Smoke over Prussia (Laya)

[Sergey Anatkin]

Country: a large industrial complex, East Prussia, Germany
Current time: 29th of January 1945, just about noon
Weather conditions: temperature is a bit below freezing, the sky is all bright with a slight sun shining down

The whole morning, heavy Soviet artillery had shelled the rather big hill west of the current position of Sergey and his troops. Ever and ever again, big bulks of Russian bombers had hummed above the heads of the soldiers and had thrown down their devastating, explosive load on the assumed, German positions. Fighter- bombers had constantly rushed over the hill firing and throwing even more bombs. Death and destruction ragged over the German countryside, offering an awesomely entertaining spectacle to Sergey and the few by standing soldiers. In cheer fascination, the Praporschik had observed the bombardment through his binoculars for a rather long time now. The shelling did almost last for over 3 hours, only leaving behind some dark, thick clouds dancing over an earth, that was deformed by an uncountable amount of huge craters and shell holes. The snow, which partially covered the ground, was littered with ugly, black- burned specs.

The company, Sergey's men were assigned to, had dug in themselves in front of an gigantic industrial- building,which did show some heavy tracks of the fighting that had occurred here during the last few days. Parts of the huge building's roof had collapsed to the ground and the outside wall was littered with holes from splinters and machine- gun rounds. The whole complex had gotten captured from the Germans just during the last evening, when the enemy had used to retreat here towards the west.

Several hundred meters behind the holes of the Soviet soldiers, well hidden in the cover of the industrial- halls, a platoon of T- 34 tanks had parked his vehicles. Some of the tank- soldiers were busy, doing minor repairs at the tracks of the armored beasts, but most of the men also just loosely stood around and observed the momentarily demonstration of the force of Soviet arms. Most probably, the tank- crewmen were also waiting for orders for the further advance, but surprisingly it seemed, as if someone had decided to finally let the soldiers gain at least a small hint of rest for the moment. A big grin ran over Sergey's face, as the presence of the tanks and the pure power of this artillery bombardment somehow had used to tangibly lighten up his mood that day. Enjoying he threw a handful of roasted sunflower seeds into his mouth, that he had fished out of a small pouch hanging at his waist belt. Contentedly chewing, Sergey turned his attention off the shelled, German hill and let his view wander over the men and few women under his command for a minute.

[Laya Eteric]

Laya waited and watched earlier that day as the awesome barrage occurred overhead. During that time, there wasn't much for one to do...sometimes she would pace around the building, sometimes shew would just sit and watch the show. A good time to think about various things, maybe talk to others, but Laya always kept somewhat alert, glancing at the landscape every so often to see if anyone was approaching. She wondered what lay ahead for her up ahead...well, at least she had plenty of time to rest before everyone was given the order to move out.

Also, she still had the thought in her mind about the two civilians she had helped execute the day before...the thought didn't bother her as much as it did the day before, but the thought was still there. She was certainly trying to hide that, though, especially since the very man that had ordered her to do it, Anatkin, was her superior this day, and was sitting right there! She could have hated him for the way he told her to do it, but she decided that she had little reason to; after all, she had made a fool of herself minutes before, so it had been an obvious choice as to who was to be one of the executioners...she sighed, thinking to herself. Maybe if I don't have an incident like with the mud, and get a few German kills, this guy might not have to yell at me like that...if I'm lucky, maaaayybe we could be friends...though I doubt I'd be lucky enough for that last part to happen.

Now that the barrage was about finished, Laya walked over to one of the windows, about five or six meters away from Anatkin. She took her rifle off of her shoulder, and lied it against the wall next to the window frame. With a slight groan, she then sat down in front of the window, looking and scanning the landscape in front of her...the partly snow-covered land was pocketed with craters from the artillery shells and bombs. Some buildings in the distant, but not too distant, horizon had also received their share of destruction. The road was just as bad, but it wasn't important; they were far better at off-road travel than the Germans were. (Albeit their Rollbahns certainly helped.)

Laya continued scanning the landscape for a few minutes. Eventually, she finally asked Sergey, "Sir? How much longer will we stay in here...?"

