Chapter 4: The journey to Kursk begins.

2nd July, 1943. 1510 hours.

Erwin and Maho soon reached the field where their tanks were. Instead of 8 Tigers, there were now 14: A full company. Several trucks were parked next to the farthest Tiger, where the crew were loading the shells into their ammo racks.

"Looks like the supply convoy has indeed arrived." Maho spoke. "But it's going to take time to load all of the Tigers." She looked at her Tiger, which was 12th in the line. From where she was, she could make out Erika, who was kneeling down near the back of the tank, obviously fixing something.

"Well. At least you will have your shells. Mine is the last one. I'd be lucky to have any shells left! Oh, I forgot. I already loaded up my shells. I'm so stupid." Erwin joked, as Maho chuckled lightly at her humour. "Ah, and I see that Oberfeld Brun and the rest of our Company has arrived."

Maho smirked, and turned to look at her superior, giving Erwin a "you-cannot-be-serious" look. "Well done. You've only just noticed." She shook her head, chuckling.

Erwin grinned, playfully pushing Maho away with her hand. "Whatever." She turned to look at her Tiger. "I guess we'll talk later. Tell your crew that once everything's done, I want them to be round my Tiger. We need to let them know what the plan is. Got it?"

Maho nodded, saluting with a smirk. "Aye ma'am!" She grinned and began walking to her Tiger. Erwin smiled back, and walked towards hers.

Maho slowly strode towards her Tiger. As she got closer, she realised only Erika was outside. The rest of her crew were in the tank. She walked up to the rear of the tank, where Erika was. "Erika, where is the rest of my crew?" She asked casually. Her Tiger had remained the same, apart from one little feature: It now had an MG 34 fixed on a rotatable tripod which was welded onto the turret, allowing easier self-defence if enemies got too close.

Erika looked over her shoulder and smiled, jumping down from the engine block to stand at attention. "Inside the tank, ma'am." She replied. "Permission to 'do my thing', ma'am?" Erika grinned.

"Permission granted. And, we've known each other long enough Erika. You don't need to call me ma'am. Just call me Leutnant." Maho told her.

Erika nodded and smiled, climbing back onto the engine and getting a spanner from the toolbox that was sitting there, before climbing and kneeling down on the turret. "Oi lads! Our commander is here! Get your asses back up here to greet her now! Otherwise I'll throw this spanner down at you!" She laughed quietly to herself.

Maho shook her head and smirked as two men instantly climbed out, jumping down onto the grass below them. A few seconds later everyone heard a clang of metal hitting metal; before another male climbed out. Instead of a sidecap, he was wearing a M1940 Stalhelm on his head.

"Erika. Don't throw spanners at me. It hurt. Even with this on." The male replied, frowning at her. But Erika elbowed him in the arm, and his gaze fell on Maho. "Oh! Sorry Leutnant." He whispered, looking down as they all snapped to attention.

"At ease, men." Maho spoke. "And women." She added seeing Erika's smirk. "It's good to see you all. I know it's been a month, but. I guess formal introductions are still an order." He went over to the tallest male. He was old, older than Maho by only a few years. He had dark brown hair and rather kind, but dull brown eyes. His face reflected stress and exhaustion, but also good spirits. He was well dressed, apart from his sidecap that was a little askew to the right and rather dusty. "Unteroffizier Hilgeman, or should I say Ernst?" Maho smiled as she shook his hand gently.

"Welcome back, Leutnant." Ernst whispered, smiling slightly.

Maho moved on to the next male, who had blonde hair and strikingly blue eyes. He was the one that was wearing the stalhelm instead of a sidecap. He also looked quite young, but was rather enthusiastic and happy. Seeing Maho, he happily saluted her. "Welcome back Leutnant!" He exclaimed, holding out his hand quickly, in which Maho warmly shook.

