by M C Drake
Next, led by the brilliant Commander Jim Parker the Sherman’s rallied on the experimental Sturer Emil. Once the Sherman’s were free of the minefield Parker ordered them to spread out. His Sherman’s held fire as the advanced on the German tank destroyers. A Sturer Emil gun roared a defiant shell into the advancing Americans. It penetrated and the Sherman burst into flames.
Jim's Sherman again fired on the move but his first two shells were off target. The Sturer Emil returned fire and knocked the track off the Sherman directly to Pete's right. The tank was still operational though, and managed to fire off a shot into an anti-tank gun that was trying to finish it off. Three SS soldiers popped out of a hidden tunnel not far from the tank they fired their Panzerfausts all at the same time then discarded the used tubes. The Sherman's machine gun cut down two of the men before they could dive for cover but the Panzerfaust warheads penetrated the side of the Sherman smashing through the torso of the tank's loader; the tank quickly went up in flames.
Jim Parkers Sherman fired its third round on the move, this one flew true and smashed through the front of the St Emil, its guns fell silent. The Sherman’s continued to close the gap on the remaining St Emil’s, advancing over the third and fourth trenches of the SS Mountain division. They ignored the heavy machine gun fire and focused on the remaining tank destroyers and anti-tank guns.
First Sergeant William James Jackson cooked a grenade for a few seconds before throwing it into the trench, the rest of his squad did the same. They heard a loud cry from one of the SS men and saw the men bend down to pick it up, he stood to throw it back but the grenade exploded; the man and his colleges were turned into a bloody mess.
All hell broke loose; the Americans arrived at the edge of the trench and fired a hail of bullets into the area. The SS returned fire with their Stg assault rifles and the air was filled with lead.
Master Sergeant Millers Squad attacked the trench from the right-hand side; they had thrown smoke grenades to cover their assault. The sound of German light machine guns flitted through the air with a menacing buzz. Four of Miller's men were taken out as they sprinted towards the trench. Miller reached the edge of the trench and without thinking he dived into it, firing his Thompson as he fell.
Miller took out the two machine gunners before he rolled and fired on the German’s behind him, three men took a full clip from the submachine gun. Miller felt the firing mechanism click, the magazine was empty. He switched to his pistol.
The rest of his squad followed him into the trench and fired their M1 rifles at the SS, The Germans returned fire and men were cut down where the stood. Miller hit a man through his head with a few rounds from the pistol; He dove to the floor and reloaded his Thompson.
Americans and Germans were so close to each other now that some of the fought hand to hand. First Sergeant William Jackson pulled out his knife and jumped an SS man; he drove the blade deep through the black uniform into his chest. The German let out a cry of pure pain and tried to gouge Jackson's eyes. Jackson twisted the blade then punched the man in the face repeatedly.
SS Mann Schutze Tomas Otto witnessed his friend being stabbed to death but rather then aim his weapon at the American scum he decided to rush him with the bayonet attached to the end of his rifle; whether this was just because of the heat of the battle or because he was high on Pervitan only he could tell you. It was a mistake though as Private first class John Curtis hit the younger Tomas twice through the chest with two shots from his M1 Carbine.
Men were fighting desperately all across the line of trenches close to the base of the mountain. The Sherman’s were in alongside this chaos as they systematically took out the remaining armor but they continued to take rounds from all angles from the deadly Panzerfaust anti-tank launchers.
Berndt Krause, who had long left the battle overhead, reached the edge of the manmade river, the final hurdle before reaching the laboratory. The small wooden crate had gone. Krause would have to swim if he wanted to reach Sporrenberg. He dumped his rifle and hat, and then dived head first into the icy cold water; he swam as hard and quickly as he could.
Jim Parker’s Sherman had racked up an impressive amount of kills but as the time approached mid afternoon he was running low on important supplies, none more important than his beloved Bourbon. The .50 Browning machine gun was completely empty and they were down to the last five hundred rounds in two .30 calibers. They continued to fire suppressing bursts around the top of the trenches.
