| “ | He isn't dead, and do you know why? Because I haven't killed him yet.
— Erwin König on Vasily Zaytsev
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” |
Major Erwin König is the main antagonist of the 2001 war film Enemy at the Gates, which is based on the fictionalized accounts of Vasily Zaytsev. A German sniper and head of the sniper school at Zossen, König was deployed to Stalingrad to kill Zaytsev and crush Soviet morale.
When first encountering Zaytsev in the field, König killed two of Soviet snipers, but Zaytsev Zaytsev himself was able to escape. Upon learning of his mission, the Red Army deployed Koulikov, a former student of König, to help Vasily kill him. Köning manages to kill Koulikov, however, considerably shaking Vasily's spirit. Köning later receives false information from Sasha, a Soviet boy who was acting as a double agent, about Vasily's whereabouts and was wounded in an ambush. During a second attempt, Vasily passed out due to a lack of sleep and had his sniper log stolen by a looting German soldier.
Taking the log as proof of Zaytsev's death, German command orders Köning to return home but he remains unconvinced of his target's demise. Suspecting Sasha of being a double agent, he lies to him about his next location, suspecting he will tell Vasily. Köning turned out to be correct and killed the boy to use his body to lure Vasily out. Commissar Danilov, realizing the danger Zaytsev is in, exposed himself to König and got shot, leaving the Major open for Vasily to finally kill him.
Battle vs. Daniel Jackson (by Deathblade 100)[]
France, 1944
A US patrolman walked over cautiously, as he spotted the glint of sun on metal. Inching closer, he found what had caused the light; a discarded Luger P08. Crawling over to claim the sidearm as a trophy, he failed to notice the barrel of a Karabiner 98k sticking out from a nearby pile of rubble. A second later, the rifle barked its distinct report; Major Erwin König had claimed another victim.
Two days later
Elements of the 2nd Ranger Battalion under Captain Miller entered the village to retake it from the armies of the Third Reich. As one of the Rangers walked up to speak to the captain, a rifle shot echoed through the street, the bullet embedding itself into the chest of the soldier "Jackson, deal with that sniper!" Miller yelled, as the unit ducked for cover. PFC Daniel Jackson nodded his response and broke off from his squad to set up his position.
***
Major König took his eye away from the scope of his Kar98k and ejected the spent casing from his rifle before rechambering and relocating from the two storey farmhouse he was lying in. That tactic would only work once before his opponents caught onto the trick. Sneaking out the backdoor of the building, König noticed the US sniper predictably heading up towards the steeple of the small village church.
***
Jackson rested his Springfield M1903A4 against the edge of the windowsill of the church's steeple. Taking aim he could see his fellow squadmates up against cover and searched for his opponent. Setting his sights on the only other high ground; the bombed out ruins of a two storey farmhouse, he clumsily rechambered his rifle with his left hand. Seeing the glint of a sniper scope, he quickly muttered "Lord grant me strength" before firing. Awkwardly rechambering his rifle, he checked his target and cursed; his shot had been off by several inches. Taking aim again, Jackson noticed the slumped position of the opposing sniper and the M1911 pistol at its hip and realised it had been a decoy. Despite the German trenchcoat, Jackson's heart skipped a beat when he noticed the US Army uniform on his target.
***
König aimed his Scoped Kar98k at the steeple from his position in the long grass, waiting for the crosshairs to settle on his opponent, smiling coldly as the American had fired his rifle at the dead body of the soldier he had killed two days ago. Gently sqeezing the trigger, König sent the bullet from his Karabiner 98k in a deadly arc through the American sniper's head. Picking up his rifle, König swiftly crawled off leaving the village to the reinforcing German forces.
Expert's Opinion[]
König won due to overwhelming experience, skill and accuracy. While Jackson was a formidable sniper, his lack of experience and the fact his sniping tactics were predictable (i.e: taking high ground, etc.) worked against him here. König was only defeated because he shot a second target and gave away his position.