Chapter 5
I made my way over to my platoon, which was now under-strength by about 10 battle worthy soldiers. This left with about 22 men, including myself. This left 7 men for each squad. I thought to myself how much I would like those men to be here right now. The platoon was formed up, in two ranks along the side of the road, with Sergeant Claymore, Sergeant McGill and the newly promoted Sergeant Reiben standing in front of the formation, talking to the battle weary GI's, trying to raise their morale. I had noted that their spirits were high, despite what we'd been through.
I reached the front of the platoon and stopped. I took a few seconds to look over the column of soldiers that stood before me. They were getting tired and needed a rest, but I couldn't put the war on hold. We had to move out. My three Sergeants had briefed them on our predicament before I got there. They were prepared for the long march to Leduc but at this point believed that they could take on the entire German Army. Every man in the platoon wanted to fight this war to an end. As did I. I thought this would be the perfect time for some sort of motivational speech.
"Alright men," I began, "We gotta walk the remaining 25 miles to Leduc, and after coming this far already were not going to turn around. You all know the danger of this mission. There is upwards of 150 Krauts in that town and their not going to just give up. But I personally am ready, ready to go to Leduc and Kick some Kaiser ass. We're gonna take that town and hold it. Then were all gonna go take Paris from those schnitzel eatin' bastards, Then straight on to Berlin, where I will personally put a bullet right between Old Nutty's eyeballs. And your all coming with me, No exceptions."
Every soldier in the platoon cheered in agreement.
"Lets move out." I ordered enthusiastically.
The platoon broke formation as I led them into the forest. The forest ground was soft and covered in moss. The tops of the trees shot high up in the air, providing good cover from the air. The forest itself was remarkable. It was green and full of life, Untouched by the war. There were naturally fallen logs and bushes that were packed close together. The birds sang and other animals could be heard in the trees and bushes. There was plenty of moisture; I had concluded that there was a river nearby. As we traveled farther away from the road the forest became denser. This would provide good cover in the event of a battle.
After about 2 hours of walking through the thick forest the clutter of vegetation became sparse. I could here the current of the nearby river flowing freely along the terrain. We came to the edge of the tree line and saw the rocky bank of the river. The river itself was about 40 yards in width and flowing quickly. There were some fallen logs that made a sort of wall at the edge of the tree line. I determined that this would be the perfect area to take a break.
"Hold up here behind these logs. We'll have a 20-minute break. Smoke'em if you got'em."
The soldiers acted as ordered and made themselves comfortable behind the logs. Some sat others laid down on their backs and tipped their helmets over their eyes. This break would do them good; they'd all had a long day. Most of the soldiers had already lit cigarettes in their mouth. I was just coming to the end of a Marlboro that I had started during our march through the forest. I drew in one last mouthful of smoke and dropped the burnt out cigarette. I brought a heavy boot down on top of the butt driving it into the ground.
"What's in the letter Greg?" I asked a Corporal, sitting next to me.
"It's from my wife Sir." He replied not taking his eyes off the wrinkled paper. "She said she found us a new apartment in St. Louis. She's paying the rent with money from her job at a factory."
"That's good."
"Yeah, But what if I never get back?" He asked in dismay.
"You'll get back." I assured him.
"I doubt that Sir." He argued rising to his feet. "I'm not a born soldier like you, or Sergeant claymore. I'm a banker at home Sir. I'm surprised I haven't blown my own brains out yet."
"You'll learn," I replied "You can start by sitting down."
"Sorry Sir." He said lowering his body back to the ground.
"I have a bad feeling about this spot."
I raised my head so that I could see over the log across the river. It was quiet, but I wasn't going to jump to conclusions. I continued scanning the tree line on the other side of the river. A small glare shining through the bushes caught my attention. I squinted to see what it was. I couldn't make it out with my bare eyes. I reached for the binocular case at my side. I opened the case, withdrew the black field glasses and placed them to my eyes. With the aid of my field glasses I could see that the glare was being generated by a ration can, A German ration can. I raised my field glasses to see a Wehrmacht soldier filling his face with bratwurst and engaging in a conversation wit 3 other kraut soldiers. One of the gray clad men was an officer. The officer glanced in my direction.
"Uh oh." I whispered.
I remained still in the hopes that the officer wouldn't notice me. My hopes were soon proven to a farfetched notation, as the white bar painted on my helmet was a give away. The German officer raised his own pair of field glasses to his eyes. There we stood staring at each other for a moment. I did the only thing that I could think of. I raised my hand above the log and waived at the man across the river. The officer, with a surprised look on his face, waved back, then he reached for his Walther P38 and withdrew it from its holster.
"AMERIKANA!" He yelled.
"KRAUTS, OPEN FIRE!" I ordered to my squad.
