Out burst from the woods is a boxy shape; Its the Stug 3! We were not the only survivors! The tank destroyer turns toward us and stops. I am about to open the hatch when suddenly their cannon booms forth a projectile. I hear its whistles as it streaks yellow overhead of us. They're shooting at us! Why are they shooting at us? We are on the same side. Suddenly the radio buzzes to life, and in decent english, a german voice comes through "I am not finished with you, you dirty American pig. My Furher will see to it that you and your race burn." How did they get this frequency? More importantly though after everything we have been through, they still have this much hatred that they are still willing to kill us. Well I won't let that happen, If its a fight they want it is a fight they'll get. I grab the mic and snap back, " Go to hell Fritz."
Turney looks up to me and asks wearily," So they really want to do this?" I reply, " They sure do." I bark orders, " Turney load AP! Lucky turn to 9 O'clock and fire! Daunte keep us moving!" The sound of the brass armor piercing shell being loaded in to the breech rings throughout. I feel us moving as the turret whirs. My arm is still limp and invalid but the bleeding stopped and I am too excided to feel the pain. I look out of the periscope at our target. There at one hundred yards is the boxy slim shape of the Stug 3, its 75mm Stuk L/40 gun protrudes from the front of its hull menacingly. Luckly for us their gun is mounted to the hull and doesn't have a turret, so the gun can only traverse twenty five degrees before they would have to move the whole tank in order to aim. That there is an advantage. Not so lucky for us is that they have 88mm of frontal plate armor that is gonna be difficult to scratch with our 75mm gun.Their gun has twice the power of ours, and to make matters worse we are in a horrible position with our thin side facing them. Their heavily brush decorated tank is illuminated by the inferno of the village fires giving me the ability to even observe some of the gray paint on the vehicle.
I sweat nervously waiting for the turret to finish rotating, which feels agonizingly slow, and for Lucky to fire. Our thinly exposed left flank is open to them and one good shot from them could end us all. Suddenly the turret stops rotating and Lucky shouts, "Away!" The cannon roars and the tank rocks horribly but we keep treading forth. I watch, through the periscope, as the yellow tracer flies in to their front plate at high speed before hitting the edge of a slope and ricocheting into the snowy night sky. Damn ricochets! I hear the breech spit out a used shell casing and then hear another being loaded.
As if waiting their turn, they fire forth their shot and it glides across our front plate where they were trying to lead us. We hear the shell scrape against the front of our hull, on Daunte's side. The sound of periscope glass breaking is followed by pained screams from Daunte, "Aghh My eyes! My eyes! They got my eyes Sah, I can't see!" "Boss he's bleeding pretty bad!" Sammy shouts up. Damn! I just lost my driver and without him we are a sitting duck. A still tank is a dead one. Wait, he doesn't need to see in order to steer, I can guide him. I shout down, " Daunte! We need you in this fight. Can you still drive?" His response is a pained," Yes sah, I think I can." "Ok Sammy be his eyes unless I tell you otherwise!" I shout down. The response is, "You got it Boss!"
I am suddenly interrupted by Lucky shouting "Away!" as he presses the firing petal. The vehicle rocks with a boom and I view through the periscope our yellow lighted shell bounce off the front hull of our enemy harmlessly and streak upward into then snowy night sky. Dammit this isn't working. We got to get on his side where the armor is thinner but how? I got it, we need to blind him and get on his flank. I shout, "Turney! Load Willie Pete!" "What!" is the confused reply. "Just do it!" I shout back. Come on dammit, seconds matter and our adversary is bound to fire again. I hear the metallic ring of our white phosphorus smoke shell being loaded into the cannon. "Willie Pete loaded!" Turney shouts up at me. "Daunte, Sammy! Give em a wide berth, left side!" I shout down. I hear Sammy trying to give instructions to the blind Daunte.
Before the tank could move, I hear the boom of the German's cannon. Before I could say anything, I hear metal tearing and sparks flying as the yellow shell pass between Dauntes seat and Lucky's before exiting the other side of the vehicle. Chunks of flying metal ping around the inside of the tank. Daunte shrieks in pain as shrapnel enters his back. Sammy catches some of the hot metal to and cries out. Lucky groans and shouts," Its my leg they got my damn leg!" I look and see his leg peppered in with flesh holes and is bleeding. Me and Turney seem to be the only ones unscathed. "Everyone alright?!" I holler. Turney replies" I'm good Boss!" Lucky shouts grunting, " They got my leg Boss but I'll make it!" Sammy shouts," Daunte is hit pretty bad!" Daunte replies pained and wheezy," I'm alright...Boss, ugh I....can do this." Daunte doesn't sound good, I have a man down. "Sammy!" I order, "Take Daunte's place, Lucky blind the bastards." The reply is the boom and shudder of the gun. The tank rocks violently and I can hear Sammy grunting trying to move Daunte from his seat. Daunte wheezes heavily as Sammy drags him, almost one handed due to his injured arm, into his former seat in the claustrophobic tight area of the front space. Sammy finds his place in the driver's seat while Daunte slumps in the bow gunners position. The vehicle roars forward, and the engine whines as Sammy uses his mauled arm to the best of his ability to put the vehicle into gear. Cold air gushes through the two holes that now decorate both sides of the tank where the enemies armor piercing shell passed straight through.
