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"Oh… I don't know if I can keep going much longer" Friedrich said while resting his head against the trunk of a tree.
"We need to keep moving. I don't know why there are so many Russian patrols lately but we have to move or they'll catch us and who knows what will happen if we fall into Russian hands" I said while continuing to sew pieces of fabric together and tie branches with cord.
"We've been… stuck in this damn swamp for almost two weeks… why don't we… try to get back to German lines?" Hans said, dark circles under his eyes, scanning the surroundings.
"We've tried several times but everywhere we go there are Russians… Russians and more Russians. We wipe out one squad and two more show up… and Allenstein is under Russian occupation… I don't even know how many we've killed anymore but there are always more. They're like ants… how is Ernst?" I asked while looking at the soldier lying on an improvised stretcher, burning with fever.
"The fever isn't going down… I don't think he'll last like this without medical treatment…" Friedrich said while placing a hand on his forehead.
"There's nothing more we can do for him. I have no idea where the German forces are and we've moved through every swamp in the area trying to find a unit but nothing so far… who knows how far the Russians have pushed. There were too many of them… change his cloths… I'm done here" I said finishing my improvised ghillie suit.
"Understood" Friedrich replied.
What was supposed to be a mission lasting a few days had turned into weeks and we were barely surviving.
The only reason we were still alive was because we were stealing food from the Russians whenever we ambushed them.
We had ambushed dozens of Russian squads moving through the area. We had probably killed hundreds of them by now and we had already run out of our own ammunition.
At this point we were literally fighting using Russian bullets and Russian rifles. Our own rifles were useless but we still kept them along with a small pile of captured Russian rifles.
I had collected a total of twenty-two notebooks from Russian officers and several pocket watches. I had also managed to get my hands on a pair of binoculars and some maps showing parts of Russian operational plans.
There wasn't much else we could take. Even when we captured a horse and killed it we couldn't risk making a fire. That would get us found immediately.
More importantly I had made improvised camouflage clothing because with the feldgrau tunic we stood out like a sore thumb everywhere.
So I had stitched together branches and leaves onto pieces of cloth using thread and rope, covering the body to break up our silhouette and make it harder for the human eye to recognize us as people.
Out of the eleven we started with only seven remained.
That was expected considering the number of ambushes we had carried out and the constant increase in Russian patrols.
All of us now wore improvised ghillie suits like a second skin, combined with mud covering our bodies. This place was full of mosquitoes and that was probably why Ernst had gotten so sick.
But we had no way to contact the German army.
So for now we wandered through the swamps without direction, attacking Russian patrols whenever possible and constantly changing our hiding spots.
Recently they had started bringing hunters to track us.
And dogs.
But much of our scent blended with the countless smells of the swamp.
"Alright, I'm heading out. I'll see if I can bring back something that isn't rock hard" I said while grabbing the Mosin-Nagant that was in the best condition and stuffing several rounds into my pouch.
They all nodded while continuing to repair their suits or trying to eat the hard biscuits without hot water, pushing their teeth to the limit.
Once again I left the small patch of solid ground we were using as a camp. It was slightly elevated and almost impossible to notice unless you were already standing on it, making it the best hiding spot we had.
I was covered in mud and wore a gray cloth stitched with branches and leaves, the closest thing to a ghillie suit someone could make with a needle, thread and rope. It was as effective as it could be. The Russians might as well have been blind when I moved.
I moved carefully through the swamp, looking for someone isolated I could rob for supplies but after an hour I hadn't seen anything.
I pulled out my binoculars and quickly scanned the area, careful not to catch sunlight on the lenses.
That's when I saw them.
A group of Russians moving toward the area.
I immediately slipped into a patch of bushes and tried to keep the rifle out of the mud. It wasn't the first time the weapon had jammed because of it.
"Damn… twenty Russians… why do they keep sending more?" I muttered while aiming at the group advancing cautiously.
I quickly spotted the officer scanning the area, resting my binoculars against the rifle. I could see them clearly even from that distance. It wasn't a proper telescopic sight and I doubted it had the same precision, but I was confident taking the shot from over seven hundred meters.
I aimed at the officer who was looking around and pulled the trigger.
By the time I finished cycling the bolt he was already lying in the mud, and the Russians were looking in every direction without knowing exactly where the shot had come from.
I aimed again and saw the Russians trying to pull out of the area. I kept firing, taking more lives, though I missed many shots since the method I was using with the binoculars wasn't perfect.
For some reason the Russians suddenly broke and ran in panic.
I waited a moment, and once I saw no one else through the binoculars, I moved in quickly to loot the bodies.
