"Lieutenant! What do we do? What do we do?" Joanner screamed at me, huddled in a shell hole.
"Hang on, everyone! The German infantry's coming!"
Damn it, this was worse than the night assault at Vierville. Half of the twenty or so men I brought with me were already dead.
American soldiers' fighting spirit, as I always said, was just about as poor as it gets. This round of shelling had completely broken their morale. They scattered, taking cover in freshly made craters, some trembling like leaves in the wind. And instead of their rifles, they clutched those damn crucifixes, shaking and praying to God for mercy.
"Damn it, you're a bunch of useless cowards! Look at the guys from 2nd Company—same brutal losses, and they're still fighting! Are you all a bunch of Germans' [expletive]?! You're scared stiff by one artillery barrage?!"
It wasn't just speeches that raised morale in battle. Sometimes, a good berating worked wonders, and it was especially effective. Calling a group of men useless, insulting them—especially when they were young and full of blood and pride—was one hell of a motivator. They couldn't take it. It was a slap to their pride.
"Sir, stop it! Let's just fight!"
"Here they come! Get ready!"
The night was thick with darkness, and we could barely make out the figures of the Germans, but their movements flickered faintly in the glow of distant fires. For the defense, that was a bad situation.
"Illumination flares! Fire the illumination flares!"
Boom! Boom! Boom! As the flares exploded above the bridge, the German assault troops were fully revealed. There was a platoon of them, scattered in loose formation, creeping across the bridge toward our position. Two Panzer IV Tank Destroyer followed behind the infantry, slowly advancing toward the bridge.
The German Panzer IV Tank Destroyer, designed without turrets, was close to what the Soviets had with their U-85 tank destroyers. Equipped with a 75mm anti-tank gun and two MG42 machine guns for defense, their job was to eliminate enemy heavy weapons and tank threats, often working alongside the Panzer IV tanks.
Damn their combined arms tactics! If we let the infantry get across and establish a defensive perimeter on the bridge, those tanks would be right behind them, and they'd crush us under their tracks.
"Machine gun, fire!"
Harper, who had been carrying the machine gun, dove into a firing position. He unleashed a torrent of bullets toward the German position on the bridge. The German infantry quickly took cover behind a knocked-out Panzer IV Assault Gun, returning fire. The assault gun at the back adjusted its cannon, aiming directly at Harper.
"Move the machine gun! Move it! Go! Go! Go!"
Harper didn't hesitate—he grabbed the machine gun and sprinted left. "Boom, boom!" The Panzer IV Tank Destroyer fired two high-explosive rounds, landing where Harper had been just seconds before. Dust and debris flew, but fortunately, Harper had managed to move in time, alive and unharmed.
"Brooks! Get a signal to Lieutenant Sully—tell him to bring the backup! Joanner, get the rocket launcher and hide on either side of the bridge! You see them? Wait until the Panzer IV Tank Destroyer is in the middle of the bridge, then fire! Remember, your job is to destroy the Panzer IV Tank Destroyer! Even if the Germans step on your nose, don't worry about it—just hit those damn Panzer IV Tank Destroyer! Got it?"
"Got it!"
"Good! Go now! Stay sharp!"
"What about Job? Is he dead?"
"I'm here!"
"Oh God, you're still alive! That's a relief! Now, your main job is to use your sniper rifle to take out their machine gunners and officers!"
The Germans weren't exactly pressing with overwhelming force. War isn't like a game where you can simply rely on numbers and stamina to outlast your enemies. As long as we had a machine gun covering the bridge, their infantry would have a hard time advancing. A single grenade had a blast radius of ten meters, and we had American soldiers guarding the bridge. But the Germans weren't going to give us any chance to butcher them.
The German infantry had stopped their advance and were now using the wreckage of the armored vehicle as cover, returning fire.
"Damn it! They're firing mortars!"
An old veteran can always tell the difference between a mortar and an artillery shell by the sound. The Germans were trying to lure our fire with their infantry, then using the darkness to target us with mortars based on our machine gun positions. Sure enough, every time our machine guns fired, their mortars would rain down on that area. We had to keep moving, and moving fast, but the casualties kept climbing.
"Damn Germans—first they tried a full-on assault, then when that didn't work, they go to this damn mortar tactic!" Lieutenant Sully from 2nd Company cursed as he arrived.
