1941, November 1st, 1303 hours, Oudref
"23rd and 22nd are ready to go"
hundreds of vehicles line up in front of them was the town of oudref, the M60s were leading the charge as the rapid attack battalions loaded up in their marders and M113s the SPG and howitzers began to fire and shelled the city one of the soldiers in an M113 expressed their concern
"Dude command is fucking insane, they're sending us up to go fight in a damn sand storm we can't see shit!"
another soldier seemingly the one in charge replied in a harsh tone
"shut the hell up and deal with it you have goggles for a reason and on the bright side they can't see us coming!"
the tank crews got ready as they came closer and closer to enemy defensive lines the sandstorm was to their right rapidly approaching them, thankfully their tanks were equipped with sand filters.
although over half of the M113s didn't get their sand filters in time so it was a matter of luck if they break down or not. then the sand storm hit them the tank crews got rattled by the wind as their tanks engine roared and kept whining through the storm seemingly the dust filters working as intended but some M60s weren't so lucky as 8 broke down due to sand intake, they kept going through the storm, then a shell whizzed past them "oh shit! how the hell do they see us?!" the tank commander looked for a little bit and then saw the anti-tank position.
"driver halt! gunner high explosive anti-tank, bearing 122! fire when ready!", the tank stopped completely as the gunner looked for the target and then pulled the trigger, the entire barrel lit up for a second as it recoiled back into the turret the fin stabilized round exited the barrel at high speeds landing a bit short and causing a medium sized explosion infront of the position as they couldn't gauge distance.
the loader quickly got to work loading another HEAT shell as he closed the breach and got clear from it he screamed "up!" notifying the commander and gunner that a shell is loaded, "short!" the commander rangefinded it again amongst the blasting sandstorm and got a semi correct distance "around...600 meters...cant accurately tell" he relayed the information to the gunner as another shell went past them he started to fire on the enemy positions with tracers using his 50 cal, "on the way!" the gunner screamed as the shell was fired from the breach causing the gun to recoil back into the turret as the loader took the spent casing and threw it out of the tank and again the barrel lit up with fire as the fin-stabilized shell hit dead on as the gun was instantly destroyed by the 105 HEAT killing the crew and destroying the gun.
they kept moving, with the group as the commander looked behind them and saw M113s rolling past "driver move with the group turn on headlights, storms getting rough" they moved past a burning wreck of an M113 with burning bodies all over the sand, it seemed it was hit hit by multiple 50MM shells as it had clear red hot shell marks, then multiple shells hit the upper front plate and the turret the armor holding but rocking the crew as the commander searched for the targets amongst the sand storm he spotted one gun .
the tanks kept moving as they got in front of the APCs, they started to dismount infantry units as they made their way closer to the defensive line nearly all M60s opened fire as the troops couldn't really see shit but eventually the storm died down and they were able to see to at least 200 meters without optics.
the soldiers started returning fire on both sides as an M113 going across the desert bogged down from excessive sand intake, the troops were forced to continue on foot along the chaos of gunfire and cannon.
"what the hell was command thinking? sending us out in a damn sandstorm our radios don't fucking work!"
The soldiers moved slowly through the sandstorm reaching a broken down M60 tank, as they returned fire to the trenches they heard enemy rifle fire and bullets bouncing off the broken down tank as the armor was scattered in the storm, one M60 tank finally broke through and reached the enemy lines as it supported the troops with high explosive rounds and coax fire.
soon marders began rolling in as well, dropping off their mechanized as they began to charge and assault the trench, throwing grenade after grenade into it, the soldiers leaped into the trench and fought close quarters as rifle fire rang out through the trenches it was quickly seized.
it was a calm before the storm, all 5 squads tucked neatly behind or on top of their marders, a soldier nicknamed potet was cooking something up in the back of a moving marder, getting a metal rod and filling it to the brim with a grey plastic material before putting a copper wire into it. the soldiers shared cigarettes the atmosphere was quiet and peaceful of course ignoring the roaring and whining noise of the marders engine.
they saw some movement, civilians? what seemed like an old man and his family were going through the streets, the command marders commander stopped he saw that he was a British man and got out of his hatch to talk to him and tell him the location of friendly lines the whining engines of the marders stopped it was an oppressive and tense silence broken up by the commander "sir! allied lines that wa-" pop...the commanders brains splattered on the 20MM turret, then a few milliseconds of silence as the commander was cut short by a sniper, he fell back into the IFV as the old man saw what happened he felt panicked and rushed him and his family into safety. "AMBUSH!" a soldier yelled out as they all jumped off and away from the IFVs following their training they rushed towards where the shots came from, then a second loud bang across the street...then a loud and violent screeching and clanking sound was heard as the lead marder tried to reverse it was hit by a 50MM shell from across the street, destroying the engine block and killing the driver instantly while the gunner was badly injured and shaken from the impact of the shell, he was near to lifeless as he got out of his seat and opened the back door the medics saw the dire situation of the gunner and pulled him out quickly as another shell hit the marder destroying the turret as the fuel tanks erupted into flames.
