The Legends Still Live On
Bogen Einundzwanzig: Der amerikanische Weg
Kapitel Zwei: Vorschau – Schlacht der Ausbuchtung
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Crack of the lightning splitting the ground
Thunder is sounding
Fighter-bombers pounding!
Several explosions pounded against the ground and any nearby buildings like a tidal wave, catching a battalion-sized group using the famous M4 Shermans greatly off-guard. The roaring of large-displacement piston engines overhead signified that part of the destruction was caused by aviation. However, it was also obvious, judging by the way some of the American tanks had been knocked out from shell impacts, that the other part of the destruction was via an attack with armor.
Wrath of Black Forest cast on Bastogne
Facing their forces alooooone!
With the entirety of a German Panzerabteilung about two thousand meters ahead of them as if they had planned on the Americans to come out into the open area around the city, the American tank battalion began to hastily retreat, knowing they were screwed if they tried to engage the superior German Panthers and Tigers. It didn't help matters that the Germans had their aviation to assist them while the Americans had no such luxury, something not often experienced by them. That meant the American tank battalion was all alone in facing the German blitz.
Alone!
"Dammit! Where the hell's our air support?!" the blond-haired blue-eyed, and relatively tall, commander of one of the Shermans wondered aloud in the midst of pulling back from the line of fire. The distinct firing note of a 17-pounder cannon overrode his voice, and looking back, he saw the unique Sherman VC of his Captain stop for a second to briefly return fire to the German Panzers in an effort to reduce their numbers by at least one.
It was a foolish move, though, as the Firefly was quickly obliterated by a multitude of Panzers, such that it wasn't possible to ascertain who in particular had put it down. Nevertheless, the Firefly's white surrender flag went up without discrimination as to who forced it to come up.
That was what the blonde tank commander that had witnessed the scene last saw before he dropped back inside his own Sherman and barked at the driver, "Step on it!" Within a second of saying the word, the M4 began to book it out of the open and head west, deeper into Bastogne with the rest of the battalion.
Alone!
"All callsigns, this is Lieutenant Kelly!" he began over the radio. "Captain's down! Repeat, Captain's down! I'm taking command now!" The now-Captain Kelly heard the distinct note of rubble dropping to the ground around his Sherman as it drove on, no doubt from the German Panzers shooting through the buildings to try and land a lucky shot before the opportunity passed. "Get back to the line!"
Sent to the skies, flown into the unknown!
The march to the east has begun
Things got to that point after the bulk of America witnessed the elite German school of Schwarzwaldspitze Gymnasium emerge victorious from the second round, putting the two countries up against each other for next round, the semifinals. Therefore, as the skies over Western Europe started to fill with American fighters of all varieties, it was time for the Americans to get down and dirty with the Germans and wage their war against them while waiting for the next round to come around. It was a typical American tactic: to grind down their enemy's numbers during the intermission period in hopes of being numerically superior by the time the ranked match came.
Plus, the Americans were all for playing dirty with the Germans, as long as the fighting was kept reasonably safe, in essence no grave injuries. It gave good practice to both sides for facing off against the notoriously dirty Russians, who were favored to reach the finals that year, so this fight between the Americans and the Germans would determine which of their arch-rivals the Russians faced this year. The Americans, being the overconfident people they were, boasted that they would meet the Russians at the Vistula River, and for them to not be late.
Spearhead the charge
Surrounded by foes!
Saunders is leading the way!
Saunders High School found itself leading the rest of the American high schools into Belgium after disembarking from their school ship, the USS George Washington, at Dunkirk, far from their destination and on land that previously housed the Germans during the intermission before they faced the British. As such, the Americans were immediately thrown into the fire, being attacked almost immediately after landing by German airstrikes. But, being the stubborn blockheads they were, the Americans persevered through the onslaught and pushed onward, with Saunders leading the charge.
France!
Is still within Black Forest's hands!
Martin, the Captain of Saunders' Tank Battalion, had soon become suspicious of Schwarzwaldspitze's endgame, as the elite German school's Panzers had not yet been seen during the trek across France and into Belgium. But the tall, dark brunette dismissed the oddity after hearing that Jill, the short-haired brunette with the common tall American stature who led Saunders' Fighter Wing, had not experienced the same absence of Germany's elite up in the air.
