A historical fiction by: Teoh Zhi Yuan

*FWOOSH*

*BANG BANG*

I gripped my Mosin-Nagant rifle, tighter than ever. The enemy started up their artillery batteries again. We could hear yelling and shouting from the plains ahead where they were holed up in.

*BANG* another round fired, *BOOM* another round landed.

It was only a matter of time before our positions were overwhelmed.

I took a risk to peek over the little beat-up wall towards the enemy lines. I could see silhouettes among the buildings scurrying about, taking up positions on their battle stations. I crouched down again. Part of the 28th army commanded by Lieutenant General Dmitry Ryabshew, we had been in a stalemate for more than 1 month with the Germans since July of 1942, trying to maintain control of Stalingrad.

I was the only English soldier amongst the ranks, it was a little hard to communicate with my fellow soldiers at times. I had deserted my teammates during the Fall of France. In hopes of a peaceful life, I fled to Russia, thinking that the enemy’s leader, wouldn’t have attacked it. Unfortunately, God wasn’t on my side. I was found by the Russian authorities and was given a choice. Either sit in a prisoner of war camp and wait out the rest of the war, or join their ranks and fight for their side. Not wanting to sit out my life in a POW camp, I chose the latter.

*FWOOSH*

“Enemy aircrafts, incoming!” one of my fellow Russian soldiers yelled out. I look up at the sky, German dive bombers were heading straight for our positions, closing the distance with terrifying speed. Instinctively, I ran for cover.

But before I could even react, my ears rang, I felt my feet leaving the ground. The world spun and turned blurry. A huge amount of pain surged through my body as I landed back on the ground. A bomb had landed a few yards me. I took one final look of my comrades scurrying for cover, as the world turned black.

*GASP*

I woke up panting in a trench, gripping my Lee-Enfield rifle. I sat up and looked around me, British comrades. Yeah, right where I belong. It was the 20th of May, 1940.

“Had a good night’s sleep?” my friend asked.

“Stupid nightmares…” I grumbled.

He looked like he was about to say something, but then our team’s sergeant approached us.

“Hey ready up, lads! Jerries incoming! 12 o’clock!” my sergeant yelled.

*CRACK*

In a flash, tracer bullets lit up the sky. Muzzle flashes could be seen everywhere; empty bullet casings spew out of their guns and were strewn all over the floor. I got up quickly, not wanting to miss out on the action.

*BANG KACHING BANG*

I fired a few rounds at the enemy with my trusty Lee-Enfield rifle. Bodies fell, ragdoll and limp on the ground, blood sputtering from their bodies through their wounds. The air smelled of gunpowder and blood. The battlefield were littered with dead bodies, blood, and empty bullet casings. For one hour, we did the same thing over and over: fire, reload, fire. Then, the gunfire ceased, the enemy had seemingly retreated. Over 10 thousand shots fired from both sides. We were confused, did we win?

We had spoken too soon, as 10 seconds later, an air raid siren started up.

“Which **** started up the air raid sirens for nothing!?” shouted one of my comrades with very colorful language while scanning the skies, which were empty. No signs of aircraft or contrails were sighted.

“Hey, I don’t think it’s an air raid siren!” someone else shouted over the sirens.

“Then what is it then!?” another shouted back. “Hey, what are those up there!?” I pointed upwards at a few dots, growing larger by the second.

“Are those pl-” my comrade started to question over the blaring sirens.

In an instant, tracer rounds lit up the sky again, seemingly coming from the 3 dots, strafing our trench lines with lightning speed. Screams rang out, and bodies fell, limp on the ground. 3 German Ju 87 dive bombers dived towards our positions. We immediately scrambled for cover. 5 seconds later, the bombers dropped their load.

*BOOM BOOM BANG*

My ears rang. Dust and shrapnel sprayed up everywhere. Screams of pain were heard. Bodies flew a few feet up in the air only to fall back limp on the ground. I was lucky to have been far away from the bombs. I took a moment to clear the ringing in my ears.

“Is it over yet?” one of my fellow comrades asked, shivering. It was clear he was shaken by the bombing.

Even though I could barely hear him over the constant ringing, I started to reply, “I guess so.”