"Still as hyper and enthusiastic as usual are we, Feldwebel Garbrecht? Or would you prefer me to call you Felix again?" Maho smiled faintly, saluting back to him. Although he was a person that would be the most likely to annoy her, she felt that he didn't totally mean to at times, as it was his nature to be enthusiastic and happy. So she felt she could be more forgiving to him.

She then moved on to the final male. He had light brown hair, and was rather tall; just slightly taller than herself. He also had pale, tired but kind looking grey eyes. "It's nice to see you back, Leutnant." He whispered.

Maho flashed a smile, and shook his hand warmly. "It's nice to see you too, Christian, or should I refer you as Unterfeldwebel Huch?" She asked, smiling as he looked down and chuckled quietly.

"I'd rather you call me Christian… Leutnant." He replied quietly. "Oh and Leutnant?" He began.

"Yes?"

"I'm now 20 years old. Since yesterday." He exclaimed, smiling.

Maho smiled. "Congratulations, Christian! You're no longer a pipsqueak! Ah. I'm just kidding!" She grinned as Christian started laughing.

She finally turned to Erika. "Ah. My most trusted crewmember. Feldwebel Austermann. Good thing you're here as well. I don't know what I'd have done without you 'controlling' them." Maho smiled slightly as she looked at the men.

"Always here to help you Leutnant." Erika replied, smiling and shaking Maho's hand gently.

Maho nodded in agreement. "I know, Erika. I know." She looked at the Tiger, then at her crew. "How is she doing?" She asked them, referring to the Tiger.

"She's in good condition ma'am." Ernst instantly replied. "We've cleaned up everything. Just working on some engine issues. The engine stalls sometimes, and we're working on it. Everything else is good. Transmission, hydraulics, wiring, the lot."

"But we need ammunition for the forward machine gun, the machine gun on the turret and shells. We also need more grenades. So basically we're low our own personal previsions. Including rations. We're low on rations as well." Erika quickly added. "Our MP40s and Lugers need some ammunition, and we also have a new weapon, don't we?" She looked at the men, who nodded, before she smirked and winked at Maho. "As a present for our commanders' return."

Maho smiled. "First, the supply convoy is stocking up each individual Tiger with ammunition, shells and rations. So don't worry about that. Secondly, what's the new weapon you've got for me?"

Erika climbed into the Tiger through the commander's hatch, before coming back out with a weapon. It had an all metal body, which gleamed in the sunlight, and a wooden stock at the end. But it wasn't a MP 40. It's appearance was totally different. The magazine was curved, instead of straight.

"You… brought me a StG 44?!" Maho exclaimed in surprise. She knew about a new weapon being designed, that was an automatic weapon. She had also heard about its superb reliability and accuracy. But production had only begun a few months back. She never thought she would be able to get her hands on one. "How did you get it?" She asked curiously. "Because these have only started production a few months ago."

Erika smiled faintly. "It was Major Gegenheimer's idea. He is quite well known within the Wehrmacht and the Panzerwaffe. So he used his… 'influence' to get you one of these new 'Assault rifles', so they are supposedly called. So here you go Leutnant." She passed the assault rifle to Maho. "A welcome back present, from all of us." She smiled.

Maho took the StG 44 into her hands and examined it. "Wow…" She whispered, looking at her crew and smiling. It wasn't too heavy or too light, and it was a good size for her to hold. She aimed it around and looked down the iron sight. It was clear and easy to see through. She then pulled the bolt backwards, which slid back smoothly before snapping back into place. "It's new alright… and seems to work perfectly well." She muttered. "But, we need the ammunition first. Get everything ready. Once the ammunition trucks are here, we'll load up. I want no delays. We're going to set off at 1700 hours, got it?" Maho added, looking up at her crew.

"Jawohl, Leutnant." They all answered, before climbing back onto their Tiger.

Maho climbed onto the engine hatch and kneeled down next to Erika, who was working on the engine, fiddling around with some wires. "Damn! Why won't it work?" She whispered angrily, before hanging her head and sighing.

"Need some help, Erika?" Maho asked, looking at her comrade with a small smile.

