//------------------------------// // Chapter 1: Arrival // Story: Blood und Steel // by Silbern //------------------------------// Gloved fingers tapped along the steel of the cupola with mild boredom as the cool late spring air blew. It was always like this when on the move. The sun above was bright and for once, it seemed that god wasn't shitting on his shoulders. The lone man wearing the black Panzer officer uniform could only smile at the thought. He was no fool and his mind wasn't so clouded with his own nation's propaganda to see the truth. The Bolsheviks press in from the east and now the Panzer-Lehr-Division was being sent to the western front. He was no longer a little child, blind to the world around him. The Allies are going to cross the channel. “Oberleutnant Ritter?” a voice cut his dark thoughts which he silently thanked. “What is it, Hans?” he asked through his internal communication set to his hull gunner slash radio operator. “A general halt is being ordered for the whole division,” Hans voice came back except with slight bewilderment. “Acknowledge,” Engel Ritter said as he rolled his eyes before flipping a switch to company comms. “All Panzers halt. Watch your arcs,” Engel said until he turned his chest to get a better look at the Panzer IV that was following his slowly commit to the same halt on the hard pack road. While most of them were the Ausf. H variant, a few could be seen without armoured skirts. Looking at his own Panzer IV Ausf. J, he wished that he had some as well. Oberleutnant Engel Ritter was a man with what used to be pale skin before days of being in the cupola of his tank had cured. He belonged to the Lehr Panzer Regiment with the II. Panzer Abteilung. The group consisted of mostly Panzer IV and their command variant which suited him just fine. Tigers and the fabled Königstiger were the armoured monsters. If he wanted to paint a giant target on his back then he would gladly suggest himself. No, this was his home. A stiff ache ran up his back for being in the blasted machine for hours. A painful home, but still a home. “Sir?” Engel was torn from his thoughts once more to look down to the gunner and loader power combo that was his gunnery team. Unteroffizier Albert Biermann the gunner and Soldat Hannes Blau, the loader. Albert was looking up and between the two of them they simply stared. It was a simple process that always made him groan in knowing full well at what was happening. They had to piss. They ALWAYS have to fucking piss. “Fine, you schwein. Make it quick. Hans, unbutton and scan their arcs,” “Sir?” Engel couldn't help but make another groan. “Schnell!” To his ordering, a man (although many would argue due to his boyish looks) jumped out of the driver hatch. His barely regulation brown hair bouncing as he scrambled over the side and quickly began to take care of business. The Panzer officer gazed back to the rest of the column and simply smiled a cheeky one as he noticed several other members of his kompanie seemed to be following suit. He trusted his tank commanders to keep a tight reign on the men therefore didn't mention it. The day had been nothing but movement by train and then by their own personal vehicles. The entire division was moving in a loose formation with many of the battalions trying to stay together. He must have plucked the lucky straw as he was behind everything except the pioneers, supply and half of the recce elements. While many would wonder why being this far back really mattered, Engel would answer with a simple gesture. From a knock in the turret he withdrew a bottle of dark liquid to which he smiled. All it cost him was some of his pay and his charming good looks to which he thanked the supply Leutnant for his generosity. He quickly uncapped and let the liquor light his gullet with it's mediocre richness. Scratch that. “Taste like piss,” Engel moaned as he tried to scrape his tongue with his top teeth. “Speaking of piss. Get back in the Panzer! I'll defeat the damn tommies without you!” he ordered and without much effort the men scrambled with both uniforms and the tank as they expertly slid back into their original positions. “Hans, still no word from staff?” “No, sir,” “Sonnen, cut the engine,” The driver, Soldat Kurt Sonnen, responded with a affirmative before the Maybach engine quickly spurted till silence was all that was left. Turning back to see his kompanie behind him, he gave the sign to cut engines which was quickly passed along. If they were going to be sitting here, than at least save some fuel and his ear drums. Engel leaned back once more with a groan before lowering the bottle down to tap the aging gunner's arm. He didn't have to look to know that Albert quickly grabbed the bottle. Albert was the oldest man in the tank and some argued even the whole kompanie. He had survived the Eastern front which he only talks about on the odd days. The same very man started to cough slightly before looking at his loader before giving him the bottle. “Tastes like piss!” Engel didn't even bother hiding his own mirth at the comment. Time passed as the only thing to come over the radio was the confused Supply and Engineers. Engel almost swore that they were afraid that the allies were gonna swoop down this second and blow up the entire convoy. While the Officer did not doubt that the Allies had it in them to do just that, it was still premature. They didn't have boots on the soil yet. With a groan, Engel checked his watch to see it had been almost