Bjesalošiza (Ulrich, Erik)

[Werner von Maybach]

[OOC: I realised that I'm hanging quite behind you guys in time. With this post, I tried to follow up.]

Firing his K98 as fast as possible, Werner had completely forgotten about everything else than his task right now. His mind was sharp and his muscles strained. Like in a trance, he heard screams around him and saw his comrades also working their weapons. One of the Schützen in the narrow, dark cellar yelled in agony and slumped down. At second glance, Werner saw a big, bloody hole in his right temple and quickly realised that every help would come too late here anyways.

When the first Poles entered the outskirts of the town, a raging defensive fire engaged them and forced the head of them into cover. Surprisingly to Werner, there seemed more German soldiers to have survived the retreat than it had looked like in the beginning. In small groups or even alone they were running back through the darkness towards the outskirts of Bjesalošiza. Werner even recognised some of the men from the mortar battery that managed to get away living. In an instant these soldiers got involved into the new positions and helped defending the town.

After some moments, he saw Feldwebel Schneider in the middle of this chaos, carrying a wounded soldier on his back. He was accompanied by circa ten men of his platoon and Werner saw them finally arriving in the safe cover of a big, two storied building maybe 100 metres away from Werner’s cellar. Relieved, Werner started smiling for a second, before the cruel reality of war was getting back at him. Some of these men were Werner’s comrades since he joined the Wehrmacht in the summer 1938 and some even got close personal friends with him.

When Schneider and his men were out of sight, Werner fired a last shot and quickly ran upstairs in search of the Unterfeldwebel. He saw him standing behind a window in the ground floor and yelling some commands to his men. Quickly Werner turned to him and said: "Herr Unterfeldwebel, ich melde gehorsamst, Feldwebel Schneider hat soeben mit einigen seiner Männer die ersten Häuser erreicht. Ich denke es wäre gut wenn Sie mich zu Ihm begleiten, um das weitere taktische Vorgehen zu planen."

Turning around to Werner, the NCO slowly nodded his head and said: "Danke, Obergefreiter. Ich habe Feldwebel Schneider auch gerade gesehen, aber Sie haben natürlich Recht. Wir gehen am besten sofort los. Wir haben keine Zeit zu verlieren."

Quickly the Unterfeldwebel gathered some men together and ran out of the building, heading towards the big house down the street. The street was empty and there was no sign of the enemy, but the Polish attack did still continue and so the soldiers had to dive to the ground several times, when shots zipped through the air way too close. Sweat poured down Werner’s back and made his uniform clammy. He was nearly out of breath now and his head still ached from the hit against his steel helmet.

Hopping from cover to cover, the soldiers had nearly finished the first half of their way, when Werner discovered a single hand peeking out of a small hole in the first floor of a small, wooden barn. In the first moment, he thought his mind played a trick on him, but this hand definitely held an egg grenade and now forcefully threw it down on the street.

In a quick reaction, Werner jumped aside, dragging the Unterfeldwebel away with him. The grenade detonated only few metres besides the men. Like in slow motion, Werner saw a splinter flying through the air, ripping off the arm of one soldier below the elbow. The Unterfeldwebel also screamed in pain. A small splinter penetrated his right leg, just some centimetres above the knee. Werner tried to pull the NCO into cover behind a burned out horse carriage, when a round hit the dirt directly next to him. The shoot must have come from the same direction as the grenade and Werner recognised an old man with a long, Polish rifle, peeping around the corner of the barn. He was wearing civil clothes and when he realised that he got seen, the man quickly turned around and started running towards the city centre. But he hadn’t come far, when a single German bullet struck him down.

Werner worked the bolt of his rifle again and yelled as loud as he could:"Aufpassen! Es sind Partisanen in der Stadt!"

Translations:

"Herr Unterfeldwebel, ich melde gehorsamst, Feldwebel Schneider hat soeben mit einigen seiner Männer die ersten Häuser erreicht. Ich denke es wäre gut wenn Sie mich zu Ihm begleiten, um das weitere taktische Vorgehen zu planen."
"Herr Unterfeldwebel, I report, Feldwebel Schneider has just arrived at the first town houses with some of his men. I would recommend that you come with me now to meet him and plan the further tactic."

"Danke, Obergefreiter. Ich habe Feldwebel Schneider auch gerade gesehen, aber Sie haben natürlich Recht. Wir gehen am besten sofort los. Wir haben keine Zeit zu verlieren."
"Thanks, Obergefreiter. I have just seen Feldwebel Schneider by myself, but you are of course right. It would be best to meet him right now, we don’t have any time to loose."

"Aufpassen! Es sind Partisanen in der Stadt!"
"Watch out! There are Partisans in the town!"

[ulrich]

What Schneider had told Ulrich enraged him. The man was probably fresher than he was to the Army, but he pretended to be a veteran. Ulrich figured he probably knew nothing and just pretended to. People followed those types of men. Ulrich had been frightened when the Poles attacked the line his division had been set up on. He took two syrettes out of his belt pouch and jammed them around the wound in his bicep. He squeezed them until the morphine was gone and pulled the needles out. The Unteroffizier grabbed his rifle and stood up. He aimed it out a window that was in front of him and found his target. It was a Pole with a sub-machine gun. The gun lit up as it fired on Ulrich's position. Ulrich ducked and a few bullets hit the window seal and the outside of the house. Ulrich stood back up and pulled his Kar 98's trigger. The weapon jerked back and Ulrich's arm muscles clenched. There was a dull pain in his bicep, but that didn't matter at the moment. The small piece of metal that flew from the gun hit the Pollock trooper in the arm with enough force to make him swing around, firing his sub-machine gun randomly. He shot one of his allies to the ground and Ulrich worked the bolt back, the shell popping out and forward again.