The last anti-aircraft Kugelblitz looked a sorry sight with its lifeless guns pointing towards the scorched earth. Two machine gun nests flanked it at the base of the mountain; they simultaneously opened fire on Parker's Sherman. The rounds pinged off the hull of his tank; Parker did not even bother to close his Commanders hatch.
The Sherman’s 76 mm lined up on the first machine gun nest. The tank stopped to steady its aim and then fired. The shell tore into the machine gun position and killed the dug in soldiers.
That gave them the precious seconds they needed. The Kugelblitz engine roared to life and the vehicle charged forward. It trained its two autocannons onto the target, the 30mm anti-aircraft guns bellowed as it sent shells towards the unprotected side of Parker's Sherman.
The American commander was caught off guard for the first time in battle. The high-velocity-armor-piercing shells tore into the tank. Loader James ‘Brook’ Brooks and Assistant driver Rick ‘Free’ Freeman were killed instantly by the shells impacting. The ammunition store was hit and went up in a ball of flames. Driver Ross ‘DC’ Washington and gunner Paul ‘Mex’ Perez were caught in the furious fireball and were soon turned into a putrid smelling charcoal.
Jim Parker was blown clean out of the turret of his beautiful machine; he hit the ground hard and rolled several times before finally coming to a stop in the mud. The forty-two-year-old struggled to clear his blurred vision and the ringing in his ears; he smacked the side of his head and tried to shake it off. When his vision cleared he sat up slightly, pain raced up his spine and he winced. Jim Parker looked over to see the smoking hull of his decapitated tank; he whispered a small prayer for his fallen friends.
An SS soldier's dark uniform appeared over the top of the trench he raised his Stg 44 assault rifle and pulled the trigger. Three shots flew through the air and impacted into the SS man's neck he tumbled back into the trench.
Three more men came over the top of the trench; Jim fired his pistol again and hit the first man four times in the chest; he fell where he stood. The other two soldiers fired their Stg 44's; Jim Parker was hit in the chest with a three-round burst, he knew he was hit as he felt the pressure and the air leave him but he felt no pain.
Jim managed to fire two more shots with one hitting the German soldier in the leg but he kept coming, it was like he did not even feel the round. Jim dropped the pistol and led back. Rounds sprang out and smashed into the two SS soldiers, they went down under a hail of bullets. Jim heard shouting in the distance but he could not make it out.
Master Sergeant Robert Miller rushed over to the fallen tank commander. He got to him and immediately started checking him over.
“You’re going to be ok Parker! Just stay with me, you hear me?”
Jim smiled, blood bubbled at the side of his mouth.
“You were always full of shit youngin.” He laughed then closed his eyes.
“Shit, you stay with me you old prick...Medic, Medic!” Miller screamed.
Miller rolled to engage a couple of Germans who had sprinted from the cover of the trench; he pumped them full of lead, greeting them with the whole clip of his Tommy gun.
Jim Parker led there in amongst the death cries of the battlefield. He did not hear it though; he did not feel the medic push morphine into his veins or start to perform chest compressions on him. Jim thought of his three children for the first time in a long time, he smiled as he knew they were strong and his wife Margret would nurture and protect them in the coming years; she was more than capable of raising them in hi
s absence. Tears formed in the corners of the tank commander’s eyes and he let his final breath leave his body. He had been calm until the end and he felt no pain.
The medic tapped Miller on his shoulder.
“He’s gone sir. We have to get out of here and find some cover.”
Miller’s shoulders dropped but they had to go on, Parker’s sacrifice gave new energy to the American soldiers. They were going to avenge their fallen friend and ally by killing every single one of these fucking SS men if they had to.
The Kugelblitz that had taken the life of the legendary tank Commander and his crew was quickly destroyed by the vengeful fire of five Sherman's. The German vehicle went up in a plume of dark black smoke and as the crew tried to escape they were quickly put down with machine gun fire.
