by Harvey Black
“Will do sir. And sir, thank you for the opportunity, you’ll not be disappointed.”
“I know, now off with you.”
Fessman left to join his troop and Paul returned to Erich. The reunion over, they needed to get down to business.
“Max, can you pull in the platoon commanders and platoon NCO’s in?”
“Considerate done sir.”
“Erich, will you run through what you know about the area?”
Multiple explosions could be heard to the north west towards the coast and Maleme airfield.
“Maleme is getting hit pretty hard, have you put marker flags out Paul? The Luftwaffe boys will soon be hunting further afield for tasty targets like this. Sorry about Christa,” he added, needing to say something to his friend about it.
“I only met her twice, but it was enough to know what a special person she was.”
Paul looked down, the pain racing through his body, like an electric current twisting his nerve endings, gripping his heart like a vice, his stomach churning, nausea threatening to overwhelm him. Erich gripped his shoulder.
“Are you ok Paul? I’m sorry, I know it’s still fresh, but I had to share with you my condolences, you’re my friend.”
Paul straightened up.
“It’s ok Erich,” he said placing his hand on top of his friend’s hand.
“Sometimes it’s so fresh, even out here, that the pain can be unbearable. There was so much hope for the two of us.”
Before they could continue their personal exchange, they were interrupted by the three platoon commanders, three platoon NCO’s, Unterfeld Richter, the radio operator and Max.
“Any joy on contacting HQ?”
“No sir, still no response,” replied Bergmann.
“Keep trying.” The frustration in Paul’s voice obvious.
“We’ve had problems as well Paul,” added Erich. “But you will get through eventually.”
“Right gather round. For those of you who haven’t met him, this is Oberleutnant Fleck. He landed earlier in the morning because he thought we might get lost.”
They all laughed, dissipating some of the tension.
“All yours Erich.”
Erich cleared a patch of ground, kicking away some of the low lying herbs and small stones until he had a reasonable half square metre of cleared space to play with. He drew a square in the dirt with a stick he had picked up earlier, for this sole purpose.
“To the north, we have the crest next to us here, which drops away in stages to the coast and eventually Hania. To the south, it is similar ground to what we are on now, but slowly climbs up into the mountains you can see behind me. The western edge drops away as well, similar terrain to what we’re on now until it hits the coast, some seventy five kilometres away. The important part, the region we’ll be heading into, east, about a klick from here is the village of Pagantha, where at least a platoon of British soldiers are held up. It is a route they could use to ferry soldiers to outflank our main attack below. I will leave the rest of that to your Oberleutnant to cover. But back to the village, I’ll hand you over to Unterfeld Gerste, he can give you the low down on the village.”
A grizzled veteran, who should have been a full sergeant by now, but had been up and down the ranks many times for various misdemeanours, stepped forward and in a gravelly voice explained the layout to the assembled men.
“The village is about four hundred metres long.”
He scraped a deep rut running from south to north from one end of the square to the other, with a small bend in the middle.
“This road runs right through the centre of the village with a raised embankment, about fifty metres wide, running alongside it, east, for its full length. Starting from the south. The road leaving the village slopes gradually away to the south, then east, with an escarpment on its left and the embankment to its right. The top of the escarpment has a very thin line of trees and opposite on the embankment is a cream coloured, two storey building with a terracotta roof. Beyond that the ground gradually slopes away, where there is a second two storey building of a similar style.”
He placed some herbs he’d picked up and sprinkled them west of the road to represent the trees and two small white stones or rocks to represent the two buildings.
“To the north, the road coming out of the village also slopes away. The road through the village is fairly flat with a slight curve in the middle. Above the road, on the embankment again, is a similar house to the other two. Opposite, on the other side of the road there is a flat stretch for about fifty metres, before the ground gradually climbs upwards, not as steep as the escarpment at the other end, and interspersed with trees until you hit the flat of the plain were on now.”
He again sprinkled some herbs to support his description and placed another one of the small white rocks. But he then placed two small sticks just below the house, pointing northwest, getting wider apart the further away they were.
