Thank you for following my story/ Stories
I enjoyed writing this Chapter I hope you enjoy reading it
Before anyone could react, Cox was on the ground, blood running down his face from his broken nose. Everybody turned to Speirs, who just took a step back and held up his hands, signaling he didn't do anything.
"God damn son of a bitch…" Katie mumbled under her breath and clutch her hand to her chest; she was the one who knocked the Lieutenant to the ground. No way was he going to get away with leaving her friend to the krauts. When Katie heard what Amy said, she had gone numb and before she even knew, she was doing she felt her hand connect with Cox's face.
Winters shook his head, this was a mess, he knew he had to transfer Cox and it would be a pain to find a replacement. Winters took a look at the officers gathered in front of CP. Amy was pissed and still looked sick, Speirs looked like he was going to kill Cox, and who could blame him. Nix was grinning like an idiot
Winters sighed, "Alright…Lane take Cox to the aid station, and I will speak with him later"
He then turned around and put his arm around Katie's shoulders "Come on slugger, let's get Mia to take a look at your hand and Amy get back to bed"
Amy coughed and nodded, Speirs looked at Nixon "I'll be back in five minutes"
Nix followed Winters into the CP "I hate to break the mood, but regiment want a patrol to cross the river and grab a few prisoners"
Winters ran his hands thru his hair a few times and then turned and looked at Katie. Mia was bandaging her hand and she nodded she would be ok. Her hand was just bruised and not broken, she flexed her fingers, she would be sore for a few days, but she would still be able to operate.
Nixon and Winters stepped out of the CP, Speirs and Lane joined them
"He wants us to cross the river?" Winters asked the two S3, Lane and Nixon had been promoted right after Bastogne.
"Yeah, I bet that water is cold" Nixon said
"Should be able to get you some boats," Lane said
They all heard some shell being fired and Lane and Winters looked up at the sky.
"It had to be a full moon, so much for the cover of darkness, it's going to leave the patrol exposed" Winters was not happy.
Lane, Winters and Nixon walked back to the CP
Winter removed his helmet "Listen up, regiment want a patrol for prisoners,"
Amy who was on her way up stairs stopped, turned, and looked at Lane with her fever-glazed eyes, she wanted to know what was going on, she knew she could not lead the patrol, but she still wanted to know what was going on
Speirs looked at her "Bed… now, that's an order"
The men in the room looked at the S3 officers with a look on their faces that said why, why should we risk our lives at this point in the war.
"Hey, this one comes straight from colonel Sink, so it's not our idea" Lane said and motioned between Nixon and herself.
Winters laid out a map across the grand piano in the room "Since the river is the main line of resistance, we are going to have to cross it to get to them," Winters told Speirs.
Speirs looked at Winters and asked, "What do we need to do?"
"There is a threes storage building on the enemy side, up the embankment, we know it's occupied, you can have fifteen men, think very hard about who you want to lead the patrol, you need a lead scout and a translator, I will have the entire battalion on recovering fire" Winters gave Speirs a stern look.
"When?" Speirs asked
"Tonight at zero one hundred"
"Yes, sir" Speirs replied.
Lane looked around the room, the men and officers all looked like they were on the verge of breaking down and she got on her feet "I'll go, I can do it, just give me the remainder of third platoon and Malarkeys second"
Speirs and Winters looked at her and the both shook their heads "No"
"I can do it, I am just not another pretty face, I got this and since it's a S3 op, I am going"
Nixon sighed; he was going to need a bottle of the VAT 69 tonight if he was going to survive Lane risking her life for the bullshit mission.
Winters looked at Speirs "I want this as safe and fooled proof as possible"
Nixon looked at him "don't take any chances on this one, we are too far along for that"
Lane turned to a replacement. Lane and Nixon hadn't had the privilege of meeting Jones yet "Who are you?" She asked him
"Lieutenant Jones, Ma'am" he answered
Lane looked at Nixon "Right our West Pointer" Nixon said
Lane looked at the lieutenant "When did you graduate" she asked him
"June 6th, Ma'am" he said
"June 6th of last year?" Lane said with a surprised look on her face
"D. Day, yes ma'am" Jones said and knew Lane had taken an instant dislike to him
Nixon and Lane let out a small laugh "ok, don't get hurt" Nixon said and pushed Lane out of the room.
