not be returning home since Normandy, and yet I see the Führer’s goal clearly. We must strike and it must be swift and without remorse. We must break their lines and send them scurrying.”
“The serum is not as bad as it sounds, sir, and it has been extensively tested. Would you like to taste its power?” the doctor asked.
The SS officer stared at the man and didn’t say a word. He merely turned away from the hideous doctor and led him on to the next company.
----
Three
Coley
L ieutenant Joseph Coley of the 394th Regiment, 99th Infantry Division was rocked out of a deep sleep by the world going up in flames. He rolled over, right into Corporal Travis Tramble. The next round landed in front of their position, and sounded like the end of the world.
Tramble pressed his hand to the side of his helmet and put his head in the dirt. Coley got a look at his Corporal’s shell-shocked face and wondered if he had the same terrified look on his own.
“What the hell is that artillery fire doing here?”
“Trying to kill us, I suspect,” Coley yelled over the din of exploding rounds.
They were in a dugout made a few days ago. Lieutenant Coley had overseen and helped his men dig the holes himself. They’d had to maneuver tree trunks over the openings to provide slits to shoot through.
As an Intelligence and Reconnaissance platoon, their job was to dig in and watch for enemy movement. This far in Belgium and close to the German border, the allies had enjoyed total supremacy, so this was supposed to be easy duty. He’d been asked to sit out here for just a couple of days, but that had stretched into four, and now they were under attack.
Trees blew apart, scattering chunks of wood at high speed, impacting the earth and the dugout. Pieces of debris struck the log shelter above and rained down on the two men.
Coley found the radio and pulled it out of the canister. He rang up regimental command and reported that they were under an artillery barrage.
“Say again?”
“We’re getting pounded here. It’s like every gun on the other side of the Siegfried opened up on us.”
“That can’t be right. We don’t have reports of any German movements in that area.”
“Does this sound like I’m playing a fucking prank?” Coley held the radio receiver up in the air for a few seconds.
Lieutenant Coley argued with the radio operator before being told to call back in fifteen minutes, when they’d have a better idea of what was happening.
He relayed the words back to Tramble.
“How 'bout we go back and put our boots up someone’s ass and see if they know what’s going on?” Trample yelled.
The explosions marched a chaotic pattern behind the men in the direction of the small town of Longvilly. Coley took the moment to dive out of his dugout and issue orders.
The eighteen men under his command were spread out in a long line, two hundred yards from the village. They’d been digging in and stockpiling ammo for half a week.
He found Private Shaw and Corporal Harpham and told them to go back to town and find a house to gather intelligence from. The men shot him quick salutes. When the artillery let up for a moment, they rolled out of their dugout and made their way through the knee-deep snow toward the barbed wire fence that cut a line across the slope leading into town.
Artillery fire went on for over an hour. At any second, Lieutenant Coley expected it to find their hole. It would be over quick; that was the only saving grace.
----
T he bombardment had ceased , and somehow, they were still in one piece. Holes the size of tanks were left over the field, and trees around them--once tall and proud--had been lopped off and tossed to the earth.
“Lieutenant. I see movement near the town,” Tramble said.
Coley took the man’s binoculars to assess the situation, and in the process got a look at the tank destroyers that had guarded the rear of Longvilly.
“Are they deserting us?” he wondered out loud.
The
“The serum is not as bad as it sounds, sir, and it has been extensively tested. Would you like to taste its power?” the doctor asked.
The SS officer stared at the man and didn’t say a word. He merely turned away from the hideous doctor and led him on to the next company.
----
Three
Coley
L ieutenant Joseph Coley of the 394th Regiment, 99th Infantry Division was rocked out of a deep sleep by the world going up in flames. He rolled over, right into Corporal Travis Tramble. The next round landed in front of their position, and sounded like the end of the world.
Tramble pressed his hand to the side of his helmet and put his head in the dirt. Coley got a look at his Corporal’s shell-shocked face and wondered if he had the same terrified look on his own.
“What the hell is that artillery fire doing here?”
“Trying to kill us, I suspect,” Coley yelled over the din of exploding rounds.
They were in a dugout made a few days ago. Lieutenant Coley had overseen and helped his men dig the holes himself. They’d had to maneuver tree trunks over the openings to provide slits to shoot through.
As an Intelligence and Reconnaissance platoon, their job was to dig in and watch for enemy movement. This far in Belgium and close to the German border, the allies had enjoyed total supremacy, so this was supposed to be easy duty. He’d been asked to sit out here for just a couple of days, but that had stretched into four, and now they were under attack.
Trees blew apart, scattering chunks of wood at high speed, impacting the earth and the dugout. Pieces of debris struck the log shelter above and rained down on the two men.
Coley found the radio and pulled it out of the canister. He rang up regimental command and reported that they were under an artillery barrage.
“Say again?”
“We’re getting pounded here. It’s like every gun on the other side of the Siegfried opened up on us.”
“That can’t be right. We don’t have reports of any German movements in that area.”
“Does this sound like I’m playing a fucking prank?” Coley held the radio receiver up in the air for a few seconds.
Lieutenant Coley argued with the radio operator before being told to call back in fifteen minutes, when they’d have a better idea of what was happening.
He relayed the words back to Tramble.
“How 'bout we go back and put our boots up someone’s ass and see if they know what’s going on?” Trample yelled.
The explosions marched a chaotic pattern behind the men in the direction of the small town of Longvilly. Coley took the moment to dive out of his dugout and issue orders.
The eighteen men under his command were spread out in a long line, two hundred yards from the village. They’d been digging in and stockpiling ammo for half a week.
He found Private Shaw and Corporal Harpham and told them to go back to town and find a house to gather intelligence from. The men shot him quick salutes. When the artillery let up for a moment, they rolled out of their dugout and made their way through the knee-deep snow toward the barbed wire fence that cut a line across the slope leading into town.
Artillery fire went on for over an hour. At any second, Lieutenant Coley expected it to find their hole. It would be over quick; that was the only saving grace.
----
T he bombardment had ceased , and somehow, they were still in one piece. Holes the size of tanks were left over the field, and trees around them--once tall and proud--had been lopped off and tossed to the earth.
“Lieutenant. I see movement near the town,” Tramble said.
Coley took the man’s binoculars to assess the situation, and in the process got a look at the tank destroyers that had guarded the rear of Longvilly.
“Are they deserting us?” he wondered out loud.
The
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