17 January 1944, 03:45 AM, Nym-Storovje.
The Germans tended to become more paranoid when it started snowing. They weren't particulairly well equipped for the harsh winters, and with the temprature reaching many degrees below zero, someone had to constantly be on watch and keep the fire in the barracks going. If the fire went out, they would freeze and die in their sleep. It wasn't a bad way to go, but they weren't planning on dying anytime soon. Every man, woman or child is driven by an instinct to survive. Even when you're left in the cold in the middle of nowhere with little to no food left, you're going to try and stay alive for as long as you can. You would think that at some point they would just break and give in, the weather is so cold that they can barely get their weapons to function, let alone a tank. Every single night for the last couple of weeks i've got to watch and enjoy one of these pathetic excuses for a human being walk out in the freezing cold to use the little bit of firewood and fuel they had left to make a fire near their tanks, just to make sure the engines of their precious machinery didn't freeze. Tonight wouldn't have been any different, but apparantly fate decided that their existence was about to come to an end. When the same soldier with the same old rusty can of fuel started making his rounds and got to the last tank, a shot was fired and the can in his hand exploded. The explosion spilled the burning liquid over him. And I watched him burn and die while he layed in the snow. I watched as he desperatly tried to extinguish the flames, screaming and crying as his existence slowly came to an end. He was going to die in a field in the middle of nowhere, deep in the Russian countryside, nobody would be there to remember his name, his family would never know what happened to him. He will die a meaningless and painfull death for a thousand year reich that will never come to be. Only the death see the end of war.
Artyom had trouble sleeping and was wide awake when the German soldier started doing his rounds. He watched as the soldier got struck and the gasoline spilled over him and engulfed him flames. He knew what was going on, the Russian offensive had finally started. He could feel the adrenaline pumping through his veins and quickly uncovered the secret stash of equipment he had hidden. By the time he was fully prepared, the Germans had already taken up defensive positions around town. He concluded that the sound of gunfire was coming from the north, so that would be the most heavily defended side of town. Unfortunately the Germans weren't stupid and had begun setting up defenses in the south, east and west as well, all though fewer in number. Artyom stayed inside the small house in the center of town, knowing that he would be shot on sight if he left the building. He didn't know the scale of the Russian offensive and whether or not any tanks were involved. The Germans had tanks hidden through out the town, their most valuable and strongest tank was right outside his door. A Panzerkampfwagen Tiger Ausf. E, more commonly known as the Tiger tank.
A steady flow of gunfire was exchanged by both sides of the conflict, much more so by his comrades in arms. The Germans seemed to pretend to be few in number, which would mean that most of the German soldiers would stay in cover and hide untill the Russians advanced. Then they would come out of cover and lay down deadly fire from both their machine guns and the hidden tanks in town to quickly repel and disorganise the attacker. Artyom wasn't about to move yet, untill the Tiger's gunner started to fire. He couldn't see where but he knew that the soldiers on the receiving end of this barrage would be in trouble. After opening his door ever so slightly he saw the gunner firing towards the south-eastern part of the town, most of the bullets riddeld the houses and sandbags. The large gun of the Tiger moved and took aim at the house next to the sandbags, ready to fire its first shell to blow up the soldiers near or inside the building.
Ondrej and his squad could see a figure emerge from a building, he appeared to be armed with nothing but a rifle or submachine gun The figure dashed past the back of the tank to avoid the attention of the crew within. Once the figure had climbed upon the tank the vision of him was blocked. Seconds went by before figure jumped back off the tank and scrambeled for cover. A large explosion erupted at the top of the tank, blasting through the hatchet and seriously injuring the soldiers inside, the figure quickly got up on his feet and jumped back upon the tank, only to stick his machine gun into the now open hatchet and fire a deadly stream of bullets inside to kill anyone left alive. The Tiger tank now knocked out of action, with its crew dead and a trail of smoke coming from the top. The figure on the turret exchanging a few more shots towards the northern side of town before briefly ducking for cover. The turret of the tank now getting riddeld with bullets from the German side, forcing the figure to jump off the tank and withdraw to the western part of town, away from the center to seek cover.