Copyright: 07/2014
Fan-Fiction based on TV Show Combat! Copyright Selmur Production, Inc, ABC, Image Productions etc.
Disclaimer: Combat! and its characters do not belong to me, this WWII story is a piece of fan-fiction and I am not being compensated in any tangible way for this story.
THE HARDEST DAY
"Mon Dieu. Comment sommes-nous arrivés à un tel gâchis?"
Kirby knew Caje was just as nervous as he. It was the only time Caje would switch to French.
Kirby whispered, "Caje, I don't know what you're sayin'."
"He whispered back, "How did we get in this mess?"
Kirby shook his head in agreement.
He had just returned to the squad. He had been in the hospital for the past seven days. When Kirby first arrived, the hospital had been out of everything. Then the sun began to shine and the planes began to fly and drop supplies. The hospital became a little bit of heaven on earth even if it meant getting shot by a sniper. Now they were in as Caje put it, a mess and the hospital seemed like ages ago.
The squad had been on the line since the beginning of December with no end in sight. Kirby remembered how everyone had said the war would be over by Christmas, he guessed no one had told the Germans.
The squad had been fighting so long and hard that they were finally pulled out of the Ardennes. They were going to be moved to the south of France. The men had been told that there was very little fighting going on where they were headed. The squad would have a chance to rest, eat some decent food and maybe even get some new uniforms.
They made it to the Alsace and Lorraine region on January 1, 1945. Maybe the S-2 was right for a change. As they stumbled out of the truck it seemed pretty quiet almost peaceful. But as it has been said many times before, it was the calm before the storm.
On January 2nd the Germans had launched a new counterattack, Operation Northwind. The German's goal was simple, break through the Allied lines and as Hitler put it, destroy and exterminate the enemy forces wherever they found them.
The men had been doing their darndest to keep the Germans from breaking through but they were in dire straits. General Eisenhower had order most of the troops, equipment, and supplies north to reinforce the American armies in the Ardennes.
More and more men were being carried off the line. Some had been shot or caught shrapnel in their poor half-starved bodies or their feet had gotten so bad they could no longer walk from frost bite.
Kirby had appropriated several pairs of galoshes in assorted sizes before he left the hospital. The way he look at it, he really wasn't stealing. He was doing the hospital a favor. Maybe there would be one less soldier in his squad with frost bite.
They had been fighting for twenty days which seemed like a lifetime. The Germans were attacking on three sides. The men wanted to know where were the reinforcements and the supplies?
The squad had been giving it good to the Germans. They fended them off at every turn but there were just way too many Germans and way too few of them. Carter, Benton and Worth were dead. The onslaught was just too much for them to handle. Now they were running out of ammo.
"Ammo check!" yelled Saunders.
Saunders could see Peterson and Davis out in front with the machine gun.
"They're goin' fast Sarge. We've got about 250 rounds left!"
Littlejohn and Billy were in the foxhole left of Saunders and Doc.
"I've got three clips," cried Littlejohn.
"Two clips Sarge," said Billy.
To his right he could see Caje and Kirby.
"I'm down to two," yelled Caje.
"I've got two mags left! Whaddya want us to do Sarge?" hollered Kirby.
"Just space your shots and make them count!"
Saunders knew there wasn't much more they could do. He was hoping for reinforcements but that was just a pipe dream.
Not more than ten minutes had passed when he began to hear the silence of the rifles. It was time for them to surrender.
Saunders called out to his squad, "Listen, you know what we gotta do."
The men began to break their rifles. They tried to hide personal items.
"Doc, give me one of your bandages."
"Here ya go, Sarge. Are ya hurt or somethin'?"
"No Doc, I'm using it as a white flag, so we can surrender."
Saunders scrounged around his foxhole until he found a small branch. He tied the bandage to the branch and began waving it back and forth hoping no one would shoot at him.
"American, do you wish to surrender?"
Saunders slowly stood up and inched his way out of the foxhole. Doc followed suit.
When the rest of squad saw Saunders and Doc they stood up and came out of their foxholes.
The squad was surprised at the number of dead Germans lying on the frozen ground.
A German corporal and several privates walked over to the men. "Hände hoch!" he yelled.
The men put their hands up as the German soldiers stripped them of their belts and personal items.