"Polnisch Huresohn!" Ulrich screamed.

He squeezed the trigger again, aiming for the fallen Pole's writhing torso. The bullet hit him in the spine, the Pollock went stiff for a bit and then went dead limp. He was one of the last men out the back door when Feldwebel Shneider called for them to get out of there. He followed Third Platoon to the East side of town. Once there, an Unterfeldwebel told him and two other men to go to a small barn outside a shelled out cottage. The two men he was assigned with were both Grefeiters. They were a heavy machine gun team. The machine gun was set up at the top window on in the barn. The top level was more like an outcropping. It was filled with thick hay bales, the machine gun was set up on a low hale bale, the assistant gunner dutifully pointing out targets and helping load the gun. Ulrich sat next to the assistant gunner, his rifle barely noticeable in the thick hay. He closed one eye and aimed down the iron sights, waiting for a Pole that the machine gun team would miss to come into his view. As a group of Polish soldiers came through the East side, the machine gun began firing bursts. The earth-brown uniforms were soon covered in blood. That's when the low rumbling of a Polish tank came to be heard. It came into view of the window and the machine gunner sent a burst its way. The barrel began maneuvering.

"Holen Sie sich auf!" screamed Ulrich. It must have been the millionth time he had said that.

They all laid scrambled off the top level of the barn, jumping into hay bales. The assistant gunner refused to leave the machine gun and attempted to grab it. As he went for it, the tank shell burst the wall, the machine gun went flying into a bale of hay, but the assistant gunner had been completely obliterated. All that was left was a ripped open torso and stubs of what used to be limbs. The machine gunner and Ulrich grabbed the gun and ammo and ran out of the back of the barn. They fell back to the ruins of the house they had been behind. The machine gunner set the heavy machine gun in a v-shaped hole in one of the few intact walls. It was just big enough for the two to peer out of, the gunner through the sites and Ulrich through the hole. Ulrich helped him load it as Polish soldiers came running by. The machine gunner opened fire as Ulrich used his hand to keep the bullets steady.

"Polnisch an einer Uhr!" said Ulrich to the gunner.

The Grefeiter swiveled the gun to his one o'clock and fired at advancing Pollocks. The large bullets pounded away at the advancing soldiers. The bullets literally tore limbs off of the soldiers as they pierced the joints of their bodies. A few unlucky ones were left crawling, screaming for help. Suddenly, a steaming, egg grenade came through the top of the roofless house. Ulrich quickly picked it up and lobbed it back over. He thanked god the stupid Pole had not figured to cook it. The grenade burst a couple meters off, a screaming curse in Polish sounded, along with a call to a medic.

"Polnisch! Elf Uhr!" commanded Ulrich as he fed the belt of bullets into the gun. The machine gunner swiveled the gun to eleven o'clock in time to meet three soldiers.

The bullets slipped into their bodies. None of those Poles were left alive, lucky for them. Then another egg grenade was lobbed towards their position, but it skipped and bounced outside. It took a quarter of a larger wall with it as it exploded, pelting them with little pebbles of brick. The machine gun position proved as a perfect choke point on the East side, even more so than the barn had been. This was the place where the flanks could be covered by the machine gun, but they were running low on ammunition. The ammo belt had only forty shots left on it, and if the Polish kept rushing like this, it would run out soon.

"Wir sind wenig Munition!" yelled Ulrich over the roar of the machine gun.

"Sheize!" yelled the gunner back.

Translations:
"Polnisch Huresohn!" - Polish son of a bitch!

"Polnisch an einer Uhr!" - Polish at one o'clock!


"Polnisch! Elf Uhr!" - Polish! Eleven o'clock!


"Wir sind wenig Munition!" - We are low on ammunition!

"Sheize!" - Shit!

[∬: Erik Schneider]

Leaning against the stone statue, his back stiffened up against the cold. With his MP38 at the ready and in his lap, he thought back to the young boy he had verbally thrashed. The way the boy had probably shit his trousers the second Schneider had held the pistol up to his temple. And the way he had probably told himself that the Feldwebel was a fresh recruit and acting stupid and that mommy was there to hold his hand. He was wrong however. Schneider had enlisted four years back when Hitler had begun to the rebuilding of the military all the while concealing such from their Western enemies. With four years of meaningless tasks for the military back in Germany, he was most likely the most veteran soldier left alive the Bjesalosiza. Any other man would have shot the sniveling coward dead on the spot. How the hell a crying little eighteen year old boy had taken control of a platoon he was destined to fuck so badly up, he wasn't quite sure of. Perhaps, that was why he had run off somewhere else. To hide in fear of the Poles and the irate German Feldwebel.

The thoughts quickly died out as he heard an explosion followed by screams of agonizing pain coming from the area they had just withdrawn from. Someone was calling out a warning of partisans and Schneider sighed, before climbing back up the statue. "Wolf, Reinhard, and Dietrich on me!" Leaping down onto the other side of the church square, he found the three young privates following closely behind him. The came upon a small, wooden barn and slammed against its south wall. Inching their way to its corner, they found a Polish Civilian with a dirty rifle gripped tightly in his hands. There was a gaping hole in the back of his head where a flow of blood had seeped into the cobblestone. Kicking the man's head slightly to the side, he leaned around the corner and spotted Maybach nearby several wounded men. "Dietrich, verschieben heraus und helfen sie, das verletzte zurück zu dem Kirchequadrat zu erhalten. Wir stellen Bedeckungfeuer zur Verfügung. "

The Private obliged and rounded the corner of the barn before dashing down the street, completely exposed to enemy fire. There was surprisingly little if any Polish fire on the Western side of the town. The Polish had probably taken up positions in the better fortified trenches on the Eastern side of town in order to regroup and assault properly. Two rifle shots rung out at the same time and Dietrich's lifeless corpse collapsed. Waving for Maybach to stay back in cover, Schneider turned to face the two men he had left. "Scheiße! Werden mehr im Stall gelassen. Wir werden ihn heraus löschen. Folgen Sie meinem Blei. " Silently, the trio made their way over the Polish corpse and inched their way towards the entrance to the barn. Slowly, he pulled a German grenade off his belt and tore the porcelain ball downwards to trigger the explosion. A few seconds later, he tossed the devastating weapon into the small barn and braced for the resulting explosion. Bursting into the barn one after the other, they found two corpses riddled with shrapnel and another partisan in the corner with his hands raised high above his head. Three bullets from the Feldwebel's MP38 ended the man's life swiftly.

