by M C Drake
“Sniper.” The Sergeant screamed and dived for cover, he did not make it as the next round split his skull clean in two.
The soldiers of the 1st volunteer group ran for cover where ever they could find it. Most of the non military personnel were too scared to raise their heads back above the shelter; especially as a young private who tried this was instantly killed.
The tanks supporting the volunteer group roared into action with their guns blazing. The Sherman tanks were obsolete by today’s standards but they had no choice but to carry the fight to the enemy.
The .50 caliber machine guns on the turret sprayed hot lead in the direction of the rapidly advancing Aryan troops. The first line of troops took heavy losses as the powerful guns ripped them to shreds.
The Aryan troops took cover behind anything they could and started to lay down suppressing fire. The snipers fired at the priority targets; these were than antitank guns and the gunners on the Sherman’s turrets.
A young gunner laid down fire over the area where two Aryan’s were sheltering, he struck one in the chest and he fell to the floor with blood pouring from the wounds.
The sniper rifles cracked again and a bright beam struck the gunner clean through his neck, his lifeless body slumped forward. The gun fell silent. But the sniper’s beams were giving away their positions on top of the high buildings.
The Sherman's focused their guns on the rooftops and started to fire high explosive shells on at the snipers positions. The snipers sprinted from their cover but one was slightly too slow and the high explosive shell took the platform he was standing on away from his feet; he plummeted to his death.
A Cobra had heard scattered radio chatter and flown into position; the pilot opened up the Gatling gun in the nose and peppered the rooftops with as much ammo as he could. A fleeing sniper took rounds straight through his back, the bullets went clean through and he fell, never to rise again.
Three more Cobra's arrived and unloaded their missiles onto the rooftops, the explosions shattered the celling's and debris was jettisoned in every direction. The American volunteer group gained confidence and opened fire on the pinned down enemy.
An orb of superheated shimmering light smashed into the side of the Cobra, it exploded on contact and the choppers flaming fuselage crashed into an advancing Sherman below knocking the tank out of action.
Further orbs raced in from the left and the Cobras had no choice but to flee but it was too late, the orbs crashed into them and the crippled wreckages fell turning the area below them into a burning mess.
The airfield was now under direct attack from the advancing Maus tanks to the East. The artillery pieces returned fire on their adversary’s but it was becoming increasingly difficult to hold the enemy back.
The last remaining helicopters at the international airfield took off and made a dash for safety. They were tailed by the nimble ME 262’s.
Ten ME 262’s appeared over the skies off the airport, they circled above and one by one dove on the targets below.
The antiaircraft Gatling guns opened up, they spewed rounds into the sky but at the steep angle that the fighters were approaching it was difficult to hit them. The Aryan fighters twisted and turned during the dive making them harder to hit; they were diving at ridicules speeds and maneuvering at these speeds created huge gee forces.
The Vulcan Gatling guns tried in vain to stop the approaching attack but the ME 262 released its purple orb of plasma and then rolled out of the dive. The round smashed into the aircraft control tower several seconds later; the tower rocked and the offices splintered.
The second fighter released its plasma bomb and struck the refueling trucks sheltering on the edge of the base, the ensuing explosion rocked the area and thick black smoke rose into the sky.
Three artillery pieces were consumed in the fireball; their crews were burnt to charcoal. American personal ran in all directions as the airport came under heavy fire. The Maus tanks had now advanced to the edge of the base; this meant the artillery found it increasingly difficult to target them.
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.”
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“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.
The streets directly north of the White House had completely collapsed under the sheer weight of the rubble, fire hydrants sent plumes of water into the sky as they burst all along the smoldering road.
The rain fell ever harder onto the heads of a small group of American volunteers who had been lucky enough to survive the shelling of the street. Their commander was killed and their sergeant badly wounded; anyone with any military experience was out of their fight.
Another Aryan popped his head up from behind a fallen chimney tower, the gunners opened up and the rounds peppered the bare brickwork, sending dust clouds over the soldier's helmet.
The five women had two Browning machine guns and they were busy feeding rounds into them, they might have been cut off but they were determined to hold the street as long as they could.
One of the young women stood up and quickly hurled a grenade into the mesh of broken concrete about ten feet in front of her. She heard someone shout and then a satisfying explosion.
A few screams were heard from the hole but nothing emerged from it.
