WWII: Last Bridge to Freedom

Lt. Bannon leaned against his Sherman and closed his eyes, running the CO's orders through his head again and again

You men will hold the region at all costs. Down to the last man if you need to, but hold that damned town.

Bannon opened his eyes to the cursing of his driver, Pvt. Webb
"Goddamn piece of junk!"
"What's wrong Sid?"
"Its our freakin coolant sir, its near done for. No more cruising in ol St. Paddy" Bannon smiled, and thought of the nicknames his men had given his 3 tanks: Joey Stalin, High Roller, and St. Paddy. His men had been through so much in so little time, thanks to the speed of General Patton. One minute they were pushing their tanks off the beaches of Normandy on D-Day +30, and the next thing they knew they were at the shores of the Rhine.
The smile faded as he caught the sound of tank treads in the distance. He turned and yelled
"Hey Brown, get out here!"
A stocky young Private, the shell-loader on High Roller, emerged from the tank and jumped down to Bannon
"Yes sir!"
"What are they?"
Brown took off his crewman helmet and listened carefully,
"Panzers, probably Mark 4's, maybe a Tiger, but I could be wrong."
"Okay gentlemen, get ready to load up, ill call the sniper."
Bannon got into his tank and grabbed the radio and used his call signals
"Eagle-six, eagle six, come in. this is Yankee-4, do you read me?"
He waited for jacob to answer the call...

A call came in over the small radio that Jacob had with him. "With no radio man in our platoon this little thing is a life-saver." He clicked the small button on the radio. "This is not Eagle-6 over, this is Archangel-1, I've been sent to replace Eagle-6. I read you loud and clear Yankee-4." Jacob pulled his sniper to his eye and did a long view of the remaining area. "Closer by the second... Private Sappington!" Ben came running up the stairs to where Jacob was. "What is it Sarge?" Jacob pulled an extra clip for an M1 Garand and tossed it too him. "Use it." Ben saluted and went back down to his position. ((It's an inside thing.))

Bannon felt a wave of relief come over him as he heard the Sergeant Major's voice crackle through. He and Jacob had had their fair share of arguments in the past, but through and through they respected each other. Bannon tried to prove himself early on as not just another junior officer from West Point, and respected the Sarge, even though he was an officer.

"Roger that Archangel 1. Me and my tanks are about a quarter of a mile south of the church. we just got finished repairing. What are we looking at for Kraut armor?"
He held the receiver close as the tank engines roared.

Jacob let out a sigh relief when he heard that an armored unit would be saving them the agony of fighting an army of tanks. "Looks like we are dealing with about twenty or so Panzers. They've split into four different squads. All heading into the town from different directions." JAcob looked through the scope again to try and find any possible weakness in their ranks.

Danny noticed the look of fear in his loader's eyes.
"Don't worry Chuck, just keep on putting those shells in the cannon and we'll be fine."

"Archangel 1, i hate to break it to you, but It's just my tank and 2 others. Battalion HQ couldn't spare anymore. The rest of my unit are up the Rhine holding off another counterattack. I don't know how we'll manage to hold off those Panzers, but we'll sure as hell try."

"Archangel-1, Archangel-1; this is Guardian-2. What does it look like up there?" Private O'Rhyne called into the field radio. Turning to private Winchester: "Can you do a scout of the surrounding streets. I dont feel like being flanked unprepared." He got a nod from corperal Bragger and another from Winchester who, with a glance to Narol, picked up his Thompson and moved out through the Hotels front doorway.

******

Seargent Jake Mirez crouched low as the first of eight German troops appeared on the street corner. "Here they come. Get ready but hold your fire guys." He whispered to Redman and Burgerman. He hoped sundown and Ferka would do the same. The Krauts moved down th main road, cautiously sweeping with their weapons but carelessly and quickly moving down the street. Jake instantly knew they were inexperianced. 'If this is Germanies last defence then they may aswell be f***ed in the ass by Hitler himself.' He thought. "Hold your fire, hold your fire until I give the command." He whispered quietly to them again. And metally hoped Sundown would do the same.

