Chapter 11: Violence at Villers-Bocage
13th June 1944
The Allies have linked up all along the Normandy coast to form a solid beach head. The Liberions and Fusoans were advancing towards Cherbourg whilst Karlslander and Orussian units were being pushing down southwards and eastwards. Some Karlslander units were diverted to assist the Britannians, Farawaylanders and Romagnans push around Caen in order to encircle the city. It was called Operation Perch.
Point 213, 2 km outside of Villers-Bocage
In a column of Karlslander, Farawaylanders, Romagnan and Britannian tanks and armoured vehicles were advancing around the western flanks of Caen in order to encircle the city. In the armoured column was Eastern Front veteran, Michael Wittmann and his crew. The 501st Joint Fighter Wing was given orders to provide top cover for the column as they push deeper into Gallian soil.
"Okay, remind me again, why is it that we are sent to help the Brits, Farawaylanders and Romagnans again?" Balthasar asked.
"The Britannians, Farawaylanders and the Romagnans are having trouble getting into the town as there to many neuroi in the area and the witches and the air force couldn't give any proper air support because the weather was not good. There were also some weird shaped neuroi that appeared in the town" Michael answered.
"The Britannians have no stomach for battle; they got the damn easy beaches while the Liberions and our infantry painted Omaha with their blood" Martin growled.
"Well there is no use talking about it now" Gerhard said. Michael then stood up to have a better view of the surrounding. In front of the column was a Cromwell. Suddenly a large roar was heard; Michael looked around to see where that came from. Other tankers popped out of their turrets to see what that noise was. Suddenly a large black dragon appeared in the front of the armoured column. It was a neuroi as it had the infamous red hexagons all over its body. The lead Cromwell began to back up, it opened up with its 75 mm cannon. Michael could hear the Britannian tank commander barking orders. The round did little to the dragon like neuroi.
"Scheiße! Neuroi! Hans! Radio the witches! Tell them we got a neuroi monster! Balthasar, Joseph, get that gun ready!" Michael shouted.
"Jawohl" The crew replied. Just then the lead Cromwell exploded as a beam from the dragon. Michael heard the screams of the Britannian tankers in the unfortunate Cromwell
"Verdammt! Hans! Tell the halftracks to unload their passengers now!" Michael barked.
"Jawohl, Herr Lieutenant! This is Hans of Tiger 205 to all troop carriers, unload all infantry personnel now unless you want mass steel casket!" Hans barked.
"Where are the witches?" A Romagnan tanker asked over the radio.
"They are in the middle of the column sir!" A Britannian tanker radioed.
"Tell them to get to the front, now!" Michael barked. Just then more neuroi popped up this time the tank-like ones.
"Mutter Gottes! Are we going to make it?" Michael uttered.
Meanwhile in the skies over Point 213
The 501st Joint Fighter Wing had been called in for action after 2 days of rest. They were told to fly top cover whilst the Karlslander, Britannian, Farawaylander and Romagnan armour rumble out of Villers-Bocage. Perrine was in cloud-9 as more of her homeland was freed. Suddenly a roar was heard; the witches looked around to see what it was and where it was coming from.
"This is Sergeant Hans Kruger of Tiger 205 of the 101st KKE Panzer Division to 501st JFW witches; we have a neuroi dragon to the south of us! We need your assistance to take it out!" Hans radioed.
"A neuroi dragon?! That hasn't appeared since the times of Napoleon!" Minna responded.
"Well one decided to show up so we need the support…what! Bumsen! We got neuroi tanks! We need that air support now!" Hans shouted.
The witches looked down to see a Cromwell being blown up by a neuroi dragon.
"Jesus Christ! Now that is one hell of a dragon!" Shirley exclaimed.
"Fuck! Get out off of the halftrack now!" A Romagnan lieutenant shouted.
"For Christ's sake get a move on! There's a Neuroi IS-2 running alongside us fifty yards away!" A Britannian sergeant shouted.
