Journey of a Panzer

The Exercise

Becker's P.O.V.

Diary: August 1st, 1939, Ostrava, Germany:

It has been just over 2 weeks since my new crew has arrived, and I have already taken notice at their effectiveness during training. They always arrive early, always stay late, and never complain. You probably won't see this in any other nation's army in the world. We will start training with live ammunition today, and I am eager to see how my crew performs.

      ~Ryker Becker

I put my pen in my diary to save the page, and I get up from my bed. Looking around, I see that nobody else has woken up besides George and Leon. We silently get changed into our tanker uniforms and walk out of the barracks. Once we get out of the barracks, I looked over to the two of them and they nodded, signaling it was time for breakfast.

~4 hours later~

3rd Person P.O.V.

All of the tankers are standing in front of their tanks. This includes 25 Panzer I's, 30 Panzer II's, and a few Panzer IV's, with the combined amount of tankers at 180 men. An army truck pulls into the camp, and a tall and lean figure steps out of the passenger side, flanked by 4 armed guards. He wears a German army steel helmet and large circular glasses that almost touch the brim of the helmet. He introduces himself as Georg-Hans Reinhardt, Generaloberst in charge of the 4th Panzer Division.

"I have gathered you all here to show your talent as tankers in an exercise. The best ones shall be integrated into Army Group South, or more precisely, the 4th Panzer Division. " As soon as he finished talking, a wave of small talk and chattering can be heard coming from the tankers, as none of them had expected a war, except for a panzer II crew. Generaloberst Reinhardt then leaned over to the officer next to him, ordering him to start the trials.

"TANKERS!!! YOU WILL BE GIVEN 30 CLIPS OF AMMO TO USE FOR THIS EXERCISE. YOU WILL NOT RECEIVE MORE IN ANY CIRCUMSTANCE. YOU WILL HAVE 20 TARGETS THAT WILL APPEAR AT RANDOM IN THE FIELDS IN FRONT, AND YOU WILL DESTROY ALL!!! THOSE WHO CANNOT DESTROY 3/4 WILL BE SENT BACK TO THE BARRACKS!!! IS THAT UNDERSTOOD??"

A "JAWOHL" can be heard coming from the line of tankers. The officer then tells the soldier to give them the signal, and the soldier fires a blank into the air. All tankers suddenly turn around and hastily start to get into their assigned vehicle. Most of them have trouble with the chaos that is going on around them, with men yelling, crawling, and groping all around to try to get their hatches open. By the time most of the tankers get into their positions, a few tanks have already left, including #304.

George's P.O.V.

I mash down the handles of the tank, and the tank lurches forwards. We soon start to pick up speed as the tank barrels past the numerous other tanks. The tank manages to get to 35.5 km/h (22 mph) in less than 30 seconds.

"Steady there comrade," says Becker, noticing how much the tank is bouncing around.

"Sorry Kommandant" I reply and I ease on the handles, slowing the tank down to 25 km/h (15.5 mph). Suddenly, I see 5 targets appear in my driver's viewport. "TARGETS!!! 5 AHEAD!!!" I yell as I slam on the breaks, allowing Becker to aim. I wait and I hear the distinct thumps of the gun going off, followed by the pings of the ammo bouncing against the hard interior of the tank. I look out of the viewport again and find 4 of the 5 targets down with 1-2 shots in each one. "Kommandant, you missed one," I remark.

"We need to conserve ammo. Now continue forward" replies Becker, and I nod as I push the handles down, sparking the engine back to life. I continue to stare through my viewport, searching for more targets. I notice 5-6 other tanks, mostly Pz. II's, firing at targets as well, with most of the shots hitting the targets.

~Time skip to the end of the exercise~

I ease the handles back, and the tank slowly grinds to a stop. I open up the driver's hatch and slowly stand up, stretching my back and neck. I look around and see about 20 or so other tanks already parked. I sigh, disappointed in my performance. I then feel a hand on my shoulder, and I turn my head over my shoulder to see the Kommandant standing behind me.

"Do not be disappointed comrade. You did well. Have you not noticed our score?" says Becker. I raise an eyebrow, wondering what he was talking about. I then remember that the Kommandant was supposed to keep score of targets destroyed, and I look at the paper in Becker's hand.

18/20 Targets

37/50 shells expended

"As you can see, you did perfectly fine. You should believe in yourself more," reassures Becker as he walks off to the Generaloberst to turn in our score.

"Yeah....I guess I should"

Word Count: 844