Bridge on the River Merderet

[⊕ Owen Pearson]

OOC: New personal best for length...3 pages and a little bit.

Almost as soon as the pair reached the bottom floor of the building, Liir posed the question on both of their minds, “Why in the hell would that Lieutenant have sent us down here?” as he looked out of the window and saw the view they had.

“Well, I thought it was obvious,” Owen said attracting a quizzical look from his companion. Continuing more sarcastically he said, “I mean, just look at the lack of altitude, view, or any real targets. Don’t forget the fact that we would be the first to go if someone decided to barge in here.”

Liir started to laugh, but caught himself and gave a slight smile before saying, a more pitying, “What can we do about it though? We were given an order to come down here”

“Yeah, from the same man who told those men to run across the bridge, and you can see how that worked out for him. Come on now, we are headed upstairs, so that the death count for our side won’t go up.” Owen motioned towards Liir who followed although showing a slight reluctance, but knowing that the logic was right for them to move up. They went up the first set of stairs, Owen going first and Liir following behind him.

Almost as soon as they got up one floor, the Sergeant that had been stationed there yelled at them, “What are you doing up here? I know for a fact that you were stationed one floor down. You were given an order, stick to it.” The sergeant obviously was quite peeved with the fact that the two were not going to be doing what they were told to by a commanding officer.

Owen made sure to formulate his reply carefully, to call the orders extremely stupid in the most eloquent way possible. “I’m sorry but I am not able to follow these commands, sir. They have been poorly constructed and will limit us in defense from the Axis forces.”

“Poorly constructed or not, they are your orders,” stated the Sergeant coming up to Owen’s face and puffing out his chest slightly, affirming his position of authority over Owen.

Owen continued the argument with the man far to close to him. Trying to match the tone that he was being given, Owen came back stating, “These orders are coming from the same man that has now killed most of your force and disabled your vehicle. His judgment before this was off, but now that he has their bodies on his mind, I can only expect that it would be worse.” Pausing for a moment as the Sergeant backed off a little, Owen came back with a slightly harsher tone, “Now, we are going to be moving into a better location, whether you like it or not. I will do whatever I can to prevent us from having anymore of our team dying here, and I suggest that you do the same.”

Grabbing Liir’s shoulder, he brought the two into the room on that level. To the now speechless Sergeant he firmly said, “Good day to you, sir” accenting the “sir” with the sound of the door closing a little more forcefully than what would be normal behind him.

The two moved quickly, but cautiously once getting into the room, Liir moving first to the southern window and looking out to make sure that there was no one in sight who would try to take them out as they went through. Owen went to the east-facing window once given clearance by Liir to get there. Owen double-checked his gun to make sure it was ready for the next shot, as he had stupidly forgotten to reset the bolt last time, he didn’t want any mistakes, he was already on the chopping block for demotion for what he had just done to get here.

Almost perfectly straight out of the window, Owen was able to see a member of the Axis forces standing right out in the open. The man’s focus was directed to the floors above Owen, which had more men at their windows, giving Owen a nice easy shot. As soon as he was done setting himself up in the new position, he positioned the crosshairs on the head of the man. Expelling then holding his breath, Owen pulled the trigger down sending one bullet towards the man. Owen kept steady for a short moment before resetting the bolt, taking a breath, and preparing for a second shot. He looked back through the scope at the man, quickly assessed the effectiveness of the previous shot, and prepared to take more if needed for either that man, or another stupid enough to check on the body.

While he returned to normal breathing, he looked back towards the building directly across the river, scanning the windows for enemies. He saw a man looking out from a familiar location, quickly getting the scope centered over the man’s upper torso, Owen went through the fast routine of expelling breath then taking a steady shot at the man who was standing in the northmost window on the second story of the west facing side. Once the shot went off, Owen quickly reset the bolt and looked back through the scope, taking a quick breath and breathing that out before holding it back again as he put his eye to the scope to see the man. He was prepared to take a shot on the same location again, but if it wasn’t needed, he would refrain and return to normal breathing.

Looking back to the right, firing started from the other side, he saw a flash just behind two trees that blocked his view of the first and second floors of a building on the other side of the river. After assessing his personal safety from the gun, Owen decided that, unless the user of the gun wasted enough ammo to take the tops off of both trees, he was completely safe for the moment in his current location.

