It looked like a regular overcast day at first... It was April 16th, 1945. Commander Hans Langer and his crew are getting ready for the day. The allies are doing well and are getting closer to Berlin all the time. Today Hans and the crew of the Tiger E tank must make a final effort to defend the city. They must try and stop the Allies from taking Berlin. The Tiger E tank is the one they have so Hans and his crew have a big job to do. Today is the day that the nineteen-year old Kurt, coming from the 57th motorized infantry division gets to be inside the tank as the machine gunner. The crew are briefed on their mission. They start getting ready for the day. They do not really know what awaits.
The tiger tanks engine started making a lot of noise, there was smoke, from the oil coming through the courtyard where the tanks were kept. The smoke was bad to smell. Inside the tank it felt bad. The air was thick with tension and it smelled terrible. There was sweat and metal. Hans was sitting in the commander's seat. He looked a lot older than forty-three years. His face was all worn out from not sleeping and constant stress he was experiencing. Next to him was Otto, the gunner. Otto was checking the controls to see if the gun was properly zeroed. Hans, Otto and the tank were all stuck in this situation. Emil was behind them acting as the loader, who was twenty-two years old, but he was moving like an old man.
Under them sat Werner, the driver, his hands gripping the control levers of the tank so tightly his knuckles had paled. He muttered to himself, his words unintelligible.
Kurt got into the machine gunner's position, the space was small, it was like being in a coffin and there was only enough room to breathe. Emil and Werner were in the tank with him. "This is it" Hans said in a voice. "We are in Berlin now. We have to hold the line for as long as we can." Nobody asked how long that would be because they all already knew. The radio was making a lot of noise with reports of tanks getting ready to attack on the outskirts of the city. There were thousands of them. Meanwhile their own forces were almost gone. This tank, the Tiger was supposed to be their miracle.
Werner made the Tiger tank move forward. The big wheels of the tank bit into the pavement of the street. Kurt looked out through the window. He saw Berlin moving past him. It was like a nightmare. The whole city was on fire. The fire was not just in one place. It was everywhere. The city was a mess of flames, smoke and broken buildings, The Tiger tank was moving through this mess. The apartment buildings were once white but now it is all broken and you can see inside them. There is furniture stuck in the floors. A babyy bed is hanging from a hole on the floor. Kurt had to turn his head.
Then suddenly, Otto's voice came through the headphones. "Contact." Otto said, his voice shaking. "A tank, two-seven-zero, about four hundred meters away from us." The tank's big, eighty-eight milimeter gun started to turn around. Hans leaned into the glasses that the commander uses, his jaw clenching. Emil's hands were moving fast even though they were shaking. He picked up a heavy shell that was nearly as heavy as Kurt and he pushed it into the cannon with a lot of effort. "On target", Otto said quietly. Then the cannon went off. The kick from the gun hit Kurt hard and, for a second, all he could hear was the gun's loud screech. He looked out of the window. Saw the T-34 blow up. It was not a nice sight, just a big explosion of orange and black that destroyed the whole thing. The top part of the tank went flying off and spun through the air.
Then, everything was quiet.
Then, Emil made a noise. A noise that was hard to describe, it could have been a laugh or a cry. He whispered, "Got him". They did not celebrate. Nobody said a word. They just kept on moving. The next three hours were a blur of fire and smoke, from the search and destroy. Another T-34 came out from behind a building that had fallen. Otto shot at it. His shell went through the side of the T-34. The people inside the T-34 did not even have time to get out before it caught on fire. Kurt saw someone running in the dust for a moment before the smoke hid everything.The T-34 was still burning. Kurt was looking at the smoke thinking about the person he saw running. The T-34 was destroyed. By afternoon the enemy had lost five vehicles and a lot of infantry. The air was filled with the smell of burnt wood and something else that was awful. It was blood that had dried into the stone. Hans got out of the tank first. He was moving slowly. Otto went next and then Emil, who fell against the tank, Werner stayed where he was, in the driver's compartment. Would not look at the others. Kurt came out last. His legs were shaking. They had been inside that metal for a noticeable amount so the open air felt weird and scary now. The big guns were firing all the time. The artillery just kept on going and going. It was frightening. Hans sat on the turret smoking a cigarette with hands that were shaking a little. He said to nobody in particular, "We buy time tomorrow". He thought about this for a moment then added, "That is all they need from us..."
Emil wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. Looked at the other guys. "How many people did we kill today?" he asked.
Hans looked at him and with a grim expression said, "Does it really matter?"
"No, it does not. It does not seem to matter, we are fighting a lost battle.", said Emil.
A noise made Kurt look up quickly. Something was moving in the rubble. He bent down low. His MP40 gun came up then he moved towards the sound. His heart was beating so fast it felt like it was going to explode. Two Soviet scouts came out from behind a wall that had fallen, they had their rifles over their shoulders. They were talking softly...one of them was looking for a cigarette. The Soviet scouts looked very tired. Kurt saw them and his MP40 was ready. He did not think about he was doing. He just did it. One moment these men were alive. The next, they were dead. Kurt sneaked with a knife in his hands, and killed him. Blood came out. It was warm. It went over Kurt's hands. The man tried to yell but all that came out was a noise that sounded like water bubbling. Kurt's other hand was already going to his MP40. He fired a burst that hit the scout right in the chest before he even knew what was happening. They fell. Kurt stood over them and watched the blood spread out under them in the dirt. The cigarette had dropped to the ground. It was still lit. One of the men was shaking, his eyes were open but he was not looking at anything. Kurt turned to find the commander standing a few meters away, watching him. The commander had a look on his face. It was hard to say if he was happy or if he felt sorry for him. He could not tell anymore.