Kirby hoped they wouldn't check his boots. He had removed his ID bracelet and partially wrapped it around his ankle and strapped it tightly in place.
The corporal looked menacingly at Saunders and his men.
"Where are your other men, Sergeant? You must make all your men surrender. Now!" he screamed.
"What you see is what you get corporal."
The corporal was furious.
He bellowed to his men, "Töten sie alle!" ("Kill them all!")
As they all stood around, Kirby said to no one in particular, "I don't think he told them in the spirit of goodwill to let us go!"
The corporal tried to intimidate Kirby by staring him down but Kirby didn't show how he really felt.
Saunders was proud of him. Kirby was going down swinging. If the truth be told, he was proud of every man who had been in his squad.
"All of you kneel down."
The men did as he asked. For once there wasn't any way to get out of this predicament.
Saunders thought of his family. He knew how much his mother depended on him. She was never a strong woman. He was afraid this would break her. He'd never see her, his brothers or Louise again.
'God, what did I do wrong? I tried to keep my men safe all this time. We almost made it.'
Saunders looked around at his men. He had the feeling that they were all thinking the same thing. He could see that Littlejohn was praying. He noticed a tear sliding down Billy's cheek. He was just a kid but in this war, he was already an old man.
As Caje made the sign of the cross, he began to say a little prayer, "La vie est courte, un peu d'espoir, un peu de rêve, au revoir." ("Life is short, a little hope, a little dream, goodbye.")
As Kirby knelt down, memories began to circle around him. He loved his family and wished he had told them that. He loved his girl and wished they had had more time together. They had planned to have lots of kids. He wanted to be a good dad and tell them how much he loved them but it was too late for everything.
The soldiers aimed their rifles at the men.
The men heard someone yelling at the corporal. The German soldiers slowly lowered their rifles.
A lieutenant walked towards the squad and his men.
"I am Oberleutnant Schmidt. I have told Unteroffizier Becker that there has been enough killing today."
The lieutenant saw relief on the men's faces and true hatred on Becker's. He was honorable man not at all like Becker. He had heard about the killings that had taken place in Ardennes. He wasn't going to let that happen while he was in command.
"We will be taking you back to our lines. There you will board a train to take you to a stalag. Please know that if you try to escape my men will kill you."
The corporal interrupted the lieutenant. He spoke softly but his words dripped with venom. "Sir we were told to destroy the enemy and you are not following orders."
Schmidt became angry. He took a couple of steps toward Becker and through gritted teeth the lieutenant made it very clear to the corporal. "Are you trying to tell me, your superior officer how to command my men? Our enemy surrendered. We do not shoot prisoners. Do I make myself clear corporal?"
Becker sheepishly said,"Yes sir." He had stepped on the toes of other officers before but this time he was afraid that he might be the one shot.
The men began to march towards the German lines.
Kirby had been walking next to Caje but he wanted to speak to Saunders. He pretended to stumble so he could get close to the Sarge.
Kirby smiled slightly. "Well Sarge," he whispered. "I guess we can be grateful for the fact that at least it's not hot this time."
Saunders chuckled at Kirby's small joke. He knew Kirby was frightened and if Saunders laughed, maybe it would help Kirby a little bit.
As the day wore on the temperature dropped like a lead balloon. The icy frigid wind ripped open their faces like tiny razor blades. There wasn't any way to stay warm except to keep on walking. Far off in the distance, the men could hear the high shrill of the train whistle. But they could also hear something else. It was the sounds of armored and infantry units.
The Germans became visibly scared. Had their lines been broken?
All the men dropped to the ground.
Out of nowhere a loudspeaker was calling out to the Germans.
"Legen Sie Ihre Waffen nieder. Sie sind umgeben." ("Lay down your arms. You are surrounded.")
Becker began to fire in the direction of sounds.
Again, the voice came on the loudspeaker. "Wenn Sie nicht aufgeben, werden wir gezwungen, Sie schießen und wir nicht verpassen wird." ("If you do not give up, we will be forced to shoot you and we will not miss.")
Becker fired again. A shot rang out and hit Becker in his shoulder.
"Ich habe dir gesagt, um Ihre Waffen niederzulegen. Das nächste Mal werde ich nicht so gnädig sein." ("I told you to lay down your weapons. Next time I will not be so gracious.")
