Tuesday, September 12th.
Early evening, cloudy skies. I spoke to Obrenski about my predicament with Irina. He told me if it was ment to be, she would could around. Obrenski after hearing the news of our deployment has gone into town a lot more recently, no one knows where he really goes. He was surprisingly silent when Lieutenant Sprieg told him the news. The thought of him fighting on the frontlines of another war must be hard on his nerves. Lieutenant Sprieg has stayed to himself more recently, only really coming out of his shack to listen to the radio. My correspondence with Irina has virtually stopped completely. I can only ponder our relationship now. I try my best to prepare Kurtz for the worst to come. “So there are going to be a lot of bad people.” I say. “ Why are the bad people?” Kurtz asks inquisitively. I respond, “Well thats not important but there is going to be alot of shooting.” “Shooting at who Franz.” he asks with innocence. “At us.” I reply. “Why at us Franz? We didn't do anything.” he says. “Because we are at war.” I say more aggrivated then I wanted to. Kurtz just stands there for a minute puzzled. He then asks, “Franz, what is war?” I just huff and put my head in my hand. I almost want to cry, he just doesn’t understand and it feels like everything is falling apart.
I hear a voice calling out my name. A lone cyclist approaches, Irina on her bike coming to meet us. "Franz!" shouts Irina as she jumps from her bike and runs to me. She collides into my chest and looks up with welled up eyes. She stutters frantically,"Its.. Its Obrenski, they… they arrested Obrenski."
I try to calm her,"Whoa slow down. What happened?" She struggles to speak as tears trickle down her face,"Two of the SS… they tried…they tried to touch me. Obrenski got into a fight with them. And they…and they arrested him. They said….they said they were going to execute him!" She looks as though she will be sick, she breathes heavily. “Wait, what where you doing with Obrenski?” I ask. She replies, “He was worried about you and he came to speak with me.” The Lieutenant approaches,"Are you alright dear?" Irina responds,"Oh Lieutenant Sprieg, the SS arrested Obrenski. "They are going to kill him!" Lieutenant Spreig strokes his chin and then goes and sits in his chair by the radio. She looks at me surprised. She walks up to him and asks,”Lieutenant aren’t you going to do something?” Lieutenant Spreig huffs and says defeatedly, “Unforturnately not, this is out of my jurisdiction. It's an SS matter and I have no power there. “But sir, he is one of your men.” she says. He responds by saying, “And there is nothing that can be done.” She snaps frustrated,” So you are just going to let him die?!” “He knows the consequences of his actions.”he replies. Irina says in disbelief, “I don’t believe what I am hearing, the great Lieutenant Sprieg refusing go to save one of his own men. You are supposed to be a war hero!” “It is not that.” he says. “ The what is it!” she demands. He refuses to answer. She proclaims,“You are afraid to face them aren't you?” He remains silent. “COWARD!” she shouts. The Lieutenant winces in visible pain. She turns to me, the decaying orange sun gleams off of her blond hair. “Franz.” she pleads,”You have to do something.” “I know, I will.” I reply. With Obrenski and the kubelwagon in town, there would be no way I would be able to make it in time. “Take my bike," she says. I nod. “They are going to execute him at tonight at the government building.” I mount her bicycle and she says,”Wait.” She gives me a kiss on the lips before saying, “I love you.” I nod and respond, “I love you too.” before petaling off towards the city.
Night has fallen by the time I have entered the city and I am afraid I am already too late. Even if I do make it, how am I going to stop it? I will have to figure it out like I always have. I have made it to the government building just in time. He is still alive.
Obrenski has his back against the wall snarling vulgarities daring the five black uniformed SS soldiers with rifles to shoot him. "Come on you sons of bitchs, what are you waiting for?! Shoot damn you! Your mothers were whores! Shoot dammit! " He shouts. The Major issues orders, "Ready!" The soldiers raise their rifles. "Aim!" They line their sights on Obrenski's chest. Oh God, I am too late!
"Wait!" A voice shouts. It's Lieutenant Sprieg! "Ah Lieutenant we were just about to finish our execution of this mongrel." "I need him." says the Lieutenant soberly. "This man has a history of violence against the SS, he is an insubordinate traitor and deserved to be shot." says the Major slyly. The Lieutenant is in his usual crisp gray officers uniform but something is different, I notice something shines from his collar. With closer inspection, I discover it to be the Knights Cross, the fatherland's highest award for bravery and personally given out by none other than Hitler himself. I just now concluded that I never noticed it because he never wore it.
