Jack was overjoyed when he watched the two Mustangs give chase after the fleeing 109 into the sky to carry out their own little fight in the sky.
"Yeah-hah! Take that you lousy kraut bastard! Get 'em boys!" Jack cheered on before his waning adrenaline rush finally couldn't hold his weight any longer giving out from underneath him.
The now fading adrenaline rush that provided a nice pain suppressor, was now being replaced by a burning pain that began to hurt like someone was driving a hammer where he was shot.
"Status check! Rhodes, Morgen report in!" Jack said through clenched teeth, his heart rate was rapid and his nerves had him shaking from the intensity that the chase had provided.
"Still kicking sir! Hows Morgen doing!?" Rhodes responded over his shoulder.
"That's what I like to hear!" Jack replied before he slides over to get closer to Morgan, the kid wasn't moving much but he was breathing.
"Pedal to the metal Rhodes Morgan doesn't have long before he bleeds out on us!" Jack commanded once he was able to slow down and process what he was seeing.
There was a large puddle of blood underneath Morgan's leg and this was no longer a race to evade a fighter pilot's bullet, now it was dire than anything else. It was a race against time to save Morgan from bleeding to death before any help can reach him.
When Jack was finally able to actually begin helping the kid, Morgan was shaking and he was fighting to keep his eyes opened.
"NO! Don't do that!" Jack thundered while he began to lightly tap Morgans' cheek and the kid came to life a little as his eyes shot open momentarily before they became more relaxed.
"Sir," He whimpered, "I can't feel anything really... And it's getting cold, really really cold..."
"Hey private, you're going to be okay alright? You hear me, buddy, you're doing fine just keep those eyes up here looking at me." Jack said as he tightened the tourniquet and hoped that it'd be enough to keep him alive.
Jack was feeling drowsy himself, but he was more worried about Morgan since he was in critical condition.
What seemed like forever to Jack, the three of them finally arrived at the eastern lines medical station.
It was actually an abandoned farm house and a barn, but it was the biggest structure nearest to the frontline and without a doubt, it was converted into said field hospital.
As they neared the distance shapes in the blizzard took the form of friendly G.I.s that were watching the dogfight in the distance before the engine of the jeep drew their attention.
"Stretcher!!!" Jack yelled at the top of his lung a few times during the approach before he saw them running off only to come back with more people and the stretcher bearers.
Rhodes slammed on the brakes and the motion jerked everyone forward from the sudden halt.
A field surgeon was accompanying the stretcher bearers when the commotion had sounded the alarm.
"What in tarnation happened!?!" The head man, or in this case he bore the rank of Chief surgeon and was responsible for the medical corps in the entire eastern approach.
"I'll explain later, Private Morgen's artery was hit and he's gonna die without immediate treatment!" Jack interrupted and everyone jumped into action as soon as they heard Jack mention the severed artery.
"Captain what about you are you able to walk?" One of the medics quipped when he noticed Jack was hurt as well.
"My leg gave out down the road, we had kraut 109s trying to gun us down," Jack said giving his answer that everyone wanted to hear while he shifted himself to the edge of the jeep, fighting through the searing pain.
"They definitely did a number on you fellas-holy shit!" Someone commented once he came out and saw the jeeps back end was riddled with bullet holes.
However, the more shocking part was the blood. It's everywhere especially with the amount that had pooled and splattered in the back.
When a few medical staff moved to help Rhodes, the guy was still tensed up at the wheel and it took a moment for him to mentally return before his grip relaxed and allowed the medics to direct him out of his seat. They brought everyone inside and Rhodes was treated for shock.
And for Jack's velocity wound he had received it wasn't life threatening thankfully and after the Kraut's round was removed with painful curses. They shot Jack with a dosage of morphine and bandaged his leg before he was cleared for light duty.
When it came time for Jack to give the incident report that the staff needed to file, he recounted the chase with the two 109s and that the two P-51s that happened along saved their lives. More importantly, he simply stated he was doing his job in keeping the two youngsters alive while under fire by returning it with the fifty.
After that, they left him alone giving him the chance to check in on Rhodes and Morgan. And much to the relief of Jack and his conscience, both of them were okay.
Especially for Morgan, they had an iv stuck in his arm with a blood bag suspended above him and the Chief surgeon had done his magic on the hit artery.
**
December 25th 1944; Christmas morning 2:45 am
A few days rolled along before Jack discovered that the two fighters who attacked them were on a standby patrol route. This was found out after a transmission was intercepted to resume normal duty after the defiant answer the Germans were given.
After his two-day recovery at the field hospital, Jack had arrived back at his post and gathered some of the men around who were awake and couldn't sleep at this hour.
