Thursday June 8th, 1944
2 days later, near Periers, the Hedgerows
"We can barely get the Sherman's through the hedges sir, it's too dense and narrow for them to effectively maneuver let alone turn." Someone said, making his way over to report to the Captain that was overseeing his area of command.
Hearing the news, the Captain sighed and closed his eyes momentarily with frustration. Then when a second had passed, he opened his eyes and spoke "Alright then, we got no choice but to push ahead without armor support. Radio command and get them updated about the situation, then start your push in Lieutenant."
"Yes, sir will do." The Lieutenant replied before he turned, moving off to carry out the given orders.
After he had notified the radio operator to pass the message along, the LT moved over to the assembled platoon that form up part of the company. They were just standing about, waiting for the order to advance into the hedgerows.
"Ok everyone, we're pushing into the hedgerows without armor support, however we're not completely alone... After all there's only certain places that they can't reach, so we're completely not separated, now then let's get going!" The LT yelled, ordering the men to begin their push in.
Once the advance into the vegetation began, it was becoming more and more noticeable the further these infantrymen went in.
It was quiet, a maddening silence where there were no ambience of birds or any animal in the area. A deafening quietness were the only sounds you could hear are the steps of your own foot and the ringing in your ears.
"Keep your heads on a swivel everyone, stay sharp." Someone whispered as a lot of the men are beginning to become anxious from this silence.
As they advanced, the almost complete silence was causing an eerie feeling to fill everyone up, visibility was dropping rapidly as the vegetation became more dense and wild as well.
Half a hour passed by with a slow, cautious advance full of anxiety and silent tension before finally, the 1st Sargent of the front scouting squad held his hand up in a closed first. And everyone stopped, taking a kneel or crouching down to make their profiles smaller.
This squad was half a mile ahead of the main company behind them, they're part of the scouting teams after all with multiple others that are ahead of the main force.
A lifetime had passed, or so it had felt by everyone here before the Sargent held up his two fingers and flicked his wrist forward twice.
Everyone began to move again, but their short relief was quickly lived, there was a spine numbing click as a mine got stepped on and immediately, everyone stood frozen in fear.
"Nobody move until we find out who stepped on that mine!" 1st Sarge said, spinning around as he spoke since he couldn't feel it under his boot.
"Oh god... Sarge, it's me! I can feel it under my boot!" A Private called out, his voice cracking as he watched everyone step away from him like he was some kind of vile disease.
"Set up a perimeter, I want a tight 360 security set up." A corporal said calmly, it was important not to incite panic, especially for the private standing on top of the pressure mine.
Doing as told, his fire team moved into action and everyone formed up as told.
**
40 yards away.
Baron was lying on his stomach in a ghillie suit he earned, and as he laid where he was, he looked more like a bush than a man. And to maximize his camouflage, he has his umbrella opened and in front of him.
The umbrella itself is outfitted with camo netting, coloring pattern, with leaves and sticks to basic make Baron nearly invisible to the naked eye.
His first target was the young looking lad standing on top of Baron's anti-infantry mine. By killing him, the explosive force will leap outwards, killing everyone within the blast radius hopefully, and if not. Then Baron's elite training and skills to dispatch the enemy will be put into use.
Slowly breathing in and out, Baron lined his shot up and prepared to fire with the crosshairs resting on the center of the lad's head.
Slowly now, Baron inhaled before he gently exhaled, pulling the trigger.
The rifle crackled and kicked back in recoil as the bullet sailed straight and true from the barrel's opening before a mere second passed and the bullet hit its mark.
Slamming into the Private's head, the bullet's force caused the kids head to snap backwards with a violent jerk. Causing the body to fall backwards with the motion of the bullet.
The explosion was immediate and the mine did effectively take out three others that were a bit too close to him as well.
Without hesitating, Baron fired his rifle in rapid succession, each time he fired, he'd pulled the bolt up and backwards before slamming the bolt forward and down again.
Taking aim, he fired before quickly repeating the reloading process before firing again, and again. Each shot either critically wounding the scrambling squad, or resulting in a fatal wounding.
When the dust had settled, the cries of the dying and the wounded could be heard down range from Baron.
The squad was effectively eliminated precision, rapid fire by the hands of the elite sharpshooter.
