18-23-May/1915
Once we were secure we began moving back toward our trenches where we continued pushing the snipers. We were quickly recognized by our men who moved the barbed wire so we could pass without any extra trouble.
"Looks like you had some luck" said one of the soldiers who received me, saluting.
"Yes, two British snipers and a officer. From what it seems they've killed several of ours" I said calmly as I returned "ah… and avoid saluting at the front, you're telling everyone who the officer is" I added as I stepped into the trench.
"Understood…" he said, looking with hatred at the British prisoners.
"Sanitäter" one of the soldiers shouted when he saw my wounded subordinate and the British officer.
While we let my subordinate rest, a medic appeared and with the help of several soldiers they began moving the wounded and the two prisoners under the gaze of the others who started murmuring that they were snipers.
Several times I heard the word cowards. It was curious, because they said it about them while ignoring that I was one too.
"This thing, even if heavy, seems like it worked…" said Friedrich, removing the plate from his chest.
"Yes… against a pistol no problem, a rifle is different. I'm telling you he survived by pure luck. The sniper who shot him missed by very little, a bit higher and he'd be dead, but now we'll have to see if he survives. The bullet not killing him doesn't mean recovering from broken ribs or an infection will be easy" I said while walking toward the rear camp.
Walking through the trenches we didn't take long to reach the rear camp where my tent had been set up so I could rest, and with a bucket I started cleaning the sweat off with water and a cloth, giving myself a quick wash after a completely exhausting day.
I could still feel the blood rushing through my veins from the sniper duel. That Canadian had been quite good. A shame he was on the other side. I would have liked to have him in my ranks, but nothing to be done. At least he won't be bothering German lines anymore while trench construction continues.
"Major Karl" someone said outside my tent while I was wiping off the dust.
"Yes?" I said, looking at him.
"Generalfeldmarschall Albrecht requests your presence as soon as possible. He wants to hear your report firsthand while it's still fresh" said the officer.
"Yes… of course" I said as I put on a clean uniform and began following the officer toward where the headquarters of the German Fourth Army was located.
I walked for a while, finding several officers sending messages by telegraph to other sectors, requesting information or issuing orders, and I was guided to where the army commander stood, calmly observing maps with a serious expression.
He raised his gaze to look at me attentively as soon as I entered, placing his hands together.
"Euer Hoheit" I said, saluting him.
"By my military title, Major" said the duke.
"My Generalfeldmarschall" I replied, repeating the salute, to which he nodded with his eyes closed.
"I regret interrupting what seems to be a well deserved rest from what I've heard, but I would like to hear what happened since I was informed there was a considerable exchange of fire in the ruins" said the duke.
"Regarding the mission I was given today… with my operations group we approached the city and encountered an artillery spotter who became our first target. After that we entered the city since it was not possible from our position to observe further movement from British snipers coming from Canada. I managed to lure two snipers who were in a church tower by speaking to them in English and took them prisoner. After that the British pursued us through the city to kill us and well… we had a good machine gun and we massacred them… we don't know how many we killed but it was a lot" I said, nodding.
"Beyond capturing those two snipers, did the mission also result in eliminating more of them?" the duke asked seriously without looking away.
"Yes… six more… we eliminated six additional snipers, and I believe I killed a British soldier whom an officer had identified as a killer of German snipers. He was very good, great ability to position and move, but I managed to be more patient than him and I also saw through his trick" I said more seriously.
"The Crown Prince promised me a professional… and you have not disappointed… I will report in detail to the OHL what happened. I will send a patrol to see if it is possible to recover the British bodies and gather information on their casualties and confirm them… but I am interested in your machine gun. From what I understand you were able to carry it throughout the fight… and MG-08s weigh around 60 kilograms with water and all their parts, even without water they are around 30 kilograms, too heavy even for a five man team" said the duke with the same seriousness.
"It's a personal modification I was working on. I had made one that operated with gas but it failed a lot, but using what I learned I took the body of my machine gun and installed the MG-08 system, significantly reducing the parts that were not necessary for the firing mechanism" I said, nodding.
"Is it feasible to create several of those machine guns? I assume that with your experience at the front you understand that leaving machine guns exposed and static allows artillery to tear our MG-08s apart, so a version that can be moved easily could help a lot in defending against British assaults" said the duke.
"It is not difficult to modify an MG-08, but the problem would be… the barrel… it is not designed for continuous fire. I would need to find a way to cool it because after a few belts it starts to overheat and without a cooling method it could warp completely… I could make the barrel removable and allow it to be swapped… it would not be as mobile but it would still allow movement" I said, recalling how future German machine guns worked.
"I think that's a good idea… I will request the OHL to assign your factories that equipment… if it's not approved due to budget I will pay for it out of my own pocket" said the duke.
