Of Ice and Blood
4 November 1942
Stalingrad, Soviet Union
The smoke billows from the tops of destroyed buildings and burning vehicles, and the blue sky becomes grey as a result. The sound of gunfire is sparatic and surrounds the city as house-to-house and room-to-room fighting becomes the norm. The red Soviet banner burns in parts of the city, as blood splatters the walls and the ground. For months the Red Army has stood firm against the German invasion of Stalingrad since August after suffering weeks of aerial bombardment. Though the city bears little importance it has grown to become a major city in the Soviet Union that sat by the Volga river, the lifeblood of the Soviet Union. Though it was one of several cities, Stalingrad held the name of the Soviet leader, Josef Stalin. But as winter is slowly setting in, the Germans have almost driven out the Soviets from the city, fighting in bloody house-to-house battles. Every day that they don't capture the city is a day closer to the winter sets in.
Yet the Red Army does not budge. After having suffered humiliating defeats in 1941, the Red Army reworked itself into a strong fighting force. Pushing back the Germans from the city of Moscow after successfully defending the city, taking advantage of the Wehrmacht's unpreparedness for the winter and stretched supply lines. But after the defeat in the city of Kiev, one figure hasn't made an appearance, Esdeath. After an intense investigation by the Soviet spies, they managed to track down the person responsible for freezing Kiev, Esdeath Partas. Though she may be a threat at large, the war council sees her as an equal threat to the men in Hitler's cabinet.
Esdeath takes a stroll through the empty and ruined streets of Stalingrad. She has taken the year off to train her new volunteer SS recruits in her new division. Her exploits have led Goebbels to create a sort of fame of Esdeath, calling her the big sister of the Reich. Esdeath is able to expand the number from 2000 soldiers under her command to 7500 thanks to Hitler's approval and desire to see her growth. Allowing her to expand her manpower to 20,000 if need be. Though the approval of her promotion and expansion to 7500, and to 20,000 if need be, came from Hitler himself, along with a recommendation by Himmler. It has begun to cause weariness and major divisions within the divided war council and Hitler's inner circle.
Esdeath now leads her own division, the 9th SS Panzergrenadier Eis Divison. While Esdeath strolls, her men are going around throughout the area putting down the pockets of Soviet resistance. As Esdeath strolls through the city she comes into a deep thought. "All of my opponents in the Soviet Union have fallen oh so easily, but they still hold strong. Yet, with rare moments of bravery and courage. Even I got to use my Imperial Arms on occasion. Even with industrial and technological advancements, war still remains the same." Esdeath thinks to herself. "If I hadn't been so preoccupied with training these recruits from other Waffen SS-Divisions and even some companies from the Wehrmacht, I could've easily taken Moscow." Esdeath looks down with frustration as she pinches the bridge of her nose. Esdeath sighs and places her hands back behind her.
A lone Red Army squad of five looks over the corner and windows of a destroyed building and sees Esdeath close by, standing and lost in thought. Esdeath is less than ten meters away. They then fix bayonets to their Mosin-Nagant rifles as one of them, the squad leader cocks the PPsh-41. "Вы заплатите за то, что сделали." (You will pay for what you have done.) One of the Red Army soldiers says as he holds his rifle close to him.
"Готовый" (Ready?) The squad leader asks the other four. "Это для народов Советского Союза" (This is for the peoples of the Soviet Union.) He then gives the order to attack. The men storm out of the building. Esdeath raises her left arm and produces various icicles and fires at the approaching five. The squad leader avoids them but his mates are killed. "Умри, нацистская шлюха!" (Die, you Nazi whore!) The squad leader says as he charges, firing off several bullets in Esdeath's direction. Esdeath, without hesitation, launches an ice spear from her left arm and an ice spear sprang out, impaling the Red Army squad leader in the head. A few seconds later a squad of her own division finds esdeath alone, having killed five enemies.
"SS-Obersturmbahnführerin. Are you alright?" One of her Waffen-SS valets, SS-Unterscharführer Oppenheim, approaches her. "Check that building and clear it of any remaining enemy soldiers!" He turns around and orders his men.
