8. The Gap
Peter
Weiner, Hauptmann
We occupied at a
small village north of Noyon, and Gefreiter has rejoined the men. He briefs
me on the incident and I ruled out any punishment on him. I told the men to
billet down once they have set their defenses. The village lies on top of a
small hill and overlooking the surrounding plains and valleys. It was a
strategic position, and more to it the access road to the village was via a sharp
bend for about two hundred feet from the first house. I placed a machine gun
next to it to cover the entry. The next place to place the machine gun was at
the third house which has a vantage view of the valley below and the start of
the road. Then I placed four of my snipers at the houses facing the plains on
both sides. The rest of the platoons were then given the option to select their own
corners.
There was a Church
in the village in which I place two lookouts with long viewing glasses at the bell
tower. I took my station at the nearby tavern and sat down to my first home-cooked meal in months. It was by the priest there.
"Can I join
you?" I looked across to see an old man sitting there. I waved to him to
sit down. He did with a glass and a bottle of wine. He also bought his own
bread and some olive oil. He is dressed in a simple farmer dressing but he also
had a bandaged forehead.
"Accident?"
I pointed to his head. The older man nodded.
"Ernest
Fredricks, formerly of Dresden; now I am French for over twenty years. I came
over in 1896 and never went back. This," He points to his forehead;
"was how your soldier did to me last week?"
"Last week?
You mean you saw the soldiers here." But the older man shook his head.
"I saw one
only and he is a deserter. He hit me for my bottle of wine. If he had asked me,
I would have given him. If he had introduced, I would have sheltered him as he is
German. But he kicked and pushed me down. Is that what happened to German now
since I left?" The older man took a sip of his wine.
"No, Pop.
Only some of us are like that. We are still the same people as we were in your
time. Did you get the German soldier 's name?" I asked for politeness.
"Yes, I
have." The older man reached into his pocket and gave me a name tag.
"He died after we killed him. I am here to warn you that you are not
wanted, and if there is a fight, they would have killed your men too." He
leaned over to whispered to me. "They are armed with guns too."
I nodded and went
back to my meal. We did not speak anymore from then. I finished my meal and
left the table. I avoided looking at the people sitting around me. I drew my
breath on stepping out into the open. Then I walked towards the men who are
sitting by the roadside in the village. I brief the men and we withdraw in
stages from the village. We did with the village folks looking at us but no one
came forth to harass us.
We took to the road
outside the village at the bend and billeted there. The next morning, we saw
the older man's body on the ground at the first house with the placard on his
chest; "Traitor."
"Gefreiter,
I want the whole village search." We did search the village but we could
not find anybody around. They seem to have disappeared last night. They did
find more evidence that German soldiers were here before from the leftover
uniforms and personal effects.
"Gefreiter,
move the men back here. We would occupy the village now since its empty."
Dieter Luther, Gefreiter
I saw the column
of the French Army marching towards us from Noyon. I ran to the Hauptmann at
the Tavern. But he was already told by the others.
"Prepare to
move out. We would withdraw back to Command now. We are being outflanked by the
French soldiers." Just as he gave the order we came under fire from the
houses. A member of my platoon came running in.
"We are
being shot at by the villagers. They are pinning us down."
Damned villagers
have returned. I need to get the platoon out.
'Throw the
grenades to shake them off. Prepare to evacuate. We would meet at the forest
edge. It's every man to himself." I ran to the machine gun squad and asked
them to spike the gun before leaving. Then I went back to the Hauptmann.
"We can make
it five men per team at twenty paces space." But while I was talking, the
men have already started retreating in their own initiatives. Hauptmann looked
at me and he signaled me to go. I know what he meant and I left with the men
under the firing cover of the men who stayed back. But I ran no further than five hundred paces before I reached the retreating line of men.
"Form a line
and provide cover fire for those who are leaving now." Some men followed
my command but the others kept on running. Dietrich was with me then and he
grabbed the fleeing men to do the same.
“Form a second
line.” I called out. We fire at the possible windows which have French soldiers shooting and hope to hit the person. More of the soldiers were
retreating were able to run faster and with less chance of getting shot. I
gave chase and stopped them.
“Get back to your
line or I will shoot you here.” I grabbed a few more to move back two hundred
paces and they formed a line. They provided the fire cover until the others reached
the tree line. There they dug in and I did the same. In the end, I saw the
Hauptmann running with bullets whizzing past him.
He slides next to
me and breathe a sigh of relief.
