The artillery bombardment lasted over an hour, shells landing almost every second. Dust and rock was flung everywhere by the explosions. From inside their Stug Hippo team could only hear muffled explosions, but even then it was loud. The respect the girls had for soldiers skyrocketed, they had only suffered an hour under intense bombardment and they were close to breaking. It was different to Senshado, in Senshado the likelihood of dying was very low given the extreme safety measures, but here there were none, and every shell was designed to kill.
Finally the bombardment sputtered away, but it didn't let the girls relax, they knew what was coming next, as did every soldier on the line. Knowing their roles, the men of the 7th Armoured Brigade took up their positions, rifles and machine guns aiming into the distance, the anti-tank guns were loaded, and the next shell readied.
In the distance the rumble of engines could be heard. In the distance shapes began to form, rumbling forward was the full strength of the Deustches Afrikakorps under the command of Erwin Rommel. Panzer advanced, followed by infantry.
"Are you ready for this girls?" asked Erwin quietly
"As ready as one can ever be when going to war," came the reply from Saemonza, a sentiment echoed by the others.
"Are you sure, because as soon as we open fire we are going to kill people, it'll affect you more than most Saemonza-san, you're firing the gun."
"I know, but there's one easy way to get over that, think about what would happen if the Nazis win. How many would die? How many would be raped?"
No one could counter that, so they focused on the advancing German forces.
"When I give the order to fire, you Saemonza-san, will hold your fire. We won't reveal ourselves until the German forces get closer.
The German forces advanced slowly, wary of the silence from the allied lines.
#
His rifle shook slightly in his hands, after 10 months of training he was finally at the front, and it terrified him. But he had faith in his commanders, having trained under them. The dust irritated his eyes but he refused to close them, focusing on the German forces. The artillery bombardment had been his first time under enemy fire, and his ears were still ringing from the noise.
The sergeant beside him was giving advice to the men, "Always choose your target wisely, make sure you hit and kill your target before choosing another. Focus on the heavy weapons such as the machine guns, focus on taking out the officers."
Turning his attention back to the enemy, Private Evans took in a deep breath, the hot air rough on his throat. He held that breath for a second before releasing it.
The radio behind them crackled, and the voice of their commander, Brigadier Erwin as she like to be called, spoke, "All units open fire,"
The order was followed by the crack of hundreds of rifles, the rat-a-tat-tat of Bren Guns and the booms of anti-tank guns.
Private Evans chose his target carefully, aiming for the commander of one of the approaching tanks who, despite the enemy fire, was still standing tall, Evans would make him regret that. He raised his aim slightly, accounting for the bullet drop, took a deep breathe, released it slowly, and gently squeezed the trigger.
The rifle cracked, jerking into his shoulder, and the commander fell forward, sprawled across his tank. Racking the bolt, Evans loaded another round, chose another target, this time a German carrying a heavy machine gun, breathed in deeply, led his target, accounted for the drop, and fired again. The German who had been running forward dropped to the floor, his gun flying away.
But the Germans weren't going to take the shots lying down, and soon return fire was racing towards them. The main guns of several panzers flared, and plumes of dust burst all around.
One of the tanks was hit and the tread came rolling off, the tank spinning to the side before it was hit by another shell which penetrated, the tank exploded, sending shrapnel flying everywhere, the turret shooting into the sky. A group of Germans that had been near the tank found themselves on the floor, several dead from shrapnel.
The tanks fired again, and this time they claimed some victims.
The foxhole next to him disappeared in a cloud of dust as a shell hit it directly. Five men were killed in the explosion, their bodies sent flying, some of them missing limbs.
Grimacing slightly at the grizzly fate of his comrades, Evans focused back on the German forces, firing again and again, not every shot hit, but many of them did.
#
Major Howard regarded the defence calmly, he had relayed Erwin's orders to the gunners, and they were following them to the letter. One gun would immobilise the tank, the other would knock it out.
German tanks fell to the calm, precise fire of the British gun crews, but they still approached.
Firing his sten gun in short bursts, Major Howard kept a close eye on how near the enemy were. Enemy fire landed all around, bullets hitting dirt and rock and sandbags.