Turning further towards the south, he was startled slightly when firing started to come from that direction. Quickly, he turned towards the source of the cacophony of bullets and was met with the sight of the opposing forces having taken the crippled halftrack that had been left out by the bridges, only visible due to trees reaching up to a peak just below the height of his windowsill. Taking a cue from a man who took out a large force by killing starting at the back to avoid the deceased being noticed, Owen lined up the crosshairs of the scope on the head of the man seated furthest from his own location, expelled the air from his own lungs, and pulled down on the trigger. Owen quickly reset the bolt and moved the scope back onto the halftrack. Although he could take out the next one in from the back on the way up, he quickly lined up the gun on the largest threat to his well-being, the gunner, in the assumption that if the last shot had gone correctly, the man next to him wouldn’t notice until the gunner was taken out. Moving the crosshairs over the largest visible area of the man, he fired a shot towards the person, then reset the bolt and used the same routine for the last of the men he could see inside the vehicle aiming for the chest, as it would provide the most room for error due to the quick secession between targets and the possibility that the man could move, upon noticing the treat to his person.

Resetting the blot and returning to breathing patterns, he looked back at the location, waiting to see another movement in the halftrack, ready to fire again. He waited a few extra moments, as this gun could cause major problems for them. As he was waiting, Liir spoke to him with urgency, “I have a few things you need to see.” Upon hearing this, Owen backed away from the window and moved over to the window Liir was presently looking out from, just above the ledge.

Owen, on his way over to the window, asked Liir, “What is the problem out there?” expecting that it must be a large approach of troops, as that would be an obvious distraction.

As Owen got to the window Liir summarized what he was able to see, “There appears to be a wildfire that has started to the south of our location which could be a problem, but more importantly, if you look up there,” he made a gesture towards the sky to the south east, “you will see that there is a plane that is coming down.”

The plane appeared to have suffered a major wound in a nearby battle, and was down a pilot that had already bailed from the aircraft, sending it towards the battle. It lost altitude quickly, and hit on the other side of the river, and although the pair could not see it, they could hear the sounds of impact wash over the area. Moments later bells had begun to ring loudly, giving them fulfillment as to the vessel’s ending location. The reverberations of the impact were making their way across the battlefield. Men began to fire again after the brief interruption, and Owen followed along with this heading back to the east-facing window.

When he got to the window, after a check of the full range of surroundings, he focused his attention on two important areas, the building of which contained the gunner who he could not see due to trees across the river, in hopes the man would revel himself, and the building directly across from the one he was now in, as many men had been showing themselves in and around the location.


Clean

Movement

[Edward"Butcher"McMillan]

Moderation Post:

The following actions have been made:

- Making an all to good point, Owen was allowed his move by the Sergeant...although at a cost, with a good many of the remaining men within ear shot, they are wondering as well if their leader is capable of his job.

- Add in three MGs to a blatant act of insubordination, although logical, next to no morale and you have yourself a nice cluster fuck.

- Owen was able to take his first shot with no hinderance, with the bulk of the enemy fire located away from his position he was able to set up with fairly no problems, which also aided in the success of his first shot...which hit slightly low, crashing through the enemy soldier's lower jaw, severing his carotid and then glancing off his spine on the way out (his head being slightly turned to look down his own sights [he's dead Nathan])

- As Owen lined up for his second shot things changed...a lot...and really fast. Panic would be a good word for it.

- What was left of a fighting spirit in the Allies has now snapped.

- Screaming their own personal opinions on the way out the door in whatever fashion these men would given whatever personality traits they had has sparked the fuse, EVERY Allied PVT has now decided that they would rather be judged by twelve than carried by six...or be left in the Axis hands as a corpse.

- The PVTs have rallied in the far rear of the combat area to make sure that everyone is ok to travel, Strange your SGT has remained with you out of loyalty, as has Liir remained with you Owen but the thought is on everyone's mind.

- They aren't gone yet, but you guys need something just short of a miracle to get them back in this fight.