“This is the start of a gully, running pretty much down to the lower land below. That describes the two ends of the village. As you move south along the road, about one hundred and fifty metres in, you have a curve in the road, about fifty metres long, which straightens out almost immediately. Just before this bend on the right of the road.” He placed a rock in position. “You have a one storey building, this one is white in colour. Immediately just before the bend.” He traced the route with his stick. “On the left, on the raised piece of ground that runs parallel with the road you have another building. This one is more of a pale tangerine colour with a terracotta roof, but this one is quite long, maybe twenty or more metres, possibly two houses back to back. We’ve nicknamed this the Mandarin.”
He placed two rocks to emphasis its length.
“Behind it, there is what appears to be an outhouse of sorts. Again on the other side this piece of land slopes away. The road then continues for about one hundred and fifty metres to the southern point which I covered earlier in the brief.”
“Thank you Unterfeld Gerste, any questions?” He looked around the faces of the assembled officers and NCOs.
Leeb was there immediately with a question.
“What’s the ground like to the east of the road, other than sloping away?”
“Good question sir. It’s not cultivated and underfoot is pretty much like this.” He pointed to the ground they were on. “Scrub and all sorts of plant life. There are the occasional trees, the odd olive tree. But the further east you go, the slope starts to drop to the north and becomes one of the sides of the gully.”
“Unterfeld Gerste spent most of the early hours of this morning scouting the village, so has a pretty good feel for its disposition,” added Erich.
“Do we know anything about the troop dispositions?”
“Roughly Paul. We reckon they’re in platoon strength. It looks like they have a half section of five men at each end of the village, the rest of the platoon seem to be occupying the building near the centre. It looks to be the HQ building.”
“Where are the two half sections?”
“They’re occupying the buildings at the extreme ends of the village.”
“What about LPs?” Asked Max
“Surprisingly no, but I would do another recce before you move the Company across there.”
“Thanks Erich. Right gentlemen, listen up.”
They all moved in closer, stretching their necks to get a good view of the sandbox outline of the village, their ears straining to ensure they caught all of their commander’s instructions.
“Orders. Force the enemy out of the village and destroy them.”
He looked around at the assembled group, seeing the single mindedness on their faces.
“This is how we’re going to tackle it. I want to distract the enemy, blocking them off on three sides, leaving one exit available to them, that’s where we will hit them hard. Dispositions. I want Uffz Fessman to take two men and scout the western tr
ee line, check to ensure they haven’t placed any Listening Posts since Unterfeldwebel Gerste’s last recce. He can do that as we group and then move up to the village.”
He looked at Leeb. “Clear?”
“Yes sir.”
“Where will he pick us up sir?” asked Leeb.
“If he starts at the southern end and makes his way north, we can pick him up on our way in.”
“Understood sir.”
“We have three objectives. A blocking force at the northern end of the village. Leutnant Nadel, your platoon have that task. “
“Jawohl, Herr Oberleutnant.”
“Make as much noise as you can. I want them to know you’re there. I don’t want them to even contemplate withdrawing from the village in that direction.”
He used the stick he had taken from Erich earlier and pointed to the southern end of the village.
“This will be the killing zone. Leutnant Roth, this will be your objective. Place your platoon along the western edge of the escarpment overlooking the road as it slopes away from the village, but hold your fire until they are well and truly in the zone. If need be let the first couple escape. I want them to think they can get away, I don’t want them doubling back.”
“Jawohl, Herr Oberleutnant.”
“Leutnant Leeb. Once you have Fessman and his men back into the fold, you’re platoon will assault the village.”
He tapped the ground with his stick again, next to the one storey building on their side of the road, just before the bend.
“This will be our entry and exit point, so leave a half troop here to cover our withdrawal and the other half of the troop, with the MG34, to remain on the high ground on the other side of the bend, covering the main building at the centre of the village. Understood?”
“Yes sir.”
“Position one of your troops on the other side of the road and keep one on the west and advance south. Don’t advance further than the last house in the village, that will be the kill zone and I don’t want any home runs. Leutnant Nadel, you will need to make sure you keep your arcs of fire sharp and Leutnant Roth, no firing north of your target building. We have to be sharp and on the ball gentlemen, there’s going to be a lot of activity on and around that road.”
