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Chapter 10: Night Combat
March 30, 1935
2200 Hours
It was pitch black tonight as some clouds blocked the full moon. While during the day, both sides would fire and try to kill each other, at night it was the only solace they could get. Neither side wanted to attack during the night for different reasons. So, it would be rare for any side to do anything at night.
Tonight was one such rare night.
In the darkness, 10 German trucks drove on the country road. They were carrying supplies and men to Vasel to reinforce the town. Reports indicated that the Gallians were going to make a push to the town and orders were to hold the town no matter what. Hence, that is why the convoy is moving at night. They need to reach the town soon and quickly.
As the convoy headed towards Vasel, the soldier in the lead truck had a flashlight out and was looking at his map. The convoy was making good time and should be reaching the town shortly. All they had left was to cross a bridge over a river and they would reach the town within the hour.
As the soldier tucked away his map, his driver spoke up.
"Sir, there is a checkpoint up ahead," The soldier looked to the front and sure enough, there was what seemed to be a squad supported by a tank on the bridge. The tank seemed to be a King Tiger but from what the soldier can tell, it was a bit bigger than normal.
"That is strange. We weren't told of a checkpoint being set up here," The soldier commented.
"Maybe it was put up recently. There have been reports of partisan activity in the countryside," the driver replied. It was no surprise to anyone that the Gallians were not going to just lay down and die. The Gallians were a persistent and stubborn foe and there are already reports of attacks on their depots and supply convoys.
"I don't like this. Stop the truck but be on your guard. I smell trouble,"
" . ," Andrew muttered as he took one last puff from his cigarette and threw it on the ground, and stomped it out. He then adjusted his uniform as the first truck came to a stop. He along with Fifteen, Twenty-Four, and Thirteen were on this side of the bridge while Gusurg had the tank parked on one side of the bridge. It was decided last minute that Fifty-six will go with Kurt's team as even with a helmet, it was still possible to tell the dark blue hair underneath it so Andrew's team is one man short.
They were all wearing captured German uniforms, and while Fifteen's uniform looked way too big for her, it was hard to tell in the night. All of them wore helmets with Thirteen having to tie her hair into a bun to hide her unique hair. Another important thing was that everyone here spoke perfect German, so at least this part of the plan will go well and with his uniform having the rank of Oberluetenant, things should go smoothly.
Or so Andrew hoped.
Andrew approached the first truck as someone from the passenger side got out. Andrew met him in front of the truck and thanks to the truck's headlights, Andrew could see that the soldier was a sergeant and since he was wearing an officer uniform, this was going to be easy. The two men saluted and Andrew got right into the act.
"Papers please," Andrew asked.
"Of course sir," The soldier said as he pulled out his papers from his pocket and handed them to Andrew. Andrew looked over the document and saw that the man was from Berlin and that his orders were to deliver supplies and munitions to the garrison at Vasel. Andrew also noticed that this man is from the 15th Panzergrenadier Division.
"You have a pretty unique accent, sir. May I ask where you are from?" the soldier asked Andrew.
"Kiel. My family is in the fishing industry," Andrew replied. He wasn't really lying about that part… well at least for the most part.
"Really? I would assume that, with your family being in the fishing business, that you would go with the Kriegsmarine rather than the army," The soldier replied.
"I wanted to experience something other than staying out in the open ocean for months on end," Andrew replied quickly. He was starting to get nervous. This soldier was asking him a lot more questions than he expected. Luckily, he at least can fall back on his mom's side of his family to answer him quickly. But, he only had a limited amount of knowledge of that side of his family and he is only on speaking terms with one of his cousins.
"Alright, it looks like everything checks out. You are free to go," Andrew said. He handed the soldier his documents back. The two saluted and the soldier went back to his truck. Andrew stepped to the side to let the truck pass him. As the convoy drove past, Andrew glanced over to Thirteen and gave her a nod. She nodded back and then shifted back towards the river. As the trucks crossed the bridge, Thirteen pulled out a small flashlight and began flashing the other side of the river.
There was no other response on the other side but as soon as the second to last truck started to cross the bridge, everything blew up.
The lead truck took a hit from a lancer rocket, being engulfed in flames and then veering off the road before falling onto its side. The second truck was then riddled with machine-gun fire, killing the driver instantly and the truck hitting a tree to the side of the road, causing it to stop. The other trucks stopped as troops began to fall out and try to take some sort of defensive position.
