Cross of Iron

by Willi Heinrich

  Dora gave a tired shrug. ‘Whatever you think,’ he said.

  By the time Hollerbach had gone to fetch Schnurrbart, the men inside the bunker were sitting at the table, Steiner among them. Even without looking at him, Schnurrbart sensed his mocking expression. He went over to a cot and sat down.

  ‘I hear you have been worried on my account,’ Steiner said. The sarcasm in his voice sent the blood rushing to Schnurrbart’s forehead. The bastard, he thought, trembling with rage, the bastard! He felt painfully humiliated. To hell with him in the future, he resolved and began fumbling with his pipe. Steiner watched him, his grey eyes glistening with amusement. Then he turned to the table, smoothed down the map, and motioned the men to crowd around him.

  ‘How far is it to Krymskaya,’ Maag inquired anxiously, craning his neck to get a look.

  ‘About twenty miles—if we used the road it would be nearly forty -five.’

  ‘Then we certainly won’t be using the road,’ Krüger said.

  Steiner stared at the map. ‘The stuff between is regular wilderness. At least, that’s how it looks to me from the map. And a stream running through. The whole region is marshy. The big question is whether we can get through.’

  ‘Then let’s take the road,’ Krüger said.

  ‘Certainly,’ Kern nodded. ‘It’s a lot better walking on the road. We can do forty -five miles by tomorrow night easy. The battalion must have marched along the road too.’

  ‘In the first place,’ Steiner explained, ‘the battalion didn’t march; it went by truck. In the second place, I doubt that we’ll be able to stay on the road without interference.’

  Kern looked blankly at the map. ‘Why?’ he asked.

  For a moment Steiner sat still looking into their anxious faces. Then he rose: ‘The Russians are on the highway. That means we have to go through the woods. Before we reach them we have that highway to cross.’ He slung his tommy -gun over his shoulder and went to the door, opening it. ‘Come on! Stay close together and keep your traps shut.’

  One after the other the men squeezed past him. The last to leave the bunker, Steiner kicked the stove so that it fell over, spilling its glowing embers on the floor.

  He went out, closing the door behind him. The men were waiting for him a few yards away. He took the lead and the platoon set off into the woods. They spoke scarcely a word as they marched. After some twenty minutes the forest began thinning out, and in another five minutes they reached the edge of it. As they stepped out upon the open ploughland, a cold wind lashed the rain into their faces. By the time they had gone a few yards great lumps of muddy soil clung to their boots. They panted under the burden of their machine -guns and boxes of ammunition, and with every step cursed under their breath. Krüger kept close behind Hollerbach. He was carrying the heavy machine -gun over his right shoulder like a shovel. Once he slipped and fell into a furrow. Tired, he scrambled up and wiped the mud from his hands. This stinking war, he thought bitterly. Schnurrbart came over to him. ‘Come on,’ he said. They moved forward side by side until they bumped into Hollerbach. ‘That’s what you get for falling asleep on your feet,’ Hollerbach whispered, shifting his rifle to his other shoulder. Krüger jabbed his fist into Hollerbach’s back. ‘Shut up. What I’d like to know is how far we still have to go. This damned field is never going to end.’

  ‘No more than another thirty miles,’ Hollerbach replied. He suddenly stood still.

  Krüger pushed forward toward the group in front. ‘What the devil’s the matter now?’

  The men did not answer. Out of the darkness before them rose the low drone of big motors, the creaking of heavily laden trucks. Occasional shouts, windblown and stirring, reached their ears.

  ‘Russians,’ Hollerbach whispered.

  ‘A whole army,’ Kern stammered. With quivering fingers he unthinkingly reached for his cigarettes and thrust one between his lips. As he struck a match, Steiner suddenly appeared in front of him, his hand sweeping back. There was a sharp clapping sound, followed by a rain of sparks from the crushed cigarette. Kern uttered a whimpering noise and pressed both hands against his mouth. The whole incident had taken place so swiftly that the others only began to realize what it was about when Steiner took a step backward and raised his tommy -gun. ‘You idiot!’ His voice sounded thick with rage. The men stared at him in alarm, while Kern still stood among them, his hands at his face. ‘You ought to be shot!’ Steiner whispered harshly. He whirled around and started forward again. They followed him without a word. For another hundred yards they continued in the same direction. The ground sloped upward somewhat. The noises ahead became increasingly distinct. They could already hear the crisp tread of nailed boots. But it was still so dark that they could not see ten paces ahead. They must have been about fifty yards from the highway when Steiner ordered a halt. He called to Hollerbach and Schnurrbart to join him. ‘You fellows come with me. The rest will wait here.’ Bent low, they disappeared into the darkness.