The guns fired again, knocking out one tank and immobilising another. But the German tanks seem to have located them, the 75mm main gun of a Panzer IV flashed, and one of the anti-tank guns took a direct hit. The shell pierced the protective guard of the gun, vaporising the gunner, before exploding. The wreckage of the gun was sent flying forwards, whilst the rest of the crew were killed. The only survivor was the spotter, but he had been sent flying forwards and his arm was trapped beneath the barrel of the gun. His screams echoed across the desert.
"Medic," screamed Major Howard.
Two medics ran up to the gun, followed by two stretcher bearers.
The stretcher bearers stood next to the mangled gun, braced their knees, and lifted. The medics then pulled the soldier out, causing him to scream violently, before laying him on the stretcher. The stretcher bearers dropped the gun, picked and the stretcher, and ran off towards the aid station that had been set up just behind the lines. All this happened in less than a minute.
#
From the cupola of the Stug Erwin watched as the German forces approached, the sounds of combat didn't bother her, having done Senshado for over a year, what bothered her was the sounds you never heard in a war film. The movies never showed the dead or the dying, you never heard the screams as people lost limbs, or the prayers as peoples minds broke under the strain of war. Because of her plan, she could only watch as her men suffered under the fire of the German guns. She didn't know how many had died already, all she knew was that she didn't want any more to die. But when you're at war, there is little choice and few other options, in this case the only option was to follow through with the plan.
The German forces approached slowly, tanks grinding barbed wire beneath their treads. Soon the reached the tank ditches, and stopped. From behind engineers ran up to begin filling the ditches in. Some tank commanders pushed forward, driving into the ditch, before gunning their engine to climb the other side. This tactic worked for some, the tanks continuing towards her men, for others it was less successful as the engines broke down under the strain, or they were hit by the anti-tank guns as they exposed their underside whilst climbing out.
But not all of the tanks that crossed continued towards the allied line, some of them remained in position, angling themselves slightly. Thanks to the angling, the shells from the guns that tried to take advantage of the tanks' lack of movement only bounced off.
Erwin was puzzled for a moment before she realised what they were doing, "Shit," she cursed, "They're providing cover for the engineers. They know our guns can't penetrate at that angle, so the tanks are providing cover for the engineers to fill in the ditch, while the tanks still approaching keep our men busy."
Realisation grew on the faces of Hippo team, "And if they fill in the ditches then more tanks can cross, and with only five anti-tank guns left we'd be overrun," said Caesar.
"We need to knock those knock those tanks out, but in such a way that they expose the engineers."
Oryou spoke up, "The sand is quite soft isn't it, as in it crumbles and falls, similar to a liquid."
"Yes, it does," Erwin was wondering where she was going.
"Well if we can get the sand under the tanks to shift and move, we could make the tanks slide into the ditch. Sure it may give some tanks a way to cross, but it would expose the engineers to fire."
Erwin grinned, "Good idea Oryou-san. Caesar, load HE, Saemonza, target as long as you can as close as you can to each tank."
The breach soon clanged shut, "Loading complete," called Caesar.
There was a loud bang, followed by a lot of smoke as the 75mm of the Stug III sent it's payload rocketing towards the enemy.
A cloud of dust, smoke, and sand erupted next to one of the angled tanks, it was followed by groaning as the disturbed sand flowed to fill in the crater, displacing the tank which tried to remain in position, but soon slid down into the ditch. The exposed engineers were soon picked off by small arms fire.
The process was repeated, another tank sliding into the ditch.
After the third time the German commanders noticed what was happening, and moved their tanks away from the ditch. However, moving closer to the allied lines exposed the engineers to fire from the flanks.
But some engineers had already completed their tasks and a a result there were several crossings across the ditch. Whether the crossing was metal planks laid across the ditch, or the ditch having been filled in, it didn't matter, the remaining German tanks were closing on the British lines. In the distance, Erwin saw something that made her smile, whilst also feel trepidation.
"Caesar, load armour piercing, Saemonza, you may fire when ready."