"Now!" Andrew yelled as he turned towards the convoy. He unshouldered the MP40 he had and opened fire. He could hear the others firing as well and then the engine of Gusurg's tank. He then heard a machine gun rattling, most likely Gusurg choosing to use it rather than the main gun so that they could loot the supplies.
The ambush was a rout, as the Germans could not organize a coherent defense, as well as the Nameless, did not relent. After a few more minutes, the shooting stopped. Out of the ten trucks, 4 were burning and considered total losses. The rest were in bad shape but it looks like the supplies in the back seemed to be ok.
"Alright everyone, secure as many items as you can. Also, look and see if there is any important intel that we can report back to HQ," Kurt stated.
"Wow, this is the first time we aren't in a life or death situation," Fifteen stated as she grabbed a machine gun from the dead hands of a German soldier.
"You guys always get put in life or death situations?" Andrew asked as he jumped into the back of a truck to look inside.
"Not always but it was pretty frequent," Thirty-Two replied, reaching into a box to pull out a ration. He gave it a look over before shrugging and throwing it into a bag.
'Well, I guess that is what happens when you are in a penal unit… why hello," Andrew said. There was rustling in the truck before Andrew came out of it with a brand new sniper rifle.
"Must be factory new. It still has a shine to it," Andrew stated. He worked the bolt and looked the rifle over, noticing that the action was smooth and the trigger pull was not that bad.
"You should give that to Forty-Five. That would be great for him," Fifteen pointed out.
"Oh, is he a good sniper?" Andrew asked curiously.
"You can say that. He was a pretty good soldier before well….. He will have to tell you the rest," Twenty-Four stated. Andrew raised an eyebrow but shrugged.
As everyone was looking through their loot, Kurt looked over them, amused.
"Now I did not expect to see you smiling," Kurt turned to see Gusurg approach him followed by Thirteen.
"The mission went well and there were no casualties. I don't see why I shouldn't be happy," Kurt replied.
"Well, let's not get too hopeful. We are still behind enemy lines and there is no telling what can come upon us," Gusurg pointed out. Kurt nodded in agreement and turned back to the group to let them know to wrap it up when One spoke.
"Enemy," One simply said as she readied her weapon. Kurt looked in the direction she was looking at and sure enough, he could see headlights coming their way.
"Everyone hide!" Kurt yelled as everyone looked up and then, after seeing the headlights, began to scatter. Gusurg went back to his tank but he knew that he could not hide, not with his tanks.
Andrew noticed this as well and it only took him a few seconds on what to do next. He grabbed Thirteen, who was still in uniform, and dragged her with him.
"Just follow my lead," Andrew quickly said. Thirteen could only nod as the two made their way to Gusurg's tank to greet the Germans.
Meanwhile, Kurt was next to One and Thirty-Two as they observed from their position, as the Germans finally reached them and a German officer got out of the lead car and started questioning Andrew and Thirteen.
"Looks like Twenty-Eight is going to be a dead man tonight," Thirty-Two noted. Kurt looked at him surprised.
"Why do you say that?" He asked.
"Because he is with Thirteen. Everyone that was ever assigned with her ended up dead," Thirty-Two replied.
"How is that an indication that Twenty-Eight will get killed?" Kurt asked, not believing what he just heard.
"Well, every time someone is with Thirteen, they always end up dead so that is why not many of us want to fight with her," Fifteen responded.
Kurt could not believe this. They would not fight with someone just because of some kind of weird superstition.
"I believe that they will make it out alive," Kurt stated.
"Well, that remains-"
"They will make it," Kurt stated again, not letting Thirty-Two finish. Both him and Fifteen looked at Kurt curiously.
"What makes you say that Seven?" Fifteen asked.
"Because I believe in their skills and not on some stupid superstition."
"And that is what happened," Andrew told the German officer, a Hauptman. Andrew thanked God for his mom drilling in him and his siblings German as it was now saving his life as well as Thirteen's and Gusurgs.
Apparently, someone from the convoy they have just shot up sent out a distress message in time and these guys were the reinforcements. From what Andrew can see, it consists of 3 armored cars, 2 halftracks, and one Panzer III tank. There were also 2 platoons of infantry with them as well.
Suffice to say, they were stuck in a tense situation.