"Alright, let's give that dragon hell!" Katherine shouted as she dived near vertical on the neuroi dragon while strafing it. She had two 500 kg dive bombs on her striker's wings. She released the bombs and pulled up. The bombs smashed into the dragon hard.
"You heard her! Let's help out our troops!" Minna barked.
"Hell! There are neuroi tanks everywhere!" A Britannian tanker exclaimed.
"Alright let's give them hell!" Gertrude hollered as she dived on one of the neuroi tank which was a BT-7 with her new 30 mm auto cannons.
"BANZAI!" Mio shouted as she came down and sliced a neuroi's gun off with her famous katana.
"Let's go Shirley!" Francesca cheered.
"Right behind you" Shirley said.
"You are not going to stop the liberation of my homeland! VIVA LE GALLIA!" Perrine roared as she went to near ground level and strafed the neuroi tanks with her 20 mm cannon. She received a new striker a day after D-Day, the Hawker Typhoon which was an excellent low level ground attack aircraft. She has used the new strikers with deadly results.
"I'll cover you, Lynette! Now give those neuroi a Boys special" Yoshika said.
"I am going loud now!" Lynette said as she began to fire her Boys Anti-Tank Rifle at a neuroi tank.
"Sanya, fire your Fliegerhammer into the dragon!" Katherine barked.
"Da, sister, I am firing rockets now!" Sanya said as she fired her Fliegerhammer into the neuroi dragon.
"Have some 20 mm lead!" Eila barked.
Back on the ground
"Balthasar! Neuroi Char B1 bis, 75 degrees right, 100 m, take it out!" Michael barked. The Tiger's turret began to rotate so that the gun could be brought to bear. The turret motor was hummed slightly as the turret turned.
"Feuer!" Michael ordered.
"Jawohl!" Balthasar shouted as the 88 mm cannon belched fire. The round smashed into the turret of the Char. The neuroi turret was blown off but the neuroi tank was still standing.
"Fire again!" Michael barked.
"Jawohl!" Joseph replied as he loaded another round. Balthasar pulled the trigger again and this time the Char was destroyed. Then another explosion was heard. Michael turned to his right to see a Sherman ablaze.
"Fuck! There goes Charlie's Sherman" A Farawaylander radioed. Michael looked around to see that a Sherman Firefly burning in the rear of the column and it was blocking the road.
"Balthasar! Fire on neuroi Bat-Chat, 87 degrees right, 124 m, you know what to do!" Michael barked.
"Ja, Kommandant!" Balthasar replied. The Tiger was engaging as many of the targets it possibly can. Then the neuroi dragon that was being the target of the 501st JFW exploded into a brilliant firework of white shards.
Back in the skies over Point 213
"Neuroi Dragon destroyed!" Yoshika shouted.
"But we still got more!" Eila barked.
"Damn there's neuroi everywhere!" Sanya said.
"Shit! I am out!" Erica said.
"Scheiße! I am down to my last Panzerfaust round!" Gertrude growled.
"Out of ammo" Mio radioed.
"Hold on! We have witches coming your way! If ammo is what you need, we have an ammo carrier with your ammo in Tilly-sur-Seulles" Miles radioed.
"Thanks for the heads up!" Minna replied. Just then the drone of propeller engines was heard. The Strike Witches turned to see a large number witches and ground attack aircraft coming in from the north.
"This is Lieutenant Hilda Whitlea of the USAAF 8th Air Force, we are coming in to relieve you Strike Witches so you can reload" Hilda Whitlea radioed. Hilda Whitlea is a New Yorker who has seen action in North Africa and Romagna. She is currently equipped with the famous P-47 Thunderbolt striker. She is has the magic ability, Tornedo which she always uses to disrupt the neuroi that she was attacking. She has two options of weapons, the hard hitting M2HB Browning or the destructive 127 mm rocket and today she has both.
"Hold on, Strike Witches! This is Major Alexia Trevor of the No 440 Squadron and we are coming to assist you!" Alexia radioed.
