A cold night in the woods (open, Russians)

[Aleksei Vassiliev]

Location: The forest near Bryansk. On the left bank of the Desna river.
Date: 5th of January 1942
Hour: 0200

It was a cold, snowy night.
Efreitor Aleksei Vassiliev sat in his foxhole, like many others of his comrades. The man next to him was fast asleep. He was snoring and Aleksei poked him with his elbow.
The man opened one eye, mumbled and fell asleep again.
Aleksei pulled his wool hat further down on his head and sighed a breath cloud in the air.
His cheeks were red from frostbite and ice drops hung on his unshaven chin.
With his Mosin Nagant on his lap, he tried to look to look past the trees and the snow in front of him.
He smiled.
He wasn't afraid for a German assault on the Russian lines. The Germans were entrenching themselves. He had heared the pickaxes and shovels since he began his watch.
They were smart enough not to move or work in daylight. Those wehrmacht officers were no idiots. Russian snipers followed their movements and sometimes shot a careless German which lead to shooting and shelling from the Germans and with that a return fire from Russian artillery.

It was fairly calm this night. He heared men coughing around him in their foxholes.
He ate some of the biscuits from his rations. He looked at the can of meat stew but put it quickly away again. The stew would require a fire to melt and orders were not make any light or fires. Aleksei wasn't the man to disobey orders so he sighed and put another biscuit in his mouth while his stomach growled.

He could here a voice singing from along the line.

Vstavaj, strana ogromnaia,
Vstavaj na smertnyj boj,
S fashistskoj siloj temnoiu,
S prokliatoiu ordoj.

More voices started to sing 'The Sacred War'

Pust iarost blagorodnaia
Vskipaet kak volna,
Idet vojna narodnaia,
Sviashchennaia vojna!

It was like the whole Russian Second Army was sitting in the woods singing and laughing in raw voices. Aleksei laughed and sang along with his comrades. The private next to him mumbled: "Not again...That singing will only attract German artillery."
"Cheer up Comrade! You really think those dogs will try to shell this place? It would just be a waste of precious ammo. And I guess they'll need it when our tanks arrive."
"Bah. The river isn't frozen enough for our tanks to cross. And they now that too." The private sighed.
"How I long for a cigarette..."
Suddenly a loud whistling noice filled the air.
"Incoming!"
An explosion knocked Aleksei to the bottom of his foxhole.
"Great...You okay?"
"Da. You efreitor?"
The answer was lost in another explosion that threw dirt and snow over their heads.

"German assault left flank!"

[Erfrietor Fyodor Radzev]

Fyo sat in a trench roughly 12 meters away from allied foxholes. Fyo stared out toward the treeline, hoping to see some Germans to shoot. Fyodor noticed his nerves in his hand were acting up, causing his left hand to twitch uncontrollably. Even though there was an order given to not have any sort of light, Fyo didn't care and took his last cigarette from behind his left ear. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a lighter he had taken from a dead German. He slowly lit the cigarette and took a few puffs. He felt a nudge on his shoulder, and immediately looked over to see a fellow comrade. "Yes comrade?" Fyo asked. "can i get a puff or two?" Asked the soldier. Fyo nodded and took three more puffs before giviving the man the rest of the cigarette. Fyo returned his attention to the tree line.

The sound of artillery heading down could be heard. Fyo heard "INCOMING!!!" seconds before the arty hit the opposite end of the trench. The explosion killed most of the men in the trench, except for Fyo and his Comrade. Fyo was blown back by the foxholes from the explosion. He suffered from a medium sized piece of shrapnel to the stomach. After finally regaining Consciousness from the blast, Fyo could feel the warmth of the crimson colored blood against his stomach. "FUCK! IM HIT!!!" Fyodor screamed out. Fyo looked toward his comrade from the trench who too was blown toward the foxholes from the blast. His comrade was struggling to breath and had many pieces of shrapnel lodged in the front of his body. He was gurgling from one piece hitting his throat. Fyo gripped to his knife since eh couldn't find his rifle. Fyo rammed his blade into his comrades temple. The knife pierced the flesh and bone, jamming into the brain and thus killing his comrade. "Rest in piece, the Germans will pay" Fyo mumbled.