But before I could even finish, 3 enemy Panzer 38(t) light tanks roared into view, followed closely by another 4. Their powerful engine roars overpowering my voice instantly. They rotated their 37-millimeter cannons at our lines. One of the tanks fired its loaded shell, and all hell broke loose.

Instantly, high explosive shells slammed into our trenches. One after another, explosions rocked the very foundations of our trenches, sending bits of wood, shrapnel, dirt, and dust into the surrounding vicinity. Grenades were lobbed at the swift Panzers, but to no avail. The swiftness of the light tanks made dodging and outrunning the grenades simple work. Amidst the panic, our superiors ordered us to open fire at the enemy tanks using our firearms, but our puny .303 caliber rifles and .303 British caliber Bren LMGs did little to no damage on the armored vehicles. The only notable damage being a lucky bullet clipping the radio antenna of one of the tanks, cutting off its radio communications.

We were being pushed back, but our superiors had not given us the retreat orders.

*BANG*

I flinched. An explosion spewed up dust and dirt beside me. I risked a peek over the trench as my heart stopped cold. A Panzer’s turret was homing in on my position.

I quickly ducked down and managed to yell “TAKE COVER!” before I felt my feet lift off the ground, my ears ringing, and sharp pain shooting across my body. I fell limp back on the ground. My teammates scuttering for cover being the last thing I remembered before I lost all consciousness.

---

Glossary

Mosin-Nagant Rifle
The Mosin-Nagant Rifle is a bolt-action, 3-line (.30 caliber / 7.62mm) rifle M1891. It holds up to five 7.62mm rounds which are loaded into internal magazines. Developed from 1882 to 1891, it was used by the armed forces of the Russian Empire, the Soviet Union, and various other states.

Fun Fact: It is one of the mass-produced military bolt-action rifles in history, with over 37 million units having been made since 1891.

Lee-Enfield Rifle
The Lee-Enfield is a bolt-action, magazine-fed repeating rifle that served Britain as Britain’s standard issue rifle from 1895 to 1957. 17 million Lee-Enfield rifles were produced within that time. It features a ten-round box magazine which was loaded with .303 British cartridge manually from the rifle’s top.

Fun Fact: The Lee Enfield Rifle was not only the standard issue weapon for the British Army for World War 1 and World War 2, but also for the Commonwealth countries such as Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and Canada.

Bren Light Machine Gun
The “Bren Gun” was a series of light machine guns (LMG) made by the British in the 1930s and used in various roles until 1992. The Bren Light Machine Guns could chamber cartridges from 8x52mmR to 7.62x51mm. It has a gas-operated reloading mechanism (Using high pressure gas emitted from the firing of a cartridge to reload)

Fun Fact: The Bren Gun was a licensed version of a Czechoslovakian light machine gun, the Czechoslovak ZGB 33 light machine gun. which was a modified version of another Czechoslovakian LMG, the ZB vz. 26.

Ju 87 Dive Bomber
The Ju-87 Dive Bomber, also known as “Stuka”, was a German dive bomber aircraft which required 2 crews to operate, a pilot and a rear gunner. It saw extensive use in World War 2.

It was identified by allies and foes through its fixed landing gears on its inverted gull wings. Being able to dive at terrific speeds up to 600km/h towards ground targets, it was one of the best and most terrifying dive bombers in the German arsenal in World War 2.

Fun fact: Whenever it goes into a dive, a ram-air siren (Jericho Trumpets) will blare out as a warning for the pilots to watch out for their speed. The sirens grow louder as the planes go faster. It also served as a warning to those on the ground.

Panzer. 38(t)
The Panzerkampfwagen 38(t), originally named ČKD LT vz. 38, was a light tank designed during the 1930s in Czechoslovakia by a Czechoslovakian company named ČKD. Being deployed in invasions of Poland, France, and the USSR (Soviet Union), this light tank saw extensive service during World War 2.

The Panzer. 38(t)’s armour varied in thickness from 10mm to 25mm. Its armament consisted of a 37 mm Skoda A7 gun and two 7.92mm machine guns operated by 2 gunners and a radio operator. The tank requires 4 crew members to be fully operational.

Fun Fact: The “t” in the name of the tank stands for “Tschechisch” meaning “Czech” in German as it was produced by a Czechoslovakian company.