Winter Sniper 03 Assaulting the Commissar, page 28
part #3 of Winter Sniper Series
There were so many targets to choose from that Hale hesitated for a moment before regaining his focus and making a selection. He lined up the two iron sights on his weapon on the man whose life he was about to extinguish and squeezed the trigger. Three hundred meters away the figure he had been aiming at collapsed to the ground.
Hale then ducked down and shifted his position as he operated the bolt on his rifle. The rifle spat out the spent bullet, along with a puff of smoke, as he pulled the bolt back. As he pushed the metal handle on the bolt forward a bullet was drawn up from the weapons’ internal magazine into the chamber. Simultaneously, he peeked over the top edge of the foxhole, and set the rifle on the ground in front of him.
A moment later, a bullet smacked into the ground about six inches from his left hand, sending up a plume of snowflakes. Hale started counting to four as he quickly eliminated another target. He waited until his mental count reached four, before ducking back down. A moment later a bullet buzzed through the space he had just been occupying.
He quickly raised himself back up into firing position, aimed at a target and put an end to another man’s life. Again, he left himself exposed as he counted to four. The advancing line of Soviets, growing frustrated, fired several bullets in Hale’s direction. None of them were close.
Suddenly, from behind, another man jumped into the foxhole with Hale. He looked over at the newcomer as he landed with a dull thud, it was Sergeant Kivi, “Thought you might appreciate some help. The rest of the men are moving into their positions.”
Hale smiled at his former instructor and said, “I sure can. There must be at least three hundred of them out there.”
Kivi started to stand, but Hale pushed him back to the floor of the foxhole, “Stay down, there’s a sniper out there.”
Sergeant Kivi ignored Hale’s advice as he stood and growled, “Bugger that. I’ve got bigger fish to fry.”
Not knowing what else to do, Hale stood with him and looked about for the enemy sniper, as Kivi opened up with his Maxim Heavy Machine Gun. The Sergeant slew dozens of the enemy before they reacted by diving to the earth for cover. Simultaneously, a bullet narrowly missed Kivi, as it zipped past left ear.
Hale thought he saw a figure appear from behind a tree, but he wasn’t sure, Was that the sniper?
The Commissar sighed in disgust as the men of the regiment plunged to the ground seeking cover. The enemy machine gun continued to spit fiery death for a few more seconds then went silent as Kuznetsov took a shot at him, “Did you get the machine gunner?”
“No comrade Commissar, but I gave him something to think about. The near miss should make him less eager to expose himself.” Kuznetsov answered.
Volkov turned to Major Morozov and demanded, “Get your cowardly men back on their feet and moving forward!”
The Major swallowed hard, and briskly nodded, before drawing his pistol and dashing towards the line of men laying in the snow. He pointed the barrel of his pistol skyward and fired three shots while he yelled, “Na nogi i vpered, sobaki!”
The men of the regiment reluctantly came to their feet and started moving forward. The Major turned back to Volkov to say something when a bullet smashed into the back of his head. Major Morozov, instantly slain, fell towards Volkov.
The Commissar hissed in disgust as he saw the back of the Major’s head had been turned into a bloody mess. Kuznetsov, who had been using a tree branch to provide support for his heavy rifle, fired a shot in reply at the Finnish Sniper. Peering at the man through his scope, he cursed as the enemy disappeared a moment before his bullet arrived, “I think it's him.”
“Karhonen?” Volkov asked.
Kuznetsov, turned his head toward the Commissar to reply when a bullet smashed into the tree he had been using for cover, less than an inch from his right ear. The sudden impact caused Kuznetsov’s training to kick in and he automatically lunged for cover.
As Kuznetsov opened his mouth to warn the Commissar, another bullet flew by, missing the Commissar’s head by a few inches as he joined Kuznetsov on the ground, “That is definitely Hale Karhonen.” Volkov spat, as he glowered at Kuznetsov.
He drew his pistol, and placed the barrel against Kuznetsov’s forehead, “I see your claim of injuring him was false. You had better take care of him this time, or you’ll be sorry.”
Kuznetsov glared at his commanding officer for several long moments before finally replying, “At once Comrade Commissar!”