The eldest of the women swore under her breath. Has anyone got any water left? A twelve-year-old girl with a soot smothered face raised her hand and then stood to pass the water over to the other women.
“Get down...” Was all the thirty-three-year-old lady could shout before the air filled with the buzz and whine of plasma fire. The rounds smashed into the area around the women and the poor girl was hit clean through the chest.
The girl clawed at her chest as she fell to the floor, he breath was quick and the sweet smell of burnt flesh rushed up her nostrils; she wretched once sending blood across her chin. One of the women left the belt of ammunition and rushed to put a bandage over the wound but it was too large.
“Shit she is hit real bad!”
The older women sighed and fought to keep a tear from forming in her eye, “Get it over with and then jump back on the ammo, we need to keep some suppressing fire down or we will be quickly overrun.”
A large round of plasma exploded a few feet from the machine guns' position, the heat washed over the area but then it was not quite close enough to cause any damage to the women. Sarah Welch was only twenty-eight and her huge green eyes looked down into the poor girls face.
Sarah was a chef by trade but she knew what had to be done, she whispered softly for the girl to close her eyes and then she pulled her pistol from her belt. She put the barrel a couple of inches away from the girl’s temple and then hesitated as she went to pull the trigger.
The air was heating up to an uncomfortable level now as more and more plasma rounds washed over the area. Sarah was hit in the arm and she rolled to the floor and caught her breath for a second. She came out of her daze and quickly pushed the gun to the girl’s head; she pulled the trigger and finally the girl was at peace.
“Are you alright Sarah? We need you back on the ammo. Sarah?” But Sarah needed a minute to get over what she had just done. It was a sin to take a life and it was even worse to take the life of a child.
The two Browning .50 caliber machine guns kept firing, three Aryan infantrymen had tried to sneak across the debris-strewn sidewalk but they were cut down about five foot from the women's position; all three were killed instantly.
Another five minutes of continuous fire went by when one of the guns went silent.
“What is it Betty, are you hit?”
“No I don't know what it is, we still have ammo.”
“Get it fixed love, I’d love to help ya but I am a little busy here.”
Betty laughed but she was nervous, with one of the guns down they were not going to last much longer.
A burning blue ball was tossed towards the women’s position, it bounced a few times in front of them and then exploded. The shockwave rushed through the area and the air was forced from the women’s lungs.
Another three balls of burning blue bounced towards them and one rested right under the barrel of the only working gun.
“Grenade...” Sarah shouted and went to dive on it but she was hit by a stream of plasma that burnt through her neck and left cheek. Then the grenades exploded and the whole machine gun nest fell silent.
The plasma fire stopped shortly after and the Aryans advanced unopposed to check the smoldering crater.
Last Stand
ME 262's now strafed the artillery around
the Capitol building, the guns on the ground were no match for the unopposed fighters and they were quickly taken out.
Commander Michael Orton's group of main battle tanks were now under direct attack from the enemy fighters as well. They had to curb their advance as losses from air attacks mounted.
“What shall we do commander?”
Orton shook his head. “We are going to have to fall back to the main park. To our final fall back positions. From there we won’t have anywhere to run. We will make our stand.”
Orton ordered all of the tanks to fall back next to the Capitol building where they would have a clean line of fire on any enemy armor that advanced into the open.
Orton tried to call for any available anti aircraft guns but the communications were still not working, he threw his radio against the side of his tank's turret. The handpiece fell apart.
The streets around the White House were now being systematically cleared. The American troops had little chance to mount an effective defense because they were so scattered and they had no way of communicating with each other.
Four Aryan tanks rounded a corner onto an empty street, they continued through at a steady pace.
Three American privates of the 51st National Guard unit gingerly lit their cigarettes when the tanks had passed. They took deep breaths and inhaled as much of the flavor as they could. They needed to savor this moment.
A large group of Aryan infantry rounded the corner and as the moved with purpose, one of the young privates gave a curt nod. That was when all hell broke loose.
The private opened up with a commandeered browning machine gun, while the other two fired their anti tank launchers at the exposed infantry.
Signed
A large explosion rocked the corner building as plasma smashed into it; the rubble fell and peppered the sidewalk, crushing an abandoned car. The Maus tanks rolled on to press home the attack. They were now on the home straight, less than an eighth of a mile from the White House.
