Dear Readers,
This is a one-shot about a little-known military company that played an important part of World War Two.
Please read this and write a review telling me of anything that I can do to improve it.
Also, if you know anything about the Ghost Army, please tell me and I'll see what I can do with the information.
I apologize for any grammar/spelling errors you may find; I try my best to have excellent grammar and spelling, but I'm flawed like everyone else.
Also, this has been improved thanks to Edassu, her friend, Summer Leigh Wind, Eisceire, and all the lovely reviews from everyone else!
Thanks for the suggestions!
Enjoy!
~+~ PioneeringAuthor, the pioneer with a heart for people and a thousand stories to tell
The Chronicles of the Ghost Army
When World War Two erupted, there was much chaos and distress; in the midst of it all, an army was birthed that would be as unbelievable as it was believable. They would be known as the "Ghost Army."
As Germany's troops conquered more land, the Allies grew desperate. Battles were fought day after day; plans were made night after night. They knew that they needed to drive Hitler out of North Africa, and elsewhere, but knowing something and performing it are two different things. Finally, the tide began to turn when the United States joined. Although America wanted to be neutral, considering how far he was from everyone else, the bombing of Pearl Harbor forced him to join the fight. Soon, he helped the Allies push Germany out of North Africa through what was known as "Operation Torch."
One important event leading to that great turning point was a maneuver performed by the British army.
While Germany's troops swarmed in North Africa, England and the Allies were devising new strategies.
England decided that the best way to win was to trick the enemy into going the wrong way.
Hence, he slowly weaved his deception. He dropped camouflaged packages filled with rubbish in a certain sector. Of course, Germany and his troops noticed and carefully watched the packages from afar. Since nothing changed, and there seemed to be no troops forming in that area, he eventually ignored them. When the time came, England stopped dropping packages, and started secretly restocking those same dropped articles with ammunition, rations and other supplies for the battle he was planning. After some time, he started making plywood frames and placing them over jeeps in such a manner that the jeeps appeared to be tanks. When he had a sufficient amount of fake tanks, he deployed them far from where his supplies were smuggled, luring Germany away from where the real assault would be. Quickly, he used more plywood to disguise real tanks to appear to be supply trucks, and sent those to where the packages were dropped and filled with all the ammunition they needed. Indeed, it was quite the deception leading to the battle. This deception was known as "Operation Bertram." Because of England's efforts, and the efforts of all the allied forces, Germany was forced out of North Africa. The deception worked.
The war raged on, and in the midst of the struggle, America had an idea. Considering England's work in Operation Bertram, America thought it would be brilliant to design a battalion to continue deceiving the enemy, luring them away from the real battles, and scaring them into tight spaces. Of course, America's high energy and optimism were not met with equal enthusiasm. As he pushed his suggestion in the meeting tent of the allies, he was repeatedly turned down.
"America, it worked once, but I highly doubt it will work again," England rebuffed for the tenth time, clearly showing the irritation he felt with the country he once raised.
"No, really! I think it would be perfect! C'mon, guys! Believe in me, why don't you?" America pleaded with the hope of a teenage boy desperately wanting approval from his elders.
"America, for once, I'm with England on this: your idea is ridiculous! It was ridiculous enough when England thought of it for ONE battle, but an entire war? Nobody can keep up a deception that long! Germany's not blind! He's an intelligent nation that is incredibly war-minded; he'll figure it out soon enough, and your idea will die with your army!" France added vehemently as he waved his hand in the air. In his voice rested his detest for England and his annoyance at America.
"NO IT WON'T! I'm telling you guys, I can do this!" America insisted while slamming his hand on the table.
Although Canada wanted to speak in defense of his younger brother, he was rarely noticed, hence, he remained silent.
Thankfully, someone else said what he wanted to advise.
"Then why don't you do it?" Russia asked with a small grin on his face and an amused twinkle in his purple eyes.
Suddenly, it dawned on America that he didn't need to get approval from them; he actually could make his fake army himself.
With new energy and purpose surging through him, America straightened up, threw his fist in the air and declared, "I WILL! I'll be the hero and distract Germany while you guys kick him out! YEAH!"
With that, he dashed out of the meeting tent. As the war raged, America gathered his imitators for his wild idea.
He drafted artists as well as soldiers for his company of trickery and did everything he could to make everything as realistic as possible. Besides creating life-like inflatable tanks and other weapons, he chose companies to fabricate radio transmissions, play recordings of everyday military sound, and directed everything himself. Soon, his schemes were put into play as his tiny group of about a thousand men was recruited. All together, his new deceptive group was officially known as the 23rd Headquarters Special Troops, but unofficially it became known as the "Ghost Army".
Soon, America was putting his troops into play, carefully setting them up at key points, using all the decoys, inflatable tanks, recorded noise, half-used camouflage, paint, and strategy that he could to make his miniscule group look as large or small as he needed.
However, deep within, something gnawed at him. What if it didn't work? What if he forgot one minute detail, and Germany saw through his disguises? What if, instead of being a hero and helping to end the war, he became a troublemaker and made everything worse? Although he was generally optimistic, he still had his doubts.