[Sergey Anatkin]

Still scanning over the positions of his men with his eyes, Sergey saw most of the soldiers thankfully using this short time of peace to try regaining their strengths in preparation for the things, which still were up to come. A field- kitchen was situated on a large acre only some hundred meters behind the complex, that had given out warm food, coffee and additionally cold rations to the Soviets earlier that day. Most of the Russians lay in the trenches or inside their foxholes now, saturated trying to find some hours of sleep. Other men were just sitting on the dirty earth, chatting with each other or did stare at the artillery bombardment on the hill to the west in fascination, just as Sergey had done before.

The hand of the Russian Praporschik wandered into his belt pouch again, pulling out another handful of roasted seeds and throwing them inside his widely opened mouth. The shelling of the hill had eased up in the last few minutes, so Sergey decided to finally shift his attention at something else. Accidentally he remembered a small pamphlet, that one of the Soviet, political officers had handed to him some days before. In the turbulent happenings during the last time, there hadn't been any possibility to throw an eye on it, but when Sergey dug a bit deeper inside his pockets, he found the flyer after some more seconds. The paper was completely scrunched up, but the fine, black ink was still readable. Slowly moving his lips while reading, Sergey started with the head of the tiny article. It was written by a certain Ilija Ehrenburg in the year '42 and had the simple title "Kill". The Russian had never heard of that author's name, but nevertheless, he continued reading:

"We know everything. We remember everything. We have understood: Germans are not human beings. Henceforth the word German means to us the most terrible curse. From now on the word German will trigger your rifle. We shall not speak any more. We shall not get excited. We shall kill. If you have not killed at least one German a day, you have wasted that day. If you think that that instead of you, the man next to you will kill him, you have not understood the threat. If you do not kill the German, he will kill you. If you cannot kill your German with a bullet, kill him with your bayonet. If there is calm on your part of the front, if you are waiting for the fighting, kill a German before combat. If you leave a German alive, the German will hang a Russian and rape a Russian woman. If you kill one German, kill another - there is nothing more amusing for us than a heap of German corpses. Do not count days; do not count miles. Count only the number of Germans you have killed. Kill the German - this is your old mother's prayer. Kill the German - this is what your children beseech you to do. Kill the German - this is the cry of your Russian earth. Do not waver. Do not let up. Kill."

The style of writing and the heroic attitude made Sergey silently grunt to himself. This author had exactly hit the right nerve within the young Russian. A hot wave flew through his body, making the Praporschik feel a determined mixture of anger at the Fascist enemy and proud of the powerful army, that he did belong to. After all, what the Germans had done to his country, had done to him and to his family, Yes, he would kill, he wouldn't waver and he would never let up.

"Sir? How much longer will we stay in here...?" Sergey had still been somehow lost in his thoughts and the unexpected voice made him turn around in surprise. Besides him, he recognized a female Mladshii Sershant, the same one that had to carry out the execution of the two, German civilians the day before. The young, stubby woman now expectantly looked at her superior, waiting for any reply. Slowly, Sergey took the pamphlet down, starting to speak after some more seconds: "Honestly? I don't know yet by myself. The regimental command hasn't issued any further orders by now, but I'm awaiting on getting them every minute. For now, just try to keep your squads together and ready for continuing the marsh. I don't want the soldiers to stroll around in the area on their own." After another short break, a short, hushed smile flashed over Sergey's lips and he continued: "And Mladshii Sershant, I managed to get some Machorka at the field kitchen today, but unfortunately no paper for making cigarettes. Could you or one of your soldiers maybe help me out with some?"

[Laya Eteric]

Laya didn't expect Sergey to be surprised like that...then again, he was focused on the paper...after he lowered it and paused for few seconds, Sergey answered Laya. "Honestly? I don't know yet by myself. The regimental command hasn't issued any further orders by now, but I'm awaiting on getting them every minute. For now, just try to keep your squads together and ready for continuing the marsh. I don't want the soldiers to stroll around in the area on their own." She nodded in agreement, waiting for him to continue. "And Mladshii Sershant, I managed to get some Machorka at the field kitchen today, but unfortunately no paper for making cigarettes. Could you or one of your soldiers maybe help me out with some?"

