When our heart turn cold

Leaning the rifle on his arm, Diedrich in his army boot marches on the dirt road which leads to a small town miles away from him. The horses have arrived this morning and after carrying the injured soldiers into the carriage, they are now again on the road.

However, they have one last task before heading back to the rear for resupplies, one last task that would take some effort to complete.

It seems like a French scout squad manages to sneak through the Empire lines and are gathering intel for their future advances, making maps and reporting any Empire's army movement that they observe. The locals have reported to the authority about seeing a group of soldiers on horses moving through here, thus Diedrich's squad together with another two has been combined together to form a reinforced squad under the order of a high ranking officer, with a strength of about fifteen men and Baugalf as the leader.

By foot, the small Empire town known as Knockselt begins entering their eyes with their small housing and community , with only a population of around 300 residents, the investigation of the whereabouts of the scout is started as they begin entering the small town. As orders begin to be distributed down, the squad is split into small teams of two and begin asking questions from the locals for any info. Thankfully, the locals are cooperative about it and are willing to help most of the time.

"Oh, men on horses? Ah it reminds me of the day when I'm still serving in the cavalry division! Although I may seem old now, but I've participated in the Franco-Prussian war before!" An old man in his sixty who is standing outside his door with pride boasted to the soldiers about his achievement with his smelly mouth. "I remember seeing young men riding on horses riding towards the frontline confidently! Ah, the good old time! Hey lads, wanna come inside my house for lunch? I can cook you some stuff I have learned before in the army, I was known as the best cook at that time."

"Shut up! Don't bother the young men from their duty! Ah, sorry for my husband bothering you all, he just gets excited when he sees anyone who has any association with the army." Inside the house, another old folk comes out who apparently is the wife of the old man. Bowing and apologizing to the soldiers who have an awkward smile on their faces, she answers the question they seek. "Sorry, we haven't been outside for a while as we have retired a long time ago, you could ask those young lads who always go outside for work."

Dealing with the locals with many scenes above repeating, Diedrich and the squad eventually manage to get some useful info out of them.

"I've seen some people riding horses towards the north yesterday night." Pointing with his finger, a young man told his story to the soldier in front of him. "I was looking for a sheep who went lost in the forest. There, I can hear sounds of horses moving which lead me to go check it up. I thought it was from the Empire's army as I couldn't see their uniform and faces."

Baugalf listens to the man's testimony while nodding his head, continues to ask questions. "How many men did you see? Anything that stands out to you about these groups of people?"

"Not really." Shaking his head, the young man replied back. "It's night, I could only catch the dark figure and the sound that it makes. Though I think I can see most of their clothes are in blue."

"Alright, thanks for your cooperation." Baugalf nodding his head dismisses the young man as he continues to discuss with his soldier. "Diedrich any idea where they might have headed?"

While the other soldiers are busy asking questions from the locals, Diedrich has volunteers to draw out a local map with his knowledge in cartography after realizing that the officer didn't give them a map of this area, which is something he learns in his pursuit for a master in world history. Believe it or not, most soldiers have trouble understanding maps, moreover drawing one. And Diedrich with his knowledge proven to be a valuable asset to the squad, with him now acting as the second in command of the entire squad.

"Here Baugalf." Opening the rough map that he made within an hour, Diedrich explains and tries to pinpoint the position of the French's scout. "If what the locals say is true, we can assume that the scout team isn't planning to go deep into our land, canceling the possibilities of them changing their route midway and heading west. There is a big town on the northern side but I doubt they will be able to sneak through there without the locals knowing, so it leaves us with only this area."

Pointing at a location on the map which isn't too far off the northern town, Diedrich explains his point. "This is a rural area which is largely forgotten by the locals, mostly resided by retired old folks with only basic infrastructure like a church and some small stores. If I were the scout's squad leader, I would have chosen there to rest or at least resupplies if I have to, reducing the possibilities of being detected by the locals."

