Volume 1 Chapter 6: The Beach Episode: The Tromsø Incident

August 14th, 1941

Tromsø NordReich

The outpost was quiet. Nothing really happens in this territory.

The Atlantikwal does not reach this part of NordReich so the coastline is accessible.

A lookout tower at the town's entrance was looking out to sea.

The climate has significantly changed since the elapse. Older trees which were acustomed to the cold were dying out in this heat. The animals too were suffering. It was as if the whole ecosystem was collapsing.

Then native animals started emirgrating. They found this island smack in the middle of the Abysmal Bay and began using it as a rest stop before heading back across the large enclosed bay to the other side.

Even small birds were making the journey. This island was a godsend for them.

The minister of environmental affairs was hard at work importing European animals which could sustain this heat and planned planting palm trees everywhere.

A month into this plan and he managed to save the island. Palms trees and native plants covered the Norwegian lands. Many of the original animals and plants retreated to the mountain ranges of NordRiech where it was much colder despite the insolation.

It was an uneventful morning like many other mornings. Mass mobilization has been happening for about two months and the invasion west was to happen in a weeks time.

Suddenly a dark shape appeared on the horizon. The watchguard took no heed to the shadow.

Soon it was within 4KM from the shore. This is when the guard really took notice. He guard radioed Nord Command which confirmed that there were no ships scheduled to be in their location. The guard gulped, he hesitated and sounded the panic alarm (AU: radar has hard times location ships made up of wood, fiberglass and other light materials. Especially WWII era radar).

The shrill scream of air raid sirens blasted all across northern NordReich. Civilians who were working in the coastal towns ran for the air raid shelters.

The local garrison gathered in the center of the town and did a quick headcount.

The garrison numbered 474 people including non-combatants such as medics, logistic personnel and artillery personnel.

The garrison split into 4 groups; one would guard the main town. Two would dig trenches on the beach and the last one was reserve.

On hand they had two Panzer III Aug A and a StuG III with three halftracks. Two were APCs (armor personnel carriers) and the last one mounted a 8.8 cm flak 18 gun, called the Sd.Kfz. 8. Also at their disposal was 14 Opel Blitz trucks. Of the 14 only 4 of them were equipped to haul artillery. Three of these motorized artillery were deployed to the beach, one stayed in the city.

They had various small arms. The majority were Kar98k and Gewehr 88 bolt action rifles. They only had 32 MP40s, MP18s and MP28s.

Even more scarce were machine guns. Only 15 lmgs could be fielded so they were put in bunkers and well protected positions.

The few officers had Luger P08s as sidearms while they only had two experimental StG 41. This was a semi-automatic rifle which chambered the powerful 7.92×33mm Kurz round which was in production as a intermediate power cartridge ammunition. Since it was lighter than the 7.92×57mm Mauser round used in the Kar98k the recoil was more controllable. Personally ordered by Kaiser Wilhelm X these gas-powered piston, tilted bolt, selective fire assault rifles were still in testing but 2000 copies were already made and sent to the field as part of a test on quality control.

The two most senior officers took the StG 41 and several box magazines. They radioed for air support and more reinforcements, both requests were accepted and a formation of Ju-87s and Bf-109s were scrambled to Tromsø as well as a submarine squad. It would take the planes half an hour to reach the fight and submarines a hour.

The rest equipped bolt action rifles and submachine guns from the stash. A number of hand grenades were also taken as well as trench shovels and maces in case of close quarters fights.

The soldiers set up a skirmish line in front of the area which was being dug out. Men from the towns were recruited to help dig faster. Several them joined the fight as militia. If the enemy were to land they would not meet unarmed civilians but a strong defensive line.

As the unknown ships drew closer it was apparent that they were much too slow. The Sd.Kfz. 8 which was positioned the the mouth of a cave in the nearby mountain opened fire on the ships.

With a fire rate of 15-20 rounds a minute a large barrage of shells rained on the approaching fleet. The fleet turned sideways to reveal a large double deck of guns and opened fire as well. The flak gun severely outranged, outgunned, outfired and outperformed the 36-pounder naval guns of the enemy fleet (This is a 18th century French naval cannon with a range of about 3.7 km). With more than double its range it quickly took out four wooden ships.