- The bell tower is still slowly being engulfed in flames.

img255.imageshack.us/img255/1266/theriver7.png

- After looking at my map I forgot to mark the German PVT that bit the bullet, please take that into account during the next post.

Next Post: Erik

-JT

[∬: Erik Schneider]

OOC: 7 pages and a bit. Strange, prepare for death. Owen, you will be spared if you are alive when we reach you. Long post. The map has been split into floor clearing sections to show how the men progress through the floors. Look for outline if you need more explanation JT. Sorry for dropping such a big post on you, want this battle done.

Initial Attack

Floor 2 Assault

Floor 2 Clearing- Move to Floor 3

Floor 4 Assault

Floor 4 Clearing

Clean


The loud, booming voice of the marksman pierced through the wooden floorboards. Reichmann spotted the flawless bridge crossing to the south and how Luther's men had managed to capture the enemy's halftrack. . Schneider grinned deviously, before he called for Holtzmann, deciding to give Jager some rest this time. A breather would be needed for the runner, before any moves were made against the American's position. The strong, silent type of a man acknowledged his superior and cautiously moved across the room.

"Sie sind mein Läufer, während Jager stillsteht. Sie werden nicht überall laufen und gerade legen werden eine Mitteilung neu. Wir werden über die Brücke unter Rauch und schweres unterdrückendes Feuer umziehen. Der Feind wird zerschlagen und geschlagen, jetzt bilden wir sie Niederlage unter dem Druck einer prachtvollen deutschen Gebühr. Entdeckung eine von Luther' s-Männer zum Süden. Lassen Sie ihn Aufträge zu Luther neu legen, um schweres Feuer niederzulegen, sobald der Rauch oben ist. Das selbe geht für eben erworben .30 cal. Dann wünsche ich Sie Unteroffizer Erbert informieren, dass er seine Männer sammeln und über der Brücke mit uns voranbringen wird. "

Holtzmann nodded, but had a strange look upon his face. When Schneider questioned the man, he simply muttered, "Was über die Fläche?" The Obersturmfuhrer had forgotten the flaming plane that had nearly knocked the bell tower down only moments before. He considered sending the man to investigate, but decided against it. It would cause a slow-down in his plans and the pilot was most likely dead anyway. "Stören Sie nicht mit der Fläche, Holtzmann. Jedermann, das unten wie das ging, ist, leider tot. Diese Fläche ist vorläufig gefährlich. Wir können sie Amerikaner ablenken und sie beschäftigen lassen, nachdem wir die andere Seite des Flusses halten. Ist das, Holtzmann frei?" The Schutze nodded, passing a cheerful Jager who rested against the stairs. Barbarossa was next on the to do list.

"Barbarossa! Erhalten Sie Slägeners Aufmerksamkeit für mich. Ich muss mit ihm sprechen." The Engineer was poking his head over the halftrack only moments later, his hand quickly reaching up to catch the gentle toss of a smoke canister. "Wir kreuzen die Brücke, Slagener. Ich benötige Ihre Unterstützung. Erhalten Sie einen guten, genauen Wurf unten auf der anderen Seite der Brücke, nahe dem Gebäude. Ich wünsche ihre Ansicht außerhalb der Fenster blockiert werden, also können wir freie Ansicht der Brücke haben und wo wir treten. Warten Sie, dass meine Aufträge, um mit Ihrem Kameraden zu werfen und voranbringen, wenn der Rauch füllt. Wir folgen." Slagener nodded, turning back into the doorway to inform the Schutze of the plan.

It wasn't long until Holtzmann was back beside Schneider's side with new information. He had given the orders to Unteroffizer Ebert fairly easily, the Sergeant now gathering his men in the North for a bridge crossing maneuver. He had also gotten the attention of Luther's radioman to the south, who heard his shouts and calls. The radioman was on his way to Luther and then the river bank to inform the two machine guns what was going down. Everything was going smoothly. "Reichmann! Erklären Sie mir wenn dieses radioman, Faust, Relais die Aufträge zum Halftrack über dem Fluss. " Jawohl passed through the floorboards now and Schneider glanced over to Barbarossa, who was already struggling to get his MG aimed to the right and high enough to hit the second floor of the building.

