Chapter Seventeen
The Rhine
March 24, 1945
It had been just under three months since the terrifying events of their last major battle and everyone was exhausted by the weight of those events at the bulge, but they knew they had to keep pushing to the end. "Listen up everyone, thanks to some intel found on a German prisoner we know the krauts are going to try to blow up the last bridge across the Rhine. So our mission is to stop them, if our intel is correct a truck of explosives is on its way there from Berlin, but it's gonna take a day or two for it to get there so now is the time to strike." Miniko explained to her troops. "I'm gonna let lieutenant Hinno walk you guys through the rest of the plan. Whenever you're ready Rei." Miniko said as she stepped aside to let Rei talk.
"Alright so here's the plan. While we distract the Germans and attempt to secure the bridge, the engineers will disarm the explosives so that should anything go wrong the Germans won't be able to blow the bridge anytime soon." Rei explained.
"I have a question ma'am!" Mako yelled.
"What is it private?" Rei asked in response.
"What kind of opposition do you think we'll be facing?" Mako asked looking for more information.
"I'm not sure to be honest, but I'd expect it to be pretty heavy considering what's at stake here." Rei answered. "Any other questions?" Rei asked as she looked over the small crowd in front of her.
"No ma'am." A few soldiers replied while others shook their heads no.
"Then you're all dismissed, operation plunder is a go, be ready to move out in fifteen minutes." Rei ordered.
"How are you feeling today private?" Miniko asked as she approached Mako.
"Pretty good ma'am, I'm a little tired but that's about it. Why do you ask ma'am?" Mako questioned with a suspicious look.
"Because we could all hear you last night, you were dreaming about your parents again. If there's anything you need to talk about, you know we're here for you." Miniko quietly said as she placed a comforting hand on Makos shoulder.
"I'm sorry ma'am, I didn't mean to wake any of you. It's just, ever since that incident on Christmas I can't stop dreaming about the last time I saw each of them. I waved good bye to dad when he left for the war, then mom got sick and I sat by her telling her that daddy would be home soon and we'd all be together again. But he never came back, and then I lost mom the day after we got the news about dad and and..." Mako trailed off as she started to sob into her hands.
"Mako!" Ami yelled as she caught sight of Mako. "Mako, what happened?!" Ami yelled as she ran to Mako and held her.
"I'm sorry Ami, I don't mean to be so weak right now. Everything's just been so hard since Christmas." Mako cried into Amis shoulder.
"It's okay Mako, you're gonna be okay. You're not weak Mako, everyone feels like this at times and letting yourself feel these things makes you strong. You're strong enough to admit you're feelings rather than trying to hold them in all the time. Is there anything I can do to help?" Ami asked in a soft and gentle tone as she held Mako and gently rubbed her back.
"You're already doing it, just being in your arms makes me feel so much better. Thank you Ami." Mako quietly replied as she felt Ami tighten her grip around her.
"Come on Mako, let's get ready, we've got a big day ahead of us." Ami said with a smile.
"You're right, lets do this Ami." Mako replied with much more enthusiasm and happiness.
"Alright everyone, grab your gear and get on the trucks. We're going to drive about three quarters of the way there then walk the remaining three miles in an attempt to minimize the chance of being noticed before we get close!" Miniko yelled to her soldiers.
"Ma'am yes ma'am!" The soldiers replied as they all grabbed their gear and climbed onto the trucks.
"Let's move out driver!" Miniko yelled as she slapped the side of the truck twice and climbed in the back.
"Yes ma'am!" The driver replied as he began driving forward, followed by the rest of the convoy.
"So how's everyone feeling today?" Miniko asked her teammates, trying to lighten the atmosphere of the truck.
"Tired." Mako answered with a yawn.
"Don't worry private, you can rest when we're done with this mission." Miniko said with a smile.
"What about you Ami, how are you feeling today?" Rei asked with a light smile.
"Pretty good ma'am, I'm ready to do my part." Ami replied with a big smile.
"That's what I like to hear private." Rei said as she gave Ami a light pat on the back. After a few minutes of driving, the truck came to an abrupt stop and everyone knew what that meant.
"We're here, lock and load everyone." Miniko ordered as she pulled the slide back on her Thompson and jumped out of the truck.
"Right behind you ma'am." Ami replied as she loaded her Garand and hopped out of the truck, followed closely by Mako and Rei.
"Let's see what we're dealing with here." Miniko said as she pulled out a pair of binoculars and looked in the direction of the bridge. "I'm seeing at least a dozen soldiers armed with rifles and sub-machine guns, as well as some MG nests and a tower built into the left side of the bridge at the very front of it. Unfortunately I think our only approach is going to be a direct one since there aren't any good flanking routes." Miniko informed everyone.
"I have an idea ma'am!" Ami enthusiastically exclaimed.
"By all means private let's here it." Miniko happily replied.
"You said there was a large tower which would probably make a good sniping position, don't you think?" Ami asked.
"It could, but we'd need to get close enough to take it, and without being spotted. How are we gonna do that?" Miniko asked.
"We aren't going to do anything ma'am, I'll go alone to minimize the chances of being spotted and I'll secure the tower. Then I can provide over watch while you guys assault the bridge." Ami replied.
"Are you insane, that's way to risky!" Mako yelled at Ami.
"I agree, please Minna, tell her she's nuts!" Rei begged.
"I want to, but she's never been wrong before. She's intelligent and I have faith in her, and you all should as well." Miniko replied with a smile.
