It was July from what we have gathered, lots of strength while our progress was slow, however today was the big day where we finally got to break out of Normandy.
Cloudpaw was busy chatting with Brightpaw, Thornpaw and Fernpaw while they were waiting on the news about the operation that was alluded to for some time now.
"I'm telling you if it was Willowbrook team, they would've beaten out Coney Island. If it was either baseball or boxing, I have my money on them." Brightpaw told the group who she was betting her money on.
"Nah if we were talking about Coney Island, I would just go there for the cyclone and their beaches." Cloudpaw replied.
"Speaking of which, when will you take us to Coney Island Amusement park? You've been rambling about it for some time while you were in Italy?" Fernpaw asked if Cloudpaw was going to keep his promise and take them there.
"Because we're supposed to be fighting out here and not hanging out in the city that will wait another day assuming we're all still alive." Ashpaw replied as he walked up to the rest of the group, this got them excited.
"Hey!" They all mewed. Ashpaw smiled as Cloudpaw gave him a hug.
"Look who came back from the war?" Cloudpaw joked with Ashpaw as he gave him a hug. "I thought you were out for another week?"
"Not when I heard that the lot of you were going to team up to take Marigny." Ashpaw replied as he didn't want to miss the action.
"If everything goes correctly, I guess we can all be home by Christmas." Thornpaw replied. He then turned to Ashpaw. "Don't just stand there, let us see."
"All right." Ashpaw mewed before he pulled up his uniform to reveal the slash wound he took. "Not bad eh?" Ashpaw asked.
"I've seen worse like the time we lost Runningwind." Thornpaw mewed about what happened back in Italy. Fireheart walked over to see the apprentices chatting away.
"Good to have you back private." Fireheart greeted Ashpaw with excitement. He was holding a clipboard with a few papers on it
"Good to be back sir." Ashpaw replied. Fireheart then turned to the apprentices as he had a job for them.
"Alright apprentices, we got a unique opportunity here." Fireheart began. All the apprentices gathered up beside them. "This is our chance to break out from Normandy from Saint Lo. It won't be easy, the hedgerows are heavily defended and will be hosting all sorts of ambushes. And we just have reports of Shadowclan armor in the area. If we can capture, hold and secure Marigny, we own the roads." Fireheart laid out the situation to the apprentices what their objective would be for the next couple of days. "If Ashpaw can take a knife to the gut and come out swinging, I like our odds just fine."
"I always bet on the winners sir." Ashpaw mewed with a smile. He looked up to see the planes flying overhead as they were going in first to bombard the path clear for the others to go on through.
"Let's move." Fireheart told them. The apprentices picked up their guns and headed off to the assembly point.
July 25th, 1944, Saint-Lo, France, 19:00
"Give them the dark forest!" Brindleface called out with excitement.
"Yeah let's get this show on the road!" Whitestorm shouted. Cloudpaw loaded a fresh clip into his M1 Garand which had a bayonet fixed to the barrel, useful for close quarters fighting. Cloudpaw walked his way through the crowd of cheering thunderclan cats as he made his way to a tank. Fireheart was going to give the order.
"Alright first platoon, we're moving out." Fireheart gave the order. Speckletail turned to him. "Hey you know what's up?" Fireheart asked her.
"Yeah something's off with Snowkit, he hasn't been hearing me ever since I got him. He has ignored my commands and has often let himself get beaten up. I'm doubting his abilities to be a good soldier." Speckletail mewed to Fireheart. "I've sent him to the rear to get his hearing checked out but I don't know if it will be enough." Speckletail told Fireheart.
"Okay so long as you've done it, that's fine." Fireheart replied. Cloudpaw had been watching Fireheart from a distance before he began to climb onto one of the tanks. He turned his head to see Bluestar talking with Ashpaw.
"Hey, you know a wound like that takes two moons to heal." Bluestar began to talk to Ashpaw.
"I'm ready, Ma'am." Ashpaw told Bluestar that he was ready for her. "You got my word."
"Your word huh?" Bluestar asked. "That doesn't mean mouse dung to me." She patted Ashpaw on the side to see how it was holding up. "So you're good huh?"
"I'm fine and dandy Bluestar." Ashpaw turned her head to Cloudpaw and back to Ashpaw.
