Die Glocke

by M C Drake

  Robert Miller smiled, “I’ll let that insubordination slide, this time… Good to see you boy, help me up will ya!”

  Jackson and his squad jumped down into the trench and restocked their ammunition. Jackson's squad had fought their way across through the second trench from the left-hand side and had met heavy resistance.

  “Is this all that made it?” Miller asked as he cast his eye over the remnants of Jackson’s squad.

  Jackson’s head dropped a little. “The SS put up a tough defense; they were fighting to the last man with a crazy look in their eyes.”

  Miller placed his hand on Jackson's shoulder, "Amen to that, we better get moving. Our armor has advanced pretty far but has taken a beating."

  Jackson looked up, “We picked up a couple of those damn Panzerfaust anti-tank weapons, maybe we can lend them support?”

  Miller smiled, “That’s how you took that bastard out then.”

  They needed to meet up with Staff Sergeant Tom Smith and his squad if they had survived, they had to storm the final two trenches at the same time otherwise they could get bogged down into a prolonged battle which just could not happen. This was especially true as unbeknown to the Americans; the Wehrmacht defense against the Red army had collapsed and was they were now in full retreat. It would not be long until the Soviets swarmed over the area, instinctively following the sound of battle.

  Project Riese

  The fighting had not let up for the last couple of hours, now just after midday the soldiers of the 7th Ranger Battalion were gathering for another assault; they had been stopped in their tracks by a determined and resolute defense from the 5th SS mountain corps.

  The 5th Panzer army had lost all of their Tiger II and Tiger I heavy battle tanks; the brief lull in battle meant they could regroup their remaining armor. The Panther medium tanks lined up on the edge of the third trench. They quickly planned a strategy with the Elefant tank destroyers then waited for the final confirmation from Gruppenführer Jakob Sporrenberg.

  Hauptsturmführer Berndt Krause was giving his commanding officer an update on the situation. It was not good, they had only one hundred and eighty-eight men left alive and that was the good news. They had thirteen operational Panthers, five Elefant tank destroyers, the four experimental Sturer Emil and eight 8.8 cm anti-tank guns.

  It was estimated that the Americans still had forty plus, working Sherman’s and at least three hundred infantry left. As they had not attacked for the last twenty minutes they Germans correctly surmised that they were pooling their resources for a final assault.

  “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 P
arker 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.

  Berndt Krause cursed, "Have we got any more explosives?"

  “No Sir.”

  “Scheisse!” Krause shouted, “Ok you men are to guard this position, do not let anyone enter. Do you understand me?”

  “Yes, Sir!” The five men shouted, “While we still have life in our bodies we will keep them out. Heil Hitler.”

  “Heil Hitler.” Krause returned the war cry. “I must find Gruppenführer Sporrenberg.” Krause took off into the interior of the base.

  Sporrenberg pulled the pallet turned boat up onto the shore. Once again the cry rang out, “Halt. Identify yourself or we will shoot.”

  “SS Gruppenführer Jakob Sporrenberg, SS number 3809.”

  The two men relaxed but continued to watch the man through their sights.

  “Proceed, good to see you again Sir.”

  Sporrenberg marched up to the two men with the air of a man who deserved total respect.

  “Good to see you Oberschutze Brown, did you get the explosives I require.”

  The Steely blue eyes of the twenty-three-year-old senior rifleman did not flicker away from his Vampir infrared night vision sight.

  “Yes, Sir.”

  “Excellent work soldier.” Sporrenberg said as he knocked on the large reinforced iron doors.

  There was no response.

  “SS Gruppenführer Jakob Sporrenberg, SS number 3809. I demand you let me in!” He shouted with a tone that could break solid rock.

  The slot opened for a brief second.

  “Fuck off.” Walther Gerlach shouted before he slid the slot closed.

  Sporrenberg clenched his fist and his teeth. “If you don’t open this door I will blow the whole thing to pieces you ignorant spec of dirt, do you hear me Gerlach?”

  There was no response. Sporrenberg turned to the two soldiers stood behind him.

  “You know what to do.”

  “Yes, Sir!” They said and immediately jumped to work.

  Ball Lightning

  Walther Gerlach waddled about busily as he checked and double checked all of the equipment on the control panel. He went through his personal checklist one last time. He sighed ‘If we only had more time.'

  A man stood up and took off the welding mask; he smiled at his father then gave him the thumbs up.

  “I think I have finished the repair father but let me just run a diagnostic check on the power supplies.”

  Gerlach shook his head. “We don’t have time son. Good job but get back here we need to start the experiment now.”