Schmidt told his men to put down their weapons.
Saunders and his men quickly picked them up.
Caje began walking towards the voice.
"Stay where you are private, we will be there in a moment."
A transport truck came rumbling out of the forest.
A sergeant jumped out of the truck.
"I'm Sgt. Taylor and that's Pvt. Blass. The driver was smiling and waived at Saunders."
"I'm Sgt. Saunders, I want to thank you for your help."
We're going to get you and the prisoners back to our lines."
"Thanks. Could I speak to your CO?"
"Well, Sergeant, it's like this, my CO is pretty busy right now. That's why he sent us. It's getting pretty cold out here. So if we can get going…..."
Saunders nodded but something didn't seem right. He just couldn't put his finger on it.
"Okay men, off and on. shouted Saunders."
Doc called out to Taylor, "Sergeant could I fix the corporal's wound first?"
"You can fix it in the truck, we need to get going."
Doc nodded. The squad and their prisoners climbed into the back of the truck.
Saunders got into the cab with Taylor and the driver.
"What division are you with and what are you doing so far from our lines?"
"Sorry, we're not allowed to talk about this to anyone. Just be glad we found you."
Saunders was not happy with the answer but he realized they had their orders and he wouldn't push the subject.
Within an hour they were close to their lines.
"We're going to let you out here. Our lines were move back. We've taken a position on the south bank of the Moder River. We have to get back now. Good luck to you."
"I don't know what you guys are doing and I guess I'll never know. But I want to thank you for helping us out. Good luck to you too. I gotta feeling you're going to need it"
The private looked at Saunders. He hadn't said anything but continually smiled as he drove the truck.
"We appreciate your good wishes Saunders. Maybe one day you and everyone else will know."
Saunders got out of the cab and called to his men to get out of the back.
The squad and their prisoners walked back to their lines.
Saunders went in search of Hanley.
"Hello Lieutenant."
Hanley was standing next to his desk. When he saw Saunders he was visibly shaken. He had to sit down. He was speechless. Hanley knew their area had been overrun and they had been taken prisoner. Now here they were returning home with their own prisoners. These men were the luckiest damn squad he'd ever seen.
"I bet you were wondering where we've been."
"I know where you have been. I was told you were captured.
"That's true but we got help from an American tank division."
"What are you talking about Saunders? The reinforcements have been delayed. There are no tanks."
"Well, that's what we all heard, a division of tanks and the Germans surrendered."
"I don't know what you men heard but you better keep it to yourselves."
The men went back to fighting and defending their lines.
By the 25th reinforcements had finally arrived from the Ardennes and the offensive was drawing to a close.
Saunders and his men were completely exhausted. Hanley had them relieved and sent them to the rear.
Caje, Kirby and Littlejohn were relaxing on a floor of a farmhouse. The same thing was on their minds.
Finally Littlejohn asked the question they all seemed to be thinking about.
"Ya know what's been bothering me?"
"What's that, my friend?"
"Did any of you see a tank when we were out there?"
"Nope Littlejohn, I didn't see a thing? What about you Caje."
"I tried to see what was going on in the woods but the man told me to stay put."
"Ya know guys, I don't believe there was anything out there."
Kirby walked over to the sofa where Saunders was resting.
"Sarge can we ask you something?"
"What is it Kirby?"
"What do you think was going on in those woods when we got rescued?"
"Kirby, l have no idea. This is the only thing I am going to say, "Don't look a gift horse in the mouth."
Saunders through his arm over his eyes. Kirby knew the conversation was over.
As he walked back to his friends, he shrugged his shoulders and sat down next to Caje.
"Kirby, I have this feeling that whatever was going on in that forest is going to stay a mystery. We're never going to figure it out.**
THE END
**From the landing in Normandy in 1944 through the Battle of the Bulge and on to Germany, 1945 there was a division simply known as the 23rd Headquarters Special Troops. They called themselves the Ghost Army. They were a tactical deception unit made up of eleven hundred men. They deceived the Germans in many ways. For example they had them think that the U.S. troops were in one location, while real troops advanced miles away. Through recording devices and large amplifiers they could make themselves sound like they were a tank or an infantry divisions or both. The Germans could hear them 15 miles away.
Many of these men went on to become very successful such as designer, Bill Blass and artist, Arthur Singer. **