"You got guts private, I just don't want to see them." Bluestar turned and began to walk away. Cloudpaw then climbed onto the tank as he was going to settle down for a nice comfortable ride.
"The tanks are going to roll out." Whitestorm shouted that they were about to join the offensive and help break out of Normandy.
"Hang on tight, it's going to be a rough ride." Fireheart told the group that they were going to have a bumpy ride.
"Yeah, what else is new?" Ashpaw asked. He rested on the same tank Cloudpaw was on. The tanks began rolling out as Whitestorm began to joke with the rest of the group.
"I know Ashpaw." Whitestorm turned to Cloudpaw who was riding with Fernpaw. "Hey Cloudpaw, I think Bluestar likes you."
"Like a lion likes his steak." Ashpaw smiled. Whitestorm giggled. Cloudpaw looked to Ashpaw as he had something to say to him.
"Looks like you're holding up alright." Cloudpaw mewed to Ashpaw.
"I am, how about yourself?" Ashpaw asked with a smile as the tanks rolled along the hedgerows.
"I know, we were excited to see you back." Cloudpaw told Ashpaw.
"I couldn't let you have all the fun." Ashpaw mewed. Cloudpaw giggled before Whitestorm added into the conversation.
"Yeah but fun is not allowed under Tigerclaw." Whitestorm began. "You know why Bluestar is hard on the deputies? Kasserine Pass." Whitestorm told Cloudpaw why Bluestar was hard on her deputies.
"I lost my best friends there when I was a recruit." Fernpaw mewed.
"Yeah. Tigerclaw got an article 15 and a demotion to his rank. He had to be a hard tail and the army had to pay the price. Fireheart and Graystripe were almost killed but we escaped due to the fact that Shadowclan and Vichy Riverclan didn't seal up the western exit. It was a massacre and we almost lost everything thanks to that son of a she-cat. And Bluestar wasn't over it. In fact, she was the one who wrote him up. Bluestar figures if she makes a model platoon with all of us, she can get his name scrubbed and pretend he didn't exist." Whitestorm told the others of what exactly happened and why Bluestar was hard.
"Except we're doing the scrubbing." Cloudpaw joked. Whitestorm and Fireheart laughed when they heard Cloudpaw's remark.
"Heh, yeah. Now you're getting it. It's why she's going crazy, she'll kill herself to have it removed." Whitestorm told the others about what Bluestar will do if she was going to have her job cleaned.
"You know what I'd kill for? Some decent grub." Fernpaw mewed that she wanted something to eat.
"You just had supper." Fireheart told Fernpaw that why she was still hungry was beyond his belief.
"Yeah, Thunderclan rations don't count." Fernpaw mewed to Fireheart.
"Next thing you know you'll not be able to run around due to how chubby you're getting Fernpaw, no wonder Bluestar's made you the support gunner." Fireheart teased her but it was just moreover a warning. The tanks were rolled by some destroyed tanks and vehicles along with some charred Shadowclan cats.
"Hey, how about barbeque eh?" Whitestorm asked, the cats turned their heads to the right as they were examining the pile of burnt corpses.
"They never stood a chance." Fireheart sighed as if he felt bad for the enemy that got demolished in the bombardment.
"It's guessing no to an open casket." Fernpaw mewed as she really liked the fact that the Shadowclan cats got charred although Fernpaw felt nauseous seeing the corpses.
"That's somebody's son." Cloudpaw mewed almost if he felt bad for the enemy. Ashpaw looked at Cloudpaw.
"Nah, that's a kraut." Whitestorm reassured him that it didn't matter who got the bomb.
"Cloudpaw's right. They're not all bad." Ashpaw mewed to Whitestorm that those Shadowclan cats weren't bad. The tanks rolled past the scene as Fernpaw began listing what Shadowclan gave the rest of the world.
"Well they did give us Kepler, Beethoven…" Fireheart began to list their achievements.
"That's recruit talk Fireheart." Whitestorm told Fireheart that stuff everyone knew about.
"Marlene Dietrich." Ashpaw told the rest.
"See that's more like it." Fernpaw told Ashpaw that stuff was better.
"And don't forget their inventions. We got the Printing Press, the electron microscope…" Fireheart began with listing the Shadowclan inventions that were made for them.
