Meanwhile, a private scaled the ladder that connected to the upper loft, once he made it to the top. He cautiously stepped towards the edge where the platform in the loft ended, he then reached out and grabbed hold of the closet line.
"We'll cut you down from there, we piled up enough hay below to hopefully soften your fall, sir!" The corporal below called up to them, then he nodded towards the private holding onto Jack's parachute rope. Giving him the OK to cut Jack down from his lines.
Drawing his knife from its sheath, the private leaned forward and firmly held onto the parachute lines. He then proceeded to cut the cords that have entangled Jack.
"Thanks, fellas and what company are you all from?" Jack asks while he prepared himself for the impending fall.
"Easy sir, Bravo company also landed in this general area as well. Our Captain is trying to figure out what the hell is happening, everyone got scattered in the jump and we're obviously not in the correct DZ's we were meant to land in." The chap said while sawing away at the cords.
"Yeah, this is one big fucking mess we're in right now sir." A soldier chimed in as he looked out the window and into the dark countryside.
Before anyone could say anything else, there was a sudden snap as a cord gave way, partially freeing Jack. Before gravity took effect and he fell down, safely landing on the hay, but it still hurt. His legs bruised, that's the only injury he'll receive out of his landing.
Quickly fighting past the flash of pain that flared in his leg, Jack said his thanks to the men that freed him, and together.
The squad left the barn and in a staggered formation, they moved out to join the gathered men out in the field. A perimeter was successfully secured and Easy company's Captain was trying to figure out where they were exactly.
**
The temporary command center, German F.O.B.
On the outskirts of Carentan in a hastily cleared out cellar, the cellar was turned into a Command center for the defending commander.
This man's in charge with overseeing his section of the defense, which involves the immediate area behind and of Omaha and Utah beach.
"Herr Generalmajor, reports of enemy paratroopers landing all across the countryside have been flooding the radio waves for the past 10 minutes... Orders Herr?" The Funker asks as plot and route officers are hovering over the large, laid out map of Normandy, ready to spring into action.
"Deploy the Fallschirmjäger-Regiment 6 here, along with the 2 other Ost battalions, they're going to secure the outer area and here... We must hold Carentan until the 17th SS Panzergrenadier Division arrives, they'll be relieving us to hold these areas while the main army pulls back to regroup if they get that far..." Karl said while looking over the map.
"Keep my tanks in reserve, I don't want them deployed too early... However, get a platoon size detachment sent to bolster the ranks where I see fit." Generalmajor Krieser said while he watched his veteran map and route officers get to work with his orders.
As a minute or two passed, Karl sighed a little "Herr Rommel has entrusted us to defend this port long enough for the engineers to destroy what they can, and long enough for the 17th SS-Panzergrenadier to arrive and reinforce us." Karl added, the flow of his officers made this look like a well, organized and oiled machine as the word is already getting sent out for movement orders.
It's the first time that Karl had led men in nearly a year, since he was medically discharged for a year from his injuries he received in Italy, his commanding skills are a bit rusty. So he was placed here to get back into the rhythm of things once more.
YOU ARE READING
Screaming Eagles
Historical Fiction"You're about to embark on a great crusade..." General Dwight D. Eisenhower had said in his speech to the troops prior to the opening assault on Normandy's shores. However, Jack and James O'Brian never heard that speech, because they were in the air...
Chapter 2 - Surrounded
Start from the beginning