However there still were 24 large ships and about 50 smaller ships. This was a large invasion with the aim of landing large numbers of soldiers. Since the watchguard noticed the ships too late the shoreline was in firing range of the 36-pounders. Plumes of sand, rock and debris shot into the sky as cannonballs raked the beach.

Ships kept on taking HE fire from the Sd.Kfz. 8 but the sheer numbers of smaller boats approaching the shoreline stopped the gun from completely halting their advance.

More and more landing craft were being dropped and rowed over to the shore. Once in range the smaller 10.5 cm leFH 18 howitzers and MG34s, MG36s and MG18s opened fire.

The first wave of enemy soldiers were hit the beach running but were mowed down on the beach leaving piles of bodies and blood soaking the sand. Several landing craft took direct fire and exploded in a burst of black, orange and white sending wooden splinters raining on nearby soldiers.

More and more enemies kept pouring onto the beach as the two story ships returned fire to support their marines.

The cracks of rifle fire and the screams of the machine guns filed the air. The bodies kept of piling up to a point where they served as a man-made barrier.

The cries of the wounded were drowned in intense machine gun fire. Soon ammunition was running low and the defenders were forced to fall back. A small squad made a delaying action maneuver to allow for the retreat.

Stabswachtmeister (AU: US equivalent of a staff sergeant) Klaus von Schmidt was looking through a pair of binoculars. He frowned at the large mass of enemies who landed on the beach.

This retreat allowed the enemy to land about 5 thousand soldiers onto the land. Many of them were wearing ragtag bits of leather and metal armor. Almost all of them wore a collar of sorts. Maybe it was a ranking system? They were too far away and there was too much smoke to discern more details.

"Obergefreiter (AU: US equivalent Corporal) Krüger, tell the panzer platoon to move to that valley."

He pointed to a crevice between two hills which covered the beach. They formed a path one must travel down to reach the town.

Then he got an idea. He would harass the army with 10 cm nebelwerfer 35 mortars to buy time to dig in. Then machine gun nests and dug in tanks would hold the line with artillery support. Two squads of grenadiers would await on both sides of the valley and wait for his signal. Then they would cut off their retreat with explosives and encircle them.

The order was given and the mortars started firing. While that occurred the men rushed to build defensive fortifications. Hastily made bunkers of sandbags lined the narrow corridor of the valley. the StuG and Panzer IIIs were lined in the back to provide infantry support. 10.5 cm leFH 18 howitzers in the far back with the Sd.Kfz. 8 gun would fire artillery support when necessary.

After delaying the enemy advance for half an hour the first heads of the enemy could been seen. Not one held a gun. They all rushed the German defensive positions with little armor but huge numbers (AU: imagine that one scene from that Chinese Civil War movie where thousands of unarmed soldiers rushed up a hill).

All at once the guns opened up once more and the bodies began to hit the ground once more.

Dozens of enemies were downed from machine gun fire as well as concentrated rifle fire. The real damage came from the artillery cannons in the rear which smashed large craters into the enemy advance.

The enemy became bogged down in holes dug for anti-tank warfare and got cut by barbed wire. Some enemy soldiers tried to cut the wire with their weapons just to get mowed with machine gun fire.

The tanks were firing canister and HE rounds to maximize damage. Machine gun fire from the tanks too poured into the enemy.

Soon a large droning could be heard and several black dots littered the sky.

The distinct scream of sirens on the Ju-87 'Stuka' dive bombers filled the air as they dropped their payload.

Kaboom!

A huge burst of dirt shot into the sky carrying a platoons worth of enemy soldiers.

More and more explosions followed as the enemy's attack began to falter. A few what looked like conscripts began running but the ones with collars kept rushing the German positions.

"Now!"

Stabswachtmeister Schmidt signaled his grenadiers who then threw a large number of grenades over the sides of the valley and onto the rear of the enemy.

