Meanwhile, one hour had passed and the Varangians stalked through the streets towards the Vosstaniya Mesto, a large square in the south of the Ulitsa Nekrasova.
“Look at these guys!” Alf pointed at several thousand collectivists, who had gathered around a loud screaming CASJ functionary.
“Are there CLJ troopers among them?”, asked Frank doubtfully.
”No, I don`t think so. I can only see ordinary CASJ idiots”, returned Alf.
Some soldiers of the Volksarmee, who had followed the Varangians, peered across the square. Kohlhaas waved them nearer and whispered: “Let`s attack them! Otherwise they will stab us in the back, if we advance further in the direction of the House of Justice.”
The Belarusian soldiers nodded. Not a minute later, Frank gave the order to charge and the soldiers rushed forward. When the collectivists recognized the Varangians, they screamed in horror and immediately took to their heels. Several dozens of them were gunned down, while the rest ran into some side streets.
“Follow me!”, grumbled Kohlhaas without showing any emotions.
The soldiers advanced across a broad main street that was littered with charred debris and wrecked cars. In the background, a big house was burning in front of a barricade, where a lot of CLJ troopers had entrenched themselves. When the saw the Varangians, they opened fire. Some of Frank`s men were riddled with bullets, while the others hit the dirt or tried to find cover.
In the meantime, Theodore Soloto and his followers had started their counterattack. Even more police officers had joined the Rus in the last hours, and had entrenched themselves in the streets around the main administration building.
Another part of the demonstrators was already marching through the neighboring district, while the rest prepared to stop the onrushing collectivists. Now, fierce firefights for every house and every street corner followed, what caused a lot of casualties on both sides. Meanwhile, the reinforcements of the Volksarmee had almost reached the city center, as well as further CLJ units.
“We should advance through the backyards and bypass the barricades”, said Frank to his gigantic friend and explained his strategy.
A few minutes later, about 300 elite soldiers and the general swarmed out and scurried down a narrow path between two gray house walls. They crept through overgrown gardens, full of high grass and sprouting weed, while the rest of the Varangians and the Volksarmisten fired at the collectivists behind the barricade.
After a while, they had evaded the enemy on the flank and finally attacked in a flash. They grimly jumped out of the narrow gap between the houses and shot at everyone in sight. A grenade was hurled right in the middle of a group of CLJ troopers and the explosion threw some of them on the asphalt with torn limbs.
Seconds later, the rest of the Rus stormed forward and mowed the remaining enemies down in a brutal stabbing and shooting. Drenched in sweat and heavily breathing, Kohlhaas called the survivors of his unit together and advanced into the Ulitsa Nekrasova.
“The rest of our men is here too!” Frank sighed wearily and turned his head to Alf. “I can`t go on any longer!”
“Damn! Keep your nerve! We will conquer their headquarter now”, answered Bäumer and nodded at his exhausted friend.
Then the Rus entered the Ulitsa Nekrasova from three sides and struggled through to the House of Justice. The soldiers of the Volksarmee, who came from the east, fired at the collectivist headquarter at the same time with their mortars.
After another hour, the House of Justice was a smoking ruin, and the surviving opponents, who had entrenched themselves in it, were finally defeated with a last, daring assault.
General Kohlhaas climbed over piles of rubble and some dead soldiers. Everything was covered with dust or had vanished behind thick clouds of smoke. Somewhere beside him groaned a few wounded men. Whether it were friends or foes was not recognizable anymore.
Meanwhile it was already 20.13 o`clock, and the shadows of the night were slowly crawling over the city. With a blood-smeared face, in a filthy and sweaty uniform and completely exhausted, Frank walked through the smashed front door of the House of Justice. He went up some stairs to the upper floor and took a dragon head flag from one of his soldiers.
Kohlhaas screwed up his face of pain, hunger and fatigue, then he held the banner out the window and his men burst into a deafening cheer of triumph.
They had actually made it. The House of Justice had been taken. Completely exhausted, Frank slid down the wall and closed his eyes. Only one wish had remained in his mind, the wish to fall asleep, here and now.
