Clank, Clank, We're Tankers (Boguslaw)

[welking]

The airborne were famous for their air drops and attacks. Their stories inspired the people, and even other soldiers. But, without the rest of the army, they would quickly fail. The US Army Armoured Divisions would make sure they would never fail. So in order for the Armoured units to be used to their full potential, in giving hope to the soldiers, they needed good commanders. This is a reason why Captain Walter Gunther wanted to join the Allied Army. He hoped that he would be one of those men, capturing Berlin, and knowing that he beat Germany with his own hands. But, just like all of the soldiers, they thought that their enemies would be easy to defeat. Some of them, like Walter, lost something due to this. Walter had made himself a promise, that all of his soldiers would fight not for their country, their loved ones, their ideals, but those around them. In the midst of a battle he would not want his men fighting and forgetting about the man next to him, and causing his death.

The previous night at dinner, the officers of the 69th Regiment were meeting and discussing about a new officer that was joining their ranks. The new soldier’s name was Wiktor Boguslaw, a Polish 2nd Lieutenant. Many officers didn’t want a soldier that was foreign. But, Walter saw this as an opportunity for the 1st Battalion to prove themselves. He announced that he would accept the Lieutenant into his battalion. The surrounding officers look in awe, as he requested this. The Colonel approved this, and told Walter, that Lieutenant Boguslaw’s file would be sent to him in the morning, along with the message saying that the Lieutenant would also be arriving in the noon hours.

In the morning Walter awoke as he always did. As he stood in his room, he told himself that he would show the power of having foreign men in a unit to the rest of the regiment. He dressed in the standard uniform for being on base. With his garrison cap on he left his room, and walked towards the Headquarters Building, so that he could see the file of the new Lieutenant.

The door he opened to the building, was full of sound. The clerks were doing all of the normal work, and for once being energetic about it. Must be because of the USO program tonight, he told himself. The hallway to his office was empty, as he walked down it. He opened the door, and immediately saw the file laying on his desk. After sitting down in the chair behind his desk, he opened the file to have a closer look at this officer.

It took him ten minutes to read through the document and realizing the mistakes he made in picking him. It seems that all the others read this, and left it for me, he said in his mind. Now seeing that he might be having a problem in his unit, he decided to find out the best possible way to utilize the Lieutenant to his fullest potential. Because of him seeing his family killed before his eyes, Walter got the impression that Wiktor might be fighting for revenge. I will have to fix this so that he doesn’t go crazy when finding out that I am German, and to be his commanding officer, but more importantly I want to let him know, that we don’t fight for revenge in my unit. We fight for the man next to us. Walter told himself, as he got up to leave the room.

[Wiktor Boguslaw]

Wiktor was finally going to be sent into a new unit. He had been waiting for months for news of this and now it was finally happening. He had been accepted into the 69th armoured regiment, an America based unit. Wiktor didn't know much excpet that the regiment was newly founded and that the commander was a man by the name of Walter Gunther.

Wiktor was due to arrive somewhere around noon at the headquarters of this new regiment, and was immediatly supposed to meet the commander. Wiktor knew he would only have one chance at proving himself in front of his superiors. He also knew that there would be some interfering issues, such as him being Polish. Sad to say many officers and commanders saw foreign Easter Europen's as a threat to there ranks, maybe because of the close proximity to Nazi Germany, Wiktor had no idea.

Wiktor dressed into his finest military uniform and began mentally preparing for the meeting. He never stopped analyzing the encounter even as he stepped onto the roaring Curtiss C-46 that would carry him to his destination. As the plain took off Wiktor glanced outside, praying he would be accepted into this regiment and not having to return to his old base. He was the only one onboard at that time, so he had plenty of time just to relax, although he never fully dropped into a care free state of mind.