"I'm alright. You should go in there just in case." Esdeath orders the SS-Unterscharführer. He goes into the building. Gunshots and bloodied screams are heard from the building as Esdeath walks away from it. "This nation sure has been trying to challenge me. I've been given names like Baba Yaga or Russian Winter Incarnate by the locals. But yet, all of the soldiers I come across are weak and foolhardy. But yet, I applaud them for their determination to keep fighting against me, without fear or hesitation. Choosing death over surrender, now that I can praise them for." Esdeath ponders on as her soldiers are finished clearing the building, though a couple of them are wounded as they bring back a couple of their dead with them. Esdeath then stops by on a hilltop, seeing the Red Army sending out boats and watercraft to cross the Volga river and into Stalingrad. "This city does bring back memories from my old world. Especially when I fought against the Northern Tribes. Especially after defeating them in their capital, I didn't leave a single soul alive. Oh, how I massacred back then, either by freezing them or burying them alive. A pity comparison between Soviets to those Northern and Southern tribes and the Revolutionary Army."
As Esdeath remembers her victories in the past, she hears the city's loudspeakers and sirens turning on throughout the burning city. The loudspeakers begin to play a song of victory and of trial. Esdeath knew very little of the Russian language, but the song they play cries out for victory. What she did learn is that the Red Army and Soviet government are calling this war, the Great Patriotic War. Esdeath thinks this title is a bit boisterous since the Red Army was pushed back in the year prior, yet this isn't the first time their lands were invaded nor the last. Esdeath hopes for a quick victory here so that she can march into Red Square and fly high the National Socialist banner over the Kremlin. The swastika supplanting the red star. After a couple of seconds of the song playing, a male authoritative voice begins to speak as the music plays.
(The song, Sacred War, begins to play.)
(The speech starts once the singing starts)
"Внимание, сыны Отечества! Сейчас мы станем свидетелями величайшего момента в нашей жизни, мы будем творить историю! Фашистские немцы потеряли сотни танков, самолетов и сотни тысяч своих людей. Чтобы добраться до Сталинграда, гитлеровской зверской орде пришлось перелезть через собственных мертвецов! Мы превратим Сталинград в их могилу! Наш славный вождь товарищ Сталин отдал приказ всем до единого солдатам Родины - не дать им дойти до Волги! Ни шагу назад! Все трусы и предатели будут расстреляны! Не считайте недели, дни, часы и даже минуты. Не считать пройденный путь назад, только количество убитых фашистских немцев! Это приказ нашего славного вождя товарища Сталина, а Красная Армия, Коммунистическая партия, призыв нашего Советского Союза, молитва нашей любимой Родины! Мы никогда не дрогнем, мы никогда не дрогнем, мы никогда не сдадимся! Убивайте немцев, которые насилуют нашу любимую Родину, убивают наш народ и издеваются над Красной Армией! Убивайте фашистских захватчиков! Бейте их и стреляйте им в грудь! И гоните их обратно в Берлин! ВПЕРЕД!"
(Attention, sons of the Motherland! We are about to bear witness to the greatest moment of our lives, we will make history! The fascist Germans have lost hundreds of tanks, planes, and hundreds of thousands of their own men. Hitler's brutal horde have to climb over their own dead to arrive at Stalingrad! We will turn Stalingrad INTO THEIR GRAVES! Our glorious leader, Comrade Stalin, has given an order to every single soldier of the Motherland, to not let them reach the Volga! Not One Step Back! All cowards and traitors will be shot! Do not count weeks, days, hours, or even minutes. Do not count the distance taken back, only count the number of fascist Germans you have killed! That is an order from our glorious leader, Comrade Stalin, but of the Red Army, of the Communist Party, the call of our Soviet Union, and the prayer of our beloved Motherland! We will never waiver, we will never falter, we will NEVER SURRENDER! Kill the Germans that raped our beloved motherland, killed our people, and made a mockery of the Red Army! KILL The Fascist Invaders! STAB AND SHOOT Them In The Chest! AND DRIVE THEM BACK TO BERLIN! ONWARDS!)