Fyo held his side and tried to crawl toward one of the foxholes. He crawled to the nearest one and looked inside. "Hey Comrade, help me in the foxhole will you?" Fyo asked. Fyo attempted to crawl into the foxhole. He tried to look at the mens faces while shells hit around the area. "I am Erfreitor Fyodor Radzev. Call me Fyo." Fyo stated. Fyo nodded to the men and gripped the piece of shrapnel. He yanked it out and yelped in pain. He quickly took off his fur hat and stuffed it in the wound. He than looked to Aleksei, and than to the other man. "What is your name comrade?" Fyo asked. "One day we will kill EVERY German" Fyo stated.

Fyo looked out toward the tree line again. He spotted shadows moving when the arty went off. He quickly got out of the foxhole and ran toward the destroyed trench. He found a mosin nagant in the trench. He quickly grabbed it and ran back toward the foxhole. He dove into the foxhole and aimed out toward the trees. When the next explosion hit he fired at one of the shadowy figures. The shadowy figure dropped. "Quickly wait for the next explosion and fire at the shadowy figures!" Fyo yelled. Fyo waited for another explosion before firing off another shot. He watched another man drop. "For the motherland!!!!" Fyo screamed. Fyo unloaded his five bullets into German soldiers.


"I'm Dry!!" Fyo yelled. Fyo held his hand out for a stripper clip of ammo. He watched the tree line as shells went off. He saw a mass of shadowy figures running at the foxholes. "ASSAULT!!!!!!!!" Fyo yelled. Fyo snatched a Stripper clip of ammo and loaded it into his rifle. He aimed his rifle at the black mass and started firing. He saw some drop as he fired. He than heard screams as they invaded the other foxholes. "Attack the Germans!!! Don't let up! Kill them all!!" Fyo yelled. Fyo hopped out of the foxhole and ran toward three Germans. He shoot two of them, which finished off his clip. He took his rifle and jabbed the barrel into the nose of the last German. the German gripped his face and fell to the ground as blood ran down his face. Fyo jammed another stripper clip in his mosin nagant. He quickly took cover in a crater made by the arty.

[Aleksei Vassiliev]

Screams from the wounded and dying came from the trench, which had taken a direct hit, not far from Aleksei. He swore loudly.
"Those swines!"
Suddenly a voice sounded from above them. Surprised Aleksei looked into the face of a fellow Russian.
"Hey Comrade help me in the foxhole will you?"
The man crawled beside them.
"I am Efreitor Fyodor Radzev. Call me Fyo."
Aleksei saw the blood on Fyo's tunic. Amazed that the man had been able to even climb out of the trench without passing out
Aleksei witnessed with shock on his face that Fyo pulled a piece of shrapnel out off the wound screamed in pain and used his fur hat to stop the bleeding. "What is your name Comrade? One day we will kill EVERY German."
He looked from Aleksei to the other soldier.
"Efreitor Aleksei Vassiliev. This is Nicolai. But you're wounded comrade! Medic!"
The second he yelled it he knew it would be hopeless to get Fyo medical treatment. Many voices were screaming for a medic while the artillery barrage kept going.

Aleksei, remembering the lessons his grandfather thought him, grabbed a bandage from his sack, removed the fur hat and poured something from a small flask into the wound.
"Liquid garlic." He grinned. "Otherwise known as Russian Penicillin. It's all I can do comrade but you really need medical treatment."

He was about to ask if Fyo had seen German infantry when shadowy figures rose from the darkness.He saw Fyo standing up and quickly ran to the trench.
"What are you doing come back?!"
Fyo dropped himself back into the foxhole now with a Mosin Nagant in his hand.
He shot a German soldier while he waited for an explosion to cover the sound.
The German fell on the ground causing the others to pause for a sec before moving more determined toward the Russians.
"Quickly wait for the next explosion and fire at the shadowy figures!" Fyo yelled shooting at another German soldier.

"For the motherland!!!!" Fyo screamed while he emptied his clip into the assault group. Aleksei's heart pounded while he fired his Mosin nagant the way he had learned it, making sure the shots count.
A big mass of Germans began to overrun the foxholes and
Fyo yelled:
"ASSAULT!!!!!!!! Attack the Germans!!! Don't let up! Kill them all!!"
while he jumped out off the foxhole leaving Aleksei and Nicolai alone.
German machine gun fire threw snow up in front of them. Aleksei grabbed a grenade and threw it to where the fire came from while Nicolai did the same and shot his entire clip into a German who had tried to stab his bayonet into the chest of a wounded Russian.
"Fyo! Where are you?" Aleksei yelled. At that moment he had sensed that someone ran close to their foxhole. He turned just in time to see German jackboots covered with snow. He got a kick in the face and he fell backward having the taste of blood in his mouth.
The German had his rifle a few inches from Aleksei's face. Aleksei swallowed and looked into the man's eyes. He had cold steel blue eyes, an unshaved beard and an evil smirk on his face. A typical veteran wehrmacht soldier.
Nicolai jumped on the German, kicking the rifle out of his hands. A flash of steel and the German soldier lay dead at their feet. Nicolai had stabbed him three times in his chest, puncturing the lungs of the soldier.
More screams sounded around them that meant there was hand-to-hand combat.
A familiar sound echoed through the forest. "Maxima's!" Nicolai screamed in joy, referring to the old PM M1910 Heavy machine guns.