"This is Lieutenant Jessica Rheims of the Karlslander Jagdgeschwader 27 reporting in, ready to assist our panzers" Jessica radioed. Jessica Rheims is a veteran witch that has served since 1941. She has seen action in North Africa, Mediterranean, and Romagna. She uses the Junkers Ju-87G which means it has the wing mounted 37 mm cannons and a handheld 37 mm cannon. She has the magic ability, Eruption which means that her cannons can do more damage. She is a friendly witch and she admires the famous ground attack witches like Hanna U. Rudel and Katherine Litvyak.
"Thanks for the assist!" Shirley replied as the Allied air Support arrived to relieve the Strike Witches.
"Alright, let's give them a twister!" Hilda shouted as she unleashed a Tornedo at a group of neuroi which sent them flying.
"Alright, you girls take care of the mess here, while we go and rearm" Katherine said.
"Roger!" Alexia radioed.
"Okay then, let's go" Katherine said.
"Yes ma'am!" The witches of the 501st JFW said as they flew toward Tilly-sur-Seulles.
Back on the ground
Michael's Tiger has been engaging as many of the neuroi tanks as they possibly can. The other tanks that survived for so long also were doing the best they could. The infantry were using their 6 pounder anti-tank guns, Pak 36 anti-tank guns, Panzerfausts, Panzerschrecks, and PIATs to engage the neuroi.
"We need back up now!" A Britannian Captain barked into the radio. Just then a low rumble noise was heard, Michael looked to his fronts to see if any new neuroi has appeared. Then he heard something on the radio.
"Everyone get ready! I am going loud!" A witch radioed. Just then a loud boom was heard and one the neuroi tanks, which was an A-43 was hit and it flipped over and it smashed into another neuroi tank. Then a witch with Stuka strikers dived on the wounded neuroi and destroyed them.
"This is Lt Colonel Angela von Paulus of the 101st Heavy KKE Panzer Division, sorry for the delay, we had to push a burned out Firefly that was blocking the road, now we are ready for a fight" Angela radioed. Michael turned to face the rear of the Tiger to see a steel monster. He was a bit panicky at first but calmed down as it revealed itself as a striker. Just he looked up to see that the 501st JFW have returned and they were ready for more action.
"Lt Colonel Angela von Paulus! Once again, I meet a member of the Paulus family! This is 1st Lieutenant Michael Wittmann, I am so glad to see friendly witches again!" Michael radioed. LT Colonel Angela von Paulus is Field Marshal Frederica von Paulus's younger sister and she is a senior witch in the 101st Heavy KKE Panzer Division. She has seen action in Suomus and Northern Orussia before being transferred to the elite Panzer Division. She has the magic ability Ballistic Lock-On which allows her to do fire and forget tactics, but that would be a bit difficult in a heavy tank, so she uses her ability to engage multiple targets at a time. Angela is a competent commander and she is known to be very caring of those under her command and for this she is often called "Engel" which is angel in has one of the biggest strikers in the world, the Panzerkampfwagen VIII "Maus" with it's daunting 128 mm cannon which is slightly larger that the calibre of the guns of most Liberion destroyers. It is not as heavy as the tank it is based on and more importantly it is not as slow as the tank.
"It is a pleasure to meet you, 1st Lieutenant Wittmann; I have heard great things about you! Now let's get rid of these pesky neuroi" Angela replied as she fired her cannon at another neuroi tank which was an Object 416 and it was quickly annihilated.
"This is Brigadier William Hinde of the 22nd Armoured Brigade to all units including Karlslander units, we can't hold Point 213! Fall back to Villers-Bocage! Operation Perch is called off!" A Britannian Brigadier radioed.
"Scheiße! Gerhard, I want this tank moving now!" Michael barked.
"Jawohl" Gerhard replied as he began to reverse the Tiger. Out of the blue, a lone neuroi beam sliced into an abandoned Bren Gun Carrier that was on the right of Michael's Tiger which caused it to explode. Suddenly, Michael's tank stops moving.
"Gerhard, what's wrong? Why you stopped?" Balthasar asked.