I raised my Thompson to my shoulder and opened up on the men across the river. The sky erupted with the noise of gunfire. The crackling of our battle caused birds to abandon their perch in nearby trees. My Thompson didn't have the range for this engagement. I rose to my feet but was sent back down as rounds ripped into the trees behind me. I dismissed the thought of flanking the Kaisers. I continued to fire at the Germans to keep the pressure on. The men across the river were well equipped for a small squad. Besides the officer who was armed with nothing but a pistol, there was a Feld Webel bearing an MP40 and two privates, each brandishing a KAR98. All the men, excluding the officer had Stielhandgreanates and plenty of ammunition.
As rounds whipped passed our position, I looked frantically for an alternate route to flank the oppressive squad across the river. I was out of luck. All the routes were poorly covered by vegetation or fallen debris. I looked over at the men beside me, Squeezing off rounds. I emptied the rest of my clip in the direction of the 4 German soldiers. They returned fire with deadly accuracy. The Kraut rounds whipped through the air and struck the 2 men beside me. One man caught a rifle round in the head. The bullet flew into his helmet and exited through the rear of the steel headgear, followed by a spray of blood, which covered the bushes behind us. The other Private took a slug in the arm. The force of the bullet knocked him to the ground. I knelt down beside the wounded man.
"You okay?" I asked.
"Ahh, I can't use my arm," He replied in pain. "Take my rifle Sir, It has good range. I can dress my own wound Sir."
"Thanks"
"I got one!" someone yelled.
I glanced back over the log to see one of the German Privates stumble to the ground holding his bleeding neck. His friend made an attempt to drag the wounded man to safety. I took this as a target of opportunity. I took aim on the German soldier with my newly acquired M1 Garand rifle. I squeezed off one round. The .30 caliber bullet sped across the river and found its place in the man's side. The bullet traveled through his body and pierced his heart, causing the organ to explode on contact. Blood sprayed from the man's nose and mouth. He fell to the ground and began to twitch uncontrollably. Without missing a beat I relocated my sights to the chest of the German Sergeant. I fired off one more round, the action of my Garand opened up and an empty stripper clip flew out the top with a prang. The German Sergeant grabbed his stomach as the round entered his soft body. He dropped his submachine gun and fell into the river, moaning in pain. The officer fired of an eighth round from his P38. He moved behind a large rock covering him self while reloading his pistol. I used this time re-draw my Thompson, leap over the log and cross the river. After quickly trekking through the cold water, I came to the rock that the officer was taking cover behind. I saw a white handkerchief slowly rise from behind the large stone. The German Oberleutnant slowly rose from behind the rock with his hands above his head.
"Your lucky you surrendered Fritz." I stated. "Ich Spreche Deutsche. So start yakking''"
"I am Oberleutnant Kesslinger, I wish to surrender to the United States Army."
"Well, you speak English." I said, "Will you get a load of the irony, I Wish to take you prisoner."
The platoon crossed the river and began searching the trees for more Germans.
"I will answer any questions you have."
"Really, A compliant German? I wish they were all more like you."
"I hate the Fuehrer. I hate the Nazis. They started all of this. The atrocities, the invasion of other countries. I'm a career military officer, not a butcher."
"What the hell do you mean butcher?" I asked
"We caught some men expected of being in the French Resistance. Colonel Schofeld ordered me to have them slain, their families as well, when I refused to kill the children he had me imprisoned in one of the buildings. They let me out today. I formed a patrol to escape. We left Leduc 4 hours ago. I had to fake the gunfight; I fired the rounds over your head. The soldiers are Schofeld's goons."
"Did you say Leduc?"
"Yes, Leduc is where my regiment is based."
"What do you have there for support?"
"We have a full strength regiment, as well as 5 tanks that just arrived this morning."
"Tanks? Well that's just fricken great."
"Are you planning to attack Leduc?"
"I'll ask the questions here." I snapped. "You just rest for now."
I ordered one of the Corporals standing beside me to bind Kesslinger's hands together. Then I made my way back across the river, toward the wounded man who had leant me his rifle. When I reached the log that we had been taking cover behind I looked down at the injured Private. The kid had lost a lot of blood, but Private Storey, The platoon medic, seemed to have it under control.
"How is he Storey?"
"He'll live Sir, but his war's over."
The bullet had gone clean through the bone, snapping it. It was a million dollar wound. For him. I was the one that had to figure out how to get him back safely. It was more than 60 miles back to the company. I decided that the best idea was to take him to Leduc with us. After the battle we would be reinforced and he could be taken to an aid station. Until then he was going to have to tough it out.
"Ok Men," I instructed, "The Krauts know were here, so we gotta move out now. Get your gear."
The Rangers grabbed their gear and formed up. We started off towards Leduc. We would get there soon; I only hoped that the tanks that Kesslinger had mentioned were a hoax. The platoon moved through the forest, the prisoner and the wounded Ranger followed.