"Смерть фашистским захватчикам! Ура! Ура! Ура!" (DEATH TO THE FASCIST INVADERS! URA x3) Across the Volga river, men of the Red Army cry out with fervent pride. Waving the red Soviet banner of the hammer and sickle in a show of defiance. Their chants of uras come from the thousands of soldiers, whose unison chants are made in an attempt to intimidate the encroaching German army of the Wehrmacht and the Waffen-SS. The Red Army wave their red banners of the Soviet Union, grabbing their rifles and ammo, and getting onto boats to cross the Volga river. All ready to fight to the death for the Soviet Union. They've learned from their disastrous retreats the year prior. The Soviets will not be willing to make the same mistake again.
Esdeath gleefully laughs at their attempt to intimidate, she can't help but laugh at this performance, a performance she hasn't seen in a while. "More! More!" Esdeath says as she laughs.
"Is everything alright SS-Obersturmbannführerin?" An SS-Obersturmführer of one of her squads comes close. "It's not wise to stand out like this. I heard tales that the Red Army use snipers from Siberia that can hit a target that is the size of a coin from 300 meters away."
"No, no, it's fine. This is the kind of fight I have been yearning for, to reminisce and live once again as I did in my old world. Today may be seen as a massacre, but this might just be an early birthday present to me. Order the men to bring out the communications equipment and connect it with theirs. I got a little message for our soon-to-be-dead red friends."
An hour passes by in the city. Blood and bodies stain the walls and ground of the city and dripping into the Volga river of both German attacker and Soviet defender. Vehicles lay in waste and burnt, buildings are in rubble. SS soldiers of the 9th SS Panzergrenadier Eis Division stand in rank to listen to their leader along with troops from the Wehrmacht of the 6th Army also stand at attention to listen to their general's strategy.
Esdeath turns and faces the Volga, she can hear the Luftwaffe making their runs on the boats crossing as well as covering gunfire from nearby Wehrmacht Heer forces. She holds the mic close to her. "Hear me you red pigs of the motherland. I have heard your cry for war, now I will give you what you cry for! For I, SS-Obersturmbannführerin Esdeath Partas of the German Reich of the National Socialist German Workers Party, love a challenge and battle. Prove to me you are no cowards like your brethren who fell and surrendered before you. Do so and I will grant you a warrior's death! You gave a moving rallying speech and I will give mine!"
On the other side of the Volga, the message from Esdeath has reached the Red Army 64th and 62nd Armies base camp of operations. They're sending in their men to cross. Initial confusion came as to how a German woman managed to connect to Soviet loudspeaker communications. One of them, Major N.S Sokolov, hears the voice from the radio and can almost make out who it may be. "That voice, it's oddly familiar. Though I cannot understand it, it chills me to my very core." Major N. S. Sokolov moves out to the front to lead the Red Army troops after receiving an order from his general to move to the front of the line and hold the line. "I pray that I won't meet the same fate again. I've already established a new life here and now I have a family. I cannot let the Germans or her ruin it!" Major N.S. Sokolov runs to the front with a commissar behind him.
Esdeath turns to her soldiers of the SS as well as Wehrmacht Heer soldiers in attendance. "Now, to you my soldiers. I expect nothing less from you. We have expanded the Fatherland to his greatest heights. I will tell you this. We will crush our foes, break them, and break the might of the Soviet menace. For we are the elite and the strong that the Fatherland has ever produced. For we are the Panzergrenadier Eis Division. In my philosophy, the strong rule over and eradicate the weak. We'll not only win but we will eradicate the Red Armies here! All I ask from you is this. Make this battle so grand in scale, that even the depths of hell will be shaken, and that the devil himself will tremble in fear by our might! Soldiers, nay, men of the German Reich, I ask you one simple question: Do you want total war? A war that will boil over like a wave, leaving nothing for scavengers to find! Well, do you?!" Esdeath speaks with great passion, assuring great victory.
Her troops along with the others responded in unison, Ja!
"Very well then. Now then let's make this battle more interesting. One that will be forever written in the history books for generations to come!" Esdeath disconnects the microphone and places it down on the ground. She walks to the edge of the Volga river. Across the river she sees multiple riverboats and watercraft crossing the Volga river with men loaded in them or being sent out. Esdeath lets out a simple and menacing grin. Esdeath places her right hand on the Volga water, she looks up directly at the piers. "*soft chuckling* Now freeze!" Esdeath says before letting out an ice blast directly at the Red Army. The ice blasts freeze the Volga river in a surrounding three-mile radius, freezing many boats and watercraft in the process along with their occupants. With the Volga river now frozen this allows her men to cross the river along with support vehicles, tanks, and infantry from General Paulus' 6th Army.