"I see. And you were able to drive them away?" The German officer asked.
"For now, sir. I would like to secure the other side of the bridge first. I want to make sure before allowing you and your men across," Andrew stated, hoping for a break.
"Hmm, yes that would be best. I will have a squad go with you for extra security," The officer replied. He then turned around and began to give orders to his men.
"Give me a fucking break," Andrew muttered as he turned to face towards the bridge. wIth the fires from some of the trucks, he can't really see where everyone is.
"Ok Thirteen, here is what we are going to do. I will take point with you behind. We will have Gusurg trail behind us with the German squad. Once across the bridge, we both hit the ground and pray that everyone will open up on the krauts." When he didn't hear her acknowledge, he glanced over to her and was surprised to see she had a solemn look on her face.
"You should go without me. I will only get you killed," she replied.
"No. We are all getting through this alive," Andrew stated a bit more firmly.
"But I…" Thirteen didn't finish that sentence as Andrew continued.
"I don't know what happened or your situation but I don't care. I am not losing another squadmate," Andrew continued. This caused Thirteen's eyes to widen.
'Is he also like me? Did his entire squad perish?' Thirteen thought to herself. Before she could ask, the German officer returned with a squad of soldiers.
"Ok Oberleutenant, get across the bridge and set up a perimeter. We will cover you on this side and once you have everything secure, we will cross," The German officer stated.
"Yes sir. Alright you lot, let's go," Andrew stated. Andrew then went over to Gusrg, climbed up to the tank and opened the driver hatch.
"Follow us after the last grunt steps on the bridge. Hopefully, everyone will see us and then kill the krauts and not us," Andrew stated. Gusurg didn't say anything but nodded. Andrew then closed the hatch and walked back to Thirteen and the German squad. Andrew then motioned them to follow him and the group set off. Gusrug trailed behind them, slowly driving the tank behind them to avoid going too fast.
Thankfully, the bridge was wide enough to allow Gusurg to also cross. Once the squad made it over the bridge and Gusurg made it off the bridge, Andrew turned around and waved at the German officer. The officer nodded and then began to shout orders.
As this was done, Andrew began to look around to make it look like he was trying to see if there were any enemies nearby. However, he was trying to see if he could find anyone else. He soon got what he wanted when he saw Twenty-One and Fifty-Six setting up a captured MG34. Twenty-One and Andrew made eye contact, with Andrew nodding and Twenty-One replying the same way. Andrew turned back to see the Panzer III starting to cross the bridge.
Andrew placed his left arm behind him and then closed his fist. A few seconds later, a rocket was launched from the right side and hit the Panzer's turret ring, causing an explosion that blew the turret off the hull.
Andrew took this time to attack the German squad with his submachine gun, killing 3 before the others got behind a truck. Andrew and Thirteen ran to the side and dropped to the ground near Kurt, Thirty-Two and Fifteen as they were fired upon by the Germans.
The two armoured cars on the other side began to reverse in an attempt to flee but Gursurg shot at one, killing it while the other was hit by another lancer. The half tracks began firing back with their machine guns and one of them had a 75mm anti-tank gun. It fired at Gusurg but missed by hitting the ground in front of him.
"We need to take out that halftrack," Andrew commented as he fired back at the Germans.
"We only have one lancer rocket left," Thirty-Two stated as he had the last rocket.
"And it looks like the Germans are starting to cross the bridge," Fifteen pointed out. Kurt looked on as the German officer began to lead an attack onto the bridge with the half tracks backing him up.
"We either have to take out the one with the anti-tank gun or else Six will have to focus on it, leaving us to have to deal with the machine-gun halftrack," Thirty-Two pointed out.
Kurt grunted, annoyed that they couldn't seem to do anything. Thirteen noticed this and frowned.
'We need to figure something out fast or else we won't be able to get out of this,' Thirteen looked over to the Lancer in Thirty-Two's hands, 'Maybe, if i can take out that halftrack, we have a chance!'
Not even hesitating, Thirteen ripped the Lancer away from Thirty-Two's hands, surprising him and ran to the bridge.
"Thirteen, get back here!" Thirteen heard Andrew yell at her but she ignored it. She made it to the center of the bridge and knelt, even as bullets were wheezing past her. She took the Lancer off its safety and took aim. The gunner in the halftrack saw that he was being targeted and tried to aim the anti-tank gun. However, he wasn't fast enough as Thirteen pressed the trigger. The rocket left the Lancer and hit the halftrack. It's pointed projectile pierced through it and exploded in the back, engulfing it in flames.
