Post by Dieter "Iceman" Rentz on Nov 18, 2009 23:11:07 GMT
Obersturmführer Anday listened to Dieter reporting the number of casualties and wounded and the taller man fell silent for a while. The Wehrmacht corporal shifted his weight from one foot to the other, wondering if the loss of these unknown men had really affected the SS officer so deeply. Most CO's didn't really stop to consider the loss of men much and this particular foreign officer made Dieter puzzled. Was he lamenting the loss of lives or was he only annoyed by the loss of these soldiers from a strategic point of view? Whatever it was, the Obersturmführer soon snapped back into action again, calling to one of his NCO's and giving him orders to gather up a small patrol.
The SS officer occupied himself with giving further instructions to his radioman and Dieter felt he could return to his own duties safely. The other soldiers were discussing the brief scuffle excitedly and Dieter tuned into listening to the discussion for a moment as he approached them. Some of the Germans were making remarks about the enemy soldiers, mostly having to do with the colour of their skin and the cowardly attack by one of their ilk. A few of the younger men, mere kids, were just generally excited of having taken part in a battle. They were recounting the events over and over again like a bunch of school kids, making Dieter scoff at them silently.
Away from the others, one young man was just staring ahead quietly, his face drawn and blank. Dieter could recognize the skittish private Grün and he realized that the boy must have been feeling quite shaken up after seeing death up so close. Dieter punched the young man gently on his arm and Grün jumped from surprise, he seemed far too wired up, like a rabbit being chased by a pack of dogs. Dieter allowed the kid a brief smile to calm him down. "Sie taten ganz recht. Besser, nach der Handlung erschrocken zu sein, als im Kampf. Keine Angst."
Grün only managed a nervous nod, his hands still trembling from the brief spot of combat. Dieter sighed and rolled his eyes, making sure to do it as secretly as possible. What was he going to get done with this lot of soldiers, anyway? He wouldn't have been nearly as worried if the soldiers had been just slightly incompetent, but some of these kids looked like they would piss their pants and bolt away on the first occasion of hostile fire. It would take some pretty damn skillful bullshitting to get these kids to shape up once the bullets would start flying around. But wasn't that what he had always been good at, anyway?
The relentless cold was creeping it's way under his winter clothing and Dieter was contemplating on lighting up a cigarette, just to fool his body into believing that it wasn't actually as cold it seemed. A sudden shout from Obersturmführer Anday stopped Dieter in his tracks and all the soldiers turned their attention towards the group of Americans being searched. Apparently some of the SS men had been a little too rough when searching for weapons from the American soldiers and Anday had noticed it. Dieter cringed slightly, he had jabbed one of the enemy soldiers quite violently with his rifle just earlier. It seemed that he was lucky Anday hadn't seen this little gesture of his. The flames of rage that had churned inside Dieter earlier had already died down and he regretted his hateful deed, but only just a bit. They were still the enemy.
Silently making his way to the wounded soldiers, Dieter kneeled down to see how they were holding up, assuring them that they would be in good hands and pull through just fine. One of the men had been quite severely wounded by the grenade and he had only stopped crying out with pain because of the morphine. Dieter couldn't help himself from frowning slightly when he saw the blood pooling on the ground. It made the snow turn bright crimson and somehow it felt like a bad omen to Dieter. The corporal forced a smile on his lips, realizing that the fake smile appeared very strained and most likely wasn't very comforting at all.
Dieter, secretly and quite remorsefully, felt relieved when Anday called for them to get ready and moving. The man straightened up quickly and cleared his throat. "Sie hörten den Obersturmführer, Aufstellung nehmen, marsch, marsch! Dieter set to the task of seeing that his platoon obeyed the orders and that they would be ready to get moving again. A stunned look was plastered on the faces of some of the soldiers when they heard the orders. It was if they had thought that the worst was already over and that they would be going back soon. They were now waking up to the harsh reality, realizing that the actual battle was still ahead of them and the fear of dying was clenching their insides again.
After all the men had taken their places, the troops set off once again. Only now did Dieter notice that the sounds of the battle had died down somewhat and the forest stood eerily quiet. The snow wasn't falling down anymore either and Dieter glanced up at the sky. From behind the dull, grey clouds, the sun peeked out temporarily before being covered by the thick clouds again. The steady sounds of the men's boots on the frozen ground seemed to be the only sound in the forest, only occasionally broken by the random gunshots from a distance. As the destination grew closer, everyone moved more carefully, the anticipation and excitement evident on the faces of many of the German soldiers.
