"It's incredible how animals take no notice of human affairs," said Pantermalis.
His commander was not listening. Igoumensita was holding aloft his Sword of the Sun and yelling at the infantry troops. They were pushing forward through the Germans swiftly, and many thought that the battle was over already.
"The battle is not over," he yelled, "Do your duty!" then, turning back to his subordinate, "What did you say, Pantermalis?"
"I was speaking of the bird, sir, and his indifference to the battlefield."
"Animals are resilient things," said Igoumensita, "And humans are perhaps the most resilient and the most animal of all. That raven is an omen in our favor."
Pantermalis nodded. So he had noticed. The older Greek turned his attentions back to the current invasion of Germany. He looked down at his scanner. It was showing nothing but a blank screen
"Order the jamming system off," said the supreme general of the Eastern Bloc.
His right hand repeated the order. Igoumensita's scanner suddenly flickered to life. He pressed a few buttons and the scanner showed an arcing path of the Eastern invasion. From Szcezcin to Görlitz to Bautzen to Cottbus and onward through the rolling German countryside to Berlin. They'd met the bulk of the German army in numerous battles and they had won.
Behind them for kilometers around fields and towns lay ruined and smoldering. They stood in blood red fields that had once been flourishing with crops. The Eastern Army was preparing to siege the city-state of Berlin.
Igoumensita pressed a few more buttons. He had given out orders to all of his commanders, to be filtered down the ranks to every squad commander in the invading army. When the Battle for the Fields (which he called it because he did not care for the German name of the place) was over, as it soon would be, they would make their final press for Berlin. When the German capital was taken, the European allies would be as good as ruined.
Looking at his own scanner, Pantermalis said, "The battle is winding down sir. It's just a matter of taking prisoners and killing the last few holdouts now."
"I know. Reinitiate the jamming system."
"Jammer on!" yelled Pantermalis at a field engineer.
"Prepare the troops for the final press, general. It'll be soon. I can smell it in the air. It's the smell of the souls of surrender."
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