Push!
Schwarzwald retreat!
As Saunders and the rest of the Americans continued to claw their way into Belgium in the face of German resistance, the role-model American high school knew they were also pushing back Schwarzwaldspitze, which only served to inflate their confidence. Perhaps they could have a party in Bastogne after they captured it with relative ease. That was the predominant thought among their minds as the American forces steamrolled all the way through the Ardennes and into Bastogne, with high hopes that they would emerge victorious from that city after the later official battle was over.
Thrown towards blizzards with bitter frostbite!
They've stretched out, exceeded themselves
But it seems history wasn't accurately taught to the Americans, for they found themselves not only having to deal with a bitter cold winter settling in, but also having outrun their supply lines. While they knew full well how cold the infamous Russian winters could be, they did not notice that the winter that descended on the Ardennes was one of the coldest in decades, the last of such frigid temperature being the winter that accompanied the Battle of the Bulge. Also preceding the 1944 German counteroffensive was the Americans outrunning their supply lines after driving from France to the Siegfried Line, leaving them vulnerable to attack. Not a single person within Saunders seemed to notice how they were walking into the very same situation again. All they noted was that it was cold and that, for whatever reason, it was proving difficult to get supplies to heal cases of frostbite.
Turn of the tide
It's breaking away!
Losing momentum, retreat!
But Schwarzwaldspitze saw it when they observed Saunders' advance begin to slow down before reaching Bastogne, the role-model American high school ceasing to be the spearhead and letting the other Americans take over. The initial speed of advance for the Americans was rapid, but they had slowed down greatly as the winter started to grow more bitter and delayed the capture of Bastogne for several days. The elite German school just bided their time until the Americans ran out of steam, and then they began to strike. It was with a simple shaking of their heads that they had confirmed the Americans never learn.
Out in the open country leading up to Bastogne, the Schwarzwaldspitze Panzerabteilung was impossible to stop. Their Panzers were all too well-suited for long-range combat compared to the American Shermans. To deliver as potent of a strike as possible, Schwarzwaldspitze's Jagdgeschwader greatly changed tactics from their previous meager aerial harassment by descending to lower altitudes and carrying out airstrikes. The combined air and ground attack succeeded in pushing back the Americans, who were greatly surprised with the sudden display of power from out of nowhere.
Lock!
Down Bastogne, the city must hold!
Schwarzwaldspitze pushed the front line all the way to the outskirts of Bastogne, which pre-empted Saunders to hastily bring itself to a ready state in order to set up a defense. It might've been an ad hoc defense, but it was still a defense. Soon, it was revealed that if the Americans lost the city, then they would end up losing the chance to face the Russians in the finals. The officials liked to be unpredictable that way, to keep everyone on their toes. Needless to say that Saunders started to feel the pressure being put on them to not fail.
Stand!
Alone in the cold!
The coldest winter since 1944 brought with it a fierce thunder looming over the horizon, from both snowstorms and Schwarzwaldspitze aviation, and at that Saunders' tankers knew they stood alone against the German blitz. Saunders' fighters were at the disadvantage at low altitudes, as their workhorse P-38 simply wasn't meant to fight down close to the ground. By comparison, the German Bf 109s were superior at lower altitudes, though they did have a close equivalent in the few P-63s that Saunders also had. And if that wasn't bad enough, Schwarzwaldspitze had gathered even more Fw 190Ds than they had used in prior engagements, fighters that held all the advantages over the P-38 at every altitude. It was no surprise that the American fighters wouldn't dare tangle with the German fighters at lower altitudes, choosing to instead stick to the higher altitudes their fighters were optimized for.
Crack of the lightning splitting the ground
Thunder is sounding
Fighter-bombers pounding!
Which brings everything back to the present day, where Saunders' Shermans had to maneuver through a city that was in the midst of getting grinded to dust by enemy air power. It wasn't as quick a retreat as desired, as the Shermans used were of the M4, M4A1, and Sherman VC subtypes, which all used less powerful engines than the M4A3, the preferred Sherman variant among American high schools due to its good mobility provided by its Ford GAA V8 engine. Saunders' Shermans used either a Wright R-975 radial engine or, in the case of the M4A4 that served as the basis for the school's Fireflies, a Chrysler A57 multibank engine, neither of which approached the power provided by the Ford engine.
