Chapter 3: A familiar Friend

2nd July 1943

The 10 days they travelled were long, and seemed to take forever. They stopped occasionally; usually during the night to stock up on more supplies at the rail depots they'd constructed over the two years they had occupied the Soviet Union. During their long journey, Maho had gotten to know the other female officers, but she kept her distance to the men in the carriage; she didn't like them, and she knew for a fact; they didn't like her either.

'How much longer..? We've been travelling for more than 10 days now, and we've still haven't arrived to our destination. Where are we-'

She jumped as the train brakes screeched, and the train slowly shuddered to a halt. There were voices speaking in German, and the carriage door was unlocked, then opened. A soldier appeared on the platform. Maho took the chance to take in her surroundings. The hustle and bustle of city life in Frankfurt was long gone. Instead, the sun was gently shining in, and apart from the bustling of troops walking around, the shouting of orders, the noisy rumble of truck engines; Maho took her time taking it all in. She smelt the fresh air of the Russian countryside; the grass growing, trees, birds tweeting in the distance. No sound of gunfire, artillery shells shrieking overhead, no screams of pain. Everything was so… peaceful. For a moment, she forgot that she was in a war…

"Alright, Lets' get you guys out." The soldier spoke, looking at Maho.

She nodded, and looked at the men and women in the carriage.

"You heard him, let's go."

As by her orders, the men and women walked past her and jumped off from the edge onto the platform. She found herself inadvertently looking at Karla. She seemed relaxed, her blonde hair moving gently in the slight breeze. She jumped, before looking back at Maho, and smiled; before jumping down to join her other female comrades. Maho smiled, and jumped off the edge of the carriage and onto the platform. She saw them disappear behind the administration building; before hearing Karla's voice. "Oh! Sorry Hauptmann!"

"It's fine, Oberfeld..?" The voice paused, unsure on how to address Karla.

Maho's eyes widened. The woman's voice… was very familiar. But she couldn't work out who it was. It was extremely familiar; she must've heard it before…

"Oberfeldwebel Brun, 505th Heavy Tank Battalion, B Company." Karla responded quietly, but with confidence.

"Oh… B Company? You're with me then!" The woman exclaimed. "Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Hauptmann Erwin Brandt. I'm your company commander. You'll be fighting along with me."

Maho gasped, breaking into a genuine smile. It was her old friend, and her commander; Hauptmann Erwin Brandt. They've grown up together, and went to the same schools, until she left to study at Dresden. When the war broke out, she returned to Frankfurt with enlisted with Maho. Both of them enlisted with the panzerwaffe, to become tank commanders. After their training had finished, they served alongside one another; first starting out commanding Panzer IIIs. They rose up the ranks; but Erwin had risen to the rank of Hauptmann, whilst she had only risen to the rank of Leutnant. They've been fighting together since the invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941. However, as the battle of Stalingrad drew to a close, both were recalled to Germany to undergo retraining for the new Tiger I tanks. From then, she and Erwin had been operating a Tiger company in the 505th Heavy Tank Battalion, until Maho was injured by shrapnel from an exploding artillery shell when she was taking a break outside during the lull of some fighting about a month ago from now. Maho paused, remembering all the memories she'd had with her. With that, she adjusting her sidecap, before walking towards and behind the administration building, making sure she was behind Erwin.

'It's been only a month or two since I've last seen her… But it seems as if we haven't seen each other for years.'

"Hauptmann… you're sidecap is slightly askew. I'd adjust it if I were you." She spoke softly, smirking at her own witty remark.

Erwin blinked and smiled at her voice, adjusting her sidecap accordingly. "Karla… do you mind if I can have a moment in private?" She asked kindly.

"Of course ma'am." Karla replied, leading the rest of the crew members away from the administration building. Erwin checked they were out of sight, before turning round to face Maho; her eyes glowing with ecstasy. Before she knew it, Maho was being pulled into a tight hug. She gasped as she was pulled forward; her sidecap slipping and falling off her head.

"Maho! It's been too long!" Erwin cried out, wrapping her arms round Maho's back tightly. "But, I think formal greetings are still an order." She muttered, smirking as she released her.

"Of course… Hauptmann." Maho grinned, picking up her sidecap and brushing the dust off it; before putting it onto her head again. "Glad to be serving with you again… Hauptmann Brandt." She laughed cheerfully , her face breaking into a smile as she saluted her.