"Frankfurters." Ashpaw told Fireheart.
"Starclan, you're killing me, I should have two extra rations before we move out." Fernpaw groaned as she was still hungry. Cloudpaw wasn't listening when he heard a whirring sound as it was incoming and coming to them.
"Do you hear that?" Cloudpaw asked. The whirling sound turned out to be an incoming JU-87 group coming toward the tanks with their bombs. Suddenly the plane appeared and dropped its bomb right infront the tank which exploded and killed several Thunderclan cats.
"Stuka's incoming! Get off the tanks!" Fireheart shouted, the Thunderclan cats all jumped off the tanks. Cloudpaw and Ashpaw stood there as another Stuka fired its machine guns at the apprentices, thankfully missing them both.
"Enemy tanks incoming!" Ashpaw shouted. Cloudpaw ran as several Thunderclan cats were going to stay behind to protect their remaining tanks. Cloudpaw raced to a group of cats that found shelter as another M4 Sherman exploded behind them. Cloudpaw had got into a group with Fireheart, Bluestar, Thornpaw, Sandstorm, Longtail, Speckletail, Dustpelt, Frostfur and Willowpelt.
"Cloudpaw, you made it but we got split up, we need to take down those Stuka's while Whitestorm protects our Shermans. That's flak fire in the distance, we need to capture one of those AA guns to bring down those Stuka's." Fireheart told the group that he was relieved that Cloudpaw managed to survive. He listed out their further objectives on what they needed to do.
"Come on, let's go!" Bluestar shouted. The cats began to race up the pathway as a machine gun began opening fire at the small group.
"Machine gun opening fire!" Willowpelt shouted as she began firing her Grease Gun at the machine gun nest with Longtail and Frostfur.
"Let's take that gun down!" Fireheart told the others. He took off with Sandstorm and Cloudpaw as the three of them began firing their guns at the incoming Shadowclan cats. Two cats were taken down when they dove into cover to reload. Bluestar, Speckletail and Dustpelt ran forth and sprayed their Thompsons to clear a path forward with Thornpaw.
"Do you think we should clear the barn?" Fireheart asked. Speckletail reloaded her Thompson.
"Hey Cloudpaw! Catch!" Speckletail shouted. She tossed him her Thompson SMG. "Clear the barn with it!" Cloudpaw nodded as Fireheart shot down two more Shadowclan cats.
"Dustpelt, help Cloudpaw clear the barn! We'll cover you." Fireheart shouted. Cloudpaw and Dustpelt nodded as they ran to the barn door. Cloudpaw kicked the door open as he ran in and began spraying the Thompson at the incoming Shadowclan cats. Many cats were cut down as Dustpelt took the cats down from the upper floor. Once empty, Cloudpaw slung the Thompson over and began firing the M1 Garand to finish off the cats. Dustpelt reloaded as he sprayed the Thompson again, taking out the cats to the rear. Cloudpaw looked out the window as Speckletail came to the barn.
"Thank you." Cloudpaw mewed before he handed Speckletail back the Thompson.
"Enemy's in the haystack!" Dustpelt shouted as he fired away while Speckletail reloaded. Bluestar and Fireheart came through as they were now firing away. Longtail came up to the top as he began finishing off the cats at long range.
"Thanks." Cloudpaw mewed before he jumped down and decided to assist Firestar with flushing the enemy out of the haystack.
"Cloudpaw you made it, we need to go forward to that AA gun!" Fireheart told his apprentice. They began moving forward and through the countryside and into the woods. Three Shadowclan cats threw their paws up. "On the ground now! Get your paws up!" Fireheart shouted. He, Bluestar and Cloudpaw came over to make sure these cats were good as more Thunderclan cats came to secure the surrendered Thunderclan cats.
"Three surrendered but we still need to find an AA gun." Longtail mewed, Cloudpaw and Fireheart raced through the woods and onto the plains with the other cats following them. Cloudpaw and Fireheart began firing away together as the other cats joined them. Longtail looked ahead as he spotted something through the scope of his rifle.
"There it is, an AA gun. Intact as well." Longtail told the group. Cloudpaw reloaded the M1 Garand when Longtail gave the news.
