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A war story - Part V
by Modus Virtuoso

With that fleeting glimpse of reality, I again slipped into unconsciousness.

Seconds. Minutes. Hours. Days. Months.

This lapse seemed more infinite than any of the previous -

---

Eventually, my feverish mind came-to. Almost like lifting from some dreamy sleep, I raised my eyes slowly deciphering exactly what was before me.

I was still sitting beneath the same tree that I had been before, only now it seemed less full - Yes, branches were missing. They still had a majestic beauty to them, swaying back and forth like lumbering giants.

Beneath the desolate trees I sat, dry, on the southern bank of the ravine. In my "absense" it must have stopped raining, for the ravine was for the majority very dry. To my left and right sat various wounded personel; the dead and dying of the previous encounteres. There seemed to be more, now. Some coherent, others...

The medics had done well, from what I could tell - the majority of the seriously wounded lay together, organized by wound-type. Something I was quite astounded by, actually. I never considered, in all my times as an officer, that medics would even think of doing such things... then again, this was the German Military - we prided ourselves on organization and order. We also prided ourselves on military conduct and prowess...

This last thought snapped my emotions...

Would I ever succeed? Was I missing the inherent knowledge...

The medic, Wagner, first noticed my awakening at the sound of the sob... I guess you could say it was different than that of the wail of pain, or the hoarse request of "water..." - Mine was the sound of despair.

Wagner, approaching from further down the line of wounded, signaled to one of the soldats nearby... He, in turn, conversed with another trooper, who ran off along the ravine.

---

What happened shortly thereafter was demoralizing...

For me, and the troops under my command.

I wept.

The troops stationed nearby helped Wagner carry me away, outside of the hearing distance of my soldiers.

It was there that Leutnant der Vett approached me.

The conversation was short-

"Sir...be still sir. You've been out for 18 hours, sir. The situation has not changed since the Stuka Attack." der Vett exclaimed.

I replied in dazed wonder: "Stukas? You mean the Angels... how are they? Their wings..."

"Sir, French Anti-Aircraft fire to our South-East eliminated two of the Stukas. They appear to have crashed to our South, no survivors seen. Seigle of the recon detachment believes they were of StG 77... As to the enemy's presence here: they still hold the village and have managed to move up additional troops. I took the liberty of requesting reinforcements. Our present troop allotment is not sufficient, sir."

With this influx of information, I began to come to my senses... and with that sense of reality came more pain.

"How are the troops as it stands now, der Vett?"

"Sir, not all that well. HQ reports that they are sending a veteran with considerable resources to our aid. They have not given us more information than that. In the mean time, our boys have been taking it pretty bad..."

der Vett begins to unfold a map from his hip-case, and explains further:

"the French appear to have deployed some siege-caliber artillery here, west of Lille proper. Apparently they came in by Train. They've been hitting us periodically... Usually dawn, and dusk - last two days. The day of the Stuka attack saw the first artillery barrage, early morning. They must have arrived the evening before, the night after our first assault."

At the mention of the siege-artillery, I finally take stock of the land around us... It appears that they've been hitting the soft ground leading up to the village - Keeping the ground moist; too moist for our Panzers. In doing so, they've pounded the Soldat's hastely dug positions...

"What of the composition of the force itself? Which vehicles have we lost? Since the Stukas, that is."

"Opel, hit by the artillery. Everything else has fared well. Minor damage to a Pzkpfw III, that's about it." His reply was up-beat, but removed. Too many had been lost before the Stuka Attack. The Panzer Assault would wait.

I began to wonder what kind of reinforcements were on the way. Who commanded them?

He out-ranked me, for certain. The HQ would see to that.

Turning to der Vett, my next comment was low:

"One Char lies destroyed, yes?"

"Ja wohl."

"Good." Straightening up, my back felt ablaze again - but the fire in my chest burned brighter. Now was the time to get things in order - My career was at stake.