The Savage Country by Eric Meyer

Author:Eric Meyer
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Published: 2022-05-15T23:00:00+00:00

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He returned to the ditch and told them to come out into the open. They stepped out gingerly, and the Russians regarded the German armor warily as if they were to machine gun them on the spot. Their own side would’ve done just that. He summed up the situation.

“When the battle starts, our tanks are gonna have a problem with enemy tank riders moving in close and hitting them with anti-tank rifles, PTRD 41s and semi-automatic PTRS 41s.”

Mikhail shuddered. “Tank riders, they tried to get me to join an armored unit, and I told them to go fuck their mothers. Taking on armored vehicles armed with a rifle is an invitation to commit suicide. They are successful, but the casualty rates are astronomical.”

“That’s the problem our tanks are facing. They lack Panzergrenadiers to fight them off. I’m suggesting we could help.”

Eight mouths dropped open. Eight pairs of eyes widened in astonishment.

“You can’t be serious!” Corporal Stroop grunted, “Didn’t you hear what the Ivan said? We may as well put our guns to our heads and shoot ourselves.”

“I don’t think so. They have several spare machine guns. I say we should help.” He looked at Mikhail. “What about your men? What do you think?”

He spoke to them rapidly in Russian, shrugged, and nodded.

“The way I see it, we’ve left it too late to escape. One way or the other, we’re gonna be caught up in this battle, so we may as well try to help your people win it. If our people win, we’re gonna die anyway.” He looked at the armor rolling steadily toward them and shook his head.

“I count around thirty tanks. That’s a lot of guns. Most of them aren’t carrying tank riders, maybe four or five upfront. Say six men on each hull, we’re gonna be outnumbered.” A pause, “Unless Yuri can whittle them down before they get closer.”

“How do you feel about killing your own side?”

“If they catch up with us, they’ll kill us. So, I guess we don’t have a choice.”

He nodded and looked at Stroop and his men. “We’re going into battle. Help yourselves to machine guns, and let’s get started. Mikhail, find a good place for Yuri to do some shooting.”

He reported back to Baumann and told him they were staying. “We’re gonna need those machine guns, and fast.”

He nodded and shouted to a crewman inside the Tiger. A hatch opened, and he passed out machine guns, four MG-34s, together with more belts of ammunition than they could carry. They grabbed four belts for each gun, and Speer split them into machine gun teams, three teams of two men each, keeping Yuri for long-distance sniping. He took the fourth machine gun, draping heavy belts of ammunition around his shoulders.

“Mikhail, I want you with me. Load for me and pass on orders to the other Russians as necessary.”

“I understand.”

“Okay, let’s go. We’ll crawl forward to intercept the tank riders when they dismount. I’ve seen these troops in action, and they always go in front of the tanks.

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