Thirteen then dropped the Lancer and was about to run when she was hit in the right arm and then the leg, causing her to collapse onto the ground. It felt like someone had hit her with a baseball bat as she used her left arm to grab onto the wound. She turned on her back to see that German soldiers were now trying to approach her, all the while firing at her. She saw one of them aim their rifle at her and she closed her eyes expecting the bullet.
Suddenly, she heard a loud roar behind her. She turned her head, only to be surprised that it was Kurt and he was firing at the Germans with a German machine gun, holding onto the machine gun by using its tripod. Next to him was One who used her rocket launcher to kill the last remaining halftrack.
She then felt a pair of hands begin to drag her backwards.
"You ever do that shit again without backup, I'll shoot you myself," Andrew stated to her as he dragged her a bit before helping her onto her feet.
"Everyone! We are done here! Retreat now!" Kurt yelled.
The group has returned to camp. Minus the mental and physical fatigue that was the mission, everyone was in good spirits. This has been their first battle where there were no casualties amongst the Nameless and some of the members also saw something else. This new commander and his second in command were quite skilled. Unlike their previous commander, who didn't really have much experience in tactics, these two knew what they were doing and they were capable of adapting to the situation quickly. As the Nameless' tank rolled into camp, it stopped in front of the command trailer and everyone got off to stretch and to take a break. Gusurg climbed out of the commander hatch and asked everyone with a slight smile.
"So what does everyone think? My recommendation wasn't bad was it?" Fifteen was the first to respond to him.
"I felt like our victory was destined from the beginning!" She replied happily. Thirty-Two went up to her side and nodded.
"No casualties or injuries! Who can remember the last time something like that happened?" He said.
"Captain, will all battles be like this from now on?" Fifteen asked, after placing her rifle on a nearby table. Twenty-One was shocked at how these three were able to just readily accept him as captain already.
"Hey! Something like this impressed you all?" Twenty-One asked. Andrew glared at him and was about to say something until Kurt grabbed his arm to stop him. Kurt then stepped further.
"No.21, if there's anything that you didn't like in the previous battle, would you mind telling me?" Kurt asked. Twenty-One was a bit surprised by what Kurt asked.
"What?" He asked Kurt. Kurt looked at him straight in the eye and continued.
"I still lack a lot of combat experience compared to Andrew here," He motioned to Andrew who nodded, "so there will be times that I don't satisfy everyone's desires. I will strive to improve myself, so that my mistakes don't show up in the next battle. Please speak up." Twenty-One looked at him stunned while Andrew and Gusurg had smiles on their faces.
"Knew he would be a good commander." Gusurg said. Andrew nodded.
"Yeah, same. He pretty much has "leader" written all over him." Andrew said and had to hold in a laugh as Twenty-One tried to respond with something.
"Er...something I wasn't satisfied with, uh….." Twenty-One stuttered. Thirty-Two entered in by patting Twenty-One on the shoulder and shaking his head.
"Just forget about it, one look at you and anyone can tell you don't have anything to say." Thirty-Two said. Thirty-Two looked over to Kurt and smiled.
"My name is Giulio Rosso, No. 32. I acknowledge you as captain." Giulio said. Fifteen, who was sitting on a crate stood up.
"If future battles are all just like that, then I will acknowledge you too. My name is Amy No.15, pleased to meet you!" Amy said, smiling and saluting Kurt.
"I didn't know No.7 and No.28 were stronger than Gusurg but that's fine with me! My name is Annika Alcott. Let me handle the missions!" Annika said enthusiastically. Gusurg smiled, seeing slowly that the members of the Nameless were accepting Kurt along with Andrew. Gusurg then looked to Fifty-Six, who was silent through the whole thing.
"No.56, what about you?" Gusurg asked.
"I still don't trust him." Fifty-Six answered, looking at Kurt with skepticism.
"No.56 is right. I still need more time to observe and decide." Twenty-One agreed with Fifty-Six. Kurt looked at both men and nodded.
"I understand, No.21. I don't expect all of you to accept me as your captain based on this one victory. No.56 and No.21 are perfectly entitled to their own opinions. But I must thank you for giving me the opportunity to prove myself once again." Kurt said. No.56 smiled a bit at these words.
