9: San Giorgio 1
"You need to clean it this way, or it will jam. Always remember to keep your weapon as clean as possible; any delay will give your enemies a chance to attack first," John explained carefully. Raven looked at the parts of the weapon she had taken from the first man she killed and nodded, barely managing to remember everything he had said so far.
"Understood?" John asked, and she simply nodded. John smiled but furrowed his brow at the same time, then shouted louder.
"I said, understood?!"
Raven was taken by surprise by the shout but quickly raised her hand and gave the characteristic soldier's salute that John had shown her.
"Yes, sir!"
"Fine. Now reassemble it," John ordered, making Raven look at the weapon parts. Everything she was supposed to have remembered suddenly seemed mixed up and confusing.
John watched her fumble with the pieces and start reassembling the weapon. He looked up and saw Franco approaching, seemingly bringing news, so he decided to walk over to the man.
"Training the recruit, Captain?" Franco asked with a smile, remembering his old days in the army.
"Just making sure she knows everything she needs to," John replied. Raven could defend herself using the muscle memory copied from other bodies, but only that. She still lacked much of the necessary knowledge to be an adequate soldier. Fortunately, John had learned enough for both of them and was now showing her. He couldn't teach her everything in just a few hours, of course, so he focused on some basic and important things.
He hoped to teach her more over time.
"Seems quite good at it," Franco said, and John turned to see Raven skillfully assembling the weapon as if she had done it many times before. Anyone else might have been fooled, but John noticed how her eyes still held a hint of confusion as she did it.
That girl... she was cheating.
"I suppose so. Changing the subject, is there something important?" John quickly got to the point, the dawn was coming after all.
franco returned to his senses and quickly nodded seriously.
"The reinforcements will be here soon."
It seemed the time had come.
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Nicola looked at the old Bruneck castle. Many years ago, when he was just a child, he had visited the place with his family. Back then, the sight was astonishing; it was an ancient, well-preserved building that spoke of times when fantasy seemed not far from reality, and where children could play around it, imagining they were in a fairy tale.
Now... now the castle was stained, its walls riddled with bullet holes and barricades covering its old walls. The marks of fire had blackened its once white color, and he could even see bloodstains still covering the ground.
It seemed that fairy tales had died. He laughed bitterly, but he did not feel depressed, because even if the scenery was unattractive, today, more than any other day, he felt that fantasy had become reality. He took a step forward and extended his hand, looking into the blue-green eyes of the man they called Captain America.
"It is a pleasure to meet you, Captain. I've heard a lot about you."
The man smiled, an honest smile that Nicola had rarely seen, and shook his hand firmly.
"It's good to see you here," he said, looking at the more than one hundred men behind Nicola.
Nicola smiled. "A battle like this, we would never lose, Captain." Nicola was not the first; before him, other teams of the resistance had arrived at the castle.
There were small teams, with only a dozen men, and there were large ones, with a hundred or more.
By midday, the resistance army stationed at Bruneck Castle had grown to more than a thousand men.
Franco, Nicola, Lorenzo, and Marcello were the names of the four leaders with the most "recognition." There were other leaders, but once everyone had gathered, they ceded control of their men to those they respected, namely, the four mentioned above.
In the main room of Bruneck Castle, the four leaders, along with their trusted men and John, gathered. Maps were spread out on a long table, and they began planning the upcoming battle.
"Without a doubt, some of them will be waiting for us at San Giorgio. We must be careful, as they might have received reinforcements," John pointed out on the map.
"In that case, wouldn't it be better to take the route towards Villa Santa Caterina? If we take that path, we could surprise them by attacking from behind," one of the men suggested, but Marcello disagreed.
Marcello was a middle-aged man, tall but with a noticeable belly and a thick, unkempt beard that did little to hide the scars on his face.
"They have maps too, you Idiot!. They'll clearly know they can be flanked and will be prepared if we go that way. What we need to do is attack from both directions. We have enough men for a pincer maneuver. While half of us enter through San Giorgio, the other half should attack via the Santa Caterina route," he indicated the other path on the map, one less traveled due to its indirect route.
"Divide our forces? We don't know how many men they have. They could have received reinforcements from the borders! Besides, that path is more convoluted; if our troops go that way, it will take much longer to arrive. I think the best option is to attack directly from the front, so we can ensure a direct retreat route if necessary," Lorenzo spoke up. He was an elderly man missing an eye, with a thin build but a firm voice.
"Both of you make valid points, but you're forgetting one thing: in this battle there are not only normal soldiers," John said, smiling as they looked at him.
"You should advance from the front, draw their attention, and turn this into an attack-and-defense fight, making them believe they're in a direct battle. Meanwhile, I'll take a small group of men through Villa Santa Caterina. That way, the path will be quicker. We'll enter stealthily and then strike where they least expect it."