[Erfrietor Fyodor Radzev]

Fyo jumped out of the crator every so often and shot at the Germans. Once he ran low on ammo he threw his rifle down and pulled out his knife. He jumped back down in the crator and waited for a German to run by. He jumped up, grabbed the german and stabbed him multiple times in the stomach. He dragged the German in the crator and searched him. Fyo looked the German in the face. He realized the German was just a boy most likley around the age of 19. Fyo pressed the knife into the germans throat. "Rest now, you suffered eneough." he said while the life drained from the boy. Fyo took the boys helmet, rifle, ammo, and anything else of interest.

Fyo got out of the crator with the helmet on and the k98k in his hands. He saw snow fly up near his feet from the maxima's. He rushed toward the foxhole just in time to see a german twitchy, bleeding to death on the ground. He looke dot Nikolai and than to Aleksei. "This is how oyu handle these scum" Fyo stated. Fyo stuffed the barrel of the k98k in the dying Germans mouth. bullet whizzed by from both sides of the Defensive/Offensive line. Fyo fired the k98k off which had far more recoil than the mosin. The k98k blew the Germans' head off, well at least the cap. Fyo threw the helmet to the ground and griiped to his bloody cap. He placed the bloody fur cap on his head.


He than dove back down into the foxhole. "Aleksei, i say we retreat behind the maximas' and regain strength than attack the remaning forces once we are back to strength. what do you think?" Fyo said. Fyo than stood up and exited the foxhole. He saw Russian rushing toward the maximas' for safety and were gunned down. Germans that attempted to retreat were also gunned down. One German boy made it all the way to fyo and stabbed him in the left thigh before being knocked out by Fyo. Fyo gripped the wound and grabbed the boys collar. He dragged the boy and himself toward the left flank of the maximas'. "Comrade i got us a captured, i need a medic im injured." Fyo said to an CO observing the Maximas'. The CO grabbed fyo and brought him to the nearest medic. The medic cleaned the wound and stiched it up quickly.

Fyo obtained a new Mosin and approached the now semi awake prisoner. "Get up kraut." Fyo said in broken German. The German just stared at Fyo. "What is your name? Were are you buddies located? where is your next offensive planned?" Fyo questioned. "My comrades are dead, just like most of yours Ruskie Scum!" The German yelled at fyo and spitting at him. Fyo took out his knife. "Really? is that so? you got balls kraut" Fyo said with a grin. Fyo approached the German, pressing the knife into the Germans throat and grinning. "Good night" Fyo stated coldly. Fyo than slide the knife across the Germans throat. Blood squirted from the Germans throat. He fell over bleeding to death. "That handled that" Fyo said.

Fyo approached Aleksei and Nikolai. "What do you say us three get a drink and later kill krauts?" Fyo said. Fyo than approached the dead Germans body. He searched it and found a small flask. He gripped to it and opened it up. He sniffed it first than took a sip. "Mhmmm it taste like stroh 80" Fyo said. Fyo than offered some to Nikolai and Aleksei. Fyo walked over to Nikolai and handed him the small flask. Fyo gripped to his rifle and approached the foxholes. There were Soviet medics gripping to German and Soviet bodies. They took everything from the Germans and Soviets bodies. They buried their comrades and burned their enemies. Fyo just stared at this going on and gave a slight nod.

[Aleksei Vassiliev]

Bullets whizzed next to their heads. Aleksei ducked down and put his hand on Nicolai's shoulder.
"Spasibo Nicolai. You saved my life."
Nicolai spat on the ground next to the German. " Net problèm Erfreitor."
They turned to see Fyo standing there with blood spats on his face. He looked at them and at the German at their feet. "This is how you handle these scum" He said jamming the K98 rifle he had picked up from a dead German in the enemy soldiers mouth and fired.
He threw away the German helmet and put his blooded fur hat back on. It gave him an even more terrifying look. It was like one of those heroes Aleksei had learned about in school: A Bogatyr that had come back from the dead to punish their foes.
"Aleksei, i say we retreat behind the maxima's' and regain strength than attack the remaining forces once we are back to strength. what do you think?"
Aleksei nodded. "It's too dangerous to stay here. We risk getting killed by our own trigger happy machine gunners."