At about 1200 hours the plane touched onto the runway and began rolling down the hot asphalt toward the buildings in the distance. The sun shined and a light breeze was blowing as Wiktor stepped of the plane and began casually walking toward the main headquarters. He quickly saluted the gaurd at the gate as he continued to walk. Finally he reached the stone building that was the bases HQ. Wiktor took a deep breath, tidied up his hair with a quick brush of his hand and straightend and smoothed his uniform. Then he opened the door and walked into the building, were the events would decide whether or not he would be joining this regiment and finally have a chance to prove himself in battle.

[welking]

As Walter left the office, he walked towards the entrance, passing fellow Captain Gregory Maloney. He was in command of 2nd Battalion’s Dog Company. The two had been through basic with each other. After having a small talk with Greg, Walter started walking again towards the main entrance. Walter went over to Ben Hanshaw, the corporal at the main desk to direct all personnel. “Ben, is my new guy here?” ”Yeah, he is the one standing there” Ben replied and pointed at a soldier who was looking around. The soldier had a tough build to him, one that was not found very often in the city boys of the US, but in the country and rural boys of Europe. This man will be a good guy to have on our side, he told himself. Walter started to look over the Lieutenant trying to find weaknesses; the surprising thing was he found none on the outside. Getting a grin on from this, Walter started to walk over to the Lieutenant. The noise was still going on in the background, when he got close to the man standing there. “Are you Lieutenant Wiktor Boguslaw?” Walter asked. He had pronounced the “V” in Wiktor correctly. He must have been the only one too, because at the meeting officers were calling him Wiktor with a “W”. Might as well introduce myself, Walter said in his mind.

”I am Captain Gunther.” Walter stated plainly and openly. I don’t think this is the best place to talk, so would you follow me to a better place.” Walter said as he turned around to head back to his office, hoping for Wiktor to follow. Again, he passed through the corridor, and got glances. The other soldiers must think that the Eastern Europeans look different from us. Greg passed down the hall and gave a weird glance towards Walter as he walked down it. No matter what, if this lieutenant has anything wrong with him, I will prove the worth of my battalion to the upper echelon. The hallway’s color was draining away slowly, because a slight drizzle had started outside, making it cloudy.

He opened the door and walked in. As he walked in, he went towards the window, so that he could open it, and let in as much light as possible. Afterwards he went for his chair. As he sat down he left Wiktor’s file closed. He said ”Please, do sit down.” to Wiktor. The entire room had this awkward air about it, probably, because Walter was waiting for an outburst for being under the command of a German.

[Wiktor Boguslaw]

Wiktor stepped into the room and glanced around. There were officers and secretary’s milling around, some typing up an order, some talking here and there, and some just looking for a purpose. Some of them looked up as Wiktor entered but quickly went back to whatever they were doing beforehand. Wiktor began approaching the man that was currently stationed at the reception desk, Wiktor might as well see if the man he was meeting was here yet. Wiktor reached the man, whom by name plate on his desk, was a man named Corporal Hanshaw.

Wiktor gave a brief and polite cough to get the Corporal’s attention as he was currently was glued to some papers he was reading. The Corporal turned to his direction, “Hello there sir, what is your business today?” “I am Lieutenant Boguslaw, I am supposed to meet a man named Captain Gunther today,” Wiktor replied. The Corporal glanced at a schedule on a nearby wall and checking the day’s meetings, “A yes, he will be here soon, wait over there please.” Wiktor seemed to hear a little disgust in his voice, but he shrugged it off and moved over to one of the waiting chairs. Deciding not to sit so he could keep his suit as tidy as possible, he began to glance around hoping to spot the Captain.

Wiktor began looking at a painting hung on a nearby wall and was so absorbed into it that he didn’t notice a man approaching until he heard his voice, “Are you Lieutenant Wiktor Boguslaw?” Wiktor spun around and studied the man; he wore a heavily medaled uniform so Wiktor assumed this was indeed Captain Gunther. The man proceeded to talk as Wiktor studied him, “I am Captain Gunther, I don’t think this is the best place to talk, so would you follow me to a better place.” The man began walking toward the place that he indicated and Wiktor followed him down the dim hallway. Officers glanced up at them passing and many of them gave looks of disapproval, but Wiktor simply ignored them. He was used to this kind of attitude to Easter Europeans like himself.