"Gut! Erhalten Sie diese Männer zurück zu dem Kirchequadrat, in dem sie korrekte ärztliche Behandlung erhalten können. " Lifting the Unterfeldwebel off the ground with another man, he backpedaled down the street. It became a race to get back to their lines before the Polish decided to sweep through the Western part of town as well. If they could break through the West, they could hole the other platoons in from the trenches and rear of town. Slipping the wounded down at the front of the church, some medics emerged and carried the men into the now makeshift hospital and morgue. Taking up position behind the empty, circular fountain in the middle of the square, which contained some sort of angel in the center of it, Schneider glanced towards Maybach who had managed to survive the initial assault. "Ich bin froh, Sie zu haben zurück Obergefreiter. Und ich bin froh, dass Unteroffizer nicht im Befehl von mehr Zügen ist. Hoffnungsvoll bleibt es so. "

Translations:

- "Wolf, Reinhard, and Dietrich on me!"

- "Dietrich, move out and help them get the wounded back to the church square. We will provide covering fire."

- "Shit! There are more left in the barn. We are going to clear it out. Follow my lead."

- "Alright! Get these men back to the church square where they can receive proper medical attention."

- "I am glad to have you back Obergefreiter. And I am glad that Unteroffizer is not in command of any more platoons. Hopefully, it shall stay that way."

[Werner von Maybach]

After Werner had yelled his warning, things went by all too quick. His thoughts were running and he desperately searched for a way to get the wounded Unterfeldwebel back into safety. He didn't know if there were maybe more armed civilians just waiting to shoot the Germans right into their backs. But before Werner could do anything, he saw another figure peeping around the corner of the barn. In an instant he flipped his carbine around and readied himself to pull the trigger again.

In the last moment he recognized the typical shape of a German steel helmet. The figure peeping around the corner was Feldwebel Schneider. Werner took a deep breath and dropped the weapon down. He heard Schneider giving some orders and then another soldier sprinted around the corner towards Werner and his small group. The soldier wasn't a close friend of Werner but he surely also belonged to Schneider's platoon.The silence in the empty streets was nearly scary and the man had almost reached the safe cover of the carriage wreck, when two dry shots cracked through the air and finished the life of another comrade way too early.

Out of reflex Werner ducked his head and grabbed his rifle closer. Like he had assumed, there were more Partisans left in the barn. Now Werner got signaled by Schneider to stay in cover and what followed here reminded him about the way, the war was shown in the actual newsreels. Schneider and two more of his privates stormed into the barn after throwing a stick grenade inside. Loud, Polish screams could get heard and Werner clearly recognized Schneider's MP 38 firing several shots. The whole action didn't take longer than a minute, until Schneider and his soldiers had completely cleared the small building and now stood in front of Werner outside the barn. Only the heroic music was missing somehow.

The Feldwebel smiled at Werner. He had a wild glance in his eyes and his voice sounded raspy. Although Werner only understood parts of what the NCO said because he was still half deaf, the words of his superior made him very proud. Now he realized that he hadn't cowardly retreated like some of his comrades unfortunately did today. Shortly he nodded and replied: "Ich bin auch ganz froh Sie nochmal wiederzusehen, Herr Feldwebel. Das ist ja ne ganz große Schweinerei hier. Zum Glück sind wir zurückgegangen bevor die Polen den kompletten linken Flügel eingedrückt haben."

Before Werner could finish his words, he saw another Obergefreiten running towards the barn. He tried to hop from cover to cover but it looked quiet funny because the man wasn't the youngest any more and Werner wondered how he could have passed the fitness tests to join the German infantry. This Obergefreiter surely weighed around 100 kilos and he wasn't that tall either. Completely out of breath, the soldier saluted in front of Schneider and said gasping: "Herr Feldwebel, Sie sollen sofort zurück zum Hauptplatz kommen. Wir haben noch mehr Partisanen gefangen genommen. Sie sind alle im Haus neben der Kirche." All the time it was a hard fight for Werner, not to start laughing, because the face of the Obergefreiter was red-hot and that made him look like a domestic pig.

In the meanwhile the shooting in the western part of the town had completely eased up but therefor had reached a climax in the east. The Poles seemed to have sidestepped the heavy fortified town and were now trying to attack this German strong point from behind. The situation wasn't beard out by now, but looking at Schneider, Werner got the strong feeling that the German line would hold here.

Translations:

"Ich bin auch ganz froh Sie nochmal wiederzusehen, Herr Feldwebel. Das ist ja ne ganz große Schweinerei hier. Zum Glück sind wir zurückgegangen bevor die Polen den kompletten linken Flügel eingedrückt haben."
"I'm also quiet happy to meet you again, Herr Feldwebel. This is quiet a big swinishness going on here. Luckily we managed to fall back, before the Poles could completely press in our left wing."