Sergeant Kivi roared in delight as the Soviets resumed their advance. He pulled back on the Maxim’s bolt. to pull the first round from the new belt of bullets he had just loaded into the chamber and then started firing at the advancing Russians.
This time the advancing Red Army Soldiers started weaving back and forth trying to make themselves more difficult to hit. Kivi, an experienced Heavy Machine Gunner, ignored the movements and concentrated on laying down fire into as many bodies as possible, “There’s so many of the bastards you can’t miss!” Kivi said gleefully.
“I guess that’s looking on the bright side.” Hale replied sarcastically after he ducked down from taking a shot.
Sergeant Kivi, his second belt of ammunition expended, ducked back down into the safety of the foxhole. Large clouds of steam billowed from the metal barrel cover of the Maxim, “I’ve got to get more snow into the water chamber, or the barrel is going to melt.” Sergeant Kivi said, as he unscrewed the cap on the top of the gun, “Can you start shoveling snow in here with your hands, while I load the last belt?”
Hale nodded dully and began grabbing handfuls of snow from the ground behind the foxhole, while being careful not to expose his head. As the Red Army drew within 150 meters of their position, the men of the 123rd let out a fierce scream and started firing their rifles at the fox hole.
As bullets zipped by overhead, Hale continued to scoop snow up with his hands and push the icy substance into the circular opening on the top of the Maxim’s barrel. The Finnish Maxim had been modified to widen this opening, usually meant for water, so that it was easier to put snow into the coolant chamber. As the snow touched the metal, it hissed and instantly melted into water, “I’ve just about got it, put the cap back on.” Sergeant Kivi said.
Hale did as he was bade, and Sergeant Kivi pulled back the bolt, pulling the first round into the chamber. He then hefted the awkwardly shaped weapon and placed it on the lip of the foxhole. Turning to Hale he said, “You’d best head back to the next line, while I’m firing.
“Who's going to cover you when you're done?” Hale asked.
“Get going!” Sergeant Kivi roared.
Despite their equal rank, Hale had been conditioned to respond reflexively to Kivi’s shouting and did as he was bade. Sergeant Kivi, true to his word, laid down a blizzard of bullets with the Maxim that forced the regiment to dive for cover, halting their advance.
As Hale sprang up out of the protective hole, he began zigging and zagging, to make himself a more difficult target as he ran away from the advancing regiment. He sprinted for nearly a minute, before diving into the next fox hole. Panting, he looked around and saw the four survivors of his original squad, Cunnar, Ermel, Markko and Tomas.
The four men nervously returned Hale’s gaze; when he finally caught his breath he said, “Let’s provide some covering fire, so Kivi can get out of the forward foxhole, and retreat past us as planned.”
The four men nodded in acknowledgement, stood up, and placed their rifles onto a log that had been laid in front of the foxhole for that specific purpose. Square notches had been cut from the wood, to provide a stable platform for the men to operate their weapons from.
As Sergeant Kivi spent the last of the Maxim’s bullets, he released the weapon, and left it lying on the ground. He turned and climbed out of the fox hole. The burly man started running toward Hale, and his squad as quickly as he could. In the span of a few seconds, the Sergeants of the 123rd realized that the machine gun had fallen silent, blew on their whistles and came to their feet. Several of them fired at Sergeant Kivi without taking aim and missed.
Kuzenetsov, seeing the burly man running away, took careful aim at the middle of Sergeant Kivi’s back through the scope mounted to his rifle. You bathe in the blood of my comrades, I should put an end to you right now.
Sighing deeply, the expert sniper lowered his aim, until the Finnish Sergeant’s leg was centered in his sight and pulled the trigger, As satisfying as that would be, it will help my countrymen more, if I can use you as bait to draw out more of the enemy from the places they cower in.
Kuznetsov gently pulled the trigger on his Mosin-Nagant. His shot flew true and hit Sergeant Kivi’s left calf muscle with a dull thwack. The bullet impact sent a small plume of blood into the air, as the Sergeant cried out in pain, grabbed for the wound with his left hand, lost his balance, and plowed face first into the snow-covered ground.
Kuznetsov smiled at his handiwork, “Igor feeds.”