Wiktor followed the Captain into what he guessed was the man office. The man sat down and gestured for Wiktor to do the same. Wiktor seated himself down and smiled at the Captain. “It is a pleasure to meet you Captain Gunther, I have been looking forward to this meeting for a long time, and may I also add I am glad for once to find someone who actually pronounces my name right, may I ask if you are from somewhere near Eastern Europe?” Wiktor began saying to the Captain.

[welking]

The Lieutenant had just asked whether or not he was from Eastern Europe. Of course, he was observant enough to notice that I pronounced his name right. He really might be a good catch, Walter told himself as he looked at the Lieutenant who was sitting across from him. I won’t be able to just let this one go without a good test. He is smart, but does he deserve this command. Why not give him a little test for command. This entire discussion was going on in Walter’s mind as he stared into the Lieutenant’s eyes.

”Wiktor, care to join me in a game of chess?” Walter asked as he opened a drawer on his desk. Of course he wouldn’t say no. This was a superior officer speaking. Walter told himself as he reached into the drawer and pulled out a chess board and a box of the pieces. The object of this test was to be able to concentrate on the fight, and not pay attention to him talking.

Walter had played chess a lot, and could set up the board in a minute. He was used to playing against himself, because many of the other officers had lost against him. ”My move.” he stated as he moved one of his pawns forward. This game requires patience, and by the way he acts in the game, he will understand my motives in different ways. If he acts offensively and attacking without hesitation, he is trying, if he is on the defensive, he is treating it as some same old game of chess. If he finds out that I am not going at my full potential, then he is greatly observant. Now, I just have to see how he reacts, if he finds out that I am not trying, and uses that to his advantage, he will be a good commander. A final thing is, he must concentrate on the game while ignoring my comments. Because in combat, you cannot function if your emotions explode, causing you to do radical things, that will most likely getting yourself killed. The silence was uneasy, the Lieutenant was probably thinking of his first move.

“Wiktor, do you know what my country of origin is? Since you probably don’t, let me inform you. I was born and raised in Germany.” This was what Walter was hoping for; for Wiktor’s concentration to be destroyed by comments he made. ”Wiktor, I am like you, a foreign officer among the US ranks, and just like you, wish to prove myself. Only, I do not want to prove it through hatred, and revenge.” Hopefully, this was working against Wiktor, so that Walter could successfully place Wiktor in a good spot for to use. “If you are wondering why I ask, it is because of what your file says. You saw your family killed by German soldiers. But again, we are alike. I saw what was currently my family killed before my eyes because of something I did. I want you to realize that in this unit, your family isn’t related to you. Your family are the men next to you and around you.”

[Wiktor Boguslaw]

Wiktors mind was racing, Captain Gunther was from Germany? Of course though, he had pronounced his name correctly, only an Eastern European could have done that. Also his accent was heavy and the name too was probably German in origin. He decided to think on this later, for he knew the Captains intention. He had invited Wiktor to a game of chess, the officer’s game of choice. Captain Gunther was obviously trying to test him in some way. Wiktor knew he had to prove himself now, or Gunther would doubt him in the future, maybe even see him unfit to lead men into combat.

Wiktor moved a pawn forward while he thought this, one directly in front of the Captains. “First of all, I am sorry to hear about the loses you have had Captain, I see that we both have had a time of emotional hardship”, Wiktor replied. “Also I do wish to prove myself as an able commander, you are right there. But, you are wrong where you say I want to achieve this through revenge and hatred. True, I hate the Nazis with my all my life, but I do not let hatred control me. If I did this I would never have passed basic military training, let alone the officer training I have went through to get my rank as Lieutenant."