"Thank you ma'am, I promise I won't let you guys down." Ami replied with a salute.
"Good luck private, I'll keep an eye on the windows of the top floor for you. Just wave to us when you want us to advance. Oh and take this." Miniko ordered as she pulled out a strange looking weapon.
"What is it ma'am?" Ami asked as she looked over the weapon.
"A gift from the British, it's a suppressed pistol called the Welrod. It's a .32 caliber bolt action pistol that's practically silent when fired, but it only has eight rounds so use it wisely." Miniko explained as she handed the gun to Ami.
"Thank you ma'am, I'll make every shot count." Ami replied as she started to walk away.
"One more thing private, due to its suppressor it doesn't have a very long range or damage output. So make sure you're close to your target or aim for their head, otherwise it might take multiple rounds to take out one enemy." Miniko warned Ami.
"I'll keep that in mind ma'am, wish me luck." Ami replied as she quickly began sneaking over to the tower. Ami poked her head in the door of the tower and was happy to see no one was on the bottom floor. Ami let out a small breath and began slowly moving up to the second floor. She peeked over the top of the stair case and saw one soldier staring out the window, she slowly advanced behind him and drew her knife. The soldier turned around just in time to see a knife thrusted towards his chest.
"Ameri..." but he didn't finish, as the knife pierced his heart Ami quickly dragged him to the ground out of sight of the window and finished him off.
'Hope no one heard that.' Ami thought to herself as she slowly moved up to the third floor. Again she cautiously peeked over the edge of the staircase and noticed there were two soldiers on the last floor. 'What should I do about two of them?' Ami thought to herself as she looked at the bolt action pistol in her hand. 'If I shoot one it should startle the other one long enough for me to take him out with my knife.' Ami reasoned to herself. She quickly ran the rest of the way up the stairs instantly shooting the first soldier in the head and tackling the other one to the floor, immediately jamming her knife into his throat before he even knew what happened. "Thank god that went so smoothly, that would have been ugly if they had signaled anyone else." Ami said to herself as she grabbed a sniper rifle she found leaning against a wall and checked its round count. "Good, five rounds in the gun plus an additional fifteen rounds on this guy." Ami said as she looted three more clips from one of the soldiers she'd just killed. "Now to signal the others." Ami said as she approached the window and waved to Miniko.
"She did it, that's our girl!" Miniko quietly yelled to her group.
"What are we waiting for Minna, let's take this bridge!" Rei yelled as she charged forward.
"Hoorah!" Mako yelled as she charged forward with Rei and Miniko.
"American infantry!" The German soldiers yelled as a firefight broke out on the bridge.
"We need to protect the engineers while they disarm the explosives!" Miniko shouted over the constant gunfire.
"Look out captain!" Mako yelled as she grabbed Miniko and pulled her behind a large support beam seconds before a German .42 opened fire at them. While the gunner was distracted by Mako and Miniko, Rei aimed her Garand at the soldiers head and fired. 'BANG!' The 30-06 round hit him in the side of his head instantly killing him.
"Thanks Rei!" Miniko yelled as her and Mako left their hiding place.
"Any time Mina!" Rei yelled back as she continued to press forward across the bridge. Ami watched her team push across the bridge from her over watch position, as she began picking off the German MG crews with her rifle.
"Looks like things are going well." Ami said to herself as she continued to look out over the bridge. Then she heard several loud explosions. "Oh shit!" Ami yelled as the Germans detonated the remaining explosives attempting to destroy the bridge.
"What's going on?!" Rei yelled as the the ground began to shake.
"They're blowing the bridge! We have to move now!" Miniko yelled as she grabbed Rei and began pulling her to the other end of the bridge. The explosions stopped as quickly as they began.
"Is everyone okay?!" Mako yelled as she looked for her teammates.
"We're good, I can't believe it held." Miniko said in a surprised tone as she looked around the bridge. A thick layer of smoke covered the bridge from the multiple explosions, greatly reducing their visibility.
"Krauts coming out of the smoke!" Mako yelled as she levied her gun at the approaching Germans.
"Hold your fire, they're surrendering!" Miniko ordered. The Germans limped out of the smoke cloud with their hands over their heads.
"Damn fine work everyone, thanks to your efforts we've secured the last bridge across the Rhine!" Rei yelled to everyone.
"Hooah!" The soldiers cheered.
"Where to next Mina?" Rei asked.
"To the rest of our squad and then we'll take a well earned break." Miniko replied with a smile.
"Sounds good to me ma'am!" Mako exclaimed as she began following Rei and Miniko over to the tower Ami was in.
"Ami!" Mako yelled and waved as Ami came out of the tower.
"Mako!" Ami yelled back as she ran to Mako and pulled her squad mates into a group hug. "We did it, we actually did it!" Ami cheered as she jumped with joy.
"Of course we did, because we're awesome!" Miniko yelled with a big smile.
"Now let's go get something to eat!" Mako yelled.
"Let's do it!" The rest of her group replied as they went to go find something to eat after their long day.
(Authors note: Though I had everything happen in just a few hours, the mission to cross the Rhine actually lasted from March 7-25 of 1945, I just didn't know how to put that much information into this chapter so I focused more on being creative and less on being historically accurate, hope no one minds. If you want to learn more about Operation Plunder and the process of securing the last bridge across the Rhine here's a link to the website I got the historical dates from https/en.m./wiki/Battle_of_Remagen.)