Lisitsyn starts quietly singing "Po dolinam i po vzgoriam"
Through valleys and over hills
Went the division forward
To capture in battle Primorye
The stronghold of the White Army.


with Friedman and Tsimmermn joining in on the repeat of the third and fourth line.

Then Gusarov barks: "Shut up, you damn fools! There's fascists around."

The group is quiet again.
The squad had left the plateau over the concrete ramp, but soon the concrete gives way to a gravel road leading through the forest.

Tsimmerman stopped and knelt down not long after leaving the plateau.

"Serzhant, I found something" - and he points to a timed detonator. This must be the one that was connected to the bundle of wet explosives found around the concrete pillar. The detonator triggered, apparently, but the explosives were too wet to ignite.
Gusarov pulls the cord from the detonator.
"Question is: Did they stick around to know that it didn't go off?", the sergeant muses.

Anna also finds something. On the side of the road, the gravel and mud show tracks of a tracked vehicle dug deep into the side of the road, pools of water in them.
"Tanks", she says, her tone matter-of-factly.

The squad continues, even more quiet now, the news of possible tanks nearby dampening the mood. But then, at least, the rain eases up, turning into a drizzle as they keep going.

The road keeps going mostly straight, with some slight bends and curves now and then. Every few hundred meters, the road widens to allow two vehicles to pass each other. Now that the rain eases up, the noise of a brook can be heard to your right, the water swollen from the rain, running down the mountain valley.

There are now fewer tress and the road runs closer to the cliff walls on your left. Yelena climbs up a large rock that the road winds around and looks through her binoculars.

Yelena smirked at the start of the song. Even if they were immediately hushed, it should help morale a little.

Tanks.

Tanks were bad. Best a sniper had against tanks was to wait for the tank commander to pop his head out of the tank to have a look around. Even then it was just one of the crew that went down. Helpful, but not lethal to the tank. When the armored divisions got to fighting, Yelena mostly hoped to stay clear of the big guns and take out anyone using antipersonnel weaponry.

She took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

When the sniper noted a watchtower in the distance she looked over to her spotter who had remained below. "Stop the column."

While the spotter ran ahead, Yelena carefully descended from the rock, not wanting to slip and get injured. Now was not the time. Once she again had firm ground under her feet, she ran toward to the Serzhant in command.

"Serzhant, a watchtower ahead. Probably a half click up the road. I don't think they can see us yet, but they will if we continue." The sniper stood still after delivering her report, waiting for any orders from the Serzhant.

((OOC: Not writing only to language group on purpose. The above is in Russian, but all the soldiers are Soviet so I don't think I need to use language groups in this thread. Happy to change if others disagree.))

((Perfectly fine on the language))

Gusarov cursed. "Tanks and a fucking stronghold."
Then he grinned: "The Red Army is the Strongest! Tsimmerman!"

The man stood at attention.

"You and Malkin scout ahead. You got our best eyes, Tsimmerman. Use them. Malkin! Make sure Yevdokim Vsevolodovich here still has his eyes when he gets back. Don't get yourself killed or I'll fucking skin you, got that? I want to know how many men are in that tower, that's all you have to find out."

Yelena nodded once at the orders. "Yes, Serzhant. We need numbers and nothing more." It was habit to repeat the important bits, just in case something was misunderstood.

The sniper took a step back from Tsimmerman to take a good look at him. Her focus was on anything that might glint or stand out against the nearby terrain. Once satisfied, she again gave a nod. "Good to go, I think."

Once they started moving, Yelena smirked. "Let's not let anything happen to those pretty eyes of yours, comrade. I'll take the lead, move slowly and carefully, and right behind me. Not to the side."

"Behind. Move slowly and carefully. Yes, Mladniy Serzhant." Tsimmerman offered a wry smile but fell in behind her.

You staid close to the trees, moving slowly between them, the canvas from the truck offering quite good camouflage against the foliage. One hundred meters closer, then 200, 250. The two of you stop behind a tree.
It's not just a watchtower. It's a small camp with a wooden palisade. The gates are wide open.

"No guard in the tower, Comrade. And no smoke from a fire."

Yelena nodded and then used her binoculars to scan the area for anything of interest. She spoke quietly to him, though hearing them at this distance was unlikely. "Yes, comrade, but let us observe for a little while." A sniper learned to be patient. Very, very, very patient.

((OOC: If nothing is apparent over the course of a few minutes, Yelena will move the pair closer, but never fully in the open. Her rifle will be in hand. Should nothing present itself even after closer inspection, she will return with Tsimmerman and report the apparent lack of occupants. Under no circumstances are the two of them going to enter the camp without backup.))

((How close do you want to go?))

((OOC: How close can the trees provide cover? She doesn't want to get to the point where normal levels of noise can be detected or their movement would become obvious. But the trees should provide cover and camouflage.))

You and Tsimmerman inched closer to the edge of the forest, until only a few trees are before you. There was a clear space of maybe 15 to 20 meters to the large gate, that stands wide open.

A sign hang above the gate, crudely carved wooden letters saying

From your new position, you were able to look further into the camp. On the left-hand side of the road is a long structure.
"Looks like barracks", Tsimmerman opined. Five minutes passed, stretching into 10. Nothing moved, no sounds could be heard besides the brook to your right rushing down the mountain valley.

"Want to take a closer look, Serzhant?"

Yelena paused for one more look through her binoculars, then shook her head. She then used hand signals to communicate with Tsimmerman. The signals could be summed up as follows:

*Shut the fuck up*

*We are returning to our comrades now*

*We move slowly and quietly*

*Keep watch on the camp as we retreat*

She then gently pushed on Tsimmerman to have him take the lead as they slowly and quietly moved back through trees to a safe distance. (At which point they will start to move more quickly so they can report what they've found, if there is no interference)

A few minutes later, Yelena and Tsimmerman reach Gusarov and the others, the sergeant impatiently looking at his four wrist watches, drumming his fingers against the barrel of his gun.

"Your fucking late, Malkin. You heard the captain, we should be back in 10 minutes! Did you have a nice stroll?"

"We did, Serzhant, thank you for asking. Little enough hand holding, but we returned with Tsimmerman's beautiful eyes intact."

She pointed toward the ground and snatched a nearby stick, sketching out what they saw of the compound in some mud. "It was more than just a watchtower, but rather there was a small compound with some low buildings that appeared to be barracks. The watchtower seemed empty so we moved to inspect from closer. The main gate was open, though we never saw nor heard movement. A sign out front said 'Welcome to the Forest Camp Falcon Nest'. We were able to move to within 15 to 20 meters using the cover of the forest, but there is no cover between the edge of the forest and the compound." She attempted to draw things to scale best she could, though she was working with mud and stick from memory and wasn't a talented artist.

Malkin looked at her own grouping of watches. "We could probably reconnoiter with a full squad while sending a pair of messengers to report our progress. Or perhaps returning in full, reporting to the officers, and bringing a larger group with us is more prudent."

The sniper pointed back toward the way they had come. "If reporting is our choice and you are concerned with being late, I will volunteer to double-time back to the officers and let them know why we were delayed."

((You'll arrive back in the main thread just when the officers return from the scene of the massacre.))