Bavaria Germany, 1 week ago
March 30th 1944
Outside of the Kriesser's home, Blitz the family's labrador and Karl's young song Adalbert (Albert) run freely in the backyard in a game of keep away with the stick that to young dog had found. All under the watchful eyes of their parents who are sitting in the soft gross and enjoying the warm sunlight that's shining on them.
The scars that Karl has hidden underneath his loosely worn civilian attire is still fresh in his mind, and they always will be too. Never to be forgotten, never to go away. Especially since he had nearly died back in Italy were his life flashed before his eyes. That terrifying feeling will always be with him, that feeling that he came close to death.
"Karl?... Karl!" Klaudia said a little louder the second time, and Karl immediately snapped out of his distant gaze.
"Ach tut mir lied mein liebe... My... My mind isn't really here at the moment." Karl said before he sighed and shifted his eyes over to his beautiful wife that sat next to him with his arm around her.
There's been a lovely breeze that's been traveling across the open field and blowing into their back yard, and against them.
The breeze was refreshing, especially since it's quite humid outside and the air has that heavy feel to it.
"Karl, if there's something, anything really that's bothering you then please don't bottle it up and shove it away... It'll only hurt you an make you feel worse, so please hun talk to me even though I might not understand it... I could at least be here to listen and comfort you." Klaudia pleaded with him, she knew he was trying to forget what happened but the physiological effects have changed him.
Ever since he returned for his medical leave back in 1943 after his time in Italy, there was a drastic change in his mood and overall being that Klaudia picked up on immediately.
She laid her head on his shoulder and wrapped her arms around him as she held onto him tightly, "I'm just worried about you Karl, you haven't been the same since you came home to me." She said, trying her best to keep herself together.
Karl softly smiled and leaned his head down a little to give the top of her head a gentle kiss, he then raised his arm a little bit and held onto her with a firmer embrace.
He knew she only wanted the best for him and help understand what he saw and went through, but it's a hard touchy subject. After all it's hard talking about having to perform a mercy shot on a young adult no more than 18 years old with his guts spilling all over the deck of the ship that got him out of Italy during the RAF air raid.
That boy is his nightmare, he can't forget the face of that lad that pleaded for Karl to end his suffering.
"I know dear, I want to tell you but it's hard and for now... I'd like to try and not remember." He said as he brought his other arm around to give her a hug and rested his chin on top of her head.
After a few minutes of silence have passed in their embrace as they watched Blitz and Adalbert run around, Klaudia spoke up.
"I'd like to go to the creek and cool down a little, does that sound good to you?" She said in a soft tone and Karl lifted his head up and looked down at her as she rested her head against his shoulder still.
"That sounds lovely, it'll give us something to do too. I was starting to get a bit too hot just sitting here." Karl said as he smiled and it grew wider when he saw Klaudia was feeling happier too.
"Yeah, I'll go grab the towels and you can get the boys ready to go." She said as her mood improved, she then disentangled herself from him and got up to retreat into the house.
Karl then stood up himself and stretched out before he began making his way over to the two that are still running around.
"I'm surprised you two haven't tired each other out by now with all the running you're doing." Karl said as he approached the youngsters.
The boy and his dog were breathing hard from running around constantly, and Adalbert's eyes brightened up.
"Blitz is fast daddy, I can't catch him!" The boy exclaimed through his exhausted breathing, he was smiling though and he was determined to still try and catch his four legged friend.
"You see Adalbert, sometimes the thing you wish to catch is faster than you, sometimes smarter. So you want to trick him, and how do you do that?" He asked with a grin.
The boy stood there for a moment in thought, and Karl observed as his son tried to think about ways of tricking his friend but the expression on his face told he wasn't abled to.
So with a defeated sigh, he looked up at his father and sighed,, "I dunno, what do you do?" The boy asked.
Karl asked and kneeled down so he's eye level with his son and reached down picking up another stick, then holding it up he smiled "Give him something he can't resist, and he'll come to you... Because your friend could also be quite silly." Karl said as he waved the stick around in his hand and made a big deal about it, which in turn got Blitz's full attention immediately.
