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I kept firing the remaining four rounds from my rifle, watching as three more figures fell from their horses while they continued charging toward us.
"What are you all standing there for like idiots? Shoot. If we don't stop the cavalry we're not escaping" I said while reloading my rifle, pulling ammunition from my pouches and pushing the clip into the rifle.
"Yes… that… shoot when they get closer and move toward the trees. At least there we won't be cut down by their sabers in the open field" the Unteroffizier said.
With my rifle reloaded and the Russian riders now much closer I fired again, working the bolt as fast as I could. I wasn't used to rapid shooting since normally I relied on a rifle designed for sustained fire.
But in less than ten seconds five more Russian riders were biting the dirt while I ran toward the trees because they were almost on top of us.
I reached the tree line just as I heard the thunder of hooves nearby. The others opened fire with their rifles, and I watched horses and riders alike collapse while they tried to charge us with their sabers drawn.
While the crack of rifles and the clacking of bolts echoed through the trees I reloaded my rifle again as more and more riders entered the forest. The moment they rode into the trees their formation fell apart since the terrain no longer allowed them to maneuver like they could in the open.
I started firing again, cycling the bolt quickly and emptying my magazine as fast as possible, ending five more Russian lives as their riders tumbled from their saddles.
As we kept retreating with the group I saw one of the Russians swing his saber and decapitate one of our men. His moment of triumph lasted only a second before the Unteroffizier shot him three times with his pistol and kept firing at the Russians until his Luger ran empty and he began reloading.
Hans was firing his pistol as well, though it was obvious he was terrified.
After reloading I turned to fire again when I saw a Russian rider charging straight toward me with his saber raised.
I crouched as low as possible without dropping to the ground and heard the blade slice through the air above my head. Without wasting a second I fired into the Russian soldier's back.
Shouts mixed with the snorting of horses while chaos spread through the forest.
When I looked toward the remaining Russians I saw one of our men lose an arm to a saber strike. He fell screaming in agony, though the screaming didn't last long because the horse of the Russian who had cut off his arm trampled over his chest, crushing his ribs and silencing him.
With the echo of rifles and pistols finally fading there were no more Russian riders left and no sound of more approaching.
"We lost two" I said while looking at the bodies of the two Germans who had died in exchange for dozens of Russians.
"We need to move. High command must be informed. Russia wasn't supposed to attack for weeks, something must have happened" the Unteroffizier said.
"It would be strange if they didn't already know something like this but if they don't someone needs to return to Allenstein immediately. Their marching columns are massive" I said while beginning to search the clothes of what looked like the Russian officer.
"Right… does anyone here know how to ride a horse?" Hans asked while pointing at the Russian horses wandering around the bodies of their dead riders.
No one raised a hand except the Unteroffizier who looked around uncertainly.
"I know how to ride… you two are Junkers… you should know" the Unteroffizier said while looking at both of us.
I shook my head and Hans, seeing me do it, shook his as well though he grimaced.
"Damn it… listen, I'll deliver the message but you must do everything possible to return as quickly as you can. Stay inside the forest and try to reach Allenstein. If you can't get there before the Russians do then make contact with any German unit you find" the Unteroffizier said while mounting a horse.
"I'll take command" I said immediately while pulling a notebook and a map from the Russian officer's body. "Take this, it might be important."
"Thank you… get back as soon as you can" the Unteroffizier said before riding off at full speed toward the road the Russians had been using, heading back toward headquarters.
"So… what now?" one of the soldiers asked while looking at me.
"These don't seem to have anything we can use except this" I said while holding up the officer's revolver and saber. I removed all the ammunition from the officer's pouch. "So let's move. Deeper into the forest. That's the safest option. With the number of Russians they sent they'll probably assume they wiped us out."
After quickly checking the bodies for anything useful I found nothing else worth taking.
Without another word we began moving through the forest, occasionally hearing the distant kicks of horses while we slipped between the trees.
I was more alert than ever. My senses felt sharper than they had ever been before. I could hear the smallest sound with absolute clarity and I could see far into the distance.
While cutting through brush with the Russian saber I heard something.
I raised my hand and the entire group froze while I listened carefully.
"What is it Karl?" Hans said while scanning the surroundings.
"Don't you hear it? Someone's moving nearby" I said crouching and raising my rifle.
"What are you talking about? I don't hear anyth…" Hans said before I covered his mouth with my hand and pointed toward a group of Russians who had entered the forest.
"Looks like by following the main road they moved faster than we did. We're falling behind. That means the Russian vanguard is already ahead of us or we're barely keeping up with their pace" I said quietly while watching the small figures moving in the distance.
"Then we should go even deeper into the forest and see what we can do" one of the soldiers said while crouching beside me as he observed the Russians.