As Major N.S. Sokolov makes it to the river. He sees the men on the pier and the beach pulling back in fear of being frozen.
"Major! The Volga has frozen over! How is this possible?" A Red Army soldier asks.
"I knew it, it's her. Well then, this would be revenge for all those you've massacred in the North." Major N.S. Sokolov was shocked by the revelation that unfolded in front of him. He orders for a photograph of the frozen Volga to be taken and sent to the generals and the central committee in Moscow. He steps out to the front of the line and sees the Germans moving forward ready to establish a defensive front point. "Hold this position comrades! Do not let the fascist horde get through this line! The survival of our Motherland depends on us holding this line!" Major N.S. Sokolov says as Luftwaffe planes strafe their positions. "Show them the strength of the Red Army and the might of the Soviet worker!"
The Red Army soldiers begin to chant uras as they hold their position under heavy fire. Their chant became one loud enough that it breaks through the clouds of smoke. The Major can sense chills going down his spine as he remembered something similar to this several years ago, a distant memory but now close to home for him. Major N.S. Sokolov steels himself, not letting past memories or failures take him.
Major N.S. Sokolov draws his pistol, with one single word, one single order, Major N.S. Sokolov shouts that would change the tide of battle for the German forces or the Soviet forces favor.
"ВПЕРЕД!" (FORWARD!) Major N.S. Sokolov of the 62nd Army shouts out the order to attack and gestures to the army to attack, causing the defense line to break formation and move in for the offensive. They begin to chant out their uras, for the Motherland, and for Stalin as they charge against the German defensive lines.
Soon, the Germans in their defensive positions begin to open fire on the charging Red Army. The Red Army manages to bridge the gap and move in for close-quarters combat. The two forces clash together for melee combat. Soviet and Nazi fire, stab, beat, and tear at each other, any other form of killing on the battlefield. Esdeath uses her Imperial Arms to freeze several Soviets in place killing them with ice while also using Weisschnabel to fire several icicles at the Soviets, killing tens of them. The bloody melee fighting, destruction of vehicles on both sides, and the sounds of gunfire and explosions last for several minutes if not longer. Men cry out in pain or screamed with ferocity, some begged for mercy while receiving none, others fought on till their bitter death. As in the song, Sacred War, the 62nd Army of the Red Army let their wrath boil over like a wave. But like a wave, they begin to recede.
Stalingrad, the city that is protected by the bulwark of the Soviet worker, reinforced by the sons of the Soviet Union, is the city that bears Stalin's title. A once peaceful city by the Volga is now in ruins. The streets are laden with the blood of both Soviet and German, the soil soaks in the blood of the fallen, the ice reflects the scarlet color, and the river incorporates the blood in its waters. All caused by the brutal melee combat of bayonets, rifles, shovels, knives, helmets, fists, and ice. Destroyed tanks and vehicles and planes litter the city. T-34s and Panzers lay waste in the city with their crews buried in their iron tombs. The once industrial city of the Soviet Union that stood by the Volga, is now the representation of the firry and bloodied hellscape of war. The Volga River, the lifeblood of the Soviet Union, bleeds red with the blood of her sons and of her people.
After the battle, Esdeath walks on the ice as she sees her men and collects their bodies. Of the 7500 only 4200 remain. But their sacrifice was a well-deserved victory for the Reich. Esdeath comes across a body, barely moving, dressed in the Red Army's officers' uniform.
"Na, Sie scheinen vertraut. Erkenne ich Sie von irgendwo?" (Well, you look familiar. Do I recall you from somewhere?) Esdeath squats down to get a closer look at his face. Major N.S. Sokolov looks up at Esdeath with his teeth grinding and giving Esdeath a nasty expression. "Vielleicht aus dem Norden? Na, Numa Seika?" (Perhaps from the north? Well, Numa Seika?) Esdeath calls him out by name. His expression changes from anger to fear as he remembers a similar situation before. Esdeath laughs. "Sie sind, Sie sind Numa Seika! Held des Nordens!" (You are, you are Numa Sika! Hero of the North!)