Explosions echoed in the narrow valley as bodies and earth rained down in the enemy's rear. An explosion rocked the side of the valley which caused a section of the cliff to collapse.

Now the entire enemy was surrounded.

Bf-109s circled and watched for enemy air support but none came. They began emptying their machine gun cannons into enemy force to use up their ammo.

Once they were black on ammo they circled around and headed back to Oslo where they came from.

By this time the majority of the attack force was dead or dying on the blood stained beaches.

Bodies littered the whole landscape.

Craters were filled with bodies of the dead and wounded.

The enemy's berserker attack stopped after the largest of enemy warships took a direct hit from a Stuka bomb.

The ship imploded and broke into two parts. Both sank within seconds with untold numbers of casualties.

The soldiers who were attacked the Germans stopped attacking and quickly ran to the closed off wall trying to escape.

The grenadiers scaled the cliff and cut off their retreat while the tanks and infantry in the valley closed in from the front.

Feeling the hopelessness the remaining 400 or so survivors surrendered.

German casualties were light. Their defensive work, use of ranged weapons, overall flexibility and air superiority allowed them to only suffer 4 dead and 36 wounded. No heavy equipment was lost.

The enemy lost anywhere from 5000 to 8000 soldiers and sailors. 12 large and medium sized ships were sunk and about another 30 landing craft were sunk. A huge number of prisoners were taken from the wounded who were able to live and those who were captured.

The Stabswachtmeister and Obergefreiter were stunned to fine large numbers of women and children among the ranks of those killed and wounded.

"What the hell is this?"

"I don't know sir. Now that I see it up close."

The Obergefreiter picked up a bloody collar.

"This looks like a dog collar. Maybe they are slaves?"

"Who in their right mind sends children to die like this?"

"They stopped after we took our their flagship, maybe they were controlling them. It explains the suicidal attacks."

The Stabswachtmeister shook his head. He looked to his left at the broken body of a girl. She could be no more than 13 years of age. Her matted hair and freckles reminded the officer of his daughter back home.

They killed them. All these people were slaughtered by them. No. They protected the island. The people of NordReich are safe. If captured they might suffer the same fate as these poor souls.

He then looked around. The heaps of bodies were being carried by soldiers with gas masks on. They were dumping the bodies in a large bonfire. They were cremating their remains.

The Germans separated those with collars from those without. The soldiers kept their guard up with both groups but attempted to communicate with all. The first group of regulars confessed that they were from the Kingdom of Epruilon and were normal conscripts. Officers were then identified and separated from the first group.

The latter group were filled with men, women and children of all ages. Many had distinct features which stood out from the others. They all resembled normal humans but some had things like animals ears and tails sticking out from their bodies. Others had wings and claws. Others still had fangs and purplish skin color. It was a lot to take in for the Germans who have never seen people like this before.

"Are these people civilians?"

Obergefreiter Krüger pointed at the lack of willpower, civilian clothing and general lack of fighting capabilities.

The Obergefreiter walked towards a little girl clutching her mother. He then got close and squatted down. The girl was terrified and shrunk into her mother's embrace. Her mother was also terrified but spoke up for her daughter.

"Wh.....o are you. What are going to do to us?"

The Obergefreiter sighed and took off his military cap. His dark brown hair fell to his shoulders.

"A woman?"

"No I'm a guy."

The Stabswachtmeister behind him sneered.

"Krüger you rascal, that haircut is a violation or military regulation!"

"I did this just for you sir."

"You little!"

The officers and soldiers around the prisoners caught the act and started laughing with the Stabswachtmeister. They were attempting to make themselves more human to the ex-slaves.

The Obergefreiter looked up to see the little girl staring at him.

He gulped. The little girl was a beauty. Even with the scratches and dirtied face he could see the inner beauty of her. Then he noticed a bright red gash on her stomach.

He then looked around, there were many good looking faces and well built bodies. These were not any ordinary people. They looked as if they worked in very harsh conditions like Siberia for generations.

Field medics then arrived and started applying first aid to all those where were injured. Those who were more seriously injured were carried to field hospitals where surgeons who came with the reinforcements operated.

182 more POWs died from their wounds including the young girl.