Nixon led Lane outside and walked down to the river "Lane…" He started
Lane looked at Nixon, he looked as battle worn as the rest of the men and he still hadn't shaved "Don't Lew, I am doing this, I am the one here…who is most ready to do this, the rest of you need rest. I won't let them send a noncom who will fuck this up, I can do this, don't worry I will be back in no time"
Nixon hugged Lane "I know, I still don't like it though"
Lane hugged him back "I know, I will be fine"
The Men and Lane were orders to gather at CP at 1700. Lane knew she was late, the were filling the room and they looked around to see who would be leading the patrol
The men were passing out cigarettes; the new lieutenant was standing by the door.
"No way…can't he be leading" Grant said
Babe shrugged "I don't know what they decided"
"Not on his what first day here" Grant said
"Do you see any other officers here?" Liebgott asked
Cobb, Alley and two others walked into the room. McClung looked at Cobb who was pissed
"What?" he asked
"The call you up to?" McClung asked Alley
Alley asked who was in charge of the bullshit and turned and looked at Jones, as he was going to be leading the mission.
"No he ain't" Grant replied
"Well if he ain't, it's you Chuck, shifty or Moe," Babe said
"That would be better" Liebgott said anyone would be better than the replacement officer, who would get many good men killed.
Winters walked into the room followed by Lane and Martin
"Gentlemen as you can see, we have assembled 15 of you for the prisoner snatch tonight at 01.00, just a couple of points…we have secured four rubber boats to get you across the . Captain Easterday will lead the patrol" Winters told the men
The men let out a collective sigh, they would have someone who knew what they were doing leading them.
Winters went on " The whole battalion will cover your withdraw, identifying target and plan fire for them, when we hear these whistles we open up fire so don't blow them until your back in the boat with your prisoners"
Winters went on to explain the technicalities of the mission and finally dismissed the men
Lane walked back to the house that housed the men who was going on the patrol. The men were preparing. Lane took of her helmet and looked around the room "Ok remember nothing shines and nothing rattles"
Lane looked around at the men in the basement not a single word was spoken, everyman was preparing for what was a head and each of them wondered if they would make it back. The Patrol was unnecessary in Lane opinion and the only thing they would accomplice was to get one or more of the veterans killed.
Each of them were sitting in silence, deep in thought. Some were praying, some were repeating the objective for the mission over and over again
Half an hour before they were set to off from the riverbank, Lane got on her feet "Come on boys let's get this snafu patrol over and done with"
The men got on their feet, picked up their weapons and shuffled out of the basement and towards the riverbank. Along the way, their fellow company members greeted them
Lane got in the first boat, the rest of the men followed, and they set of towards the enemy side of the river.
A couple of men fell in the river and the patrol was now short three men.
When they landed on the opposite bank Lane spread out her men, the sound of beating hearts, ragged breaths were deafening, and the tension was palpable.
Lane stopped for 30 seconds and got her shit together and then moved the patrol forward
Jackson, sweet young innocent Jackson, threw a granate into the building and stepped in the door before it exploded.
He was screaming in agony. Webster yelled at the Germans, it was complete chaos and Lane had a hard time getting her men back to the boats.
Lane wanted to be the last one in the boat and she urged her men on, just before she stepped back in the boat a shot rang out.
Lane felt like something tore thru her chest and she fell face first down into the boat, the men started to scream and a prisoner who the men thought wouldn't make it, got left on the shore.
"Shit" Martin mumbled when he felt Lane fall across his lap. Then he felt Lanes warm blood on his fingers, this wasn't good this wasn't good at all.
Once back on their own side of the river, the men carried Lane and Jackson back to the basement. On their way there, Mia joined them and she ran alongside Lane's stretcher, she tried to get the men to carry Lane and Jackson to the hospital, but the men were panicking, there were no reasoning with them.
"Roe" Mia called out once they were inside the basement.
Doc started to treat Jackson, but he knew he was a goner. Roe turned to Mia "How is she doing?" he asked Mia
Mia removed the blanket and when she saw what they were dealing with, she knew it was only a matter of time before Lane would bleed out, she motioned for Spina to help her and they got Lane to the aid station.
"Katie…Doc, we need you" Mia called out.
Katie came running down the hall; she looked at Lane's wound and knew she had to operate on Lane at the aid station and if it was serious enough, she had to be transferred to a MASH unit.
….
Nixon and Winters heard the shot and ran toward the building where the men were gathered. A group carrying someone on a stretcher ran past the two officers. When the two officers entered the basement, the men became quiet and the all turned and look at winters.
Winters removed his helmet "Who got hurt?" Winters asked
Martin looked up at Winters and then his eyes shifted to Nixon, his eyes were misty "Jackson was KIA…and the Captain, Lane she…was wounded, she took one to the lung" Martin said
The sound of a helmet hitting the floor broke the dead silence in the basement "No, No, Nooooo" Nixon repeated the word repeatedly and before anyone could say anything Nixon ran out of the basement.
