The War in the West

This writing is based on the battles in the Russian campaign in WWII and is dedicated to those men who fought in them. This writing is not historically accurate and some of these events may not have taken place. This story may possibly offend people of German origin, I recommend you do not read this unless you really want to. This is a story from a Russian's point of view in WWII and not mine.

I'm Pvt. Makrov, and I was in the 5th Shock Army for our great Mother Russia. It was honour and a privilege to fight in this war, but it was also horrible. I've seen comrades being killed in the most brutal way. This is my tale of battles against the Nazi Reich.

Chapter 1: Seelow Heights

The area around me was burning and my ears were ringing. After a while it stopped and the Captain ran up to me." Are you alright my friend?" asked the Captain "Yes, I am alright" I replied "Good..." he said helping me up and supporting me while we walked away from the burning house. "...it seems, their bombs are unable to hit you my friend." he added as he laid me down in a trench next to Pvt. Fluinski, a good man who fought alongside the captain longer than me. "Fluinski, take care of Makrov, I shall be back!" shouted the Captain. "But Devoski, where are you going?" asked Fluinski giving me his water bottle. "I shall be fighting in the battle that's going on, if you hadn't noticed!" replied the Captain. He then picked up his gun and ran towards the enemy. Fluinski followed the Captains orders and looked after me, giving me water when I needed it, a handkerchief when I coughed, and a bucket when I had to throw up. It was hours before I recovered from the bomb and then was able to join in the battle. Fluinski and I grabbed our guns and joined the Captain at the front lines. "Makrov, I am glad you have recovered from your little accident. Fluinski, you followed my orders very well. On the way to the German's camp, you shall both be able to rest on the tanks" the Captain said to us. All the trees were burning and the smoke clouds filled the sky. Bullets flew past us and a few ricocheted off of Fluinski's helmet. Grenades were thrown at us, and if we could, we would throw them back. I looked to my side, and apart from the Captain and a few troops, all I saw was dead bodies of our brave men stretched across the trench. Blood was mixed with mud and was turned into a sick colour. Up ahead was a little cottage, that was where the Germans were firing from. "Captain, there's a Panzerschreck In the window!" shouted Fluinski. "You have a good eye Fluinski. Makrov, take out that Panzerschrek!" ordered the Captain. I fired my gun and it hit the German in the head "Good job Makrov, good job!" commented the Captain. "Tank!" shouted one man as he pointed towards it. We all turned, it was followed by German reinforcements. They took position behind the cottage and sand bags and began to fire. Their guns tore our men to pieces. "Golovkin, take out that tank!" shouted the captain "Yes Captain!" replied Golovkin. He aimed his Bazooka at the tank, but before he could fire, the German's tank-mounted machine guns tore off his head. "Shit!" shouted Fluinski "Makrov, get that Bazooka and blow the shit out of that tank!" ordered the Captain. I ran towards the Bazooka, picked it up, and did a quick aim before pulling the trigger. The tank's turret blew into hundreds of pieces while the rest of the tank sat motionless, on fire and smoking. "Good work Makrov, you have the eye's of an eagle my friend. Charge!" he shouted jumping out of the trench. The rest of the men, including me, followed him close behind. Germans were saying something, they sounded very afraid, and they ran off. "After them, they shall lead us to the camp!"

We chased them for a while, every minute or so we would shoot one so then they would run faster. Fluinski and I rode on a tank while we chased the Germans. We finally came upon the camp, they had Dragon's teeth up to stop our tanks, so we jumped off and ran for cover. "Leave none alive!" shouted the Captain as he shot the Germans who led us to the camp. We hide behind sand bags as they fired at us. A grenade flew though the air and landed right next to me, I thought that was the end until the Captain came running along. He picked up the grenade and threw it back. "Makrov, I need you to flank the enemy, go round the back and we will cover you" he said "Fluinski, keep firing at those Germans!" shouted the Captain. When he said cover, he did a great job of it, in fact he got most of the Germans to focus on killing him and not me, the rest were trying to kill Fluinski and the others. I snuck behind a truck and flanked them. The look on their faces made the Captain laugh. Some of my comrades followed me and helped me flank after they saw me. The Germans stood no chance with two directions to hold off. Soon they were all dead, but we had not yet entered the bigger camp. We then turned right and entered the bigger camp, there were tents and watch towers every where, as well as German troops. "Kurpin, you and our company take the left side. The rest of you, with me!" shouted the Captain. We pushed our way through the camp and burned all the tents and watch towers we could. After a while we finally reached the end of the camp. Hundreds of Germans tried to escape on foot and in trucks through the back exit. But our tanks cut them off and blew up their trucks. "Kill them, kill them all, leave none alive!" cried the Captain as he wildly fired his gun. After we had killed all of the fleeing Germans" the Captain shouted "Now we move our way into Berlin, and when we get there, there shall be no stopping us, and we shall tear down the Nazi flag from the Reichstag, and plant our Motherlands great flag, conquering Germany for Russia!" we all cheered and opened bottles of Vodka and other alcohol. We tore open cigarette packets from the Germans we searched and began to smoke them, though the smell of cigarettes isn't one that's nice, it was better than the smell of the decaying bodies of the German cowards that tried to flee. "In three hours, we make our way into Berlin and in three hours, we shall become unstoppable!" the captain joined us in our celebrations. He opened a bottle of Vodka and began to drink. Then up came a Russian messenger who whispered something in his ear. The Captain spat out the Vodka and yelled "What!?" We all fell silent and stared at him and the messenger. "Give me that!" he shouted as he snatched a letter from the messenger. He read it in his head and the more he read, the angrier he got, until he finally finished the letter, he scrunched it up and he threw it on the ground. "What's the matter Captain?" asked Fluinski "There is a blockade of German troops, stopping us from entering Pankow, and the only way we can take Berlin is if we take Pankow, and if we don't take out those German defences, we won't be able to take Pankow" replied the captain "Why don't we use tanks?" asked Kurpin "We are, but it's too dangerous to risk our tanks" "Why don't we help then" I said "With an army supporting the Tanks, we can easily take Pankow". "Makrov's right" said the Captain. "We shall assist in the attack on the German defences and then we shall enter Pankow!" then everyone cheered "Go, get on the tanks, we shall ride them till we reach the German defences!" shouted the Captain. We made out way to the front tank, the Captain wanted us to ride with him for some reason or another. As men passed me, they patted me on the back. Finally we got the the front of the Tank line and sat of the tank. Soon the captain joined us, he opened the tank's hatch and shouted "Let's go" the driver gave the Captain a thumbs up and started to drive. The other tanks followed closely.