Advanced Training Barracks, Kassel, Spring 1938.
The courtyard echoed with sharp commands, metal striking stone, and boots stomping in unison. The training for the new Leibstandarte was unlike any prior regimen. It wasn't just physical—it was ideological, technical, total.
Falk and Konrad arrived first. Both came from the Führer's personal guard, and were assigned directly to the armored division course. There, they met three figures who, on the surface, seemed to share nothing in common.
Lukas stood out for his skill behind the wheel. He maneuvered test tanks like they were carts on Bavarian backroads. His casual nature clashed with the rigidity of the instructors, but no one questioned his results.
Ernst, the most physically imposing, hauled shells as if they were sacks of flour. Quiet, but explosive when things didn't work. One instructor described him as "the kind of man you'd rather have loading your gun—not pointing it at you."
Helmut, always with a notebook in his pocket, looked more like a lost academic. But when it came to decoding signals, plotting routes, or resolving interference, even the sternest officers furrowed their brows with respect.
For weeks, the five crossed paths during exercises. At first, they simply shared space. Then effort. And finally—sync.
On the day of final evaluation, a list was read aloud on the training field:
"Platoon 3, Tank Alpha: Commander, Oberscharführer Falk Ritter. Gunner, Unterscharführer Konrad Weismann. Radio Operator, Rottenführer Helmut Krüger. Loader, Rottenführer Ernst Vogel. Conductor… Rottenführer Lukas Hoffner."
A brief silence. Then glances. No cheers, but in their eyes, something like recognition flickered.
That night, they sat together for the first time in the mess hall. They didn't speak much. But when one of the new recruits asked aloud who they thought would last longest on the front, it was Falk who answered, without lifting his eyes from the tray:
"The five of us. Because we're already one."
No one argued.
The next day, real field coordination drills began.They were no longer five soldiers.They were a Panzer in formation.