26 Monte Cassino Nightmare: The Ridge

Thomas shouted profanities, this climb was much harder than he thought it was going to be. They hadn't lost a single soldier yet, but the rate it was going, they might soon. They had gathered a force of fifty men at the foot of the ridge, of various ranks and nationalities. With only one goal in mind, storm the ridge, take out the artillery. The main force was still in retreat, but they could turn this around with just this one move. The Germans were throwing heavy rocks and lead at them from the top of the ridge, you think that they would have hit someone by now, but their aim was terrible. It seems they were distracted by someone or something, they only posted a squad up above, it wasn't a completely vertical climb, they could fire back, but the recoil would knock them off their feet, that was more dangerous than weathering the bullets and rocks.

Thomas pulled out his revolver from his hip holster and popped off a couple of shots at the German above him, it was a direct hit. The German who had been setting up an MG-34 was hit in the knee and the chest, pieces of bone were sticking out as he died of shock, Thomas could see the disbelief on his face as he fell forward over the ridge. He bounced off a few rocks and hit the ground below, the impact was inaudible, there was too much noise going on for them to hear it. Thomas's pack and gear were starting to weigh him down, it was getting really heavy. He looked around and he saw the grime, the exhaustion, the pain, the sweat, the determination, it steeled his resolve.

More German troops arrived at the top of the ridge. Thomas ordered his platoon to pull out sidearms, they were to unload on the soldiers above. Thomas shot a few times and managed to hit a German soldier in the heart, he was setting up an MG-34, which promptly fell off the ridge when he tumbled backward into another German, his bullet wound spewing a fountain of blood into that soldier's face, causing him to blindly tumble off the ridge, his scream echoing back up towards them, only to be suddenly cut off. The salvo unleashed by everyone else knocked off another ten Germans, reducing them to just a squad again. The other platoons which made up Thomas's company also copied his orders, the Germans stood no chance, another salvo was unleashed, sidearms were more accurate in this situation than their rifles and sub-machine guns could ever have been.

POP! POP! POP! POP!

Magazines were emptied, they fell in unison, pistols and sidearms were reloaded, another salvo, more fallen Germans. In this fashion they advanced up the ridge, it was a magnificent fight. Just advancing up the ridge caused the Germans to panic, their formations and ordered regiments quickly rushed to reinforce, leaving gaps in their main force. Allied Command picked up on this and ordered all companies forward, the advance into Monte Cassino began again. The Germans had over-extended themselves and began pulling companies off the left ridge, leaving a light defense to stall the British advance, it worked for a time. The Allies fought into a stalemate as more German reinforcements arrived from the rear to bolster defenses. Thomas and the rest of the company had to hurry and take the guns or this plan would fail, that would be bad for everyone involved, including himself.

They had finally ascended the ridge, it was a maze of trenches and embedded MG nests, bunkers, and other fortifications. Luckily, their side didn't have any barbed wire, it seems the Germans did not prepare for an assault from the side of the ridge. As treacherous as it is steep, Thomas looked back and saw the sight lines below were slightly skewed and a defense here would have done no good. He waved the company forward, it was time to advance through the trenches. Thomas jumped into the nearest one, he was greeted by a couple of German soldiers, he tackled one and threw his knife at the other, the knife sliced deep into the soldier's shoulder, causing him to drop his gun as his shoulder and arm went slack. The German that Thomas tackled pulled out a knife from his waistband and tried to stab Thomas, they grappled with it, but ultimately as they were struggling, more allied troops jumped into the trench and distracted him. Thomas stabbed the German with his own knife, the blade sunk inch by inch into his chest, Thomas watched as the German struggled then slowly the light left his eyes and he went slack. The other soldier was shot to death by arriving allies, Thomas had gained all the time he needed with his knife throw.

Thomas regained his knife, wiping the blood on the dead German's uniform, he stowed it back in his waistband sheathe. He scavenged a few more frag grenades, "potato mashers" they were called because they were just a stick handle with an explosive head at the end. Easier for throwing, terrible detonation fuse. He now had a plethora of frag grenades, this would come in handy for trench clearing at the very least. They advanced through the trench, just a force of fifty men, a tiny amount compared to the thousands of Germans up here, but maybe, a tiny amount is all that is needed when surgically cutting away a part of the battlefield. Thomas shot a few more Germans with his M1 Carbine, his aim impressed everyone else around him. Every shot counted, they only had so much ammunition as it was, they couldn't afford to waste it on constantly missing.

Thomas rounded the corner and instantly jumped back, his fading figure was greeted by machine gun fire, he got clipped in the shoulder, it wasn't bad, but it hurt like hell. Bullet went clean through, no muscle damage, he could still move his arm. Thomas thought for a second, then he pulled out a frag grenade, he pulled the pin and waited three seconds before throwing it towards the source of the machine gun stream, there were a loud but brief explosion and Thomas dove around the corner, M1 ready as he hit the ground. The dirt and dust cleared, he could see the gunner behind a pile of sandbags that looked hastily set up, he shot him in the chest twice for good measure, his partner was already laying on the ground, it looks like he jumped on top of the frag grenade. There was just a huge puddle of blood underneath his body, mixing with the dirt, causing it to be reddish brown. Thomas and company moved on, there was a fork in the trench, Thomas took half and went one way, Captain took the other half and went the other way. Command was notified, they had ascended the ridge and were advancing on the first set of artillery guns.

Thomas charged down the left fork and was greeted with silence, it looks like the Germans had retreated rather hastily, there were equipment and ammunition scattered everywhere. Everything was already starting to burn, smoke lazily drifted into the sky. They cautiously made their way to the first gun, Thomas told Shellander to check it for traps, just as he looked into the barrel, the gun exploded, taking Shellander's face with it as he collapsed into a headless pile of bones and blood. It seems taking the artillery wasn't going to be as easy as they thought. The other artillery guns were going to be more heavily defended, they will have had time to regroup and set up a more concrete defense. Thomas waved over a couple of sergeants and some corporals.

"Alright listen up, it's clear the Germans abandoned these set of guns, they may be planning to dig in ahead. I want volunteers on top of the trenches as scouts, it's a dangerous job, so I am sending two squads. Any volunteers?"

One of the sergeants and two of the corporals volunteered. The sergeant and one of the two volunteer corporals were picked and told to hand pick some privates to get the job done. A total of eight people climbed out of the trench, there was no gunfire, no dead bodies yet. Thomas had a feeling they might have retreated to the third or fourth set of guns, it was going to be a long day.

His feelings were correct. The two squads came back not a man down and they reported seeing a large German withdrawal, on the bright side, this side of the ridge was also firmly in allied control, The French group that was supposed to be making their way from the backside of the ridge now had an opening. Thomas met up with the other Captain and they relayed this to allied command. Orders were in. They were to advance and seize all artillery at all costs, they were winning this fight today.