Now, he'd lie in wait once more, mainly for the fatally wounded to pass on and, to see if anyone else is rushing to the sound of the recent gun fire. But when five minutes or so passed, Baron cautiously brought himself up into a kneeling posture before carefully walking towards the bodies.
Baron then knelt down next to each body and checked each of them for anything of value, like Intel, food, smokes, or the like. But much to Baron's disappointment, he hardly found what he was looking for and only found personal belongings, so he left those alone.
Now though, time is becoming short, and he's going to have to do one of the few things he hates doing, but it's needed to try and kill as many as possible.
From there, the sniper proceeded with boobytrapping the bodies with pressure mines and spare S-mines, that way when someone tries to move a body, the mines will trigger.
After his work was done, Baron moved off back into the dense vegetation, planting a mine here and there or for a twist. He'd set up trip wires with his remaining three s-mines along the more easily traversed paths.
*
15h Panzergrenadier, first platoon, second squad (1-2),
Oberfeldwebel Kristin Roper
Similar tactics were being deployed to slow and kill as many of the American troops here as possible. With ambushes, mines, and light infantry tactics over all.
That's what Kristin's tasked with from the new Oberleutnant, simply as stated, harass, ambush, and seek and destroy.
So that's what Kristin has his squad's doing, they've set up a ambush point along a narrow road that branches off from the main road.
It's a shortcut of sorts, so it's a ideal traveling path to take for the advancing Americans. So from there, they'll wait for unsuspecting troops to come into their death trap.
"Hey, herr? You got any kids at home? Oslo, a long time friend and veteran of Tunisia and Italy asked the Sergeant as he took a seat next to him.
Kristin cracked a grin and pulled a photo out from his wallet, "Yeah, two little girls are anxiously awaiting my return home." He said while handing Oslo the photo for him to look at.
"They're both beautiful mein freund, they look about the same age as my son. Sechs, Ja?" Oslo asked him as he handed the photo back over to him and pulling out his own.
"Yeah, the eldest is eight and the younger one of the two is six." Kristin replied as he tucked his photo back into the safety of his wallet and putting back into his pocket before examining Oslo's child.
"You know something Oslo, if we somehow miraculously survive this blasted war to the end, I say we gather up and settle who can drink the most once and for all." Kristin said with a chuckle, this was nice after all. Getting to relax and wait two hours before moving ambush points again.
"Hey! Don't go anywhere to drink without me!" Otto said, snapping awake from his nap with his attention caught at the mention of drinking.
"Hell Otto, anything involving liquor will get your damn attention." Kristin mused as he shook his head a little bit.
"You know what Sarge..." He said beginning to open his mouth, but quickly thought better, "You know, screw it!" He grumbled, preferring not to get one of the Sargent's clever comebacks.
"If the worse comes.... And well, if I don't make it out alive, promise me you two.... Promise me that you'll get my body home safely for burial, that's all I ask." Otto said suddenly, drastically changing the mood of things into a depressed feeling.
"Don't say such things like that, we're going to-"
"You know me just as much as herr Roper here! I don't have a family to go back to, I don't have anyone to grieve for me at my funeral if I die... I grew up alone in that damn orphanage, and I won't have anyone to even go to my fucking funeral..." Otto muttered, as he frowned with his back resting against the tree he just sat up against.
"This sounds more corny than anything you two, but I won't let any of you die, you're all like little brothers to me." Kristin said, hoping to brighten his younger friends day up a little, and after all what he said is true.
Since Kristin's nearing 40 years old in three months, he's currently the oldest in his platoon which makes him everyone's bigger brother, they look up to him as a role model and go to the veteran for advice on things as well.
Their conversation was cut short when someone came running up to the three and the rest of the squad in concealment, "Man your positions the American's are coming down the path. Don't fire unless fired upon or until ordered to!" The soldier said, going about the ambush positions to remind and warn everyone.
"Alright you two, you heard the Unteroffizer, get ready." Kristin whispered as well while he got comfortable on his stomach, while everyone was doing something similar.
All whispered conversations came a halt as the first two American's leading their squad came into view, the squad was walking in a loose staggered formation along the path.
They were on alert, but they were also oblivious to the hidden threat in the dense vegetation in front of them.
