0800
We have a platoon of thirty men and three M4 tanks readying at the edge of the forest. We have made a small supply depot in this clearing of the woods. It is freezing and a thick overcast holds in the sky. Powdery white snow covers the ground up to two feet in some places. The evergreens are thick in front of us. The dark green pine trees with branches covered in glittering snow seem to make the forest go on for miles. There is a light snow fall in the air, not enough to accumulate but just enough to be a nuisance.
There I stand on top of the tank turrent handing Lucky the three foot brass high explosive olive green cone shell that I received from Turney. My hands freezes every time I touch the ice cold metal and I try to keep my teeth from chattering uncontrollably. I see the steam of my breath rise before me. I can feel the burning prickling sensations in my toes and fingers. My hands and the tips of my fingers are a waxy white. The heat from the engine is our only means of relief and even that isn't enough. I want to keep up the appearance of an unfazed leader to inspire my men but damn its cold.
We were sent here in such a rush that we didn't have time to gather winter gear. So many of us are still in our fall olive drab tanker uniforms that offer very little in means of insulation. Some of the men are wearing uniforms that they have had to sew up the tears with patches. A few of the men have gone about collecting leaves and tucking them under their shirts. I don't know how much warmth it gives but they sure do look funny walking around all barrel chested. Some men have gone to wrapping their feet with bandages from their first aid kits to make extra socks. God knows the steel gets ice cold in winter. We have had to wash our clothes with gasoline so we all reek of the stinking fuel. Bottom line is that we are in desperate need of supplies that isn't ammunition for we seem to have plenty of it.
While Lucky, Turney and I are loading the the tank with more ammunition that Sammy keeps acquiring from the make shift supply dump. The depot is several stacked wooden crates with some half tracks and and tankers surround it. Daunte is greasing the sprockets with a cloth. The shells pass from Sammy on the ground to Turney who is on the hull to me and I pass them finally to Lucky in the turret. Turney breaks the silence with, "So why do we need to find these guys again?" I turn and say to him," Because they would do it for us." Lucky butts in , "Yeah but how do we know it these guys could still be alive. Like what if it is a trap, you know?" "We will find that out when we get there." I reply sternly. Sammy returns from his travels with three more shells cradled in his arms. He passes them up and I hand them down to Lucky who stows them in the ammo racks.
Suddenly Captain Davis hops up on to the turret of his tank "Lucky Lady" which is only a few yards away. He announces," Alright listen up! We are going to find this patrol, we are not leaving anyone behind. They went missing last night and they are still out there. We are heading into the woods. Keep your eyes peel for Jerry, you know he likes to hide in the forest. So mount up and roll out, tanks in front and infantry following behind." With that he drops into the commander hatch and dons his tanker cap with googles.
With that being said, we finish loading and start to our assigned positions. Daunte climbs up and in to the drivers hatch. Sammy follows suit on to his side. Lucky climbs down the commander hatch and in and sits in the gunners seat below the commanders seat. I follow suit and don my M1 steel helmet. Turney climbs down the loaders hatch and slams the door shut. My head now sticks just above the hatch. I grab a small microphone that is connected to the tanks intercom system. "You boys hear me alright?" Turney and Lucky give a thumbs up. Daunte replies through his mic, "Yes sah." Sammy replies through his mic, " I hear ya boss." "Alright boys get ready to roll out." I say.
There are three tanks are now lined up at the forest edge. Our Widow Scorned, Capitan Davis's Lucky Lady, And Sargent Willis's M4 Trouble Maker. There is about thirty mostly coloured infantry that has stacked up behind the tanks, ten to each tank. Suddenly Capitan Davis M4 tank lurches forward, Trouble Maker soon follows. "Alright." I say, " Send her forward Daunte." "Yes sah." Is his response as the tank shudders from shifting out of park and into drive. The engine gives a throaty whine and we lounge forward. The the whole vehicle vibrates and unsecured items produce and annoying rattle. We now enter the tree line. I figure Captain Davis choose this route through the woods to avoid German patrols on the roadway. As we enter the forest, our tanks scrape against the hard branches that produce loud metallic scraping sounds. Well if the Krauts didn't know we are here, they do now. The forest is thick with the dark green evergreen trees to which the form a leafy canopy above us, blocking out the gray sky from our view. The scent of pine is strong here. We occasionally have to dodge trees in our path, lucky for us the trees have enough width between them to accommodate tanks. I occasionally have to duck in my hatch in order to avoid a stray branch or two.