"Does it ever stop feeling wrong?" Kurt asked. Hans looked at Kurt for a long time. For a moment, Kurt saw something change in the man's face. It was like the commander's usual serious face started to break a little. Finally, he said: "If it does, you've already lost the war." They did not sleep that night. They could not sleep. The Soviets were very close. The darkness was scary. Emil sat with his back against the wall; He was staring at nothing. Otto checked his gun repeatedly even though there was nothing wrong with the gun. Werner lay in the driver's seat, his eyes open. The war was around them, the war was everywhere. The war was what they were fighting, the war was what they were thinking about. Otto cleaned his gun again. Kurt saw the smoke floating across the destroyed buildings. He thought about his father and the village where he grew up. He thought about the time he felt like a normal person and not an object.
Soon enough, the morning arrived, it was gray and cold. New orders came through the radio. They had to cross the river at Spreebrücke. They had to stay until someone else came to take their place. When Kurt heard the orders, he felt like he was listening to his death sentence. The sun came up. They left. It made the ruins look all red and gold. The streets were a mess. There were SS men hanging people who did not want to fight on lamp posts. These people were hanging there. Their bodies swaying in the wind.
They looked very tired. They did not say a word. The Tiger was like a machine that moved on its own, it was made of metal, and Kurt saw that some people felt a little better because it brought them hope. But other people were angry, they hated the Tiger. An old woman was so mad that she spat on the ground as it went by. Emil saw this woman too. "These people do not like us" Emil said in a voice. "These people do not like anyone" Hans said back to him. "When people are really scared it can look like they hate you.". Then the Tiger arrived on a bridge. On the other side, Soviet soldiers were gathering behind tanks and there were many of them. Kurt looked out. Saw the big guns being put in place, men moving carefully to get ready for one last attack. Hans stationed the tank on the road to the bridge using its size to block the way. He said, "This is where we stop."
The Soviet soldiers did not wait. In a few minutes the first shots came flying through the air. The fight was very chaotic and very organized at the same time. Otto's hands were calm, it was like he was not even worried. He was looking at the targets. Calling out their position. Emil was putting shells into the cannon one after another, his face was very serious even though he was hurt and warm blood was dripping from his head. The cannon was firing repeatedly. A sherman tank caught on fire. A place where they were hiding to shoot at tanks just disappeared. The soldiers were running away like leaves blown away by the wind. There were just too many. A big explosion his the turret where Otto stood, and it threw everybody off balance. The alarm started blaring. The gun controls began to spark. Otto yelled out in pain. He got hurt from the explosion. He was bleeding but he kept on working the controls. He was really focused on what he was doing.
"The engine is getting hot", Werner said, his voice was calm even though he was sweating a lot. "The hydraulics are not working right. We need to do something about it."
Then, another explosion happened, this time, underneath the tank. The bridge started shaking.
The world turned upside down. The bridge did not just fall appart, it completely disintegrated. There was an explosion that destroyed the supports. One moment they were standing on the bridge, the other, they were falling through the air.
The Tiger crashed into the riverbed hard. It was hard enough to break people's bones. Kurt's head hit the metal wall. He saw stars. Otto's body went limp. Blood was pouring out of his forehead. Emil let out a painful scream when something landed on his arm, it sounded like a tree branch snapping. Water started flooding the tank through the holes in the side. It was rising fast. Hans yelled at the top of his lungs. "Get out!", he shouted. "We have to move, everyone has to get out now!". Kurt was so scared that he could not think clearly. The sound of Hans' voice was loud and clear with all the noise around them. The tank that was supposed to be a safe place for them had become a trap. He grabbed hold of Otto's collar. Pulled him up towards the exit hatch where the commander would normally go. His lungs were hurting. He found something to hold onto on the ladder. He pulled with all his might pulling Otto's lifeless body towards the opening. The water was already up to their chests. Werner came out from under the water. He was having a hard time breathing, the part of the tank where he sat was already full of water. The turret went under the water last.
On the shore line, about two hundred meters away, Soviet soldiers were coming out from where they were hiding, they had their rifles ready to shoot. Kurt could see the faces of the people around him now. They were tired and grim. Hans got up slowly. Water was streaming from his uniform. His service pistol was hanging loose at his side. He looked at each of the guys. Otto was lying there unconscious but still breathing. Emil was holding his arm. Werner was staring at the tank that was underwater like his heart was sinking with it.
Hans raised his hands. It was the right thing to do but it felt like the end. Now, Kurt feels like something that made him keep going, something that made him fight and made him feel human is gone.
A soviet officer came forward, his rifle pointed down. He is motioning for them to go to the edge of the river. Hans walked towards Otto slowly and carefully with his hands up in the air. The only thing that Hans had left was his dignity.
Hans was getting close to the line when a rifle shot was fired. The sound of the rifle was loud and clear. It was the last thing he heard.
Hans' body moved suddenly, then he fell into the mud with his arms up in the air because he was surrendering.
Blood started coming out from under Hans' body. It stained the ground. For a moment everything was still. The big guns even stopped firing. Suddenly, everything went crazy. Soviet soldiers were yelling, the people who were still alive were screaming and the world was filled with noise and fighting. Kurt fell to his knees, he could not look away from Hans' body, he could not understand that a man could be standing there with his hands up and still get shot. That surrender did not mean anything. The war was still taking lives even when it was over. The war still wanted blood at the very end. Kurt was looking at Hans. He could not believe his eyes at what had happened to him. War is unforgiving and hungry, even when it should be supposedly in tapering-off mode.
A second rifle bloomed, its flash tearing through the smoke, and then darkness swallowed it all.