He proceeded to recount his exchange between himself and the General and the laughter that followed was desperately needed for everyone.
"NUTS!" Was repeated amongst the troops and Jack himself could see the will to fight returning to their eyes from the bolstered morale in dawn's early light.
It was a great feeling that washed over Jack, he was able to raise his men's spirits and bring confidence back into them.
The merriment was short and before long after a few minutes had passed and the sun had risen above the horizon. Did mulitpe explosions that rolled like thunder caught everyones attention. It even jolted those who were asleep wide awake.
Everyone almost jumped out of their skin when they realized just exactly what it was and made a beeline for their fighting postions.
"No one is allowed to leave their holes unless told other wise! Hug the dirt and pray that your ass doesn't become mince meat!" Someone had ordered yet no one needed to be told once hte first intense whistle came screeching down overhead.
The shuddering impact that followed shook Jack to his soul as impact after impact of ordiance came screaming down on the defenders of Bastonge.
Each impact sent shrapnel and even shards of wood from splintered trees at break neck speed, making it a kill zone for anyone that tried to get up.
Jack himself couldn't do anything but lie where he had dove into. The feeling that he got and the absolute powerlessness of his situation terrified him.
Because when it comes down to it, you hold your life and control it when fighting a physical enemy. However artillery bombardments are completely different, a soldier can't do or control his fate you can only hope to God that the shell doesn't find you and if it does. Better hope it's a swift and painless death, no one wants to be crippled or even worse.
No one wants to end up like the poor bastard in 'Johnny got his Gun'.
Just lying there in a hospital bed being kept alive by the machines hooked up and feeding life into you, unable to see, move, talk, smell, hear, feel, or even taste anything. Just a head and torso is unfathomable.
Even though the chances are very slim, there's a silent agreement that everyone can agree on. If something like that happened to someone, they'd want a bullet put into their head to avoid such a hell.
Jack was curled up in a ball for safety reasons, that way he could protect his stomach, face, and neck by clasping his hands over the back of his neck.
"Krauts to the front! Krauts to the front their advancing!" A commanding voice shouted and Jack knew that voice by heart.
It was Harris! And within seconds gunfire had started up which was immeidately turned into an all out engagement.
"Get on the horn and let command know we got fucking krauts bearing down on us!" Someone else now had demanded before the voice was drowned out by the thick weapons fire.
If the German war machine broke through the wooded road junction here at Champs, then it'd lead them down the road to Hemroulle then Bastogne.
The Germans had used the artillery as a screen to safely advance under, getting them as close as 60 meters away by some estimation and they were closing too, they had 6 Panzers and 1 Panther leading the charge for the infantry.
But the forest was providing cover for both sides, because as the tanks barreled down the road with part of the attack collumn behind them, the other force was spread out in the wooded area across from them.
With it being this early out and no thanks to the trees either, it was making it harder for the naked eye to distinquish targets.
So when Jack pressed himself up against hte mound of dirt that was the only barrier between him and a Kraut bullet. He was cautious when he shouldered his BAR and took aim down his sights.
The way he was positioning himself gave him the greatest amount of cover, and in return made him one a smaller target for the Germans to shoot at.
The raging gun fire and tracer fire that whipped by his head from both sides was chaotic, between the now more accurate artillery fire and the wind that's kicking up blinding snow mixed with the tracer fire made this up into a frozen hellhole.
"Can't fucking see shit half the damn time!" Jack cursed out in frustation but a white object came into his view and instinctively he squeezed the trigger and felt his BAR burp out the burst.
When he watched the body whip around before collapsing from the bullet impact, it reminded Jack that was in combat and needed to push any emotions to the back.
Therefore Jack became more keen as his eyes scanned the area trying to find the muzzle flashes or anything that generally moved.
After he took multiple shots at what he presumed to be where any of the Germans were shooting from, he ducked back down once his gun clicked empty to reload.
With a fresh magizine ready to go, he brought himself back up and exposed himself a little to continue firing when he heard a loud snap that accompanied the crack of the bullet.
Then by the time the second bullet whistled by just seconds after, the man that Jack was sharing his foxhole with was thrown back from the force of impact.
There was a gagging sound and Jack felt something warm splash against his pant legs while he was repeatedly kicked in the legs as the man was writhing in pain.
Jack turned his head to see what happened only to see that the man had been killed from the bullet that tore his throat wide open.
His body was leaning to the side and with it, the last beats of his heart came as more blood splurted out from the open wound. Coating Jack's lower body with it.