We are now in the middle of the woods, trees surround us for what almost seems like miles. A thick fog holds in this place and significantly reduces our visibility. The snow crunches beneath our treads. The infantry follow close behind us. Ten yards to my right is Lucky Lady and ten yards past that is Trouble Maker, each has a trail of ten men following behind them. After a while of slow trekking in the foggy woods Sammy exclaims looking through his periscope. "Boss look!" I look ahead and see a shape forming in the near distance. As we close I see the the outline of one of our M3 Staurts that has been smushed up against a tree. It must be from the missing patrol! We found them! Something is off though. Closer we come the more damage I make out. Several large holes and gashes cover its boxy metal hull. It looks as though the vehicle had been mauled. There is no sign of its crew for it's cold metal sits there in abandon. "Oh wow." Sammy says in shock. "What is it?" cries Turney who doesn't have a view port. Lucky answers, "The patrol must have been hit hard." As matter of fact, where is the rest of the patrol. I pick up the microphone and speak, " Alright boys, we are in the thick of it now. The Germans who did this are still out there. Keep your eyes peeled for hidden Krauts with panzerfausts, those rockets will tear straight through us." An acknowledging tense silence falls over us.
Our assault force stops before a large clearing in the middle of the woods that must be a hundred yards across and seventy yards wide. Snow covers the open field. Damn a clearing, Germans love hiding antitank guns in the edge of clearings. It gives them camouflage and a wide field of view. As for us we would have to leave the relative concealing safety of the tree line and venture out in the open. Current procedure dictates that one tank exposes themselves to test for an ambush. Hopefully it wont be us to go first. The radio buzzes to life, Capitan Davis's voice sounds,"Smith take point and cross the clearing. Leave the grunts behind." Damn! It had to be us! I turn around and wave off the infantry, they disappear quietly into fighting positions among the woods. I take the mic and and say, " Alright boys, we're first. Daunte send her forward and don't stop." Daunte responds, "Yes sah" and the tank once again shudders forth. "It had to be us didn't it." blurts Turney. I ignore him and utter, "Keep your eyes open boys."
Daunte slowly rolls the metal beast forward and we exit the safety of the tree line. I aggressively search the opposite tree line for any sudden movement. Every muscle in me is strained, the crossing is nerve racking. The air is so tense that we all feel it. I feel a pit in my stomach like we are being watched. The other side of the clearing is thick with brush and could be hiding anything.
Suddenly a German tank burst through the brush. And its not just any tank, a panther tank, Germany's newer monstrosity! My heart sinks! We are doomed! With its frontal sloped armour at almost four inches thick, we would be lucky if we could put a dent in it. With its long 76mm cannon it could slice through our frontal plate like a hot knife though butter. And what is worse is that it is coming straight for us! Its hull and turret is adorned with bushes and leafy branches, no wonder we couldn't see it. "Shit!" says Lucky peering through the gun sight. I quickly duck and slam the hatch door shut. I can't destroy it but I might be able to disable it. I bark orders,"Turney load AP, Lucky aim for the gun!" The sound of a shell being moved from the rack and loaded in to cannon rings through our vehicle. I can hear the gears turning as Lucky adjusts the gun. " AP loaded!" shouts Turney. I veer into the periscope, the ugly metal beast stares us down with its cannon. We are at a showdown and the one who fires first could mean death or survival. Why are they not shooting? I am about order Lucky to fire when suddenly, the commanders hatch on our adversary pops open. Out comes the commander with a raised white cloth. They are surrendering?
Sammy says observing through his view port, "What the hell?" Turney asks, "What is it? What is going on?" Lucky speaks out, "I wonder what Jerry wants?" " I don't know." I say. "Daunte." I command into the intercom, "Pull up beside him." "Yes sah." is the response. Our two tanks are now stopped side by side sitting like old friends meeting again. He stands half out of hatch with white handkerchief in hand. He bears the black uniform of an SS tanker. Upon his shoulders is the rank of the German equivalent to Major. Oh no its the SS!
I pop open my hatch and rise out, his face looks as though he had seen a ghost. He has probably never seen a coloured tanker before. I shout across to him for he is only a seven feet away jutting out of his perspective turret. "What do you want Fritz?" I ask sternly. He replies in a thick accent but clear english, " A truce." "A truce? Why?" I ask bluntly. He looks at me dead in the eyes with a serious face and says," There is something in these woods American. It attacked your patrol last night and it harassed my men this morning." "What do you mean?" I ask inquisitively. He replies," We heard the horrified screams of your comrades last night. Whatever it is, it is not natural." "What do you mean we?" I ask. With a wave of this hand, suddenly dozens of camouflaged German soldiers step out of the tree line. My God there must have been twenty of them lying in wait. They step out of the clearing, weapons in hand. Suddenly another tank burst through the tree line. This one is a Stug 3, It boxy shape and lack of a turret betray its features. It has a long stationary cannon that protrudes from its front side, It's hull is heavily camouflaged. They had a whole ambush waiting on us!