"Herr Feldwebel, Sie sollen sofort zurück zum Hauptplatz kommen. Wir haben noch mehr Partisanen gefangen genommen. Sie sind alle im Haus neben der Kirche."
"Herr Feldwebel, you shall come back to the town square as soon as possible. We have captured more partisans. We've locked them inside the house next to the church."[/b]

[ulrich]

Ulrich held the last eight rounds of machine gun ammo as they beaten Poles retreated. The machine gunner put the last few bursts in to the retreating Poles. A few were hit and killed, one was injured badly. The machine gunner let the barrel cool as Ulrich went out to check for any living Pollocks. He came across the badly injured Polish soldier and took out his knife. He rolled the man over to his back and slit his neck. Blood sprayed on the Unteroffizier's face as the jugular vein was cut. The young man grabbed his throat. A gurgling noise resounded as blood leaked into his throat and lungs. Ulrich cleaned his knife and checked another one. He was breathing. Ulrich took his rifle in hand and put a bullet in the soldier's spine.

"Was tust du! Herr Unteroffizier?!" yelled the horrified machine gunner.

"Diese Ratten nicht verdienen Leben!" yelled Ulrich.

The machine gunner went quiet. As Ulrich finished killing any that were still alive, the machine gunner packed up his machine gun and went up to the Unteroffizier. He handed him a cigarette and lit his own. Ulrich lit his cigarette and the two went back to the town square. It was the designated rally point for the Wehrmacht forces. He went over to a bench and sat down, the machine gunner sat next to him. Ulrich pulled out his rations from his pack. There was some dried sausage and a piece of stale bread. He broke the sausage and bread in half and gave the machine gunner a piece of each.

"Danke, Herr Unteroffizier,"

"Bitte sehr," said Ulrich. He finished the cigarette and stomped it out.

Ulrich took a bit of the dried sausage and then took a bite of the stale bread. He had not eaten in hours and was quite hungry. He had blocked the earlier events from his mind and focused on the task at hand, a bit of lunch. His bicep ached a bit now and again, but he figured it would go away when the wound healed. The stale bread crunched loudly as he chewed it. The flavor was nearly gone from it, but he didn't mind. He took another bite of the sausage. The pieces of spiced tongue and liver crunched as his teeth broke them.

"Wie alt bist du? Grefeiter?" he asked.

"Neunzehn jahre alt, Herr Unteroffizier." replied the Machine Gunner.

"Ich bin zu," he said with a smile.

Ulrich had been right. A lot of these soldiers were probably young volunteers. He thought back, why had he volunteered for this shit? It wasn't glorious like everyone said it was. It did not make one look glorious when they got filled with Polish bullets. It did not make one glorious when they hid from combat. It did not make one glorious when they died fighting for a stupid country filled with Jews and poor people. He sighed and continued eating.

[∬: Erik Schneider]

OOC: Uhh...what...Ulrich...?

With his MP38 firmly gripped in his hands, Feldwebel Schneider eased the door open slowly as he entered the building. Greeted by the sight of a handful of German soldiers forcing Partisans up against the opposite wall, he uneasily entered the room. The immediate commanding officer as of now, he stepped into the room with a sense of authority as the men waited for orders. Slackening his grip on the submachine gun, he approached the center of the room and stood in a dismal silence as his eyes closed. Sighing, he realized they couldn't properly deal with the partisans at the current stage of the battle and having troops guard them was purely unacceptable. It was nerve wracking to build up the courage to order their execution, but he bit his lip and opened his eyes with a grim sense of guilt. "Töten Sie sie." He dimly muttered, his voice coarse as he forced himself to speak the words. The few guards eyed him strangely, unsure if they should follow through with the simple orders. "Wir müssen sie beschäftigen, während die Situation ermöglicht. Töten Sie sie. "

The soldiers had finally accepted the grim realization and were taking aim at the partisans. Stepping forth into the line, he steadied his MP38 with the back of a Pollack and grimaced. There was even a young boy who had been caught carrying out such acts against the German troops. "Bereit. Ziel. Feuer! " Schneider could barely bring himself to fire onto the unsuspecting partisans, unsure of why he could murder them in combat, but not when they were lined up for execution. His will power overcame his conscience and he pulled back on the trigger, spraying his clip into a section of the partisans back in unison with the rest of the men in the room. The sudden burst of gunfire from the meager Polish building ended as quickly as it came. Guilt overwhelmed Schneider as he dug into a pocket and slipped out another cigarette. The rest of the men eerily stood still, letting their actions sink in as the the wooden floorboards began to become stained with the crimson red blood.

Schneider was the first to exit back out into the church square, gaining a few odd looks from the soldiers who had listened in on the execution. They simply couldn't afford to keep the partisans alive at such a dim time for the German soldiers. On the brink of utter obliteration in the Polish town, the Feldwebel couldn't sacrifice a single man to guard over the prisoners. Sucking on the stick of tobacco, he eased his mind and erased the memory and guilt of having a child's blood on his hands. For the most part, the square was silent except for the distant sounds of battle in the east and approaching Poles in the west. The sound of conversation and eating unnerved the Feldwebel, who bit down on the cigarette and glanced for the source of such. To his surprise, the Unteroffizer was somehow in the square and munching down on a chunk of sausage with a young, lower ranked man by his side. Why the two men had seen it fit to wander into the square and eat their rations when their last meal of the day should have been dinner and when such intense combat was going on...confused and berated the Feldwebel.

"IST DIESE FEIGHEIT?" He exploded at the sight of the cowardly, foolish Unteroffizer who seemed to disappoint time adn time again. Burning with such an extreme rage that he could strangle the man to death, Schneider's cigarette broke in half at the weight of the crushing teeth. As the tip of the cigarette descended to the ground from the man's lip, he tore his helmet off his head and hurled it at the Unteroffizer on a collision course with the man's head. "GELANGEN SIE ZURÜCK AN IHRE POSITION JETZT! SIE GEFÄHRDEN DIE LEBEN VON JEDER! VERLASSEN SIE HIER!" Seething with rage, he roared to the man without much thought of what to say. A platoon leader had gotten his men slaughtered, risked the slaughter of the rest of the men, risked the loss of the town, and had now decided to abandon his position to have a late night snack in the church square. Why or how, Schneider wasn't aware of. The man could be shot for cowardice and disobedience, time and time again, and Schneider was beginning to want to.

