“Fine.” Sporrenberg finally said. “Green light for the surprise assault. I want all men to stand and fight to the death. For the Führer, For Germany!”
“Yes Sir, I’ll get the order out.”
“Krause, I have a job for you. I want you to follow me underground, take a demolition team and destroy the main entrance to the base that will slow them down.”
“Yes, Sir.” Krause said.
“Then I want you to meet me in the Lab, we have to destroy as much evidence as possible, including the scientists.” Sporrenberg smiled, “The time has come Krause.”
The SS captain gave out the final orders to his men on the surface; this Polish field would become their grave but they had all accepted their fate and vowed to fight to the last man. They would keep the American scum from finding Die Glocke.
Krause followed Group leader Sporrenberg back to the base to complete their grizzly task.
Commander Pete Parker was in deep discussion with Master Sergeant Robert Miller while the tanks crew were completing on the spot repairs. The American troops were almost ready to launch their assault.
Loader James ‘B’ Brooks was the first to notice it but before he could not get the word out before the first shells struck.
“Get down!” Miller ordered.
A hail of shells struck all around the American positions as almost unbelievably the thirteen Panther medium tanks were on the offensive. They fired on the move, advancing quickly as they used their good power to weight ratio to close the distance.
“Bloody suicidal pricks.” Jim ‘Pete’ Parker shouted, “Get back into the Sherman’s and blow those bastards to pieces.” He ordered.
The American armor crews scrambled back into their machines while the infantry jumped for the relative safety of the trenches. A Sherman crew was caught out as an advancing Elefant tank destroyer fired its powerful cannon the shell raced forward and stuck the tank; two of the crew was killed by the impact while the others were thrown from the knocked out machine.
Two Sherman’s opened fire on a Panther but they had not taken the time to properly aim their guns, the shells whizzed passed the turret of the German tank. The Panther returned fire and the shell penetrated the turret of the Sherman, killing the Commander and the Gunner. The second Sherman readjusted its aim and fired; the Sherman who had fired the shot burst into flames as it was struck from a High explosive shell fired by a slowly advancing Sturer Emil. The SS were throwing all the armor they had into the fight; it had taken the Americans by surprise.
An anti-tank gun roared from over the head of the SS Mountain corps who were stood in their trench ready and waiting. The commanding officer was nervous; he reached into his bag and pulled out a tube of Pervitin. He shoved a single pill into his mouth then gulped it down. All of his troops followed suit.
Commander Jim ‘Pete’ Parker had managed to round up a group of his fellow Sherman’s and started to direct their fire onto targets. A Panther was cut off and quickly destroyed. While another Panther smashed head-on into a Sherman, the Panther fired from point-blank range which blew the turret clean off the American armor. The Panther had damaged its tracks from the impact and could not move. It lined up its turret on to the back of Parkers Sherman.
The Panther was struck twice through its left-hand side; it went up in a puff of black smoke. A few seconds later three infantrymen stuck their heads over the top of the trench, they discarded two used Panzerfaust tubes and then gave Parker the thumbs up and he returned the gesture.
The Elefants suddenly stopped their advance; they started to fire while stationary. A well-aimed round knocked out a Sherman. The five Elefant tank destroyers were well commanded; they kept up a steady stream of fire. The first two would fire, then the second two would fire and finally the fifth Elefant would fire its shell; this strategy allowed the other tank destroyers to reload but kept continuous fire support for the Panthers.
Jim ‘Pete’ Parker advanced he called out a target ahead to the left, his gunner lined up on the Elefant. The Elefant fired and the shell zoomed passed Parker’s tank and struck a Sherman behind him that was engaging a Panther, the Sherman’s track was blown clean off but its gun was still in the battle.
“Fire!” Pete screamed.
The shell flew on target but bounced off of the thick frontal armor.
“Shit we have to close the distance boys.”
The Elefant turned slightly so it could bring its gun to bear on Parker’s Sherman. This gave the opportunity for the Sherman next to Parker’s to attack. Its browning machine guns opened up and the rounds that did hit the German tank destroyer bounced off with little effect. The Elefant switched targets to the advancing Sherman which fired its 76mm gun at the front of the Elefant, again the round ricocheted off the strong armor.
The Sherman continued to advance but the German did not fire, a large explosion rang out. The Sherman rocked as its tracks were blown to pieces by a mine. Now that its prey was unable to move the Elefant fired, the round penetrated cleanly into the disabled Sherman and must have hit the stored ammunition as the tank went up in fireworks.
Jim Parker got the order out to stay on the tracks the German tanks had used; those bastards had clearly mined the whole area.
“We are going to have to clear the way for your boys Miller, once we destroy their remaining armor then we can cover you while you get through the minefield!”
“Roger that Parker much obliged to you.”
A Sturer Emil fired from range with the round slicing into a Sherman; it went up in a ball of flames and smoke, cooking all inside. The American tank Achilles heel was that it was easily set ablaze. The German tank destroy slowly turned to the right and lined up on another group of Sherman’s, who had just put a Panther out of action. The Sturer Emil fired and knocked out the lead Sherman. The other Sherman’s stopped and opened fire all at once but the range was too great and their shells lost momentum.
The remaining Panthers regrouped to form a semi-circular defensive barricade; they were blocking their own pathways they had made through the minefield. Unwittingly they had also blocked the line of sight for the advancing Elefant tank destroyers.
The Panthers paired off into targets and started opening fire, their rounds disabling advancing Sherman’s. The Sherman’s returned fire but their rounds bounced off the angled hulls. A Sherman had its track destroyed but managed to get off a kill shot on a Panther, the German machine was knocked out from a shot through its lower plate. The Sherman was quickly destroyed completely when the Panthers partner shot into the Commander’s Cupola.
Jim Parker’s Sherman again fired on the move, his rounds were accurate and penetrated the engine compartment of a Panther, the vehicle sparked and quickly went up in flames, the crew scrambled out and dived onto the field to put out the flames on their backs; unfortunately they lost their situational awareness and the luckless loader stood on a mine, a circle of flesh and blood bloomed outwards covering a wide area. Bow Gunner Rick Freeman put the others out of their misery with a burst from his Browning machine gun.
Jakob Sporrenberg was heading down the vast tunnel system towards the laboratory; he had his pistol loaded and was looking forward to the task that must be done. An explosion rocked over his head, it was a satisfying sound as Berndt Krause and his men must have destroyed the entrance to the base. Sporrenberg broke into a chuckle.
What the SS team leader did not know was that the explosion had only destroyed some of the entrance; the American’s could still get into the base reasonably quickly if they moved the rubble.