Division." Anchovy declared as they both saluted her.

"2nd Lieutenant Maho Westernkrieger, 16th Panzer division." She stated as she returned the gesture.

"Do you have a few minutes off, lieutenant?" Anchovy asked.

"I think I have a few minutes to chat." Maho answered, not having anything else to attend to at the moment.

"Sorry for the intrusion, but it's just been such a long time since we have come across another woman, since we first left Italy. For a while, I thought we were the only two female soldiers in the whole eastern front." Anchovy continued.

"I was starting to get the same impression."

"We were actually supposed to report at the front two days ago, but the fuel shortages are outrageous."

"We have been literally driving blind on empty tanks for the last few days ourselves." Maho said while shaking her head, and crossing her arms on her chest.

Anchovy laughed at Maho's statement. "At this rate, it'll be over before we even get there."

Just then, a third Italian soldier in an old worn uniform walked up the two.

"Duce, the L3 is fueled, and ready to go." He said, motioning towards the small obsolete tank awaiting them.

"It looks like it's my time to head out." Anchovy stated as she walked off.

"Good luck lieutenant." Wished Carpaccio as she soon followed suit.

Maho just stood there, watching as the Italians made their way through the confusing mass of vehicles, and people to their own unit. Moments later, Karl and Muller returned with as much fuel as they could find, over hearing a little of the conversation that just transpired.

"Lieutenant. We couldn't find much, but it's enough to reach our destination, Hayden and Markus are close behind." Muller reported.

"Who were those two?" Asked Muller as he watched the two Italian soldiers make broad their tank.

"Just a couple of Black shirts that came over to discuss the campaign's logistics problems." Maho answered, while looking through a clipboard that Muller handed to her from the CO.

"They seemed nice, though I heard those Black shirts are almost as bad as the SS." Karl bursts out to his two comrades.

In response, Maho simply tilted her clipboard coldly staring down her rather troublesome subordinate. "Get the tank fueled up, we don't want to get left behind by the others."

"Yes Sir!" He answered just as their other two crewmates arrived, with the remainder of the supplies needed.

As the rest of the crew conducted maintenance tasks around the tank, Maho sat once again on the turret, looking through the paperwork handed to her. It mainly comprised of the normal formalities as a tank commander, basic area maps, mission debriefing forms, supply forms on her units provisions both acquired and stored, and basic info on activists on the front ahead.

As she reached into her pocket for her pen, to start the task of filling out many of the forms that were to be handed back to the unit CO, she felt a fairly out of place item. Pulling it out, she discovered by a slight degree of surprise the letter that she was never able to finish earlier. Without so much as looking at it, she tucked it back into her pocket, making a mental note to finish it later as the tank once again started on the seemingly endless road along the Great Russian plane.


"Ah. Finally food!" Victor cheered happily as he, and the rest of his squad limped their way from the field kitchens, after yet another grueling training drill.

"Really? Food is all you can think about right now, huh?" Asked Roman in a slightly annoyed manner.

"What, I'm hungry." His cousin replied defensively.

"Victor, for the love of god! Just..."

"Roman! You should really stop being so hostile to your cousin. It's getting on everyone's nerves." Alexander told Roman with a stern face. Since the creation of their unit, Alexander's natural leadership skills really started to shine, becoming the unofficial co-commander of the unit.

"I'm sorry, it's just that..."

"I know, everything has been very stressful lately. But you are not the only one like that here. And if we can't learn to work together like back home, it'll just be that much more likely we will never see home again." Alexander continued on Nonnas behalf.

Nonna usually was the one that broke up the arguments between them. But today's drill was particularly rigorous, having to help Vladislav along due to a hurt ankle, while she was nearly out of breath herself.

After several minutes, she finally met up with the rest of the unit.

"Nonna your back! How's Vlad?" Kimek asked as she sat down onto the grass, with a small handful of hard bread, and a bowl of undercooked cabbage soup.

"Denis took a look at him before we left, and said it was only sprained." She replied.

"Hey you guys!" Greeted Dennis, as he came into the group as well.

"Hey Dennis, how is is the medical training doing?" Asked Kimek between bites.

"Well, I get to use the some of the best medical equipment I have ever seen, and I get excused from most of the drill exercises, so I guess it fairly well." He answered.

"That sounds great, today we had to lug these 30kg logs on our shoulders." Said Kimek, while rotating his shoulder to ease the pain.