Wrath of Black Forest cast on Bastogne
Facing their forces alooooone!
Such sluggishness nearly cost Saunders some more of its tanks to Schwarzwaldspitze airstrikes. There was only just enough mobility in their Shermans for the Americans to juke out of the way of falling bombs.
Up in the air at over 8,000 meters was where a fierce air battle raged on between the entirety of Saunders' Fighter Wing and a handful of Schwarzwaldspitze pilots, but the Germans still held the advantage despite being so outnumbered and with many of their fighters running ground strike duty. All but three of the German fighters were Fw 190Ds, fighters so blatantly obviously superior to the P-38s that they needed no numerical advantage to win. The three other 109s that came up to the extreme altitudes with them were piloted by none other than Isabel-Justina Hartmann, Erika-Dietlinde Hartmann, and Hanna Jochen, the three top aces of aces among Arts of Warfare fighter pilots.
Alone!
"Give me a goddamn break with those damn Focke-Wulfs!" one pilot of a P-38F bemoaned as she caught sight of a German Dora diving from above on her. The burgundy-haired American pulled up to meet the attack, coming close to colliding with the 190 but passing by with only a hair's clearance. The busty teen was still alive, though, so the risk was worth it.
Otherwise known as Charlotte, the blue-eyed American took a look around the clear skies to spot any enemies she may have missed during her evasive maneuvers. In typical American fashion, she had a pin-up painted onto the nose of her Lightning, but perhaps most strange was that it was a pin-up of herself. Further back on the nose behind the pin-up was what the fighter was christened by its pilot: 'Shining Charlotte.'
"Hmph. Is that the best ya got, Isabel?" Charlotte grew her trademarked competitive grin when she spotted the Bf 109 G-6 with the black tulip nose and black number 1 on its side pull up into a hammerhead with a P-63 on her tail. Then Charlotte's mock-taunting stopped when she saw another 109 with a black tulip nose but a white number 1 line up the Kingcobra and quickly dispatch it. It left the burgundy-haired teen speechless for a bit. "… Okay, now who's that little mini-me you have there? I don't think I've seen her before…"
Alone!
"Danke dafür," Isabel radioed over to Erika her thanks for bailing her out of her sticky situation with the P-63.
The blond-haired teen made a sound of acknowledgment in response while she climbed higher up. She kept her head on a swivel to keep track of everyone's location, but she had to stop for a second when she saw one particular P-38 with some interesting nose art. Erika started to snicker at the sight of Shining Charlotte's pin-up nose art. "Alberne Amerikaner," she commented on how silly the Americans seemed to her in that moment.
Dig your own trenches or fly your white flag!
The storm is about to begin
Down on the ground, it was do or die time for Saunders' Tank Battalion. In preparation for the imminent blitz of Schwarzwaldspitze, the Americans had hastily dug out some anti-tank trenches across the streets leading to their improvised line of defense. They could do so in relative peace, knowing that it would take time for the entirety of Schwarzwaldspitze's Panzerabteilung to not only come into the city itself, which rested on a plateau and required the Panzers to climb up the terrain, but to also maneuver through the town after their fighters reduced much of Saunders' retreat route to rubble. The German fighters themselves were out of the picture for the moment, as they had to fly back to base to rearm for another run.
The siege has begun
There's nowhere to run!
Panzerkampfwagen emerge!
What went unforeseen at that time was that because Schwarzwaldspitze had to take a different route to engage Saunders, the Americans eventually ended up being surrounded. There was nowhere for them to go besides into the face of German Panzers or to the crippled path of retreat they had taken, which was no longer traversable terrain for either side. In essence, Saunders had backed itself into a corner, lined with tank traps it might've been, but it was still a corner.
'Perhaps it wasn't the most well-thought-out defense after all,' Kelly thought. He was of such opinion now because of how he saw Schwarzwaldspitze's Panzers begin to arrive, particularly their two heavy Tiger Is, numbers 212 and 217. Stories had circulated among the Americans about how those two Tigers far exceeded the other German Panzers in skill, hence why they were told to avoid them at all costs.
