Behind Enemy Lines (У тилу ворога)

The clatter of wheels on tracks echoed through the countryside as the train puffed forwards, smoke bellowing from its chimney. Behind it, it pulled flatcars loaded with silent beasts; KV-1s. Its destination, a loading station outside of Kiev. In one of the passenger cars, intermingled with the flatcars, sat Mikhail Kolibanov, trying to read a book. It was hard to concentrate with the sound of people talking in the background. Russian and Ukrainian, he understood both. Finally, he set the book down and looked out the window. His homeland. The sky was dark grey, threatening another downpour. The country roads were caked in mud. But in just a few weeks summer would arrive. It was better than the cold winters, but brought its own unique challenges. Especially when you were inside a tank. Mikhail allowed himself a smile at the thought of the approaching summer, he preferred it to the winter.

Just then, a man came and sat opposite him. “What you reading there, Misha?” he asked. Mikhail looked over at him.

“Brushing up on my Latvian.” He replied, closing the book.

The man, Ivan Kovalenko, picked up the book and looked it over. He was the same age as Mikhail, both young men, but his hands were already calloused from repairing engines and tracks.

“Are you still worried about the new guy?” Ivan asked.

Mikhail sighed. “He’s good at his job and good at following orders. Outside of that I fear he is not integrating well.”

“Perhaps he’s taking it all the wrong way.”

“Maybe. But he is one of us now. And I don’t want to feel like an outsider. Speaking of which, where are the rest of them?”

“I last saw Pavel and the boy talking to some officers up front. As for Varid, he’s probably in the back. That’s just a guess though, I have not seen him since after we boarded.”

“We will be at the station soon. I want them all here when we disembark. I think we should start rallying them.” Mikhail said, getting up.

“Agreed. I’ll get the two trouble makers.” Ivan replied. He stood and they both went their separate ways.

Ivan made his way towards the front of the train where he came across a group of men.

“I swear, that devil was following us. We would stop for the night and make camp, then one of my men would fall dead before we heard the shot. Some ran; others just dropped to the ground and hid. All through the night and into the morning you did not dare stand up until you were sure he was gone.” One of the men, a captain, explained.

“Why didn’t you just bring in armour and blow him away?” a young man asked.

“Because those Finns fight dirty. If you came up a ridge, they’d shoot the underside of your tank before you even got a chance to straighten out. And when you did get your tanks up the line, they’d either throw bombs made of petrol down the turrets or blow them up in the night. Worst of all of all the tanks we lost not a single one was to one of theirs. We did try shelling that devil of a man. He did vanish before the war’s end so I’m sure we eventually got him.” the captain continued.

The young man was about to ask another question when Ivan arrived.

“Sorry to disturb comrades. Pavel, Boris, Mikhail wants us all to meet before we disembark. Which will be soon.” Ivan said.

“Excuse us gentlemen. It seems our captain needs us.” One of the men, Pavel Gurevich said. He and the young man, Boris Kitsenko left the group with Ivan.

Mikhail made his way towards the back of the train. Finally, he saw him, sitting in the corner alone, gazing out the window. Varid Skuja. Mikhail approached him silently.

“We will be disembarking soon. I want us all to meet before then.” He said.

Varid turned towards him. The look on his face said everything. A man convicted, mentally and physically trapped between a rock and a hard place. It was the same look he always wore.

“Yes sir.” He said, getting up. They began making their way back through the train.

“I could not help notice you sitting alone. Why weren’t you trying to engage with any of the others?” Mikhail asked.

“What would I talk about? How much I dislike their leader?” Varid said.

“That would not be the wisest conversation, you know some of these people praise Stalin like he is the saviour of Russia. Still, you should get to know your comrades, even if you only ever see them once.”

“These people are not my comrades; they’re not my people.”

“I know you don’t like what happened in Latvia. And believe me for the longest time I hated what happened here. But we cannot change it. These are our people and we are their people.”

“Let me guess, ‘we’re all comrades’. That’s just one of his lies and you’ve fallen for it.”

Mikhail stopped for a moment. “I know it’s a lie. But just because it’s a lie doesn’t mean we can’t try to make it truth.”

Varid let that sink in a moment.

“Listen here. You, me, all of us we come from different parts of this land. And honestly, I do not care where you came from. On my crew we are one people.” Mikhail explained.

“I know you are being genuine Captain. But sometimes we struggle to accept the facts.” Varid said.

Mikhail allowed a brief smile. “That’s fine. Just remember what I said.” And with that he continued through the train with Varid behind him.

It was not long before the train began to hiss as it slowed down. The station came into view. The crew waited as it pulled into the station, the flatcars coming alongside a ramp. The train stopped with a hiss of steam and the crews began disembarking. Mikhail and his group made their way to their KV-1.

“Men, take your stations.” He said. They climbed onto the flatcar and then one by one entered the tank.