Jacob had an perfect chance to score a shot, when his radio chimed. "I have a target. Entering radio silence." Jacob moved his hand over and clicked the radio off. He returned the scope to his eye and followed the seemingly alone German solidier. The soldier was like all the rest of his kill count: poorly trained and confused as to why they are still at war. Jacon instinctively pulled the rod back and listened to the click with a smile on his lips. "Sorry, but it's your time." The soldier that he was watching noticed the glare when the clouds moved away and pointed to his posistion while trying to call for help. Just as he did Jacob laughed. "You're just giving me a target." Jacob fired and the bullet hit directly on the soldiers finger, tearing to bits and eventually becoming lodged in his throat.

Jake fixed the sights of his M1 Garand and steadily aimed at the leader. A seargent from the look of his uniform. As the Krauts moved further up the road to a portion with no possble cover for twenty meters he pulled the trigger.

The shot deathened Mirez as it exploded from the barell of his rifle and another bullet was loaded automatically into the M1's chamber from its bangolier. The bullet zipped through the air and hit the Nazi on the right side of his visible back. Blood sprayed out from the wound as the bullet continued through tearing up his lungs. He crumpled to the street as the other Krauts began to react to the unexpected shot. "FIRE!!!" Jake shouted and emptied his clip into their stupidly tight formation just as Sundown fired from the oppisite building window cutting down another German with a messy head shot. Literally tearing off his entire cranium. Rattenburger with his M1 Carbine and Redman with his Thompson opened up on the Germans; their sustained fire taking down two more. Jake hit another on the shoulder spinning his targets body around exposing his chest for the approaching bullets. They chewed him up pretty badly; peppering his chest with dark red stains. The German screamed in shock. Sundown hit the last Kraut with a precise shot to the chest but it was Jakes last bullet ended the mans life; as Mirez's bangolier ejected from the M1 Garand; it pierced the Germans heart in a spay of red.

It was over in a matter of seconds and the Krauts hadnt even fired a single shot at them. 'Inexperianced indeed' He hought.

O'Ryhne heard the gun shots, he reconised the sound as american weapons and pushed his fears aside. "They'll be alright. Aint no kraut can kill the sargent." He said to comfort the nervous looking Narol. Corperal Bragger nodded; "You'd had better set up one of our M1919A1s" He ordered.

Jacob looked down from the window, to the freshly killed kraut. He breathed deep and removed his helmet. With his knife, he made a single scratch and put the helmet back onto his head. With this done he turned around and shouted down towards Ben. "I'm already to one!" Ben grunted and shouted back up to him. "Yeah, just give me a minute and I'll have way more than you!" They both let out a chuckle and armed themselves for the larger group of Germans that were advancing into the small town.

Winhester rounded the corner of the building comin face to face with a squad of krauts and a panzer...facing the oppisite direction, he ducked back round the corner. They seemed to be waiting orders.

Bannon was near the church tower when he heard the gun fire. He popped the top of his tank and stood up on his platform, looking down the street. His tank stopped at the church, where he called on the radio
"Ok jake, tell us where you need the armor suppport!"
He spotted some Germans and pulled back the lever on his 30 cal, and began to shoot off rounds at them.

Seth admiring the view of a hole inside of a building. As the hole itself was big as a couch and you could see right the side of the red stoned brick wall into the wood floor bedroom of the building right into the roof. the ground shaking all around as planes passing by dropping bombs.

Seth snapped out of day dreaming as he saw two Germans passed by him. amused as they didnt see him seth ran around the corner to peek his head out. he notice the Germans were aiming at a tank.

He couldnt just sit there and watch them destroy the men on his side he had to do something. jumping out the corner like a crazy hobo not aiming properly shooting at the two Germans only to shoot one in the arm as he was aiming for the tank.

Click click. sounds coming from the rifle he was shooting from "Shit" he thought to himself quickly pulling out is pistol as other one fell to the ground. aiming at the second german who was preparing himself to shoot seth. Zoom bullet passed by his ear as the other bullet from seths pistol barreled right the through the second Germans right eye and came out from the back of his neck. Seth moved his pistol to the left to the first german still holding his arm from the gun shot.