"And it's good to see you have recovered from your injuries, Leutnant Ketler." Erwin replied, smiling as she returned the salute. "Honestly, I've been so bored without you in the Company, y'know? I'm always surrounded by these guys who just can't stop gawping at me." She chuckled. "Worst of all, I can't get them to stop!"

"Erwin. You need to shout at them. Show that you're the boss." Maho sighed, shaking her head slightly as she smirked. "After all this time, you still aren't able to tell a man to stop looking at you?!" She laughed.

Erwin grinned, pretending to cross her arms in a huff. "I'd like to see you try…" She mumbled. "Anyway, there are more important things I need to tell you." She stated, gesturing Maho to follow her to walk with her. "About the upcoming offensive."

"Oh? A new offensive has been planned? That is surprising." Maho mused. "So, what is the offensive about?"

" I'll explain it all when I have my maps. They're all in my Tiger, you see."

"Ah. I see then." Maho walked swiftly alongside her, her boots flattening the green blades in the moist earth. They rounded the corner of the administration building; where they saw the other Tiger Tanks being unloaded from the train.

"We're expecting some new Tiger Tanks, so we can have a full Company." Erwin explained, before Maho could query the reason for the Tigers being delivered. "Our Tigers are nearby in a field just a few minutes away from here… Oh, since we're well into our own territory, we can still afford to do that." She explained reassuringly, seeing Maho's rather worried glance at her, then up at the air.

"Last time we did that… it didn't end well." Maho whispered, still giving several quick glances up in the air, not totally reassured by Erwin's words. "We lost some men and tanks then…" Maho paused, standing still as the smell of oil, steel and blood filled her, burning wrecks of tanks and blood as she dragged wounded men to safety, their screams of pain puncturing her ears. This was Stalingrad at its height, 1941. Her Company had stopped in a field to take a quick break whilst there was a lull in the fighting. Then, it happened. The sound of cannon fire and the whir propellers broke through her ears. She looked down at her hands. She saw the blood stains of her wounded comrades. It was almost surreal. Everything was replaying in slow motion. In the distance, she saw Erwin, struggling to get out of her burning tank; jumping out and running a few feet from it before it exploded in flames, metal shards flying everywhere. She was so close, so close to dea-

"Maho?"

Erwin's gentle voice filled her head. She blinked, and all she could see was Erwin standing in front of her. Because she was slightly shorter than her, Maho looked up at her. "Hm?"

"Are you okay?" Erwin asked her, slight concern could be seen in her eyes. "You were just standing there… staring into space. She walked over and put a gentle hand on Maho's shoulder. "Was it something you remembered?"

Maho shook her head slowly. "No… None of that sort." She replied calmly, although her heart was still racing inside her body. "I was just thinking… about how much Miho will miss me." She lied quickly. She didn't want Erwin to be worried about her. "I mean, she always gets scared I won't come back one day. I promised her I will." Maho forced a smile. "So I'm going to fulfil that promise."

"Aww. That's adorable." Erwin smiled, and walked several steps, waiting for Maho to catch up. "Since we're on the subject of your sister, how is she?"

The latter raised a brow at Erwin. "She's okay. Although she's only 15, she wants to join the panzerwaffe… So she could be with me. But otherwise, she seemed to be in good health before I left." Maho replied slowly. "But honestly, why she wants to join up, I have no idea. I don't think she understands the risks that we have to face."

Erwin nodded in agreement. "If she does join up, her life won't be the same once we're out of this hellhole of a war. She won't see the world as the same. She may see some traumatic things that will be etched in her mind forever…"

They walked for several minutes, crossing a road and into a grassy field, the long blades of grass stroking against their hips as they walked through it. The sky was mostly clear, with only a few scattered clouds breaching the endless blue sea. The sun was shining in; the gentle rustle of the wind and birds tweeting overhead as they flew over the vast Russian steppe.

'Remember you're not in Paradise Maho… You're far from it. This is the Soviet Union. You are here to fight the Soviets. Not to relax.'

"Oh. It seems like we've arrived." Erwin's voice cut through Maho's trail of thought. A few meters ahead of them, partially obscured by the long blades of grass, 8 tanks were lined up in a straight line. Erwin's gaze fell on the people around it. Some were standing around on soil, smoking cigarettes and chatting, some were playing cards. Others were standing on the tank, doing various maintenance works on them. 3 people were standing guard, their MP40s gleaming in the sunlight. They weren't soldiers though; they all wore the standard field grey tunics, black ties and black trousers. Most had their leather jackets on, but some had taken them off and draped them on the gun barrel of their tanks, using them as makeshift hangers. All of them however were wearing their black sidecap. One woman caught sight of Erwin and Maho, and soon enough, all of them were adjusting their uniforms, buttoning their leather jackets and straightening their ties. They soon formed up in a single horizontal line. The woman stood out in front of them, facing the two officers directly.