“Fuel, oil and coolant are good sir.” Ivan said.

“How’s the battery?” Mikhail asked.

“Charge is good.”

“Good, proceed.”

Ivan opened the fuel valves and set the throttle. Then he pressed the starter control. The engine rumbled as it turned over, then ignition. The entire tank seemed to shake as twelve cylinders began to fire one after each other. The smell of burning diesel filled the inside and all other sounds were drowned out by the engine’s growl.

“That’s the sound of a V-12 drinking all our fuel” Ivan said as he watched as the gauges settled. Mikhail smiled to himself. Ahead, the first tank rolled off the flatcar and the line began moving forwards. Ivan pressed in the clutch and forced the machine into gear. The engine note changed and the tank slowly rumbled forwards. It stopped short of the one in front of it. One by one the tanks disembarked. Ivan watched as the tank in front of him gently turned onto the ram. He slowly pulled back on the left steering lever. The left track slowed and the tank turned left. The tank seemed to lean forward then levelled out.

“We’re off men.” Mikhail announced before opening the top hatch. The tank slowly trundled along behind the rest of the convoy. Varid got to work tuning the radio. Pavel began testing the loading hatch. It creaked slightly as he opened it and he made a note of it. It was not long until the base came into view. Ivan drove the tank towards its station and killed the engine. A sudden silence filled the interior. Mikhail was the first one to exit and he jumped down from the side. Pavel emerged next.

“There’s nothing better than the smell of fresh air after sitting inside this thing.” He said as he began down the side. Boris emerged next and almost climbed onto the back.

“Watch out, that could be quite hot.” Varid warned.

“I’ll be fine.” Boris said, touching down on the engine deck. He immediately jumped off, regretting his decision. Ivan was the last to exit the tank.

“Alright, before any of you go off making trouble, I want this thing ready to move. If you finish your task help the others.” Mikhail said.

“Who says we are going to get into trouble?” Boris asked.

“I think he meant you.” Pavel said.

Mikhail went off for a bit whilst the others got to work. When he returned, he joined the others in preparing the tank. The tracks were inspected, loose bolts tightened. The inside cleaned and hatches oiled. Diesel, oil and coolant refuelled. Empty diesel drums cleaned, refilled and loaded. Any depleted supplies replaced. By the afternoon the tank was ready to roll into battle. That is should one come. All around the base there was uncertainty on that topic. And it was on Mikhail’s mind as well. He and his crew had been deployed into Bessarabia to oversee things there. All was quiet so the crew had a relatively easy time. Then came the order to return to Ukraine. No reason why, then again there you rarely knew why you got an order. He could see it was on everyone’s mind.

“Captain, why were we recalled?” Boris asked. He always asked the questions. He was young, inexperienced and curious.

“Because our ‘leader’ wants to take more land that doesn’t belong to him. My guess is he wants what Germany got of Poland.” Varid said.

“Unlikely. The Germans are our friends.” Pavel said.

“And I doubt they’ll try coming here. Hitler is too busy in Europe.” Ivan said.

“Whatever the reason, we must be ready. Remember our job is to use that machine to ensure the safety of our people. All of our people.” Mikhail said.

“And the death of our enemies?” Boris said.

“I prefer to think of it as the defeat of our enemies.” Mikhail said.

The days passed and the crew continued with regular maintenance and training exercises. Initial anxieties of war began to fade among the growl of engines, explosions of shells and talk among comrades. For weeks it seemed like calm. It was on one of these calm days that the base was rattled awake by the blaring of sirens. Mikhail and his men rushed outside to see what was happening. Above they saw planes flying overhead. Dark shapes against the morning sky. Then the air was split by another sound. Explosions. Mikhail looked towards Kiev and could see dark smoke rising. Another sound split the air, like a screaming siren. He looked up to see a single engine aircraft bellowing down towards them. The wail grew louder as it descended. Mikhail watched as its payload detached and it pulled away. The scream from its sirens stopped. The bomb struck a fuel depot, causing the entire thing to go up in flames. Another scream came from above and Mikhail realised he was standing in the open. He ran for cover as another Stuka dove like a predatory bird. Junkers Ju 87. Men hurried to anti-air guns and opened fire. Nearby, some Polikarpov I-16s managed to get airborne from the cratered airfield. They flew towards the bombers before being pounced by Messerschmitt Bf 109s.

As they sky erupted in chaos, Mikhail and his crew found cover near their tank. They waited; there was little they could do against such ferocious aerial enemies. Finally, the chaos seemed to calm and everyone got to their stations. An announcement came over the loudspeakers.

“Brest, Grodno, Kiev, Sevastopol and other cities have been bombed by the German air force. German troops have begun moving across the Soviet border.”

Mikhail understood what this meant. Everyone did. Their worst fears had come true; they were at war.