His lungs were burning as he slid to the ground alongside the remnants of the squad. The 1939 went to the ground as he followed behind it, grunting as a dull pain raced up through his left hip. A brief moment of digging with his finger tips, and he dug out the offending rock. Halliger's broad chest heaved, sucking air the clean air into his lungs, his mouth was dry like paper. He fumbled for his canteen, yanking the cork out with a slick popping noise, he slugged a bolt of water down, and then, with an effort of will, replaced the cork into the aluminum vessel, twisting it down and in tight. When and where he could refill was a question that had no answer. If the Holtish were this far forward, and pushing the defense line back, the secondary lines would be in a furious retreat themselves.
His hearing, still muted from the roar of the rifle he carried, missed the sound of the incoming artillery, his first notice of it was the muffled roar of Krebs, Rudolph obeyed the order without needing to look around. He buried his face against the stock of the massive rifle, covering his face with his left arm, and the back of his neck with his right. He felt flicker of warmth as the heat and light escaped from the shells, the trembling vibration beneath him that gave him a new-found respect for the power of the artillery, and the thunderous explosions that made even his portable cannon, seem a bit small in comparison. Mid way through the barrage, he dared to peek under his left hand, watching the rain of explosive shells falling, walking destruction to where the Holtish had paused to regroup.
When the shelling finished, the world seemed to descend into a calm as such he had never experienced. Perhaps it was just quiet by comparison to the fireworks just seconds ago, but to Halliger, it felt like the world itself just gave a silent sigh of relief that the explosions had ceased. The moment was quickly washed away with the arrival of the Panzers, both felt and heard. The rumble or snarl of the engines, the vibration of each nearly-ten ton tank rolling forward, the bark of their machine guns when they opened fire with the thunder of their cannons, tanks changed the battlefield dynamic rapidly. He looked over, and recognized their type, and then looked to Demille and Krebs, seeing and hearing their actions, he engaged his weary muscles. Pushing himself from the ground, he paused to hoist the massive rifle once more, cradling it in his arms as he joined the rest, running forwards behind the line of tanks. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew he was going to hurt tomorrow.