Kessel von Demjansk (Fuchs)

[∬: Erik Schneider]

Country: Russia
Area/Setting: A large town on the outskirts of the Demjansk Pocket. A large river runs down the center of the town as well as a major road vital to the Gezrman forces in the area.

Current Time: 2:00
Weather Conditions: Light snow and wind in the area. Few feet of snow on the ground.

The bitter winds of Russia wrapped around the Obersturmfuhrer, sucking heat and energy out from his body. The German blitzkrieg tactics against the Soviet Union only months prior proved fatal to the poor bastards who found themselves engaged in winter warfare. The fools up top, high in charge of the German armies, failed to supply the German soldiers the much needed supplies to fight a winter war. The best the Obersturmfuhrer had to combat the Russian cold was a heavy wool greatcoat in field-grey. The double-breasted great coat reached down to the officer's calf, the cloth belt tightening the coat at his waist. Despite having grey wool gloves on, Schneider's fist were tightly in the pockets just below the waist of the greatcoat for warmth. Around his face and neck he wore a toque, a tube scarf, which protected against the painful wind.

Unlike the other ill-equipped soldiers, Schneider did not scavenge boots, jackets, fur coats, and other winter clothing off the enemy or civilians. However, he did use improvised winter camouflage in the form of a torn bedsheets. Like most of the SS men under his command, he used some white sheets as an overgarment for some sense of camouflage. He found this improvised camouflage was better than having none at all, which made the Germans stick out like sore thumbs in the snow. The sheet fit well over his greatcoat, fastened over him by his waist belt. The sleeves came about halfway down his bicep, while the under portion came down to about his knees. Some more of the sheet served as a camouflage helmet cover, tightened around his helmet by a cover strap. Other men had their helmets white-washed, but Schneider decided against having his own helmet painted.

Schneider lifted his hands out of his pockets and raised them up to his lips, where he struggled to keep warm with cigarette. He pulled the cigarette from his lips and tossed it somewhere in the snow, before turning back inside. In the distance, he could hear some sporadic fighting, but for the most part the Germans stopped making attempts at Soviet defenses. Inside the hotel, which Schneider had set up as a command post, a Hauptsturmfuhrer was calling for him. Johannes Steinhoff, the commander of the company that had come to Schneider and his men's "rescue". The Obersturmfuhrer did not enjoy the man who was arrogant and power hungry. Although it was Schneider who had formed the Kampfgruppe, as evident in it's name Kampfgruppe Schneider, and defended the town for several days... it seemed Steinhoff thought it was he who achieved the feat.

The Soviet counter-offensive and fighting near Demjansk left the units in the area in chaos. When the strategic Russian town which had a major road running through it's center came under to attack, Schneider rushed to it's defense. Forming a hasty Kampfgruppe, an ad-hoc organization of different units, he led his men in brutal fighting against their Russian attackers. The Kampfgruppe had little more than a hundred or so men, most of which were a Panzergrenadier company of the 3rd SS Totenkopf. The others were a mixture of some mortars, a few anti-tank guns, and a handful of tanks. The tanks had all been destroyed during the fighting, the mortar's had amazingly run out of ammunition, and the anti-tank guns didn't have much left to do with no tanks in the area.

Approaching the table with a map of the city laid out upon it, Schneider stopped and looked at the men gathered. Most of his company's HQ was spread about the hotel, but gathered before the table were his platoon leaders, who some runners had gathered previously, and some men from Steinhoff's company. Steinhoff, being of superior rank, stole command of the town's defense. Though Steinhoff only claimed command in name only, he still let Schneider do most of the leading. All the Hauptsturmfuhrer was after was glory, glory he wished to steal from the accomplishments of other men. Schneider's platoon leaders who were in the room were Untersturmfuhrer Muller and two senior NCOs Armin Fuchs and Kurt Hauff. The junior officer lead the first platoon, Fuchs the second, and Hauff the third. "Gut für alle haben Sie Neulinge, Hauptsturmfuhrer Steinhoff verlangt mich berichten Ihnen über die Situation."


Translations:

- "Alright, for all you newcomers, Hauptsturmfuhrer Steinhoff has requested I give you a report on the situation."

[∬: Armin Fuchs]

OOC: Most of it is kinda off-topic.