I took the food from their packs and grabbed the officer's notebook, searching for maps. They had a marsh map with several marked points.
Once I finished looting, I started moving again, knowing they wouldn't take long to send a larger hunting patrol to track me down.
''That makes twenty-three…'' I said, looking at the officer's notebook as I tucked it into my pouch and began counting the rounds I had left after taking a few from the fallen soldiers.
Once I was farther away I heard a massive boom… turning around, I heard artillery beginning to fall, practically destroying the area where I had been.
''Don't tell me… oh no'' I said, realizing why the Russians were using artillery to try to kill me ''I've become a problem they can't ignore''.
Without wasting time I started moving as more and more artillery fell across the area, spreading rapidly.
I didn't know whether to feel honored or terrified. At best, back in Ukraine they had sent a couple of explosive drones after me, but dedicating multiple artillery units just to kill me meant they at least knew I was a problem… even though in reality we were just surviving on black bread and cured meat taken from the Russians.
So I started running as the artillery kept getting closer. After a few minutes it stopped, and then I began to hear dogs barking.
I kept running, spotting movement in the distance, a group of Russians moving into the marshes.
I quickly braced myself against a tree and fired, dropping one of them. His scream told me they were closer than I thought.
The others looked around and quickly rushed to pull their comrade back.
I fired again at the group carrying him, hitting three more, maybe killing them, until they finally fled the area, leaving the wounded behind.
The barking dogs were getting closer, so I kept running.
Panting, with water up to my knees, I kept moving through the swamp, hearing movement all around me.
When I reached one of the many small islands scattered across the marsh, I dropped into a large bush and started reloading.
I spotted a group of Russian hunters with dogs, tracking me closely.
So I opened fire immediately, killing one of them. Unlike regular Russian troops who just take a bullet to the chest and panic, these men took cover behind trees and rocks. I saw them pointing toward where they thought I was and they started firing back, missing, since they only knew the general direction, not my exact position.
I started picking them off one by one, waiting for them to expose themselves from cover, using my binoculars to get a better view since they were still far away.
After killing three of them and as their shots began landing closer and closer, I saw them release a pack of dogs toward me. The animals started swimming and leaping through the water in my direction, so I shot them down as they came.
As fast as I could, I reloaded and kept firing, leaving their bodies floating in the swamp.
When I stood up again, I started moving back, still hearing Russian gunfire hitting the spot where I had been hiding.
Out of the corner of my eye I saw another Russian squad approaching. They were trying to surround me. I kept moving through the water, and when I looked the other way, there was another group closing in.
I realized they were about to trap me.
So I quickly slipped into the first hole I found near a small island ahead of me, covering myself with vegetation.
I lowered my head and slowed my breathing as I began to hear Russian voices.
I could hear the movement of water, the sound of boots shifting through the mud, and their shouts.
''WHERE DID HE GO?'' I heard one of them shout.
''HE MUST HAVE KEPT GOING'' another one yelled.
There were more voices, but I couldn't understand most of it, just a few scattered words.
I could feel the wet movement of dozens of boots until I saw the face of one of the Russians searching nearby, looking everywhere.
I stayed completely still, waiting for the movement to pass. I remained in that hole for twenty minutes until they moved on.
I peeked out and saw nothing but silence, so I quickly got out and started moving again toward our hideout.
Avoiding a Russian patrol struggling through the mud, I moved for nearly half an hour before reaching our position.
''Good, I brought this… we need to move, the Russians are serious, there were almost a hundred men chasing me'' I said, dropping my pack and opening it, handing out food while the others watched with their rifles ready.
''A hundred…?'' Hans said, shaking his head.
''Maybe more. Grab Ernst, we need to move. We'll try to reach the edge of the marsh and see if there's any German unit nearby. They're clearly determined to flush us out'' I said, taking a few extra rounds from our Russian ammunition.
Without wasting time, we started moving.
Four of them carried Ernst using a piece of cloth, while Friedrich and I, the two with the sharpest senses, kept watch, guiding the group while avoiding Russian patrols struggling through mud and knee-deep water, while we struggled to move our feverish man.
We moved for hours until nightfall, only stopping briefly to ambush a Russian squad stuck in the mud, take their food, and sleep.
The next morning, as dawn broke, we kept moving to avoid the search parties until I finally saw something that filled me with relief.
A German uniform.
There was a squad of Germans moving through the area.
And we immediately started moving toward them.
''HA… HA… HALT'' one of the soldiers shouted, clearly startled by our improvised camouflage.
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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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