Squeezing down on the trigger, he fired a burst of bullets into the air as a warning shot. Watching the two men scurry out of the square in fear of death, greatly pleased Schneider who eased his grip on the MP38. He stood in the middle of the square in silence, his heavy breathing beginning to slow to a normal rate. The Feldwebel had become the center of attention and not much of a good one. He had done his duty and made the right choices. If it was any other man, Loffler would have been dead long ago. His thinking becoming more calm and rational, he cocked his head to look at a collection of soldiers. "I…Ich entschuldige mich für meinen Ausbruch. Ich hoffe, dass wir diesen Moment hinter uns allen setzen können." The Feldwebel murmured, before slowly setting himself down against the outer walls of the statue. His fingers loosely wrapped around the black metal of the German submachine gun as his blank gaze focused on the ground. A few bullets could be heard near the square and Schneider shifted to peak over the statue, preparing himself for an approaching battle.

Translations:

- "Kill them."

- "We must deal with them as the situation permits. Kill them."

- "Ready. Aim. Fire!"

- "IS THIS COWARDICE?"

- "GET BACK TO YOUR POSITION NOW! YOU JEOPARDIZE THE LIVES OF EVERYONE! GET OUT OF HERE!"

- "I... I apologize for my outburst. I hope we can put this moment behind us all."

[Werner von Maybach]

After the wounded soldiers had gotten carried away and Schneider and the fat Obergefreiter had left the scene towards the church, Werner looked around and tried to spot the rests of the squad he was assigned to. The shooting inside the town had completely stopped for now and only some shots could be heard in the eastern outskirts of the town. The area around the town square was heavily damaged. There was nearly no building unharmed, a lot had completely broken down under the power of the heavy artillery shells. Flames burned everywhere and thick, dark smoke hung over the houses. The church was one of the few undamaged buildings and German soldiers busily went in and out, carrying all kinds of equipment. Two German heavy trucks towing small 3,7 cm at guns rushed over the big square and hastily unlimbered the cannons. It was quiet relieving to Werner to see the crews working to get their guns ready because he knew that there were still Polish tanks around.

After some moments, Werner discovered some well known faces and walked over to his comrades, that were gathering in front of one of the less damaged buildings. Coming closer, he realized that there were a lot of men missing and that he now was the highest ranking man left in his 2. Gruppe. The soldiers silently nodded at him and their faces showed wild resolution. Without loosing time, Werner commanded the men to take defensive positions in and around the stone building.

From the partly destroyed second floor of the house the men had a great view over the eastern outskirts. The Poles had completely retreated out of sight, but probably had taken positions only a few hundred meters away. Silently Werner observed the open field in front of him and carefully lit his last Juno cigarette. Dissatisfied he crumpled the pack and threw it on the floor.

But the mood of the soldiers was getting suddenly better, when one of the soldiers of the squad walked up the stairs, smilingly presented a dead chicken to his comrades and said "Das hab Ich hinten im Hof gefunden. Erst hats mich so bedrohlich angeschaut und als Ich dann "Halt, im Namen der deutschen Wehrmacht" geschrien hab, da isses einfach weitergelaufen. Ich musste also schießen." Of course this explanation made everyone in the room laugh hardly. Werner knew that it was forbidden to steal food or anything from the Polish population. But he also knew how hungry these soldiers were and how positive a real meal could affect the motivation under the men. And so it didn't take long until the appetizing smell of roasted chicken fulfilled the whole building. Exhausted and hungry from the hard last hours, Werner ate up his portion within minutes and didn't let himself disturb when he heard some shots coming from the nearby church. He knew all too well what had happened there in that moment.

After he had finished eating, the tiredness came over Werner again. His legs got heavier and his view started to blur. It took him a lot of strength to stay awake. The rest of soldiers also had gotten quiet now. Just when Werner had started to close his eyes for a short moment, one of the younger soldiers carefully tried to wake him up. His face was dirty and pale and his eyes looked very concerned. Silently the young soldier whispered to Werner and his voice sounded very fraught and shy. "Herr Obergefreiter, einige Kameraden und Ich haben mich entschieden, bei Ihnen wegen einem Vorfall von dieser Nacht zu protestieren. Wir haben Unteroffizier Löffler vom 3. Zug dabei beobachtet, wie er nach dem Kampf einige verwundete Polnische Soldaten einfach erschoß, obwohl diese absolut wehrlos und unbewaffnet waren. Das ist eindeutig gegen die Genfer Konvention und verletzt Unsere Ehre als Deutsche Soldaten."

Shocked Werner stared at his young comrade and he didn't know how to react. Killing defenseless persons was murder, a crime, whether these persons had been soldiers or not. Anger rose inside him and he finally decided, to search for Feldwebel Schneider and to report to him about this happening, because he felt like he just couldn't let that pass through.

Stepping out of the building, Werner quickly recognized Feldwebel Schneider standing in the middle of a group of soldiers, at the statue in the center of the town square. There seemed to be quiet an argument going on and Werner recognized Schneider angrily shouting at some men. But in the moment, Werner entered the street, some dry shots cracked through the air behind him and made most of the Germans on the square dive for cover. In the first moment Werner believed, that the Poles would start a second attempt to break through the German encirclement here at Bjesalošiza. But as soon as the shooting had started, everything was quiet again. Only a grimly smiling German Gefreiter walked out of the church with his carbine in his hands, driving three men in front of him. All three of them wore dirty and worn out, Polish uniforms and had an almost hopeless expression in their faces.