He’s trying to get me on nerve; I won’t give him the satisfaction he wants. “Also if you believe I hate you for being a German, you are again wrong. I do not hate native born Germans. I only hate the men, who call themselves Nazis, and you are not one, you are an allied soldier. Saying this, I will never look upon you with distaste or disgust. I will look at you like my superior commander, my ally, and my friend.”

Wiktor sat back and tried to read the Captains expression, it was blank. Whatever he was thinking he was keeping it from being shown. All I know is that whatever you’re playing at here, it won’t work. “I believe it’s your move Captain.”

[welking]

”I do not think of the past much more than I already do. The past is not what decides the future. Only you yourself can do that. So in order for you to live to the future, you must do what it takes to stay alive; and one of those things is to live in the present.” Walter said openly keeping the same calm look. So far he is turning out fine. Now to the game, if he notices I am going easy, he should attack and use my generosity against me, Walter told himself.

Action was what he was looking for. Hopefully, Wiktor can stay like this when the bullets are flying. He is proving to be a good commander already, but does he have what it takes for out on the field, can he get men to follow him into combat loyally. Walter moved his knight out of waiting towards the area where he could easily take the pawn.

”Wiktor, I can tell you know what I am doing, because you are smart. Many officers would likely just take my game of chess as a trick of some sort, and not play to their fullest. They think I am just crazy for using such a tactic. But, you are different, you already know what I am planning on doing, don’t you?” Walter asked as a small grin came across his face.

Time to change the test, he has played into a small part that he won’t expect , Walter said to himself in his mind. Walter’s eyes continued to stare at Wiktor as he awaited any movement in expressions. Expressions can tell you a lot about a person, especially when playing a game. Poker doesn’t involve the mind as much, only chance. Chess was the preferred game; it was an opening to the opponents mind. This was why Walter liked it as a child, so that he could evaluate and see a person through the way they played. Only once in Walter’s life had he been beaten while trying his hardest. Though he could not remember the person’s name; he saw their image in his mind, but he could not place a name. Let’s hope that Wiktor can be one of those people who can catch on when an enemy changes their plan.

”Lieutenant, it is your move.” Walter announced as he looked expectantly towards Wiktor.

[Wiktor Boguslaw]

What was this man trying to do? Wiktor could not figure out what this man’s plan was at the moment, but he intended to find out. “Captain, I do not look to the past to decide my actions. I look to the past to keep the memories of the ones I love alive. I look into the future and find many choices, but none of them are due to my memories. I see choices that can result in actions that I do today,” Wiktor replied.

Wiktor positioned another one of his pawns to support the pawn that was threatened by the Captains knight. “I do not know why those other commanders do not play to the fullest. Every day I give all the effort I can. An enemy may look weak, but you should never underestimate them,” Wiktor said as he smiled at Gunther. “But that doesn’t mean you should be unwary. Your opponent can have many tricks and surprises up there sleeve, waiting for you to lose focus and strike like a viper. As for what you are planning, it is simple in my mind. You want to test me and my ability to think on the battlefield. You want to see how I can react to any given situation, and I think that is good. If I was in your place I would not ideally sign someone on to a regiment, I would test them like you.”

Wiktor looked up at the Captain and saw him staring back at him. The Captain seemed to be searching for something inside of him, but Wiktor did not know what. This Captain is a smart one, worthy to lead. “Also I believe you are just trying to get to know me better. We have not met before today, and I believe we both have questions for each other.” I have a lot of questions for this man, he seems very curious to me. But this is not the time to ask them, or the place.

“Your move sir”

[welking]

I don't have any good ideas on how to continue this, so I am closing it.

Wiktor- Nice writing and continuous ideas for the thread-5CP
Walter-Longer posts and writing-5CP

Minimal CP earned due to thread not being finished.

Higer staff member needs to issue.

[welking]

Closed and Issued

~Walter