Part 2

Elsa couldn't believe any of this was actually happening; it seemed so much like a dream for a woman like herself to be sent to the front to battle the Anglo-Americans who were gathering their forces in preparation for a thrust into the Fatherland. As if that weren't strange enough, she was doing this at a staggering height of some 50 feet tall! Most of the trees in this Belgian forest came no higher than her uniform-clad bosom. There were some which surpassed her height, but even they were easily brushed aside by the collision of her unsoldierly wide hips. Every step produced a crunching and snapping sound as snow and every kind of vegetation (and maybe the occasional animal!) exploded beneath the soles of her boots.

Beads of sweat leaked from her brow as she marched the many miles it took to reach the front. Her commanders had given her no rest, and even though it was the dead of winter her great mass radiated heat profusely. Had infrared goggles been available in those days, she would have been easy for the Allies to discover. As it was, her enormous size - as well as the great racket she made as she crashed through the forest - meant that she couldn't have relied on stealth anyway. Fortunately, her size made her much stronger and more durable than a soldier of normal height. She was far from invincible, but the advantages offered by this size may be just the thing the Fatherland needed to turn the tide in this God-forsaken war.

Looking around, Elsa could see little other than the spindly skeletons of dormant trees amongst the snow-covered landscape. Tiny snow-flakes fell like powdered sugar from some unseen height, obscuring her vision, as if she were strolling through a cloud. But it wasn't long until she found some traces of what she was after. Up ahead, she could make out the faint glow of campfires; the Allied encampment was close! She quickly flicked off the safety on her rifle.

Her gargantuan heart pounded nervously in her chest as she moved towards her target. She had been given only minimal training, and had never known such a thing as combat before. This would be her first trial, and she knew there were dangers despite the advantage of her size. She stepped up towards the clearing, and there she saw them! Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of men and military equipment gathered for as far as her blue eyes could see in this haze. They were preparing to invade her homeland, and for that they would pay dearly.

The soldiers and their machines appeared to be as small and harmless as children's toys; nevertheless, their weapons were very real and potent, so Elsa quickly raised the Sturmgewehr rifle to her shoulder and directed its barrel towards a concentration of vehicles. Precision aiming was not necessary, because her bullets were large and had a rapid rate of fire. Gently, she squeezed on the trigger, and was rewarded with the sight of the tiny vehicles exploding in a ball of fire. There were tiny screams, and chaos began to ensue.

Some of the enemy fled, but most held their ground and fired back at her. To her surprise, their bullets inflicted no damage, and were hardly noticeable at all.  Elsa began to feel invincible, and thought that she might successfully take on the entire Allied army all by herself! Nevertheless, her role was primarily meant to be that of reconnaissance, and it was her duty to inform her fellow soldiers of her discovery.

Elsa turned her head back to the east from which she had came. She cupped her hands over her mouth and shouted loudly, and clearly, in her native German: "Follow me into battle, comrades! I have made contact with the enemy!"

Adrenaline surged through her veins, and her apprehension and nervousness were quickly supplanted with bloodlust and the thrill of combat. It was a feeling unknown to most women throughout history, and for Elsa it was her first. Sudden, explosions to her rear and at her feet jolted her from this illusion of invincibility, and once again the grim realities of war began to sink in. Then there was another scream of the anti-tank rockets, but this one managed to find its target.

Elsa felt something impact her in the ankle, combined with an explosion which brought her enormous bulk crashing to the ground. She screamed out with the realization she had been hit with something. At first there was no pain, but a few moments later the wound became excruciating. She clutched the wound, trying to slow down the bleeding. She was vulnerable now, and could be finished off with a similar blow. She waited for it to come, but to her surprise it never came. In fact, the area became surprisingly quiet. This silence lasted for a few moments, but was interrupted by the sound of artillery off to the east, followed by explosions on the Allied lines. The Germans offensive had begun!

***

Claudia heard the shout of her skirmishers, and immediately ordered her forces to engage. All told, there were perhaps 1,000 female giants available for this operation - as well as a few hundred thousand normal-sized male soldiers, a few hundred Panzers, and artillery. They were up against close to 1 million Allied soldiers, and with a comparable number of tanks and artillery. Fortunately, the Allied armies didn't have any Jotunn units of their own, and it was hoped that their shock effect would prove decisive in the outcome of the battle ahead. Unlike the Panzers, the Giantesses didn't require any petrol, which was in very short supply for the Fatherland at this time in the war.

Thanks to the poor winter weather, the Allies were also unable to exploit their air superiority. "Thank God," Claudia muttered to herself. She didn't know what effect Allied 500 pound bombs dropped on her giantesses would have, but she doubted the results would be pretty. As it was, she had doubts her ill-trained Frau Jotunns would prove themselves worthy in combat. She had told the Fuhrer she needed more time to train them, but the short angry man was adamant and insisted that it was now or never.

Claudia herself had no experience in warfare, but for practical reasons it was necessary that a Giantess be in command of the Jotunn Units. Male generals were still in command of the Reich's normal sized forces, though. Unfortunately, both she and her fellow commanders weren't allowed to deviate from the original plans without authorization from the Fuhrer himself. This delay in orders (compounded by the Fuhrer's incompetence) were largely to blame for the tide of war having turned against Germany - but no one was allowed to talk about that.

Claudia watched with pride as the 50ft women under her command followed the paths of destruction through the Belgian forests toward the Allied forces beyond. In their wake rumbled the slower and clumsier Panzer and Tiger tanks, which were in turn followed by the transports, artillery, and hundreds of thousands of Wehrmacht soldiers. Upon all of their shoulders rested the fate of the Reich. Germany had launched a successful surprise offensive through these forests twice before. Was there any reason to doubt the success of a third?