"If we do that we'll take too long to get back to our camp and who knows what might happen while we're gone" I replied while looking at the soldier who fell silent, thinking about what I had said.
"Alright, we let them pass and…" Hans began.
"We don't have a good position to ambush them. There are eleven of us, they look like ten. We can kill them quickly and check their packs. Looks like we'll be spending a few days in these forests" I said while moving into the tall bushes in front of us.
I crouched low, using my arm as support while aiming at the Russians who were slowly moving closer.
"Into the bushes quickly. With those tunics we can be seen from far away" I told the others who hesitated to follow orders.
Eventually they all moved into the nearby bushes and began aiming their rifles.
"I'll shoot the one at the front of the group. He's clearly their officer. He has a saber at his belt" I whispered.
The others quickly began saying which Russian they would target and we coordinated the shots while continuing to observe the patrol approaching. I could already hear them speaking but their words meant nothing to me. The only Russian words I recognized were a few insults I had heard shouted by wounded soldiers before.
So we waited patiently until they were close enough to clearly distinguish each man.
When they were about one hundred, maybe one hundred and fifty meters away and still hadn't detected us I gave the order.
"Now" I said as I pulled the trigger.
Eleven rifles fired at the same time.
As I worked the bolt I saw eight Russians drop to the ground instantly. The other two stood there like idiots, looking around without understanding what had happened.
Without hesitation I fired again and one of them collapsed while still confused.
The last one began running down the road and three shots from our men missed him while he tried to escape.
I stood up and aimed more comfortably, pushing branches away from my face. I watched him run.
I fired once more.
The bullet struck him squarely in the back.
"Move quickly. We don't have much time. Those shots must have been heard far away and they'll send reinforcements soon" I said while moving down the hill toward the Russians who were rolling in their blood and mud.
The ones who hadn't died instantly were writhing on the ground, clutching their arms, legs or chests while they bled out.
"Excuse me, I need this" I said while removing the revolver from the officer I had shot in the neck. "I wish I could read Russian. It would be interesting to know what this says" I added while looking at the notebook inside the officer's ammunition pouch.
"What do we do?" Hans asked while pulling a canteen from one of the Russian backpacks.
"Take anything we can eat. Grab their ammunition and take a rifle. Their ammunition is different so it's better if we carry one of their rifles just in case" I said while stuffing Russian rounds into my pouch and slinging one of the rifles over my back.
"Why would we want Russian rifles?" one of the soldiers asked while rummaging through a backpack.
"If we run out of ammunition it's better to have something we can use. I don't know how good their rifles are but it's better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it" I said while checking another soldier's pockets and adding more ammunition to my pack.
"Black bread… hard biscuits…" I muttered while looking at the food the Russians carried. "Oh dried meat… this is good" I said while taking the rations and adding them to my own supplies.
"Oh… well look what I found" I added while holding up a pocket watch I had taken from one of the officer's pockets.
"A watch" Hans said when I opened it.
"Ah… pictures of his family" I said when I saw the small photographs inside the watch. "This belongs to you" I added while tossing the photos back onto the officer's lifeless body. "Let's go" I said while putting the watch into my pouch.
Without saying anything else we continued moving, trying to guide ourselves by occasionally looking toward the main road we had followed earlier.
We only stopped once to rest after nearly two hours of moving through rough hills and dense forest, eating quickly since we couldn't risk lighting a fire because of the smoke.
We continued walking until we finally reached one of the outer villages near the road.
But it looked like we had arrived too late.
"Black smoke" one of the soldiers said while looking at me.
"I see it too… looks like the Russians arrived before we did" I said while noticing the large number of Russian troops inside the village.
"It's better to avoid this place. We'll go around it. It will take longer but there's nothing we can do now" I said while starting to move again with the others following behind me.
We kept walking for hours, trying to avoid the Russian patrols moving through the region until we reached the swamps that formed around the nearby lakes during the summer.
While we were planning to rest and find a place to sleep for the night we spotted a group of Russian cavalry doing the exact same thing.
Without saying a word we approached their small camp which consisted of a few tents and a fire.
"Circle around them" I said making a hand signal.
The Russians had no idea we were nearby. They were warming food over the fire and laughing loudly.
I drew the revolver I had taken from the Russian officer and moved closer.
At less than fifty meters we opened fire.
The Russians immediately panicked and ran toward their horses while the animals screamed and snorted at the sudden noise.
As quickly as it began the fight ended.
We killed the entire group of ten Russians.
We quickly searched their belongings and found several items they had looted from German villages. Some objects even had German inscriptions and there were bundles of cloth that they had likely planned to use as blankets.
We took everything useful along with the food and moved deeper into the swamp.
As we entered the marsh I began noticing movement nearby.
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If there are spelling mistakes, please let me know.
Leave a comment; support is always appreciated.
I remind you to leave your ideas or what you would like to see.
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