Schneider had the other three Schutzes gather outside the rear of the building, while he chatted with the wounded man. "Ich bin traurig, Sie allein zu lassen. Ich verspreche Sie, dass ich zurück mit meinen Männern innerhalb fünf Minuten mit dem Kopf des bastard dieser Schuß Sie bin. Reichmann ist ein Fußboden, oben wenn Sie alles benötigen. Hier haben Sie den Rest dieser Schokolade. " The wounded man chuckled at his remark and thanked him for the other half of the chocolate, which he slowly began to unwrap and place in his mouth. Reichmann shouted that the radioman just got his orders across the river and was moving back inside. "Ich bin traurig, Sie allein zu lassen. Ich verspreche Sie, dass ich zurück mit meinen Männern innerhalb fünf Minuten mit dem Kopf des bastard dieser Schuß Sie bin. Reichmann ist ein Fußboden, oben wenn Sie alles benötigen. Hier haben Sie den Rest dieser Schokolade. "

The sound of Reichmann moving upstairs was yes enough. "Slagener! Entfalten Sie den Rauch!" The Obersturmfuhrer was moving by the time he ordered the man, being careful as he walked outside to not further injure his bruised bone. Across the way, Ebert was holding his thumb up to show that the smoke was properly filled or close to filling. Schneider waved his arm and roared for the men to move. Setting off quickly to move into cover behind the trees, the men could hear the sounds of gunfire. Two bolt rifles were going off. Reichmann taking a shot across the street at an exposed soldier on the second floor and the radioman was doing his best to hit anything on the second floor. Three MGs gathered in as well, laying heavy fire down on the sniper's last known position. Barbarossa struggled to at least hit the second floor, Luther practically tore the walls of the second floor, and the .30 CAL fired high into the fourth floor before bringing its fire down to the second floor. By the time Schneider reached the trees at a light jog, carefully taking pressure off his left leg, most of the men were already moving to the bridge.

Schneider settled down at the beginning of the bridge and laid down some covering fire along the second floor of the building as his men moved into the smoke. He was careful to aim further away and over his men, who by now were moving to the left past a small crater at the edge of the bridge. Running out of ammo, Schneider continued his light jog into the smoke, careful not to trip upon the bridge's rubble. The Obersturmfuhrer, arrived inside by the time his men had already moved into the first floor, led by their Unteroffizer. Miraculously, the first floor was completely deserted. It was possible they had retreated, but Schneider was certain there was still men on the upper floors. Perhaps, they moved up away from the ground level.

"Lassen Sie uns dieses schnell beenden. Bleiben Sie auf vollem Alarm, wir wissen nicht, wohin die Feiglinge gegangen sind. Zwei Männer passen den Süden auf und zwei Männer passen den Norden auf. Ebert führt die Weise herauf die Treppe, hinter einer Granate, gefolgt von mir und dann von Slagener. Holtzmann, Jager und Groger sind Sie hinter uns folgend. Frankfurter führt eine Gebühr vom Süden, also schießt nicht auf Anblick, wenn Sie Bewegung zum Süden sehen."

Unscrewing the cap off a stick grenade, Schneider pointed for Ebert to move to the stairs. He did so, aiming his MP40 towards the top of the stairwell in case anyone lay in wait. Schneider followed behind after they were certain no one lay in wait at the top and prepped the grenade by pulling a small porcelain ball for two seconds. He tossed the grenade upwards and to the right, to prevent any shrapnel hitting the two men at the bottom. A few moments after the grenade exploded, Ebert was up the stairs like a mad man letting a spray of MP40 bullets off to his right to clear the room. Schneider followed a slower pace, but got up the stairs fairly well and scanned the room for any survivors. A dead American lay on the ground struggling from his wounds. Schneider let off a burst of bullets to the man's head and ended his misery while Slagener advanced up the stairs behind him and Ebert reloaded.

Holding up in the room and watching the door, Schneider silently ordered the two to wait for the explosion. The three Schutzes now made their way up the stairs and fell into the rear of the room, waiting in patient silence. To the south, Frankfurter was making a mad dash behind the cover of trees while his Schutze provided covering fire. The .30 CAL and MG42 were still pumping off some light fire as well, but were beginning to end their fire. Frankfurter, who had already had the cap of the grenade unscrewed and ready to go, pulled the small porcelain ball. Advancing from his cover behind a tree, he chucked it up into a window on the second floor, making sure it went in. As soon as he had, he was welcomed inside by two Schutzes andwaited for the other Schutze to follow him inside.

