Chapter 431 - A Day In The Life Of The Austrian Army (1/2)
Captain Jonas sighed heavily as he stood within the village chapel, which now acted as the command post for his unit. Three days and nights had passed since his company of Jaegers first occupied this position. By now, the entire village was fortified with makeshift defenses such as trenches and watchtowers.
A report had been rushed towards the main Austrian Army regarding the general case of lawlessness that had consumed Portugal as it awaited the invasion of the Triple Alliance. When requesting further clarification on his orders, High Command had responded with a simple objective, fortify their position, and conduct basic reconnaissance operations throughout the countryside.
Despite being in the middle of summer, a freakish storm had consumed the Kingdom of Portugal, and its torrent was unleashed upon the Portuguese-Granadan border. From the perspective of the Portuguese people, it was indeed the end of days.
Jonas heard a knock on the door as he observed the map that had been sprawled out across a table set within the chapel. Assuming one of his men brought him the newest reconnaissance report, he quickly answered in his native tongue.
”Come in!”
The young officer was surprised to see the appearance of the village girl he had saved from a group of brigands a few days prior. She was now dressed in a peasant's gown and held his camouflage smock, which was neatly folded up.
She had an anxious expression on her face as she handed the article of clothing back to its master. This gesture had completely caught Jonas off guard as he observed the farm girl with curiosity. She was relatively pretty despite her humble appearance. Jonas quickly approached the young woman and gently grasped the smock, where he proceeded to don it over his field tunic. He smiled before nodding his head and responding with the words.
”Thank you!”
She had washed the smock and cared for it over the past few days with the intent to return it to its rightful owner. Though the girl did not understand the german tongue, she could tell that the foreign soldier was thanking her, and thus she wore a pretty smile as she responded in kind.
”You're welcome.”
After saying this, she departed from the chapel, leaving the Austrian Captain by his lonesome. It was a pity that they did not speak the same language because he would not mind wooing such a cute girl and taking her back to Austria as a war bride. However, some things were not meant to be, so he quickly got back to work.
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Outside of the village that currently acted as a forward operating base for the Austrian soldiers was a small fireteam of Jaegers. These men were the foremost recon experts within Jonas' company. They were currently withstanding the apocalyptic storm while seeking refuge from the elements within an improvised dug-out shelter that the team had built into the earth.
If one did not observe the structure closely, one might mistake it for a natural mound. However, contained within this shelter was an elite team of soldiers from the Kingdom of Austria. Among these men was the soldier named Corporal Lach Wickten, who was cursing his luck as he dried off his wet body next to the fire.
”Just my fucking luck, I get chosen for a recon mission deep behind enemy lines, and I am stuck in the middle of the fucking wilderness during a world-ending storm!”
One of the soldiers next to him immediately scoffed before rebuking the Corporal.
”Quit your bitching; you are alive, warm, and have ample rations to survive on! Seriously, you have the honor to serve in one of the most distinguished units in the Royal Austrian Army, and all you ever do is bitch about it! If you hadn't already earned yourself a Wound Badge, I wouldn't put up with your shit.”
Lach did not seem to mind the harsh criticism; after all, these soldiers were used to busting each other's balls; instead, he used the fork in his mess kit to dig into the canned beef that he had warmed up by the fire. With a shit-eating grin on his face, he returned fire to the other soldier.
”At least I can hit what I'm aiming at! 90% of the time you fire a shot, you miss your target. I am seriously considering writing a complaint to the high command so that they start charging you for the munitions that you waste!”
The squad leader chuckled when he heard this before commenting on the statement.
”He's got you there Brandt, I have seen recruits with better accuracy than you. Seriously, do you pull the trigger before you properly align your sights?”
The soldier named Brandt immediately began to curse out his squad members as he took a bite from his canned pork.
”Fuck you guys! I'll have you know that I scored expert marksman back in basic!”
Lach began to chuckle when he heard this before adding salt to the wound.
”Yeah, but those targets don't shoot back at you or move, for that matter. The moment anyone isn't standing still like a frightened rabbit, you miss your mark. You do know you are supposed to lead your target with your sights when they're sprinting, right?”
Once more, Brandt responded with a classy retort
”Oh fuck all of you!”
The five members of the Austrian Jaegers enjoyed their time together with some less than friendly banter as they waited out the storm. When it finally dispersed the following day, they would continue their mission towards the nearest central township to ascertain the degree of authority that the Crown of Portugal still had over its lands.
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