Armin shivered as the icy went swept through the ruined city. It was cold – well below freezing – and snowflakes spiralled lazily down, building up upon the 3 feet of snow already on the ground. He and his platoon were set up on a ruined street, in which every single building seemed to be mostly destroyed. His Command Post was set up in the ruins of an old shop, which was lucky enough to have half its roof remaining. He used the term “Command Post” loosely, of course. There were no radios, or any other special equipment, and his “staff” was made up of one Corporal and a messenger. He was wrapped up in as many layers of clothing as he could find – which was not much, and the last attempts made at lighting a fire had resulted in a Soviet Mortar barrage, and Uhlmann being carried off in a stretcher. There was no chance of lighting a cigarette either; even if did have one.

”Wolf, go check on first squad. We haven’t heard from them in an hour” Armin ordered gruffly. The corporal gave a grunt in response and heaved himself up from the ground. Armin watched him boredly as he stumped out of the doorway – there was no door – and out into snow that came up to his knees. First squad was the most precariously placed squad, and the closest one to the enemy position. Any attempts to move the squad resulted in a barrage of fire from the Soviets, although they amazingly hadn’t lost many men yet. Any communication with the squad had to be done by crawling into the building next door and whispering. But still... they could be worse off!

Armin made grab for his canteen lying on the floor next to him. ”Shit...” he muttered; it was frozen solid. He whacked it off a chair to try and break the ice, but it was futile. He frowned and decided it wasn’t worth getting mortared for. He stood up and stretched his arms skywards, wriggling his appendages to make sure they were all still attached. A few cases of frostbite had been discovered over the past few days and didn’t want any of it himself. ”I’m going out, stay here.” he grunted to the messenger, a replacement whose name he had forgotten. He pulled a scarf tight around his lower face and stepped out into the bitter cold. He squinted his eyes against the wind and peered around at the town. It had changed a lot in the past few weeks. Buildings were ruined, rubble blocked off streets and lone chimneys stood on their own, looking rather lonely.

He glanced down the street towards the direction of the HQ as he heard a car engine approaching in the distance. A kubelwagon pulled up beside him, skidding forward on the icy surface. ”Sergeant Fuchs”? The runner inside asked. Armin nodded. ”You’re wanted back at HQ. Hop in.” Armin gladly pulled himself into the passenger seat, not bothering to kick the snow off his boots. Wolf returned from his foray and jogged up to the door. ”They’re fine,” he said shortly. ”Good,” Armin replied. ”Tell Blau he’s in charge until I return. You take his place in second squad.” The Corporal gave another nod and ran back down the street. The vehicle reversed noisily down the street and Armin cursed loudly. Another mortar barrage would probably hit the platoon in a minute.

The kubelwagon brought him to the hotel surprisingly quickly and as he got out, he gave a grateful nod to the driver. ”Good luck” he muttered. He stepped through the doors of the hotel and was met by a blast of heat. It wasn’t up to the standards set back at their barracks at Germany, but compared to his own position, it was heaven on earth. He glanced around the room, which also appeared to be serving as a field hospital. Wounded lay sprawled over furniture in what must have been the lobby of the hotel. A couple of tired medics were scattered around the room, doing their best with their practically non-existent equipment. Armin caught the eye of a Corporal, who walked over promptly. ”You must be Fuchs.” He pointed him in the direction of the briefing room.

Armin stepped into the room and gave a small smile to Hauff and Muller, the other two platoon leaders. He went over and stood beside them, awaiting Schneider’s entry to the room. He wasn’t waiting for long; Schneider entered to room a few moments later. He waited for the briefing, wondering what was to come.

[∬: Erik Schneider]

OOC: HUGE talking post.

Within moments, Schneider had adjusted to the warmth and removed his helmet, which he found protected against the wind rather well, and placed it on the table. Slowly, he unrolled the toque that was covering much of his face and dropped the scarf down to cover his neck fully. Rubbing his gloved hands together for some warmth, he muttered, "Lässt an Geschäft unten gelangen," to the men within the small hotel room. His fingers ran across the length of the map, right down the center where a large road lie. "Wie aller Sie jetzt wissen, ist der Wert dieser Stadt einfach diese Straße. Wir können die russischen bastard nicht lassen abschnitten uns hier." However, the Obersturmfuhrer didn't feel like explaining the map to the men. It was self explanatory. The road met a large river that winded through the center of the town as well, meeting at the center point as a large, stone bridge. This divided the map into four sections: the northwest, northeast, southeast, and southwest sections.