"Yes… but… I don't think I can make many, my Generalfeldmarschall, my factories don't have the model to produce the modification. I would have to go there and deliver my plans to try to make it" I said before being given an order I couldn't fulfill.
"I know you won't remain here for long… but I will request that you be assigned missions within a close range of your factory" said the duke.
"Thank you, as soon as I can I will make sure this machine gun modification begins production" I said with a slight smile.
"Good, you may rest Major… I will send a patrol to the ruins of the city and see if anything can be recovered and confirm your kills, but return to tend the front when you can" said the duke.
"If you wish I can accompany the patrol, I doubt there are only eight snipers in the city, it would be dangerous. I can guide them so we avoid further losses" I said, looking at the duke.
"It is not an order, but if you wish to return any help will be welcome, especially someone experienced in the mission… you may leave" said the duke, pointing to the exit of his tent.
I left and quickly went to gather my equipment and find my group of men who were already resting, since we had to support those heading to the area.
I had a good impression of the commander of the Fourth Army, very different from Hindenburg who made his disdain public. With this one it was hard to tell if he liked you or not, but he was professional enough to ignore any personal opinion.
Accompanied by a group of thirty soldiers we began leaving the camp and I found that the two British prisoners we had captured had been brutalized.
Where they were being held, it seemed some of them had beaten the British soldiers until they were exhausted… swollen eyes, missing teeth, blood coming from their noses, and when I approached one of them I realized they had killed him.
I stood there cold, staring at the lifeless body of the sniper… because that was exactly what would happen to me if I were captured…
"What happened here" I said, looking at the officer in charge of the prisoners.
"They found out what they did" said the officer, not caring much about the lives of the British.
"Doing their duty?" I said, raising an eyebrow as I realized what my fate would be if I were captured.
"You know what this is" he said, showing me bullets that had been cut at the tip in an X shape.
"Sons of bitches… expanding bullets" I said, looking at what he held in his hand.
"Exactly… those bastards were firing with expanding bullets… a war crime… we saved the judge some time, and that one won't last much longer either" said the officer, kicking the face of the one who was still alive.
"What do you usually do with a captured sniper" I asked, looking at him.
"Nervous about your fate huh… normally we beat them a bit and that's it… if we find a notebook with their kills and some extra things we beat them more… but bastards like this die before reaching trial" said the officer.
"I see…" I said, thinking that I would definitely be killed, since we usually didn't take prisoners.
After leaving that aside we returned to the front, guiding the group of Germans back into the city, coordinating how to cover our backs and moving through the streets since we encountered British patrols recovering bodies.
There were more exchanges of fire, but the British began withdrawing quickly when one of my men blew the head off one of their officers, and we began checking the bodies in the city since that benefited us. For my unit it confirmed kills, and in a way it gave you prestige as a soldier the more you had to your name.
Obviously the star of all this was Friedrich since he had over forty two confirmed kills. The bodies were very recognizable when they had been torn apart by machine gun fire or when they had been killed with rifles.
We checked the sniper positions and covered from elevated points, pushing away other patrols that tried to enter the city… I doubt the British would bombard ruins for the same reason the Germans didn't, it was better to use ammunition on defenses.
So now we were the ones controlling the ruins after driving the British out.
Checking the sniper bodies it seemed another one had been using expanding ammunition.
But finally I found the body of the sniper who had given me so much trouble… I was a bit surprised to see a Canadian indigenous man… by the skin tone and features it was easy to tell… or at least what was left of his face.
It seemed he kept a logbook with him and it did show that he had killed many Germans in the last offensives, so this must have been the headache everyone was talking about. The man had given me problems and had a strong instinct for danger.
After confirming eleven kills for my record and a few more for the rest of my men, we remained in the city taking positions in certain areas to begin firing at the British trenches.
There was literally a German company helping me contain the British, French and Belgians in the area while I fired with the rest of my men, bringing down hundreds of Entente soldiers.
Many snipers too, since they were usually being sent to fight us, but we already knew the ruins of the city well enough to set ambushes and know where to place a machine gun to eliminate any squad trying to contest control of the area.
The good times didn't last long, sooner than later we had to withdraw because the British began bombarding the German trenches again, as it seemed another offensive was about to begin.
By then I had already been authorized to leave the front, since I had to return to the Eastern Front or await orders, whether Italy, Ukraine, Serbia or, God forbid, the Ottoman Empire… to die of heat.
So while the trenches were being bombarded I boarded a train heading south to regroup with my men at the Fifth Army camp, since the sniper training had been completed and once that was done and a large part of the orders to my factories had been delivered.
It didn't take long for trained snipers to begin being distributed across the entire front, and I returned to Poznan by train since I had to review the duke's request.
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