"That kind of thing doesn't need thanks." No.56 said. Twenty-One cracked a smile as well.
"I don't really care, our mission was successful this time, and you show great enthusiasm!" No.21 said.
"Well, now that that is out of the way. Mind telling me why you all are afraid of Thirteen?" Kurt asked everyone gathered, who all flinched.
"Well, she is known as the 'Grim Reaper'," Guilio replied.
"Grim Reaper?" Andrew asked.
"Yeah, apparently, all the squads that she joined all died and yet she was the last person standing," Amy stated. Andrew turned to Kurt who only nodded in confirmation.
"I only found out during the mission and if you are wondering: no, I do not agree with their assessment," Kurt stated firmly.
Andrew sighed and rubbed his forehead, "So, you guys don't want to fight with her just because she has a bad luck streak?"
"It isn't like that…" Twenty-One tried to explain but Andrew cut him off.
"I am going to stop you right there. Now look, I am going to say this cuz it needs to be said: whatever happened in her previous squads are not her fault. I don't get how you all can have something like that affect your judgement."
"Then can you explain why her squads always get wiped out?" Annika asked.
'War is something that is not predictable or pre-planned. Every bullet, shell or blade could have anyone's names on it. The fact that Thirteen is still here is due to her skill of surviving. I can say with confidence that she feels guilty as well from being the only survivor so I ask that everyone please dispel that and work with Thirteen so that we can all survive this war," Kurt stated.
Everyone was silent for a few minutes, taking Kurt's words into account. Amy would be the first one to break the silence.
"Well, I always wanted to talk to Thirteen but I was always afraid of her because of the rumor. Now, I kind of feel a bit embarrassed that I only judged her on that."
"Yeah, same. I mean we are alive now and she did save us from that halftrack," Guilio also noted.
"Yeah! Did you all see how she stood up to the halftrack?! She was amazing," Annika exclaimed. In the back, Thirteen had a surprised look on her face. When they got back to base, everyone was surprised to see that her wounds had somehow healed. As a result, she was able to attend the debriefing and as she heard what Kurt and Andrew said about her, she felt her heart warm up. Ever since she joined the Nameless, they all had avoided her since she is known as the "Grim Reaper". But now, seeing everyone now starting to accept her, she can't help but feel happy.
Gusurg, who was next to her, smirked and nudged her saying, "These guys aren't bad huh?"
"Um…. yeah," Thirteen replied in a timid voice.
"So, I think it would probably be best to trust them. They seem to be able to help get some of the squad to look past that nickname of yours," Gusurg pointed out. Thirteen nodded but didn't reply, as she was thinking on what to do.
Kurt excused everyone and as everyone began to disperse, Thirteen thought now was the time to act. She chased after Kurt and Andrew, who looked to be talking about something.
"Um, excuse me!" Thirteen yelled. Both men stopped talking and turned to face her.
"Ah, Thirteen. We were just wondering where you were," Andrew said with a small smile on his face.
"Oh, I'm sorry," Thirteen replied reflexively.
"There is no reason to apologize. We were actually looking for you," Andrew replied.
"Me?!" Thirteen exclaimed. Why would they be looking for her? Andrew gave Kurt a smirk and elbowed him, who cleared his throat.
"Thirteen, I need to ask you something. Why is it that you avoid me? Was there anything that I did wrong?" Kurt asked. He had noticed since arriving that for some reason, Thirteen has made an effort to avoid him.
"Um well… you see…." Thirteen stuttered, not really sure how to tell him.
Kurt sighed and nodded, "I see. You must hate me then. I am sorry for being insensitive."
"No! No, that isn't it. Umm… I assume you know about my nickname," Thirteen asked.
'We heard about it from the others during the mission but we also want you to tell us about it," Andrew replied.
Thirteen gulped, took a deep breath and continued, "In the previous squads that I was a part of, I was the only one to survive. I watched as everyone I knew died around me while I kept on surviving. That is why the nickname was given to me. And well…. That is why I was avoiding you. The previous captain had died because he was trying to save me. I just didn't want to lose another commander," Thirteen replied. Both Andrew and Kurt looked at her and the silence was getting to her. She closed her eyes when she heard one of them approach her, but instead of the tongue lashing that she was expecting, she felt someone flick her forehead.