potets ear rang as he got off the second marder right behind the lead then BOOM as the high-velocity shell missed them by an inch the marders crew returned fire trying to hit the 50MM emplacement before another BOOM was heard this time they didn't get lucky, the shell pierced through the turret and hit the 20MM ammo belt crackles and deafening screams were heard as the ammo cooked off inside the turret, the hatch blew off with such force that it basically popped off the hinges, and to the soldiers surprise the commander made it out of the flaming and burning IFV on fire and screaming, his screams were haunting to everyone around as he got off the marder he pulled his pistol out of his holster and aimed it on his head, he pulled the trigger and ended his suffering. the rest of the fire killed all the crew that was inside thankfully the gunner died a quick death while the driver was trapped and died from the fire.
potet was knocked over from the blast the shockwave scaring the life out of him as he followed his squad loud crackling sounds simmilar of those to fire crackers from his childhood filled his ringing ears as the ammo cooked off, the rest of the marders defiantly returned fire as they were trapped helplessly in a street the urban environment providing excellent cover as german and Italian troops fired down towards the troops, they shouldered their rifles and aimed up and returned fire the marders elevated their guns upward before the roaring sounds of 20MM, 5.56, 7.62 all mixed together as they all fired towards the roofs till the germans and italians stopped firing, as potets squad made it through the ambush, it was chaos even though it was only a few seconds the entire ambush felt like hours his hands were shaking from fear but he pressed on with his squads assault on the 4 story house that was the center of the ambush, Kar 98 fire was heard from the building, but before they could continue they heard the buzzing noise of the MG34, instantly 2 men was cut down right infront of his eyes as the AT specialist raised his launcher, the others cleared from his backblast area he tried to fire but was hit by a bullet that went straight through his helmet, but in that final moment he put enough pressure on the trigger of the AT-4 and shot while falling down, the rocket hit the building but didn't do anything towards the MG34 as it kept firing.
the loud sounds of the MG34 roared across the streets as they fired at any movement, the rest of the squads did all they could to supress the ever living shit on the machine gun position with 5.56 rifle fire and 7.62 LMG fire, soon the distinct roaring sound from a MILAN ATGM was heard as it hit directly on the building causing the machine gunner to get killed as the front of the building collapsed exposing the rest of the german forces towards the fury of an entire mechanized platoon, potet took the opportunity to rally his squad to push towards the position as the rest of the marders made it through they all rushed valiantly to help potets squad, the squad arrived as they layed down supressing fire, then another marder rolled up and shot a MILAN ATGM as the distinct sound of the rocket motor igniting was heard all across the street as the missile flew past potets squad and hit the 50MM gun causing a huge dust cloud before again the distinct crackling of ammunition as enemy rifle fire completely stopped the dust blocking line of sight "HOLD YOUR FIRE!!" the platoon lead ordered everyone "hold your fire! hold your fire!", the dust slowly settled the complete silence was weird for once as it cleared they saw the bodies German and Italian soldiers all laying on the ground lifeless, the 50MM gun had a slumped over soldier burning from the ammo detonation as it set ablaze the entire room, floorboards started falling off the crackling sounds of a fire and utter silence calmed the soldiers.
the soldiers began to clean up, they covered their dead in tarps and moved on lining them up with their dogtags on their heads for identification they couldn't waste space or time ferrying bodies so they had to leave them there for the time being, they continued on towards the city then CRACK-BOOM an aardvark flew past them at supersonic speeds and at high altitude at the time they were the newest close air support jets in service and they showed with their accuracy as they dropped pamflets all around the soldiers, one of the soldiers catched one out of the air and read what it was "surrender now! you will be given basic human rights and treated according to international law" the pamflet showed a picture of the city completely encircled with arrows pointing to the middle of the city he chuckled before he threw away the pamflet and went along with his squad.
they kept their cool and kept moving eventually though they had orders to stop the advance completely as the generals wanted to surrender the soldiers were finally given some downtime as a field kitchen was set up, potet stood up seeing his old friend and briskly rushed at him "Hey frost! remember me? you son of a bitch!" frost, who was an EOD specialist turned around and laughed as they hugged the soldiers teasingly chirping "love birds!", potet shaked frosts hands "so...blown shit up recently?", potet asked first as frost just laughed it off "4 minefields not much, you?" potet laughed it off "got into a hectic ambush but that was about it", They both shared a laugh and grabbed their meals going inside of a cafe as they ate and talked.
Potet chirped in as he kept eating "still got that frosty attitude I know?" frost laughed it off and kept eating "yeah yeah, never afraid of death and never breaks under pressure.." he kept eating his chow as potet just smirked and decided to ask him something "so...why? Why aren't you afraid of dying?" Frost ate his meal not answering him "You know me, I'm not the one to tell you why...Jackson, keep your head up maybe you'll have to call me in and well have to work in the field." He grabbed his tray and walked away "yeah but why?! you have family back home you have something to come back to why aren't you scared of gambling your life all the damn time!", frost walked away to the frustration of potet, he finished his chow and cleaned up after himself going back to his unit and taking a shower washing away all the sand and grime that accumulated on him.
Next he got his gear sorted alongside his squad of course it wasn't homebase thats for sure but It was a safe place for once, tents were erected for each squad to occupy they were called to the center for a announcement though, he got his rifle and slinged it on his shoulder and walked over to there.
he saw the platoon lead getting up on a crate before clearing his throat "alright listen up! everyone! As you know squad romeo and zulus marders have been destroyed, following this we are being sent a replacement for marders codenamed..."
'Bradley'
1942, January 9th, tobruk
british and sochrain advance towards tobruk
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