Der Hauptmann

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Krafft and his men reached the position on the ridge where the engine noises were much more pronounced and were definitely coming from the west. That is, from the rear of their position. Krafft also could discern the clatter and squeal of tracks.

Von Zitzewitz had been trying to penetrate the mist with his field glasses, but to no avail. He looked at his sergeant, "Russians?"

Before Krafft could answer, Schütze Lang spoke up, "Sounds like a Panzer IV, Sir. More than one I'd say, but less than a full platoon."

Before the officer could respond, Krafft spoke, "You're sure, Kurt?"

"Yep, pretty sure. But if you'd like, give me young Rudolf over there and his Panzerfaust. We'll go out fifty meters or so and make sure."

Schütze Rudolf Müller heard his name and came over. He was so young his uniform looked two sizes too big. "What are you volunteering me for, Kurt?"

"Help me identify those vehicles coming our way, kill 'em if we have to."

"Oh? That's all?"

"Enough." Von Zitzewitz spoke with a harsh finality. "Go, do what you can."

The two infantrymen disappeared into the mist. As they did so, the squealing and rattling noises stopped and the engine noises dropped to a low rumble.

"I'm betting they're looking at a map right now." Krafft said.

"Agreed. Alright boys back in your positions. Move!" The men had gathered around, trying to learn their fate. The lieutenant's bark sent them scurrying.

"Where the hell are we, Norbert?" Hauptmann Hans von Tetz was trying to correlate the nearly featureless terrain that he could see in the dense fog with what was presented on his map. He was leaning out of the turret of his Panzerkampfwagen IV, his map spread out on the turret bustle as he and the infantry lieutenant tried to puzzle out their location.

"Fritz!" the lieutenant barked at one of his men, all of whom were riding on top of the vehicle. "You're familiar with this area, nicht wahr?¹"

Schütze Fritz Helm leaned over and glanced at the map. "I couldn't say from your map, but based on how far we've traveled, we should be really close to Vietz. We'll go up a slight ridge, then the town should be on the other side, maybe a kilometer from that forest shown on the map."

Von Tetz raised an eyebrow, Leutnant Norbert Schultz nodded and barked out, "Alright boys, time to earn your pay! Feldwebel Hartmann take the point, take two men with you to watch the ditches alongside the road. Heads on a swivel boys, Ivan isn't too far off."

Müller looked at Lang, "That was German, those are our lads. Right?"

Lang nodded, "Keep your pants on, Rudi. We need to make sure. Get that doorknocker ready, we'll need to be quick if we want to live. When I give you the word, fire the damn thing then run directly away from the road, fast as you can. You might have bullets chasing you."

Müller nodded nervously, he swallowed hard then readied the handheld anti-tank weapon.

German soldier with a Panzerfaust
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As the two tanks started up the road again, three infantrymen out in front, the remainder deployed behind the second tank, Von Tetz sat low in his hatch, his eyes trying to bore through the fog. He could barely see the infantryman leading the little column. But when that man signaled a halt, he bellowed, "Halt!"

He watched as the point man trained his weapon into the ditch, and then relax as two men joined him. They appeared to be German soldiers, one of whom was carrying a Panzerfaust. He shuddered at the thought of getting hit by one of those things.

"Herr Hauptmann! We've got a company of friendlies ahead. On the ridge outside of Vietz."

"Gott sei Dank²," he muttered under his breath, then out loud he shouted, "Alright, take us up Hartmann, everybody stay alert!"

Krafft was surprised at how short the Panzer soldier was. Though he looked very spiffy in his black tanker uniform, he smelled terrible.

"Don't suppose there's water in the village?" the man asked.

Leutnant von Zitzewitz looked at Krafft, "Dieter, did anyone think to check?"

"Nein, Herr Leutnant, but it's a village in the sticks, I'm betting there's a well."

Hauptmann von Tetz nodded, "If you couldn't tell, I could use a bath."

Krafft snorted, "We all could, Sir. Don't fret the smell, in the infantry you get used to it."

The tanker grinned, he liked this sergeant. Then he assumed an official tone.

"We've been ordered here to delay Ivan as long as we can. The big shots don't think their main thrust will be down this road, but if it is, they want me in Vietz to delay them. This ridge is too far from the forest and my Panzers would stand out from the air like a colorful dog.³"

"We should keep a team up on the ridge, we can see further from there." Leutnant Schultz suggested.

"Agreed. Leutnant von Zitzewitz, you are now attached to my command, any objections?"

"Nein, Herr Hauptmann."

"Excellent, let's prepare a reception for Ivan, shall we?"

As they headed down into Vietz, having left Lang and Müller up on the ridge to watch over them, von Zitzewitz hissed at Krafft, "How do we explain the dead Kettenhunde in the village?"

Krafft thought for a moment, "No one loves the Feldgendarmerie, but if anyone asks, we tell them the truth."

Von Zitzewitz's eyes went wide, "The truth?"

"Sure Herr Leutnant, they wanted to play, 'where are your papers,' and we did not. They brought their weapons up and the boys just reacted, we shot first and best. We killed them."

"I think you're insane, Dieter."

"I just might be, Herr Leutnant, the jury is still out on that."

¹ Isn't that so?

² Thank God

³ In German to say "stand out like a sore thumb," one would say, "einfallen wie ein Bunter Hund" - stand out like a colorful dog.