Laya looked back of her six troops, then Sergey again. "No, I don't smoke, sorry. But I'm sure Yaroslav has some...I'll be back in a bit." Laya stood and slowly walked to her group of soldiers. And conversing few a few moments, she was given something by one of them, after which she started walking back to Sergey. Huh...it seems I just might be lucky here...he is obviously in a much friendlier mood than he was yesterday...after all, he DID smile while talking to me this time... she thought. As she walked back, she handed the papers to Sergey. "Here you go sir," she said with a slight smile. Afterward, she sat down and looked at the landscape.

Laya huffed her breath into her hands, trying to keep them warm. She got her rifle and backpack, and lied them next to her. She sighed and lied back on her pack, resting her hands on her stomach. At least the early lunch was satisfying, as Laya hated to fight on an empty stomach. But ore importantly, she wondered how soon it would be today that she got a German soldier in her sights. If it were a Waffen-SS soldier, maybe even an officer, that would be better. She looked at a long line of neatly (until today) planted pine trees on the left side of a road. She wondered if someone were hiding in there...it certainly would be easy to, and the trunks of the felled trees would make a good barrier against small arms. Strange, she had never thought of that until now...she stood up to get a better look, before speaking to Sergey. "Hmm... you're Anatkin, right? I just got the thought...do you think that there could be someone hiding behind those trees there...?" She pointed. "I mean, I can't see a thing past them..."

[Sergey Anatkin]

Some seconds passed, before the female Mladshii Sershant answered to Sergey's question: "No, I don't smoke, sorry. But I'm sure Yaroslav has some...I'll be back in a bit." Disappearing for a few moments behind a small row of bushes, the woman immediately came back and, fortunately for Sergey, really seemed like having managed to get some cigarette- paper from one of her inferiors. With a hushed, still a bit abashedly appearing smile on her face, the snug, female soldier reached the papers over to the Praporschik, who instantly stuffed them into another pouch hanging at his waist belt. Only one of the small paper stripes Sergey kept within his hands, because he wanted to roll one Machorka- cigarette right after placing himself on a wooden ammunitions box standing besides the outer wall of the huge factory hall. Putting down his PPS- 42 machine- pistol besides him, the Russian soldier stared at the German occupied hill for a second, before he started taking out his tobacco. In the meantime, the woman had taken a seat on the dirty ground, only several meters away from the Praporschik.

Sergey had already been a small smoker, when he was still running through his village of childhood, being a small rascal on the hamlet's dirt roads. The strong Machorka tobacco had used to become somewhat a part of the life of the young man and so he was rather adept in rolling a cigarette, one ability that he even was almost proud about. In no time, Sergey had built himself a quite perfect cigarette and now he didn't hesitate to lit it with his steel, gas lighter. Hauling the first cloud of smoke into his lungs, the man stretched off his legs in a rather relaxed manner. Surely the regimental command wouldn't leave the soldiers unengaged for all too long, so every additional minute of rest was more than welcome to the NCO at that moment.

Suddenly, the female soldier, who had just brought the papers to Sergey, stood off the ground again and walked some meters, with her view strained fixed at a certain spot at the frontline. After some more seconds, she turned toward Sergey with a questioning expression on her face: "Hmm... you're Anatkin, right? I just got the thought...do you think that there could be someone hiding behind those trees there...?"

Following the Mladshii Sershant's line of sight, Sergey discovered the small, cobbled road leading to the next, small and dead village. The street was flanked by a long row of high pine trees, which covered the area directly behind from the sight of the Russians here at the industrial complex. But what the female soldier of course couldn't have known at that moment was, that another company, that had taken up positions adjacent to Sergey's troops in the north, was controlling that area with even two full batteries of heavy mortars. So a German counterblast coming from that direction was nearly debarred. Slowly turning his head toward the female, Sergey started answering her questions: "Yes, ... Anatkin, Sergey Anatkin. And you just got that thought? Soldier, you better should leave the thinking to the donkeys and to the men, who are carrying those colorful insignias on their shoulders." He paused for a second to give his words some time to sink, before continuing: "The area behind those trees is secured by troops of another unit and actually, the high command told, that the Fascists aren't all too strong in this area anymore at all. So don't worry yourself about things, that use to happen all too far over your head anyway." Still glancing at the female soldier, Sergey took another deep haul from his cigarette and luxuriously breathed the smoke up into the cold air.