The grenade exploded inside the room and Schneider shouted for Ebert to charge. Slagener watched the stairs to the third floor, covering their flank as did so. Schneider moved across the room slower again, due to his bruised bone. He reached the door after the Unteroffizer had already gotten it open and charged inside, littering anyone in site with MP40 bullets. Schneider followed his point man in again, aiming at the wounded man and preparing to shoot if needed. The three Schutzes followed in behind. "Streifen Sie sie von allen möglichen Waffen ab und schützen Sie sie. Ebert, das an ich Ihr ist. We' Reüberschrift für den dritten Stock. Dieses Mal, wir won' t bilden solch einen Knall, der steigt."

Again the floor clearing maneuver was executed by the three men. Ebert rushed up the stairs with no grenade support this time, checking the top and side of the stairs with his MP40. His finger on the trigger ready to go. It was peaceful this time and Schneider followed up easily with Slagener closely behind them. Pulling off his second grenade, he unscrewed the cap. Slagener kept his eye on the fourth set of stairs, while Ebert slowly moved into place at the bottom checking the top floor out from behind his sights. Schneider moved past the Unteroffizer and pulled the ball out of the grenade, before chucking it up to the stairs to the right. The grenade exploded and Ebert charged up the stairs, letting out a spray of MP40 might across the room as he went. Again, Schneider and Slagener moved up the stairs and checked for any survivors.

Slagener set up to the rear of the room, keeping his eye on the last door and any wounded soldiers lying around. Ebert, a fresh third clip of ammo in his MP40, charged the door and fired as soon as he got in. His first bullets impacted near the window, before he shifted to his left and moved into the next section of the room. Schneider, who had waited by the door, made a smooth turn into the room and laid down some fire through the wall. The Sergeant finished up the next room and its occupants with the rest of his MP40 ammo. The house had been secured easily.

The wounded Second Lieutenant was stripped of his weapons, the Unteroffizer and Engineer watching him carefully. Knifes, pistols, SMGs were all taken off the man before he was violently thrown to the floor. His wounds were ignored as Schneider set his Stg44 on a table away from the scene. The Sergeant took his foot off the man's chest, only to have Schneider replace it with greater force. Ebert's MP40 barrel was aimed directly on the pitiful excuse for an officer's face, while Slagener watched from a reasonable distance. Ever so slowly, Schneider removed his bayonet from it's sheath flashing a sparkle of light off it's blade and into the American's eye. "Sie schauen jüdisch. Sind Sie jüdisch? Das würde diese horrid Schande erklären, die Sie einen Kampf benannten. Sie nicht sogar verdienen zu leben, Schweine."

The Obersturmfuhrer spat in the man's face, taunting him in his final hour. "Sie erblassen im Vergleich zu Kapitän Patterson. Sie sind in der gleichen Maßeinheit, Nr.? Die dritte Infanteriedivision? Seien Sie sicher, ihn zu erinnern, den ich nicht diesen Tag in Afrika vergessen habe. Wenn Sie zur Hölle kommen, die ist. " Schneider slowly bent down over the man, resting his right over the man's shoulder and pushing his lower right leg into his gut. Stepping down on his left shoulder with his left foot, he was careful not to aggravate his bruised bone any further. He could bear the pain for a few minutes longer, having made it this far. "Ich zahle Ihnen etwas Respekt. Ihre Hundeplaketten dienen als Trophäe und ich bin ganz zu schweigen von zu viel Ihrer… schändlichen Taktiken sicher. Sie konnten etwas Ruhm im zukünftigen Leben, wenn nur für das Sterben durch meine Hände sogar erwerben. Immer ein Herr, sind I nicht Ebert? "

The Unteroffizer laughed lightly, but Schneider was done teasing his prey. Ebert had seen Schneider's glorious executions on many occasions, when it came down to it. When he captured a foe in combat he determined their fate by how they fought the battle. If they fought the battle poorly, like the poor Lieutenant on the floor, they were slaughtered. However, others who fought well were merely taken prisoner or, in rare events, set free. A type of sick warrior code Schneider had formed during his military service. His knife cut into the necklace holding the dogtags as he tore them from the man's neck and stuffed them into a breast pocket. Shortly afterward, he brought his knife down across the man's neck giving way to a flow of crimson blood.

