The Vengeance of the Tau by Jon Land

Author:Jon Land
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media
Published: 2010-06-14T16:00:00+00:00

The Battle

Melissa leaned closer to the journal and began to read. The early pages in this section were in decent condition, and she found her eyes glued to them. What she couldn’t decipher, her mind filled in for her, and it read like a novel. Brandt’s prose was clumsy and his use of German slang continued to make some of it incomprehensible. But he was able to relate his own fears and anxieties brilliantly. His description of their camp, of the fervor and agitation in the final hours leading up to the battle, were mesmerizing. She came to the bottom of a page and stopped, men reread a line that was actually whole to make sure she had gotten it right:

We are marching to our deaths. Only a hundred and fifty in number, we must confront a force of two thousand. The logistics of the valley will help, but for how long? We are but an infantry unit. We have no artillery. Air support is questionable. We are lost. The war is lost. …

Melissa’s hands were trembling when she shifted to turn the page. The condition of the next several pages frustrated her anew. It was like coming to the end of a mystery and finding the pages missing. She grasped what she could, which wasn’t a whole lot.

The company had reached Altaloon and taken up positions looking down into the valley. Several deserters were shot. Men were crying, praying. Some of these were shot as well. The writer made his own final peace.

The Allied troops entered the valley. The writer could barely watch. Not only were they formidable in number, but they were accompanied by a number of tanks and armored personnel carriers. The Germans were going to be cut to shreds.

Two thousand against even less than a hundred and fifty now. …

Brandt repeated that phrase again and again. What was the purpose of this? Brandt wanted to know. Why was his company being sacrificed? Resigned to his own death, Brandt steadied his gun in trembling hands and waited for the order to fire.

As Melissa had feared, here in these final pages the writing became even more undecipherable. She could grasp his words only in fitful stops and starts.

The order to fire was delayed.

The enemy regiment entered the valley in a continuous stream, walking like men who knew their war was won. Suddenly an order was passed along the German lines. The words faded again here, but apparently Brandt’s company was being ordered to put something on.

Melissa turned the page.

Out of nowhere … the sound … an airplane. I thought … theirs and … my pain would … quickly. The plane … low. I looked … Ours? Ours? …

The next four pages contained nothing but fragments of words and phrases. All her attempts to fill in context failed. Melissa felt the frustration gnaw at her. To have read this far only to—

Wait, the last pages of Gunthar Brandt’s diary grew nearly legible again. Melissa made out the word massacre and read on.

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