"I need him and this execution is out of the SS jurisdiction." the Lieutenant says. The Major replies, "It is far to late Lieutenant." "Look hear dammit!" Lieutenant Sprieg raises his voice angrily, "You expect me to defend this city without a full gun crew and all I have is an insubordinate pervert, a lovestruck teenager, and Hitler Youth reject who can't even hold a rifle. So you better hope that they Allies don't find us here because when they do, there will be nothing we can do to stop them." The Major looks annoyed. Lieutenant Sprieg points in the Majors face, "Should I send this up to the General and have you explain why the city is burning because you executed my gunner? Who do you think he is going to listen to, a combat veteran or a wannabe officer, Major? Some of us didn't get our rank because of party connections. Have any of your boys even seen combat?" The Major remains silent. "How long do you think these boys will last against the Allies? Days? Hours?!" This entire battalion can be wiped out by just a platoon of Americans with their artillery and planes!" The soldiers look over to the conundrum, I am startled by how incredibly young they look.
The Lieutenant walks up to the nearest soldier, arms folded behind his back and asks calmly, “You boy, have you seen battle yet?" "Uh, uh no sir." the young soldier responds. The Lieutenant responds equally calm," The Russians would parade your body through the streets of Moscow." The young soldier shallows hard. "And you boy." the Lieutenant says to the next soldier in line, "Have you had the privilege of holding in the guts of your comrade?" The young soldier gags. The Lieutenant walks up to the next one. “And you…." he continues but is interrupted. "Sir I scored the top ten percent of my clas……" "NOBODY CARES! The Americans don't, they will kill you the same." the Lieutenant shouts. Lieutenant Sprieg now stands facing the wall, arms still folded behind him and says,''If you shoot him, you must shoot me as well." I stand in shock. The Major stands there stunned. "What are you waiting for? You were so insistent that this execution must take place, or are you afraid of having to explain why you killed a recipient of the Knights Cross?" The Lieutenant asks slyly. The firing squad looks nervously at the Major, not certain of who to aim at. The Major stands frozen. It feels like an eternity before he utters simply in almost a whimper, "Stand down."
The Lieutenant keeps his stern tone " Franz, Kurtz, Obrenski, we are leaving."
Soon the city wide blackout commences and all the lights are switched off and people return to their homes. We leave the square and come across the parked kubelwagen, and board the vehicle. I start the vehicle in the driver's seat while Lieutenant Sprieg sits in the passenger seat, Obrenski and Kurtz sit in the back. We drive through the blacked out darkened city. We come off the pavement and onto the dirt road with a sharp jolt, our headlights serve as our only illumination in the dark.
Suddenly Lieutenant Sprieg speaks in a calm manner," Obrenski, do not get in trouble again. Next time I won’t be there to save you. Obrenski spits and says," You should have let them, Its better than dying on the front for this God forsaken country."
Lieutenant Sprieg, looking ahead, says calmly, "Franz stop the car." What? I slow the kubelwagen to a stop in the middle of the dirt road halfway from the city. Lieutenant Sprieg steps out and goes to Obrenski's side. He stops and in a sudden movement punches Obrenski in the face and grabs him by the collar. Me and Kurtz stare in shock. Lieutenant Sprieg raises his voice," I could give less a damn about how you feel about this country but you live here dammit and I expect you to do your duty," He continues voice still raised," You slip up one more time Obrenski and I will shoot you myself" The Lieutenant aggressively releases his grip and straightens his cap and uniform before returning to the passenger seat. Obrenski sits in the back silent. The Lieutenant orders calmly again, " Drive." I put the Kubelwagon in gear and we continue through the dark.
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
We reach our outpost in the dark cool night, a half moon can be seen. As we file out of the kubelwagen and scatter about our separate ways. The only lights that can be seen are our dim post lights stationed at each corner and currently illuminates the whole gun emplacement in a dark red. Obrenski goes to sulk on his cot while I sit on mine and read. The Lieutenant stands by his post at the radio and listens for the next report. I don't know where Kurtz went. I suddenly hear soft sobbing from outside the trench. I step up the ramp and walk to the other side of the kubelwagen where I find young Kurtz sitting with his hands in his face crying.