[Laya Eteric]

The way Sergey turned his head made Laya wonder if she should have asked what she did... "Yes, ... Anatkin, Sergey Anatkin. And you just got that thought? Soldier, you better should leave the thinking to the donkeys and to the men, who are carrying those colorful collar tabs on their shoulders." Laya certainly didn't expect that answer... "The area behind those trees is secured by troops of another unit and actually, the high command told, that the Fascists aren't all too strong in this area anymore at all. So don't worry yourself about things, that use to happen all too far over your head anyway." Laya nodded. "Okay..." She went and sat back down next to her equipment. Was that an insult...? she wondered. Sergey certainly had worded his sentence in a way that made it hard for Laya to tell.

Laya sat and sighed. This was getting boring...little to do other than talk and repair weapons and vehicles, and Laya could not do that, and her own rifle was fine. She wanted to do something, so she stood back up, looking around. After a few moments, she took her rifle and backpack, and walked back to her own troops. "No orders yet, so even Anatkin doesn't know when we are supposed to leave...it won't take too long, hopefully..." She sighed and sat down. "Well, at least we're in Germany's borders! How long do you think it will be before they finally surrender?" She got several replies, ranging from a few months to just a few weeks. "Hmm, yeah...and with the Americans and British and such pushing on their Western side, there is no way that it won't happen," she smiled.

The occasional artillery shell or airplane still flew overhead very now and then. And even when that wasn't happening, there were still explosions in the city every few moments as the destroyed parts of the city burned. "There can't be much resistance left in this town after what we have done to it!" she cheerfully said. "Especially since we have all of those tanks with us," added Ivan. "Yes..."

One other thing that Laya was glad about was the weather. The day before, it had rained hard, which had made everything muddy. It was a much more clear sky today, and somewhat drier. It was a bit colder, but she didn't mind that. She was used to the cold, as this was merely just a little below freezing, and she'd been through days MUCH colder than that. The ground was still soggy, though. She sat there and thought a few moments. A new thought entered her mind: what would become of Germany once they surrendered? Whatever it is, they will certainly deserve it, we will make sure of that!

"Laya? What are you thinking about?" asked Tima. "Hmm? Oh, nothing. Just how long the rest of war will take to finish, what will happen to Germany afterward, and such things like that. Nothing really that others have not been thinking about lately." She looked back at the factory, the tanks visible through the windows. Obviously, they would be a major asset when they finally entered the town. But for now, it was just a mater of waiting, and waiting...it could take just a few minutes, or it could take several hours. The anticipation was eating away at now just Laya, but at everyone, except for the few who had fallen asleep. Laya looked at the city, then back at Sergey. Soon... she thought.

[Sergey Anatkin]

For the moment, Sergey was more than satisfied with the world around him. A smoke in his hand, some hundred meters distance to the enemy and the possibility to just luxuriously stretch one's legs for some seconds already were enough to make today appear a lot better to the Russian, than the last, awful days before. Even the shelling of the village and the rather big hill north of it, which used to increase with every moment again now, couldn't keep the NCO from closing his dark- brown eyes for a short second. With his head lent against the outside wall of the industrial building, the Russian wasn't actually far away from falling asleep. Sergey quickly reopened his eyelids, when he heard some steps besides him.

The chubby, female soldier had taken her semi- automatic rifle from the wall besides Sergey again and now turned away toward her squad of soldiers. She wore a somehow offended appearing expression on her face while leaving, what most probably was the blame of Sergey and his comment about soldiers and donkeys earlier. The Soviet hadn't aimed on personally affronting her, but on the other hand the man had to carry way too much ballast on his shoulders, to actually feel concerned about those tiny, personnel affairs.

