Hausnerr smiled as he saw them crossing the gulf. To the untrained eye, they looked like any old blue-water cruise ship or cargo vessel sailing into port. But the Field Marshall knew better. Each passenger vessel carried roughly 800 Vinnish soldiers. Each cargo ship carried dozens of panzerters and armored vehicles, all ready to do battle with a detestable enemy.
From his perch in the harbor station, he could see the disguised transport fleet approaching Tharsis in earnest. He left the harbor station with his entourage and headed for one of the largest docks. The cruise liner S.S. Vinland pulled into her berth as gangways dropped not o the receptacles below them. He smiled as the first Vinnish troops disembarked.
The chorus of an old Vinnish tune preceded the march of the marble and fog colored Vinnish soldiers. It always impressed Hausnerr to hear Vinnish. Since the language itself was a close cousin of English, it was easier to preserve their language. The thing they couldn’t stop was the eventual blending of Danish, Swedish, Finnish, Samii, Norwegian, and Icelandic leading to Modern Vinnish.
As each soldier sang, a green duffel over their shoulder, Hausnerr’s smile wavered. How long will their spirits be this high? How long before the fighting begins wearing them down. He shook his head and his smile returned. No matter if their morale is high, then I won’t bring it down.
He smiled and shook the hand of every Vinnish soldier that passed him on the off ramp as they headed to a nearby warehouse. The first few dozen soldiers didn’t immediately realize who he was, but as the line progressed, his guests realized who he was and rendered him a proper salute before shaking his hand.
As the last few soldiers entered the warehouse for in processing, Hausnerr led his entourage in after them. It didn’t take him long to find the woman in charge. She stood in front of a large formation of soldiers seated in the bleachers put out for them, surrounded by her own entourage.
When he approached her group, she saluted, snapping sharply to attention. “You must be the man in charge,” she said in a thick Vinnish accent. “I’m General Volden, Commander of the Vinnish Expeditionary Force.”
Hausnerr returned her salute. “I’m glad to meet you, Field Marshall Hausnerr, High Commander of the Army.” He offered his hand. “I can’t articulate how grateful I am that you’re here.” With a firmer grip than most men he knew, she shook his hand. “General Volden, Welcome to Tharsis.”
A Word From the Author
What? You honestly thought you’d get some cheesy love triangle where it didn’t belong? Sike! We don’t do that here. What we did do however was flesh out some of our other members of Fox Company. We added the drop troopers at the end and got to know the Merlin brothers and Smith a little bit better. As usual, some characters died and some new ones were introduced. I’m hard at work on AWP 3: Enemy Front as of April, so expect it in August 2021.
Fox Company and the the 75th Panzerter Battalion are both in for a rough time, both because of forces outside of their immediate conflict and the actions of each other. As a member of the National Guard, we always talked about what would happen if our country was invaded through our state. I channel some of that every time I write from Fox’s perspective. They have an enemy in front of them, but are they worried about their parents? I’d be fighting the fight of course, but I would be concerned about my nieces and nephews, my siblings, my wife, my parents, etc.
If you want to stay up to date with the new releases, there’s a few ways you can go about that. Firstly, go over to https://www.tebutcherauthor.com/newsletter and sign up. That’ll give you a direct line to receive updates like what does my release schedule look like? When is the next book or blog post coming out? Am I under attack by time traveling ninjas? Did i just find a bomb recipe for crockpot Mac and cheese? (The answer to that last one is yes.)
If in addition you like memes, follow me on instagram at https://www.instagram.com/t.e.butcher_books/ I post updates there too, but evil algorithms make it harder for them to be seen at times. The memes end up being fine though.
Armored Warrior Panzerter: Eve of Battle Page 33