They exited the foxhole and made their way to the back of their lines, looking for a medic now they had the chance. They saw their Russian Comrades and German foes getting mown down by the heavy gun fire.
Suddenly a German soldier came across their path and stabbed Fyo before any of them could react. Fyo screamed in pain, knocked the German out and dragged him to an officer standing at the Maxima's. "Comrade I got us a captured, I need a medic I'm injured."

Aleksei guarded the unconscious German while Fyo got stitched up by a medic.
The German breathed heavy. He looked like he had the same age as Aleksei. He felt pity for the German. Maybe in another time or place they could've been friends. He knew that someone would come to interrogate him and if the German was too stubborn to answer or proved to be useless, he would be killed instantly. Aleksei had seen it enough. Their enemies were to certain they'd win the war. The fools...

The German soldier moaned softly and shook his head. At that moment Fyo came back. Aleksei nodded. It was Fyo's prisoner.
Poor German.
Aleksei stepped aside and went to look for Nicolai.
The shelling had stopped giving the medics the time to look after the wounded in the front lines. Nicolai was searching the dead bodies of some Germans when Aleksei found him. He smiled as he saw Aleksei. He had looted the Germans of their watches, cigarettes and had found a bag of medical supplies the Russians so scarcely needed for their wounded.

Fyo had returned and stood besides them. The new blood stains on his tunic showed the German was taken car off.
"What do you say us three get a drink and later kill krauts?" Nicolai grinned. "You found anything?" He licked his lips. They waked to the dead German and Fyo searched the body until he found a flask. He opened it and sniffed. By the looks on his face this test was positive. He took a sip. He got a delighted smile.
"Mhmmm it taste like stroh 80" He handed the flask over to Nicolai who didn't hesitate to take a large gulp before giving it to Aleksei.
The liquid felt warm going down his throat and soon his entire body was engulfed by the warmth.
It reminded him of the better days. It reminded him of the fireplace in his home, the smell of the stew his mother had made when they returned from the factory, his grandfather smoking his pipe while his father was reading the Pravda and Tanya sitting beside him. "Tanya..."
He took another sip.

The dead Germans were thrown on a pile and burned but not before being stripped from anything useful.
Fyo overlooked the scenery. Aleksei could see the flames reflecting in his eyes. "Don't mind me saying this comrade but...you're crazy." He gave the flask back to Fyo with a smile on his face.
Here they were. These two men. Complete opposites and still...Quite the same.
"Lousy war...What drifted you to join the infantry Fyo?"




Spasibo: Thank you
Net problèm: No problem

[Erfrietor Fyodor Radzev]

Fyo glared at the fire. He heard aleksei say that he was crazy. "Arn't we all?" Fyo responded, still glaring at the fire. Fyo finally stopped looking at the fire and looked to Aleksei. He than realized Aleksei had asked him about how he ended up here. "I joined after my father was executed by a CO" Fyo stated. "How about you? what's your story?" Fyo Questioned. Fyo than looked over toward a gathering of fellow soldiers. His eyes pondered back toward the burning pile of Germans. "They had it coming comrade, they followed hitler and destroyed our motherland, they needed to die." Fyo stated. Fyo looked around the surrounding area, off in the distance a city could be seen. Fyo wondered if it had been occupied by the Germans.


Fyo glared back to where most of the surviving Russians had gathered. Suddenly, a Arty barrage hit down neat their position. Killing most of the Russian who had gathered. The blast blew fyo off his feet. Fyo staggered to his feet and spotted Nikolai and Aleksei. He quickly rushed to them and grabbed both of them by the collars of their tunics. He threw them down into a former crater for cover. "Stay down!" Fyo called out. Between explosions, screams of pain and agony could be heard. The smell of blood and death filled the air quickly.

The barrage continued on for another 45 minutes. Fyo slowly lifted his head once the barrage had stopped. "My god, they killed them, they killed all of our men." Fyo muttered. Fyo looked to Nikolai and Aleksei. "You guys alright?" Fyo asked. Fyo than crawled out of the crater and searched the area for any survivors. The only survivors were either dead, or suffered from fatal injuries. Fyo approached the dead and injured comrades. He started to take cigarettes, ammo, liquor, anything he wanted or needs from his dieing and dead comrades. "Cmon' get what you want, where they are going they wont need it." Fyo said to Nikolai and Aleksei.