Winters followed his friend out of the basement, he saw Nixon running towards the aid station and Winters followed. Winters ran past Speirs and asked him to follow him.
Nixon burst thru the doors and looked around, he headed for the room where could hear Katie barking orders.
A pair of strong hands stopped him "Sir…please don't make me force you out of here" Lipton looked at Nixon.
Nixon tried to push past the first sergeant, but Winters and Speirs stopped him "Nix don't" Winters told his friend and forced Nixon down on to a chair.
An hour later, most Easy Company was at the aid station or had dropped by at one time to check if there were any news. Nixon had not said anything he was drinking himself numb. Speirs and winters flanked him, so he wouldn't cause any problems. Amy had gone back to bed, she was still sick, the snaps and strudel hadn't cured her as it had Lipton.
…
Katie and a young medic, who had only been a month away from finishing his surgical internship, were working on Lane. The Captain was a tough one and Katie knew if it had been anyone else, the person would have been dead by now.
After what seemed like days, but had been hours the closed up and Katie knew it was up to God and Lane now, she had done what she could.
Katie thanked the medic, who just gave her a small tired smile. Katie walked out of the impromptu OP, and saw the people gathered there. Her eyes sought out Winters, he looked at her, she nodded, and Winters let out a breath.
Nixon looked and tried to get on his feet, but was unable to stand on his own, Speirs had to support him "How is she?" Nixon asked
Katie gave Nixon a small smile "She…it's up to god and Lane now…just be gentle when you go back there"
Nixon stumbled towards the back. Winters stopped "Nix…Lew go sleep I'll watch her for you"
Nixon knew Winters was right, he knew Lane would kill him if she saw him now "Yeah…just let me know if something happens"
Winters nodded "I will, don't worry"
….
Amy had enough of staying in bed and she decided to find Speirs, she found him by the river
She arrived at the same time as Sink and Colonel Harper of the 327th glider infantry regiment.
Sink had a little too much to drink and he ordered Winters to dispatch another patrol to capture additional prisoners.
Nixon and Winters exchanged a confused look, the order made absolutely no sense, Winters decided to ignore the order.
A second patrol would only result in additional casualties. The freshly fallen snow along the riverbanks turned into ice in no time during the day, which meant the Germans would hear the patrol a mile away.
Winters just said yes sir.
Winters looked at Nixon "Why the hell did he want another patrol?"
"Well the two prisoners you snatched talked about everything, OB, supply trouble, Hitler's favorite color, nothing that gets us across the river, I don't what to tell you Dick" Nixon shrugged.
Nixon told Winters "Well, Sinks been on the horn all day bragging and now he wants to show off, you gave him a successful patrol and now he wants another"
Winter let out a spiteful laugh "Successful"
They were so close to the ending and men were still dying.
Speirs came up to the small group "Dick the men are mustered, I am ready to brief them, same rooster as last night, well almost, well mostly"
"No, No I'll do it" Dick turned and walked toward the building
….
Winters gathered the men "Listen up, Colonel Sink wants another patrol tonight" Winters said
The men let out a collective groan, Winters went on to brief the men about the patrol
"Won't we be changing the plan at all?" Martin asked him
"We will be crossing at 02.00 instead of 01.00," Winters said.
There was a loud thud and Winters looked at his watch "The outpost we hit last night just went up in Smoke, tomorrow I will hand Sink a report stating we were unable to secure any prisoners, look alive we are moving of line"
Winters looked at the men "Get goodnights sleep"
Winters turned and looked at Lipton "A word first sergeant" Winters motioned for Lipton to follow him.
Speirs turned and looked at Lieutenant Jones "Jones, join us at the company CP"
…
"Congratulations, you are here by discharged from US Army and awarded a battle field commission" Winters handed Lipton a set of second lieutenants bars.
Mia, who had been called to CP, came running thru the room and threw herself at Lipton "Congrats C, you so deserve it"
She then turned and looked Welsh, who had returned to the company "Harry, didn't expect to see you back so soon, I was expecting you, to nurse that scratch of yours for another month or two" she said and hugged Welsh, who picked her of the floor.
"No, I couldn't live without you anymore" Welsh said and winked at Mia.
Winters turned to Lieutenant Jones, "Regiment has seen fit to promote you to first lieutenant, congratulations they want you on their staff"
Jones shook Winters hand; Jones knew the battalion commander wanted him gone, because he couldn't use an inexperienced combat leader
Easy Company was moving on. Lane would not be going with them and Nixon was drinking himself stupid every night.