The sky grew overcast over Gibraltar. The warm weather streamlined in between buildings and roads to a more isolated part of the region. The small semi-rundown building was overlooked by the taller buildings around the area of land.
Standing in front of the team who were lounging on sofas pleased with the outcome of the recent mission; The Man spoke to them all.
"Good work with your mission in that navy base, the Germans don't seem to be that concerned about the French port there. It buys time for negotiations with France, hopefully, it goes well," He raises his glass of beer, the others follow in a small cheer.
John impatiently asks, "So, what's next?"
The Man replies, "Bad news I'm afraid if there was a chance of the French pushing back the Germans, it's gone. Intelligence predicts that the Germans are heading towards Saumur, they'll probably arrive there on the 18th."
Jules sits up in a perfect posture, "That's a day away!"
Oliver stood up, "Wait, the Hell are we doing here then?"
The Man calmly replies, "We had to make arrangements, it is all prepared now. We leave in an hour's time. You'll make it there."
Juels asks, "What's our goal? To defeat the Panzers bulldozing their way through France?"
"No, there is a POI there. He is refusing to leave, thinks France can still be saved. Your mission is to find him and pull him out of there. Drag him if you have to. His name is Luca Randev. One of about 2,500 men there."
Juels questioned, "What resources do we have with us?"
"Your normal guns and grenades and whatever else you require the French have there. Devil's Ace will also be flying round the clock providing reliable air support; the French planes are running low on everything."
The 4 men chugged down the last drop of beer slamming it onto the table. They walked out the door with The Man following in large strides after gently
Not long before, they were on the next military flight over. Devil's Ace slept through the troubling turbulence. Foretelling John in his rough dreams and horrid nightmares. Tires screeched the ground, slow release of smoke rose to the windows. Oliver opened his eyes wide as the plane came to a halt.
"Right guys!" He yelled startling Devil's Ace awake, "We don't have long before the Germans reach Saumur."
"Right," Devil's Ace said as he yawned awake, "My plane is around here somewhere. I'll fly overhead almost constantly. Granted the Germans let easy on the flak."
John, Oliver, and Juels drove an abandoned car to the battle sight, not too far away. As they arrived there, an obstreperous mess waited for them. Oliver and John got out of the car to find the whereabouts of Luca, Juels was requested to move the car into a more defendable position to allow a machine gun position as well as a barricade.
John and Oliver went to the command center. The concatenation of the outside was only a portion of the mess inside. Men walking around back and forth, papers collapsing to the floor, and with the occasional quake of shells slamming into the ground, Oliver saw it best to find where Luca was himself. Shuffling through papers, a woman walked over to him.
"What are you looking for?" She quickly asked, her voice quivering.
"A soldier, Luca Randev"
"Look on the island, I heard he is helping to set machine gun positions." She replied before rushing away for a more urgent task.
Oliver and John met up with Juels as they walked to the island in the center of the Loire river as a shell slammed into a building. Crumbling building onto the road.
"Those shells are hitting us more frequently." John worryingly reminded.
"They softening us for an attack," Juels responded.
They arrived at the island looking at different positions for Luca. In half blown up houses to positions around the bridge. The search was fused short as bangs flooded every sound nearby. John looked overhead seeing rounds of artillery splitting up the clouds as it rained down onto the German region.
Oliver drew a short breath, "Merde! The Germans are advancing!"
They looked at the other side of Saumur as bullets flung across chipping away against houses loosely fitted together. A few shots of AA gunfire dotted the sky as Devil's Ace commenced a strafing run on a German advance. Avoiding the light air resistance offered by the Germans.
The 3 ran to a sandbag position stationed on the side of a house, the manned 25mm machine guns looked old and worn down adding to John's dread. They saw the Germans approach the bridge, too soon for the engineers to blow the bridges.
"We have to hold them off," Juels muttered.
A German tank knocked down a house and froze in its tracks. A shot rang out as a shell slammed into a French Char B1 deflecting it into a building. A speck of dust flew off, the French tank acted on revenge echoing a shot back knocking the German tank out. John aimed down his rifle and took a shot at a German in the open. The bullet struck his ribcage. He changed his sights to one ducking behind some concrete walls. Seizing the opportunity to fire another round as the soldier peeked his head.
Juels hugged the sandbag as he called in Devil's Ace, "Devil's Ace this is Juels we need you right now."
"What's the position?"
"You see the far left bridge, destroy the Germans on the other side of it."
"My command" He assured.
The plane rose down, the clattering sound of its machine guns gave comfort suppressing the Germans. Juels picked up his rifle and sent some lead into a German running to a building. Bolting his gun, he flagged off another round into a German machine gunner. Then the third one into another.
The plane circled back and unleashed more bullets in its destructive path. Oliver moved to a machine gun left open with the death of its operator. The chugs of the bullets rattling across the river put a target on his head. A bullet punched its way into a sandbag. He kept going, laying suppressing fire.
A German crossed the road, an armor-piercing round cutting into the French tank, destroying it. But it was all but too late as the bridge detonated. Yet the French soldiers began to pull back.
"The Hell is happening?" John asked.
"The Germans broke through the defenses on the other side. You wanna stick around?" Oliver said as he too ran away.
"We better follow him," Juels told John as he ran.
They went back to the mainland, artillery support bought time delaying the German advance. John arrived at Juels and Oliver with Luca beside them. John slowed down in his tracks and slightly stressed his eyebrows.
Oliver answered John question before he could ask it, "Luca over here was attending supplying gunners around here with ammunition."
"The lady lied to us," Juels finished off.
"She nearly got us killed. I ought to have a word with her." John chuckled.
Luca pointed, "Elle est juste là."
The woman lied there dead with a hole in her chest and trickles of blood running cold down her legs.
"Frappe d'artillerie."
John looked back at Luca and introduced himself as another French artillery fired its round. They looked at the island and the approaching Germans.
Oliver informed, "I told him he needs to come with us. And the German army over there is going to steamroll here."
"I'd say this place will last 2 more days. Those French artillery isn't going to hold off the German advance forever." Juels added.
"That's fine," John spoke, "We got the POI, now let's get the Hell out of here."
They began to retreat to a flight to Britain when Oliver overheard some French soldiers talking in the midst of artillery heading for the Germans.
"Hey, pass your grenades, these guys are gonna need it more than us." He ordered.
After supplying a handful amount of grenades, they began to leave Saumur. Devil's Ace flew overhead after one last run on some German armored vehicles.