-ill finish later=

[Aleksei Vassiliev]

Aleksei laughed at Fyo's remark. Aren't we all...He lit a cigarette while he stared at the fire. “True. War makes us crazy...”
Fyo turned to him, with a frown and said: "I joined after my father was executed by a CO...How about you? what's your story?"
Aleksei blew smoke in the air. "I answered the call...Well I got forced into it...Comrade Stalin needed all able men to enlist, no exceptions...so here I am..." They looked at the burning corpses. The smell of burning flesh filled his nostrils and he turned his face in disgust.
"Still I feel sorry for these men even when they're the enemy...They at least deserve to be buried."

"They had it coming comrade, they followed Hitler and destroyed our motherland, they needed to die."

Aleksei quietly nodded. "I can understand that...I do understand." They were enemies. But still... He tightened his grip on his Mosin and sat himself down on a crate. He aimed his cigarette into the snow a few feet from them. He spat on the ground. He could still taste blood. Damn German. He touched his bruised face and grinned in pain.
An explosion threw him backward from the crate against a tree.
Dazed he shook his head. He felt someone pulling on the collar of his tunic and he realized it was Fyo. He was brusquely thrown in a crater while bombs exploded around them. His fur hat was blown off and he searched the bottom off the crater for it, convinced that when he was wearing it nothing could happen.

The barrage went on about 45 minutes, making Aleksei almost crazy. His ears were whistling and he cramped his teeth against each other.
"My god, they killed them, they killed all of our men."
Fyo had lifted his head as soon as the barrage had stopped.
"You guys alright?"
Aleksei only nodded, shocked about the massacre.
Fyo had ran to some of the wounded and dead. Plundering them from anything useful.
"Cmon' get what you want, where they are going they wont need it."
Aleksei felt dizzy. The world spinned around him as he crawled out the crater. His body shook as he threw up. He wiped his mouth with his sleeve. Horrible. Off course those Germans had waited for them to come out of hiding. If reinforcements didn't come soon Aleksei was afraid that with another assault this sector would be lost.

[Laya Eteric]

And reinforcements did eventually arrive, after about 7 more minutes. There were about fifty soldiers, mostly infantry. Most had rifles, some sub machine guns, and there were three armed with Degtyaryov machine guns. They moved as quickly as they could to get in position; the sooner they did, the better. A few went to check on the other parts for any survivors.

And Laya was the one to find Fyodor and Aleksei. "Are you two the only survivors?" She frowned upon hearing their answer. "Well, come on then. Your reinforcements just came, and we're almost ready." Laya opened the bolt of her rifle part way, making sure it had the clip in it. "Good," she said as she closed it back. She then looked around, examining the condition of the place. It was fairly good, considering the earlier bombardment.

Laya was noticeably tired; she'd had to run the whole way there. She sat down to rest a bit. "I'm just tired...I'll be fine in a bit." At that moment, her stomach released a loud, moaning growl. She rubbed her stomach and gave a slight smirk. "Hee hee...I'm really hungry! Feels like my stomach will digest itself..." She giggled, then looked at Fyodor and Aleksei once again. "So, what are your names?"

[Aleksei Vassiliev]

Aleksei was helping to bury some of the fallen soldiers when reinforcements arrived. He wiped the sweat from his forehead and looked at the fresh soldiers. They still looked very green to him.
Suddenly a young woman walked over to Aleksei and Fyo.
"Are you two the only survivors?"
He looked at her uniform. She was a MLadshii Serzhant.
"Njet Comrade Serzhant. The wounded are over there, the medics or what is left of our medical staff is helping them..." He pointed to a few men huddled together. "...Ryadovi Nicolai is...plundering I guess."
"Well, come on then. Your reinforcements just came, and we're almost ready."
"Just in time ma'am. What are our orders?" Aleksei sat himself down for a moment while Nicolai came standing with them.
"You alright?" He asked as the Serzhant sat down, looking very tired. He stood up to help her but she brushed away his help : "I'm just tired...I'll be fine in a bit." At that moment her stomach growled very loudly.
"Hee hee...I'm really hungry! Feels like my stomach will digest itself..." He looked at her with his eyebrows raised. "Erhm...I have some stew left in a can. You like me to get it for you ma'am?"
Who can be hungry at a time like this... He thought but shook his head as he remembered that he also was very hungry a little while ago, before the attack.
This is Efreitor Fyodor and I'm Efreitor Aleksei Vassiliev at your service." He saluted.
Went looking for his bag, probably where he had left it at the bottom of their foxhole.
The 50 new reinforcements had started to occupy the remaining foxholes again and started to make their defenses more suitable, sometimes dragging dead Germans in front of the foxholes for cover.