half an hour till they were ordered to stop. Enough was enough. “Hans! Get me a hold of the recce element to our rear,” Engel ordered as he eyed the long road to this front. The clear sunny day gave him plenty of light to the point of seeing into the tree lines were even easy to do. What he didn't like was the fact that if there was no radio communication, than a runner would be sent. None of this made much sense. Several minutes went by until a engine could be heard getting louder and before he knew it, a Sd. Kfz. 223 rolled up to a stop beside his Panzer. He gave the light recce car a quick look over before noticing the man poking his head out. “You called, sir?” Engel motioned his gloved hand down the road than back to him. “I need you to find the the rest of the division. They are not answering their radios and I have several kompanies sitting here with their dicks in their hands. Bewegung!” The leader of the car gave a crisp salute and than quickly ordered his driver to gun it. The vehicle quickly tore off leaving a small cloud of dried dust after a warm day. In a matter of minutes they lost sight of them due to a tree line. With that matter now underway, the Oberleutnant simply had to curb his boredom. Radio checks and such were pushed down the line but everything always came back in the green. None of the Panzers were falling apart and the only enemy that they had witnessed so far was boredom. With that, he could understand when a song slowly begun from within the hull of his beast. He didn't partake but it didn't stop him from drumming his finger along with the beat. In all accounts, they should think themselves lucky to be here instead of the eastern front. Here, they were under a gorgeous sun and within friendly borders. Yes there was partisans but the chance of them attacking such a heavily armed convoy was beyond foolish. Another fifteen minutes happened by which now caused him to worry. Engel could understand the rest of the division getting caught up in something but no communication? To top it off, the scout car has yet to even return. Perhaps the convoy has progressed without us? The very idea caused him to frown but he knew that maybe the Tigers were probably broken down again. If that was so, Engel gazed back to the distant Supply trucks, why didn't they communicate for the mechanics and parts? The Panzer Officer let out a breath to try and calm his nerves as he gazed down to his watch once more. Twenty minutes. “To hell with this,” Engel breathed low enough so none of his subordinates could hear over the wind and wildlife. “Hans, get that car on my comms,” “Jawohl!” his response came over the internal comms. A minute went by until the man's bewilderment echoed once more. “Uh, Sir?” “Are you about to tell me that you cannot get them?” “Ja, Oberleutnant,” Engel was close to just throwing out his damnable radio. Instead he simply motioned his Kompanie to ignite their engines. Like a great roar, Panzers and trucks alike began to come to life with earth shaking sensation. Somewhere down this road in the next ten kilometres should be the rest of the Lehr Division and he was damned if he wasn't going to give the asshole who left them behind an earful! He gave up. They had already passed the fifteen kilometre mark and the only thing they truly could discern was the Sd. Kfz. 223 tracks from before. They had been officially gone for almost an hour now. Radios from five different Panzers were tried but still nothing answered. The column under his command had come to another nerve grinding halt. He had even called up a few of his trusted platoon leaders but they are all just as stumped. Engel had spent the last five minutes looking over his map only to be further stumped to the point of embarrassment. He was chosen to lead the kompanie and now he seemed incompetent; something that killed trust. “Sir!” Engel's head snapped up from his map to look down the road. “I got the car on the comms!” “Good job, Hans!” Engel cheered before switching his own communication to the correct channel. “This is Panzer 100, where are you, over,” There was some static before a voice cut in. “703, We don't rightfully know,” You don't KNOW!? Engel thought before letting out a heated breath. “100, Can you back track?” “703, currently doing that now,” “100, Acknowledge. I want radio checks every ten minutes, over,” A brief acknowledgement was radioed back which caused the man to lean back against the cupola that he was standing halfway out. His fingers began to pull the map to his attention once more as he recalled his position. The only problem was that the terrain that surrounded him apparently didn't exist. The maps couldn't be wrong so he just chalked it up to a wrong turn. With his nerves slightly tested, he placed his map back into the proper pouch before pulling up his binoculars. With a click of his tongue, he only furthered his worry that his prior suspicion was wrong as well. He turned his head along the horizon until he noticed it. How in the world did he miss it? It was a mountain. A fucking MOUNTAIN! They were no mountains for anywhere even close both on the map and from his knowledge. Hills yes, big and small, but nothing as tall as that range that was off in the distance. Engel than spotted something that was strange and as he brought his bino's to sit on his face once more, he could barely make an unnatural blur sticking out from the side of the mountain. Instantly, Engel tried to blink away this obvious mirage only to be