Steadying his grip on the man by forcing his knife into Strange's gut, Schneider lifted his opponent off the bloodied floorboards and direct him towards a window. "Guter Tag. " The gentle whisper brought an aggressive tug on the knife as Schneider ripped it out and thrust the man back, through the window. As Schneider did so, he muttered under his breath "For JT." The silent words for a man who was killed by a certain Captain Patterson of the 3ID. Adrian Theodore Jaeger, who was often referred as JT by his friends. The revenge was swift, malicious, and deadly. The glass shattered in a beautiful effect and with it, the officer fell four stories to his death at the base of the bridge.

Glancing over the edge, Schneider watched as a Schutze strolled out the door and glanced at the American's bloody. Bloodied and littered with glass, the Second Lieutenant would die on the Bridge over the River Merderet that way. Schneider turned to face the two men. "Dass Sieg leicht erworben wurde, aber, nichtsdestoweniger erwarb. Lassen Sie uns für die Verteidigung der Brücke sich vorbereiten. " Grabbing his Stg44 off the table, he slowly headed towards the stairs to prepare for the defense of Merderet.

Translations:

- "You are my runner while Jager rests. You will not be running anywhere, just relaying a message. We will be moving across the bridge under smoke and heavy suppressive fire. The enemy is battered and beaten, now we will make them rout under the pressure of a glorious German charge. Find one of Luther's men to the South. Have him relay orders to Luther, to lay down heavy fire on the second floor once the smoke is up. The same goes for the newly acquired .30 CAL. Have Frankfurter lead a charge on the sniper's position when he confirms we have taken the first floor. Then, I want you to inform Unteroffizer Erbert that he will be rallying his men and advancing across the bridge with us."

- "What about the plane?"

- "Do not bother with the plane, Holtzmann. Anyone who went down like that is dead, unfortunately. That plane is dangerous for the time being. We can allow it to distract Americans and deal with it after we hold the other side of the river. Is that clear, Holtzmann?"

- "Barbarossa! Get Slägener 's attention for me. I need to speak with him."

- "We are crossing the bridge, Slagener. I will need your assistance. Get a good, accurate throw down on the other side of the bridge, near the building. I want their view outside the windows to be blocked, so we may have clear view of the bridge and where we step. Wait for my orders to throw and advance with your comrade when the smoke fills. We will follow."

- "Reichmann! Tell me when that radioman, Faust, relays the orders to the halftrack across the river."

- "I am sorry to leave you alone. I promise you I will be back with my men within five minutes with the head of the bastard that shot you. Reichmann will be a floor above if you need anything. Here, have the rest of this chocolate."

- "Good. Reichmann, move back to the stairs. When the smoke goes up, see if you got any shots across the way. Do not worry with the left of the building, the machine guns will deal with that."

- "Slagener! Deploy the smoke!"

- "Let us finish this quickly. Stay on full alert, we do not know where the cowards have gone. Two men watch the south and two men watch the north. Ebert will lead the way up the stairs, behind a grenade, followed by me and then Slagener. Holtzmann, Jager, and Groger you will be following behind us. Frankfurter will lead a charge from the south, so do not shoot on sight if you see movement to the south."

- "Strip them of any weapons and guard them. Ebert your on me. We're heading for the third floor. This time, we won't make such a bang going up."

- "You look Jewish. Are you Jewish? That would explain this horrid disgrace you called a fight. You don't even deserve to live, swine."

- "You pale in comparison to Captain Patterson. You are in the same unit, no? The Third Infantry Division? Be sure to remind him I have not forgotten that day in Africa. When you get to hell that is. "

- "I will pay you some respect. Your dog tags will serve as a trophy and I will be sure not to mention too much of your... disgraceful tactics. You might even earn some fame in the afterlife, if only for dying by my hands. Always a gentleman, are I not Ebert?"

- "Good day."