“Kivi!” Hale yelled in dismay as the man who had trained him to be a soldier cried out and fell to the earth.
Behind the fallen Sergeant, the Red Army advanced with a roar, “Commence fire!” Hale yelled.
Hale’s squad began firing with their rifles into the advancing mass of enemy soldiers as the young Sergeant turned and yelled, “MEDIC!”
Thirty seconds later, Koskinen jumped into the foxhole and landed with a grunt. Seeing no injured man, he turned to Hale with a quizzical look on his face and asked, “Who's hurt?”
Hale pointed to Sergeant Kivi who was crawling towards the Finnish line and safety, “Him.”
The leading elements of the 123rd, now only 140 meters away from Hale’s group, slowed their advance and began to pause in order to take aim as they fired at the men who were killing so many of their comrades.
Koskinen took a deep breath and let it out slowly trying to calm his nerves, “Cover me.”
“Cease fire!” Hale ordered, then added, “Reload. We are going to provide covering fire so that Koskinen can get to Sergeant Kivi.”
The four men did as they were instructed, pulling the lever on the bottom of their Mosin-Nagant’s internal magazine. The unspent bullets within their weapons fell to the earth. They quickly closed the latch, opened their bolts, and pushed five bullet clips into the magazine opening. As soon as they felt the click indicating the rounds had been accepted by the magazine, they withdrew the empty clip, and closed the bolt, chambering a round.
Hale joined his men on the firing line and yelled, “Commence fire!”
The four men, along with Hale, returned the Russian’s fire, as Koskinen pulled himself up out of the foxhole and ran toward Sergeant Kivi. As the medic ran for all he was worth, the ice-cold air seared the inside of his lungs as he gulped down mouthfuls of the bitterly cold oxygen. Bullets buzzed and cracked around him, as dozens of enemy soldiers paused their advance and tried to shoot the crazy Fin that was charging them.
Reaching Sergeant Kivi, Koskinen lunged headfirst to cover the last few meters that separated them, as a dozen enemy shooters drew a bead on him. Several bullets flew through the location Koskinen had just occupied a moment before as he slid to a stop next to Sergeant Kivi.
“Where are you shot?” Koskinen asked.
“In the leg!” Sergeant Kivi hissed through clenched teeth.
Koskinen crawled to the leg that Sergeant Kivi clutched between his two hands, “Let go so I can see.”
With a grimace Sergeant Kivi did as he was instructed. As Koskinen saw the wound for the first time he said, “It’s not too bad. Let me wrap it up to slow down the bleeding, and then we’ll try to get you out of here.”
Kuznetsov patiently observed the Finnish medic as he worked on the man the sniper had shot earlier. Seeing that it would be at least a minute before the medic was ready to lead his charge to safety, the Soviet Sniper shifted his gaze to the Finnish firing position beyond the pair. He saw the sporadic flashes of five rifle muzzles as they attempted to stem the overwhelming tide of the advancing regiment.
One by one, he observed as the rifles were withdrawn for reloading. During this split second he was able to see the faces of the enemy. As he observed each face, he mentally registered if they were the sniper, No, no, no, no. Disappointment morphed into glee as the sniper, peering through the scope at the Fin on the far right immediately recognized his quarry, Karhonen!
Seeing Hale, Kuznetsov took quick aim and fired. He watched through the scope as his target disappeared from sight a moment after he pulled the trigger and cursed, “Dammit to hell, does this man have some kind of sixth sense! Why is he so hard to shoot?”
Volkov, who was still laying on the ground, looked up at Kuznetsov and said, “You should have ended him when you had the chance!”
Kuznetsov crouched as he worked the bolt on his rifle, “And if I had, we wouldn’t know where the Fin’s nest was now would we.” He snarled back.
Kuznetsov, deciding to stay low, crawled forward towards a log just a few meters in front of him. Reaching it, he placed his Mosin-Nagant onto the log, and peered through the scope at Sergeant Kivi and Koskinen. He smiled as he watched the medic finish patching up the man he had shot a short time ago.
As Hale turned away and squatted to reload his rifle, a bullet flew through his firing notch and slammed into the opposite wall of the fox hole, If I would have remained one moment more, Nea would be a widow.