rewarded with the same image. “Unteroffizier?” Engel called. “Ja?” Albert poked his head over the cannon breach to look up. “The bottle, Mr. Biermann,” Engel held his open hand out which was soon encompassed around the bottle that still held some amount of the liquor. With a quick toss the bottle flew off into a nearby bush. Whatever that garbage was, it was clearly affecting his eyesight. Ignoring the disappointed moan from within, he concentrated again on the mountains before his radio crackle to life. “Contact!” “100, Say again, 703!” Engel shouted back as he lowered himself so only his eyes peaked over the metal edge of the commander's cupola. “We are under contact! No casualties but enemy is pursuing us!” “100, What enemy? What are their strengths?” Engel's voice started to rise which caused the rest of his crew to shuffle in their seats nervously. “I don't know! They-,” And the radio went dead. Engel had heard enough. If those men died, it was on his hands. To hell with orders, he was getting them. Another quick flip on his communication board and he pressed down on the mic. “Calling all Panzer 100 call signs, this is 100. 1 platoon and 2 platoon are to form up on my lead. 3 platoon, cover the rest of the convoy. Use the recce elements to gain a defensible position,” Engel ordered as he motioned for his own driver to to move. With a lurch of the Panzer, he recognize the acknowledgements and with only a quick look past the hatch he could see that he was followed by the two platoons. “Hans, pass it on. This is now a combat patrol. Keep radio chatter down to a minimum and keep your eyes open,” “Sonnen! Follow those tracks even if you have to unbutton to get a better look!” Engel's voice boomed even without the help of the headset. It wasn't even a few minutes later till Sonnen did a sudden right turn onto a box like field. Three shrub like lines encompassed the field which the Officer had to guess was a little under a kilometre long. With a quick order, the two platoons fanned out on either side of Engel's Panzer. A simple order and as one, the staggered line of Panzer IVs pushed forward at combat speed. After 200 or so metres an echoing sound was heard. It was like a rattling which was quickly growing stronger and with one surprise roar of an engine, a familiar sight burst from the furthest tree line to their front. The Sd. Kfz. 223 from before was now speeding across the field, the MG34 blasting in long bursts into the tree line. “Panzers, Halt!” Engel ordered as an extended line was made as they all watched the car speeding towards them. With a quick peek through his binocular's, he could at least see why they were not on the radio anymore. The antennas that used to be fastened atop the vehicle were now missing. Now the only question was what they were firing at? Mein Gott. . . The answer was suddenly not that desirable as the thing crashed through the trees like they were but toothpicks to it's giant forearms. The MG34 rounds didn't even seem to affect the creature. It dwarfed the Panzer even from the distance and it's black carapace barely even reflected the sun. The most intimidating thing was the large crushing forearms that it was using to propel itself further like a chimpanzee or an ape. With all that in mind however, it has damaged German property and intended to do harm to men under his command. “1 Platoon, kill it,” he ordered over the company comms. “Feuer!” was shouted and like a rolling cannon battery, four loud blasts echoed out with smoke. Engel watched as the first round had sailed over the creature but the other three exploded with satisfying effects. The creature had slowed it's pursuit which the recce crew was more than happy with as they refused to slow down. “Load Panzergranate, Blau!” “Ja!” Engel quickly pressed on his mic “1 Platoon, hold your fire,” As ordered the field grew quiet as all Panzers eyed up their target with anxious anticipation. The armoured car retreated past their line and onto the road before getting into a defensive position themselves. The behemoth of a creature stood still with it's enlarged forearms to cover the rest of it's body from impending harm. A minute dragged on and with it, Engel's patience. “Albert, do you have a good target?” “Ja,” “Feuer!” The Panzer shook and the insides filled with a waft of smoke as the shell casing ejected. Engel and Albert's eyes however were glued onto the monster as the armour piercing round impacted at around 990 metres a second. Such velocity and armour piercing potential hurled the creature back as a luminescent green substance oozed out of the large creature which now gave out a pained cry. In a tense moment Engel was about to order 2 platoon to fire until the creature fell over with a large crash. All that could be heard was the engines of the war machines but nothing else. Until the unknown species breached the tree line with no more than twenty or so humanoid figures. Even with Engel trying to observe them through binocular's he still could not get a clear glimpse of what they were. They stood on two legs but they were covered with the same black shell that the behemoth had. They held something in their hands that could be rifles. If it smells like shit and looks like shit, it's probably shit. “Platoon 1 and 2, cover and move!” With that, platoon 1 lurched forward with Engel's own Panzer as platoon 2 opened up with both co-ax machine guns and the hull guns. 7.92 Mauser rifle rounds tore through the air as the creatures