  The men squatted on the wet ground, listening to the noises from the highway. They were all wide awake now. Krüger looked at his watch. It was already four. The rain had stopped. I wish it would pour now, Krüger thought. He turned to Dietz beside him and said: ‘We’ll never get across there.’

  Dietz shrugged. He looked at Kern, who had buried his face in his hands and was sitting in a posture of resentment. ‘He shouldn’t have hit him,’ Dietz whispered.

  Krüger spat, ‘Ah, shit!’

  ‘What do you mean, shit?’ Dietz protested. ‘He shouldn’t have done it.’ He began to stammer indignantly. ‘Where’d we be if every corporal could slap us in the face?’

  Krüger rubbed his sleeve over his wet face. ‘What are you making such a fuss for?’ he grumbled. ‘Forget it, for God’s sake, there are more important things to think about at the moment.’

  Intimidated, Dietz fell silent. He sat regarding his dirty hands unhappily. It just wasn’t right, he thought. A reprimand—all right, punishment exercises—that was all right, too. But smashing a lighted cigarette into a man’s face—that was going too far, much too far. The more he thought about it, the more indignant he became. Steiner had always been decent to him personally, but that, too, might change, some day. It was a matter of principle. What had just happened to Kern might easily happen to any of them tomorrow. Although, of course, he himself would hardly be caught making a mistake like that. After all, he was a soldier, a front -liner. At this point in his train of thought, Dietz saw the thing clearly. ‘If a thing’s wrong on the lowest level, it’s wrong all through,’ he said. ‘That’s why it’s a serious matter. Do you think -’ he hesitated. ‘Don’t you think that if they started hitting each other in the face at the Führer’s headquarters, we wouldn’t be feeling the effects of it quick enough. I tell you, we’ve got to have order. Order and discipline from the bottom to the top, but also from the bottom to the top.’ He spoke these last words with the utmost conviction.

  Krüger grinned. ‘It’s the same thing.’

  ‘What is?’

  ‘Well, you said we’ve got to have order from the bottom to the top, but also from the bottom to the top. It’s the same thing.’

  It took a moment for Dietz to grasp this. ‘That was just a slip of the tongue,’ he said irritably. ‘You know what I meant: from the bottom to the top and from the top to the bottom. In the Führer’s headquarters -’

  ‘Don’t strain your guts, my boy,’ Krüger said. ‘In the Führer’s headquarters they gargle with champagne. If we were up there we’d be gargling piss.’ He wiped his hand over his mouth. ‘Yes, we’d feel the effects if they started hitting one another.’ The thought amused him and he chuckled. ‘Maybe they will, at that; but not until all of us right here are in the soup. You know what the issue is at the moment?’ He brought his face close to Dietz’s. ‘The issue is that we have to get out of here. And you know why? I’ll tell you.’ He poked his finger into Dietz’s chest; affronted, Dietz moved back. ‘I’ll tell you,’ he repeated. �
�We have to get out so that we’ll be on time to get into the next mess. Out of one mess into the next. That’s been going on for three years and it’ll go on until we get into one mess good and deep and don’t come out of it.’ He came to an end of words, having worked himself into a rage.

  Dietz gazed at him dumbfounded. Then he turned to Dorn, who had been genially listening to the conversation. ‘What do you say to that, Professor?’

  Dorn forced a grave expression. ‘It is difficult,’ he said. ‘I shall have to consult my books.’

  The men grinned and turned their attention back to the highway. It was slowly beginning to grow light. The terrain was now fairly visible. In front of them the field sloped steeply up to an embankment and beyond rose the black silhouettes of mountains against the greying sky.

  ‘Where the devil is the highway?’ Zoll whispered.

  Krüger shrugged. ‘It must be in a dip. Once we get our carcasses over it, we’re clear.’