The infantrymen of the 7th Ranger Battalion raced towards the final trench still occupied by the Germans. Their guns blazed and they shouted a battle cry as the flowed over the top of the trench braving death and a hail of bullets.
The Nazi Bell
Joseph had finished burning all of the top secret documents. He stood got up and nudged his father out of the way.
“I’ll try and keep the atmosphere as electrically charged as possible, but I have to be honest, I am surprised that it has lasted at one hundred percent power for this long.”
Walther Gerlach just nodded but he did not respond; it was like he was no longer in the room.
The Bell shaped device was still pulsing from a deep dark blue to a light purple. The ball of lightning raced across its surface with increasing intensity it to changed color from blue to a threatening red.
The Xerum 525 had stopped oozing out into the rotating tubes, they were full but now the Xerum started to radiate a menacing red-violet that bathed the room in an energetic glow. The vortex around the device was now at a dangerous level; it threatened to destroy the electric transformers in the room.
Sporrenberg paced up and down outside of the room.
He gesticulated aggressively. "What the fuck is the holdup soldier? And why the fuck aren't you clearing the rubble as I ordered you to!" His face started to contort as his anger levels raised.
“My apologies, Sir, but we have placed a few of our grenades into the gap here and we are just wiring up the tiny bit of TNT we have left over so that we can blow a hole wide enough for us to get through. It will be quicker Sir.”
Sporrenberg relaxed a tiny bit. “Ok Oberschutze Brown, you have my full confidence.”
He then went back to pacing impatiently.
Berndt Krause was only about halfway across the ice cold water, he was starting to struggle with the cold, he was shaking but he knew he had to get to the other side; Sporrenberg needed him and he was not going to let him down. Krause carried on with renewed vigor as he blocked out his current predicament with a happier childhood memory of swimming in the warm Mediterranean Sea with his dad and his younger brother.
The lightning struck the top of the bell causing two large ceramic slaps to disintegrate completely. The bare steel rods were exposed like the skeleton of a dead animal. The device let out a high pitched melancholic whine as the vortex surrounded it reached a fever pitch. The electrical storm smashed into the device as it spun wildly.
Walther and Joseph watched the power levels holding steady but the needle indicator vibrated heavily in the red danger zone.
“I’m surprised it has held steady this long father, it won’t be long until we lose her.”
“Doesn’t matter son let’s just see what happens, if she destroys herself then she will have finished our task for us.”
The device started to shake violently as a powerful whine emanated from deep within, seconds later a huge shockwave burst out turbulently washing the electrical storm over the thickened glass viewpoint. The glass started to crack in a beautiful spider web pattern then shattered completely. The two scientists dived to the floor as a hail of glass and electricity funneled through the vacuum left from the glassless window.
Glass exploded from the various dials and readouts on the workstation but the power to the device somehow managed to stay at a constant level. Joseph struggled to help his dad to his feet. They were glad to have the welding masks to protect their eyes as a brilliant bright purple dowsed the room in a pleasant glow.
The device rocked once more and the ceramic tiles seemed to melt away in the powerful vortex. It then pulsed once completely blinding the two scientists for a brief second. When their vision returned they could hardly believe their eyes.
“We…We we’ve done it father…I can’t believe it!”
Walther was speechless.
Before them, the device levitated six feet in the air and hung there with a bright purple fluorescent glow emanating from the center of the steel skeletal structure. The counter-rotating tubes filled with Xerum-525 were now completely stationary.
An explosion rocked the door behind the two scientists that sent rubble and dust flying into the room. The concrete beside the twisted metal door had fallen through, leaving a gap where a single dark menacing silhouette appeared.
Sporrenberg, who had not noticed the levitating device raised his pistol and fired three shots that hit their mark and sliced through the base of the neck and top of the chest. Walther let out a cry and fell to the floor; he cradled his lifeless son’s head in his arms and began to weep.