"Wie meine Zugführer wissen, als wir unsere Firma überlassen, um diese Stadt zu verteidigen gründeten, bildete ich ein Kampfgruppe von, was wir im Bereich finden können. Mörser, Behälter, Antibehältergewehren. Sie nennen ihn. Die meisten diesen sind jetzt unbrauchbar, entweder zerstört an den Tagen des Kämpfens oder einfach aus Munition heraus." Schneider paused momentarily and glanced upwards, before returning his eyes and hands to the map's surface. The fingers of his right hand spread out and touched down in the two northern sections as he explained, "Die Russen schlugen vom Norden mit schweren Zahlen. Wir hielten heraus für, solange wir könnten, aber schließlich entschied ich, dass über den Fluss, die bessere Idee zurückfallend war. Die Sowjets nahmen die zwei Nordabschnitte, während wir defensive Positionen im Süden unter Verwendung der Brücke als Drosselklappenpunkt gründeten. Natürlich das Soviet' s-Behälter wurden ziemlich erfolglos, als gegenübergestellt mit der Kreuzung der Brücke."

"Leider hielt das die russischen Schweine nicht rückseitig. Nachts bewegt sehr große Infanterie wellenartig, manchmal gestützt durch die Rüstung, gefegt über der Brücke. Morgens waren alle, die gefunden werden konnten, absolut deutsche Maschinenartilleristen mit Stapel der russischen Leichen vor ihrem MG34s. Bald genug, hatten die Sowjets eine Stellung über dem Fluss." Schneider was bitter as he explained, reminded of the brutality of the sub-human monsters that had been attacking them non-stop for the last several days. "Die Russen hatten vorher unsere die meisten unserer Rüstung abgewischt, also waren wir auf einer Defensive noch einmal Zwangs. Wir bildeten Drosselklappenpunkte an jedem der Brückenkopfausgänge, um den Russeraum zu verhindern zu manövrieren. Antibehältergewehren und was Rüstung wir gezerstoßen an der sowjetischen Rüstung verlassen hatten, während unsere Mörser ihre Soldaten zerschlugen. "

The Obersturmfuhrer had a grim look on his face, despising what had happened next. Schneider had a natural hatred for the racially inferior Russians, being a fanatical soldier of the Totenkopf division, but this had made him thirsty for their blood. "Die Russen waren unnachgiebig. Zahlenmäßig überlegen gewesen und outgunned, könnten wir sie nicht zurück halten. Sie erweiterten ihre Stellung weiter innerhalb der Südteile der Stadt. Wir verloren viele Männer, die versuchen, sie zurück zu halten. Was einmal eine Kraft von über zweihundert Männern gewesen war, schnell verbraucht zu einer Kraft, die kaum erreicht, hundert Männer zu nummerieren könnte. " Schneider grunted, his fingers had been following across the map to show the Russians route of advance from the north, to the bridge, and through the south.

His eyes caught the Hauptsturmfuhrer's, as his right hand slid over to the north again. "Dieses ist, wohin Sie hereinkommen. Die Russen hatten eine Firma erwartet, sie vom Norden anzugrenzen, also zerquetschten wir sie schnell zwischen uns. Ungewöhnlich genug, entschieden sich die Russen, nicht an der Brücke heraus zu halten. Die meisten ihrer Rüstung und Trägern verlassend, zogen sie in die südliche Seite der Stadt zurück." Steinhoff was grinning now, satisfied that he would be credited with "saving" Schneider and his men by crushing the enemy in a flanking maneuver and taking command of the situation. The man was fool that he no idea what he was doing though. He was fortunate that he had Schneider, or he would have been long dead. "Jetzt haben wir die Situation, während sie ist. Die Russen sind hier im südwestlichen Abschnitt der Stadt umkreist worden. Die meiste russische Tätigkeit geht heraus auf dieses Polizeigebäude hier zurück, " Schneider paused mid-sentence to circle his finger around a large building, "jedoch haben die Russen auch Positionen in den umgebenden Gebäuden aufgenommen. Sie haben sogar Mörser innerhalb des Kreises und ständig zerstoßen an unseren Linien."

