Music: Sabaton: The Last Stand: Hill 3234

One of the things I love about Sabaton is digging into history I was only marginally aware of, or completely ignorant of.

So, the next song in my ongoing review is one of the latter - about a battled in Afghanistan during the soviet occupation attempt.

History

From infogalactic:

The Battle for Hill 3234 was a successful defensive battle fought by the 345th Independent Guards Airborne Regiment, Soviet Airborne Troops, in Afghanistan against a force of 200 to 250 Mujahideen rebels. Two of the soldiers killed, Vyacheslav Alexandrovich Alexandrov and Andrey Alexandrovich Melnikov, were posthumously awarded the Gold Star of the Hero of the Soviet Union. All of the paratroopers in this battle were given the Order of the Red Banner and Order of the Red Star.[3]

 The Song

This one is one of the last to grow on me, and still not really my favorite. That said, it's hardly one I skip either. It shifts pace from the anthemic feel of the Last Stand to an almost mechanical headlong rush.  

Landed on the hilltop, soviet forces are in place
Awaiting orders!

They were only 39
They were told to hold the line
In control

Sent into battle, came from the sky
Trapped on a mountain, and into the fire

Hold your ground
When you're fighting those who fight
Death is waiting on the hill
No surrender, shoot to kill
You have to
Hold your ground
Kill the warrior in your sight
Death is waiting on the hill
No surrender, shoot to kill

January 7th, hold the hilltop at all costs
Follow orders!

Holding their ground
To the final round
One by one

Fight through the sundown, into the night
Enduring the darkness, awaiting the light

Hold your ground
When you're fighting those who fight
Death is waiting on the hill
No surrender, shoot to kill
You have to
Hold your ground
Kill the warrior in your sight
Death is waiting on the hill
No surrender, shoot to kill

Stand, hold your ground
Come around
Hostile land
Your last stand

Under fire, low on munitions
Make your bullets count
Push their warriors back down the mountain
Rule the battlefront

Sent into battle, came from the sky
Trapped on a mountain, and into the fire

Hold your ground
When you're fighting those who fight
Death is waiting on the hill
No surrender, shoot to kill
You have to
Hold your ground
Kill the warrior in your sight
Death is waiting on the hill
No surrender, shoot to kill

Of note is that a movie called The 9th Company was made about this battle, and is the source of the film used in the video here.