"Bumsen! The engine is running fine! I don't know why we stopped" Gerhard said as he tried to get the 57 tonne tank to move. The engine revved loudly as Gerhard pressed the gas. Michael tried to see what was causing the tank to not move. He then heard the sound of metal bending by force. He then leaned over to see that a piece of the destroyed Bren Gun Carrier was wedged in the rear drive wheel. Just as Michael was about to tell Gerhard to stop the engine, the rear drive wheel exploded and sent shrapnel everywhere. Michael watched in fear as a piece of metal pierce into the body of a Britannian witch. She fell down from the sudden pain. She was the only one there as the rest have fallen back to Villers-Bocage.
"Gerhard! Stop the engine; you broke the rear drive wheel!" Michael barked. Gerhard turned off the engine.
"What? How?!" Gerhard asked.
"There was a piece of metal stuck in the rear drive wheel which caused it break, and now we got an injured witch because of the shrapnel" Michael said as he grabbed the first aid kit and a STG44.
"Oh shit" Gerhard looked mortified.
"It's not your fault, you didn't know" Michael assured.
"Okay" Gerhard said softly as he grabbed a MP40.
"Everyone, get out of the tank, it is a dead tank" Michael said as he climbed out of the tank. The rest of the crew climbed out of the tank. Michael then raced to the injured witch with the crew right behind him. The witch was bleeding out blood as she moaned in pain. Michael quickly went to work on healing the witch.
"Brace yourself, this is going to hurt" Michael said as he held the shrapnel. The witch nodded weakly and braced herself.
"Okay, here goes nothing" Michael said as he pulled the shrapnel out of the witch's side. The witch winced in pain.
"Mein Gott, that has got to hurt" Hans said.
"Joseph, throw this away" Michael said as he gave Joseph the bloodied shrapnel. Michael then poured sulphur on the wound. The witch winced from the sulphur.
"Okay calm down, there, lieutenant, everything will be fine" Balthasar said.
"Hey, what is your name?" Gerhard asked.
"Lieutenant Ashley...Browns, 4th Battalion...22nd ...Armoured Brigade...go...let me be, you should get back to Villers-Bocage...I am no use like this" The witch coughed slightly with some blood coming out. Michael looked sternly at her. He was now trying to find the puncture in the blood vessel.
"Listen, Lieutenant Ashley, you are not useless, and it is against my code to leave a wounded Kamerad behind" Michael said as he tried to find where the puncture was. Ashley winced in pain and vomited some blood. Michael was trying the best he could to find it but there was too much of blood for him to feel for the rip. Ashley was looking pale and was beginning to shiver.
"God...stop the bleeding..." Ashley said before her eyes rolled back. Michael turned to see Ashley unresponsive.
"Lieutenant? Lieutenant... come on, don't go, you are so young! You got your whole life ahead of you!" Michael shouted as he tried to shake Ashley to wake up but she didn't respond. Michael began to cry as a young girl has died in his hands. He then removed his hand from the late Lieutenant's side. He then closed her eyes. Suddenly, Michael felt something flow into him, it felt like energy but it felt like water flowing around his hand.
"What the hell is this? Why can't I remove my hand? What is this that I am feeling? It feels like energy" Michael thought. After a while, Michael was able remove his hand from covering Ashley's eyes. He looked at it but there was nothing there other than that it was covered in blood.
"Michael, are you alright?" Balthasar asked. His crew stood around him with worried expressions on their faces. Michael looked at them and smiled.
"I am fine, don't worry about me, now let's get her to Villers-Bocage so her comrades can pay their respects" Michael said.
"Ja" The crew replied. Hans went and took a white bed sheet that lying in the grass and returned. They quietly cleaned the wound, patched her up and removed her M4 strikers before they encase her with the bed sheet.
"Alright then let's go" Michael said as they picked up the dead witch and carried her towards Villers-Bocage. They didn't take long as a Malayan soldier who was driving in a Willy's Jeep came down the road. He was looking for stragglers or wounded soldiers.