Translations:

"Seht mal her, das hab Ich hinten im Hof gefunden. Erst hats mich so bedrohlich angeschaut und als Ich dann "Halt, im Namen der deutschen Wehrmacht!" geschrien hab, da isses einfach weitergelaufen. Ich musste also schießen."
"Look, I've found this in the backyard. First it looked at me quiet threatening and when I yelled "Stop in the name of the German Wehrmacht!", it continued walking on. So I just had to shoot."

"Herr Obergefreiter, einige Kameraden und Ich haben mich entschieden, bei Ihnen wegen einem Vorfall von dieser Nacht zu protestieren. Wir haben Unteroffizier Löffler vom 3. Zug dabei beobachtet, wie er nach dem Kampf einige verwundete Polnische Soldaten einfach erschoß, obwohl diese absolut wehrlos und unbewaffnet waren. Das ist eindeutig gegen die Genfer Konvention und verletzt unsere Ehre als Deutsche Soldaten."
"Herr Obergefreiter, some comrades and me decided to protest because of a happening last night. We have observed Unteroffizier Löffler from the 3. platoon executing some wounded, Polish soldiers after the fighting, although they were unarmed and completely defenseless. That is definitely against the Geneva Convention and it hurts our honor as German soldiers."

[ulrich]

As the shots cracked through the air, Ulrich dived for cover. He and the machine gunner picked up spare ammunition and returned to their post as ordered. He had ignored Schneider, he did not like the man, and the two had come to the square because he thought the Poles had retreated throughout the line as they had on his position, though he did wonder where the tank had gone that had blown a large hole into the top of the barn. As they returned to their position, Ulrich saw the Poles he had executed, they lay there.

"Schauen Sie, das polnische sind zu feige, um ihre Toten wieder mit ihnen." he pointed out to the Grefeiter. The machine gunner laughed and they both took out a cigarette and set the machine gun back up.

Ulrich helped load the machine gun. He remembered in basic training when they were taught to do this, even though they were not machine gunners, they had to know how to load any weapon they were given. The two sat in silence smoking for a bit.

"Das Schneider Kerl, er ist ein echter Esel, wie denken Sie darüber?" said Ulrich.

"Ja," said the Grefeiter.

"Dennoch respektieren ihn aber, müssen Sie," explained Ulrich.

"Ja, ich weiß," replied the machine gunner.

Soon after everything went silent, Ulrich heard footsteps. He helped the machine gunner remove the machine gun and Ulrich stuck his rifle out the hole. He aimed down the sights and looked to where the footsteps were coming from. The machine gunner got his rifle out and aimed over the wall. Then they saw them, a whole platoon of Polish soldiers. The quickly replaced the machine gun and Ulrich held the ammunition steady. The machine gunner took aim and fired. Shots cracked through the air, and the Polish fell like dominoes. About six more of the Poles ran past, the machine gunner only hit one in the leg, and he crawled behind the building.

"Sheize! Wir haben keine Möglichkeit, in Kontakt mit dem Rest der Zeile. Die Polen werden bis zum Ende bis auf jemand heimlich die Position!" said Ulrich as he stamped his foot on the ground in anger.

"Sheize!" said the machine gunner.

"Warten Sie, vielleicht kann ich bis zu fangen, bevor sie sich durch den Rest der East-Side..." said Ulrich.

"Bleiben Sie hier. Wenn ich nicht zurück, nicht nach mir," Ulrich said as he grabbed his helmet and ran out of the position. He went down the back alleys he thought the squad of Poles might have taken, after a few minutes of hard running, he heard hushed Polish. He peaked around a corner and saw them standing in a circle. Taking aim, he found the one that was talking and put a bullet in his head. The rifle jerked backwards and Ulrich's muscles did the familiar flex as the rifle kicked. He worked the bolt and noticed he was out of bullets. The Polish yelled something about a sniper and found cover. Ulrich took out a stripper clip full of ammunition and pushed it into the receiver. He put the bolt back in place and shoved it forward. He took aim as a Pole stuck his upper body out from behind a cart. He fired and the Pole fell down, hitting the ground with a thump. The other Polish soldiers must have seen the muzzle flash, for a Polish sub-machine gun went blasting away towards Ulrich position. He crouched down and waited for the burst to quit. He popped out again, not sure what was going to happen.

[∬: Erik Schneider]

The two men scattered at the burst of fire, which amused the Feldwebel. At least the Unteroffizer didn't give him a reason to aim the bullets for his head and had done the sensible thing of just running away. Hopefully, he had gone to take up a defensive position and not off fleeing the city. From what Schneider had seen, there wasn't any doubt that the young, foolish Unteroffizer would actually flee. After all, he nearly got every single man in the town massacred with one simple and idiotic order. The busy, restless night was taking its toll on Schneider was he dragged his feet and plopped down in the moist Polish soil. The opportunity presented itself for the German soldier to actually rest for once, laying up against the fountain in the center of the church square. Scattered around the square in defensive positions were about a handful of men, the rest either in the church or adjacent buildings. There was a gentle ceasefire throughout the German lines, the calm before the storm. It was easy to see how the Unteroffizer had mistaken it for victory, but it was fatal mistake all the same.

Taking advantage of the peace while he could, Schneider had another cigarette in his mouth within moments. The dwindling number of the pack of cigarettes was astounding, but none the less he was lighting the tip of the tobacco with his lighter without hesitating. The delicate, silver lighter had been a gift to him from his father who had known the habit his son would develop. That was ole Dietrich for you, always knowing you better than you know yourself. Schneider lightly chuckled, with his weapon laying lazily in his lap. Peace was so soothing compared to the constant state of battle the soldiers seemed to be involved in. Schneider could almost smell the sweet scent of chicken, but brushed it aside as he exhaled large puffs of smoke. It was comforting to see that two 3.7 cm anti tank guns had taken up positions in the square to watch each of the two paths in. Finally, the greater portion of the men in the Eastern side of town had support against their most deadly adversaries. Tanks.