The dog was already making his way over with curiosity about the new object that Karl has in his possession and the comical gears that Karl can imagine in Blitz's head, are turning furiously with the thoughts of how he's going to get this new stick while holding onto the other.
Then the pup dropped his old stick and lunged forward with wide open jaws as he tried to grab onto the stick with his mouth, but Karl was faster than the younger pup. Plus Karl was more experienced in these little mind games, so it made it easier to read the pups movement and pull his hand back that held the stick accordingly.
The true objective was to get the old stick, and by providing that distraction, Adalbert was able to achieve the objective by a quick dash behind his distracted friend. Which ended successfully and leaving the pup dumbfounded with what happened around him.
*
Present time June 9th, 1944
Carentan Normandy, 0900
Moving in a staggered column up the road, Jack's up front leading his men up the twisting road towards the town they're tasked with seizing.
Off in the distance, faint gun fire could be heard from the battles taking place far away in the hedgerows of France.
Jack had heard some details concerning the progress there, and it wasn't very pleasant. The First was taking a major beating while there's no real estimate on how the push is going, nor how the Krauts are fairing either.
But that wasn't important, right now taking this town was, so Jack stopped and raised his closed fist into the air and everyone behind him stopped stops and drops down, or they take a knee.
"Alright fellas, before we go any further just a reminder... We're here to liberate the town, not destroy it so with that in mind keep property destruction to a minimum if you can help it." Jack said as he turned around to face his men with his back to the town.
In a second story house up the road, one of the Windows swung open and a metallic bore glistened in the morning light.
A sharp eyed Sergeant spotted it the moment the window flung open, and he didn't hesitate to spring off of his crouched stance as he ran towards Jack, "Take cover!" He yelled.
The next thing Jack knew and felt was the force of the Sergeants body colliding against his, and the both of them slammed into the shallow ditch along the side of the road.
Just in time too, because the machine gun in the second story building rattled to life, and a hail of deadly fire ripped into the men on the road. Easily dropping a few while those who were quick enough to react dived into the ditch for cover, seeking refuge.
"Jesus Sarge, you just saved my ass!" Jack yelled over the rising ambience of gun fire that began to fill their hearing.
"That's what I'm here for sir, to save the Lieutenant's ass from death!" He replied laughing before some dirt got kicked up in front of them were a few bullets fell short.
Which interrupted their banter and got Jack focused back on the task at hand, "We need to get moving, pop some smoke damn it! Then wait for the smoke before moving!" Jack shouted out, giving everyone a initiative to follow.
One of the Corporal's pulled the pin on his smoke grenade and threw it far up the road, and there was a loud pop as the smoke began to flow from the canister and billow out into a huge cloud.
"Squad Sergeants, get your men up there and engage the enemy, push them into the town and start your task with securing the town!" Jack yelled as the intense gun fire began to make his ears ring.
The smokescreen was now billowing into a blinding cloud that covered the road and provided a temporary cover for the platoon to hide behind.
"Remember to watch for Easy Company! They're pushing from the south with a tank column in support!" Jack added as he stood up and waved everyone forward before he ran forward himself.
Others then quickly followed after Jack, hot on his heels as the platoon split up to go left and right as they ran like bats out of hell through the spraying machine gun fire.
To the Germans, these demon like warriors came running out of the smoke cloud and into a hail of fire that unfazed them, and hence said they looked terrifying as they ran through that deadly hail.
"Fix bayonets!" Someone yelled from across the street and soon enough, the calls of "Fix bayonets!" Was echoing throughout the platoon as the squads were beginning their push into the town.
Jack's heart began to race even faster from the already pumping adrenaline that coursed through his veins as he took cover behind the safety of a building. They couldn't advance down the street due to a second machine gun nest that had this section covered in a kill zone.
But his mind was more worried about the weight and mere meaning of what he has to order his men to do next, "Alright fellas, fix bayonets and prepare for close quarters combat!" Jack called out to the squad that followed him in the charge to the safety of the buildings.
He watched the men next to him remove their bayonets from the covers and secure them to the end of their rifles. There's a ring design that fix over the barrel of the weapon, thus creating a hand held spear if the need arises.
The exception was Jack and a few others who were support gunners, armed with Thompsons or Bars even.