Tanks!
And Jabos are shaking the ground!
Closed in on all sides within the city, the Saunders Tank Battalion was subjected to a fierce tidal wave of firepower from the German Panzers. The ground shook violently with the explosions of bombs dropped from Schwarzwaldspitze's Jabos, the fighter-bombers having arrived right on the mark to join in laying waste to the American tanks.
Prey!
Of man and machine!
Being the stubborn-headed people they were, the Americans did not cower in the face of the German blitz. Instead, they returned fire. They just didn't seem to know when to give up, as even though their numbers started to dwindle, they were bringing down the Germans' numbers along with them. One could say that was the American mentality, to never back down no matter how scary something looks. Even if it's the fifty-seven-ton heavy tank personification of scary.
Crack of the lightning splitting the ground
Thunder is sounding
Fighter-bombers pounding!
Along with their usual loadout of M61 armor-piercing shells and M48 high explosive shells, Saunders also had access to M89 smoke shells for their 75 mm cannons, something they used to their advantage on numerous occasions. One rather clever way they used the smoke shells was by shooting them directly at the heaviest German armor, that being the Panthers and the two Tigers, to blind their optics. The Panzer IVs and small number of Panzer IIIs could be dealt with using their armor-piercing rounds, but the heavier German Panzers could only be taken out by a Firefly, of which only one remained for Saunders to be used sparingly. That explained their unconventional usage of their smoke rounds.
Wrath of Black Forest cast on Bastogne
Facing their forces alooooone!
The German blitz carried on regardless, which only served to further reduce the city of Bastogne to rubble. Some of the destruction was caused intentionally by Saunders, as they used their high explosive rounds to try and shape the battlefield to their advantage. It was pointless for most of the Americans to try and shoot at the Tigers and Panthers with an armor-piercing round, as the German armor was simply too thick to penetrate for the 75 mm guns, so Saunders got creative yet again.
Eventually, Schwarzwaldspitze's Panzers started to pull back and disengage, but they still had the American tanks surrounded and under siege. Saunders had been proving more frustrating the more desperate they got, which made sporadic attacks nearly useless against them, as they would simply find a way to impede the attacks for enough time to bring the rest of the battalion to their position to reinforce.
Chill of the winter, bite to the bone
And New Year's already here
So Schwarzwaldspitze sat back and waited until their Jabos were ready to deliver another strike, with the plan to strike on land simultaneously with the air attacks. Until that happened, there was relatively little action, only the brief sporadic foot engagements between recon detachments. The lack of action brought up the issue of the bitter cold winter for the Americans, which continued to give them trouble.
Tankers are freezing
Casualties increasing
They cannot take much more
Saunders had been experiencing frostbite for some time, but it was now getting so bad that some members had to be withdrawn from the fight and evacuated from the city to get treatment. It was impossible for supplies to reach the encircled American tanks, due to the horrid snowstorm, the Schwarzwaldspitze Panzers blocking the way to the outside world, and from Schwarzwaldspitze fighters being able to intercept any airlift attempts.
There's no surrender, there's no retreat!
Black Forest is drawing near
The role-model American high school knew they would never surrender if they could help it, but they also knew that there was no path of retreat for them anymore, having been completely surrounded by the Germans. The only option they had left was to fight back against Schwarzwaldspitze when they inevitably charged again.
There's no reinforcements
They're fighting all aloooooooooone!
With the loss of more and more of their own to severe frostbite, Saunders' Tank Battalion was taking permanent hits to its combat strength, seeing as there was no way for them to reinforce their numbers after being encircled. And with Saunders' Fighter Wing still tied up with the best of Schwarzwaldspitze's fighters, the tankers had to find some way to repel the German blitz all by themselves.
Further up above the weathering snowstorm, the air battle between Saunders' Fighter Wing and Schwarzwaldspitze's elite few was still raging on strong. The total losses suffered thus far were not very high, but almost all of them were on the American side, with only one German Fw 190 D-13 being lost.