The loss of their headquarter was a huge shock for the St. Petersburg collectivists. After several hours of fighting, they broke off their attack on the main administration building, after they had suffered great casualties against the Rus and the soldiers of the Volksarmee. Theodore Soloto finally fled with his staff members deep in the night to the northern city and took refuge there in a house. In other districts, the street battles between Rus and collectivists were still going on until the early hours of the next morning. The following day, the soldiers of the Volksarmee occupied the press houses and radio stations, what was another defeat for the local CASJ.
Artur Tschistokjow, who learned the news about the victory on his sick bed, was almost bursting with joy. His men had ultimately conquered Russia`s second-largest city and the struggle for St. Petersburg had come to an end.
“Soloto has fled! They have said it on the radio”, remarked Frank, taking a sip of mineral water.
“I think this rat is hiding somewhere in the underground...”, answered Bäumer.
”Anyway, it is over. However, I hope so. Today we will just patrol in some streets - nothing else”, said Kohlhaas, sighing with relief.
”Is Artur all right?”
“Peter told me an hour ago, that they have successfully cut out the bullet. Yes, I think he is all right, more or less.”
“We have finally won. What a battle!”, muttered Alf.
His friend was holding his head and still looked tired and worn out. “Yes, thank God!”
Three soldiers were playing cards next to them and laughed occasionally, while the other Varangian were sleeping. Most of them were also totally exhausted and barely spoke a word.
“This has already been real war. Sometimes I had to remember the hell of Sapporo”, said Frank quietly.
He went to the window and looked down on the dark street. Everything seemed to be abandoned, only a dog was barking somewhere in the distance.
“Do you think, this madness will end one day?”, asked Frank his friend.
“It will still last a long time...”, said Alf with his almost proverbial composure.
The situation in St. Petersburg was slowly easing again. Together with the Russian police, the troopers of the freedom movement and the soldiers of the Volksarmee restored some kind of order in the devastated metropolis.
Except for minor raids and ambushes, the resistance of the collectivists had faded away. Now, Peter Ulljewski and his DSR units started to hunt down the remaining CASJ functionaries and servants of the World Government in a large-scale operation.
Nevertheless, Theodore Soloto had disappeared and no one knew, whether he was still in St. Petersburg or had already fled to the east. The Belarusian secret service did everything to get the hated enemy, but it did not find him.
All in all, about 15000 people had died in the battle for St. Petersburg. But now the power of the CASJ was gone and the Rus ruled the city.
Outside the metropolis, the collectivists had overrun almost entire Russia and the Ukraine. Furthermore, Uljanin was not willing to accept his defeat in the west and was already planning a counterstrike. So the bloody riots and barricade fights should only be the prelude to a much bigger conflict. But first, Artur Tschistokjow`s freedom movement celebrated its victory.
Frank and Alfred still stayed in St. Petersburg unitl the end of October, in order to help to consolidate the rule over the important metropolis.
The soldiers of the Varangian Guard spent their days with endless patrolling or helped Peter Ulljewski`s DSR units to arrest or execute collectivists, Lodge Brothers, collaborators of the World Government and other treasonous people.
Finally, the Rus eliminated their enemies with the same ruthless brutality as the CASJ did it in central and eastern Russia. Meanwhile, Artur Tschistokjow controlled the television and radio stations in St. Petersburg and used them to educate the population in his sense.
“It is more important to win people`s hearts and minds, than to force them with the sword”, he often said in these days.
This time, the international press and television gave the events in St. Petersburg a lot of attention. They spat their venom on Tschistokjow and made him to a violent monster. They depicted the collectivists throughout as “poor victims” and reported almost daily about the “appalling human rights violations” in Belarus and western Russia.
“Western Russia is drowning in blood!”, headlined the biggest newspaper in North America.
“Stop the mad dictator Tschistokjow!”, cried the press in the administrative sector “Central Europe”.
The World President and the other leaders of the World Union expressed their “deep concerns” in front of the cameras, promising to intervene in eastern Europe as soon as possible.
Finally, the powerful had started to take notice of Tschistokjow. The fall of St. Petersburg had hit them hard and now they suddenly began to take the Freedom Movement of the Rus seriously.
