I own nothing from Hearts of Iron nor the Kaiserriech Mod. Happy New Year Everyone!
Private Bedros Sahakian
Journal Entry 31
July 13, 1932, Wednesday
They're getting desperate and so are we.
The other night the Reds crept toward our little fortress amongst the dead already out there.
Won't deny it is a gutsy move and a lot smarter than the first assault days ago. We wouldn't have noticed if Gad Powell wasn't on sentry duty.
He detected movement up on the north end and shot one of the Syndies. As soon as that happened the dark night lit up like we were in the middle of fireworks.
Once the jig was up those fighters sprang up like men undead, roaring their battle cries. Some fired away to pin us down while the rest charged forth.
They attacked from the north and west sides all at once.
Those earlier corpses as before slowed them down. We fired our weapons and threw as many grenades as we could down upon those Reds.
Some of those grenades were duds but the rest did their magic.
Even so, around a dozen militants breached inside from below by sheer grit and barely any ammunition for themselves. Joseph Gaine of Squad A stopped them in their tracks with a flaming bottle, burning alive those in front before he and his team gunned down the rest.
We could hear the burning men screaming downstairs before Squad A silenced them. Still more enemies outside surged forward.
It felt like there was no end to it. I kept picking targets and shooting as much as I could when several times I had to take cover to reload.
Nearly had my head shot off not once but twice actually. Then minutes later after midnight those not dead or wounded pulled back.
All the weapon drills we did since boot camp gave us a fighting chance. Our Syndicalist foes don't lack courage nor resourcefulness for that matter.
If we don't stay vigilant they'll overrun us.
The street now further stacked with bodies and pieces. The stench both out there and inside here with our death has gotten worse. The summer heat has intensified as well and I can't stop sweating for most of the time.
One of the things I'm noticing about this bunch of Syndies is that they lack submachine guns for close quarters and barely any grenades at all. When some of their comrades give covering fire it doesn't last long.
Probably to save their ammunition. Another indication that we're sitting on their stockpile for this neighborhood at least. Given what we see in the distance throughout the city I wager the revolutionaries elsewhere have more weapons available.
In a twisted sort of way it's funny.
We got all the stuff here to fight on for two more weeks yet no way out. The most frustrating thing is that we still don't know anything that is happening.
Besides the obvious fact of a war consuming this city I mean.
Our seriously wounded are plain miserable but there isn't much we can do other than give water and make sure they don't bleed out.
The other guys not worse off still are bearing it like we marines need to be.
Today the Reds were spouting in broken English through megaphones for us to surrender. That they have already taken control of most of Shanghai and that continued resistance on our part is futile.
That our lives will be spared and encourage us to break our chains as they call it.
None here bought it.
Because one we can still hear fighting further away. Second after all the casualties we inflicted on this militia and defying for this long would they really spare us?
Rarely are revolutions merciful.
In this bunch's eyes we're still the 'foreign devil bandits'. In this case the same foreign devil bandits who been killing their buddies for days now.
This afternoon during another lull of our little siege it was my turn to go check on Lieutenant Dewitt and see if he is eating what they brought him this morning.
Just as I was reaching for the door I heard him demanding to be let out. Dewitt sounded like his old self again.
Reluctantly I did as ordered and sure enough he seemed to regain something of his sanity and boy he was in a foul mood.
He shouted in my face for 'taking so long' and he shoved me aside storming toward downstairs. I followed after him and sure enough everyone else found out College Boy was back.
Dewitt demanded an explanation from Gunny and he gave him our situation. Our lieutenant turned instantly pale once it all sunk in.
For a moment I thought he was going to shut down like on the first day. He probably wished he still was.
Instead he heard the latest call of surrender from outside. Seeming to be on the verge of another panic attack he exclaimed that we needed to lay down our arms.
We were all alarmed at what he just said and Gunny immediately spoke up. He tried to point out the defenses and stockpile we had but Dewitt refused to listen to that.
Instead the man became more irrational, shouting at the sergeant to shut up.
He was convinced surrender was the only option and that he would be able to negotiate 'fair terms'. More likely trying to save his own neck.
Highly doubted it would've.
Corporals Gaine, Felton and Sinclair tried to point out the risks but Dewitt wasn't having it. He angrily insisted his plan was the only way and threatened court martial for them all if they objected again.
Then just as Dewitt was about to make it a direct order when he was clubbed in the head and slumped down. Shocked, all of us saw it was Gunny who did it, gripping his Colt.45 in the right hand.
He checked for a pulse and found the lieutenant to be only unconscious though with a massive headache whenever he woke up again.
All of us in that spot shared a look with each other. Technically we didn't disobey an order since it wasn't officially given yet.
Still what the sergeant did there was absolutely crazy. Striking an officer however justified can have consequences assuming we survive long enough to deal with it.
Gunny looked resigned but nonetheless set on our course.
He ordered us to put the lieutenant back in the office, gag and tie him up then lock the door up tight. Gaines, Sinclair and I did so.
We placed him as comfortably as possible on the floor behind the desk. Then we sealed the door behind us as best we could before returning to our posts.
If we make it out of this alive I'm never going to take my family for granted ever again.