“What have you done you fool…” He wailed.
Sporrenberg took a step farther and aimed his sidearm at the older man.
“Shut up…”
Sporrenberg was cut off as the luminescent purple light momentarily blinded him. He unconsciously took a step back as he shielded his eyes. Sporrenberg narrowed his vision as he tried to see where the light was coming from.
The bell hung in the air, slowly rotating horizontally.
“How the hell is that thing doing that?” Sporrenberg said in disbelief.
Walther did not have time to answer as the device let out a deafening blast and a pulse of light raced across the room, consuming the two men. The electricity that had built up in the room instantly dissipated. Where the two men had stood just seconds before, now only a dark purple dust remained. The skeletal structure surrounding the device crashed to the floor. Joseph Gerlach’s lifeless body was pushed to the door by the shockwave produced by the device.
The two guards had been instructed to wait outside but when the explosion went off they rushed in to investigate. The Laboratory was a mess; the whole area was covered in a dark purple dust. The workstations were all but destroyed and a single body was left crumpled up beside the iron doors.
Jakob Sporrenberg was gone, all evidence of the device housed in the laboratory was gone and all was left was a horrid dust and a human corpse. The two men looked at each other and without saying a word decided not to snoop around anymore; they did not understand what had been going on in the laboratory and they did not want to.
Berndt Krause struggled out of the icy cold water and made his way down the dark corridor. The corridor was full of dust, debris and a spent detonator. ‘This doesn’t look good.’ Krause thought to himself. ‘Sporrenberg will not be pleased.’
Krause strode towards the door when two men appeared from the hole in the wall. They immediately snapped their weapons up and shouted a warning.
“Hauptsturmführer Berndt Krause SS number 52119.”
The two guards did not lower their weapons.
“Advance and be recognized, Sir.”
Krause walked up to the two men slowly, always keeping his hands where they could see them. He paused in front of the led man then very gingerly got out his ID. The guard checked it then stood bolt upright as he handed the ID back.
“Sorry Sir we had to be sure as we have never actually seen you before.”
“You are only doing your job Oberschutze.” Krause put his hand on the man’s shoulder. “Where is Gruppenführer Sporrenberg?”
"We don't know Sir, he entered the room to execute Führer
directive 525 but he never returned. When we went in to check…Well he has just disappeared, along with the device and one of the scientists. We found the body of the younger scientist."
“OK.” Krause said, “Wait here.”
Berndt Krause came out five minutes later after carrying out his own inspection.
“It is your lucky day men, we have to get a message to Berlin and then you two will accompany me as my personal guards. Any problem with that?”
The two men shook their heads.
Krause got his message out to Berlin, it was short:
‘Sporrenberg 52119, package destroyed. On route to an agreed destination after completion of 525. Sporrenberg out.'
The message would have meant nothing to the allied observers but the German high command knew exactly what it meant. A secretary in the Reich Main Security Office, Prinz-Albrecht-Straße no.8 Berlin, quietly and efficiently replaced the personal information from SS folder 3809 and 52119; finally, she swapped the pictures over and then placed the files back into their proper locations.
The fall of the Third Reich
Just over twenty-eight hours later Deputy Commander-in-Chief Georgy Zhukov and Commander Konstantin Rokossovsky 1st Baltic Front and 2nd Belorussian front, Red army soldiers uncovered the chaos and devastation strewn across the fields leading up to the Owl Mountains.
The Red army investigated the scene thoroughly. Destroyed American Sherman tank hulls were mixed with burnt-out German tanks. There were Tiger II, Tiger I's and Panther tanks. All had been eliminated.
A large battle must have taken place here and now the Russians had entered the secret facility buried deep under the mountain. They knew something important must have been housed here as the American’s had taken a huge risk in mounting this operation; Stalin would not be pleased when he heard the news.