The peace was short lived as some dry shots made a commotion for the men gathered in the square. Most men would dive for cover, but Schneider grabbed a hold of his MP38 and peered over the edge of the fountain to spot Maybach making his way out from a building with some other men trailing behind him. The shots had mysteriously ended just as soon as they started and a man emerged from the church, forcing three worn out Polish soldiers before him. Just when Schneider didn't want any prisoners...he got prisoners. Sighing, he lifted himself back up onto his feet and slowly walked towards the three soldiers, signaling for everyone to stay put. The weary Feldwebel realized it wasn't the best time to keep these men under guard, nor could he just execute them on the spot. It was too demoralizing for the rest of the men to watch. Twiddling the cigarette in his mouth, he almost prayed the men would try something. Anything that would warrant a spray of submachine gun bullets.

God answered his prayers as the three men hopelessly glanced around at the assembled troops in the square. Perhaps, fearful of certain death or wanting to inform the opposition in the eastern edge of Bjesalosiza, they ran. At first, no one knew what to do, even the man who held once held them at gunpoint hesitated. The sudden burst of fire from the Feldwebel's MP38 reminded them soon enough as a hail of bullets cut down the three fleeing men. The three Polish bastards had bought their own ticket to hell as Schneider jammed a new clip of ammo into his weapon, before his gaze shifted to that of Maybach. Questioningly, Schneider's eyes scanned the man who seemed to have something important to say. He had after all come out into the square to seek someone out or something. Schneider turned to the men who had brought the prisoners from the church and ordered him to get the bodies into the church, before he looked back at Werner with a look that almost said "what do you want?".

[Werner von Maybach]

Just when Werner headed towards Feldwebel Schneider again, one of the captured Polish soldiers loudly yelled: "Teraz albo nigdy!" and the three men started running as if the devil personally would be chasing them. The surprise of the Gefreiter who had guarded the captured Poles was clearly visibly in his face and he wasn't able to react at all. He just stared at the fleeing and slowly shook his head.

Quickly Werner aimed his carbine at the closest Pole, but he also wasn't really sure if he should shoot at one of these helpless men. Werner had heard about the Polish propaganda portraying the German soldiers as merciless beasts who don't ever take any prisoners at all. The fearful eyes of these soldiers were a obvious sign, that they really had believed what they got told by their government. And now these men were running away like hunted rabbits and were no longer a real enemy in a fairly fought war. But have they ever been one at all?

A long burst from Schneider's MP made the decision for Werner. Partly relieved, he took down his rifle and looked at Schneider who gazed at the dead bodies for a short moment, before he slowly turned around to his men and looked at them questioning. Werner quickly saluted. A strong squall blew some thick, black smoke from a burning, Polish truck standing nearby into Werner's face and made him cough roughly. "Obergefreiter von Maybach meldet 2. Gruppe klar, Herr Feldwebel. Die Männer haben Verteidigungspositionen in dem großen Haus neben der Kirche eingenommen und die beiden MG 34 sind ebenfalls bereit. Außerdem sind zwei Panzerabwehrgeschütze in unserem Bereich in Stellung gegangen.Keiner weiß, wo die auf einmal herkommen, aber Sie sind mehr als willkommen hier."

After Werner took a short break to order his words, he continued, trying to sound as optimistic as possible: "Die Gruppe hatte allerdings große Verluste, unter anderen wurde auch unser Gruppenführer, Unteroffizier Schultheiß getötet. Als ranghöchster Soldat habe Ich vorerst das Kommando über die 2. Gruppe übernommen. Wachen wurden für den Rest der Nacht eingeteilt." The first morning light gave the sky a dark red colour and the next day wasn't all too long away.

Now Werner's words got drowned by the heavy engine sounds of a group of Stuka dive bombers that were lowly flying northwest, heading into the pocket of Warsaw. The wings of the majestic planes were glowing reddish in the rising sun, that was shinning partly through the grey clouds. Most of the soldiers on the town square turned their heads after the planes and some were cheering loudly. Werner realised that the Feldwebel was holding a cigarette in his hand and couldn't withstand to stare at it for some seconds. He had shared his last one with the comrades of his group, and one cigarette wasn't really enough for six hardly addicted, completely worn out men.

"Und Herr Feldwebel, Ich bitte um die Erlaubniss, offen zu sprechen. Werner looked seriously at Schneider again and saw the Feldwebel slowly nodding his head. " Es geht um Unteroffizier Loeffler. Ich bin ernsthaft besorgt, denn einige meiner Männer beschwerten sich heftig über Ihn. Sie beobachteten Ihn dabei, wie er verletzte, wehrlose Polen einfach erschoß, anstatt Sie gefangen zu nehmen. Solches Verhalten ist Gift für die Disziplin unter den Männer." With a concerned face, Werner was watching the Feldwebel and waited for his answer.

Translations:

"Teraz albo nigdy!"
"Now or never!"

"Obergefreiter von Maybach meldet 2. Gruppe klar, Herr Feldwebel. Die Männer haben Verteidigungspositionen in dem großen Haus neben der Kirche eingenommen und die beiden MG 34 sind ebenfalls bereit. Außerdem sind zwei Panzerabwehrgeschütze in unserem Bereich aufgetaucht. Keiner weiß, wo die auf einmal herkommen, aber Sie sind mehr als willkommen hier."
"Obergefreiter von Maybach reports 2. squad ready for duty. The men have taken up defensive positions in the big building next to the town church and the two MG 34 are readied. Additionally there have appeared two anti tank guns in our sector. Nobody knows were the hell they came from, but they are more then welcome here."