The Obersturmfuhrer's finger traced around a circle already drawn on the map that illustrated the encirclement. All three of Schneider's platoons were also drawn around the circle, while only one platoon of Steinhoff's was. The other two platoons were both setting up a defense of the town in both the north and south. These days, the Russians could strike from anywhere. And the last thing Schneider wanted was for all of his men to be suddenly surrounded by a larger Russian force. "Dieses Kämpfen hat an einen vorbei Tag angestrebt. Nach einigen ausfallen Angriffen von, Herr Steinhoff, wurden wir gezwungen, auf dem Angreifen heraus zu halten. Stattdessen werden wir die Russemunitions-Versorgungsmaterialien ablassen, bis sie nicht mehr den Willen haben, zum zu kämpfen. Wir setzen weniger gefährdete Männer auf diese Weise und Gott weiß, dass meine Männer genug gelitten haben. "

Translations:

- "Lets get down to business."

- "As you all know by now, the importance of this town is simply this road. We can not let the Russian bastards cut us off here."

- "As my platoon leaders know, when we found our company left to defend this town, I formed a Kampfgruppe of what we can find in the area. Mortars, tanks, anti tank guns. You name it. Most of these are useless now, either destroyed in the days of fighting or simply out of ammo."

- "The Russians struck from the north with heavy numbers. We held out for as long as we could, but ultimately I decided falling back across the river was the better idea. The Soviets took the two northern sections, while we set up defensive positions in the south using the bridge as choke point. Naturally, the Soviet's tanks became rather ineffective when faced with crossing the bridge."

- "Unfortunately, that did not keep the Russian pigs back. At night, huge infantry waves, sometimes supported by armor, swept over the bridge. In the morning, all that could be found were dead German machine gunners with piles of Russian corpses before their MG34s. Soon enough, the Soviets had a foothold across the river."

- "The Russians had previously wiped our most of our armor, so we were forced on a defensive once again. We formed choke points at each of the bridgeheads exits to prevent the Russians room to maneuver. Anti tank guns and whatever armor we had left pounded at the Soviet armor, while our mortars battered their soldiers."

- "The Russians were relentless. Outnumbered and outgunned, we could not hold them back. They expanded their foothold further inside the southern sections of town. We lost many men trying to hold them back. What had once been a force of over two hundred men, quickly depleted to a force that could barely managed to number one hundred men."

- "This is where you come in. The Russians had been expecting a company to flank them from the north, so we quickly crushed them between us. Oddly enough, the Russians decided not to hold out at the bridge. Abandoning most of their armor and vehicles, they retreated into the southern side of the town."

- "Now, we have the situation as it is. The Russians have been encircled here in the southwestern section of the town. The most Russian activity is stemming out from this police building here,"

- "However, the Russians have also taken up positions in the surrounding buildings. They even have mortars within the circle, constantly pounding at our lines."

- "This fighting has gone on for over a day. After a few failed assaults from, Herr Steinhoff, we were forced to hold out on attacking. Instead, we are going to drain the Russians ammunition supplies until they no longer have the will to fight. We put less men at risk this way and god knows my men have suffered enough."

[∬: Armin Fuchs]

OOC: Sorry if the post is a bit short and/or rambling, there wasn’t really much to go on. :X

Schneider didn’t begin straight away. Instead, he slowly removed his helmet and tried to rub some warmth back into his cold hands. Was he trying to keep them in suspense to annoy them? Armin didn’t know, he barely knew the man. He began the briefing with a simple “let’s get down to business”. The Lieutenant pointed at the map and explained – although there wasn’t much to explain – about the importance of the town because of the road. Everyone in the room had heard it all before. They had to hold the town, they had to. If they didn’t, the Russians would be without opposition in their encirclement and thousands of German lives would be lost.

Schneider went on to explain about how the kampgruppe was formed. And again, everyone in the room already knew it. The Russians started an offensive, started an encirclement, Schneider gathered up anyone he could find and went to stop it, and then a lot of people died. Armin had heard the story before - he’d lived and fought through the story! Each Russian hadn’t put up much of a fight, but the fact that there were 20 Russians for every German shifted the balance of the fight in their favour. There had been bitter fighting and half the group were made casualties, along with nearly all of the heavy equipment. But they had held the town!

