The Maus tanks fired in unison and vaporized any self-propelled guns in their path. The tanks did not advance any further though as the Me 262’s pressed home their bombing runs.
M60 main battle tanks had been dug in on the fringes of the airport; they opened fire on the advancing troop transport vehicles as they were lightly armored. One of the box-shaped vehicles went up in smoke but to the tank crew’s surprise, Aryan troops poured out of the back and started to fire on their position.
The M60 fired a high explosive shell on the position and the plasma rounds stopped.
Plasma and tanks shells crisscrossed the area creating a dazzling light show in the cloud filled night. Diving Aryan fighters were almost undetectable in the black of night, the only give away was a slight pink hue emitted from their engines.
The Me 262’s continued to pound the area, the aim was simple; they were softening up the defenses in preparation for a full-blown assault from army group two.
Just after ten pm the main attack started, the air support peeled away and the mass of tanks advanced almost unopposed into the airport grounds. The dug in M60 main battle tanks were easily dispatched as the Maus tanks rolled in and provided heavy fire.
A formation of Tiger I’s smashed through a weak defensive line of machine guns and quickly overwhelmed the anti-tank crews who did not have enough ammunition for their launchers. As the airport was cut off no reinforcements, ammunition or rations could hope to get through.
A few barges were loaded with reinforcements but they were quickly destroyed as they attempted to cross the river by strafing attacks from the Me 262’s.
The airport terminals were barricaded up but the tanks did not even slow as they plowed through the walls. They were meant with a volley of rockets, a few managed to penetrate the thick armor and several Tiger tanks were knocked out.
The crews opened the hatches but were quickly taken down by machine gun fire. Another explosion rocked the terminal building and was quickly followed by plasma grenades thrown through the large gash in the brickwork.
The American machine gunners focused their fire on the entry points and managed to stem the flow of Aryan troops trying to gain access to the building. The American troops fought hard to keep the invaders out.
The Aryan forces pulled back slightly and let the Maus’s advance straight through the terminal walls, the building started to collapse in certain areas and groups of troops were crushed or cut off from the main group.
The main guns of the super heavy battle tanks fired again and again on the machine gun nest until they fell silent. Finally the Aryan troops managed to gain entry on foot and it did not take them long to finish off the remaining resistance.
The M16’s that the American infantry had been issued with were hopelessly ineffective against the body armor of the enemy. A small group of soldiers waved a white flag above their position.
The Aryan soldiers ordered them out of their position and when the shaken Americans arrived in front of them, they proceeded to beat them mercilessly until they were a bloody mess on the floor. Finally they were executed with a single shot to the head; the smell of burning flesh permeated through the captured building.
General Westmoreland hung his head when he finally heard the news that the airport had fallen. Due to the communication problems the American high command did not hear the news until half an hour after the event.
The men in black stood silent as Westmoreland turned to them for advice. Finally, they spoke in a frightening monotone.
“The battle is over; with the USS New Jersey and now the airport gone we are lacking the necessary force to hold them back.”
Spiro Agnew looked at the two men in horror, “What are you saying, we have lost all hope?”
“That’s exactly what they are saying.” Westmoreland said with exasperation.
Agnew shook his head, “We have to fight on, and we can’t just give them the city.”
“The men in black nodded, “You will fight on, but you will not win this battle. The city and the county will be in their hands by tomorrow morning.”
Westmoreland thought for a second, “Why haven’t they just leveled the city into submission like they did with the Pentagon? They clearly have the firepower!”
“Looks like they have learned from Stalingrad where the destroyed streets played into the defender’s hands, giving them places to hide and mount effective defenses.” The men in black replied.
Westmoreland smiled, “What if we destroy our own city, that should slow them down?”
Street Cleaning
Shortly after midnight the order finally got through to the artillery units to open fire on their own city. The artillery loaded high explosive shells and then started to fire. The rounds impacted across buildings and the rubble was strewn across the streets.
The idea was simple they were trying to halt the advance by any means necessary, the results were mixed as some paths were blocked but others remained easily traversable. Some stray shells hit their own troops who had nowhere to shelter from the explosions.
Air support was summoned to carpet bomb as much of the city around the White House as possible but most of the Phantoms either did not hear the order or deliberately chose to ignore it. Now the airport was in enemy hands the Phantoms did not want to waste their ammunition and decided to focus on the enemy fighters.
The skies were full of lightning that seemed to stretch across the horizon, A squadron of Phantoms tried to get into position to fire on the enemy fighters in front of them but a massive bolt of the super-hot light washed across the lead Phantom; the pilots canopy dissolved in front of him and the pilots skin bubbled as the he succumbed to the deadly temperature.
The Phantoms fell from the sky and impacted into the side of the Capitol building causing some of the dome to cave inwards. Snipers fell from the tower and landed amongst the rubble.
The dogfight in the skies above was now a depressing sideshow for the troops below as they could see the Phantoms putting up a brave but ultimately futile fight. Swarms of Me 262’s filled the sky and their plasma machine guns filled the sky with angry glowing rounds.
David Barton was a twenty-two-year-old recent graduate of the Navy flight school; he had graduated with top marks but he now had three enemy fighters stuck to his six; he fought hard but he just could not shake them.
Barton’s Phantom was hit multiple times and his right-wing burnt slowly while the right engine spewed out smoke. The young pilot had made a decision and he refused to eject, he looked behind him and saw the lifeless body of his radar operator.
This was it Barton thought and he somehow managed to dodge a ball of plasma that was tracking him. He looked behind again and saw the orb change course and follow him.
“That’s it you son ova bitch!” He shouted as he put his fighter into a steep dive.
His F4 Phantom plummeted towards the earth, he had his target in his sights and he pulled the trigger, rounds from his Gatling gun bounced off the hull of the Maus tank below. He continued his dive and crashed straight into the huge tank.
The tank was set on fire but it continued to advance until the trailing orb of plasma smashed into it and the monster went up in a huge pink flash of light. When the light had died down there was nothing left of the tank.
The skies were now free of American aircraft, the final Cobra had been taken out by a group of Aryan infantry that had fired a round of plasma into it causing the tail rotor to disintegrate, the helicopter span until it was hit by a huge antiaircraft round and the fuselage evaporated in an instant.