The plan for Schwarzwaldspitze was to tie up Saunders' aviation for as long as possible using their best pilots, while the rest went to ground strike duty. Looking down at her fuel gauge, Isabel noted that they wouldn't be able to keep up the pressure for much longer, as they would have to head back to refuel soon. The American P-38s didn't have to worry about running out of fuel before the 109s did, their long-range design working to their advantage and keeping them airborne for longer.
"Erika, hol dir das Kingcobra," Isabel ordered her younger sister to get the other P-63 chasing after one of the Doras, but she shut her mouth when she saw the Bf 109 F-4 marked with the yellow number 14 roll within its dive and quickly alter its course to said Kingcobra, closing and swiftly shooting down the American fighter with some extremely accurate deflection shooting. "… Vergiss es. Gute Arbeit, Hanna." The black-haired ultra-ace radioed a disregard for her previous order, along with a verbal pat on the back for Hanna, the pilot of the Messer with the yellow 14.
"Down! I'm down!" Charlotte heard Wing Commander Jill broadcast over Saunders' channels. The burgundy-haired Lightning pilot quickly looked around the skies and with surprise in her eyes discovered the P-63 belonging to her superior spiraling down out of the air with only one wing still attached. "Charlotte, you take command!"
"Uh-yes, ma'am!" Charlotte briefly stuttered in surprise, not at all expecting her to take command of the Fighter Wing right then, even though she was Jill's second-in-command. It was just the surprise of having it declared so suddenly that got to the burgundy-haired American. "Have a safe trip down!"
Today was just full of surprises for her, it seemed. First up was her encounter with what she had dubbed as Isabel's mini-me, a young blond-haired girl looking just like Isabel excluding the hair color that flew a Bf 109 G-6 decorated with a black tulip nose and a white number 1 on the fuselage side. She swore she saw that girl laughing at her at one moment, though from how innocent she seemed, Charlotte figured perhaps her giggles had to do with something about her plane, like maybe that pin-up of herself on the nose.
But then she had unexpectedly found herself calling the shots for Saunders' aviation with no prior warning. She had no prior experience with commanding by herself, so it was safe to say she was unnerved by having to command her first fight that was rapidly turning into a shit show. She only hoped that things wouldn't get worse.
Charlotte blinked when she saw that all of Schwarzwaldspitze's fighters that had been engaging her own fighters had by now entered steep dives to the east, the direction of the German airfield. Recalling what she had learned of Schwarzwaldspitze in briefing, she quickly deduced that the German fighters must be disengaging because of the need to refuel. The American Lightnings could fly for much longer than the fighters Schwarzwaldspitze had brought to the fight, so it made sense in Charlotte's mind that the Germans would break off the engagement sooner or later.
That being said, the burgundy-haired acting commander knew better than to order her fighters to pursue. The early models of the P-38, such as those flown by Saunders, had huge problems with compressibility. To prevent such occurrences as those verge-of-death scenarios where the fighter would get stuck in an unrecoverable dive, it was emphasized in Saunders' flight training for the Lightning to avoid high-speed dives, especially at higher altitude where the air was thinner and there was less chance to recover.
Because of that tactical limitation, Schwarzwaldspitze's fighters could simply go into a steep dive if they didn't wish to fight a P-38, and the Lightning could do nothing about it. Charlotte thanked God that it didn't turn out worse than that, because at least she didn't have the later P-38Gs and P-38Hs at her disposal. Those particular variants were very prone to blowing engines at high altitudes during cold weather, such as that in the Ardennes currently.
"Everyone, do not pursue the enemy. Hold for now," Charlotte issued her first orders to Saunders aviation. She then switched channels. "Status report, Captain?"
The burgundy-haired teen waited for a response. And waited. And waited some more.
"Captain?" she tried again, getting sick of the silence responding to her.
"… We're fucked forwards, backwards, sideways, and upside down. How's that for a status report?" Kelly eventually reported from the ground as Saunders' Tank Battalion's acting commander.
Charlotte snorted in amusement, both at the report itself and that she and Kelly both had to take the helm after their superiors were taken out. "Well said, Captain," she granted him the compliment on his eloquent language. "Now, I'm assuming that means you need our help?"