Schneider went on to tell about how they had carried out their fierce defence, defending their positions and then retreating across the bridges when the fighting got too tough. Sure, they were SS men, but when you were outnumbered 20-1 and when whenever you moved a few mortar shells were tossed at you, there was only so much a man could take. Luckily, the south of the town proved much easier to defend. The Russians were funnelled at the one bridge, were squad and squad were mowed down by the machine-gunners. Schneider bitterly went on to tell about how the Russians had eventually thrown so many men at the bridge that a small bridgehead was formed. The bridgehead widened and widened until the Germans had been forced to retreat even further south, leaving many dead comrades behind.

Luckily, the dashing Captain Steinhoff came upon the scene next! Armin had to resist snorting at the way Schneider silently mocked him, pretending that it was thanks to his brilliance that they were all still alive. In reality, it had only been pure chance that Steinhoff had stumbled upon the flanking opportunity and chance as well that he had capitalised on it. Armin had no doubt that his junior officers had done most of the leading and the fighting. The man was clearly incompetent and it seemed Schneider had been making all of the decisions since he arrived. Schneider was just trying to keep him satisfied so he could make the decisions, and thus keep everyone alive.

Schneider next was gesturing at a building on the map, the police building, which was where the Russians had their Headquarters. It was in the South-western part of the map and although the Russians were encircled, the German’s weren’t getting it off easily. They simply didn’t have enough men to hold the encirclement. They had no artillery and next to no mortars, so they couldn’t bombard the Russians into surrender. They had no flamethrowers and few engineers that would be useful for the urban combat, if they were to go in and try to attack them. If they tried an assault with the current forces, there would surely a bloodbath of epic proportions. The only option they had left was to try and starve the Russians out, and hope the Russians didn’t realise how short on numbers they were.

[∬: Erik Schneider]

An uneasy silence filled the room as Schneider paused, giving a glance towards Steinhoff. The Hauptsturmfuhrer, caught off guard by the notion, refused to open his mouth. The Obersturmfuhrer had called the man on his bluff, effectively ending his charade as the authority figure in the room. Everyone may have known it by then, both Schneider and Steinhoff's men, but at least now it was assured. It was obvious that Schneider had looked at his superior questioningly, awaiting orders that were to be expected from the man. But they were orders Steinhoff couldn't give, as he had paid no attention to the situation of the battle. He merely wished for glory, glory that could be achieved by taking the credit for the actions of others. And the others being every man in the room that the Hauptsturmfuhrer believed himself to be leading.

"Recht. Brunnen dann…" Schneider motioned for the map again, his finger circling around the Russian position, before continuing, "Wir haben erreicht, die russische Munition innerhalb des Letzten einige Stunden zu verbrauchen. Mindestens glauben wir, welche Munition sie verlassen haben. Viel wurde während ihres Rückzugs verlassen." The Obersturmfuhrer had the men encircling the Russians launch deceiving moves to make the Russian soldiers believe there was more Germans surrounding them then their actually were. The Russians, fearful of the powerful force coming for them, were more likely to waste their ammo in the confusion. Now, the firing had apparently dimmed down either due to the Russians running low on supplies or realizing they were being fooled.

Abruptly, a young messenger within Schneider's headquarters burst though the door. Apparently, it was urgent. Schneider cocked his head to the right to look at the man over his shoulder. "Was ist es, Meyer?" The Obersturmfuhrer inquired to the eager, younger messenger standing within the entrance. Meyer approached Schneider quickly, standing at attention before him as he presented the urgent news. "Herr Obersturmfuhrer, haben wir gerade Reports empfangen, dass die Russen in den meisten Fällen abfeuern aufgehört haben. Einige sind beschmutzter Versuch gewesen zu fliehen. Wir glauben, dass sie heraus Munition laufen gelassen haben." So the plan was working, or more importantly, had worked. Now all to do was to force the surrender of the encircled Russian troops, if they had not already tried to do so themselves.