Just when Sergey was about to close his eyes once again, an American built jeep vastly rushed through the courtyard of the industrial complex, with it's tires squeaking loudly when the driver forcefully hit the breaks after having arrived at the side of the huge building. In the moment, the Williy's MB had finally stopped, Sergey instantly discovered a Russian Kapitan, who sat besides the driver and now quickly jumped out of the car.

Instantly, the high ranking officer went over to a larger group of entrenched soldiers, most probably asking for the man being in charge of these Russian soldiers here. One of the soldiers, Sergey recognized him as Serzhant Danil Philipp Karpez, the by far most veteran one of the squad leaders in Sergey's platoon, seemed to be pointing his arm into Sergey's direction, what made him finally, suspirious get off his ammunitions- box again. Slinging his MP over his shoulder, Sergey mentally readied himself for reporting to the officer. The Kapitan had a locked expression on his face, when he expectantly watched Sergey slowly walking towards him. The officer wore a long, earth brown officers- cloak, a rather clean and shinny uniform and his breast glittered because of the numerous badges and medals. His officers- cap was deeply pulled into his eyes, only giving view to about half of the man's mimic. Most probably, this officer used to belong to the regimental staff, as Sergey was rather sure about having seen this Kapitan a few times at the regimental headquarters before. Standing up straight now, Sergey lifted his hand to his steel- helmet and started speaking in a loud and rather clear voice: "Sir Kapitan, I'm reporting the 2. platoon of red company ready for orders. No further events have occurred in our sector, Sir. The Fritz seems all quiet."

Only nodding his head in reply, the officer now slowly used to answer Sergey's salute in a rather sloppy manner. After just a few more moments of silence, the Kapitan finally opened his mouth: "You should have to be Anatkin, right? Good that I finally found you and your men now. I'm bringing the new orders from the regiment, but actually I would prefer to first talk to you under four eyes only. So please follow me some meters, so that we can discuss everything without getting disturbed." Still, the officer threw a very severe and evaluating view at Sergey, before he turned around and walked a few steps over to some pine trees, standing a little more secluded from the rest of the soldiers. Slowly, Sergey followed up the man, having a terrible feel inside his stomach about those things, that this officer might be going to tell him about now.

[Laya Eteric]

Laya had just settled in when she heard the sound of an engine. She turned around just is time to see the officer jump out of the jeep. She immediately sat up. "Officer!" she quietly said to her troops. "Be alert, maybe we'll finally get to do something..." She watched as he walks over to the troops, followed by Sergey standing and walking to the officer--a Kapitan, she could now tell. As he reached the Kapitan, he stood strait and soluted, speaking, "Sir Kapitan, I'm reporting the 2. platoon of red company ready for orders. No further events have occurred in our sector, Sir. The Fritz seems all quiet."

There was a moment of silence between the two. Eventually, the officer replied, "You should have to be Anatkin, right? Good that I finally found you and your men now. I'm bringing the new orders from the regiment, but actually I would prefer to first talk to you under four eyes only. So please follow me some meters, so that we can discuss everything without getting disturbed." And with that, the two walked away and to the group of trees. Hmm, she thought. Discussing something private, of course...

Laya sighed. "So, what do you think they're talking about?" asked Yaroslav. "I don't know..." she replied. "And I don't really care, so long as we get to fight soon...because there is pretty much nothing else to do...don't you think so?" Yaroslav shrugged. "Yeah, I guess so."

Laya waited and thought. She drummed her fingers on her somewhat soft stomach as she watched the two converse. Hmm...I wonder how long those two will talk...shoo...the cold is finally starting to get to me...mmn...but once we finally get moving, I'll warm back up... She ran her hand through her dark through her hair, moving it out from in front of her face. She then stood. "I'll be right back," she told the others, before wandering to an outhouse. When she came back, it seemed the two were still talking. "Huh...wonder how long they'll keep talking..." It seemed that they were almost done.

[Edward"Butcher"McMillan]

Moderation Post:

The following CP has been issued:

Anatkin - 6CP

Eteric - 5CP

-JT