"No, this can't be! I will not be going out like this. I will not be a dog to her again!" Numa Seika Sokolov reaches for his pistol Esdeath then freezes his hand and breaks it.
"Ha ha ha. Was tunst du glauben du bist machen? Jetzt du bist meinen zu spielen mit." (What do you think you are doing? Now you are mine to play with.) Esdeath laughs as Numa Seika Sokolov's tears begin to roll out of his eyes, fearing that he will experience the same humiliation and misery as in his previous world.
5 November 1942
Moscow, Soviet Union
"What do you mean we lost Stalingrad!" Stalin yells to his Field Marshalls and Commissars. Though the city has little geopolitical strategy it bears the name of Stalin, which is a greater hit on him. "How much did we lose?" Stalin demands from his field marshalls and commissars. They know that if they hesitate to speak or speak the truth it means one of three choices, demotion, gulag, or death. Field Marshal Vasily Chuikov of the 62nd Army steps forward.
"General Secretary. From what has been unfolded," Field Marshal Chuikov collects his words. "What exactly happened is that in early November, the 62nd and 64th armies have been pushed back." Field Marshall Chuikov tells Stalin.
"General Secretary. Field Marshal Vasilevsky and I have planned for a counteroffensive to encircle the Germans in mid-November. Encircling and capturing the 6th Army. But what we didn't account for is her." Field Marshall Zhukov steps forward and tells Stalin.
"Who?"
"Obersturmbannführerin Esdeath Partas, General Secrtary. The remaining soldiers who managed to escape both the Germans and the commissars shooting at them reported hearing the woman's voice as well as freezing the Volga river. Something we should've expected, but she was silent for over a year."
"So what you're saying is that you did not include the Reichs own ice woman because she was silent?"
"To be honest General Secretary. She was in radio silence for over a year and our spies haven't received new information about her since Kiev. We assumed that she would be used in Moscow or Leningrad."
"I see what you are saying Field Marshal Zhukov." Stalin turns to him. "For you and Field Marshal Vasilensky's failure to take into account of Esdeath being involved, I'll be demoting you down one rank to simply marshals. We need good generals like you and I can't waste you men." Stalin then turns to Field Marshal Chuikov. "As for you Field Marshal Chuikov, allowing your men of the 62nd Army to charge out like a bunch of madmen will not be tolerated. You are to be stripped of command of the Southwestern Front and are to head eastward to Mongolia, as well as stripping you of Field Marshal ranking. I do not wish to see you anymore. These are my clear final orders. Is that understood?"
"Yes, general secretary!" The Field Marshals and commissars leave the war room, leaving Stalin alone.
"Dammit. We must do something quickly before we lose the supply lines. I guess all it takes now is to envelope the Germans in their own game. Perhaps have the city be destroyed. Damn you, Hitler." Stalin turns around to his desk and grabs the photos. He looks closely and sees a woman with an SS officer uniform and her right hand in the water. He can't deny it, this must be Esdeath Partas the Reich has. Though the Soviet Union and Britain never saw eye to eye, Stalin decides to send evidence of the Reich's new human weapon.
20 November 1942
Nuremburg, German Reich
The city of Buremburgrejoices and celebrates. Days before the capital city of Berlin suffered a heavy British air bombardment along with other cities in the Western half of Germany. In the city of Nuremberg a victory parade is being held, the victory in Stalingrad. Soldiers of the Waffen-SS and the Wehrmacht's Heer march through the streets in a grand military parade. With Wehrmacht musicians on the sidelines playing Prussian marching songs of years prior to the Reich. The soldiers march with pride and joy after giving the Soviets a humiliating loss in Stalingrad. Inflicting a blow on Stalin's pride and the morale of the Red Army. Rumors also speculate that peace talks between the Germans and the Soviets are being in order, but it's only a rumor.