"Schnell erfassen Meyer, einige Fahrer und Kubelwagens. Ich bin dort kurz mit die meisten Zugführern." Schneider commanded, watching from the corners of his eyes as the boy left the room with the orders. Shortly afterward, the Obersturmfuhrer led a majority of the gathered men back outside into the snow. Wrapped around his head again was his toque, as well as his helmet. A handful of Kubelwagens had gathered before the hotel/command post, enough to carry most of Schneider and Steinhoff's platoon leaders. Schneider climbed into the passenger seat of the first kubelwagen with Fuchs and Muller seated behind him. Soon, the small line of Volkswagen kubelwagens took off down the snow covered roads hoping that the fighting was finally over.

Translations:

- "Right. Well then..."

- "We have managed to deplete the Russian ammunition within the last several hours. At least, we believe what ammunition they have left. Much was abandoned during their retreat."

- "What is it, Meyer?"

- "Herr Obersturmfuhrer, we have just received reports that the Russians have ceased firing for the most part. Some have been spotted attempting to flee. We believe they have run out ammunition."

- "Quickly, Meyer, gather a few drivers and Kubelwagens. I will be there shortly with most of the platoon leaders."

OOC: Gah. Was hoping to add more to it, but it's late and I'm tired. Sorry about the delay.

[∬: Armin Fuchs]

OOC: Whoopsy, sorry about that.

Steinhoff looked shocked at Schneider, to say the least. Everyone was staring at him with scepticism on their faces. He was the kind of person who liked people staring at him, but maybe not for these sorts of reasons. He was apparently supposed to say something here, but his mouth stayed zipped, instead he just glared at Schneider, most likely plotting to have him arrested and court-martialled. He really had no reason to be angry. Everyone in the room had already known Schneider was the one in charge, while Steinhoff just wanted to champagne and fancy dinner parties that came with being a war hero. Schneider had just embarrassed the man publicly, making sure that he knew he was really in charge. It wasn’t the path that Armin would have chosen. He would have just stayed letting the man pretend he was in charge. The man was an imbecile, but he could prove dangerous as an enemy to the Lieutenant.

Schneider then moved on to important news, finally moving on from informing everyone about what they already knew. The Russians were running out of ammunition? That was brilliant news! It hadn’t seemed that way on the frontlines, though. The Russians had been dropping mortars on them non-stop. What had happened to make them offload their already weakened supplies so quickly? Maybe they had received false information about the SS men planning to attack? That sounded like something Schneider would do. He was renowned for being as cunning as a fox and as ruthless as an... SS soldier. Armin’s heart felt like soaring with joy of the news, but he still felt cautious about the news. Maybe it was just a ruse from the Russians? Maybe they’d finally figured out that they outnumbered the encircling Kampgruppe? Maybe they were baiting them into attacking, which they would repel and then follow up with a counter-attack and break out of the encirclement. But maybe that was just Armin being paranoid?

Suddenly a runner burst into the room, causing Kurt Hauff to practically leap into the air in surprise. Everyone in the room turned to look at the messenger, who was started to look somewhat bashful. He didn’t bother apologising for his interruption, and didn’t salute any of the officers in the room except a quick flick of his wrist at Schneider. But his news was so important, that nobody in the room was going to berate him for it. Well, maybe Steinhoff would, but not even the greenest Private was going to listen to anything he said! Schneider gave a quick order to the excited messenger and he bounced out of the room, leaving the NCO’s and officers in the room in shock. The tension could almost be heard crackling in the air, and a few men held hissed conversations with each other, nobody quite believing that this wonderful news could be true.

A few Kubelwagens could be heard roaring up to the entrance of the hotel and the flock of officers poured out of the building, much to the bafflement of the couple of sentries standing outside. Armin saw Muller climb into a Kubelwagen in front of him and he decided to follow him, rather than be waiting out in the cold for too long. He threw himself onto the back seat behind him, and was somewhat surprised to see Schneider clamber into the passenger seat. Now was too important a time to bother with personal transportation, even for the CO. The Kubelwagen’s wheels struggled to get a grip on the Ice, but the vehicle behind helpfully bumped into the rear of the car, almost causing Armin to break his nose on the driver’s seat in front of him. Muller turned around in his seat and roared a few words of abuse at the driver of the offending vehicle, making Armin smirk.