Translations:
"Sie taten ganz recht. Besser, nach der Handlung erschrocken zu sein, als im Kampf. Keine Angst."
"You did all right. Better to be scared after the action than in the battle. Don't worry."
"Sie hörten den Obersturmführer, Aufstellung nehmen, marsch, marsch!
"You heard the Obersturmführer, fall in formation, get a move on!"
The SS officer occupied himself with giving further instructions to his radioman and Dieter felt he could return to his own duties safely. The other soldiers were discussing the brief scuffle excitedly and Dieter tuned into listening to the discussion for a moment as he approached them. Some of the Germans were making remarks about the enemy soldiers, mostly having to do with the colour of their skin and the cowardly attack by one of their ilk. A few of the younger men, mere kids, were just generally excited of having taken part in a battle. They were recounting the events over and over again like a bunch of school kids, making Dieter scoff at them silently.
Away from the others, one young man was just staring ahead quietly, his face drawn and blank. Dieter could recognize the skittish private Grün and he realized that the boy must have been feeling quite shaken up after seeing death up so close. Dieter punched the young man gently on his arm and Grün jumped from surprise, he seemed far too wired up, like a rabbit being chased by a pack of dogs. Dieter allowed the kid a brief smile to calm him down. "Sie taten ganz recht. Besser, nach der Handlung erschrocken zu sein, als im Kampf. Keine Angst."
Grün only managed a nervous nod, his hands still trembling from the brief spot of combat. Dieter sighed and rolled his eyes, making sure to do it as secretly as possible. What was he going to get done with this lot of soldiers, anyway? He wouldn't have been nearly as worried if the soldiers had been just slightly incompetent, but some of these kids looked like they would piss their pants and bolt away on the first occasion of hostile fire. It would take some pretty damn skillful bullshitting to get these kids to shape up once the bullets would start flying around. But wasn't that what he had always been good at, anyway?
The relentless cold was creeping it's way under his winter clothing and Dieter was contemplating on lighting up a cigarette, just to fool his body into believing that it wasn't actually as cold it seemed. A sudden shout from Obersturmführer Anday stopped Dieter in his tracks and all the soldiers turned their attention towards the group of Americans being searched. Apparently some of the SS men had been a little too rough when searching for weapons from the American soldiers and Anday had noticed it. Dieter cringed slightly, he had jabbed one of the enemy soldiers quite violently with his rifle just earlier. It seemed that he was lucky Anday hadn't seen this little gesture of his. The flames of rage that had churned inside Dieter earlier had already died down and he regretted his hateful deed, but only just a bit. They were still the enemy.
Silently making his way to the wounded soldiers, Dieter kneeled down to see how they were holding up, assuring them that they would be in good hands and pull through just fine. One of the men had been quite severely wounded by the grenade and he had only stopped crying out with pain because of the morphine. Dieter couldn't help himself from frowning slightly when he saw the blood pooling on the ground. It made the snow turn bright crimson and somehow it felt like a bad omen to Dieter. The corporal forced a smile on his lips, realizing that the fake smile appeared very strained and most likely wasn't very comforting at all.
Dieter, secretly and quite remorsefully, felt relieved when Anday called for them to get ready and moving. The man straightened up quickly and cleared his throat. "Sie hörten den Obersturmführer, Aufstellung nehmen, marsch, marsch! Dieter set to the task of seeing that his platoon obeyed the orders and that they would be ready to get moving again. A stunned look was plastered on the faces of some of the soldiers when they heard the orders. It was if they had thought that the worst was already over and that they would be going back soon. They were now waking up to the harsh reality, realizing that the actual battle was still ahead of them and the fear of dying was clenching their insides again.
After all the men had taken their places, the troops set off once again. Only now did Dieter notice that the sounds of the battle had died down somewhat and the forest stood eerily quiet. The snow wasn't falling down anymore either and Dieter glanced up at the sky. From behind the dull, grey clouds, the sun peeked out temporarily before being covered by the thick clouds again. The steady sounds of the men's boots on the frozen ground seemed to be the only sound in the forest, only occasionally broken by the random gunshots from a distance. As the destination grew closer, everyone moved more carefully, the anticipation and excitement evident on the faces of many of the German soldiers.
Translations:
"Sie taten ganz recht. Besser, nach der Handlung erschrocken zu sein, als im Kampf. Keine Angst."
"You did all right. Better to be scared after the action than in the battle. Don't worry."
"Sie hörten den Obersturmführer, Aufstellung nehmen, marsch, marsch!
"You heard the Obersturmführer, fall in formation, get a move on!"