HE mumbled something but seth didnt speak german so he didnt know what he said as seth shot the bullet the mans arm was extended as if he planned to give seth a high five. The bullet ran right through the mans hand and before the man could scream it twist and turned in the guys neck and before exiting with blood gashing out of the new hole in his neck. The german rolled around the ground for awhile before he finally gave out his last breath.

Seth looked at the tank to see if the man on it even notice his heroism!

Lt. Bannon ducked as a shot ran out, and yelled down
"Driver, put us over near that building, to you 11 o' clock!"
"Yes Sir!"
St. Paddy rolled across the cobblestone road, as Joey Stalin and High Roller moved up and lined up, creating a line across the street. Gunfire began to ring out across the city, barely sparking the men's interests, having heard it so many times before.
Bannon looked through his binoculars to see if any Germans were left in that wave. He screamed down to his crew
"Gunner! Half track coming up the road, load round and fire at will!"
Bannon smiled as, like clockwork, Chuck loaded the round and with a "ga-gunsh" the round hurtled out of the cannon and punched through the halftrack's engine, blowing up the front. He yelled out over the cannon to Seth
"Get some fire on them! they're getting off! pick em off before they get into the city,"
He pulled back the 30 cal's lever and began to let off rounds, forcing the germans to sprint and take cover, and ripped apart 3 of the squad of 9. He continued to fire.

Seth turned around to the nine germans running across to him. Falling on to the ground as he turned in laying down position ignoring as if the ground wasnt rocky and pictured as a pluffy pillow. Aiming toward them only to see two of them fall down and not getting back.

He noticed one of them was trying to be a leader to them. seth thought about shooting him as they all ran behind a couple sandbags. Seth went crosseyed to see a dead american soldier right in front of him with a belt full of gernades.

A smirk came to his face as he took the belt off of the dead man."sorry guy i need this more than you" seth said to himself. Seth pulled a pin off one held just for a right amount of time to throw it where they were hiding.

It landed right in there little hide and seek place. Just as seth knew the leader would've picked it up just have it blown the whole place up just right when he was going to throw it. The seven men were erased from the world as if they never exsisted.

Sargent Mirez looked down through the hole on the floor. "Denson?" He called.

"Sir?" Came the reply.

"Get those bodies outta there. Hide them," He turned to Redman. "You go too. Fast!"

"ME?" Redman asked in suprise.

"Yes you. Go! There is no time to argue"

***

The sound of explosions ccould be heard by the three soldiers in the Hotel. O'Rhyne was on the com. "Archangel-one, this is Guardian-two. What the hell are we up against?" He asked into the radio.

((Bit lax here. S B this one seems dead in the water of the river Rhine lol))

"This is Archangel 01! We are going up against Sher-" The comm went silent in Book's ear and he raised his rifle up. "Looks like they are a lot smarter then we think..." Jacob took as many shots as he could

O'Rhyne swore and chucked the radio reciever down. "Narol! Get to the Searge now!"

The nervous private nodded and grabbing his M1 Garande rifle he exited the hotel to run down the street.

Denson and Redman quickly hid the Krauts bodies from view behind a damaged wall and scarpered across the road back into cover. Jake looked up as they scrambled into the building. "Good work! Okay guys, stay low."

***

Winchester snuck around behind the Germans, he reached the back of the Panzer, a Panther class V Panzer. The soldier took out two grenades, chucked one towards the Nazi's and the other he threw into the Panzer turret. Then he quickly darted back behind the wall the into the building.

The Germans saw the grenade and dived out of the way. "Aching! Ist Pineapple! 😄 "

The grenades exploded and the tank stalled.

***

Narol slid into cover behind a low wall as a Panther rolled along the road. About thirty troops followed along with a half-track and soon a King Tiger followed. The ground vibrated and Narol swore the wall would collapse from being shook.

am i able to join here, as you seem to be in the thick of combat.))