"Ow!" Thirteen exclaimed as she rubbed her forehead. She looked up to see Andrew was the one that flicked her.
"Good, now I have your attention, " Andrew said, before Thirteen could reply he continued, "Now listen, in war there is no predetermined bullet for you. It is all by chance whether you live or you die. To be blunt, it is all a mix of skill and luck. Mostly luck as shells do not have a predetermined landing spot and bullets also can fly wherever they want. Point is, it's not your fault what happened with your other squads."
"But….." Thirteen tried to reply but was clearly hesitating.
"As Andrew here said, you're not at fault. Also, I am not one to believe in superstitions. I instead believe in the abilities of the individual. From what I saw on that mission, you acted without hesitation to save everyone and as you can see, no one died or got seriously hurt," Kurt replied, pointing out the results of their mission.
Thirteen had to agree with that one. This mission was the first in a long time where everyone got out of it uninjured. This was extremely rare for them as they have taken considerable losses since the war began, to the point where they are only a battalion in name.
"And I would like to keep our casualties down in the future, but I need your help for that," Kurt stated.
"Me!? Why me?!"
"Before you came over here, I was wondering why you wouldn't talk to me or tell me your name. It wasn't until Andrew got me to realize: you still don't trust me. Because of that, I want us to work together so that we can get to know each other and also that I can gain your trust. In war, we can not blindly follow people you can not fully trust. So, in order for all of us to survive this war, I would like for both of us to always rely and help one another." Kurt said with a smile. To him, this was the best way he can ask Thirteen to trust him and hopefully, get more people to accept his command so that he can return to the Regular Forces.
However, those words had another effect.
Thirteen's face began bright red and it could be said that steam was coming from her ears. Andrew meanwhile, looked to the side and did his utmost best to not burst out laughing.
'I wonder if he knows that sounded almost like a confession,' Andrew thought as he did his best to hold it in.
Kurt, seeing that Thirteen hadn't responded and how she still wouldn't look him in the eye, he sighed.
"I understand if you still are hesitant to trust me. Let's go Andrew," Kurt said, turning around. As both men were about to walk, they stopped when they heard Thirteen say something behind them.
"Riela," Riela said in a quiet voice. Both Kurt and Andrew turned around and looked at her.
"Come again?" Andrew asked, wanting to confirm what he heard.
"My name. It's Riela," Riela repeated.
Both Kurt and Andrew were a bit surprised but recovered as both smiled.
"Nice to finally meet you Riela," Kurt responded with a smile. Then both men were shocked to see Riela start to cry.
"C-C-Can I call you both by your first names?" Riela asked.
"Well, I never was a man for formalities in the first place so I don't mind it, as long as we can use your name too," Andrew replied, in which he got a nod from Riela.
"Well then, now that is taken care of, we look forward to working with you," Andrew said, extending a hand out. Riela shook it and turned to see Kurt also extending his hand. Riela blushed again as she took his hand and seeing him smile at her made her heart skip a beat…
Huh?
Riela never felt this before and now her face got red again as she let go of Kurt's hand quickly.
"IamsorryIhavetogonowhaveagoodnight!" Riela rattled quickly before running in the opposite direction, leaving a confused Kurt and smirking Andrew.
"Damn, never knew you were a ladies man Kurt," Andrew commented.
"Huh?" Kurt asked, still confused by what happened.
"God, you are as dense as a rock," Andrew muttered. He then took a look at his watch.
"It's starting to get late. We should call it a night since I would like some sleep before having to meet with Crowe," Andrew stated.
"Agreed. What do you recommend we do with all the supplies we were able to recover?" Andrew thought about that before coming to a conclusion.
"I say we hold onto them. Depending on where that crazy old man sends us, we are going to need that ammo and guns," Kurt nodded.
"I agree but I think I can think where we will probably be heading to," Kurt said as the two went to their tents.
"Yeah, it really isn't a surprise," Andrew then took a breath and looked up into the night sky before finishing his sentence, "We are heading to Vasel."