The small convoy sped down the snowy road much too quickly for Armin’s liking. It would be too easy to spin out of control and end up dead on the side of the road and that wouldn’t be very good, especially after all he had gone through. Besides, if they crashed, Steinhoff would be left in charge and that would be a disaster of biblical proportions. ”Um, Herr Schneider.” Armin piped up quietly. ”Where exactly are we going? “ he questioned. He presumed they were going to some forward observation post, but as far as he saw, everyone had just taken off suddenly, without anyone having a chance to explain where they were going and what they were doing.

[∬: Erik Schneider]

After a bit of a bump of encouragement from the Kubelwagen behind, which was followed up by several colorful words from the Untersturmfuhrer, the lead kubelwagen was speeding along though the ice and snow. In the excitement, Schneider had nearly forgotten the men around him as his eyes watched over the dangerous driving. A quick call from Fuchs in the rear of the vehicle reminded the Obersturmfuhrer, as he cocked his head over his shoulder and looked back at the Sturmscharführer. "Heh. Wie man forgetful von mir Sie informiert." He blurted out quickly, the breath from his mouth condensing as he spoke. He shifted back around to be facing fully forward, fumbling with some of his equipment in his lap as he continued speaking to the two men. "Wir gehen für das erste Züge Hauptquartier, in der Bibliothek auf den Stadtränden der Umzingelung voran. Muller' s-Zug. Es ist das sicherste Hauptquartier und ein naher genug Pfosten, dass wir die Situation auf der Frontlinie beobachten können. Steinhoff und seine Männer gehen zu ihren Zügen zurück, aber unsere Zugführer entscheiden die beste Vorgehensweise, bevor sie zu ihrem zurückgehen. "

In his lap he had removed his helmet, but had his toque still secure around his neck. One of the advantages of wearing an helmet, despite the obvious protection, was the fact that it made him seem like on the men. And with his makeshift camouflage hiding anything for his rank to be identified with on his greatcoat, he was not much of a target for Russian snipers. There were plenty of stories about the skill of the sadistic Russian snipers that lie waiting in their urban hiding spots. Within his helmet was a pair of gloves and a pack of cigarettes. He slipped the wool gloves back on his hands, enjoying the warmth they brought to his hands in the harsh Russian winter. He pulled the pack of cigarettes, now nearly empty. The officer went through his packs quickly, growing a bit addicted to the calming stick of tobacco. But in the bitter cold, Schneider went through many more of the death sticks.

Slowly, he wrapped his fingers around one of the cigarettes, attempting to hold it in place between the wool as the kubelwagen bounced around in the snow. Placing it between his lips, he dug around in his greatcoat for a silver lighter engraved with the family name. A gift from his father, Dietrich Schneider a Hauptmann from the trenches of the Great War now turned politician. Much like the Fuhrer himself, Adolf Hitler. Flicking the wheel with his thumb, he ignited a spark and lit the tip of the cigarette. He took a nice drag on the cigarette, before blowing the smoke out gently. Turning in the seat, he offered his pack to the two men with two cigarettes extended for easy access. He was even nice enough to light the cigarette, before he retreated back to his passenger seat and stored the cigarettes and lighter in his greatcoat.

The two kubelwagens arrived at their destination, a medium-sized Russian library in the center of the southwest zone of town. Schneider had not even realized the Russian vermin even read books. Perhaps they kept the books for entertainment in burning them. Disgusting filth. The officer, three platoon leaders, and an assortment of other men from the HQ stepped out into the snow and cold. The two drivers watched the group of men approach the warmth of the library, remaining in their kubelwagens with the engines on for some form of warmth. Strange. After some time, some of the men actually adjusted to the cold. And on the other hand, some men froze to death... especially during the great retreats following the failure of the Battle of Moscow. The biggest humiliation of the German army to date. The other men that survived were forced to watch their friends freeze to death. Cruel.