Erika instantly turned her head round. "I would love some help Leutnant." She simply replied.

Maho nodded and looked at the engine. "So we have several wires loose?" She asked. Seeing Erika nod, she tilted her head in thought. "Hmm. Okay." She reached down and started fiddling around for the wires. "Ah. Got them." She whispered to herself. She then got to work.

About 10 minutes later, she grinned. "Seems to be good now Erika. Tell Ernst to try and start the engine. If it works, the engine will start."

Erika nodded and clambered up to the turret and looked into the commanders' hatch. A few moments later, the tank juddered, and the familiar rumble of the engine growled into life. It seems to be working Leutnant!" She shouted over the din.

Maho smiled. "Tell him to turn it off!" She shouted. A few moments later, the engine cut and all was mostly quiet. Maho climbed onto the turret. "It works Erika." She stated as Erika nodded in agreement. "That's our final problem sorted."

Erika grinned. "Now we just need to wait for the sup- oh. Speak of the devil! It's here."

Maho turned round, and sure enough, several trucks had stopped just behind her Tiger. Two men jumped down from the truck and walked up to her.

"Leutnant." They saluted her as she jumped down from the engine and nodded. "Ma'am, we have the supplies. Tell us what you need and we'll give it to you."

Maho smiled faintly. "Right. My second in command will tell you what we need. Erika?" She turned round as Erika jumped down from the tank and stood next to Maho.

"Right. Tank shells first. Since our Tiger has capacity for 92 rounds, I was thinking about 50 PzGr. 39 shells and 20 Hl. Gr. 39 shells. That gives us 70 shells… so… We'll have two racks to spare." Erika stated.

"We'll leave the shells to last, as they take the most time. Do you need any ammunition, grenades or rations?" One of the men asked.

Maho nodded. "We're low on MG 34 ammunition. The forward machine gun needs 3 boxes of 500 rounds, and the turret MG 34 needs 2 boxes. We should have enough room near the front, where Ernst sits. Also…" She paused, as they handed out the boxes of ammunition, which Erika lifted up to the turret, and Christian took them into the tank. "We also need… 10 grenades." The men opened a box containing grenades, and took ten out, passing them to Erika who in turn handed them to Christian. "Finally, ammunition. We have 2 MP 40s inside… Erika. How many magazines do we need?" She asked.

Erika paused, scratching her head in thought. "Each magazine has 32 rounds; I'm thinking 10 magazines in total? That'll give us 320 rounds. It should be enough."

The men nodded and handed out 10 magazines to Erika, who took them and climbed into the tank, placing them where one of the empty ammunition racks were for the tank shells, before climbing out again.

"Luger ammo. 3 magazines for each crew member, so that'll be 15 magazines." She quickly added. "And 5 StG 44 magazines… if you have them."

The men smirked. "Someone lucky has a StG 44? We only have 7 magazines, so you might as well have them all." They handed Maho 15 luger magazines and 7 StG 44 magazines, in which she climbed into the tank and put them one of the empty racks, which now housed: ten grenades, ten MP 40 magazines. Fifteen Luger magazines and seven StG 44 magazines. "Wow. We have so much stuff; it's amazing we can fit all of this, as well as those tank shells." She looked at the rack that was closest to where she would be sat. "That'll be for our rations, I guess." She whispered to herself, before climbing out; only to be met with a large armful of rations given to her by Erika.

"Rations, Leutnant, Rations." Erika happily smiled, giving them to Maho. "We've got enough rations for four days. We've got: Hartzweiback, Hartkeks, Rinderbraten, Hahnchenfleisch, Kandiezucter and Bohnenkaffee. Because I know you like your coffee Leutnant…" Erika smirked, as Maho grinned and disappeared into the tank, placing all of it into the empty ammo rack and climbing back out again. By now, Erika had a tank shell in her hand.

