Keynes' Cruisers Volume 2
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Story 2831
Krupa, Czechoslovakia, April 12, 1945
"Get Yinz ass over here"
The captain was mostly smiling as he called for a rifleman from Western Pennsylvania to come to him. An older man in a tattered jacket that was out of style at the end of the first great war had been gesticulating quite aggressively for the past forty five seconds. The company was the lead company of the main body. The cavalry and scouts were a good ten miles in front of them. They had entered the village just a few minutes ago and had dismounted and spread out for lunch, gas and quick repairs. It was a standard routine, the division had been making a solid twenty five to thirty miles per day for the week. The greatest danger had been mines and tired drivers.
"Jakob, talk to this guy and tell me what is happening"
The nineteen year old slung his rifle over his shoulder and the two men engaged in a flurry of rat-a-tat conversation and very enthusiastic gesticulating. Eyes closed and heads shook for a few minutes. Finally, the PFC handed the man a Marlboro before fishing one out for himself. As he flicked the lighter, he turned to the captain.
"Two big things. First, he wants you to meet his granddaughter, you two would have beautiful children together... secondly, there is a German battery that is on the other side of that ridge line.." he pointed to the green ridge that rose about 300 feet over the road and valley. The crest was about two miles to the north. "He and a few other men in the village will guides a patrol if we want."
The twenty five year old officer first chuckled. This was the third time some father or grandfather had tried to proposition a nubile female in their family to him in the past two weeks. Then his visage turned serious. They were the lead of the follow-on forces that were supposed to deal with hold-outs and hard points. A German battery qualified as such. He made up his mind....
"ORDERS GROUP in 5 MINUTES, RADIO TO ME"
The break was over. Soon the company would head into the woods.
"Get Yinz ass over here"
The captain was mostly smiling as he called for a rifleman from Western Pennsylvania to come to him. An older man in a tattered jacket that was out of style at the end of the first great war had been gesticulating quite aggressively for the past forty five seconds. The company was the lead company of the main body. The cavalry and scouts were a good ten miles in front of them. They had entered the village just a few minutes ago and had dismounted and spread out for lunch, gas and quick repairs. It was a standard routine, the division had been making a solid twenty five to thirty miles per day for the week. The greatest danger had been mines and tired drivers.
"Jakob, talk to this guy and tell me what is happening"
The nineteen year old slung his rifle over his shoulder and the two men engaged in a flurry of rat-a-tat conversation and very enthusiastic gesticulating. Eyes closed and heads shook for a few minutes. Finally, the PFC handed the man a Marlboro before fishing one out for himself. As he flicked the lighter, he turned to the captain.
"Two big things. First, he wants you to meet his granddaughter, you two would have beautiful children together... secondly, there is a German battery that is on the other side of that ridge line.." he pointed to the green ridge that rose about 300 feet over the road and valley. The crest was about two miles to the north. "He and a few other men in the village will guides a patrol if we want."
The twenty five year old officer first chuckled. This was the third time some father or grandfather had tried to proposition a nubile female in their family to him in the past two weeks. Then his visage turned serious. They were the lead of the follow-on forces that were supposed to deal with hold-outs and hard points. A German battery qualified as such. He made up his mind....
"ORDERS GROUP in 5 MINUTES, RADIO TO ME"
The break was over. Soon the company would head into the woods.
Story 2832
Omaha, Nebraska April 13, 1945
Elaine stretched her legs before rising. Her back popped and she let out a long sigh of relief that she had not known she had been holding until that moment. There would be a three hour lay-over in the city. War trains needed the tracks. She checked her hand bag, made sure she had her money and adjusted her hat before she began a rapid search for lunch and perhaps a light conversation as she continued her journey to California and her husband.
Elaine stretched her legs before rising. Her back popped and she let out a long sigh of relief that she had not known she had been holding until that moment. There would be a three hour lay-over in the city. War trains needed the tracks. She checked her hand bag, made sure she had her money and adjusted her hat before she began a rapid search for lunch and perhaps a light conversation as she continued her journey to California and her husband.