"Fucking hell..." Jack muttered before he had to bring his attention back and once more aimed down his sights and started squeezing the trigger again.
The engine noises that could only belong to the lead Panther shifted and it started tearing the lines up as the remaining six Panzers surged forward. Breaking through the lines at Champ and opening up a hole that could be exploited.
With the Panther leading the way and emerging through the thicket, it momentarily stopped and took aim at one of the foxholes where a machinegun crew was set up in.
The high velocity shell shot out of the Panther's main armorment with a spine numbing bang and within a split second the H.E. shell plunged into the fighting position there were screams that followed.
Without being told to, half of the line shifted fire on the threat and a loud pop sounded from behind Jack as it was followed by a louder swoosh that flew past Jacks cover.
The rocket was poorly aimed and it only pissed the Panther crew off after it harmlessly bounced off of the angled armor.
Jack ducked his head again knowing what was going to happen and he felt powerless in stopping it as he heard the inevitable boom. And out of the corner of his eyes he saw the bright flash of orange with the screams of pain before they fell silent.
"God damn it someone destroy that fucking tank!" Jack said after he shifted his postion over to the back of the positon with the dead man.
Through the dying wind that was now going away Jack saw two seperate follow up shots being fired.
The two rockets raced forward and this time the weaker lower mantel was hit and a explosion shook the sinides of the lumbering beast.
There was smoke billowing out from the interor once the escape hatches were popped and the survivors were bailing out.
When the last of what sounded like the ordiance coming to an end, there were the screams of hte dying and ouned becoming more and more audible in the fire fight.
It was an awful thing listening to and hearing the names of lovers being called out or the younger kids even crying out for their mother in their dying breath was in itself horrendous to hear.
Jack couldn't sit by and listen to his men dying around him, paticularly these young kids he has been listening to. They shouldn't even be here in the first place! He could tell most of them weren't eighteen, how the hell did some of these kids even manage to get past the recruiter and enlist at seventeen years even sixteen if they were cunning enough!
So he fastened his helmet more securely and took a deep breath before crawling over the mound of cover that the foxhole had provided.
And of course his actions didn't go unnoticed by the Krauts as the movement drew in their attention once they saw a shape moving close to the ground.
The rippling flashes from the muzzles lit up from their cover only to immediately be hosed down by tracer fire by a friendly machine gun postion.
Encouraged by what little covering fire there was, Jack sped up his efforts to follow one of the nearby voices crying out for help.
And Jack was rewarded by finding an artillery survivor that was violently shaking from the shock combined with the catastrophic loss of blood.
"Hey soldier you're going to be just fine, you're- Fuck!" Jack swore stopping when the soldiers violent convulsions ceased. And there was a strained sigh that sounded kind of like a whistle as Jack watched him die right there in front of him spread out on his back.
Only able to curl his hand into a fist, Jack sighed and reached out to close his fallen comrades terrified eyes. Laying him to eteranal rest and peace.
"Fuck! I'm hit god damn it!" A new vocie cried out in the deafening fire fight and like a moth to a light Jack was drawn back to this new cry for help and he gripped his BAR tighter. Then in a dash across the open, Jack hauled ass to the source of the sound.
Stopping along the way for cover in a fox hole with fellow soldiers, telling them to keep it up and hold the line.
During his rush to the cry, Jack could feel the bullets whip and snap past his body during his run and that dangerous feeling brought out an adrenaline surge. Giving him the ability to run like a bat out of hell just like he was back in basic training to avoid the D.I. in his search for "Volunteers".
Leaping into the foxhole and sliding down the side to come to a rest at the bottom, Jack was confronted with a screaming private clutching his face while he thrashed around.
"Private where are you hit!?" Jack demanded while his buddy couldn't stop to help because that Private was the only person between them and the Krauts trying to kill them out there.
When Jack took a quick look around to examine the progression of the battle he could see the Germans were almost on top of them. That was when Jack figured out what was going to happen with the reinforcing German infantry entering the fray.
Turning around toward the nearest foxhole he could see, he shouted out his order, "Spread the word! FIX bayonets they're going to try and over run us through brute force! Fix bayonets!" Jack said repeating himself and a reply immediately came from those in the next fighting positon over.
"Get a damn medic over here too we got wounded!" Jack added before his attention was cuaght when something heavy landed against his calf and it hurt.
"Grenade!!" The private in the hole with them screamed and flight or fight instincts took over Jack and the kid.
But when Jack tried pulling the wounded private out he shoved Jack away before he used his body to cover the grenade.
The explosion was immeidate and the kid was instantly killed with his body gaining a second of air before it flopped lifelessly down on the cold hard ground.