  Joseph could hear the strain in his father's voice. He walked back to his workstation as quickly as he could.

  “What’s wrong father?”

  “Sporrenberg is on the other side of the door; he is here to finish us off. I told him to fuck off.”

  Joseph stood bolt upright, “You did what?”

  “He is here to kill us anyway son, just get the final experiment ready will you!”

  Joseph shook his head as he went over to his workstation.

  The two scientists pushed the power on and the Bell device began to siphon the power from the base once again. Joseph pushed it up to twenty-five percent power.

  “Holding steady.” He said.

  The lights in the base flickered again then went out just leaving the emergency generator to power the systems. Sporrenberg looked around and cursed loudly.

  “For fuck sake Gerlach you are dead meat when I get hold of you! Brown how long until this door is blown?”

  “Not too long Sir, I am doing it as fast as I can.”

  Sporrenberg let out a growl. He paced up and down like a caged tiger.

  The power held steady, the counter-rotating tubes began to pick up speed and once again started to fill with the deadly Xerum 525. Electricity started to run across the wires crisscrossing the device.

  “Push it son we have run out of time!” Gerlach ordered.

  The young scientist pushed the lever forward to fifty percent power. The device began to crackle with blue ball lightning and the familiar vortex started to form around the bell.

  “No son we need one hundred percent.”

  Joseph glanced over to his father with a terrified look etched across his young face. “We…we have never got to one hundred percent father. It... It won’t take the strain.”

  “Just do it boy!” Gerlach ordered.

  Joseph swallowed once and then pushed the lever to its highest limit.

  The device rocked under the strain of the sudden power surge, lightning raced towards it from all over the room, it turned from a bright yellow color to a brilliant fiery red as it swept across the device. The Vortex pulled all the electric power across the devices broad rounded surfaces, the ceramic tiles started to crack and small pieces floated off into the electrified atmosphere.

  “Father she is break apart, we need to power down.” Joseph went to pull the lever down.

  “Don’t you dare son, step away now.” Walther shouted in the sternest tone his son had ever heard.

  “Sorry son but we have no choice. We are in it until the end now. Whatever happens.” He paused, “Son I want you to get the plans from earlier and burn them, now before anyone else gets their hands on them. I hid them in that brown envelope hidden on the shelf over there.

  Joseph nodded and followed his father’s instructions. He held the small notepad full of plans up to his lit match, the paper quickly caught fire and burned to ashes.

  “Good work son, we need to burn the bell files now.”

  Joseph started to burn all the paperwork they had collected over the last three years.

  Walther stood next to his son and watched through the thickened glass as the device absorbed more and more power.

  The dynamite was in place around the thick iron door. Sporrenberg and the two SS guards stood as far away as they were able to, on the edge of the
artificial waterway that they had created. Oberschutze Brown was led with his hand on the detonator waiting for the order.

  “Blow it to pieces Brown!” Sporrenberg growled.

  The young blonde German depressed the plunger and with a loud explosion that rocked the thin tunnel, there was a loud cracking sound as shrapnel, concrete and dirt funneled towards the three SS men.

  Sporrenberg and the others covered their faces from the blast as they let the shock wave pass over them. They waited a few seconds for the dust to settle then went to inspect their work. The large reinforced iron doors were bent inwards but still stood stubbornly. The SS team leader swore.

  There was a small gap to one side of the door that had been filled by rubble from the tunnel; Sporrenberg looked at the two men stood beside.

  “Get that cleared now!” He roared, struggling to contain his anger.

  The SS guards started to remove the rubble by hand.

  Joseph had jumped to the floor as the blast went off but had regained his composure.

  “What shall we do father?”

  “Carry on burning the documents son. I will keep the experiment going.”

  Joseph nodded then carried on chucking stacks of documents onto his freshly lit fire. The smoke started to consume the room.

  The bell-shaped device started to pulse from a brilliant lightning blue to a hazy purple color. ‘It's beautiful' Gerlach thought to himself.

  Tipping the Balance

  The fighting across the open spaces of the Polish fields had rocked back and forth all morning but the determined Germans were now completely on the back foot. All their remaining Panther medium tanks were either destroyed or disabled. They had succeeded in slowing down the American forces but their inferior numbers had finally tipped the balance in the Americans favor.

  The Sherman’s advanced passed the wreckages of the destroyed Panthers and used their mobility to close in on the Elefant tank destroyers, who did not stand a chance once the Sherman’s closed the distance. The slow lumbering boxes were turretless and had to turn to face their targets. The Americans lost five tanks to every Elefant they destroyed but they overwhelmed the threat.