"This is our best bet, and I suggest we move out now before the scouts get away with their horses" With confidence, Diedrich looked at Baugalf for reaction. He could be a newbie at actual combat, but if it's about the war effort and tactic, he could talk about it all day long. "They won't stay there for long."

And within his expectation, Baugalf looked at him with an approving look. "Hmm, looks like we have a hidden gem in our squad huh? If it turns out true, I think the army will be happy to promote you to a higher position. Alright people! Let's go hunting, shall we? We are still waiting for that long delay bath."

"Speed up, we have a prey to catch, will be a shame if we miss them."

.

.

.

"So, this is their position?" Speaking with a low voice, Baugalf asks Diedrich who is beside him. "You check the other part of this small village already? Or did they already move away from here?"

Standing on a small hill under the dark sky, Baugalf is looking at a small church not far away from them. The rest of the squad is waiting behind the hill, hiding their movement from the possible enemy.

"Yup, the other men and I checked every house already, the only place left is this church." Answering back, Diedrich is still confident about his analysis. "The locals say that the nun in there didn't come out to buy food for today, something must have gone wrong inside there."

"I see." Nodding, Baugalf takes a look at the church again, his mind trying to think of ways he could approach the situation. "Any info on the church? The layout, the people who usually live inside, anything?"

"No layout, the folks here don't have the knowledge of drawing one, and the architect who designed the church is nowhere to be found now." Shaking his head, Diedrich tried his best but to no avail. "The church has an old priest and two nuns, taking care of around twenty orphans as far as I know. A tricky situation really."

"Orphan huh." Baugalf hearing the word has a headache as he knows it won't be an easy job. Putting his hand on his head, he tries to think of something. "A frontal attack seems like the only option, but if they didn't slaughter the civilians yet, it will probably cause some unwanted casualties...maybe ask for a surrender?"

"But this will lose us the element of surprise though...and will they even accept it? We didn't outnumber them by much after all, they still have a chance." Hearing it, Diedrich also considers the option, but there is no way of knowing how it will turn out. "Though they are deep inside our lines, they could still break through our encirclement with their horses if they really try."

"We will have to give it a shot still." Sighing, Baugalf decides to not wait. "Let the squad know, we will be commencing an encirclement fifteen minutes later. I will handle the negotiation later."

"Let's hope it will be alright."

And well, the French aren't all cowards as many people nowadays think.

"Rendez-vous ou mourez!" (Surrender or die) Shouting in French, Baugalf speaks with what little knowledge he has about French that he had learned from other soldiers. "Rendez-vous ou mourez!"

"Bam! Bam!" But the bullet firing back is a clear sign that they aren't giving up without a fight. The shots landing on the dirt not far away from the german that is taking cover from a sloppy hill, it looks like this will turn into a bloody fight.

"Damn it they are stubborn! Return fire! Show them who's the boss!" And Baugalf without any hesitation gives the order to attack. "Fire fire!"

"Bam! Bam! Bam!" And with that, the small church where folks usually pray becomes a battlefield in minutes. The window being broken and bullet holes appearing all around the church. And it's clear that the superiority in numbers makes the Empire's soldiers at an advantage.

"Splash!" With one of the French soldier's head being blasted into pieces, blood splashing onto the holy ground of the church, the scout's leader knows that they can't keep it up. Biting his lips, he had to resort to a more drastic solution if he wishes to return back home alive. Shouting orders to his subordinate, a few soldiers temporarily leave the line to finish his order.

What follows is what Baugalf fears the most.

"Those bastards!" Biting his lips, Baugalf ventured out loud with words, unwilling to believe what the enemies were willing to do. "Ceased fire! Ceased fire! Damn it! They will go to hell for this!"

In his eyes, he can see children being brought before the open window, crying out loud for the horror they have been through. The French soldier hiding behind them and continued to return fire without concern.

The children are being used as meat shields.