"Tell me about this fighting, what's it like?" asked Charlotte, randomly.
"Well....."
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Ukraine, 1941
A division of Panzers and Tigers rolled by, their wheels squeaking while they moved on the muddy track of the tank. The rubble on the ground of the town shocked me as they passed by. All of the commanders popped out of the turret's top hatch. They yelled directions and had a map held in a hand. From the other side, the Russians, machine gun pits and loads of soldiers, there were only a couple of tanks on their side. We had about 15.
I was held down in the foxhole I had dug when I first got here. My hands shook wildly as I prepared for my first battle at war, at the border of Ukraine fighting Russians. I looked down at my uniform and it barely had any dirt on it, soon it would, blood and all.
Thunder rumbled in the sky and lightning became bright. Heavy rain fell and I was getting soaked. The Russians have not started shooting yet, they soon did when our Panzers and Tigers came close to their trenches. Their machine guns fired and bullets flew through the cool early fall air. I was still leaning up against my foxhole while everyone else was busy shooting. My officer, Fritz Peters, told me to get my act to together and fight. I was young, only at the age of 18. I was one of those "new recruits" they had just sent in from military training in Berlin, Germany.
"Come on Albert!" Fritz said as he threw his muddy hand across my face.
He pulled me up and he gripped his hand on the collar of my fresh Wehrmacht uniform. He also smacked the back of my helmet which made my head wobble. I carefully got into a crouching position and grabbed my Kar98 rifle. I aimed it through the small opening of the sandbags that were around my foxhole. I aimed at one but it was too late, one of the Panzers had already shelled that area and got all of the Russians in it. Soon, the buzzing of three Mg-42s came to my ear. I jumped and I saw the faint flame it made at the end of the barrel. I knew one of them was Kurt, a soldier I had met a week ago at military training back in Berlin. He was a good man, just a year older than me. He was way tougher than me and knew the true meaning of war, I was sometimes not sure.
Russian bullets hit the sandbags and I was lucky enough for one not to hit me in the head or shoulder. I pressed my teeth as hard as I could together when the bullets kept hitting the sandbags. Bang! I fired my first shot of this war. The soldier I hit was running out in the middle of the field, trying to find cover but did not make it. I smiled and I nodded my head.
I took a deep breath and closed my eyes for a bit, then opened them to find my next target. There, was two soldiers that were lined up and were standing still, waiting for their comrades to load the anti-tank gun. I quickly aimed my rifle and and shot at the two men, close to their upper chest. One fell over and the other stood there, holding his hand over the fresh bullet wound.
"Yes!" I yelled in joy as I watched the second soldier fall to the ground.
"Don't get too excited there, Albert. There will be plenty more to come." yelled one of my other friends, Otto Zimmerman who was abandoned by his SS unit.
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"Albert, Albert!" yelled Charlotte as she tried to get his attention back.
Albert shook his head and looked back at Charlotte. He felt himself blush in embarrassment. He turned and continued to look where he was, thinking he was still in his flashback from three years ago. He noticed that he was sweating which made him think back to those rainy war-filled days.
"Are you ok? I've been trying to get your attention for a few minutes!"
"Oh...uh....... I'm sorry. Just the part when you said "Tell me about this fighting, made me wonder about something along time ago, when I first entered this war."
Charlotte nodded and told him that she wanted to know more. Albert told her everything he remembered from that flashback and the real past. The Russians, the rain, the kill of the three soldiers which were his first, and what the environment was like on the battlefield in Ukraine. Charlotte responded with a "Wow.".
"So, you joined the war effort at a young age of nineteen, Albert? That was when one of my other brothers had joined the Soviet Army, as a German man."
"Oh really?" responded Albert.
"Remember Albert, I'm originally from Germany until we moved here. We had no idea that the Germans would invade Russia so that's why we moved out here to get away from them. It was for nothing, I now suppose.
"Don't worry Charlotte. We will defeat Stalin's army for the Fatherland."
"What Albert?" said Ernst while be buried his face into a pillow that was one the sofa.
"We will win the war, Ernst."
"I'm not sure about that because the Soviet Union has invaded parts of eastern Ukraine and Poland." responded Ernst.
"What? How did you hear about that?"
"Peter heard it from a radio station from Berlin. He told me that after he came down from being stuck up in the tree while you were away trying to find Charlotte. Most of the armies are staying in Stary Oskol so they could defeat us there and invade Germany. He told me that Ivan has about 50 divisions here and we only have 20." Ernst mumbled.
Albert sat in silence as Ernst continued talking about the future struggles for Germany and the war ahead. Albert took his hemet off and pushed his hair back while tapping his foot.
"Then, tell the Führer to send about 30 more divisions to west Russia to help invade Stary Oskol and St. Petersburg. Aren't those targets of the the Wehrmacht?"
"Yes, Albert."