[Vadik Kuzichinko]

The Soviet Union was not a kind place, but it was home. The marches were long, and the food tasted bad, but it was home. Germans were pushing eastward with a fervor not seen since Napoleon, and the Russian winter had no favorites, but it was home. Efreitor Kuzichinko wasn't sure how he'd ended up in a woman's platoon, but she seemed relatively competent. He still hadn't spoken to her, but that spoke much about how she was already being perceived by her fellow soldiers.

This seemed to be a retake of Vitebsk in November of '41. A thin line of soldiery in place intended to hold the Germans back, with a mass of infantry coming to reinforce them, long after they originally needed it. The Mosin Nagant was slung across the soldier, and Vadik shook the thoughts from his mind and fell back into formation. The men around him chattered, mostly about the various newspapers and the triumphant acts of fellow soldiers .. especially pilots and tankmen. His father had always told him, those men would be remembered, but the infantry would always win the battle.

They arrived at the frontline, and as per ordered Efreitor Kuzichinko found one of the various foxholes, retrieved the motionless body from it, and sunk himself down into it. He unslung the Mosin-Nagant rifle, retracted the bolt to ensure a round was chambered, and positioned it facing the front, the belly of the rifle sitting on the edge of the foxhole.

Unless he was given a specific order, he'd remain just another face in the crowd. Efreitor Kuzichinko, of Yudino, Soviet Union.

[Laya Eteric]

Aleksie had asked if Laya wanted some of the stew from earlier. "Yes, I would, please..." A few moments later, she had asked them their names, getting the replies of "This is Efreitor Fyodor, and I'm Efreitor Aleksei Vassiliev, at your service," before Aleksie saluted. Laya replied, "And I am Mladshii Serjant Laya Eteric. I'm glad we could help, 'cause it doesn't seem that you would have held out much longer." She gave a short, teasing giggle.

Laya's stomach gurgled slightly as she ate some of the food Aleksie had given her. "Thank you, Aleksie. Not much, but it'll do." She finished eating, leaving some for the other two. She then stood, 6' 4" tall and a rather heavyset build, a feature made more prominent by her eating habits, but she didn't care, as long as she could still fight well. "Well I'll be checking the positions, and getting ready. You two get ready, then." And with that, she gave a friendly wave, then left to check the others.

Laya looked at the positions, especially the three DP machine guns. She could barely hear orders being in the distance by Germans, and tried her best to listen. Most of it was lost, but she did pick up a few things, most importantly that they would attempt another attack within ten minutes. "Hurry!" she shouted. "We don't have much time!!" She ran to two boxed of DP magazines, and barreled her way to the machine guns, giving each one two thirds of what was the box, and the rest to the center DP, leaving an equal amount between each. She then jumped into the nearest foxhole, right between the center DP and Vadik Kuzichinko. "Get ready," she said. "They're about to attack..."

[Vadik Kuzichinko]

The quiet, winter serenity quickly faded, as soldiers moved to and fro, to better fortify the " frontline. " The only unfortunate truth here was that the front line was composed entirely of a compilation of various foxholes and trenches. There was a total of fifty-two soldiers, a relative platoon, guarding against who knows what kind of attack.

The billowing snow also did little to help with visibility. Although his eyes had settled, Vadik could see very little past his own trench. He watched the larger woman, Serjant Eteric drop down into the foxhole just on the other side of the MG trench. He gave her a brief nod when she commented on what was about to happen. Her words were accentuated by the fact that everyone around him seemed to be readying their weapons. He double checked his own, via retracting the bolt. A round was present.

He leaned forward, pulling the rifle tight up into the crevice of his shoulder. They would come, and he would fight. This was absolute, though whether or not victory was possible, still remained to be seen. He heard the two men in the foxhole to his right chattering about the placement of the DP Light Machine Gun. He resisted the temptation to tell them to shut up, the bark of their machine guns would bring more attention to them than would their own talking.

[Edward"Butcher"McMillan]

Moderation Post:

The following CP has been issued:

Vassiliev - 8CP

Radzev - 5CP

Eteric - 3CP

Kuzichinko - 3CP

-JT