Dennis then turned his attention to the food on his lap, raising the board towards him. "I see we're getting cabbage again." He said.

"Yeah, it's not the best, but I heard its pure luxury compared to what we're going to get on the front lines...if anything." Stated his brother from across their improvised circle on the ground.

After the units little conversation as they ate, her attention turned to the letter she received earlier in the day. Opening it up neatly, she slipped the paper out and unfolded it.

"What's that?" Asked Alex, curious about what Nonna brought out.

"Just a letter from Katyusha, I never got the chance to read till now."

"Can we hear you read it? I miss your little sister."

"Shure." Nonna answered, as she began to read the letter.

"Dear Nonna

Katyusha misses you very much. Everyone has become very unhappy here at the village. Yackov has been taking very good care of Katyusha since you have left, and Katyusha has also become close friends with his son, and the girl Nina from next door as well. Hope to see you soon.

Love: Katyusha."

As Nonna read the letter, everyone in the group, including herself grew homesick, with the looming dread that none of them would ever be able to go home again.

"Well… it looks like your sisters in for it now." David said turning to Vlad, knowing firsthand how Katyusha can be a little rough sometimes when playing. Gaining a few chuckles from the others.

"Yeah, Katyusha sometimes makes me out of breath. I can't wait to hear from my sister how she doing now." He responds still laughing slightly.

"At least they're not entirely lonely now." Nonna said sadly, knowing that she is her only family left.

Everyone else in the group fell into silence after that, deciding to simply eat their meal in silence, before the next drill.

"Everybody get the the camp center now! Move it comrades!" Several Officers yelled out, calling the troops to order throughout the camp.

"What's going on?" Nonna asked, as another squad leader was passing her.

"I don't know, but all of the officers are calling everyone into line."

Every soldier of the division, from the senior officers, down to the newest recruits, were put into formation at the very center of camp. Before them, on a hastily erected stand, stood General Alexander Rodimtsev, a veteran of the Spanish war, and the commander of the division. Standing tall, and proud before his men, he gave his message.

"Soldiers of the 13th guards rifle division! Today, with the German 6th army entering the city of Stalingrad, the Soviet Supreme General Staff has given us the direct order to move forward, to prevent them from reaching the Volga. I understand that many of you have yet to become properly trained and equipped, but now the very fate of our country, and everyone that lives in rests in our hands. Good luck Comrades!"

With the division still in the midst of resupply, and reinforcement from the bloody struggle over Kharkov four months prior, over half of its soldiers were ill equipped and ill trained for any form of engagement, let alone a major battle against battle hardened german soldiers. Of everyone among Nonna's unit, everyone has been forced to wear the same uniform since they first entered the camp several weeks ago, and not one has so much as held a rifle, let alone learn how to use one.

As General Rodimtsev continued his speech, the feeling of dread and fear began to take hold over fresh recruits, and veterans alike throughout the whole division. Everyone was expecting to meet the enemy eventually, but not in such a short time, with such a short notice. With the haste in which Stavka gave its order, the 13th guard division had absolutely no form of transportation available, and found itself in a forced march for mile after mile towards the Volga, and the awaiting German 6th army.


I'm sorry if this chapter was a little short, but in trying to keep as many details straight as possible, I sort of ran out of time, I'll explain later.

While I did promise action last chapter, my research showed that the manner in which both characters would have made it to the city would have a propounding effect on the battle itself. And if you don't like any of the original characters, just let me know so I can kill them off early.

Anchovy and Carpaccio was a last minute addition, two of the over 600,000 Italian, Romanian, and Hungarian soldiers who though alongside their German allies despite being ill equipped, and ill prepared.

Regarding the review about Maho having a non-German name, I gave her a German last one, It might be the best one ever, but I think It suits her well.

And the other point of asking if this is a alternate reality, this is supposed to be as historically accurate as possible, (with the exception of the female axis soldiers). So there's no school ships, of Senshado in this world.

I'll just like to give a thank you to night_sentinel along with several other writers that have helped me on several different sites, along with you, and the other readers of this story, on this, the 61st anniversary of the battle of Stalingrad.

Translations:

Westernkrieger: Western Warrior

Historical Characters:

Alexander Rodimtsev: Commander of the 13th guard division 1941-1943

Friedrich Paulus: Commander of German 6th army January 1942-February 1943