Blood and Iron

"We have lost many brave men, but their sacrifice is not in vain. Our tanks now form a line of steel so powerful that all German resistance will be crushed beneath it's mighty treads. Today, we will watch as Seelow falls, along with all those foolish enough to stand in our way."

- Sgt. Reznov in the pre-mission screen.

Blood and Iron is the eighth level in Call of Duty: World at War ' s single-player campaign. In this level, the Russians are ready to break through Seelow and march on to Berlin. Dimitri Petrenko takes control of a Russian tank, the player starts out with Commissar Markhov talking to the player and the other Russian tanks, while Reznov guides the player on how to control the tank throughout the level. Start by destroying artillery cannons and German infantry armed with Panzerschrecks and small arms. The tank is equipped with a coaxial flamethrower with a large radius of fire activated with the same button as the Grenade button, (When playing Co-Op, whoever is not the host receives a Coaxial Machine Gun instead), after destroying the Artillery positions and some Panzers, move on to destroy a radio tower. Dealing with enemy tanks, Panzers and King Tiger positions, move up to destroy the radio tower, preventing the Germans calling for reinforcements. Take care after destroying the tower though, the next area will be sprawling with tanks, Panzerschreck towers, bunkers and Germans with Panzerschrecks. Eventually ythe player will reach the train station, and the mission will end. During a short cutscene, Sgt. Reznov will compliment the player, and tells the other soldiers of his/her heroism.

Trivia

 * Although the previous level of the Russian Campaign takes place on the 18th of April, this takes place on the 16th.


 * It is unusual for an infantryman to be tasked with crewing a tank, as it requires specialized training. It is also unknown what role Petrenko has in the tank.


 * "Blood and Iron" may be a reference to a speech made by German leader Otto Von Bismark in which he stated that German unity could only be achieved through "Blood and Iron" (Fighting).


 * Like in Burn 'Em Out, only the first player will receive the flamethrower tank in co-op. Any other player they will have only a co-axial machine gun.


 * There is an achievement/trophy where the player will have to destroy all the towers/ bunkers (There are 21, some are hard to find so look carefully).


 * This is the only time the player gets to use a tank and control a vehicle on the Wii version.


 * The player can use the tank to crush the Germans, and he/she will hear the sounds of bones breaking and blood squirting out of the victim.
 * On the side of the tank, there is writing that says "УФА" (Pronounced as Ufa) - the name of the Russian town in the Urals where some of the tank building factories were located during WWII.
 * Players have reported hearing a PTRS-41 in the pit, even though the gun is russian.
 * This is the only level and Their Land, Their Blood where the player can see Russian support gunners. After going across the field with the Flak 88s they will see a lot of Russian soldiers, a great number of which are listed as support gunners, however in Their Land, Their Blood they are carrying PPSh-41s so they would most likely to be using them.


 * The noclip cheat does not work on this level.


 * In this level, it seems as though Sgt Reznov really does trust Dimitri with his life because he rides with him in his tank. This can be proved by turning on subtitles and letting the enemy tanks hit the player till he/she is in danger. Then he can be heard saying "Get us out of here, Dimitri!" Also if the player just sits there he will say Don't just sit there, Dimitri! We could be burning Germans right now!.


 * One of the support gunners has a DP-28, the only time it is seen in the campaign.


 * When Dimitri is getting into the train car, look to the left. The player should see another Chernov that looks exactly like the "real" Chernov in the middle of the train car.


 * Even after the player destroys the radio tower, if they shoot where it once was, the shell will still explode where the tower used to be.
 * When you destroy the radio tower if you sit underneath it it will not fall until you move even after you blow it up.
 * After the player has hit a panzerschreck bunker twice with a tank shell, he/she can get close to it and fire the flamethrower through a window. Flames can be seen emerging from the other windows and, after concentrated fire, the bunker will be destroyed.
 * In this mission it is possible to take cover by repeatedly firing your flamethrower and staying in the smoke.