Once they began to pass where they crossed the V of their ambush sights, Karl gave the order "Feuer frei!" He had shouted at the top of his lungs before immediately squeezing the trigger on his MP40.
The reaction was instant as the surrounding bushes and vegetation came to life with multiple muzzle flashes, and loud rattling machine gun fire. Which effectively sends a fatal hail of fire into the unsuspecting American troops.
"Take cover! Enemy ambush, everyone scatter!" One of the voices screamed out over the deafening sound of the intensive gunfire.
The twelve men in the front of the platoon got obliterated by the gun fire, and the remaining 30 men of the platoon hit the deck and took cover down the road. That was before they began shooting into the dense vegetation where they believe the German's are hiding.
And since they're just blindly firing in hopes of hitting something, it makes it easier for the German's to return fire as well from their fortified ambush positions.
"Keep the pressure on them, don't give them a chance to run!" Kristin yelled before he raised his submachine gun again and took aim, firing down the road towards the rest of the platoon.
The weapon rattled from the kinetic recoil as it added to the noise of the ear shattering firefight, and the soldier that Kristin fired at cried out in agony as he crumpled forward with a few shots in his chest.
"Pop some smoke and fall back to the wall down the road!" Another voice shouted out and the order was carried out in haste, then after a moment. A loud pop was heard before white smoke began to billow out and reduce visibility.
Which in turned, forced the two MG42's to spray wildly into the smoke in hopes of now hitting something too.
"Cease fire!" Kristin immediately yelled out and the order was repeated throughout the ambush point.
Once the final shot was fired, there was nothing but the ear ringing silence when it's completely silent that was heard. And if there wasn't any animals nearby, there certainly wasn't any here now.
Once things had settled, only the wounded and the pain filled cries of the dying resonated out in the hedgerows. Leaving a lot of the soldiers guilt ridden by the noise, only wishing for it to stop so their conscience could rest.
"Doc get back here damn it!" Someone yelled screamed and the German's quickly brought their weapons to bare at the running footsteps and to the American's surprise. The German's in their hidden emplacements didn't fill the medic with hot led.
"Nicht schießen die Sanitäter, oder ich werde töten dich!" Kristin yelled out as he grabbed the barrel of Otto's Gewher and yanked it downward towards the ground, preventing him from firing.
Another set of footsteps came racing down the road towards the wounded Americans and there was yelling for him to get back there. However he was unarmed, but he wasn't a medic either.
But on that day in the hedgerows, that man was spared by the sympathetic Oberfeldwebel, who knew too well the guilt ridden nightmares that falls on a soldier's conscience as a comrade laid dying in the open under gunfire, scared and alone.
Plus, Kristin was told to stop anyone from trying to go through his ambush point, and he'll be damned if he let his minions kill a unarmed soldier, or a medic that are only wanting to help their helpless wounded.
"Only fire at them if they try to pass, or if you're fired upon." Kristin said as he kept his weapon trained down range on the moving unarmed combat medic.
After all, Kristin isn't a heartless murderer, and it'd just be another memory in his conscience that'll bother him until death which he didn't fancy having.
Once the last of their wounded and dead have been safely dragged away, the only audible sounds that can be heard were other nearby firefights. Or in this case, their own heartbeats and breathing as Kristin and his men are in a stalemate with the American's down the road.
**
That's it for this week's chapter everyone, hope you enjoyed it!
I'd also like to apologize for this being such a late chapter update, I was busy studying for my SAT test and my end of the year tests there have been keeping me on edge for the past week.
Thus, I guess it's safe to say this is one of those special two week chapter updates, and with that in mind.
There'll definitely be a update this Friday, I can guarantee you all that!
Quick translation then!
Nicht schießen die Sanitäter, oder ich werde töten dich! – Don't shoot the medic or I'll kill you
**
The battle in the hedgerows were violent, close quarter engagements with traps, mines, ambushes, and snipers like Baron lying in wait to pick someone off.
It was like a deadly maze almost those hedgerows were, it was hard to coordinate artillery strikes and air runs too because of the overgrowth and vegetation, so it definitely was mainly a infantry engagement more than anything.
That's it for today ladies and gentlemen, see you all on Friday, and if you have any questions, please post away!:)
Happy reading, and don't forget to bayonet that vote button!