I kneel down to his level and remove his hands. The crying boy looks up to me. I ask softly, " What's wrong Kurtz?" The sniveling boy answers," The Lieutenant is going to shoot me isn't he?" I didn't realize how the fight would affect Kurtz. As a matter of fact I had never seen the Lieutenant that mad myself. But I'm sure me and Kurtz are still in his good graces. I respond still softly, " I'm sure he is not going to shoot you." He looks to me with tears still trickling down his cheeks and says," But I let him down." I reply, " You didn't let him down, Obrenski did." He cries a little more and speaks," I just don't want to disappoint him." It was then when I realized that Kurtz looked up to Lieutenant Sprieg as a father figure. "Well Kurtz." I say," If you feel that badly why don't you go apologize to him." His tears stop and he suddenly looks up to me, " I can do that." "Yeah, sure you can." I say giving him my hand. He grabs it and pulls himself to his feet. I watch as he scampers down the earthen ramp to the Lieutenant's side. I smile a little bit for I love that kid even if he is a nuisance.
Just then a sound catches my ear. It is faint but it is there. The sound quietly drones closer. It sounds like mosquitoes flying above us. Lieutenant Sprieg hears it too and shouts "Battle stations!" We all rush to our assigned positions. Lieutenant Sprieg dons binoculars and scans the dark night sky. "Obrenski." The Lieutenant says in his calm demeanor, "Turn the gun to the north west." The sound of rapid soft click reverberates as the barrel swivels. "There they are." The Lieutenant points to the night sky, "Just three of them. Stand down. Its a reconnaissance patrol, they will pass us shortly." I strain my eyes trying to peer into the dark but I make out the silhouettes of three bombers back lit by the moon. The droning grows softer as they fly past us. The bombers fly straight over the silent blacked out city, and once they are over the southeast something happened. Suddenly there is a bright red light that illuminates the sky radiantly. Soon that light splits into more lights and then more and then suddenly an almost christmas tree like flare light illuminates the entire city. It is quite stunning seeing the town lit up red. I look at the Lieutenant, his eyes wide with terror, the red flare lights meaning is clear to him. Just then the air raid sirens go off and the whine can be heard from where we are miles from the city. The sirens are deafening even at this distance. I got a really bad feeling about this. Then I see the wispy fingers of the searchlights, from the other guns, begin to probe the sky. Just then a terrible droning can be heard and it is far louder than the sirens. The Lieutenant studying through his binoculars shouts over the noise," Obrenski! Raise the gun to seventy eight degrees, turn left three! The gun clicks as Obrenski frantically handles the hand wheels.
"Franz! Kurtz!" shouts Lieutenant Sprieg, "Load and don't stop firing!" The gun clicks into place while Kurtz grabs a, now red from the light, yellow cones shell and rushes it over to me. I slam it into the breech, the hatch slams closed and I pull the firing lever. Boom! The light flash blinds me and the earth shakes from the recoil as it spits out a shell casing. The thunder of the gun deafens me, but I still hear the sirens wail and the droning of the planes. I watch our yellow light of a tracer fly upwards into the dark heavens and end in a pop of orange and yellow.
The other guns follow suit and the sound of rolling thunder tunes into the noise of the sirens and the droning. I look up and see to my terror the hundreds of silhouettes of slow moving bombers fill the dark moon lit sky. The spotlights streak across the night sky amongst rows of bombers highlighting one out of dozens. Soon other pops can be added to the symphony of battle as our batterie's flak shells burst into the bomber formation with flashes of orange and yellow light.
"Franz! What are you doing?!" shouts the Lieutenant. I didn't realize I had froze. I take a shell from Kurtz, who had been waiting anxiously, and slam it into the breech. The hatch slams closed and I tug the firing lever. Boom! The gun roars and violently shakes the ground and spews another shell. Kurtz now running back and forth hands me another shell which I once more slam into the breech and watch the hatch automatically slam shut. I pull the lever and the gun blast forth another deafening shell. The gun recoils and ejects another shell violently.
