Summer Offense

Chapter Seven

Along the way, a battalion of tanks offered our troops a ride to Grenadier hill. Ivanovich gladly agknowleged and hopped onto a t34. I grappled onto a t34-85 and helped up Alexei and Katrina. While the tank started driving us toward the hill, the tank commander entertained us with some stories from his past. One story said he was part of the battle in Stalingrad, and then got reassigned in Moscow. I told him that it had happened to me as well, and he didn't seem surprised. "Alot of my group got reassigned to the homefront, I have no idea why." He said and continued his story. The whole time I wondered why we were reassigned, but I lost track of thought when Ivanovich started yelling. "Alright! " he yelled. "We are to take Grenadier hill and hold it, simple as that!" He says as he bangs on his tank. "This is our stop!" He yells. The tank stops and drops him off. Soon afterwards, our tank stops and tells us get off.

Alexei junped off and looked at the hill in the distance. "Man, thats one big hill." He says helping Katerina down. "It'll be one big fight as well." Katerina says as she jumps down on her own. Ivanovich runs up to me from his tank. "Enemy artillery inbound!" He yells and covers his head. Moments later I heard a whistle, a lot like a low pitched scream, coming from above. "Brace yourselves!" I yelled and ducked on the ground. A couple of explosions hit nearby while the rest slowly faided away. A piece of metal hit me in the leg but, luckily didn't penetrate my skin. I look over to see the t34-85 our group was riding on engulfed inflames. Ivanovich was the first to stand up, then me. "Well, shit." I say. "Think anyone made it out?" Katherine stood up and looked at the wreckage. "I don't know." She says as she unslings her SVT-40 rifle.
The tank exploded again, the turret flying off of the tank. Soldiers jumped out of the tank, their suits on fire. They tried the stop, drop, and roll maneuver but it did not work. "Put them out of misery." Ivanovich says. Katherine nods and raises her rifle. She fires three bullets with three direct hits, killing them instantly. I just stood their, unable to do anything. Ivanovich sighed and Katherine loaded a new magazine. Ivanovich pointed at the hill. "Move up!" He ordered as he unholstered his m1911. He cocked back the saftey and aimed it towards the hill. "Looking sharp." He says as he puts the gun back in the holster. I just watched the burning corpses lay there, unmoving. This could have easily been prevented if command had better planned this whole thing.

Ivanovich shouted my name. The whole rifle division was marching towards the hill, and I ran to catch up to them. Ivanovich was barking orders to his men. "I want snipers nearby the artillery to keep them covered!" He yelled. Katerina and Alexei nod and run up the hill, soon followed by dozens of other men. "Looks like its just you and me now, sir." I say to Ivanovich. Ivanovich smiles. "Don't call me that." He says. The 109 rifle division was to attack the hill with brute force and take it. Ivanovich didn't like the idea because he would lose too many men to keep fighting. Command went with the order anyways and we followed them. Our forces were to be near the town of Sinimäid, the spearhead of the advance. When we made it to Sinimäid, a radio operator ran to Ivanovich. "The General has ordered us to keep moving." He says. Ivanovich looks at him, surprised. "Didn't I tell those bastards we needed to rest?" He says, folding his arms.

The radio operator points to his communications pack. "They said to not make any excuses this time." He says as he runs off. Ivanovich smirks and turns to me. "I get that all the time." He says and pats me on the shoulder. "Looks like we are moving out, again." A few minutes later we were almost to the hill when gunfire erupted across the field. Ivanovich and I ran to a nearby car and stayed low. I unsling my PPSH-41 and look over the car. Gunshots flew past my head and almost hit me. I duck back down and stare at Ivanovich. "Fuck! We are pinned down!" I yell. "Relax..." Ivanovich says as he grabs a stick grenade. He takes out the pin with his teeth and throws the grenade over the car. An explosion echoes through the field, along with more gunfire. Ivanovich peeks over the edge. No one seemed to pay attention to him, and he grabbed me by the coat. "Follow me." He says
He runs to a bunch of bushes where more soldiers are starting to advance towards the hill. I follow him, al,ost getting shot in the process. Ivanovich atarts talking with the soldiers. "Status report!" He yells over the gunfire. The soldier just stared at him. "He's shellshocked, shit." He says. "Come on." He grabs me by the coat again and drags me to a farmhouse. He gets to the side of the door, then raises his foot and kicks down the door. The door revealed German soldiers inside. "Shit!" He yells as he unloads his m1911 into some of the soldiers. Bullets fly past us as we duck into cover. I grab my PPSH and unload a magazine into the farm, ducking back into cover afterwards. Bullets fly all around us, some hitting the ground, others hitting people. Soviet soldiers start making their way towards us as I reload another magazine into my PPSH. The Soviets made it to our positions and opened fire. "Ready?" Ivanovich says. "What?" I say. He stands up and opens fire into the farm. "Charge!" He yells. Soldiers all around us start yelling and charging into the farm. Ivanovich raised me to my feet and yelled into my ear. "Charge into those cowards!" He yells.