"So what were you tankers doing?" The Malayan asked as he drove back to friendly territory.
"Well our tank was knocked out so we left the tank then we saw a witch that was wounded so we decided to try mending her up before we get her to proper care but we couldn't save, so we decided to bring her allow so she get a proper burial" Michael said as he looked down at his bloody hands.
"Masya'allah, my comrades, that is just unfortunate that a young girl has had her life cut out so short" the Malayan soldier sighed.
"I know, Kamerad, I know" Michael sighed.
Villers-Bocage
Michael and his crew got off the jeep and thanked the Malayan corporal who drove off to find anymore.
"Now let's find her commander" Michael said. They looked around for her commander. Michael who was too busy looking around didn't see a witch walking towards him. The two bumped into each other.
"Oomph" Michael said as he straggled back a few steps.
"Ouch" the witch said.
"I am so sorry, I wasn't seeing where I was going" Michael apologized as he helped the witch up.
"It is alright, I am a bit clumsy anyway" the witch said.
"Well at least you are alright" Michael said.
"So, what can I do for you?" the witch asked.
"Oh can you tell us where the commander of the 4th Battalion of the Britannian 22nd Armoured Brigade is?" Michael asked.
"Well you are in luck, you are speaking to her right now" the witch smiled.
"Huh?" Balthasar uttered.
"Captain Louisa Jones at your service" Louisa said. Michael frowned then turned towards his crew. They frowned as well before they looked back at Louisa again.
"What? What is the matter?" Louisa asked.
"Are you missing a witch?" Michael asked.
"Yes I am missing a witch, Lieutenant Ashley Browns, have you seen her?" Louisa asked.
"We have seen her but..." Michael tried to think of a way to break it to the Captain because she looked younger than the dead lieutenant. He didn't want to scar her wit the news.
"But what, what happened to her? Tell me Lieutenant!" Louisa barked.
"I regret to inform you that Lieutenant Ashley Browns has been killed in action in the Battle of Villers-Bocage, at 1100 hrs of today" Michael sighed before he stated the news. Michael watched her expression which was one that was about to cry.
"Where is she?" Louisa asked softly with her eyes filled with tears.
"She is right here, lay her here" Michael said. His crew complied and laid the 'mummy' on the ground. Michael slowly began to open the wrapping to reveal a lifeless witch who looked as if she was in a bad dream.
"Oh god, Ashley, I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I should have been there with you! You had so much to live up for" Louisa cried as she bent down to look at her friend's body. Tears were just streaming off her face. Other soldiers looked on and they too felt sad for the loss their own comrade.
"Now, don't cry, Captain, I don't think Ashley would want to see you crying like this" Michael shushed as he wrapped his arms around Louisa.
"Then, what should I do?" Louisa asked in a shaky voice.
"You should honour her by continue to fight so that her death is not in vain, remember friends may come and some may stay while other go away, but their memories will always be with us as we continue our life" Michael spoke softly.
"That was absolutely beautiful" Louisa said.
"Why thank you, now let's give her a proper grave" Michael said.
2 hours later.
Just outside of Villers-Bocage
Michael and his crew stood solemnly around the newly dug grave. They heard the Britannians soldiers and witches play "The Last Post". Michael looked around to see the sad faces of the witches. The 501st Joint Fighter Wing was there as well and they all had the face of wanting revenge. After a while everyone dispersed as they still had a war to fight. Operation Perch was an utter failure with 41 tanks destroyed, 25 soldiers killed and little gain. The Battle of Caen has been going well for the neuroi as they still control the town and the Gallian capital of Normandy will be the poison thorn in the side of the Britannians, Karlslanders, Farawaylanders and Romagnans for many weeks to come.
This is my first time writing about death at a personal level, I hope I did well
Now did anyone noticed something strange in this chapter?
If you found out, good for you because I have an interesting idea for that...
Don't worry about the other fiction "The Encounter: Reunited Unexpectedly", just hit a slight train of thought derailment but I will try to post the next chapter as soon as possible