"Make a chain. Tell Christian or Ernst to help load up." She muttered, straining slightly to keep the shell from falling out of her hand. Maho quickly took the shell from her arms and passed it to Christian; who had climbed out to help, who in turn passed it to Ernst, who slotted it into place in the ammo rack.

"Don't worry… Leutnant." Erika muttered, finding it hard to talk and lift shells at the same time. "69 more shells to go…" She chuckled as Maho lifted it and gave it to Christian; the process beginning again.

A while later, they had finally finished loading the shells into the tank. Maho climbed into the Tiger. "We need to see how much space we have inside with all of us in it." She stated, and one by one her crew members climbed in.

"Hmm. It's still quite roomy." Erika exclaimed in surprise as Ernst and Christian nodded in agreement. "Even with all this equipment in…" She looked round and on the floor beneath her were the two MP 40s. She glanced to Maho, and propped against her side of the turret was her StG 44.

"We need to see Erwin. She's briefing us on the offensive. Everyone else is going now." Maho suddenly muttered, opening the commander's hatch and climbing out. Her crew quickly followed. Outside, they could see other tank crewmen walking towards Erwin's tank; Erwin was stood on top of the turret, using it as a makeshift platform. Maho and her crew quickly walked over. Seeing Maho come, Erwin gave a small smile as Maho climbed up to the turret and joined her.

"Company. Atten-Tion!" Maho commanded, and the entire company snapped to attention.

"At ease, at ease." Erwin ordered a few moments later. "Is everyone present?"

"Aye Hauptmann!" The entire company replied.

"Good. Because I need to brief you on the upcoming offensive. Now all of you pay attention and listen." She smiled and climbed down to fetch an annotated map before unravelling it and showing them.

About half an hour later, there was the shout of "Company Dismissed" and they all returned back to their tanks, leaving Erwin and Maho together.

"That's that sorted I guess…" Maho whispered quietly to Erwin. There was a sudden change of tone within her; her happy, cheerful façade faded into her true self again, in which Erwin quickly picked up.

"What's bothering you Maho?" She questioned.

"It's just, is this going to work?" Maho replied slowly. "The offensive plan seems good enough, but will it actually work?" Maho secretly had doubts about this offensive all along; but she didn't want to tell anyone but Erwin. "The terrain is totally flat, and the Russian steppe has really tall grass; perfect for hiding ambush squads and anti-tank guns. I mean, they will go through our Tigers if they are close enough…"

Erwin sighed and put a hand on Maho's shoulder, trying to comfort her. "Maho, you sometimes worry too much and dwell on the past too often. You need to let go of these things. It's going to affect your combat performance." Erwin smiled slightly. "I know it's hard, but try for me. Okay?"

Maho nodded reluctantly. "I always try, Erwin, I really do. But… we've gone through too much… not all of these things we can always forget. Traumatic memories always come back to haunt us." She whispered, looking at Erwin. "After all, I don't want anyone in our Company to get killed…"

Erwin looked down, and then held Maho's hand gently, jumping off the turret onto the grass; in which Maho followed. "Maho. Forests burn, because they do. We try our best to prevent that from happening, but it still happens. It's the same in war. People will die, whether we like it or not. We try our best to prevent people getting killed, but it still happens. We've seen our fair share of death all too many times. I know it's hard to get over the death of someone that is close to you, but we have to try our best." She forced a smile. "Tell you what; I'll get you some coffee. You look shattered." Erwin smirked and whistled; a male climbed out from the tank and handed her field stove, her water canteen and a small packet of coffee grounds. She took out a lighter from her pocket and lit the stove, before pouring some of the water from her canteen into a mess kit cup. Next, she opened the coffee packet and poured the ground coffee into the cup, before placing it on the stove. Soon enough, there was a sweet aroma of coffee in the air, and Erwin turned off the stove, and gave the cup to Maho.

"Thanks." Maho replied quietly, taking a sip. "Oh, it's nice." She whispered, smiling slightly. "But we need to discuss some problems." She began.

"Oh?" Erwin looked at her.

