Army: The Return to the Hell of Warfare

Chapter 2: Katarina Staufenberg

When I opened my eyes, I saw a nun carrying me and to feed me with what I believe is gruel. “Open up little Katarina, here’s your food.” the nun said to me trying to feed me. I can only utter a cry since I’m a baby.

A couple of years have passed and I’ve grown into a ten year old girl. The orphanage that I live in is very poor and we only live off of a couple pieces of hard bread and a bland soup. Because of this diet, I grew to be an undernourished girl.
One day, a doctor came to the orphanage to check up on us. This has been a pretty regular occurrence as the doctor comes to the orphanage once a month and checks us.
A couple of days after the doctor visited, an imperial military officer came to the orphanage and he showed the nuns a letter of conscription from the army. I immediately knew that I’ll be conscripted and lo and behold, I was actually conscripted by the army.
Once I reached the army barracks, I was brought to the tailoring room and had the tailor take my measurements, I was directed by the officer to the firing range and shown an array of weapons. Laid out before me were an assortment of weapons ranging from rifles to handguns and grenades to combat knives.
“These are things a child my age shouldn't be seeing” I said to myself.
The officer didn’t seem to mind that I’m just a ten year old child so I went ahead and grabbed the pistol from the table and I aimed it at the targets in front of me.
“Katarina, firmly grasp the grip with both of your hands, slowly aim at the target and make sure your arms are steady, and place your index finger on the trigger” the officer said to me. He took a look at my form and he complimented me, “Very good, Katarina. You’re a quick learner aren’t you?”
“Now, Private Staufenberg! Ready! Aim!” the officer shouted his command at me and I braced myself.
“Fire!” the officer shouted and as he commanded I fired 4 rounds into the target.
“Good shot, Private.” the officer said to me and I nodded gratefully to him.
We proceeded to try other guns for the next couple of hours each gun with remarkable success for me. I saw how amazed the officer looked and told me he would try to enroll me into officer school but first, I would be deployed to the frontlines in order to get adequate battlefield experience.

“I’m definitely on my way to a comfy position in the rear if things go smoothly” I said to myself in my mind with a smile on my face. I just need to endure this deployment then after a few months I’ll be in the rear studying in officer school and be promoted to the General Staff.