"Faster! Faster! Faster!" shouts a frantic Lieutenant Sprieg. Obrenski shouts desperately "There is no end to them!" Just then a fireball erupts in the night sky and comes crashing down. Kurtz, now sprinting, trips and drops a shell, It slides and lands at my feet. I freeze for that could have been all of our undoing. I stare at it in fear. "Keep shooting!" shouts the Lieutenant. I quickly pick it up and load it into the cannon. The hatch slams closed and I pull the lever. The gun roars and recoils in a manner I swear must be cracking open the earth. The gun spits out another brass shell casing and I quickly turn to see, to my surprise, Lieutenant Sprieg handing me a shell. I quickly take it and slam it into the breech. The hatch closes and I fire the weapon. Its blast deafens and blinds me. It shakes the ground in the most violent manner. The spent shell is ejected making a pile of brass in behind the cannon. Four more fireballs erupt and tumble to earth. There are so many! We can't stop them! Now I turn to see Kurtz handing me a shell. I once more slam it into the breech and the hatch closes. I fire the gun and watch the yellow tracer fly high into the formation before it bursts into orange. Another casing is ejected and soon Kurtz and Lieutenant Spreig are now handing me shells faster than I can load into the weapon. Pieces of hot shrapnel fall from the sky from the exploding flak shells. We keep firing in a vain attempt to ward off our numerically superior enemies. Where do they keep coming from? There must be hundreds!
We keep firing faster than we ever had before. They are right over town! Then we hear it amidst the sounds of guns firing, bombers droning, sirens wailing, and the popping of flak. The sound of hundreds of arrows being shot at once. We all feel the earth shake as deafening booms thud in waves. I feel like my chest is going to explode from the concussions.
We all stop and turn back and to our horror we see the city burning. We watch helplessly as bombers destroy our beloved city with incendiary and high explosive bombs. A city that we were supposed to defend. People that we swore to protect. A promise I made to Irina was broken. Hundred foot fires rage into the night sky. Plumes of smoke billow up into the sky lighted by the fires. Fires can be seen spreading across the town. It looks like an inferno!
I feel gut wrenching shame for I failed these people. But that shame turns into anger. We cant stop them but we can at least make their night hell! Now Obrenski is handing me shells. We need not aim the gun for we our bound to hit it at least a few bombers. I furiously load the gun faster than I ever have. By the time the gun fires and ejects a spent shell, I have another shell slammed into the breech. The gun had a maximum fire rate of twenty shots a minute, we made it thirty.
We can feel the blasts rock us from behind, The deep drumming of bombs exploding rattles my ears. I look up and see the wing blow off a silhouetted bomber and it spirals in flames to the ground to explode just beyond us in a field. A few more bombers catch fire and begin their slow descent to the earth. The sky's alight with the burning flaming glow of the city and the orange and yellow bursts in the air. Another wave of bombers reach their target and drop their deadly payload. The blast roars, echoing in the night and shakes the ground in such a violent manner that it makes us wobbly. Those poor people! We got to do everything we can. I aggressively load the gun and fire it in contempt at our high above enemy. My arms tire and my body aches from loading but I must push through.
Just then Kurtz freezes. The Lieutenant shouts at him," Kurtz you have to keep going!" "My Grandmother!" Kurtz shouts," I need to find my Grandmother!" Kurtz sprints to the kubelwagen. "Kurtz!" Me, Obrenski, and Lieutenant Sprieg shout almost in unison. He jumps into the vehicle, starts the ignition and speeds off. "Franz!" shouts the Lieutenant, "After him, he's going to get himself killed!" I stop and sprint after him.
I run out of the trench and make it two hundred yards before I stare up in awe at the burning city. I watch the silhouetted bombers drop their, glimmering from the fire light, bombs of destruction. The concussive force almost knocks me down. I see the spotlights illuminating individual planes. I see the smoke rise high into the sky blocking out the moon. The fires are spreading causing mayhem. The city glows and flickers like a bright bonfire. I watch the multiple orange bursts of flak explode in the sky, briefly lighting a few bombers with the flashes. The sirens wail like shrieking thralls and the booming thuds of bombs dropped in multitude make a concussive ripple. The city looks as if the gates of hell have opened upon it. I must go there and find Kurtz and I pray Irina is alright.