Knock Knock

August 16th, 1942 0900 hours

The clay and straw hut village sat nestled at the bottom of the rolling hills covered in sunflowers, as it had since the time of the Tsars. Clay and straw houses lay astride the dirt road that wandered in from the vastness of the steppe and led to the industrial city a mile distant. A small outpost of civilization set amid the riot of color provided by the vast fields of sunflowers on the edge of the steppe.

The small village was a flurry of activity as the Soviet militiamen scrambled to dig themselves into the brown earth. They were digging in with a purpose, as aircraft had thundered overhead earlier in the morning, presaging the violence from the air that was yet to come.

They didn't have too long to wait. A series of explosions in the distance, followed by the scouts scampering back through the fields of flowers, told of the approaching enemy. As if to punctuate their arrival, the drone of planes came from the West. The dance of death was about to start.

A kilometer away, Hans and his Kamfgruppe were approaching that village at a more cautionary speed than they had been the previous day. Two of the PSW 222 scout cars had struck mines, presents left behind by the precipitously retreating Russians.

"We will commence attack dispositions when we reach the bottom of the last low line of hills outside that village" Hans ordered into his radio. The droning of planes caused him to look up for a moment. "Our flying artillery is here. There is no time to waste. Get to it."

Hans didn't need to hear the muffled acknowledgments over the radio from his unit commanders to know that his orders would be carried out. He knew his men well. Turning to Peitor, he quiped "The die is cast. By tonite we may even get to sleep with a roof over our heads."

"Not if I know the repuation of our flying artillery overhead." Peitor quipped back, even as both sets of eyes followed the sinister dark shapes of the Stukas as they started their dives toward the unseen village behind the rolling hills.