  They lifted their heads. The sounds on the highway had stopped.

  They all jumped to their feet and stared up the sloping field. ‘Here comes somebody,’ Dietz whispered hoarsely. A figure emerged out of the dim foreground, came running toward them with great leaps. ‘Hollerbach,’ Zoll whispered. At this moment Hollerbach stopped and waved his fist in the air. ‘Let’s go,’ Krüger said. They snatched their guns and ran up the slope. Hollerbach waited a moment for them, then turned. Panting, they followed him. When they reached the crown of the hill they saw the highway beneath them in the grey dawn light, deserted. They slipped down the steep declivity and raced across the trampled, rutted width of the road toward the edge of the woods which rose like a dark wall against the further mountains. Schnurrbart and Steiner were waiting for them. Seconds later they were trampling through the dense undergrowth and were several hundred yards within the woods. Gasping, they stopped to catch their breath. It had by now grown so light that they could see clearly. When they looked at Steiner they saw a wild gleam of triumph in his eyes.

  Krüger raised his hand. They turned in unison to face the road, from which the rumble of vehicles could again be heard. But now that they had made the crossing, they did not care. The fearful nervous tension of the past few hours dropped away. They grinned, slapped one another exuberantly on the back. ‘We’ve got the stuff,’ one said boastfully.

  ‘Precision work,’ commented Hollerbach. To celebrate he lit a cigarette.

  Schnurrbart looked around. ‘What mountains are those?’ he asked.

  ‘Just hills,’ Steiner explained. ‘We have to cross them. The marsh begins on the other side of them.’ He turned to the men. ‘Get ready,’ he ordered.

  They picked up their gear. Kern hung back; now and again he would rub the burned spot on his face and give Steiner a dirty look. ‘Don’t take it so hard,’ Dietz said to him. Kern did not condescend to answer.

  They started off once more. For a while their way led over springy, moss -covered forest floor. The slope grew steeper, and they began toiling uphill, gasping for breath. The climb seemed everlasting. Tight -lipped with determination, they gained ground slowly; every yard uphill represented a scramble. They kept their eyes fixed in the direction of the invisible crest of the hill which must lie somewhere up above these trees. Their good humour ebbed away and they began cursing.

  ‘They ought to stop for a bit up front there,’ Dietz panted. He stood still and wiped the sweat from his forehead. Krüger, who was behind him, also stopped. ‘What’s the matter, Child? Fuel running low?’

  ‘They ought to make a break,’ Dietz repeated plaintively. He was done in. Krüger regarded him with a frown. ‘If you start giving out now, how is it going to be later on?’ He shifted the machine -gun to his left shoulder. ‘Let me have your boxes.’

  Dietz sighed gratefully. While Krüger picked up his boxes of ammunition, he loosened his belt. ‘I have a stitch in the side,’ he said apologetically.

  ‘You’ll get over that in a little while,’ Krüger lied reassuringly. ‘Come on, or we’ll be holding this position alone.’

  The others had meanwhile gone a considerable distance ahead. But after several more of the men protested, Steiner allowed a rest. It was full daylight by now. The woods were filled with the hearty song of birds. The men sprawled on the ground and looked up the steep slope. ‘Damned tough going,’ Zoll said. ‘We ought to be on top soon.’

  ‘We will be,’ Steiner replied. ‘You all could have done those few yards more.’

  Maag yawned. He turned on his side so that he could look up at Steiner and asked: ‘Where’s the rush? We’ll get where we’re going soon enough.’

  ‘It depends on where you’re going,’ Steiner growled.

  Maag refused to back down. ‘Same place you’re going.’

  ‘If that’s so you have no time to lose.’

  ‘We’ll make those twenty miles by tonight easy,’ Maag retorted, confidently. He was enjoying the rest and had made up his mind not to stand up for another ten minutes at least.

  Steiner regarded him contemptuously. ‘If it’s only twenty miles. But if the battalion doesn’t succeed in holding the position where we’re to meet them until tomorrow, we’ll have another fifteen to go.’

  Krüger pinched his nose between his thumb and forefinger. ‘Where will they move to in that case?’ he asked.

  ‘I told you yesterday,’ Steiner replied curtly.