Story 2833
Kunlan Pass, China April 13, 1945
Over a hundred guns had been firing nearly continuously for the past twenty minutes.
Several thousand yards ahead of the gun line, thirty thousand riflemen, all wearing leather boots and protected by steel helmets waited. Some waiting nervously. Some waited impatiently. Some waited indifferently, already accepting that their fate had been determined.
Between the guns and the riflemen who were waiting for whistles, dozens of Sherman tanks were hidden beneath nets and leaves. Their crews were drinking tea and rolling dice. Their mission would not start until the afternoon at the earliest.
Even as the first gun line stopped firing, another gun line started to fire.
They fired smoke and time fused shells. After the first few shells from each gun landed and smoke covered the breakthrough sector, whistles started to blow and the riflemen started to advance.
Over a hundred guns had been firing nearly continuously for the past twenty minutes.
Several thousand yards ahead of the gun line, thirty thousand riflemen, all wearing leather boots and protected by steel helmets waited. Some waiting nervously. Some waited impatiently. Some waited indifferently, already accepting that their fate had been determined.
Between the guns and the riflemen who were waiting for whistles, dozens of Sherman tanks were hidden beneath nets and leaves. Their crews were drinking tea and rolling dice. Their mission would not start until the afternoon at the earliest.
Even as the first gun line stopped firing, another gun line started to fire.
They fired smoke and time fused shells. After the first few shells from each gun landed and smoke covered the breakthrough sector, whistles started to blow and the riflemen started to advance.
Story 2834
Devonshire, England, April 14, 1945
Lucy grinned at the grocer. The old man limped slowly forward and handed her an extra two ounces of butter. The ration had just increased at the start of the month. Butter, sugar, milk and jams had all become slightly more available. She handed over both her money and her family's ration book to the grocer who then took the needed coupons. He smiled and waved as she walked out of the store and headed back to the small flat that she shared with her younger brother and little sister. They would soon write a letter to their older brother who had been drafted, trained and now would soon be heading to the Continent.
Lucy grinned at the grocer. The old man limped slowly forward and handed her an extra two ounces of butter. The ration had just increased at the start of the month. Butter, sugar, milk and jams had all become slightly more available. She handed over both her money and her family's ration book to the grocer who then took the needed coupons. He smiled and waved as she walked out of the store and headed back to the small flat that she shared with her younger brother and little sister. They would soon write a letter to their older brother who had been drafted, trained and now would soon be heading to the Continent.
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Story 2835
Oslofjord, April 14, 1945
The St. Bernard barked on the bow of the minesweeper Thorodd. Cold water dripped off his fur. The ship bounced slowly up and down in the protected waters that led to the Norwegian capitol. The crew had already destroyed half a dozen mines. Half a dozen other minesweepers were assisting in the clearing of two channels that led up to the fortress that had succeeded in protecting the city five years ago.
Another mine was snagged on the sweep gear. Rifle shots soon rang out. As the mine exploded, money was quickly exchanged as bets were settled on who would destroy the mine.
The St. Bernard barked on the bow of the minesweeper Thorodd. Cold water dripped off his fur. The ship bounced slowly up and down in the protected waters that led to the Norwegian capitol. The crew had already destroyed half a dozen mines. Half a dozen other minesweepers were assisting in the clearing of two channels that led up to the fortress that had succeeded in protecting the city five years ago.
Another mine was snagged on the sweep gear. Rifle shots soon rang out. As the mine exploded, money was quickly exchanged as bets were settled on who would destroy the mine.
You don't want to explode it. You just want to puncture the floatation chamber and sink it, over time the silt will bury it.
Driftless
Donor
Oslofjord is comparatively narrow set of channels and a very busy stretch of water (in peacetime). Wouldn't you want the mines to be exploded under semi-controlled conditions, so that they don't pose future risk of dragging anchors and whatnot?
Hitting the horns is hard the ship is bobbing as is the mine anyway. If you are close enough to shoot the mine you are often close enough to be damaged by one which detonates. Minesweepers are small ships often well under 1000 tons and many a lot smaller than that, being close to a mine when it goes off will damage or even sink it. My brother was on minesweepers and they were told NOT to shoot at the horns for this very reason, you can't sweep if you've sprung a leak or need the services of a dry dock.