"How
many?" Hauptmann asked and I told him.
"Thirty of
us." So we are down to two-third of our strength and no machine guns.
"Let’s go.
We got to report back."
Erich
Kroner, Oberst
Damned, the French
soldiers, they had hit us at the gap in between the defense lines but we were
sending reinforcements to hold it or win back what we lost.
The 3rd
The company was sent forward to breach the gap. I don't care how they will do it but
the task was monumental. The idiot Hauptmann came back to me with the update
which I already know.
“Oberst, we are
under fire. We may be caught by them or we are too far in front.” The imbecile
does not know that we knew already. Then he would be at the forefront of the
action. If he wins, I will win.
"Oberst, I
trust you have seen the new order. " I looked up to see the Oberst-lieutenant
Luther Von Mathis. I nodded at his
question.
"Oberst,
if...." I shouted back at him when he wanted to question my command.
"Does the
rank on my shoulder means nothing to you in this war, Oberst-lieutenant Luther Von Mathis?" The junior officer
bowed to me, and then he saluted me.
"I am sorry,
Oberst. I forgot my training from the Academy. Back to my request
here...." I interrupted the officer from his statement.
"The 3rd
The company would march immediately, to be followed by the other companies. You can
tell that to the General." I dismissed the Oberst-lieutenant. He left
with a raging expression.
Abel Lenger,
Surgeon
The orderlies were
packing the medical supplies onto the trucks and wagons to be taken to the new
Front. I looked at the nurses as they prepared themselves. As I was
to pack my bag, two soldiers came rushing in carrying their friend who is
wounded.
"Herr
Doctor, help him please." I motioned to the men to lay his friend by the
table. He was shot in the chest and shoulder but those were not fatal wounds.
"Bring me
the equipment", I called out but the nurses were not moving. I stared at
them and they still would not move. I reached for the soldier's rifle and point
it at the nurses. "Do it or I would shoot all of you. Then you can join
this soldier."
They moved that
time and I began to operate on the soldier. I probably saved another life and
annoyed a dozen others. But the next time, I will be wearing a pistol on me at
all times. Then I don't have to borrow any.
The nurses carted
the wounded man out after the surgery. I cleaned up and then rejoined the
others. I noticed that that has left me alone with some orderlies, with the
last wagon holding the nurses who assisted me in the surgery. I looked at the two
orderlies standing there.
“We have to
dismantle the tent. Then we can move.” The orderly told me. “We will get a ride
from the others.”
We got our ride
soon in a kitchen wagon.
Peter
Weiner, Hauptmann
I organized the
men to move into the houses in the town which we set up as the defense points. The
Aerial Air report to the High Command told us the French soldiers were to penetrate
the flanks. If they do that, we will be surrounded.
That cannot be
allowed, and I have just withdrawn from one battle recently to see myself doing
another so soon. We were up against the 6th French Army.
“It’s madness,
Hauptmann.” The men cried out. We were only part of the company size.
“We are the 1st
Guards. We will do our best. The reinforcements promised by the High Command
should arrive soon.” It was a loud call and I could not substantiate it.
"Sergeant,
who occupies that building facing the road to the town?" I called out.
"2nd
Platoon, Hauptmann. They are under Hans Bern; good man to have on the
front." I nodded at the comment but I was worried about the condition of
the platoon whose morale was affected by the earlier retreat. I ran over there
to be greeted by Gefreiter who was manning the ground floor.
"Where is
your Sergeant?" I can see they have got a new Maxim machine gun to replace
the one they lost in the last retreat.
"He is
upstairs, Hauptmann. I am overseeing the men at this level." He pointed to
me the ten men under his command here. I also noticed some wires were being trailed there from behind us.
"Those are
the bombs I believed planted by you?" I pointed to the wires.
"Yes, on our
withdrawal... If we withdraw, Hauptmann; would detonate the building to
block the road next to it. That would stop their armored vehicles." He knew
his task and I was proud to have him with me.
"Danke",
I replied. He saluted me and I replied accordingly with my salute. I ran next
to check on the other squads and was satisfied with the preparation.
Then we waited
for them to come; the French or the BEF as we were advised may be joining the
French.
But the ones to
be shown on our doorsteps was the bombardment. The French soldiers opened up
with their barrage and its shelling on the buildings. I wanted to call a
retreat to the forest but the message came from High Command;
“Do not retreat.”
Damn orders were killing my men but I can’t disobey it. I could see the shells
taking chunks of building off their structures with men of mine. When one of
those explosives impacted on flesh and blood, there was not much to pick up.