The few soldiers who died in combat were all given Iron Cross Second Class. Only one was given the Iron Cross First Class with the second class award, Gefreiter Jürgen Huber. He died after the first line of defense was overrun. He stayed behind with his MG34 to cover the general retreat to the second line of defense and kept firing despite receiving blade wounds. He killed another soldier by slamming the MG34 over the man's head breaking the gun in half. After fighting with a trench shovel he finally succumbed to his wounds.

His body and the bodies of the three other casualties were flown to Berlin in a Henkel cargo plane. There they were buried with full military honors with a personal visit of the Kaiser and his wife.

The ministry of propaganda spun this invasion as the start of a new war. The planned assault was scheduled to happen a week later so this incident played straight into the minister of propaganda's hands.

Within a day the top news headline was the Tromsø Incident in where German blood was shed on German soil. One of the casualties was a Norwegian volunteer so public opinion of the Empire in NordReich was especially high.

The NSS interrogated prisoners as well as recovered parts of the wrecked ships. With help of the 4th prince with identification of Epruilon colors and flags they identified the perpetrators.

The Empire now had justification for their invasion and they sent a formal declaration of war.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Continent of Esmeralda

Minas, capital of the Kingdom of Epruilon.

"Repeat that one more time, I think I am going deaf."

The cold air in the throne room of the imperial palace was enough to give a man hypothemia.

The 2nd prince could not believe it. Using invisibility magic on wyverns they scouted east and found an island in the middle of the bay. It was the perfect staging ground for an invasion of the east.

He was assured by the generals that a 10000 man strong army was enough to take the whole island.

Now they were reporting that only 2000 of the initial 10000 returned without conquering the island. Not only that but they lost 6 top-of-the-line ships, including their flagship. Two important figures were also lost, the archmage Count Seran and fleet admiral Adrian West.

2nd prince Joseph could not keep his anger inside of him.

"How is this possible! How do you lose more than half of your army to a force numbering several hundred? How? Explain yourself right now or I will have you executed."

The general stuttered and tried to make an excuse. Two guards kicked him over and forced him to kneel.

"Your grace, the enemy used magic which took me by surprise. You see they were rapidly casting fire and explosion magic which made my slave soldiers useless. We need more magic power to defeat them."

The prince pondered for a moment. The burn marks on the surviving ships and witness testimony play out. He wanted to hear it come from the general.

"So, what do you need to take that island?"

"Um sir if I may, those otherworldly heroes. You have been training them for a month now and they are hundreds of times stronger than before. You should send a few to help take the island, fight magic with magic."

"Hmmm... we need those heroes to do something other than drain out budget. Okay I will authorize sending a squad of heroes."

"Thank you your grace."

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

June 20th

Berlin, Germany

Wilhelm was sitting in a conference with other marshals and generals. They were discussing what routes to take and which strongholds are needed for logistical ease.

"Let me ask, what do you think of the Kar98k?"

This sudden question ended all conversation in the room. For a moment nobody spoke.

Then a general got up and saluted.

"I believe that the Kar98k is a vital part of our Wehrmacht."

"But why?"

"Its cheap, its easy to use and clean. Also we have large stocks of them."

"But what if there was not one but 5 enemies in front of you. You can kill one but what about the other 4? Will you be able to reload, shoot, reload, shoot, reload, shoot until you kill all of them? What if they are 3 meters from you? You are a dead man. I strongly advocate for more progress in the StG program. I want every German soldier to have a gun which can fire automatic or semi-automatic. I want every soldier a mini machine gun. The machine pistols are a good start, but I want heavier guns. Not machine gun heavy but between the two. An intermediate gun, not too heavy but powerful enough to pierce light armor."

Wilhelm looked around the room. He saw a few nods and whispering. Finally another officer stood up.

"Sir, our StG 41 has shown great progress. Your idea of a gas operated system is revolutionary. If we stamp the parts and use screws, we can cut machining time by a third. Your plans for the "Battle Rifle" are also on the way. A G1 prototype is available for testing."

"Good, now where were we."

And the meeting continued on.