2nd September, 1942: Gumrak Airport, Stalingrad, Stalingrad Oblast, Soviet Union
"So. Is that enough to kill me?", Werner asked his medical examiner. Who shook his head. "Nope. But with that said, it's best not to poke at it too much. Clean the wound when you can."
Werner left the Doctor's office. And headed too his barracks. He put some pressure on the wound. Pain shot down Werner's arm. He recoiled in pain. Pus leaked out of the open wound. Werner slowly pulled the scab off his arm, wiping the pus away from the infected wound.
This was followed by a surge of blood. Werner wrapped a bandage around his arm, and slipped his tunic on.
Sometime after lunch, a battlefield courier gave Werner a bound envelope. Werner got his bayonet. He cut the seal and pulled out a piece of paper. The corner of the page read,"71. Infanterie Division Headquarters". Werner unfolded the document. It was a battle map displaying their positions and the position of the enemy. A box with a LL above it with the numbers 71 and 16 marked their position. An arrow was drawn from their location to a small farming town called Ovrazhnyy. The area was under control of a Red Army tank division and several infantry detachments.
Other officers were already mobilized. "Platoon 13! Los!", Werner commanded. And all 20 of his remaining men were mobilized. "You know what's going on, Landsers?", Werner asked. "We're fighting for Germany, sir. Nothing much matters than that."
"We're fighting tanks.", Werner replied. "So here's what we're going to do. We have until the 16th Panzer Division disappears beyond the horizon. I want you men to be a bomb even without the explosives.", they ran to the munitions depot, gathering Antitank explosives and satchel charges. They climbed on board an Opel Blitz truck and it zoomed off. The sounds of explosions growing nearer.
When they arrived there was a single road leading to the village. Panzer IV's fired their cannons. Werner spread his map over a wooden table.
"Alright, Platoon. Judging by the movement of the Panzers, we're going to attempt a pincher movement and cut off the Soviets from the village. If you get into a fight with a T-34, plant your explosives at the turret. Erhardt and I will lead two teams. Erhardt's men will take the Left flank, I'll take the Right."
They nodded, and fell into lines of two, Werner and Erhardt behind them, they split off around the hill.
They made it 50 meters, and Werner dove down. "Alright, Unteroffizier Heinrich, scout the enemy. If you see any Soviet officer with their head in the way of your scope, but a bullet between them and their brain. "Jawohl.", Heinrich said, moving to higher ground. "What will the rest of us do?", asked Gefreiter Wilhelm Oritz. "Which of you can scout out enemy foes-"
Werner was cut off by gunfire from a nearby ledge. Werner looked up, and there was a group of T-34's headed straight towards them, flanked by Soviet infantry. "Vorwarts!", Werner shouted, firing his MP40 at the enemy infantry. He crawled under a T-34, and against his own instructions, slapped a satchel charge to the wheels of the tank. A few seconds later, it detonated, sending the vehicle up in flames. Werner retreated, finding a PTRS-41 antitank rifle at the foot of dead enemy. He fired the rifle at an enemy tank's turret, and it exploded, setting the nearby Soviet infantry on fire. A third tank exploded, and the last remaining tank fired it's machine gun on the perpetrator. Oritz lay dead. Werner climbed onto the tank, and dropped a hand grenade inside. A hollow explosion went off in the chassis. Werner climbed in, and turned the vehicle on an enemy tank, and fired. The enemy tank exploded.
He saw through the periscope an enemy engineer charging at him. He climbed out of the turret and fired. The Soviet engineer fell dead. Werner jumped out of the tank, and ran over to his comrades as the hijacked tank exploded. A moment later, the tank that had fired the shell was taken out by a Panzer IV. The friendly tank's machine gunner fired on the defenders, it then destroyed another T-34 and rolled forward. Werner dove into a ditch as bombs fell, peppering him with dirt. He ran to a group of Russians.
Bullets fired at Werner like musket fire. He took cover in a nearby barn, the gunfire following his ascent. He got to a fixed MG42, and fired. Bullets rained down on the Soviet troops, forcing them to retreat. Werner cut each and everyone of them down.
From his lookout, Werner could see a bridge. The Russians were retreating across it. "I've got a bad feeling..", Werner said.
A Panzer IV rolled up beside the barn, dropping off two friendly soldiers,"We know you're here Iwan! Surrender or we'll shoot!", they shouted. "GET YOUR HANDS UP!", they shouted when they saw Werner. Werner kicked the barn doors open,"Is that worth your own death, Landser?", Werner said. "Oh. The Russians are retreating.", the soldier said. "Best you not get left behind, herr. You know the price of desertion."
Werner nodded and exited the barn. A soldier in feldgrau Panzer fatigues opened the hatch from his Panzer's turret. "Need a ride?", he said. He was the same rank as Werner. Werner shrugged and lifted himself onto the back of the tank.
The bridge was broken in several places, likely as a result of the fighting. Somewhere ahead of them, a friendly tank exploded. Followed by several infantry. Then the tank Werner was riding blew up, throwing him back and killing the crew. A line of anti-tank rounds flew overhead, destroying several more tanks. Werner threw a grenade at the attackers, and a massive explosion set them on fire.
One soldier planted charges on the mound of dirt concealing the Red Army's ambush. It exploded, and the soldier set the Russians on fire. He then threw a canister of mustard gas, and set the gas on fire. "URAAAAAAAAAGH!", they shouted, firing at the Russians, who shoved back with equal force. They were practically suicidal.
Werner saw Erhardt impale a Russian soldier with his bayonet. An enemy sniper shot Erhardt, who fell backwards bleeding. "ERHARDT!", Werner shouted, as a tank shell blew up an approaching T-34. Erhardt's stomach was covered in blood. He coughed and spattered, his helmet concealing his eyes. Werner got a cloth and poured water from his canteen on it. He lifted up Erhardt's tunic to the center of his torso. "Scheisse!", Werner exclaimed, as his friend's blood stained his boot. Erhardt was bleeding badly. Werner cleaned the wound, wiping the blood away constantly, and more just pooled up.
"M..morphine...!", Erhardt managed to say, and Werner pulled out a Syrette, filled it with Morphine, and injected it into Erhardt's neck. Another tank exploded nearby, and the rag Werner was using to clean his friend's wound was damp with blood. Erhardt opened his mouth, "Danke...Hauptmann.", he said, as Werner wrapped a bandage around Erhardt'a stomach
The following day, they ate breakfast that was delivered by air. The morning soup tasted of death. "Hell infects even our tastebuds....", Otto said, his usual good-natures humor gone from his face. "Otto...what happened to you?", Werner asked
Otto looked up. "Hauptmann....I am not the same man anymore. All I can see...when I close my eyes. Is death. We are not even in the same world as Germany, sir."
Werner bit his lip. "This is nothing, Otto. Conquer Russia...and you can conquer the world. That is a philosophy, we should all live by!"
They all cheered. Their applause was cut short by the rain of artillery. And the booming of guns.
They advanced as one mass. Scanning the countryside for any hostiles. Nothing. "Have they been routed?", Otto asked, lowering his rifle. "Halten, Otto. Give me the rifle.", Werner said, and Otto gave him the rifle.
Peering down the scope, Werner could see some enemies that were out of range. He handed the rifle back to Otto. "The 16th Panzer Division has reached the village.", Werner said.
