A smile crept across Commander Marlborough’s wrinkled face, he took a picture of his grandchildren out of his wallet that he always carried into battle as a good luck charm; the beaming, smiling faces of two small girls and a slightly older grumpy boy looked back at him.
He gave the order for the artillery to cease fire and then the tanks spread out from the relative safety of the town into the open fields below.
The Commander was old school and always had to be the lead tank into battle, he refused to have it any other way. The M48 Pattons got a good spread out across the field and they quickly advanced unopposed over the damp ground, churning up the soil as they went.
The Sheridan light tanks could not see any movement through the mist and the Aryan forces had not returned fire since the initial artillery barrage had ended.
The battle net crackled into life, “We have suffered heavy losses… air… not arr… pulli… to… defensive…” The transmission ended. Commander Marlborough looked grim things were obviously not going well for Army group two. ‘If we can’t end this quickly then the enemy could have reinforcements on the way, they need to hold on if they can so we can press the advantage on this front.’
The Sheridan’s advanced gingerly towards the area that the self-propelled guns had turned into a crater filled landscape, the mist was thicker here and made it hard for the crews to see anything. The light tanks edged slowly forward but as they did this all hell broke loose again.
Out of the rising smoke filled mist glowing purple rounds flew forward, the lead Sheridan was struck; the round penetrated the thin armor and detonated. The crew inside were instantly vaporized and the metal hull burnt slowly from the inside sending a plume of thick black smoke into the already dense air.
The Sheridan’s instantly pulled back towards the advancing Patton’s. A few seconds later the silhouettes of advancing Tiger I’s appeared out of the gloom.
“That’s it follow us you bastards.” Paul Kursk shouted from the commander’s hatch of his retreating light tank.
Commander Marlborough was just out in front in the lead Patton he called out the target and his gunner took aim and fired, the shell span in the air as it shot forward until a few seconds later it hit the Tiger I dead on the Upper Glacis.
The Aryan tank stopped dead in its tracks as Marlborough shouted, “Direct hit!”
“Yeah.” Paul Kursk shouted as he and the other light tank battalion looked on with pleasure.
The Tiger I turret suddenly begun swiveling left as it brought its gun to bear on Marlborough’s Patton.
“Brace yourselves!” Was all the wily old Commander could say before a bright flash of purple washed over his tank. There was an explosion and the next thing Marlborough knew he was laying on the floor, he felt pain in his chest and his vision was blurry. He could not remember being thrown from his tank.
The sounds of battle were distant to Marlborough but he slowly and gingerly sat up and began to look around. He could see his tank was on fire a few meters in front of him. The Commander could hear shouting coming from all directions but he could not make out what they were saying.
Several M48 Patton’s rolled passed the ailing Commander; they all fired simultaneously at the enemy tank. Two rounds ricocheted off of the tough armor before the Tiger could return fire, the Aryan’s round was slightly off target but the air around the advancing Patton’s hissed and crackled from the intense heat.
Two more Patton’s fired and finally a shell punctured straight through the lower plate of the Tiger I, dense grey smoke poured out of the hole. Two of the crew opened the cupola and jumped out onto the hull of the tank.
The men were dressed in intimidating black body armor; they raised their machine guns and to the surprise of the Americans began showering their tanks in bright purple rounds.
“What do these assholes think they are doin’?”
“They are stubborn aren’t they, open up on them!”
The .50 cal machine guns mounted on the turret of the American tanks fired on the exposed Aryan crew, they were shredded almost instantly and their dead bodies slumped onto the hull of their crippled tank.
The Tiger I was still smoking heavily but to the disbelief of the Patton crews, its gun started to line up on the closest target. The American tank was too close and could do nothing as the bright purple ball of plasma washed over it, the Patton immediately exploded.
“Shit… Shit… shit why won’t that fucker die? All available units concentrate your fire on it.”
The American armor flanked the motionless Tiger I on both sides, they aimed their 90mm cannons on the exposed side of the tank and the four Patton’s opened fire simultaneously. The weaker side armor of the vehicle was torn apart easily and the Tiger I exploded; what remained of the hull burnt brightly.
Out of the mist a group of Tiger I’s attacked the American armor, another group of ten Tiger’s opened up on the opposite side. They were attacking the advancing American’s on their vulnerable flanks; it was a trick to trap the Patton’s in the open and it had worked marvelously.
Commander Marlborough had regained his senses by now and had suspected what was going on, he ran as quickly as he body would allow to the nearest Patton. The Commander climbed aboard with the help of the tanks Commander.
“Sir it’s good to see you, we were sure you had bought it.”
“I’m alright Curtis, get on the radio and order all vehicles to halt the advance and reinforce the flanks, the bastards are trying to line us up in a shooting gallery.”
“Yes, Sir,” Curtis said as he started to relay the orders.
Out of the mist and dense smoke, a bright light broke through and raced forward. Curtis noticed it but it was too late as the round impacted near the front of his Patton, the shockwave caused by the exploding plasma washed over the front of his tank with an intense heat; Commander Marlborough caught the brunt of it and he briefly squealed in agony.
A warm liquid splashed over Curtis as he saw the horrific scene of Commander Marlborough’s head and chest ripped apart. Curtis closed the cupola and slumped into his tank he sat there in shock, drenched in his Commanders innards.
A gigantic dull silhouette slowly came into view out of the mist, followed by another and then another.
Command
The early morning sun sliced through the slightly open, dull curtains. A pleasant warm feeling washed over Commander Sporrenberg’s face. He sat at the edge of the bed half naked, enjoying his morning smoke.
The former SS man let the smoke billow from his nose as he savored the flavor. Jakob stubbed out the cigarette, stretched a couple of times and then went to have a shower, he smelt and he knew it.
Ten minutes later Sporrenberg was in full military uniform, it sparkled and was in pristine condition. The German slicked back his damp hair and then placed his officer’s hat on perfectly, the shimmering skull caught the sun.
Commander Sporrenberg left his quarters, he turned to one of the men guarding the door and gestured over his shoulder.
“Get rid of this one, before she starts to smell.” A wicked grin crept across his face.
The two guards entered the room, the women lay on her back completely naked. Her body was covered in bruises and burn marks, there were ligature marks on the wrists and a particularly deep one around the neck; the women had been strangled.
The guards dragged the corpse outside towards a group of men being forced to dig foundations for the nearest building. They dumped the body into the freshly dug hole.
Several of the men had to look away and one of them physically threw up. The Aryan guard overseeing the work did not hesitate and shot the men where he stood.