I peer through the periscope and find I can no longer see our enemy for they have been enveloped by thick gray smoke. Now is our chance to flank them! "Sammy!" I order, "Go left and give them a wide berth!" The reply is a sudden jolt from where the tank has been shifted into a higher gear. The engine whines and roars pushing us faster and faster. 'Turney load AP!" I order and the response is the sound of metal scrapping as another armor piercing shell is loaded into the breech. We begin to circle the gray cloud of smoke as I observe it through the periscope. I pray our adversary hasn't caught on for when that smoke clears, whoever fires first could be the victor. Hopefully though he hasn't caught our bluff and isn't waiting to fire upon us when the smoke disapates. God, the suspense is killing me. Every second that ticks feels like eternity. I shout down, "Lucky! As soon as you see him, fire!" The smoke begins to dissipate and I prepare for the thunderous boom of a cannon. But to my surprise I find as the smoke clears that our enemies tank is stuck, its left tread desperately trying to gain traction in the snow and mud. This is our chance! Their side is wide open to us! "Lucky shoot! Shoot now." I shout. The tank rocks and booms as we send forth a deadly projectile. It passes through the side of the metal beast and gives a deafening screech of metal. To my 6 tank begins to catch fire and smoke rises from the ventilated sections of the vehicle. The breech spits out a spent casing and Turney has already loaded another shell. "Again!" I shout. The tank rocks and booms as another shell is sent forth. This one impacts into the left side of the tank just under where the gun breech should be. Sparks fly as i see the commanders hatch fly open and a man desperately try to climb out. "Again!" I shout as Turney has already loaded another shell into the gun breech. The tank rocks once again and their tank shudders as the projectile slams into their hull. Suddenly the Stug 3 bursts into a fire ball and shoots flames high into the snowy night sky that is illuminated by the burning village. We must have hit their ammo racks and detonated them. The struggling figure was engulfed in flame. It is assured that there are no survivors.
I fall back into my seat and breathed a sigh of relief. We did it, we survived. Lucky shouts triumphantly, " Take that you lousy kraut bastards!" We all cheer except for Daunte. Oh no, Daunte! "Boss! He's out cold!" shouts up Sammy who tried to stir him. Shit! I can't lose this man, I promised to bring him home. I hear his wheezes and his gasps for air, he is not going to make it. We need to get him to an aid station but where? I pop open my hatch and stand observing the scene. Behind me is a village burning. In front of me sits an enemy Stug 3 on fire, its pops and crackles fillling the night cold air with its sound. Behind it sits the forest from which we fled but don't remember seeing a village on the map. I have to get Daunte back to our lines.
Suddenly I hear foot steps running from behind me. I turn and look and my heart drops and I am full of fear. It is two of the wolf creatures sprinting in the snow, almost as tall as the tank itself. They speed towards us with the intent of ramming the tank. I brace myself and before I can utter a warning, the beasts slam in to the tank at high speed causing it to tip over onto its side in the snow. I am launched from the vehicle and land painfully on my back in the snow several yards from the tank. I sit up and watch in absolute horror as one of the the beast, with its claws, tear in to the vehicle's hull. My men! My men! God dammit not my men! I watch helplessly as the beast rips Lucky from the tank and holds him high in the air. In a swift motion as Lucky screams and tries to free himself, the beast rips him in half. "NOOOO!" I scream as my friend's blood and entrails spill on to the tanks hull. He is killed in a most violent manner and his face is completely pale and lifeless. The beast discards him throwing his remnants in different directions to land among the snowy ground. I suddenly hear gunshots from inside the tank as my remaining crew try to desperately defend themselves from the violent beast. Wait! Where is the second one? I hear snarling behind me, this is where I will die. I feel a sharp pain in my back and my breath has left me. I look down to see four bloody nails that have gone through my lungs and heart. I find I can no longer breathe and I struggle for breath to no avail. The beast retracts its claws and now I sit slumped and suffocating. Sharp pain envelopes me to where it is all I can feel. Suddenly all strength leaves me and I fall back. The last thing I see is the snowy night sky illuminated by fires. I failed my men and with that final thought I close my eyes and everything is black.