It was risky because no one knew how many Nazi soldiers might be stationed along the Villa Santa Caterina route. But if it was Captain America doing it...
"I can follow that plan," Franco said, being the only leader of the four who had seen John in direct action. He had great confidence in his abilities.
Franco's trusted men nodded in agreement, and the other three leaders looked at each other. Although they hadn't seen John in action, they had heard a lot about him. If it was him... They remained silent for a moment, looking at each other and reaching a tacit agreement. They decided to trust John.
"Alright, we'll attack from the front," they all nodded in agreement.
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Werner Kesselring spat on the ground as he gazed into the distance through his binoculars. It had been approximately 20 hours since they lost Brunico to a bunch of peasants with stolen weapons, no less.
Such humiliation would have given the Major at the Bruneck base a heart attack if he hadn't been killed during the previous battle...
This loss was not something they would accept easily. The Generalmajor stationed at the Sand in Taufers base had ordered reinforcements from Uttenheim to rush to their aid; they needed to clear the way to Bolzano soon.
The first to arrive were a series of Panzer tanks along with a new battalion of 500 men. With them and the little more than 250 men who had managed to retreat to San Giorgio, they now had almost 800 soldiers.
It might seem like a small number unless you considered the thousands of men fighting against the Allied army on the Austrian borders. In Sand in Taufers alone, a division of fifteen thousand men was being prepared, with their numbers increasing daily.
The German army was preparing for a full assault on northern Italy soon, and while it might appear that there were not enough men, they did not need them.
Not now that in their hands they carried weapons beyond the imagination of their enemies.
Werner looked at the "tank" in the distance. The dark metal beast differed from conventional designs. Though based on the successful Panzer model, its structure was more robust, and the cannon was much thicker and shorter, making it the largest tank Werner had ever seen.
Looking at the logo on the side of the vehicle, he couldn't help but scoff a bit. It seemed that after many years, Hydra was finally starting to show its usefulness.
With these "Hydra Uber tanks" and the new weapons brought by the reinforcements, it didn't matter even if their enemies had three times their numbers. The Third Reich's army would emerge victorious no matter what.
Even if that stupid circus monkey they called Captain America interfered.
Werner's hand couldn't help but tremble slightly as he remembered the scenes from the previous battle. He gritted his teeth and gripped the new type of weapon he had received more firmly. He had been one of the few lucky enough to get one.
Feeling the weight of the sturdy-looking rifle that emitted a faint blue light, he couldn't help but feel much more confident than before. Something like that wouldn't happen again. No matter how strong this "super soldier" was, it would only take one shot, and his body would turn to ashes like any other man.
He just hoped he would be the one to deliver the final blow.
As he fantasized about it, the sound of the alert brought him back to reality immediately. He quickly raised his binoculars to find the enemy, but before he could see anything, a bullet pierced his head cleanly.
His body fell to the ground, and another German soldier approached, excitedly taking the weapon from his hands and assuming his place, preparing for the battle.
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The Partisan resistance began their attack without hesitation, utilizing the terrain and remaining buildings to their advantage. With their spirits at their highest, the men of Italy fought with all their might, immediately drawing the attention of the German army with their fierce entry.
The more than a thousand men split to surround the base from the front, initiating an "urban" battle throughout San Giorgio. The once peaceful village was engulfed once again in the flames of war.
Their siege was met with a barrage of bullets that cut through their path. The German army used their defensive advantage to prevent their enemies from advancing further, employing strategic positions to stall the resistance's initial momentum, causing a momentary stalemate between both sides.
Nicola flicked the safety off the grenade in his hand and without hesitation, threw it directly towards an enemy barricade. The explosive soared through the air, but before it could travel halfway to its destination, it was intercepted by a shot, causing it to explode prematurely.
Nicola crouched down and swiftly changed position, moving adeptly to avoid being hit by enemy bullets.
Of the four leaders, Nicola was the shortest in stature, which always gave him an advantage that he seized whenever possible. Many said he was like a rodent skulking through the rubble; he believed he was more like a snake.
After all, his bite was quite lethal.
Quickly and stealthily, he approached the enemy barricade and without hesitation, emerged from his hiding spot with his weapon raised high. The German soldiers didn't see him in time, and a hail of bullets rained down on them, ending their lives swiftly.
"Let's go!" Nicola shouted to his men, who emerged from their hiding spots and began to advance.
It was time to show the Reich a little Italian wrath.
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Note:
Due to certain circumstances when I wrote this chapter I ended up making it shorter than I would like, still don't worry! the next one returns to a normal length :D
The next update of SuperSoldier is now available on Patreon (patreon.com/EmmaCruzader) If you don't want to wait for a public update, you can take a look at it n.n
Leave me your comments, suggestions, and criticisms. You know I read everything and take it into account for future chapters.