The veterans told us that the soul leaves the body then and maybe they watched
the physical body disintegrated. It was inspiring for the young recruits. Well,
not all. Some puked on the tale.
That was the
point of laughter for the veterans then.
Erich
Kroner, Oberst
I looked at the
map and then back at the table which showed the movement of my troops. They were
in the front to face the oncoming French Army and there was nothing I can do.
Orders were given to cover the gap by my troops until they can be reinforced by
the companies but which ones. There were no replies.
"Do you have
the air reports?" Our planes are flying recon on the area and they are
supposed to give us some latest updates. My adjutant shook his head which means I
was in the blind there.
"Are our
artillery moving there?" The same responses came from the junior officer.
"Is that a
no reply or you do not know? Damned you, get me some answers." I have lost
Paris because of some fools forgetting to close the back door. Then it was my
role to clear the mess for them.
Dieter Luther, Gefreiter
This was crazy while
I held my head down with the falling shells creating a ruckus all around me. So
far our building had been spared but we were deaf with the bombing all around
us. I then felt a tug on my sleeve and I looked up to see the young recruit
pulling it. He was pointing to the road and I got up to look.
"Oh my God!
They are coming." I saw the column of French soldiers running along the
road towards us.
"Machine
Gun, open up." But my gunners were still cowering their heads on their
knees. I ran over and kicked at the men. "Shoot the gun or I would shoot
you."
That took the
scare out of them and they loaded the gun to shoot. The machine gun was a deadly
weapon when seen up close when they spewed out the bullets at a faster rate
than a hand could do. They laid the bullets so close to each other in their
flight that when you get hit, it was not by one bullet but several bullets at
seconds apart.
The French soldiers
jumped for cover on seeing their friends getting shot as that was the sensible
thing to do then. If you choose to charge, you are next to die. It’s not like
charging a rifleman with seconds of delay from one shot to the next.
"Move the
range to hold them down. Don't just fire at one spot." I shouted to the
gunners. I looked at my other men who are now shooting from behind their
cover. At least they know what was to be done. "Shoot when you see a
target. Shoot to hurt and there is no prize for accuracy. But shoot at where it
may hurt."
Then I saw the
young recruit shooting with his hands above his head. He is shooting blind as
he does not want to raise his head to see where he is shooting. I kicked at him
in the chest.
"Get up
there and shoot like a soldier." He looked at me and then he got up to
shoot.
I walked over to
the next spot to check on the situation. We were holding them back and the
bombardment had ceased. That was a relief and then we were fighting like real
men.
"Gefreiter,
the Sergeant is dead." I looked at the soldier who brought me the news. So
Han was dead after so many battles. I nodded to the soldier and asked him to
get back to his position. I took up my rifle and followed him up. The men there
need my guidance like below.
"Shoot, you fool.
Do you think the French soldiers would give you time to bury him and then
resume the battle?" I was right, they needed my guidance. I walked over to
the dead NCO and took his body tag.
"Reach in
peace, Sergeant."
Abel
Langer
"Herr Doctor,
we found this on the patient." I looked at the large wads of French Francs
held by the Nurse for me to see.
"Is he
French?" I asked and she shook her head.
"Well, is he
dead?" She nodded her head.
"Then keep
it for yourself. When this war is over, use it to but a farm near here and
stayed here." But the nurse was not amused at my words. "So you want
me to keep it then?"
But she did not answer.
So I grabbed the money and went to the dead man's body. I stuffed the money
back into his uniform and walked away. Maybe some idiot would find the use for
it as my nurse does not know how to.
"Herr
Doctor, can I take that money?" I looked at the Orderlies who asked me.
"Only if you
give him a proper burial." The man nodded and ran to collect his bounty. I
passed the earlier Nurse who asked me for the money. "That man is getting
paid to do a proper burial. So you can help him and get a share too. The next
patient won't pay for your services."
She ran after the
Orderlies while I attended to the next patient. He was shot in the chest and
may die too. The chest shot was easy for it was the biggest anatomy to hit
and most times the shot may hit a major organ. Then it was imminent death.
“Am I going to
die?” The wounded man asked me. .I looked into his eyes and smiled.
"Do you have
any francs with you? We can do a better job if you do." He nodded and I
laughed. If only he knows what I really meant but I saved him that day. He also
gets to keep his francs.
The next day, I
saw his body outside. He was dead from organ failure. It was internal
bleeding I missed.
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