The young sniper looked down at his left hand, it was shaking. Taking a deep breath, he let it out slowly to steady his nerves creating a giant steam cloud around his head. Looking over at the four men of his squad he saw their eyes on him. He smiled confidently and said, “Let’s get some more of these bastards.”
Hale, along with his four men, let out a fierce war cry as they stood back up and resumed their firing positions. Seeing that the leading edge of the advancing regiment was now only one hundred meters from Sergeant Kivi and Koskinen, Hale said, “Focus your fire on the closest men. We’ve got to buy them a little more time.”
Hale quickly aimed at a target and fired. His eyes registered that the man he had targeted was struck by his bullet. Despite the ever-mounting body count his hands have created he felt a pang of guilt from the life he had just snuffed out, Another wasteful loss of this war perpetrated by one evil man’s greed. As he operated the bolt he yelled, “You need to get out of there. We can’t hold them for much longer!”
Koskinen peered over his left shoulder at the oncoming hoard, Christ almighty!
The medic ignored his nerves which unanimously screamed, Run! And continued his work on Kivi’s wound. Finishing with the wrap, he fastened it in place with a small aluminum clip and said, “We need to get you on your feet, or we are lost. Can you stand?”
“Do I have a choice?” Kivi said through pain clenched teeth.
“There are always choices. If you stay, you’ll be bludgeoned to death by the advancing Soviets within a minute.” Kiskinen said in a light tone.
Sergeant Kivi laughed, “Some choice. Let’s get moving.”
Koskinen looked at Hale’s firing line, and then back at the advancing Soviets. He threw a furtive glance into the sky and prayed, Please God.
“On the count of three I need you to come to your feet. The bandage will help with supporting weight on your injured leg, but it won’t be able to bear your full weight, so lean on me for support. Got it?”
“Yes, let’s go!” Kivi yelled back over the continuous noise of the gunfire.
Koskinen counted to three and the two men sprang to their feet. As the medic had predicted, as soon as Kivi put weight on his injured leg, he began to falter. The medic put his shoulder under Kivi’s left armpit and wrapped his right arm around the larger man’s torso to support him, “With me.” He said as he began leading them towards Hale and safety.
“Provide covering fire for our men!” Hale yelled as Koskinen and Kivi came to their feet and began moving toward them and safety.
The leading edge of the enemy line, now less than one hundred meters away, came to a stop as they raised their rifles and took aim at the fleeing Fin’s backs. Hale set his rifle down and picked up his PPD 34. He gritted his teeth as he laid down covering fire for his two comrades. Slowly, far too slowly for Hale’s taste, they continued to move toward the Finnish line at a steady gait.
Hale’s surprise stream of bullets struck half a dozen of the Soviet soldiers before the rest lost their nerve and sought cover on the ground. Four more Russians were hit by bullets from Hale’s other squad members. Hale yelled out encouragement as Koskinen and Kivi were now only ten meters from the edge of the foxhold and safety.
Kuznetsov watched through his scope as the two men came to their feet and started to move towards Karhonen’s squad. He snorted in disgust as he watched the young Fin bring the entire regiment to a halt with his PPD 34, Cowards. Ignoring his primary quarry, he shifted his aim back to the pair of men hobbling toward safety.
“Time for Igor to feed.” He smiled slightly as he closed his left eye, held his breath, and adjusted his aim, so that the uninjured man’s right leg, presumably a medic, was centered in his scope. The Soviet sniper waited a few more moments, until the enemy was maybe ten meters from their destination, Close enough so that they can see the blood, but too far to help. He thought before he pulled the trigger.
Koskinen cried out in pain, as he clutched at his right leg and went down. Without the medic supporting him, Kivi was able to stumble forward two more steps before he too, collapsed to the ground in a heap, “No!” Hale cried out in horror.
The medic rolled onto his back as he writhed in pain from his gunshot wound. Meeting Hale with his gaze he said through pain clenched teeth, “We can’t make it save yourselves.”
Hale, refusing to give up on the two men, slapped a fresh magazine onto his PPD 34 as he turned to his men and said, “Markko and Tomas, when I start firing, use the cover to bring Kivi and Koskinen back to us.”