- "That victory was easily earned, but earned none the less. Let us prepare for the defense of the bridge."

Room Clearing:

1. First Floor is taken and spread out. Sergeant checks the staircase while Schneider tosses a grenade up. (Stranges Sgt is confirmed to be on 2nd Floor now). Ebert moves up after the grenade goes off and sprays anything he sees. Schneider and Slagener follow close behind, while the 3 Pvts come up a while later.

2. Frankfurter moves under his Pvts covering fire and throws a grenade at Owen. These two move inside to the first floor and take over there. Ebert opens the door after the grenade goes off and the three men clear it. 3 Pvts then hold these two prisoner.

3. The move two Floor 3 is quicker and less violent, as Ebert goes up with a slight burst of fire in case anyone is waiting.

4. Ebert checks the stairs upstairs and Schneider tosses a second grenade. Ebert moves after the grenade and sprays the room with fire. Schneider moves up with the Engie and help clear it. Prepare to breach second room.

5. Ebert goes in, spraying at Strange or anyone else he sees. Schneider moves in and lays down fire on the wall. Strange is killed.

[Edward"Butcher"McMillan]

Moderation Post:

For the record, I wanted to wait a few days to build some suspense...but there are enough battles lying around doing nothing

The following actions have been made:

- First things first...again, the Axis Half-Track has no line of sight on the building being targeted...one MG down on suppressive fire...made no difference though.

- Luther's weapon (at the end of this mod) is dry...no more bullets...makes you wonder, before you read on..."JT wouldn't put that in here if it didn't matter...is this really not over yet?" Oh it was a great plan to seal the end game, I'll give you that. The all too over done, they are weak, rush them and call it a day, usually works...well even...but not so much in this instance.

- Heavy amounts of enemy fire have once again befallen the Allied position...but guess who doesn't sit still when having the ever living crap shot out of their surroundings...no one. The Allies have moved to the third floor.

- Knowing they are out manned and out gunned, the remaining Allies still in the fight have opted out of firing back, they thought it best to try and get out of their enemy's cross-hairs for the moment.

- Oh but they did indeed see the Axis forces coming toward them in force...after all the wind is blowing north easterly...the smoke really didn't do that much given the height of the Allied soldiers.

- Feeling all too much like trapped rats as they realized going down was no longer an option the tried their best to take up a final position, an Alamo type deal if you will, if they were going out, they were doing so standing and fighting.

- Or were they?

- Also located on the third floor of the building they were thinking would be their graves is also a hole...in the wall...from German Indirect Fire Support...both in the front and in the back of the floor...just so happens the remainder of the building stops at the second floor...a bit of breaking down the very weakened wall and sliding through the gap, the Allies have found themselves a possible option instead of remaining to be rats.

- Their footsteps were not heard from the Axis forces below them as they were an entire floor away.

- Taking a moment to gather their thoughts the Allies on the rooftop have made such a move while remaining unknown to the entirety of the Axis forces. (Don't believe me? Check the lines, there is two floors of building between them and anyone else that could see them.)

- Strange, his pride more than hurt wanted to fight still, his own Sergeant cautioned him against such an idea and took his thoughts elsewhere...by removing his belt "Use this to make a rope and get the bloody hell out of here...SIR!" and the three remaining men followed suit, Strange a bit reluctant to take an order from a lesser ranked man, but the fact remained and the small group all knew it, they had to get away.

- Another explosion from inside hurried them along, fashioning together a safe way off the rooftop.

- As they made their way down the sounds of the enemy grew closer, two of the men made it down just fine, the third, Liir, made it about halfway before the hastily fashioned rope gave way and he fell a short distance to the ground, twisting an ankle in the process, his teammate, Owen, having been right there jumped to his side, covering the man's mouth rather quickly before they were all discovered.

- Strange looked up to the remaining man on the roof, his own Sergeant and motioned for the man to jump...the response...a shakingly half efforted salute that ended with the Sergeant turning and walking away from the edge, out of the line of sight of the men below. I'll buy you some time, don't waste my life as you have the rest of your men! the man thought as he stood next to the hole that had been their pathway to freedom.