Norfolk, Virginia
"Yesterday, one of the navy's destroyers confirmed the sinking of another U-boat. That will be 6 U-boats sunk off of our coast. The navy has released a statement saying that there is no reason to panic as the situation on our shores is under control. This just shows folks that our navy is up to any challenge it-"
Jacob turned the radio off. He already has his fair share of optimism from Naval Command in D.C. However, this was not the time to be optimistic. Currently, he was in his office at the Naval Base in Norfolk and on his desk was something he was dreading: reconnaissance photos of German positions on the island of Sint Maarten. It showed bunkers, pillboxes as well as airfields with fighters and bombers on them.
"Well, no one ever said anything about it going to be an easy fight," Jacob commented as he continued to look through the photos. After a few more minutes, he sighed and threw them back onto his desk.
"I hope to God we have enough manpower for this," Jacob groaned. He then heard a knock on his door.
"Come in," Jacob called out. The door opened and in walked his sister Emina.
"You should head home," Emina said as she looked at the mess on Jacob's desk.
"We leave tomorrow so I want to be sure what we will be up against," Jacob replied as he got up and rubbed his eyes.
"All the more reason for you to go home. You need the sleep and I don't think sleeping here will do you justice," Emina countered. It has always been like this since Emina is older than Jacob by 2 years. She was always the one to look after her younger siblings while Qun'mi, the oldest, would be the one to make sure every one of them were in line.
"Alright. Alright, I'll go," Jacob groaned, to Emina's delight. Jacob went over to the coat rack in the corner of his office and put on his jacket.
As he put on his jacket, he saw Emina look nervous and knew why.
"Look, I am nervous about this too but we can't let it get to us. If we don't do this, the krauts will intercept everything we send through the Panama Canal and that will throw everything off."
"I know the reasons. I am just annoyed that you and everyone else is going while me and Deanna are stuck here," Emian replied, to which Jacob nodded. Out of all the kids, Emina and Deanna chose jobs that didn't necessarily require them to fight. Emina was a part of the Military Intelligence service as a Marine representative, while Deanna worked in Weapons Research and Development at the Aberdeen Proving Grounds.
"You are better at speaking and understanding German than all of us minus Andrew so you are needed here. Don't worry, we will kill a few of them in your name," Jacob said, smirking.
"Oh shut it. But seriously, do we have enough ships and men for this?" Emina asked.
"The campaign is split into two: The army will attack the islands closer to the canal while the marines will be hitting the islands closer to Puerto Rico. In total, we have 4 Army Divisions and both Marine Divisions in this attack. In terms of ships, we pretty much have almost the entire Atlantic fleet on this one."
"Are we getting any help from the Pacific Fleet?" Emina asked.
"Of course, though it's limited. You didn't hear this from me but King had to threaten Kimmel his job for it but we have the Enterprise and Saratoga coming through the Canal with their escorts to support the Army's landings," To many in the Navy, it's no surprise that Ernst King, Commander in Chief, Atlantic Fleet, has some powerful allies to go ahead and threaten Admiral Husband Kimmel, Commander in Chief, Pacific Fleet, with his job but every knows that if King wanted something, he was going to get it.
"Won't that be risky? Don't we have the Japanese to worry about?" Emina asked. The Empire of Japan has been waging a war in China for some time and have recently renewed their attack and it may look like they could even invade Manchuria.
"We do, and that was the argument that Kimmel tried on King. From what I can tell, the Japanese are more concerned with their conquest in China than us so for now. Plus, with the Asiatic fleet in the Philippines and the Royal Navy, I think Japan will focus on an easier target than us," Jacob reasoned.
"Well, I hope you are right," Emina replied before realizing something," By the way, are the Brits and French going to help us with this?"
"Do you not get any of the reports?" Jacob asked, soudnign surprised as he walked to the door. Both of them exited his office and after locking the door, the two made their way to the exit.
"With the amount of transmissions I have to translate plus helping plan this operation, I literally have no time for anything else," Emina replied.
"Well, in that case, then no. They are busy in Europe to really send much but they have sent forces to protect their territories. So, at least for this one, it's our show."
"Well, I ain't complaining," Emina stated. The two exited the building and made their way to Jacob's jeep.
"So, how does it feel? I mean, being the captain of an aircraft carrier and all? Especially at your age," Emina asked with a smirk as they got on the jeep.
"I'll let you know when I actually see some combat," Jacob replied. Being 29 years old, he still can't believe that he was the captain of the aircraft carrier, USS Hornet. And it was only because he called out its former commander during a fleet exercise, which resulted in the carrier along with another carrier, USS Ranger, getting "sunk" from an enemy air attack. The mistake was so bad that the former commander was sacked and Jacob was thrusted into the position.
