Teufelslied: Italia

Chapter 3: Advance halted

6th May, 1965: Venetian Alps

      Kommandant Hans van Idigerion had been assigned to the "Italian Front", not expecting a fight. However, when he woke up to the smell of burning tents, men, and trees. He knew something had messed up. Not only that, but he had news that the German army had reclaimed Bern and forced Hohenkommandant Samuel Icarus to retreat to Beil. "Idigerion! You will hold your position in Italy or I will personally field Marshall and execute you!", Icarus was serious. He had only lost 49 kilometers of ground, however, they didn't have much of a hold on Switzerland. And it was the only way they could start a renewed offensive in Baden-Wurttemberg, and capture Munich. Possibly..
    "Men! I don't know how many of you live, but we're attacking the Italians. We have to breakthrough at Cueno!"

           Anto was, like his foe, woken to fire. He was only a Sergeant, but he knew they were fighting an enemy possibly more determined than they. He got in uniform, leaving his armor behind. The uniform had a belt that resembled civilian belts, unlike that of the Germans, aside from the belt buckle, which had a perched eagle clutching a fasces, the symbol of the previous Italian kingdom, above the eagle was a scroll, reading "Gotti Mid Uns", the motto of the German Empire in Italiadeutsch. The uniform it's self resembled a World War II American uniform, with black jack boots and wrist cuffs, as well as the German national emblem on the left breast. The rank insignia was not included on the collar, but it was shown on the shoulders. Anto had all his gear, aside from his armor on, and as soon as he rushed outside, he came under fire. Communist rebels charged him, with fixed bayonets, since they were at close range, their bolt action rifles missed, and he beat them to death with his spade, before firing at a squadron of advancing R.R.A. He threw a grenade at them, and they were blown up. An enemy fighter jet swooped down right over him, and anti-air shells ripped the alley, and defending forces to pieces.
Anto's arm was seriously wounded, immediately, he knew it was broken. You simply don't take that force to the arm and not break something. "Verdammti!", he shouted. "Where is a Schnellwalther?", he saw one of the miniature SMG's on the dead body of R.R.A troop, and looted the corpse and the ammunition, and loaded the gun. He also saw something else useful, a Molotov cocktail. He turned down a thinner alley, and threw it at a tank. Setting the crew on fire. From his minuscule cover, he fired on a R.R.A soldier, who collapsed immediately, and bled. A maxim gun blazed to life from a storefront. And he charged it, Schnellwalther blazing, which distracted the enemy long enough for him to throw a Molotov into the storefront, setting it ablaze. Mondfleigers decorated with their divisional insignia flew overhead, and quickly downed a multitude of diveboming aircraft, themselves bombing Cueno. As he watched, an apartment block vanished into smoke. "Nothing....left...", Castillo thought out loud, his knees suddenly weak. He heard voices nearby, shouting in Hochdeutsche with a heavy Spanish accent. His comrades' MGs blazed to life, mounted on sandbags clearly set up after the entire apartment block had been simply leveled. "May I, Sir?", he shouted to the Lieutenant. "Sure, Sergeant!" He took up the machine gun. But, just his luck, a tank fired an explosive shell at the emplacement. Making his body go limp, and killing the machine gunners.