In return, Akira Mori, Japan's foreign minister, and his colleague Thorsten Wilden, publicly proclaimed the unshakableness of their alliance.
Matsumoto moreover warned the World Government, telling them to keep their fingers away from Belarus.
And while everything was finally reaching an international level, Frank and Alfred turned their backs to big politics and went back to Ivas.
It was raining since daybreak and Frank had hardly left his bed. His limbs felt heavy as lead and only now and then he scuffed into the kitchen to drink a cup of tea. Bäumer and Svetlana were upstairs and also wanted to be alone.
This morning, the young Russian woman had arrived in Ivas and had briefly talked to Frank. Then she had gone into Alf`s room, just closing the door behind her.
Kohlhaas was confused, exhausted and unhappy, in spite of the great victory in St. Petersburg. When it started to get dark outside, he put on his jacket and left the house.
He slowly walked down the muddy streets of the village and had a short small talk with a young man, who had also witnessed the battle for St. Petersburg. Frank barely knew him. Stefan Weinert was the name of the 18 year old guy and Frank learned, that he had already joined the freedom movement under Sven Weber`s leadership.
With the death of his friend and his constant absence, Kohlhaas had long lost the contact to the still very active youth of Ivas. But it was nice to talk with a young German from his home village, who was also fighting for Tschistokjow, as Frank thought.
After a while, it started to rain again, but Frank didn`t care about it. To the contrary, he enjoyed the cold drops, which were pattering on his face. Then he took a deep breath and felt relieved for a moment.
Shortly afterwards, he came to the village square and looked around with a melancholic mien, while he heard the raindrops drumming on the rooftops around him. How much he had missed this little village and how far he had been carried away by the events of the last time.
There were only a few lights in the old houses that surrounded him. The moon had already vanished behind a thick curtain of rain clouds. Frank sauntered about for a while and finally went to the cemetery.
Grave stones with Cyrillic inscriptions, overgrown with all sorts of weed, were waiting for him here in the rainy darkness of this evening. It were the graves of the former inhabitants of the village, who had died decades ago. They were long forgotten.
However, eight grave stones on this cemetery were new. Most of today`s inhabitants of Ivas, who had come to the village under Wilden`s guidance, were still alive. An older couple had died between 2031 and 2033. Furthermore, six young men. And these young men had all given their lives for the revolution, as Frank said to himself.
He had not really known them. Except for Sven Weber, his good friend. In addition, there were two further young boys from Ivas, which had also died in the name of the great fight for freedom. Thomas Baastfeldt and Dennis Müller. But they had been buried somewhere in eastern Asia, and their corpses had never been transferred back home.
“In which mass grave are you rotting, my brothers?”, said Frank quietly, remembering the two volunteers of the Japanese war.
Then he stood in front of the grave of his friend Sven, whose gray stone seemed to stare at him. He crouched in the wet grass and stroke with his hand over the stalks.
“Here you rest, my friend. Buried as a hero. Was it really worth it?”, whispered Kohlhaas, beholding the graves around him. Kohlhaas started to ponder again and was silent.
”Oh, Sven...”, he muttered then, wiping a tear from his eye. “Maybe I'm lying next to you tomorrow. Then I will finally have found peace.”
After Frank had sat at the grave of his friend for a while. Eventually he left the dark cemetery behind and went back to the village. Back home, he opened a bottle of vodka and emptied it with some strong sips. Another followed. A few hours later, he fell asleep and dreamed about nothing in this night.
On the following day, he visited Julia at noontide. When he met Agatha Wilden at the door, she welcomed Kohlhaas with only a few words.
“Julia is in her room”, said Agatha.
Frank walked up the stairs and looked around in the hall.
”Just come in!”, he heard from the side.
“Hello! Nice to see you. I thought that...”, Frank interrupted himself.
“Yes, I know! How are you?”
Kohlhaas was silent for a moment, then he answered: “Are you happy to see me?”
“Yes, of course!”, said the young woman, looking sadly at him.
“Well, I have always been on the road in the last months...”
“So it is!”
“But one day, this whole crap will be over...”
“Yes, when you're dead!”, returned Julia with a cynical smile.
“I`m hard to kill”, countered Frank.
