Falling Fury Chapter Two
Perspiration flooded Corporal Hughes Eyes and made his forehead hot and sticky. Ignoring the uncomforting heat circulating through his fatigues and the ache in his bones he kept his eyes peeled out the window searching for Germans. Gunshots were heard every other breath by the soldiers as the rest of the force struck into the city. Bravo Company got off easy this time.
After Cherbourg was captured Bravo Company met for head count. Company commander Captain Dirks Gustafson announced, "You men executed excellent! Thanks to you we have gained the first foothold in Nazi France! As we speak the 101st and 82nd Airborne Divisions are landing down south by Carentan. Now comes the worse part of the military experience. After confirming casualties Bravo Company has lost thirteen men. First platoon lost Sergeant Christopher Graves, Sergeant Jack Hutchinson, and Johnny Dierst."
Gustafson continued to rattle off these monotonous names which hurt with each name. It did not matter if you knew the dead man it was just the fact that somewhere a family is missing a dad, a brother, or a son. If God is so great why does he allow this to happen?
While lingering around his post a man approached Corporal Jack Hughes, "Corporal follow me sir. Captain Gustafson wishes to speak with you." Jack nodded and put his gun away as he followed the man to the command tent.
Gustafson spoke in between cigar puffs, "You performed excellent out there Corporal," he took a puff, "and as you know first platoon lost their NCO Christopher Graves," he inhaled deeply, "and we need someone to fill that position. You are hereby promoted to Sergeant and assigned to be the NCO of first platoon."
Sergeant Hughes saluted the Captain and shouted, "Thank you sir!" The promotion meant Hughes no longer just followed orders he gave and planned the orders. He was now a capable warrior responsible for forty some men. With that came responsibility that forty some families relied on him.
Hughes sat at a table in the musty tent listening to the platoon commanders and the company commander debate. After hours of debating Captain Gustafson announced, "Alright it is settled. We got orders from battalion to reinforce the 82nd down south. They dropped right in the middle of the enemy lines. Our job is to go down and capture a little town named Volognes. There is a problem though there are three kraut divisions around Volognes, the 77th, 243rd, and the 709th. The immediate threat is the 77th being they are the closest. If we take the town and hold off for a while then the beach boys can come in and save us. Any questions?"
Hughes walked back to the first platoon with the platoon leader Lieutenant Gary White. White asked, "So Hughes what do you think will happen to us down in Volognes?"
Hughes replied, "Well sir according to the map and air recon it isn't fortified so that is a plus. But the divisions are in perfect placement to get a pincer on us. I am worried about us being circled in."
The 13th Airborne Division made excellent progress down the road the Volognes. The French people that lived in the scattered villages along the way stared with awe at the soldiers. They wondered why they weren't wearing the grey uniform of the Wermacht or the black of the Schutzstaffel. When they realized the soldiers were friendly they gladly gave them things such as wine, cigarettes, and chocolate. Cheap things that they held dear.
About four hundred yards out of Volognes they began to hear gun fire and artillery like a bass drum and a snare. Once they were two hundred yards out the division split up into attack forces. First platoon would veer north and charge south, second platoon was the spearhead, straight down the road into the city. Third platoon would veer south and cut north.
Once all the platoons were in position the command was given over the radio and the forces attacked. The town was enclosed by a stone wall which was a defense plus. This meant the forces had to bottleneck through one opening. First platoon had a demolition squad and Lieutenant Gary White ordered, "Get the explosives on the wall up there. Plant four at ten feet intervals to make a nice big opening."
The bombs went off in unison and sent the rock wall clattering to the ground in a shower of dust and pebble. Everything went quiet until a soldier yelled, "Charge!" Sergeant Jack Hughes' second squad was first. They charged through the new gate while first squad went through the real gate. Once inside the town they moved to the first building they saw, which was a bakery. They kicked the door down and all nine men rushed inside.
Everything was quiet on the first floor but voices could be heard on the second. The voices were French not German. Hughes ordered, "Three men up the stairs. I will follow behind; at least one of you must speak French." A skinny white man with glasses spoke up, "I speak French sir." Hughes nodded and gestured him upstairs.
There were three French people, a man, a woman, and a little boy. The man shot up and began yelling at the soldiers while slapping them. Over the ruckus the American tried to coax the man into submission in French. After several minutes and no prevail Hughes grabbed the man by his hair and yanked him off his soldier. The man began to squirm so he grabbed his wrist and jerked it behind his back, applying gentle yet constant pressure to settle him down. After he was calm a conversation ensued in French.
The French speaker said, "Sergeant he says the Germans have a small garrison near the center of town and they have ready contact with the divisions."
Hughes nodded, "Okay soldier tell him to go to the basement and stay there until he is notified." Hughes went back downstairs and radioed the info to Lieutenant White.
Hughes informed his men, "Okay the orders are to wait until third squad gets here and then move up a building and keep doing this until we get contact with the krauts. When we contact them fight them off and wait for new orders."
After three buildings were captured they came into an intersection, one way led out of town and the other led straight to the intersection. Hughes did not know what to do so he radioed into the Lieutenant, "Sir we came to an intersection. What do you recommend?"
The Lieutenant crackled, "Stay there and set up a defense to hold the intersection. It has been to long with no German intervention something is up."
Hughes yelled, "All right get a BAR with a bipod in the window. And get three riflemen on the ground floor. The rest of you spread out stay in this building!"
Thirty minutes went by and nothing happened. Then all of a sudden a whistle cut through the still air followed by an explosion. Hughes yelled, "Shells! Get down and stay away from the windows!" With every whistle the building would shake and feel as if it were about to crumble. No matter how many times you survived a shell you never got used to the jarring about.
After the shelling stopped Hughes yelled, "Get back to your positions! This is the beginning of a counter attack watch for infantry!" Hughes cocked his M1A1 Carbine and knelt down at a window. A German Opel sped in to the middle of the intersection and ten soldiers hopped out. The BAR opened up a rain of lead upon the soldiers. Hughes took aim and fired at the driver, the bullet entered the man's skull, spraying brains and blood over the windshield as if a watermelon had exploded.
The German corpses littered the intersection. Hughes yelled, "They are testing our strength do not get lazy!"