"Company! Atten-Tion!" She shouted, saluting both of Erwin and Maho. Her voice caused Maho to break into yet another smile. The woman standing in front of her was of rather tall stature, with light khaki hair that extended down to her shoulders, her pale blue eyes looking straight at the latter. Her black jacket was neatly done up, and her sidecap was perfectly straight. She held her hand out to greet Maho. "Welcome back Leutnant."

"At ease." Maho replied slowly, extending her own hand to warmly shake the woman's. "It's nice to see you, Feldwebel Austerman. Or… should I call you Erika?" She smiled happily. Feldwebel Erika Austerman. Maho's gunner and second in command of her Tiger. Erika was well known within the Company, and all the other panzer divisions she'd fought with, proving the to be the best shot within the each and every one of the divisions. Maho had met her several times before, and had served together in the Panzer divisions when they were fighting in Stalingrad. So it was a pleasant surprise for her when she found out Erika had been transferred to the 505th Heavy Tank Battalion.

Erwin then looked over at Maho, and smirked. "Erika, you can go. I want a word with you men." She muttered. Once Erika had gone from the line, she crossed her arms and frowned. "Some of you seem to think I'm really good to look at, and I appreciate it. But," She took a step closer. "I think it's going too far now. You men may not have seen your sweethearts for some time, I know, but stop gawping at me every time I walk past, clear?" She couldn't contain her amusement anymore, and her face broke into a small smile, before quickly straightening her face and clearing her throat. "Otherwise, I'll ma-"

"Make sure your eyes have been washed with soap or gouged out. That'll teach you men a lesson in not to look at these officers like that. They maybe women officers; they're no different to a male officer like me. You treat them with the same respect as you treat male officers. Got it?" A man's voice spoke from behind the two officers. It had a deep, but flowing tone to it.

"Aye sir." The men replied slowly, some looking away in shame.

"Company dismissed."

The men trudged back slowly to their tanks, resuming their previous activities. Erwin turned round and stood to attention, nudging Maho with her elbow. Maho immediately turned round and stood to attention, saluting the man. He was a thin man, but relatively well built for someone his size. He was about an inch taller than Erwin, with dark blonde hair combed to the right side of his head, and shockingly blue eyes. He had an officer's field cap on his head, but apart from that he wore the same uniform Maho and Erwin wore, but his shoulder strap was much more elaborately decorated, signifying his high rank.

"Major Gegenheimer… What a pleasant surprise." Erwin spoke, saluting quickly before quickly standing back at attention.

"As you were." The major nodded, and both women relaxed slightly. "I thought I would help finish off your little… threat to them." He smiled and nodded at Maho. "Is she your second in command?"

"Yes sir. I'm Leutnant Maho Ketler, B Company, second in command. Hauptmann Brandt is my superior and commander." Maho responded promptly, saluting him before extending her hand, which the major warmly held and shook.

"I'm Major Manfred Gegenheimer. I'm in command of the 505th Heavy Tank Battalion, but I also lead A Company. Nice to meet you Leutnant Ketler. I believe your injuries are mostly, if not all better?" Seeing her surprised look, Manfred gestured to Erwin. "Hauptmann Brandt here has told me all about you. You seem to be a rather quiet, but a likeable individual. Like me." He added quickly with a small smile, seeing Maho blush slightly.

"With due all respect Major…" Maho began, thinking over her choice of words carefully. "Where is Oberstleutnant Raiter?" She asked slowly.

Erwin looked at Manfred. "Can I have a word in private with her, Major?" She asked quietly. He nodded, and walked a good few meters away, pulling out a map from his pocket which he inspected. Erwin then took Maho by her hand, and walked a few meters away.

When they came back, Manfred could see that Maho was visibly upset.

"When did this happen?" She asked quietly.

"Only a week after you were flown back to Germany for treatment, he was killed in action when we came under air attack. His tank was hit by a bomb." Erwin responded quietly, putting an arm gently around Maho's shoulders.

Maho calmed down a little, taking deep breaths to slow down her racing heart. "Oh… It's just…" She began. "It's just we were good friends." She whispered.

"I know." Erwin replied slowly. "We may have lost a good man, but in terms of leadership, we haven't lost a thing. Major Gegenheimer is very experienced. He's been awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross."