"When we attack, we need to be on the lookout for ambushes. You know, anti-tank guns camouflaged in the grass, camouflaged T-34 tanks, and those sorts of things." Maho muttered. "The Soviets are really good with their camouflage and not being detected. So, we need to be careful. Knowing that the terrain in our sector is relatively flat, they most probably will place anti-tank mines around as well."

Erwin took out her map and laid it out on the floor, so both of them could see it. "I guess we can use the 'spearhead' formation. Our company is at the front with Tigers in a spearhead, and behind us will be the 20th Panzer Division with the Panzer III's and Panzer IV's. And in between would go the 6th infantry division. It should give them enough protection around our flanks."

Maho nodded, then pointed at a hill indicated on the map with her finger. "They will most probably place artillery guns and Katyusha's there, but we can use the village here," She pointed at the village located around ¾ of a mile away from the hill. "That is one of our objectives, to secure a hold on the village of Olkhvotka from the Soviets. I guess here we'll have to put our Tigers in a staggered line; we'll attack from the front, whilst the 20th Panzers and 6th Infantry will flank the village."

"That'll work, I guess." Erwin nodded, before turning round suddenly. There was a quiet rumble of engines that slowly became louder and louder. She looked down at her watch. "It's 1700 hours. Let's get ready." As she said that, the first few Tigers began to rumble past, in the lead tank was Major Gegenheimer's; he opened the commander's hatch and looked at Erwin. "We're moving out now Hauptmann! Mount up!" He shouted over the din.

"Yes sir!" Erwin shouted back, and she quickly climbed up onto her tank. "B Company! We're moving out now! Let's mount up!" She shouted, before climbing into her tank and closing the commander's hatch.

Maho walked up towards her tank, and nodded at her crew, who were resting on their tank. "Mount up." She muttered simply. "We're leaving now." They nodded and quickly climbed into the tank. Maho followed them, and sat down in her commander's chair, which was positioned left the main gun. Erika was directly in front and below her; she was their gunner. Felix was sat on Maho's right; he was their loader. Ernst was sat in the driver's seat; which was below Erika, and on Ernst's right, sat the radio operator and forward machine gunner; Christian. Maho put on her headphones and put her throat mic round her neck . When she did, she heard Erwin's voice crackle through the speakers.

"All units, follow my lead. I will be at the front, Leutnant Ketler will be second, then Oberfeldwebel Brun. Afterwards, all units follow on, clear? And one more thing." She paused for a moment. "We'll be travelling through the night under radio silence. Also, once we get to our rendezvous point, we'll have a chance to refuel, and make final maintenance works on our Tigers, clear?"

"Jawohl Hauptmann." Maho replied through her in built mike, and the other tank commander's quickly followed suit.

"Good. Now, let's roll out!"

"Ernst, start the engine. Let's go." Maho muttered, and their engine sputtered and growled into life. She opened the commander's hatch and stood up; the upper half of her body now exposed to the surroundings. She jumped a little as the Tiger lurched forwards, slowly gathering speed and following Erwin's tank. She looked behind and saw Karla, who smiled and waved at her. Maho waved back then turned to face the front again.

'At least she's enthusiastic.' She thought to herself as they started moving off towards the dusty track. Soon enough, they were on the road, following Manfred's A Company in a large tank column. She looked behind her once more; she could see C Company's Tiger's, a few meters behind their last tank. And behind them came the engineering company. Maho looked down and sighed quietly.

'So it begins…'

Notes:

UPDATE: CHAPTER 5 IS NOW LIVE.

Sorry for the overuse of technical language. I kind of went over the top. I PROMISE THERE WILL BE A GLOSSARY FOR YOU SO YOU CAN UNDERSTAND -Cries.-

Any reviews with CONSTRUCTIVE CRITISIM will be welcomed, thank you.

If you've enjoyed reading this chapter, and want to know what happens next, don't hesistate to follow and favourite! It helps me know that what I'm writing is enjoyable too!