  Schnurrbart rolled over on his belly and explained: ‘West of Krymskaya.’ He turned to Steiner. ‘Do you know what positions they’re supposed to take there?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Then everything’s under control,’ Krüger said contentedly.

  Steiner glanced irritably at him. None of them seemed to realize what they were facing. But it was better that way, he reflected. What worried him most was the stream marked on the map as cutting at an angle across the forest. There was no reason to assume a bridge in this uninhabited area. If necessary, he thought, we’ll have to fell trees. Without the proper tools that would be exhausting and time -consuming work. The sooner they reached the river the better. ‘Let’s go,’ he ordered loudly.

  They stared up at him in dismay. ‘Already,’ Zoll said. ‘You can wait a few minutes more.’

  Steiner stood up. He walked over to where Zoll sat. ‘Listen to me,’ he said, his voice quivering with rage, ‘you’re beginning to get on my nerves. Maybe you better not call attention to yourself for a while.’

  Zoll propped himself up on his elbow and became aware that the muzzle of Steiner’s tommy -gun was dancing right before his eyes. ‘Take that thing away!’ he squawked in alarm.

  ‘I plan to,’ Steiner stated. He turned, and they saw him taking long strides up the slope. Hastily, they stood up, brushed the wet leaves from their uniforms and followed. In ten minutes they had reached the brow of the hill. The ceiling of leaves was less dense up here. With surprise they saw that the sky was cloudless. The tree -tops were glistening in the rosy light of the rising sun, which was itself still out of sight beyond the woods. Steiner turned to the right and kept to the ridge, which ran north and south. He had quickened his pace; the men trailed behind, strung out at longer and longer intervals.

  Zoll lingered behind to wait for Kern, who came trudging up to him with a sour expression. Last in line, they walked along silently, side by side. They were bowed over by the weight of the heavy boxes of ammunition. Sweat drew grey streaks across their filthy faces. There were burn -spots around the innkeeper’s mouth; Zoll observed his tongue lick out occasionally and moisten the reddened skin. Each time Kern did this, his face twisted in a grimace of pain and resentment.

  ‘I wouldn’t have stood for that,’ Zoll said.

  Kern cursed. ‘You’re the one to talk!’

  However, gradually his rage was losing force and conviction. It had been idiotic of him to light that cigarette. It was the act of a green recruit. This thought had been gnawing away at him more than the blow in the face. But this toilsome climb was begin
ning to wear the edge off his anger. They had really been lucky. A Russian might really have seen the flare of light from his match. He shuddered. What luck, he thought, what a break. His relief made him feel almost light -hearted. If it were not for the burns around his mouth, he would be able to put the episode out of his mind. Again he ran his tongue over his lips. ‘Haven’t you any salve?’ he asked Zoll.

  ‘Think I’m a beauty shop?’ Zoll replied sulkily.

  Kern grinned. ‘Not a chance,’ he said. He liked Zoll no more than the others did. Zoll’s appearance was as unpleasant as his manners. There was something shifty about his face, and his eyes seemed to goggle behind his horn -rimmed glasses.

  They walked in silence for a while. ‘I wonder where the devil he’s taking us,’ Zoll said after a while.

  Kern tried to see beyond the man in front of them. But the line was now stretched out over a good distance. Steiner was out of sight.

  ‘There’s something up ahead there,’ Kern said.

  ‘Where?’

  ‘There, above the trees.’

  Zoll stretched his neck forward. ‘What the hell is it?’ he asked.

  ‘Must be the pylon of a powerline.’

  They quickened their step. Before them, the girders of a huge tower rose out of the trees, and a few yards farther on they came to a cleared ride through the woods. The men had gathered around Steiner, all looking in one direction. Zoll and Kern, when they came up to them, opened their eyes wide with astonishment. Below them was one long downhill slope. At regular intervals the steel pylons rose above the ride. To the west, as far as the eye could reach, all the way to the purple -tinged mountains on the horizon, lay a tremendous forest. The bright, even green of the trees flowed on wholly unbroken; nowhere was there a sign of a clearing, of human habitation. The scene took their breath away. Kern looked in awe at the great forest. ‘Like a sea. A green sea,’ he murmured reverently.