The radio buzzes to life again, "Smith, what the hell is going on over there?" Asks Captain Davis sternly. I pick up the radio mic and reply, " I don't know Cap, but you might what to come up here. Fritz wants a truce."
Soon our soldiers and two tanks slowly emerge from the tree line. We all freeze standing there in the field, nervously eyeing on another. Tensions are high as adversaries meet.
Suddenly movement catches my eye at the forest edge to my far right. Then suddenly two large figures burst through brush and quickly approach at speeds that are unthinkable. "What the hell is that thing?!" A soldiers yell from our side. I am shock for I truly don't know myself. They now tower over the German soldiers, who are to terrified to move. As they stop I get a better look at them.
The two figures stand at least ten feet tall, and are covered in thick black fur. They stand on what appears to be strong muscular hind legs. They have the head of a wolf that is twice the size of a mans, snarling with large fangs. Their heads sit on a large muscular neck. The arms are almost as long as their bodies, coming down below the thigh. A the the end of those arms are furry hands with sharp claws that must have at least six inch nails. I stand petrified as we all do.
They stand over the two German soldiers when suddenly one reaches down in a fowl swoop and snatches one soldier. He screams terrified as the wolf like being quickly sinks his fangs into his victims neck. Blood pours every where as the wolf being drops to all fours and violently shakes this prey. The white snow below is splashed with bright red blood. We still stand in shock and awe as the creature violently brutalizes the man. His screaming stops as the creature rips his head from his neck. Blood covers the creatures fur. The second soldier screams and tries to run but it is of no use. The second creature has stabbed him in the back with its claws. In a slow movement, the creature raises him up and has him dangling in the air. His pained terrified screaming fills the woods. In a quick motion, the creature takes his second claw and tears the man in two. I look on horrified as the creature throws his torso, with blood and entrails trailing behind it, and his lower half in the two directions. His body travels a distance before it is landed in the snow, his screams still sounds though quieter than before.
The creatures then look to us as though they were showing us an example of their abilities to produce horrible carnage. A voice yells out, "Open fire!" The sounds of gunfire erupts as light and heavy weapons target the vicious creatures. Soon German weapons open up and the sound of MG42s ripple along with the heavy hammering of Browning 50 calibers. The sounds and rifles firing and bolt clacking echo. The chattering of submachine guns can be heard among the violent symphony. Green and red tracers spray the creatures. They drop to all fours and quickly recede into the forest. A soon as it started, the firing stops. What the hell was that!
Then suddenly more petrified screams fill the air on our side far down the line, Its the tank Trouble Maker. Three creatures stand on top of it causing the tank to sink into the ground. I watch the tank commander Willis wildly shoot this service pistol in an effort to ward the creatures off. It is to no avail, and we watch in pure horror as the creatures, with a strength incomprehensible, rip the turret from the hull. The sounds of screams and the screech of tearing metal rings out. They throw the turret onto the ground, it lands upside down, Willis crushed beneath it. More petrified screams ring out. The gears grind and spit earth as the panicking driver tries to speed away, but it is no use, the weight of the creatures hold the tank into place. They tear into the hull with their claws as though it were aluminum. They rip the gunner from his position and eviscerate him with their claws before discarding him violently. Blood and entrails litter the tank hull. The third beast tears into the front sloped plate and creates a large hole of jagged metal, the sound of metal tearing hurts my ears. It then violently pulls out the driver, he bleeds profusely from lacerations. The beast holds him suspended by the throat for a minute. Bright red blood pours down the metal slope of the front plate and drips down staining the white snow below. The beast then throws his captive airborne. The driver is slammed into a nearby tree with such a force that I am certain it snapped his spine.
Suddenly gunshots sound and then a cascade of gunfire erupts. I get on the M2 Browning that is in front of my hatch and swing it as far right as it will go. I aim for the creatures and press the trigger. The weapon hammers out a steady fast bam! Bam! Bam! My red tracers soon join the others as bullets ping and ricochet of the metal hull. The creatures retreat with some speed and the firing stops.
Captain Davis shouts, "Form a perimeter!"
Soon our men are scrambling to create a defensive circle around us. The German Major barks orders in his laungauge to his troops. They begin to form the left side of the circle, us Americans the right. Then German Major then shouts orders down his hatch and the panther tank sharply turns left and takes a position behind a wall of men. Captain Davis tank turns to the right holds a similar position. Men of both nationalities lie prone in the snow, weapons and machine guns ready, and watch the tree line.
Turney shouts up to me," What the hell is going on out there?" I forgot they couldn't see, they missed the whole spectacle. "Something just attacked us." I reply.
"Something big." Lucky chimes in, he must have witnessed a little bit of the debacle. "Like what?" asks Sammy. "I don't know." I reply still in shock "But it wasn't natural."