desperately tried to run for cover. Many quickly dove back behind the tree line but there was unlucky few who had the pleasure to become intimate with Fatherland fury. Engel was more than happy to see the creatures easily fall to the torrent of fire unlike their much larger cohort. “Platoon 1, hold and cover. Platoon 2 move and load HE for the tree line,” Engel's Panzer IV halted along with Platoon 1 and immediately all ten MG 34s opened fire for the tree line in a awe defining moment of green tracers and deafening noise. Tree limbs and bark flew in all sorts of directions and through his binocular's, Engel could see more than a few creatures stand in the open with what he assumed was rifles raised only to be hosed down. The Panzer officer turned his head to see that platoon had caught up to the extended line and as half a company, now were only 500 metres or so from the tree line. “Platoons hold. 2, fire a salvo into the tree line please,” His order was received and answered again with four deafening roars of 7.5 cm cannon fire. The High Explosive rounds were much heavier than the average rounds so the gunners had to compensate but the training seemed to be well worth it. The tree line exploded in wooden shrapnel and fire much to Engel's delight. “All, hold fire. We will see if they want to continue this fight,” “1 Platoon, acknowledge,” “2 Platoon, understood,” Yet again the men watched the stillness after such explosive destruction where not a single creature stirred. Even with the rumble of the engine through each machine it almost seemed like an eerie quiet. Engel could feel his heart almost bounding out of his chest and it made him truly think of his station. This was his first true taste of war. It was exhilarating but at the same time he felt like an almost spine chilling calm through his body. With a deep breath he put the emotions aside and returned his concentration to where it should be. The destroyed tree line was still for a minute or two after the last shell exploded and with that silence he ordered the platoons forward. As one extended line they advanced up to the large creature that had refused to move since the shell pierced through it's jet black carapace. Unwilling to let things to chance, Panzer 121 rotated it's turret to let a burst of machine gun fire into the fleshy underbelly to see the sickly ichor splatter out. No movement. The Panzers moved forward once more, eyes scanning everywhere. Engel tapped his gloved fingers once more along the commanders cupola to help ease his nerves. This scenario was beyond anything he was trained to deal with. Was this some sick experiment the Allies had concocted to fight the Fatherland? The very idea seemed so far fetched that he didn't want to put any real faith in it but there wasn't much else in the idea of evidence. “2 Platoon, move ahead to scout the tree line. Use extreme precaution,” An affirmative was announced as Engel Ritter watched the four Panzer IVs move ahead with slow but dangerous purpose. They soon breached the tree line with barrels and turrets covering different angles but after a short minute it was deemed clear. It only took about five minutes but Engel soon had a protective perimeter set up so he could inspect his enemy much more closely. He immediately was left almost wordless. He stood with both his platoon commanders and their tank commanders along with most of the tank loaders who held MP 40s for protection. Engel grasped the creature by what he assumed was the throat and elevated the head to gather a closer look. The creature had thicker black carapace around it's chest, thighs and head almost like natural armour. It was shocking at how humanoid it actually was however and when Engel prodded near the wound where a large splinter of wood embedded deeply into the stomach, the same ichor of the other creature spilled forth. “Oberleutnant, look at this!” Engel peered up after wiping his glove off on the disturbed earth beside him. The 2 platoon commander held up one of the creatures head with his fingers prying the eyelids open. The men stared with shock as the creature's vibrant teal, lifeless eye stared back. “What in god's name are these things, sir?” a Panzer commander asked as he gave one of the corpses a slight kick only to get a screech in response. His own loader immediately responded as the MP 40 in his hands fired a long burst into the creature causing the bright blood to splatter upwards like a fountain. The area was suddenly quiet as pistols and sub machine guns were now levelled at the creatures. “Listen in, gruppe. From now on assume these things are hostile and are to be shot on sight. We need to link up with the rest of the kompanie and find out where the rest of the damn division is,” Engel Ritter spoke to the group of leaders as he made sure to make eye contact with each of them. “Treat our surroundings as enemy territory from now on,” “Ja, Oberleutnant!” “Sir!” Engel turned his head at the call and noticed Albert waving from his open hatch enthusiastically. The officer, with a raised brow of curiosity, made his way to his own Panzer after dismissing his men. Once securely through his own hatch he gave his gunner the look before he pointed towards Hans. “I have been trying to reach others on division communications, sir,” Hans reported as he his jerked back to his own radio set. “And?” Engel asked impatiently. “I managed to get a hold of 902. Panzergrenadiers,” Hans explained. “They are asking for immediate reinforcements,”