Although he was doing everything he could to arrange his troops in the best, most convincing way possible, there was always the chance that he would slip up…especially since the tanks had a habit of deflating.
Little did he know how much his ruse would work.
One day, Germany was discussing battle plans with his top generals, as well as Italy and Japan, when a certain man in charge of reconnaissance approached him.
"What is it?" Germany interrogated the man.
"Uhm... Sir, I don't know how to tell you this…but…there's a…problem," The young captain stumbled over his words, hardly believing the news he had to give and fearing his leader's temper.
"Obviously there's a problem, or else you wouldn't be interrupting my meeting, would you?" Germany countered as he struggled to keep his temper in check.
"Well…Apparently, there's a division or two of Allied troops that has arrived near our area without our notice," The captain began, his hands vaguely trembling as he spoke.
Germany's temper and disbelief began to rise.
"What do you mean, unnoticed? How many are there?" Germany demanded.
"About…thirty thousand, maybe more," The captain offered, hoping that he wouldn't be harmed for the message he delivered.
"THIRTY THOUSAND? HOW DO YOU MISS THIRTY THOUSAND TROOPS? NO IDIOT MISSES THIRTY THOUSAND TROOPS! WHAT DID YOU DO, SLEEP THROUGH THEIR MOVEMENTS? WHO MISSES THIRTY THOUSAND OR MORE MEN MOVING NEAR US? I DEMAND YOU SHOW ME WHERE THEY ARE CAMPED IMMEDIATELY!" Germany screeched in shock and fury as he grabbed the young man by the collar and shook him.
Terrified of his leader, the captain took him to a recon tent and showed him the information they gathered from spies, radio transmissions and other sources. Everything pointed to a massive horde of Allied troops, poised to attack at any moment. Believing that everything was against him, Germany pulled out of the area as swiftly as possible.
Little did he know that those thirty thousand troops were actually a few thousand men, inflatable dummies, and mega speakers replaying common noises from Fort Knox to sound like thirty thousand troops.
Little did Germany know that the spies in the nearby town who thought they saw dozens of trucks filled with troops actually saw a few trucks driving circles through the town with a handful of men sitting in them to appear to be dozens of military vehicles carrying scores of soldiers.
Little did Germany know that he was running from a ghost. If he knew that his enemies were all a sham, he would have surely attacked, and destroyed the 23rd.
Thankfully, he never did find out the truth, and America kept using his tactics of false advertising to scare off or lure away Germany from various sites, until the war was over.
Although England and the others never directly admitted it, they all knew that America's "Ghost Army" was an undeniable help to them in the war. After World War 2, these missions were kept a secret from the public for several decades; it was not until 1996 that the Ghost Army was revealed, and the truth made known.
When the truth was revealed, there was quite a stir.
"Germany! Germany! Guess what?" Italy shouted, bursting through Germany's front door.
"What is it, and WHY DID YOU DO THAT TO MY DOOR? DON'T YOU KNOW...*sigh* Nevermind...what?" Germany grumbled, tired of yelling at Italy for messing up things in his house.
"Germany! Remember all those Allied troops we ran away from?" Italy quizzed, still hardly believing the news he had to tell.
"Of course I remember! There were thousands of them! EVERYWHERE! HOW COULD I FORGET?" Germany snapped, wondering why Italy was bringing this up now.
"Ger-Germany...uhm...Well..." Suddenly, Italy realized that, perhaps, he should keep his information to himself.
"What is it?" Germany probed, getting suspicious and even more annoyed than before.
"Well...They were all a trick from America! They were blow-up tanks and stereo things! BYE!" With that, Italy dashed away like a rabbit escaping a hungry wolf.
For a few moments, Germany had no idea what Italy was saying. Suddenly, it hit him: he lost World War Two because America, the world's most ridiculous nation, had fooled him. Then Germany's anger exploded.
"WHAT? ITALY! GET BACK HERE NOW! WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?" He shrieked in disbelief.
As for what happened next, let's just say that it wasn't very wonderful for Italy.
Meanwhile, England and France were embarrassed beyond belief.
The world's most ridiculous nation had proved them wrong, and now everyone knew it.
Meanwhile, in a house somewhere in the United States, America himself was cheering for his men and the honor they finally received, and cheering because he had proved England and France wrong. People kept saying that his idea was bound to fail, that he would get in the way of things and all his men would be captured, but instead they helped turn the tide of the war... and now everyone knew it.
Of course, America himself always knew of his brave men, and was always proud of his "ghosts" that helped to end the chaos of the war.
Dear Reader,
I hope you enjoyed this and were informed of history that you didn't know before!
Perhaps it will encourage you to follow your own wild dreams!
Please write a review telling me of anything I should remedy as well as what your thoughts were on this one-shot.
By the way, thanks for all the great reviews and helpful comments, Everyone!
Thanks for reading!
PioneeringAuthor, the pioneer with a heart for people and a thousand stories to tell ~+~