As the men of the 9th SS Panzergrenadier Eis Division line up in rank and file as the same with other SS and Wehrmacht troops in the battle of Stalingrad. Esdeath breaks rank first and walks up to the Führer. "Heil Hitler," Esdeath salutes Hitler. "My Führer. I, Obersturmbannführerin Esdeath Partas of the 9th SS Panzergrenadier Eis Division, am here to proudly announce that my men and I, and the men of the Wehrmacht's 6th Army have put an end to the Red Army at Stalingrad. They have been crushed under the might of the German eagle and are now scampering like dogs with their tails between their legs. Those who fought at Stalingrad are commended as true warriors of the Reich. I have reduced the major who was in charge reduced to nothing but a mere animal, broken in the mind and spirit. The Soviets are now easy prey for the Reich." Esdeath tells Hitler of her triumphant victory. Esdeath walks herself back to the sidelines and waits for the Führer to speak.
"My German people, brave soldiers of the Reich. I stand before you on this day. That our brave sons have returned from the Eastern Front, from the hell that was Stalingrad. Led by our great female SS officer, SS-Obersturmbannführerin Esdeath Partas, she, and her men have put down the evil and cowardly red Army in Stalingrad, and have brought fear! To the Bolshevik rulers cowering away in Moscow. The Soviets will be recovering from the greatest wound that was inflicted on them. SS-Obersturmbannführerin Partas and her division have brought pride and victory, to the German Fatherland. Our enemies now tremble in fear when her name is spoken out, enemies will tremble when they see our might! These are the same enemies who during the Great War looked down upon us." Hitler pauses for a moment with the brief seconds of silence, the attention is drawn to him. "Now I ask you, soldiers of the SS and of the Wehrmacht, the German people of who I put first and keep in my thoughts and dreams. To lend your strength to win this war. To march onto Moscow and eliminate the communist threat that threatens the destiny of the Master Race. To eliminate the communist One and For All!" Hitler speaks with even greater passion in his speech.
"HEIL! SIEG HEIL! SIEG HEIL! SIEG HEIL!" The men shouted out in response. Hitler salutes his soldiers.
After the celebrations in Nuremberg, Esdeath is called forth to meet with the Führer as well as other members of the military. She enters Hitler's office in Nuremburg in the office sits Adolf Hitler, Reich Marshal Hermman Göring, Reich Minister for Armaments and Munitions Albert Speer, and Grand Admiral of the Kriegsmarine Erich Raeder.
"My Führer, Herr Göring, Herr Speer, Herr Raeder." Esdeath greets the other men. "What is the pupose for my summons?"
"SS-Obersturmbannführerin Partas, please take a seat." Esdeath enters the office and sits on Göring's right-hand side. "With your power, I believe it's time to revive an old operation that I had ordered to be closed on indefinitely," Hitler responded.
"What operation may that be?"
"An old operation that I believe was good, but it had a grand potential to end in failure. I wish to put you and your unit at the forefront of the operation. An operation simply called, Operation Sea Lion."
"Tell me more about Operation Sealion, my Führer," Esdeath asks.
"Well, Operation Sealion is an operation to invade the British Isles, more specifically, England," Hitler responded. Göring next begins to speak.
"I was the one who requested to bring back this operation. With the British bombing over German cities, I believe it's time to put down the British's nuisance."
"In coordination with the Reichsmarshall Göring, I too see fit for this operation. Mostly because many of our factories are in cities like Hanover, Dortmund, Hamburg, and Cologne are getting bombed every day. Which is not good for me and my position as Reichsminister of Armaments and Munitions." Speer responded.
"Interesting, but what has to do with me?" Esdeath asks.
"We want you to cordinate along with the Luftwaffe, the Kriegsmarine, and the Heer Oberkomandos. Reichsmarshal Speer would see to it that equiment needs are met." Hitler tells Esdeath.
"So let me get this right. You want me to coordinate with the Oberkomandos of the Heer, Luftwaffe, and the Kriegsmarine to invade the island of Britain. Is that correct my Führer?"
"That is correct, SS-Obersturmbannführerin Partas."
"Hm, well then. I will see to it, that Operation Sealion will be a success. Through I assume with an ambitious plan, it might require about half a year to prepare to launch such an invasion. But aside from that, hm, let's see how well this operation goes."
Note:
After pondering for a while, in case it's necessary to know. the 9th SS Panzergrenadier Eis Division shield design follows the same color scheme and design as all of the other Waffen-SS shield designs. But it has a chip on the right shoulder and the main design is the crest on Esdeath's chest but white.