"Sergeant Jackson, we got to start moving into the town and we'll cut through this house in order to do so." Jack said as he came over to say that into the ear of his Sergeant, that way he could be clearly heard over the deafening noise of gun fire that has the town of Carentan alight in it.
"Sounds good to me sir, I'll take point and lead us in!" Jackson replied as he stood next to the door and everyone stacked up next to him on both sides, including Jack.
With this safer means of entering the town, the troops pushed into the building and they cleared out the first story of the house.
"Krauts in the open!" Someone yelled out before everyone rushed to find cover in what apparently looked like a store with a large open display window that looked out into the street.
It also provided a large view were everyone could see out into the streets as well, and that is where the call for contacts has been made.
The squad didn't waste any time in opening fire on the moving Germans, easily downing a few while the rest got into cover to return fire.
Glass shattered and flew inwards from the impact of the bullets as bullets whipped and whistled by Jack and his men from the return fire.
Jack was about to raise himself up to fire his weapon, but then someone had screamed out in warning "Panzerfaust, shoot that bastard!"
Jack's eyes had widened and he saw that was too late to try and kill the German pushing on the button to fire, so instead he made a split second decision "Clear out, retreat out the back, move!" He yelled as he grabbed onto the nearest private and yanked him towards the back door just as there was a loud pop and a swoosh of a rocket.
The rocket screamed forth from the one shot launcher and it slammed into the building that Jack and his men had taken cover in.
The explosive force caught everyone closest to the window within the blast radius, killing them within a second as others were swept off of their feet from the force of the explosion.
For a moment, Jack thought he had died so he just laid were he had fallen with the loud, overbearing ringing noise that had his ears buzzing.
He felt stiff too, and when he tried to move his muscles flared in a painful protest, even his back was hurting too from God knows what he had landed on.
There was a hand that grabbed onto his rucksack and a powerful yank followed which proceeded to drag him out of the building and into the fresh air and bright light.
When he began to recover and his senses slowly came back to him, it had hurt at first when he tried to open his eyes. So instead, he opted to keep them closed until his eyes adjusted more.
That annoying, overbearing ringing in his ears remained and that was the only thing he heard, so when a pair of sweaty hands touched his neck and tapped his face he was startled a little.
Then the Corpsmen that was attending Jack used his forefinger and thumb to open Jack's left eye up before he shined a flashlight on the pupil momentarily.
"Sir, can you hear me? Sir, are you alright!?" The Corpsmen said as he put the flashlight away and observed Jack's pupils expand before his eye was shut tightly. A positive, strong sign that Jack's alive and responsive.
Jack quickly raised his hand to rub his eye and he used his other hand to push himself up and off of the ground, that was when his ears started to pop a few times.
He was surprised once that happened, because his hearing was returning and the questions from the medic slowly came into a clear, clean sentence instead of muffled mumbling.
"Sir, by the looks of it that Panzerfaust knocked you down good, and in the process... It caused some hearing damage in your left ear, but other than that you are very lucky sir. You and another lucky son of a gun are getting away with minor scratches and bruises." The medic said, patting Jack's shoulder before he stood up.
It took a moment for that to sink in, and when it did Jack immediately said his thanks to Doc before he carefully stood up and looked at the store he was dragged out of.
The entire first floor was nothing but rubble and black smoke that billowed out of the destroyed ruins of the front and the barely intact door in the back.
There were also six dead men that have been pulled from the rubble and billowing clouds of black smoke that only left those who survived wounded.
*
Watching the battle from the safety of a camouflage pad observation post up in the hills, Karl was watching on as he directed troop movement throughout the town as the battle developed.
He wasn't expecting the OST battalion garrisoned there in Carentan to last very long, but hopefully they'll inflict enough damage on the American's to slow them down.
Karl wanted to wear them down with his less experienced, more dispensable non-German troops before he sent in his heavy hitting combined arms units in. But more importantly, he's wishing for a retreat order to happen more than anything.
*
That's the end of this week's chapter everyone, hope you enjoyed it!
You also finally got to see a little bit of Karl's civilian life and how he's been fairing before coming back from medical leave.
Thoughts, questions, anything really post away in the comments! I love to read them and interact with my readers :) .
Hope to see everyone soon, and don't forget to bayonet that vote button!