Panzer Lehr

Chapter 1

Snow fell quietly across the vast snow fields of the Russian steppe, the silence only broken by the occasional howl as the wind whipped across the frozen landscape. It seemed as if nothing would disturb the tranquil scene. Then the ground began to shake with the guttural roar of several diesel engines. An armor plated beast burst through a snowbank, scattering the white powder into a fine mist.

A German Tiger Tank emerged from the cloud, its huge, blocky fuselage and camouflage paint more suited for southern Europe stood out easily against the snowfields. The commander's hatch opened on top of the vehicle and the tank commander poked his head out. Colonel Wilhelm Schlesinger stood up in the turret of his tank and looked back at the column which trailed it.

Directly behind the tank was a Sd.Kfz. 234/2 “Puma” armored car. Armed with a 5 cm L/60 Kwk 39/1 cannon and 30mm of armor on all sides it was effectively impenetrable for most small arms weapons, making it a perfect addition to the small task force. Although unable to counter tanks it would serve its purpose against enemy troop concentrations and bunkers, if they stumbled across any that was.

Behind it was an Opel Blitz truck carrying two squads of grenadiers. The squads were composed of 10 infantry a piece, a squad commander, 5 riflemen and 4 more men to man and protect the squad's light machine gun.

Behind that was a supply truck. Loaded with munitions, food and medical supplies, enough to last roughly a month in the open steppe.

Last came a halftrack. An Sd.Kfz. 251 model. On board were four combat engineers and two 3 man squads to man the companies two heavy machine guns.

The company was in fairly good condition, seeing what they had been through. After the disaster during Operation Citadel (the Battle of Kursk), German units had scattered all across the Russian front. Schlesinger’s tank regiment had fallen behind enemy lines when they were set upon by waves of T-34’s and other assorted Russian vehicles. By the end of the pitched firefight, the only tank left operational was Schlesinger’s.

Alerted by the sound of the battle, two squads from the 9th Grenadier battalion stumbled across the remaining Tiger. The two groups joined forces in order to attempt to break back behind their own lines. A day later they found the armored car in a heated argument with a T-34. A point blank shot from the Tiger's 88mm gun ended the dispute and the car had joined their motley column. With Russian armor closing in they were forced to turn east and head back into Russia to slip around the enemy forces.

Now they were in the middle of nowhere attempting to blaze a trail south west into Ukraine. Schlesinger lowered himself back down and closed the hatch, he rubbed his hands together in an attempt to keep warm. It was not yet winter but the weather was already beginning to turn against them. Many of the troops had fought either in or around the city of Stalingrad and were no strangers to the dangers that the cold presented. If they didn’t find friends soon they would freeze in this frozen wasteland.

The drivers voice through his earpiece shook Schlesinger from his thoughts. “Sir, something ahead.”

Schlesinger lifted his mouth piece. “Can you identify?” He asked.

“Negative.” The driver replied. “All I can see is a bright light.”

The gunner put his eye to the gunsight. “Same here sir, bright light dead ahead.”

Schlesinger didn’t dare open that hatch for a peek. The light may have been the reflection off a Soviet gunsight. He changed his headset frequency to the radio operators. “Send a message to all vehicles, unknown contact ahead, prepare for imminent engagement.”

The column came to a halt as the orders were passed around. The infantry dismounted from the trucks, some climbed aboard the Tiger, perching on the back to defend its vulnerable sides and rear, the others taking positions alongside it. The crew of the halftrack stood up in the vehicle, two of them manning the heavy machine guns at the front and rear, the others raising their rifles, SMGs and STG assault rifles. The halftrack moved up to the third space in the column.