"You'll do fine. Even though everyone is pretty much green on this, the krauts are too far away from Europe for any reinforcements to really make a difference," Emina stated.
"True but you forget that their U-boats are the best in the world and they have been intercepting many of our merchant ships. They are going to see this big fleet sailing, though it hasn't been much of a surprise so far," Jacob replied.
"Yeah," Emina sighed and then continued, "There is rumbling that the isolationists might block the navy from getting more ships."
"Those cowardly bastards! Alway finding a way to make us weak," Jacob growled. When war was declared, most of the general public was in support of it but there was a vocal minority who were opposed to it. This was mainly the isolationists and while there are not many of them, they do have a voice in Congress and it's due to them that the U.S military is somewhat…. "Limited" on certain things like tanks, ships and planes.
"While there isn't anything to worry about as there is a clear two-thirds majority, it is something to be aware about. Especially as this war continues," Emina pointed out.
"Yeah, well let's hope that nothing goes wrong with his operation. By the way, I haven't seen dad for awhile. Where is he?" Jacob asked.
"In D.C. From what I last heard from mom, something about the war. Probably it's about the operation."
"And this is confirmed to be accurate?" Alexander asked.
"Yes. One of my subs saw them heading towards the islands. The limeys and frogs had their hands full fighting off a wolfpack so this one slipped past them." Alexander growled as he looked at the paper again. It was a telegraph from the Royal Navy, telling them that one resupply convoy slipped past their forces. This means that there will be at least one additional division reinforcing the islands. Which is just great.
"This means we are looking at three infantry divisions with armor and air support between the islands of Sint Maarten, Sint Eustatius, and Saba. Well, this just made our job a whole lot harder," Alexander sighed. He was currently in the War Department building meeting with Rear Admiral Chester Nimitz and General Holland "Howling Mad" Smith. Nimitz was a Texan man who was actually a submariner before being promoted and is now in charge of the navy task force for this operation. Smith is Alex's subordinate who helped the marine corps learn from the mistakes the British had during their amphibious landings at Gallipoli. He studied, analysed and noted down the mistakes and the positives of the operation and translated that into tactics. It was also thanks to Smith that the Corps was able to get the necessary equipment to apply what they learned to the test.
"I mean, we have four carriers, three battleships, eight cruisers, fifteen destroyers and five submarines taking part in this operation. Not to mention the Enterprise and Saratoga and their escorts, we have a sizable force along with B-17s and B-24s flying out of the U.S," Nimitz pointed out.
"Can't always determine victory with numbers or else the Gallians would have lost a long time ago," Alex countered.
"Even so, this batch of reinforcements will make things harder for us. We will have to adjust our timetables on this one," Smith stated. It was at this moment that there was a knock on the door.
"What is it?" Nimitz called out. The door opened to reveal an aide with a piece of paper in her hand.
"I'm sorry to bother you sir but this just came in," The aide reported, handing Nimitz the slip. Nimitz took it and allowed the aide to leave. Once the door was closed again, Nimitz gave it a look. After a few minutes, he smirked.
"Well, I think this just made your job a bit easier," Nimitz said as he handed the slip to Alex, who shared it with Smith.
'Well, this does make things a lot easier for us," Alex noted. The slip was a message from the Secretary of State letting him know that there will be a Canadian infantry regiment and tank regiment joining them.
"Best we have them land on the main island of Sint Maarteen. That is the main island for the operation and we will need the manpower if we want to take that lagoon on day one," Smith argued.
"Agreed. They will be attached with the 1st Marine Division as they attack Sint Maarteen. The 2nd will split into two and attack the other islands. The army will get the others," Alex stated. He then took a deep breath and continued.
"This will be the first offensive operation that the United States will conduct in this new war. Even though the Army will be participating, we will be the first to land on those beaches thanks to our friend in the Navy here," Nimitz chuckled, "We are going to show those Krauts that when they mess with the United States, the US Marine Corps will come knocking."
"Damn fucking right!" Smith howled, proving one reason why he was called "Howling Smith".
And thus ends chapter 10. In the next chapter, we are going to finally see the U.S in action and some familiar and old faces. As always if you have any questions, feel free to reach out. See you all next time.