"Come on!" Fireheart shouted. He began to race ahead with Cloudpaw following behind. Speckletail and Willowpelt covered them with their submachine guns while Fireheart and Cloudpaw went ahead and fired their guns at the Shadowclan cats. They then made it to the AA gun and they got on. Cloudpaw was going to be responsible for shooting it while Fireheart was going to load the ammo for Cloudpaw. Thornpaw arrived to help Fireheart out.
"Fireheart, here's the ammo. Tell Cloudpaw that he needs to take down those Stuka's!" Thornpaw shouted. Fireheart grabbed a magazine and loaded it into the AA gun. Three Stuka's circled around as Cloudpaw began firing onto the Stuka and he ripped a hole into the wing of the plane Fireheart reloaded the magazine as one of the planes was taken down from the sky.
"Three more circling around, looks like they are coming from us." Fireheart mewed to Cloudpaw. He was indeed right as three Stuka's were coming for them. Cloudpaw began firing at the Stukas to take the birds out of the sky. Cloudpaw took down the first Stuka as he then took the second one down in a matter of seconds. The third Stuka was then taken out as Thornpaw helped Fireheart reload.
"Yeah that Shadowclan cat sounds angry, we got more incoming." Thornpaw advised as another Stuka plane was flying at them. Cloudpaw began firing away, trying to take the plane down. The plane caught fire as it was taken down. Fighter planes flew overhead and began to chase the Stukas away.
"Yeah give them the dark forest pilots!" Fireheart shouted. Cloudpaw got off the gun as the Sherman tanks came out of the underbrush. Whitestorm ran over as he hugged Bluestar.
"Whitestorm, you made it, any results?" Bluestar asked Whitestorm what the results on his end were.
"They got my buddies in that ambush, several cats dead from what we gathered, many more wounded. We slapped them back hard. We're taking the tanks through to blow more of a hole in their defenses." Whitestorm told Bluestar what happened back there.
"Okay we're going to be trying to find somewhere to support you and take their attention off of you." Bluestar told Whitestorm as she was going to take her group and find somewhere to get a vantage point.
"Also watch out for tank killers." Whitestorm warned Bluestar. The apprentices were scratching their heads.
"Tank killers? What was Whitestorm talking about?" Thornpaw asked, scratching his head as he was confused.
"Pak-38's. Didn't you hear them in today's briefing?" Bluestar asked. The others looked at her almost if they forgot about it. They turned and began following Bliuestar who opened the gate while Whitestorm lead his team around to take the guns head on.
"What are we supposed to do against tank killers?" Thornpaw asked as he wasn't too familiar with Pak-38's.
"We'll find a way." Bluestar mewed as she guided her group along to find the vantage point where they could shoot some tanks down.
"I was wondering about that myself." Cloudpaw responded as he followed the group, up ahead were destroyed P-47 planes. Cloudpaw was a bit distraught.
"I wish we had gotten to those AA guns faster." Fireheart told the group that he felt bad for the burned out planes.
"You can't blame yourself." Sandstorm told Fireheart, they continued up and around the corner to where a couple of ordinary cats were hanging by their throats.
"Those are civilians, this is some kind of war crime." Cloudpaw told the group that those cats did nothing wrong and Shadowclan had to snuff them out.
"No mouse dung Cloudpaw, we're fighting Shadowclan here." Bluestar told Fireheart's nephew that they were dealing with the enemy, don't let that get to your head.
"Hey we got a vantage point." Fireheart called out. "Cloudpaw, get out your binoculars." Cloudpaw got out the binoculars as he was now looking ahead of him. There was Whitestorm, his group and the tanks. "There's Whitestorm and his group, heading straight for the Dark forest. Longtail, Sandstorm, Frostfur, Cloudpaw, Thornpaw and I will take out the Pak 38 crews. Bluestar, you sweep the trench with the rest of the group when I give the all clear." Bluestar nodded to Fireheart as the group. "Open fire!" Fireheart shouted to his group, the group began opening up on the Pak guns while Whitestorm was leading the armor into the storm.
Cloudpaw was working with Longtail as he was acting like his eyes. While Longtail was holding his scoped rifle. Cloudpaw pointed to the first crew to tell Longtail that the first gun was ahead. Longtail shifted up before he began firing away at the operator to the gun. Cloudpaw fired away in support. Cloudpaw pointed to the second gun as Longtail nodded and helped Cloudpaw eliminate the enemy. Bluestar was observing this and gave the order.