A tethered mine is only dangerous if it is shallow enough to be impacted by a ships hull. A sunk mine is harmless, as for ships disturbing them that is why the charts would show the formerly mined areas as not to be anchored in. Plus in most anchorages silt and sediment would bury them.
I’m going to assume that’s a better equipped and trained KMT force. How will that impact the post WW2 China and SE Asia with what looks to be a KMT control of southern China and the overland routes into French Indochina?
I think "She handed over both her money and her ration book so the grocer could clip out the coupons," Never heard them called tickets before!
Norwegian Sea Dog Bamse
He has a memorial statue in Montrose in Scotland: http://www.bamsemontrose.co.uk/index.php
Story 2836
Seelowe Heights, April 15, 1945
The rifle corps commander's staff car stopped for a minute. He rolled down the window and was assaulted with the smell of battle --- shit, blood, sulfur and smoke assaulted his nose. A column of prisoners were being marched to the rear. Their guards were mostly the walking wounded or rear area clerks and cooks who awkwardly held submachine guns and gestured aggressively with bayonets for the column to head right.
The corps commander closed the window as the driver started forward again. Soon the car stopped at its destination. Two division commanders, half a dozen colonels and their relevant commissars, or at least those who had survived the assaults. The corps had been in the first assault wave. Rifle battalions were only hundreds of meters behind the bombardment of several thousand guns. Some companies had been destroyed by shells, fired by either the Germans or the Red Army. Most companies had made it to the minefields before machine guns started to fire at them. A few companies were able to clear the minefields and assault the first set of trenches and hard points. The lead regiments were spent as offensive forces by the time they hit the main German positions, but they had carried the day when the second echelon regiments breached those lines held by the 24th Infantry Division which was mostly manned by haggard veterans of the Eastern Front, foreigners and old men who had been defeated for the first time by mass firepower empowering armored breakthroughs at Amiens and St. Michal.
By the time that the German counter-attack had been launched, a mechanized corps had already started to pass through the lines when almost two hundred T-34s and dozens of assault guns stopped two companies of Tigers and a few hundred grenadiers from closing the hole in their thinly held lines.
The corps commander could not care even as he still heard the clanging of tracks and the roar of diesels go through his shattered command. The Front Commander had told him that the corps would have at least two weeks to get reorganized and reconstituted before it would be needed in Berlin.
The rifle corps commander's staff car stopped for a minute. He rolled down the window and was assaulted with the smell of battle --- shit, blood, sulfur and smoke assaulted his nose. A column of prisoners were being marched to the rear. Their guards were mostly the walking wounded or rear area clerks and cooks who awkwardly held submachine guns and gestured aggressively with bayonets for the column to head right.
The corps commander closed the window as the driver started forward again. Soon the car stopped at its destination. Two division commanders, half a dozen colonels and their relevant commissars, or at least those who had survived the assaults. The corps had been in the first assault wave. Rifle battalions were only hundreds of meters behind the bombardment of several thousand guns. Some companies had been destroyed by shells, fired by either the Germans or the Red Army. Most companies had made it to the minefields before machine guns started to fire at them. A few companies were able to clear the minefields and assault the first set of trenches and hard points. The lead regiments were spent as offensive forces by the time they hit the main German positions, but they had carried the day when the second echelon regiments breached those lines held by the 24th Infantry Division which was mostly manned by haggard veterans of the Eastern Front, foreigners and old men who had been defeated for the first time by mass firepower empowering armored breakthroughs at Amiens and St. Michal.
By the time that the German counter-attack had been launched, a mechanized corps had already started to pass through the lines when almost two hundred T-34s and dozens of assault guns stopped two companies of Tigers and a few hundred grenadiers from closing the hole in their thinly held lines.
The corps commander could not care even as he still heard the clanging of tracks and the roar of diesels go through his shattered command. The Front Commander had told him that the corps would have at least two weeks to get reorganized and reconstituted before it would be needed in Berlin.
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