"Loading complete,"
The tank rocked slightly as the main gun fired, the shell struck true, hitting one of the approaching panzers dead on it's frontal armour. If the shell had been of a smaller calibre,the armour could well have withstood it, but the 75mm of the Stug couldn't be stopped. It ripped through the armour, straight into the interior, and the explosive charge inside detonated.
The German tank ground to a halt, smoke pouring forth. No one climbed out, there was no one left intact to climb out. The explosion had killed everyone inside, turning two of them into mush whilst the others found themselves filled with shrapnel.
The Stug fired again, taking out another panzer, but in doing so it was targeted by return fire. Dust covered the tank as shells exploded all around, there were loud bangs as some shells struck the front of the tank. But thanks to the strong frontal armour of the Stug, each one bounced off.
Saemonza fired again, causing a panzer to explode, but it wasn't enough. The German tanks were getting to close to the allied lines.
Grabbing her radio Erwin contacted Brigadier Howard, "Sound the retreat Brigadier, pull back to the second line."
"Understood commander,"
#
"Alright then , we're pulling back. Battery, lay down smoke. Infantry, pull back to the second line under the cover of the smoke."
The battery of remaining anti tank guns fired a barrage of smoke shells, smoke blocking the sight of the German forces. Under cover of the smoke the infantry began to pull back.
#
Private Evans ran as fast as he could, running to the second line of foxholes, his face was covered with sweat and dirt, his arms ached from the weight of his gun. Sliding into the foxhole he aimed his rifle at the enemy, watching as the smoke slowly cleared.
German forces pushed onwards, reaching the first line of foxholes. The German infantry put them to good use, sliding into them and using them as cover. It would have seemed like a return to the tactics and combat of the Great War, had it not been for the imposing forms of the German panzers. The tanks rolled forward, crushing bodies and discarded weapons as they moved. There were even cases of wounded men being crushed by the treads, their screams would forever haunt his dreams.
Shots and screams echoed all around, beside him a soldier was hit, blood spraying into his face. He cringed at the sensation, but remained focused on his job, to stop the German advance. The rifle cracked against his shoulder as he brought down another German.
But despite the resistance they put up, Evans knew that they wouldn't be able to stop the German advance without armoured support.
The German tanks grew steadily closer. Evans could only watch as one turned it's gun towards him, staring down the barrel he thought back on his life, his first love, the birth of his daughter, the birth of his brother, his mother's love. All of it flashed through his mind.
When the bang echoed across the sand, he flinched and closed his eyes, expecting his life to be cut short.
When nothing happened, and cheers sprang up from soldiers around him, he opened his eyes.
The tank which had been aiming at him was nothing more than a smoking wreck, flames licking the metal.
A great rumble of engines caused him to turn around. What he saw brought a smile to his face, a wave of tanks was approaching from the city, guns flashing as they fired on the German panzers.
#
Erwin smiled, Rommel had taken the bait, he had seen a breakthrough and dispatched his reserves to exploit it. She had seen the approaching dust clouds, and had waited a few more minutes, before ordering the retreat to the second line. The retreat had emboldened the German forces, leading the reserves to increase their speed. Then Erwin activated the trap. She had called up the armoured reserves, which had come racing from their hiding spots towards the front line. The Victoria tank destroyers had taken up positions on hills, mounds and dunes, and had begun to pick of German tanks, using their range to their advantage.
The German advance halted, the infantry staring in shock as their tanks exploded all around.
#
Behind the German advance, Rommel watched in shock as his advance was halted, and hundreds of British tanks came racing towards his men. He had been baited and had fallen for a trap. But how hadn't he noticed these new troops, how had they remained hidden. His scouts had ensured him that there was no increase in British troops overnight, and the few planes he had available consistently told him that the allied fleet was still miles away from the city, and was still at full strength, and that all transports were full.
Someone had played him, he smiled, he had a challenger. The attack was broken, and so was the siege. He had thrown everything he could into that last attack, hoping to use the defenders exhaustion and lack of viable anti-tank weapons against them. But the tables had turned, and now he would have to retreat. Despite outnumbering this new force, he could see that they out gunned him massively.