Boom! Another illumination flare lit up the sky above us. Damn it, how I hated these flares. If the Germans didn't know how to use them, we'd be at an advantage. But once the flares were up, everything on the defending side was exposed, just like daylight. We were taking a huge hit because of these damn things.
"The German Panzer IV Tank Destroyer are moving again!"
The Panzer IV Tank Destroyer was too far to effectively suppress us, it started moving forward, stopping just a few meters ahead. The MG42s in the gun ports sprayed fire at our position, while the Panzer IV Tank Destroyer's cannon fired round after round.It felt like a mobile fortress, and we had to keep moving and firing back.
"Damn it, if we had an anti-tank gun, we wouldn't be this screwed!" I cursed inwardly.
Joanner and one of the soldiers hid on one side of the bridge. Honestly, it was a dangerous spot. If they opened fire, the Germans would spot them immediately, and they'd be lucky to make it out alive. But it was also the best position to attack the Panzer IV Tank Destroyer. The Germans had reinforced the front of their Panzer IV Tank Destroyer with thick composite armor to protect against attacks, but the sides and rear were much weaker. If Joanner could hit one of those weak spots with the rocket launcher, the Panzer IV Tank Destroyer could go down.
Job, hiding far off in a shadowed corner, used the flare light and machine gun flashes to line up a shot. "Bang!" Each of his sniper shots rang out like death, and every pull of the trigger sent a German soldier to the ground.
Through my binoculars, I saw Job's bullet hit a German assault rifleman square in the chest, and blood erupted in a small spray. The soldier staggered, eyes wide in disbelief, before collapsing to the ground, gasping for breath. His comrade checked his wounds and then turned away to continue the fight.
The battle raged on, but Job's sniper fire was dealing devastating blows. In just this short while, he'd taken out nearly ten Germans. But, of course, a sniper alone wouldn't win the war. Still, it was hitting the Germans' morale hard.
The German commanders, likely frustrated by the casualties, ordered the Panzer IV Tank Destroyer to advance, preparing to cross the bridge. The previously destroyed German Panzer IV Tank Destroyer were shoved into the river by the sheer force of the assault guns. Tanks from the rear also began slowly crawling onto the bridge.
The Germans launched wave after wave of attacks. The earlier assault had been replaced by another unit, and this time, it was the elite SS Panzer Division.
Their attack reminded me of the Japanese, reckless and screaming as they charged forward, not caring about their own lives. They almost broke through the bridgehead, but we managed to push them back. Still, our defensive position was starting to fall apart. With only a handful of us left—including Lieutenant Delaney's 2nd Company soldiers—there wasn't even enough to make a full squad.
"Goddamn it! Are the Germans ever going to stop?" I cursed under my breath.
Their Panzer IV Tank Destroyer and tanks began advancing again, covered by infantry.
"Joanner! Hurry, take out the Panzer IV Tank Destroyer first!"
The German Panzer IV Tank Destroyer were nearly at the middle of the bridge when Joanner still hadn't fired. I thought maybe he had been killed.
"Sully, looks like our anti-tank team is wiped out. Get your men together and use the rocket launcher. We need to destroy those Panzer IV Tank Destroyer first!"
"Yes, sir!" Lieutenant Sully said, rushing off with a few men. Just then, a miracle happened.
Joanner, with a comrade covering him, rushed forward, fired the rocket launcher, and—
Boom! The rocket struck the side of the German Panzer IV Tank Destroyer with a burst of flame and smoke. The Panzer IV Tank Destroyer wobbled uncontrollably and crashed off the bridge into the river. The blast not only destroyed thePanzer IV Tank Destroyer but also caused several nearby German soldiers to be killed or wounded.
Joanner, mission accomplished, quickly ran away. The enraged Germans retaliated, firing at Joanner's original hiding spot. But the soldier following Joanner didn't make it. In a hail of bullets, he was shredded into pieces.
"Awesome!"
After the Germans lost the Panzer IV Tank Destroyer, they likely realized we had anti-tank weapons. As a result, the remaining tanks and infantry quickly withdrew to the starting point on the opposite bank, almost as if waiting for something—or perhaps preparing for an even bigger battle!