Julia shook her head. “Of course, because you're the big hero. I read about you in the papers - how brave you are.
And if I want to see my father, then I only have to open the newspaper too. Yesterday he was even on TV again, but he hasn`t been with his family since a long time.”
Frank had to admit that she was dead right. He stood around confusedly and finally remarked: “Let's have a walk through the village. What do you think?”
She put him off. “Oh, Frank! Don`t you understand, that all this doesn`t make sense in the long term?”
The young man's eyes widened. “What do you mean?”
“This banter with us. There is only war on your mind, Frank. You just life for the revolution, while I don`t play a role anymore.”
Frank was baffled and looked for a suitable answer. “No, that`s not true! I love you!”
Julia stared at him with an expressionless face, stroking through her hair. “You love me?”
“Why don`t you come with me to Minsk?”
The daughter of the foreign minister shrugged her shoulders. “I don`t know...”
“Then come with me to Minsk! What are you waiting for? I want you by my side! Just come with me!”, he demanded.
“Stop! Wait a minute! I am not one of your soldiers and I accept no orders, Sir”, returned Julia angrily.
“All right, sorry...”, muttered Frank meekly.
“What has happened to your cheek?”
“Nothing! Just a scratch. It have been brass knuckles!”, answered Kohlhaas with some pride.
Now Julia postioned herself in front of him. “You should know, you idiot, that I'm consta
ntly worrying about you. I just fear that they kill you one day. You are always involved in any conflicts and it looks like it would go on forever in this manner. What I hear about the situation in Russia is horrible. Let the others fight for once! You have done more than enough heroics, Frank.”
“But I must go on! And your father as well! It's just like that! This is our destiny!”
“Do you think that it would change anything if I follow you to Minsk?”, she suddenly screamed and started crying.
“Do you think that we can enjoy our quiet lifes here in Ivas in the long run, if we don`t fight?”, returned Kohlhaas.
“I don`t know it, Frank! Anyway, I can not stand this terrible war any longer”, wailed the young woman.
Without further hesitation, Frank embraced her and gave her a kiss, while she silently cried in his arms.
“This constant struggle is a horror - also for me. It is destroying us all, but we are not able to change it. It is a awful time we were born into. A never-ending nightmare. Believe me, I`m hoping for peace too, deep inside.”
The daughter of the foreign minister didn`t answer and just kissed him.
“I love you, my angel”, whispered Frank, hugging her tightly. Julia still said nothing and just clung to him, while she was quietly weeping.
Kohlhaas spent the night with Julia and left the house of the Wildens at dawn of the next day with a happy smile. Cheerfully lilting, he walked through the village and enjoyed the fulfillment of his deepest wish. This time, he had ultimately conquered the heart of his beloved. All opposing tendencies had been defeated after heavy fights on the battlefield of feelings. Frank had occupied Julia's heart, secured it and finally marked it with his flag.
Moreover, she had actually promised him that night, to rent an apartment in Minsk. The beautiful woman wanted to be with him, and Frank was sure that his dream of a romantic future with her would come true in the end.
He had never been that close to her. It had been wonderful, when their hearts had joined up and embraced each other. But the young man kept his mouth shut. He talked about this night not even to Alf or Svetlana, who were now getting on his nerves with an entire armada of questions.
Around noon, he went to HOK to play Battle Hammer. This time, Frank`s orcs competed against HOK`s human knights – it seemed to become an exciting game.
All in all, it was relaxing and funny. Frank even managed it to get a draw at least. Furthermore, the pudgy computer expert had bought him a mass of new tin miniatures on the internet and Kohlhaas was looking forward to paint them.
Towards evening, he picked Julia up and went with her to Steffen de Vries cafe. This time, she stayed for the night in his house. For this reason, Frank had especially cleaned up his traditionally untidy bed room.
And now he was happy! Happy like a fish in the clear water of the ocean. It was wonderful to fall asleep with Julia in his arms, while her soft, blond hair was lying on his chest. The general wanted to stay in Ivas forever and become a real civilian. Yes, now it was time to fight for the others, as Frank said to himself. He had risked his life far too long.
The Last Chapter