"Clear the trench." Bluestar ordered. She, Speckletail, Dustpelt and Willowpelt slid down into the trench to finish off the remainder of the Shadowclan cats. Their SMG's spraying away at the scene while the Shadowclan cats were getting torn apart from multiple directions of fire. Bluestar nodded with approval as Whitestorm's and Fireheart's groups met up again, the remaining Shadowclan cats fell back.
"All clear. Everyone duck down, friendly tanks coming over the trenches!" Fireheart told the group to duck down. Cloudpaw ducked down as the tank ran over the trench. Once that was done, they could continue the operation.
"Okay everyone fall in behind a tank, there's more guns ahead from these hedges according to Whitestorm. Everyone stack up." Bluestar instructed.
"Let's put these rhinos into good use." Whitestorm mewed. Cloudpaw stacked up behind Brightpaw, Swiftpaw, Whitestorm and Fireheart. They were going to continue their mission.
"All tanks, forward!" Bluestar called out. The Shermans began to roll forward past the hedges. They were going to continue clearing out nearby resistance. They were walking into a machine gun nest.
"Mg42's!" Swiftpaw shouted as he had quiet the fright. Bluestar looked on ahead with some advice.
"Stay behind the tanks, use them for cover." Bluestar told Swiftpaw to remain behind cover. The tanks began to rotate their turrets to begin looking for targets and the Mg42 nests seem to be the most appetizing
"Fire!" One of the tankers called out. The tank opened fire and blew up the Mg42 nest. That was one down and one more to go.
"We got the krauts running out of their trenches, this must be the sign that their line is falling apart?" Ashpaw called out with excitement. They continued to advance as the bullets from the second Mg42 nest bounced off the armor of the tank. The tank rotated the gun and fired, the tank struck down the other nest with such ferocity that the remaining Shadowclan cats ran.
"Look at them running. That's what you get, you cowards!" Ashpaw called out. The tanks rolled over the trenches while the cats occupied the trenches.
"More hedges ahead, we stay behind with the tanks." Bluestar instructed them as they continued to move up as this was the last area they were going to clear before they were going to call it a day. "Keep moving forward!"
"Incoming!" One of the Thunderclan privates called out. A deafening explosion was heard as an M4 Sherman was taken out.
"Drats! More Pak 38's. We need to keep moving." Bluestar hissed, The guns fired again as this shot missed them.
"All tanks button up!" Fireheart ordered for the tanks to back off a bit where they were less likely to be hit and the infantry was going to take care of the rest. One of the Shadowclan cats began spraying with the machine gun while Bluestar fired right back at it.
"Okay we need to get inside if we're going to take out those guns. Fireheart, Cloudpaw, Longtail, you assist us with those guns, remember, we need to take out its crews." Bluestar instructed them. She kicked the door open and sprayed the thompson inside to clear out whoever was still inside. "Go you three!" Cloudpaw, Fireheart and Longtail raced inside and began to get to the second floor of the barn. Once getting up there, they looked out as Bluestar was organizing a push to the guns.
"Remember, we take out the operators of the crew." Fireheart instructed the two of them. Longtail and Cloudpaw nodded when they got down low. The three of them began firing away at the first crew while Bluestar was leading the charge. With the others occupied, Fireheart, Cloudpaw and Longtail took out the first Pak 38 crew. "One down." They then turned to face the second crew while Longtail decided to take out the third crew. Both crews were shot down while Bluestar and the others helped them out with the endeavor. Once they were finished, the three cats slipped out of the barn with pride.
"Nice job you three, we may have Fritz on the run from the area." Bluestar mewed with a smile.
"Thank Starclan for that." Fireheart sighed. He turned to see Darkstripe doing his job.
"On the ground now!" Darkstripe shouted. "Get your paws up to where I can see them!" He was securing two Shadowclan cats that had surrendered. The group trotted up to where a few jeeps had parked. Goldenflower looked at Fireheart, Cloudpaw and Ashpaw.
"Goodness, you made it." Goldenflower mewed to the two of them. Fireheart turned his head to see someone approaching.
"Everyone, hold. Smallear approaching." Fireheart called out. Smallear's jeep came along to the group as he had some urgent news for the platoon. Fireheart and Bluestar saluted Smallear.