- The Sergeant could hear German being spoken on the other side of the wall, took a deep breath and turned toward them as best he could and laid on the trigger of his SMG through the opening. Luckily for the German forces, one man was close enough to absorb most of the possible damage, Ebert, eight rounds, mostly center mass, he was dead when he hit his knees the next moment. The hail of gunfire that erupted from inside toward the shooter was nothing short of spectacular...the Allied Sergeant is dead as well.

- The rest of the German soldiers inside finished clearing the building (final grenade being used in the process) including checking the roof top. then made their way back to the ground floor...only to report that they only found one soldier and he was dead, having lost one of their own in the process.

- The Allies have all been grouped together once more (I'm freakin tired and don't want to make a map) they are all at the position with the rest of the Privates.

- The Germans are perplexed wondering where the heck their enemy has run off to.

Next Post: Strange

-JT

[Jonathan Strange]

(OOC: Map isn't necessary)

Strange silently lead his small band of survivors to the back end of the town. He didn't speak a word to anyone as his group met up with the deserters, he just moved toward the wall, his back to the men, and produced a small map of the surrounding area calculating his next move. Then one of them had the nerve...

"Where's sergeant Wilkerson?"

Strange was remained silent for a moment and then quietly slowly drew his side arm letting his arm hang loosely at his side while pulling back the hammer. Strange's voice started at a barely audible whisper ,"Don't you ever dare speak his name again." His voice quickly rose into a furious rasp. Strangely, there was no fire in his eyes. Just cold fury. "None of you cowards deserve to speak of him. Count yourselves lucky that I haven't shot all of you for desertion... but Wilkerson has died so that you don't have to." Strange was silent for another moment and stared emptily at his map. He'd been beaten, had his pride broken, and more importantly he had lost a good friend. He wanted to charge back into town and take out as many of those bastards as he could and receive a decent death like Wilkerson.

But, then Wilkerson would have died for nothing and that was worse than a bruised ego.

"We're pulling out of the town... will link of with the rest of the company and make another attempt to take the town tomorrow. I'm going to flatten this fucking place." With that Strange pushed his way through the crowd of men around him and trudged off to the west followed only by those who had betrayed him. The only honorably men lay in pools of there own blood scattered across the battlefield.

[Edward"Butcher"McMillan]

Moderation Post:

Gotta say guys, by far one of my favorite battles, I know it sucks losing men, but if you step back and read it from an outsider's perspective...you'd love it too.

The following stats are the end result:

AXIS VICTORY!

Schneider - 2 kills (by mine), no loses

Not a huge impact player but you provided constant heavy pressure on your enemy limiting their options...not to mention the pivotal placement of a mine. Could have done better had you used all your resources wisely (NPCs...I mean many of them sat around the entire battle) - 34CP

Luther - 5 kills (all by you), 3 loses (including 1 SGT)

The impact player for your team for this battle. Also keeping constant heavy fire on your enemy and taking many of them out in the process, you almost single handedly folded their flank, you more efficiently used your resources...but almost solely relied on your MG, not a lot of variety, but it worked. - 44CP

Axis Spoils of War - You have captured the Allied Half-Track, 8CP to repair, you may do with it as you so choose.

Your own half-track will require 3CP to be repaired and become battle ready once more

ALLIED DEFEAT!

Strange - 1 kill (by your SGT), 9 loses (including 1 CPL and 1 SGT)

Not gonna lie, don't know many that could have prolonged a battle like this with such a rough start as you have, you even got the wounded out of there when you could...didn't even do a horrible job at keeping your men's morale flickering enough to stay in the fight...none the less it was a horrid hit for the Allies here on this battlefield. - 22CP

Pearson - 3 kills (all by you), no loses

As close to an Impact player as the Allies could have had, used your strengths as best you could, and even though maybe not the best order, an order none the less, and you directly disobeyed it, whether Strange feels the need to report it or not is his call...something tells me Patterson won't take it to harshly on you if such happens. You also missed a round, I know stuff happens, but when given an extension that you personally requested, still you didn't come through. - 28CP

Sergeant Jacob Wilkerson has been posthumously awarded the Army Silver Star for his act of of bravery on the battlefield that directly resulted in a successful Allied retreat.

Thank you for the experience gentlemen.

-JT