"Die Gruppe hatte allerdings große Verluste, unter anderen wurde auch unser Gruppenführer, Unteroffizier Schultheiß getötet. Als ranghöchster Soldat habe Ich vorerst das Kommando über die 2. Gruppe übernommen. Wachen wurden für den Rest der Nacht eingeteilt."
"But the squad has suffered very heavy losses. Amongst others, our squadleader, Unteroffizier Schultheiß got killed. As the highest ranking soldier in the squad, I took command of it for the time needed. Guards already got grouped for the rest of the night."

"Und Herr Feldwebel, Ich bitte um die Erlaubniss, offen zu sprechen.
"And Herr Feldwebel, I'am asking for permission to speak open to you."

" Es geht um Unteroffizier Loeffler. Ich bin ernsthaft besorgt, denn einige meiner Männer beschwerten sich heftig über Ihn. Sie beobachteten Ihn dabei, wie er verletzte, wehrlose Polen einfach erschoß, anstatt Sie gefangen zu nehmen. Solches Verhalten ist Gift für die Disziplin unter den Männer."
"It's about Unteroffizier Loeffler. I'am seriously concerned because some of my men heavily protested about him. They observed him executing numerous wounded and helpless Poles, instead of capturing them. Such a behaviour is like poison for the disciplin under the men."

[∬: Erik Schneider]

OOC: Sorry, Ulrich. Doesn't seem like you've been on the last few weeks and me and Werner don't feel like waiting. We've decided to end the thread, so I will be skipping your post.

The darkness of night was seemly coming to pass as the sky changed to one of a dark red color. The sun was slowly climbing up into its morning position. The intense fighting had come to a lull as both sides grew tired of fighting, whether it be attacking or defending the small village. The ticket in or out of the Warsaw pocket. The Obergefrieter made quick, pleasing report to his superior and platoon commander. He covered supplies, position, morale, and losses while the busy, worn out men carried out their duties around them in the town square. To the northwest, a group of Stuka dive bombers majestically flew through the dark grey clouds, red sunlight beaming through the clouds illuminating them in the sky. A short cheer from the German soldiers erupted, but ending nearly as fast. Why couldn't the bastards give a helping hand here? Where the help was direly needed. Schneider dragged on the cigarette, putting such thoughts to rest as the smoke filled his mouth.

"Und Herr Feldwebel, Ich bitte um die Erlaubniss, offen zu sprechen." Intriguing. What did the Obergefrieter wish to talk openly to him about? The Feldwebel nodded slowly, allowing the soldier to continue with his words. "Es geht um Unteroffizier Loeffler. Ich bin ernsthaft besorgt, denn einige meiner Männer beschwerten sich heftig über Ihn. Sie beobachteten Ihn dabei, wie er verletzte, wehrlose Polen einfach erschoß, anstatt Sie gefangen zu nehmen. Solches Verhalten ist Gift für die Disziplin unter den Männer." Schneider's general rugged, tired look developed a new feature. A massive frown as his gaze wearily shifted over to the west, where the young platoon leader had taken up arms. Poison. The perfect word to describe the boy, who committed such crimes as retreating, abandoning his position, and executing helpless soldiers. Schneider began to breath slightly heavier, now positioning his body towards the west and away from Maybach.

"Verdammen Sie das, Unteroffizer! Verdammen Sie ihn zur Hölle! " The Feldwebel roared, hurtling his cigarette down into the dirt and stamping it out with the tip of his boot as if it was Loffler himself. He made sure to keep his voice down, so the other soldiers didn't overhear such words. But the tone told the whole story and everyone knew just what Unteroffizer that Feldwebel Schneider spoke so poorly of. "Ich bin Sie gekommen zu mir mit diesem, Obergefrieter froh. Ich beschäftige das Unteroffizer, nachdem wir diesen Kampf gewinnen. Bitte, gehen Sie einfach zurück zu Ihrer Gruppe und vergessen Sie über ihn. Das ist alles, das wir fürs Erste tun können. " Schneider faced the younger, lesser ranked soldier and watched as he nodded and ran off for his squad's position. The flames of the cigarette had been stomped out and Schneider felt a grim, dark sate overcome and overwhelm him. With his face buried into one of his palms, he returned to the safety of the fountain.

Nestling up against the stone fountain, he glanced at the rest of the 1st Squad that had taken up positions in the southern portion of the town. Some of the soldiers were in shelter in a handful of houses that gathered around the church square while others found defensive positions outside in the open. Feldwebel Schneider was one of the men as he rolled over onto his side and rested his head against the dirt. Grasping his discarded MP38, he dragged it back to him up against his chest and rolled over onto his back once more. The squad had been assigned alternating guard duties for the night and, with a quick glance at his watch, Schneider found that he would have enough time to sleep into morning. The majority of battle sounds had faded away as both sides began to rest in peace and silence. Flicking his sub-machine gun onto the safety setting, the Feldwebel slid his helmet over the tip of his nose to prevent the growing sun light to bother his eyes. The rookie Feldwebel practically fell asleep cuddling the MP38 in his arms, hoping that the Utneroffizer would meet his fate in battle.

Translations:

- "Damn that, Unteroffizer! Damn him to hell!"

- "I am glad you have come to me with this, Obergefrieter. I will deal with the Unteroffizer after we win this battle. Please, just go back to your squad and forget about it. That is all we can do for now."

[Daniel Brennan]

Mod Post

Good thread here, guys. The posts were long enough and the thread also went on for a long time.

CP:
SS-Obersturmführer Schneider: 16CP

Unteroffizier von Maybach: 14CP

Feldwebel Löffler: 13CP


~Dan