"Okay listen up, Vole company is under assault near the church. They need ammo and fire support. Send the platoon in immediately!" Smallear told Bluestar and Fireheart about the situation that was going on at the moment. It was like they needed their help.
"But Smallear, we're stretched pretty thin." Fireheart mewed his concern as they had spent much of the evening hours fighting and were running out of ammo as well.
"Then stretch thinner!" Smallear hissed as he raised his voice. Bluestar nodded as she understood.
"Yes sir!" Fireheart responded. The jeep carrying Smallear drove off while Fireheart knew this situation was dire but what could they do to relieve Vole company? "Mouse dung." Fireheart muttered.
"We can take the jeeps, but we're going to need armored support." Bluestar told Fireheart as she had an idea.
"Okay, Whitestorm, tell the tanks to follow in behind us, Vole company needs us." Fireheart told Whitestorm to get the tanks to follow them as they were going to need them.
"Can't do it. The commander from the tank squad told us that he got orders from Dappletail to head west with the 11th. We're on our own." Whitestorm mewed to Fireheart that Dappletail had given new orders to the tank crew.
"Starclan, mouse dung." Fireheart muttered.
"Those Thunderclan cats are running out of time." Bluestar told the group that they needed to get going if they were going to rescue them.
"Okay everyone, get on the jeeps, we're heading for the church." Fireheart gave everyone their new orders that they were going to be moving out.
"Snap to it! Vole company's up Fox creek and we're the paddle." Bluestar told everyone to get on a jeep and race their way there. Cloudpaw and Ashpaw got onto the jeep with Goldenflower as Cloudpaw took the wheel.
"Which way to Marigny?" Cloudpaw asked as he started up the jeep. He pushed his paw to the pedal and began to drive.
"Follow this road, it's the next village over." Ashpaw instructed him. Cloudpaw began to speed off with the rest of the group as they needed to be there as fast as possible to help Vole Company out. "Big turn coming up!" Ahspaw called out. Cloudpaw turned the wheel to avoid smacking into the wall.
"Go easy there Cloudpaw." Goldenflower mewed to him. Ashpaw was acting as the eyes while Cloudpaw was frantically driving.
"The road splits up ahead!" Ashpaw called out. The jeeps decided to drive down the splits while Cloudpaw was still driving at what seemed to be a million miles an hour. "Keep an eye out for retreating Krauts, they're right on top of Vole company, we need to get there first." Cloudpaw was still driving as fast as he could, keeping to Ashpaw's word.
"Swing left! Watch out!" Goldenflower shouted. Cloudpaw swung the jeep to the left as the artillery shells began exploding all around them. Cloudpaw was trying his best to not get hit even if a few clumps of dirt hit their jeep.
"Cloudpaw! Krauts up ahead! Go right! Gun it!" Ashpaw shouted. Cloudpaw continued to drive fast as he ran over a Shadowclan cat using the jeep. Suddenly a Panzer 4 appeared and it looked like it was going to crush them.
"Panzer ahead! Keep going!" Goldenflower shouted. Cloudpaw sped up more to avoid getting crushed. The jeep narrowly avoided the incoming tank and they managed to make it through.
"That was a close one." Ashpaw mewed. The radio buzzed with an urgent message:
"Taking fire! Need reinforcements! We're pinned down!" It called out. Cloudpaw knew they were running out of time.
"We're almost there." Ashpaw told the cats on the radio that they were coming for them. Ashpaw turned to the road to give Cloudpaw more directions.
"Which way?" Cloudpaw asked.
"Uhh.. go straight! Go straight!" Ashpaw called out, the Jeep sped on through while they were trying to reach Vole Company.
"We can't hold them for much longer!" The radio buzzed out.
"Go right." Ashpaw called out, Cloudpaw turned right as the rest of the group followed. Ashpaw spotted another fork in the road. "Hard right!" The jeep turned right under intense artillery bombardment, causing them to get struck with clumps of dirt. The jeep went up a dirt ramp before landing. Cloudpaw knew he couldn't handle driving for much longer.