Reaching into one of his breast pockets, the Obersturmfuhrer pulled out the same map folded several times over. Swiftly, he unfolded the map and laid it out onto a library table smashing it down with his hand to keep it straight. A few soldiers were scattered about the building, mostly keeping watch near the windows. There was a sporadic gun fire from the library, when the soldiers caught a glimpse of a fearful Russian fleeing the scene. Schneider had not transferred his men to another post to simply continue the same conversation for no reason though. He gathered the platoon leaders around the map once again but also had by his side an NCO from the 1st Platoon who had gathered enough information from his runners and by seeing the battlefield firsthand. "Unteroffizer Rohm, würden Sie sich interessieren, um uns ein schnelles Update auf der Situation zu geben? "

A large, grizzled soldier approach the table and set his MP40 down against it. He was fresh from the frontlines, rubbing his ripped gloves together for warmth before placing his finger down on the map. "In den letzten dreißig Minuten oder so sind wir unter kein Feuer von den Russen gekommen. Ihre größte Waffe, ihre Mörser, haben ihren Schwall gestoppt und das helle Gewehrfeuer, das ihn begleitete, verschwand kurz danach. Wir haben eingedrückt und die Tasche kleiner hergestellt, ohne irgendeinen Widerstand neben einigen fliehenden Soldaten zu treffen. Tatsächlich flieht alles, das wir scheinen zu sehen, Russen. Sie laufen nicht für die Mitte der Tasche, das Polizeigebäude, aber anstatt laufen sie, um hinauszugehen. " Rohm explained rather quickly, tracing the new position of the encirclement with his fingertip. Muller's eyes made contact with that as Schneider as he spoke, "Es konnte irgendeine Art Falle sein. Möglicherweise versuchen die Russen, uns in eine Letztes verrückt gemachte Gebühr anzulocken, also können sie Gegenangriff richten. Ich fühle mich nicht über dieses, Schneider gut. "

Schneider bent forward over the table and looked at the decreasing circle where they had managed to beat the Russians back to. In his mouth, the cigarette still rested. "Selbstverständlich konnte es eine Falle, Muller sein. Alle konnte eine Falle sein. Aber Nr., dieses hat ein anderes Gefühl zu ihm. Höchstwahrscheinlich haben das Ruskies ihre ganze Munition, die im Polizeigebäude beiseite geschaffen wird. Und anstatt, ihre Verteidigung zurückzuziehen und festzuziehen, versuchen sie, wie Dummköpfe auszubrechen. Lassen Sie alle Züge auf dem Polizeigebäude zusammenlaufen, vorsichtig selbstverständlich, bis die Tasche bis errichtende eine verringert worden ist. " The Obersturmfuhrer glanced up for approval, getting a quick nod from the Untersturmfuhrer. "Gut. Wir haben die Stadtrände von Tasche gelöschten heraus errichten, indem wir errichten, bevor wir das Polizeigebäude umkreisen. Bald erlernen wir, gerade wie viel Munition die Russen verlassen haben. "

Translations:

- "Heh. How forgetful of me to not inform you."

- "We are heading for the first platoons HQ, in the library on the outskirts of the encirclement. Muller's platoon. It is the safest HQ and a close enough post that we can observe the situation on the frontline. Steinhoff and his men will return to their platoons, but our platoon leaders will decide the best course of action before returning to theirs."

- "Unteroffizer Rohm, would you care to give us a quick update on the situation?"

- "In the last thirty minutes or so we have come under no fire from the Russians. Their greatest weapon, their mortars, have stopped their barrage and the light gun fire that accompanied it vanished shortly afterward. We have pushed in and made the pocket smaller without meeting any resistance beside a few fleeing soldiers. In fact, all we seem to see is fleeing Russians. They do not run for the center of the pocket, the police building, but instead they run to get out."

- "It might be some kind of trap. Maybe the Russians are trying to lure us into one last crazed charge so they can counterattack. I do not feel good about this one, Schneider."

- "Of course it could be a trap, Muller. Anything could be a trap. But no, this has a different feeling to it. Most likely, the Ruskies have all their ammo stashed in the police building. And instead of pulling back and tightening their defense, they are trying to break out like fools. Have all platoons converge on the police building, cautiously of course, until the pocket has been reduced to one building."

- "Good. We will have the outskirts of the pocket cleared out building by building before we encircle the police building. Soon we will learn just how much ammunition the Russians have left."

[Edward"Butcher"McMillan]

Moderation Post:

The following CP has been issued:

Schneider - 7CP

Fuchs - 6CP

-JT