"I surely hope so." Maho muttered, looking at the Major. "But since he's got the Knight's Cross, I'm sure he'll be a great leader." She smirked faintly, trying to cheer herself up.

Manfred sighed, changing the topic quickly. "Shall we go over the plan here, or should we go back to the temporary HQ to discuss it?"

"I don't mind." Erwin and Maho replied at almost exactly the same time, casting amused glances at each other immediately afterwards.

The major nodded and gestured for them to walk with him. Maho walked swiftly after Erwin and Manfred, who were a few meters in front of her.

"Is she always like this?" Manfred whispered to Erwin.

She frowned slightly, and slowed down a few paces. "Yes. She's always like that. She likes to see if the Battalion CO is competent enough. Otherwise, she may just… teach them a lesson." She said, just loud enough for Maho to hear, a wide smirk fixed on her face.

Maho smiled, laughing quietly to herself as she walked faster to join them.

They walked back to the administration building. The rumbling of engines was prominent, as the newly arrived Tigers drove past them. Maho turned to the source of the noise, six Tigers driving down the road in a single column, moving towards the field where B Company was. The lead tank had the commander's hatch opened. Karla was looking outside, her head clearly seen but her shoulders obscured by the hatch. She looked over and smiled at Maho, before turning back to face the direction she were going.

"In here please." Manfred spoke, his hand gesturing to the administration building door, where two soldiers; each at one side of the door, were standing guard. Seeing three high ranking officers approach them, they instantly snapped to attention as they walked in.

Once inside, they turned to the first door on the left. "After you." Manfred smiled, gesturing the two females to walk in.

Once inside, Maho looked round intently. There was a large desk, with maps and charts littered on its surface. Three chairs were positioned around it; two were next to each other and the last chair was on the opposite side of the desk. There was a bookshelf with a few books, and instruction manuals. Other than that, it was a rather empty office.

Manfred sat down on the chair and pulled out one of the larger maps that were crushed under pile of some more maps and books. "Sit down if you want." He spoke, gesturing the two chairs opposite him, in which both Maho and Erwin quickly sat down at. He then pointed at a city labelled 'Kursk'. "That's where the offensive objective it. To take the city of Kursk. We are part of the northern salient." He pointed at a group of numbers and symbols positioned North West of the city. "The 505th is to be attacking with the 1st wave, with the 20th Panzer Division. We are to try and establish a breakthrough, and prevent any counterattacks as the infantry divisions will push forward. Do you understand so far?" He asked. Seeing Maho's nod he continued. "From where we are, we are to drive east, in a pincer movement with the other forces at the southern salient. They will drive North West, to complete the pincer movement, and to trap the soviets forces within the encirclement. The offensive will start on the 5th July, at 0530 hours. We will move out tonight at 1700 hours to get to the front line, ready for the offensive. We will be travelling through the night. Any questions?"

"Aye sir." Maho replied. "I have one question. " Manfred nodded and she continued to speak. "Seeing that we're attacking in an easterly direction, the terrain is rather flat. No hills, no cover. Unless you count small villages as cover. So, the question is, Major, will we have air cover as we advance?"

Manfred smiled. "I'm glad to asked that Leutnant. We should have air cover, once the Luftwaffe has established air superiority."

"I sure hope so." Maho muttered, knowing that they would most almost be spotted by any reconnaissance aircraft. "Well, I guess Hauptmann Brandt and I should get our equipment ready. What is the time Hauptmann?" She asked.

Erwin looked down at her watch. "Just gone past 1500 hours. We should get our tanks ready."

Maho nodded and saluted Manfred. "Thank you for letting me know sir."

Manfred nodded. "No problems. Oh, Leutnant… I've been told you might need these?" He opened a drawer and took out a polished Luger P08 and a pair of binoculars. "Hauptmann Brandt took these off you after you were injured." He walked round and passed them to her.

Maho smiled and examined her luger. "I've missed you, you know?" She whispered to it, as Erwin smirked.

"Let's go Leutnant." She calmly spoke, leading Maho out of the office and then back to the rail station. "Let's go get our Tigers prepared. We still need to load some ammunition into them. The supply convoy should have arrived by now."

Maho nodded and they both walked off into the distant field towards their Tigers once more. She smiled faintly. 'At least Erwin is still with me. I'm glad she's still around to help me. She's a strong woman, and an incredibly intelligent one too. I'm glad she is my Company Commander.' She thought to herself. 'I don't know what I would do without her…'

Notes:

UPDATE: Chapter 4 is now written.

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