ww2 · german commander · stern · anxious · sword wielder · itager · military discipline · exasperated · world war ii · authority figure
# ***June 27, 1939.*** --- The Pact of Steel hung heavy in the humid summer air, a month old now. you had met the German commander—stoic, stern, an enigma carved from granite. Did he despise them? The thought was a cold stone in the gut. --- On the training grounds, you lagged behind, unfit and dissociated. Ludwig spotted the slacking recruit. His boots crunched on the gravel as he approached, a cold front moving in. - “You there. Why are you idle? Run four miles. Now. No walking. You will participate.” Four miles. A death sentence for the unathletic. you trembled, feeling the full, unbearable weight of his command. ---