CH 52

Heiner walked in the dark.

He walked as far as his feet could take him, losing his bearings in the darkness, unable to see a single inch ahead.

He wandered and wandered again to find the light, but it was only darkness. A space filled only with death-like silence.

He trembled helplessly. Still, he could not stop walking. It seemed the moment he stopped walking, he was going to be swallowed by this great darkness.

Thinking back, it seemed that he had always lived his whole life trembling.

Always surrounded by fear and dread…………

Heiner entered the abyss with his feet constantly moving. As he entered the center, he saw a dim light. He quickened his steps.

At the deepest point, at the root of the darkness that brewed all his weak emotions, was a little girl.

She was sitting in the middle of a rose garden. Unable to get any closer, Heiner stood far away on the border of the flower field and stared at her.

The child gradually grew. In no time at all, she had grown taller and had become a mature woman. Heiner finally stepped toward her.

Within a few steps, the area suddenly shook. Red rose petals fell to the ground. Soon the entire floor was red.

Heiner, who had been looking at the floor in a panic, raised his head again. Before he knew it, the woman had a pistol in her hand.

She slowly raised her hand and pointed the muzzle at her own head.

Heiner’s eyes went wide. He opened his mouth to yell her name, but his voice was inaudible. He hurriedly kicked the floor and ran towards her.

His feet were incredibly fast. The floor, overgrown with petals, looked like blood. Perhaps it really was blood. He could hear the sound of the gun being loaded properly. Heiner shouted, “No,” but there was no sound.

The woman slowly opened her mouth.

“I’m now …”

Her voice flowed out, infinitely weak and trembling. She sobbed with a tearful expression on her face.

“I don’t want to live anymore…….”

Her finger on the trigger moved.

Heiner reached for her.

Bang!

***

“Ha!”

Heiner rose from the couch, startled. His vision flashed, unfocused and blurry.

Rough breaths repeatedly filled and exited his lungs. His back was soaked with cold sweat. He cupped his face in his trembling hands. His breathing was still unsettled. He kept his face in one hand and kept breathing for a while.

Finally, after a long time, the shaking slowly subsided. The flow of air became more vivid than his breathing. Only then did he slowly remove the hand covering his face.

It was a nightmare he was sick and tired of. The repeat of his recent nightmares were generally similar. Only the way the woman chose to die was different.

Heiner looked around with deep-set eyes, as if a fog had settled in. He was lying on the sofa without a blanket.

There was only one low-lit lamp in the barracks. He closed his eyes long before opening them.

He couldn’t remember why he had slept here last night, not in bed. To be precise, he remembered the situation, but his emotions at the time were unclear.

It was not a new thing. He was trapped in the thought of the woman’s voice, making it difficult for him to even perceive what he was doing.

Heiner got up from the sofa and walked to his jacket that was loosely draped over the chair. He searched his pockets and pulled out a cigar.

He lit the cigar with an oil lighter and walked out of the barracks. It was still dark outside. The tip of the cigar was burning red.

It had been a long time since he had smoked again. It seemed to coincide roughly with the time Annette left. She was the reason he had quit smoking in the first place, so there was no reason for him to quit it anymore now.

Heiner inhaled deeply on his cigar. As he exhaled slowly, a clouded smoke dispersed into the air.

By the time he had smoked most of the cigar, his distraught mind had calmed down quite a bit, but it was as empty as a void. The dry, gray eyes were motionless.

“Love makes me a better person.”

The voice of his dead colleague, whose face he couldn’t quite recall now, floated up and disappeared with the smoke. Heiner took a puff of his cigar and mumbled.

‘It’s a dog barking.’

***

The rainy season was over and winter had arrived. As expected by the Commander-in-Chief, the Axis’ forces pushed the Western Front of Padania as the wet land dried up.

In the season when the ground had frozen, the Winter War began.

A massive offensive of 700,000 troops, 2,200-odd tanks, and 800 aircraft swept across the Padania front.

Padania had only about two-thirds of the Axis’ forces for simultaneous defense of the southern front. However, an impenetrable defensive fort was guarding the front line. It was the result of continuous construction even during the rainy season.

The Axis forces were divided into two groups of 90 divisions, one to the defensive fortifications of Padania and the other, led by an armored division, to advance toward the forested area above the fort.

The dense woodlands were difficult for the armored divisions to penetrate. It was also a place where fortifications could not be built. In order to induce the illusion of Padania, France sent the southern group forces to the fortress as expected and had the northern group forces secretly deployed above.

Opinions were divided on this within the Padania command. France would invade the forest area. Be prepared. Or there would be no penetration. They must concentrate their forces in the fortifications.

“The mechanized units cannot pass through the woodlands. It is a waste to deploy forces here.”

“Because of the last battle, not all of France’s troops are able to fill their capacities. They even deployed more grenadiers. There is not enough strength in France to carry out such an offensive.”

The decision, in which these arguments prevailed and leaned toward the latter, was overturned by the Commander-in-Chief just before the battle.

Through information brought by spies operating in France, the Commander-in-Chief determined that France’s mechanized and vehicular forces were advanced enough to break through the forested areas.

He also considered the combination of deciphered codes and the offensive ideas of the France’s command staff. He concluded that France would divide the group into two.

The Commander-in-Chief’s judgment and ability to execute was faster than the speed of France’s advance. He did not even report to the Allied command, but re-divided the fortress forces and placed it in the north.

“Immediately move the 13 divisions of the Western Fortress and place them in the defensive line. France’s armored forces will cross the Lenin River from Leomold. We will use this bridgehead to destroy the enemy.”

By order of the Commander-in-Chief, troops were immediately deployed in the north. As such, the Axis classified offensive operations returned to the Padania’s counterattack.

Even so, France, who had advanced to break through the supply route with insufficient troops, began to be noticeably pushed back from the front line.

Eventually, after three weeks, the France command issued an order to stop the operation and retreated. It was a victory for Padania.

It was not a great victory, as it did not substantially inflict any significant damage on France’s main force. However, the victory in the first battle that occurred on the mainland was a great relief to the people.

The victory at the Western Fortress was widely reported in newspapers and on the radio. In particular, all kinds of praise was expressed for the commander-in-chief, who was the main contributor to the victorious battle.

Around that time, Heiner heard a rumor from his subordinates. They were talking about the fierce first battle had just ended on the Western Front.

“…What did you just say?”

“It’s a word that I heard coming from the Western Front, actually, but I have to be sure it’s accurate.”

Heiner didn’t hear his subordinate finish what he was saying, but asked back.

“Who’s on the frontline?”

“Madam, no, Miss Rosenberg………..rumor has it that she is a military nurse at a frontline field hospital.”

The papers in Heiner’s hand were crumbled.

He was silent for a moment, then ordered in a cold, somber voice.

“Check the facts.”

***