Sent to the skies, appeared over Bastogne
As easy, as hard as they get
After the remaining American fighters flew back to base, Charlotte and the rest of the Fighter Wing soon took off again from their airfield, this time laden with bombs. Each Lightning carried two 500 lb bombs inboard of their engines. The skies over Bastogne were still utter shit for lack of a better term as the snowstorm raged on unchecked. It was a huge risk the busty pilot was making with flying straight into that awful weather, but air support was greatly needed, so it was done anyway.
Michael's command
Request and demand!
Offer surrender, declined!
"This fight's fortunes are not in your favor, Kapitän Kelly," Michael Nishizumi said over his phone, using it as a medium to speak with Saunders' Tank Battalion's acting commander as he sat atop Tiger number 212. "Your tanks are completely encircled by our armor. Your fighters are too busy fighting off our fighters to come to your rescue. Even more of our fighters are en route as we speak to finish your forces off. The only way you may avoid prolonged suffering for your men is via your honorable surrender. I will give you half an hour to think about your decision. Should you reject this proposal, then be ready to face the full wrath of Schwarzwaldspitze Gymnasium."
NUTS!
Captain Kelly's word echo clear!
"NUTS!" was the response provided by Kelly a few minutes later. The American tankers quickly caught on to what their acting commander implied and started to build some makeshift signs with 'NUTS!' written across them, to emphasize their point. Even those Americans watching the fight from afar and on the television caught on to the saying and joined into the slogan. 'NUTS!' was the word to signify never giving in, to never surrender.
NUTS!
Black Forest shall hear!
"… Nuts?" Manfred Nishizumi raised an eyebrow in confusion at hearing the American response to his brother's demand for their surrender. The meaning of the expression was lost on him, as it was for the rest of Tiger number 217's crew. American sayings made no sense to most everyone on the German side.
"Perhaps they were asking for a truckload of nuts to eat?" Erika suggested helpfully over the radio, to which she received an amused snort from the light brunette Tiger commander. "Well, hey! You can't blame me for trying!"
Crack of the lightning splitting the ground
Thunder is sounding
Fighter-bombers pounding!
"Your choice," Michael pointedly reminded Kelly that it was his decision to continue resisting before hanging up on him. He then donned his radio headset again and issued the words to Schwarzwaldspitze's Panzerabteilung to turn Bastogne into a frozen hell by their hands. "Alle Panzer, angriff."
The order went heeded immediately as the Panthers dashed forth from their locations using their quick mobility, followed by the few Panzer IVs remaining and the two lumbering Tigers numbered 212 and 217. The beginning of their advance coincided with Schwarzwaldspitze fighters dive-bombing Saunders' positions, creating an atmosphere that screamed Blitzkrieg.
Wrath of Black Forest cast on Bastogne
Facing their forces alone!
"Captain, your airstrike will be delivered in approximately five seconds," Charlotte cheekily notified Kelly over the radio. The American tank commander was relieved to know that some of the pounding of the city was now going to help the American tankers out rather than hurt them.
Coming in at low altitude were the bomb-laden Lightnings with German fighters chasing after them, but the Americans were able to release their bombs onto Schwarzwaldspitze's positions before their pursuers managed to close the distance with them.
Crack of the lightning splitting the ground
Thunder is sounding
Fighter-bombers pounding!
Schwarzwaldspitze and Saunders aviation alike quickly fell into a low-altitude aerial brawl filled with reflexive shooting as the ground down below trembled before the crack of lightning that came down on it. The lightning was followed up by the thunder of guns from German Panzers and American tanks duking it out down below.
Wrath of Black Forest cast on Bastogne
Facing their forces alooooone!
Let it not go unsaid that judging by the fierce fighting both sides had displayed that day, the Russians would find themselves a worthy opponent in either the Americans or the Germans when the time came for the finals later that year. The fight to control Bastogne and therefore secure a slot to the finals was so fierce that it could only be won after one side totally annihilated the other, and not a hair's breadth before then.
Perhaps it was a good thing then that Bastogne had very generous insurance, considering all the carnage that would have to be repaired to make the city at least outwardly resemble a city again.
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Part of Projekt Erika.
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The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer," the music used, or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to Actas. The music belongs to Sabaton. Any references made belong to their respective owners.
Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability.