The Sound of Battle

A young lieutenant sees battle in the Austrian-Hungarian army.

Featured in the Action/Adventure Newsletter DATED: 26 MAY 2026


Off the coast of Tianjin, China, near Bejing
On the Austrian Battlecruiser: SMS Kaiserin und Konigin Maria Theresia
1900 – The Boxer Rebellion


Georg lengthened his stride, wanting to keep up with his superior, Captain von Keil. The captain had taken him under his wing when Georg arrived; escorting him around the ship, introducing him to the crew and mentoring him to earn his next rank. Von Keil wasn’t actually the captain of the ship, that was Commander Rudolf Jung, but von Keil was part of the senior bridge crew and Georg was eager to learn what von Keil taught.

The sky was partly overcast. Georg could taste the sea salt in the air. A chill stung his cheeks. Deckhands cleaning the area stopped and saluted as Georg and von Keil walked past. A marine layer hung like a thick patchy blanket between the Maria Theresia and the Chinese coast. Dense cloud coverage made the northern coast nearly imperceptible. In the south, the marine layer was thinner, making it easier to see through.

Von Keil stopped suddenly and Georg side-stepped to avoid running into him. Von Keil didn’t notice. He walked over to the guard rails bracing his hands on the metal, staring out at a patch of dense fog. After a moment he turned to Georg. “Pull a pair of binoculars from the nearest crow’s nest.”

“Aye, Sir.” The young lieutenant turned on his heels and briskly walked over the nearest storage locker, using his officer’s key to open it. He fetched the binoculars and returned to his superior.

The senior officer said nothing, just put the binoculars to his eyes and studied the fog. Georg knew the captain well enough to know he spotted something in the fog. Georg leaned forward.

Von Keil handed Georg the glasses. “Look.” Georg trained the binoculars in the direction his superior indicated. Georg spotted a dull flash – it almost reminded him of someone lighting a fuse.

Like a curtain rolling back, the fog parted and a Chinese junk appeared, its battered bright orange sails turning into the wind, as if they were hiding something. Georg pursed his lips. While the color of the sails were bright, he thought that couldn’t be the source of the flash. He was stumped.

“It’s a junk,” said Georg.

“Junks don’t travel alone,” said von Keil.

“Seems harmless,” Georg replied.

“Perhaps, but the Chinese possess four destroyers armed with torpedoes. This fog could allow them to get close to us. It could be following the junk.” Von Keil rubbed his chin with his finger. Georg recognized this habit. Von Keil was assessing the situation. Chinese junks were typically harmless and defenseless. The alliance typically left them alone, but there had been reports by the Italians in the south that junks had tried to engage them with gatling guns.

A second junk emerged from the marine layer, while the first junk turned its sails skirting the Austrian battleship.

“Maria Theresia can defend against anything a junk can throw at us,” said Georg, proudly.

Von Keil allowed a small smile. “She is the pride of the Austrian fleet, but with this fog and those junks one of the Chinese destroyers could come in behind them and we’d be vulnerable to a torpedo attack.” Von Keil stopped and gestured for the binoculars again. “I saw a flash in the fog – maybe you did too – like someone was priming a gun…” his voice trailed off as he studied the fog, then turned his attention to the junks.

“Those junks look to be between 600 and 1,000 yards out,” Georg stated.

“Yes, they’re close,” von Keil paused. “Do you have family lieutenant?”

“No, Sir.” He hesitated. The question seemed a little ‘off’ considering what his superior was evaluating. “My mother and siblings are in Austria.”

“Well, you’re young. Twenty?”

“Twenty-one, Sir.”

“You’ll understand one day. I want to go home to my wife and children when we’re done here in this God forsaken land. I don’t want to be torpedoed by a Chinese destroyer hiding behind a junk.”

Georg nodded. He didn’t want that either.

“There!” von Keil thrust the binoculars at Georg and ran to the nearby intercom. As he did so, the second Chinese junk turned away from them. The sails on the junk did the same, revealing gatling guns at the ready. The powerful front of a destroyer revealed itself as the second junk turned into an offensive position. Georg’s heart rate spiked and his mouth soured.

“Signal Commander Jung on the bridge – there’s a Chinese Destroyer behind those junks and one has gatling guns. On my orders swing hard to port, now! If we don’t turn, we’ll take a torpedo on a direct hit to the starboard side close to the boiler rooms!”

Georg fisted his hands. That destroyer was close enough to launch a torpedo! He understood von Keil’s order – if the Maria Theresia swung hard to port now, then the torpedo might come up beside it, paralleling it and detonating next to it, instead of penetrating the hull. The gatling guns burst with rounds straight for the Maria Theresia. Georg and von Keil dived for cover. Deckhands scattered. One of them pressed the emergency horn on the ship. Bullets struck the side of the ship. Due to the distance, some penetrated but most bounced off the metal.

Maria Theresia began a violent lurch to the left. Von Keil grabbed Georg’s arm. “Go to the aft torpedo bay and tell the on-duty lieutenant to prepare a torpedo to fire. I’m going to the bridge.”

“Aye, Sir." Georg and von Keil opened the nearest door and sprinted in different directions. Georg found a stairway that led to the lower rooms and raced through the narrow halls of the ship toward the rear torpedo bay.

Sweat dribbled off his brow. The battleship had two torpedo launch bays, one forward, one aft. Maria Theresia angled and listed hard as it took the strong turn quickly. Georg struggled to maintain his balance. The torpedo room was close. Torpedoes were a new naval weapon, but if launched with precision, deadly and effective. Their drawback? They needed to be manually loaded, manually primed, and manually launched.

Georg’s expertise was torpedoes. He could do all three jobs in his sleep. He was one of the ten lieutenants who rotated duty through the torpedo rooms. It took a crew of four to prepare a torpedo to launch. A room usually had a lieutenant, a sergeant, and two sailors.

The battleship shook. It was a penetrating quake as if something exploded on deck and the shockwave rippled down through the ship. Artillery, Georg surmised. Probably from an artillery shell off that destroyer. It would take a few moments before another one struck. Just like torpedoes, artillery needed to manually loaded, primed, and launched.

Maria Theresia kept turning hard – the walls and floor remained at an angle. Georg burst into the torpedo room, glanced at the lieutenant – Hans Gruber. The NCO was Heinrich Albrect and the sailors were Schmidt and Muller.

“Load the A-1 Torpedo! Now!”

“That’s for close combat,” began Gruber.

“Do it! We’re turning hard for a reason – there’s a Chinese destroyer out there!” He gripped the control panel with both his hands.

Gruber nodded. Schmidt, Albrect, and Muller raced to the torpedo rack, pulled one off and placed it on the loading tube. Gruber ran over the torpedo, opened the control panel and began to punch in the priming codes – all on a precarious angle, with one hand on a nearby support beam.

A dull thud hit the hull mid-ship and echoed in waves along the metal walls. Georg’s eardrums filled with pressure, then a pressure wave rocked the boat. Gruber thrust forward and then backward, hitting a metal wall and sliding down to the floor. His eyes were glassy. Georg looked at the sailors. Schmidt was on his knees holding his head and Muller was prone on the floor, not moving. Albrect held a support beam near the torpedo racks. “What happened?”

“We took a hit, but it wasn’t direct. The torpedo exploded parallel to us.” Georg pointed. “Did he finish the priming sequence?”

Albrect made his way and glanced at the panel. “No.”

“I’ll prime it and launch it. Check on the others,” said Georg.

Albrect nodded.

Maria Theresia continued to lurch and list but not as hard as before. Georg made his way to the torpedo, finished the priming sequence, and with all his might, pushed the weapon into the launch tube and closed the hatch.

Albrect made his way to the control panel and picked up the intercom. He issued a message then put the receiver down. “I called a doctor.”

Georg nodded and wiped his brow with his sleeve. A red light flicked on at the control panel. Albrect looked at Georg. “The bridge wants us to launch.”

“Come here.”

Albrect stumbled to the manual launch panel next to the torpedo bay. Georg looked at the NCO. “On the count of three.”

Albrecht put his hand on the right lever, Georg on the left.

“One.”

“Two.”

“Three.” Both depressed the levers and the torpedo launched. A loud woosh of pressure filled the room then dissipated. Maria Theresia stopped its lurching motion and returned upright. Georg walked to the control panel and picked up the intercom to the bridge.

“Torpedo A-1 launched,” said Georg.

“Georg, you hit one of the junks,” said von Keil. “The timbers and sails from that junk flew all over that destroyer. It’s retreating.”

“And Maria Theresia?”

“We took a glancing blow. There’s more damage to the deck where the artillery shell landed, but we have damage control crews on it.”

“I’ll be down here for a bit. We have injuries in the torpedo room – Gruber, Schmidt, and Muller. I need to assess the damage on this level.”

“When you’re done report to the bridge.”

“Aye, Sir.” Georg put down the intercom and grabbed three canteens from the mess locker and passed them out to the injured sailors. All of them were now awake. He knelt next to Gruber. He took the water and sipped it. “There’s two of you,” said Gruber.

“You took a hard hit.” Georg noted Gruber’s eyes appeared glassy. He probably had a concussion. He glanced over at Albrect. “How are the sailors?”

“Schmidt has a nose bleed,” said the NCO. “Muller’s ribs ache.”

“I’m winded, Sir, that’s all,” said Muller.

Georg nodded. “You all did fine work under hard conditions. I’m proud of all of you.”

“Thank you, Sir,” said Albrect.

The door opened and the doctor walked in.


Several days later….

Georg stood on the deck of the Maria Theresia in formation next to Muller, Schmidt, Gruber, and von Keil. Now it was his turn. Commander Jung held up a medal and spoke loudly so all could hear.

“Lieutenant Georg von Trapp, you are being awarded the Tapferkeitsmedaille First Class for your actions in the destroying of an enemy combat vessel during the incursion on March 15th, 1900.”

Georg saluted his commander. Pride the likes he’d never known swelled up inside him. This was an exciting time to be alive and to be a part of the world’s largest navy. He’d been to foreign places he would have never visited if it wasn’t for the service. He fought honorably to defend the Empire. He knew in his heart he’d be a navy man until the day he died. No, marriage and children weren’t for him. He’d leave that to his younger brother, Ludwig. The sea had called his name and he had answered.

To Be Continued….

Word Count: 1919


Historical note ▶︎

Readers know Georg von Trapp as the father with seven children from “The Sound of Music,” but he lived an exciting military career before World War I redrew the boundaries of Europe’s nations. Austria-Hungary had a large navy up until the end of World War I. The current nations of Italy and Croatia made up the seacoast of the Austrian-Hungarian empire. Pola, Fiume, and Trieste were all cities that had major naval bases. At the end of World War I, Austria-Hungary was no more, and Georg retired from military service. He took his first wife, Agathe Whitehood, and his family to live in Salzburg, Austria.

REVIEWS:
Review of "The Sound of Battle"