"Goldenflower! Grab the wheel! I'm getting on the gun!" Cloudpaw called out to Goldenflower to swap places with him. Goldenflower nodded while Cloudpaw climbed out of the driver's seat while Goldenflower replaced him. Cloudpaw cocked the bolt to the machine gun as two Shadowclan cats got in front of him. Cloudpaw began firing away at the Shadowclan cats in short bursts to give the machine gun a moment to breathe. The two jeeps were taken down as the radio began to bark out more orders to them.
"We can't hold them much longer!" The voice shouted. The jeep turned left as Cloudpaw continued to pepper the cats away with the machine gun.
"Vole's counting on us!" Ashpaw told Goldenflower and Cloudpaw who they continued to fire away at the Shadowclan cats. "Cats in the house to the right!" Ashpaw called out to Cloudpaw. Cloudpaw began peppering the cats away, only pausing briefly to look for more targets.
"There's a gap, we can slip through!" Goldenflower called out, the jeeps sped on through the gap while they kept firing their machine guns away. She spotted the house where Vole company had taken refuge in. "Straight ahead! We're almost there, hang on." Cloudpaw turned while he kept peppering the machine gun away at the Shadowclan cats.
"There's the house!" Cloudpaw called out. Suddenly a Panzerfaust shot came along and blew up the stonewall the Shadowclan cats were hiding behind.
"Cavalry's here!" The cats called out as the jeeps were mopping up the last bit of resistance.
"More of them are coming in! They're all over the house." Ashpaw called out. Cloudpaw turned the machine gun and began firing away at the remaining Shadowclan cats that were still at the house. "Flank left!" Ashpaw called to Goldenflower. The cats continued to circle around, mopping up the shadowclan cats wherever possible. Finally they had enough and began to retreat.
"Look at them running." Fernpaw called out with happiness. Two cats came out of the shadows as Fireheart jumped off his jeep.
"Ravenpaw, Barley, I didn't know you two were helping out with the defense?" Fireheart began.
"Yeah, these Shadowclan cats are a pain in the tail, we fired off the Panzerfausts to flush them out." Ravenpaw mewed. Barley walked forward to Fireheart. He handed him a file for the Thunderclan high command to flook over.
"Look this over when we get to Marigny, we're going to help you out tomorrow." Barley told Fireheart. Bluestar and the group pulled up. Ravenpaw looked at his former leader.
"All clear! Rally up!" Bluestar called out. Ravenpaw began to speak.
"We gotta stop meeting like this." Ravenpaw replied. Bluestar looked at him.
"Don't you be going soft on me Ravenpaw." Bluestar mewed as seeing him
"Thanks for showing up when you did." Ravenpaw mewed as Bluestar's rescule was a welcome relief.
"Thank Smallear. He told us about the rescue mission." Bluestar mewed. Fernpaw walked over and began to voice her concern.
"Excuse me Bluestar?" Fernpaw began. Bluestar turned her head to see what the apprentice had to say.
"Yeah?" Bluestar asked.
"Wait, isn't half of the Kraut Army on the other side of those buildings, shouldn't we find a more secure position to rest?" Fernpaw asked Bluestar if the area that they were staying in was going to be secured. Bluestar looked at Fernpaw.
"Sure private, why don't you book us a room at the Ritz." Bluestar teased Fernpaw. Ashpaw and Fireheart laughed at the joke.
"Bluestar." Ashpaw called out. Bluestar turned to Ashpaw as Ashpaw began to speak. "She's scared, that's all."
"Why don't you worry about your own problems, like how that side is going to hold up tomorrow." Bluestar told Ashpaw about his injured side.
"I'm ready as rain Bluestar." Ashpaw responded, nothing was really going to stop him. Bluestar turned to Cloudpaw and began to speak to him directly.
"Cloudpaw, why don't you watch him? The only thing more dangerous than the enemy is pride." Bluestar instructed Cloudpaw to keep an eye on him. She then turned and made her announcement to the rest of the platoon. "Rest up Thunderclan, we take Marigny at first light."
[A/N]: The breakout has begun but they hadn't taken the church as of yet. That will be the theme of the next chapter. I'm a couple days behind on this and this felt like a drag unfortunately. Hopefully if I can get more attention, I can begin coming up with new ideas. Ravenpaw and Barley have joined the fight and they'll be useful in the next chapter. Anyways. I'll see you in the next chapter.