They both acknowledged Paul’s point.
“And my troop sir?” Unterfeld Richter spoke up.
“We have plenty for your troop to do Unterfeld, don’t you worry about that,” said Paul with a grin. “You’ll be more than busy. I want two tubes dropping rounds all along the eastern edge of the village. I want the enemy to discount going east as an option, forcing them into our kill zone. I don’t want any rounds dropping into the village. I’m sure you wouldn’t be too happy about that Ernst.”
The group laughed.
“What’s the risk Unterfeld?”
“We can put them within fifty metres of the road sir, over shooting rather than under shooting. The third tube?”
“That’s for the killing ground. Once Leutnant Roth opens fire, drop as many rounds on that road as you can. Once the village has been cleared you will hear Feldwebel Grun’s whistle. Ceasefire as soon as you are able. You’re actions then are as follows. Nadel, secure the northern end of the village, Roth, the entire western edge of the village and Leeb, the village itself. Then all platoon commanders to me and we can plan our next move. Any questions?”
“Uffz Forster sir?” asked Max
“My scouts will stay with him Paul, unless you have a task for us?”
“You’ve done your bit Erich, it’s our turn now. Keeping an eye on Forster would be appreciated. Right, we move out in twenty minutes. Ernst, send Uffz Fessman to me straight away.”
The Platoon Commanders dispersed to seek out their platoons and brief their troop commanders in turn. Moments later Uffz Fessman made his presence known to his Company Commander.
“Leutnant Leeb says you have a job for me sir.”
“I do Fessman, and it’s right up your street. Take a couple of men with you, the fewer the better.”
He took Fessman over to the sandbox and briefed him on the outline of the village.
“Beyond the tree line there, it dips down to a road where there is at least a platoon of British soldiers. I want you to recce the entire length of the western edge of the village, but stay out of sight and stay on the high ground. Start at the southern end and work your way north. We need to ensure that there are no LPs on that side of the road or a potential ambush. We move out in less than twenty minutes to assault the village and will meet you at about fifty to a hundred metres from the northern end. When you get there just go to ground until we pick you up. Ok?”
“Yes sir. Action on contact?”
“Apart from getting your bloody head down, stay where you are and we’ll come for you. We will still assault, we will have just lost the element of surprise. So, it’s imperative you’re not seen.”
“You can depend on us sir.”
“The us being you and Stumme, who else?”
“Willy Geister sir, he’s so short no one will see him.”
“Off you go then.”
Just before he could leave, Paul tapped him on the shoulder.
“Sir?”
“Congratulations on your promotion, how have the men taken it?”
“They think they’re in for an easy ride now Uffz Forster’s gone sir. Oh the naivety of the young.”
They both laughed and with that Fessman shot off to carry out his task.
“Sir, sir,” called Bergmann. “I’ve got Regiment on for you.”
Paul ran over to where the radio set was positioned and grabbed the handset off him.
“It’s the Raven... sorry sir, I mean Major Volkman.”
“Sir, Brand over.”
“Brand, at last. Where the bloody hell have you been?”
“We’re one kilometre west of Pagantha sir, over.”
“Excellent Brand, what next, over?”
“We’re about to launch an attack on a British unit in the village sir, over.”
“Once that’s completed Brand, I want you to move your company further north, then east to support the units around Rethymnon, over.”
“Jawohl, Herr Major. How is the battle progressing, over?”
“Early days Brand, but they’ve taken a mauling around Maleme airfield, it’s not in our possession yet. One more thing, Oberleutnant Hoch has been killed, it has been agreed that Oberleutnant Fleck will assume command of the company. Is he with you? Over.”
“Yes sir, over.”
“I’ll give the coordinates to your radio operator where Fleck can meet up with his company. He should be with them by this afternoon. What’s your status. Over?”
“We’ve lost a troop due to a downed aircraft, one KIA and one broken leg over.”
“You’ve got off lightly Brand, casualties have been much higher elsewhere. Put me on to your radio operator and move your men out, we need to keep the enemy guessing, not knowing where the next attack is coming from. We must take the pressure off the units lower down, over.”
“Understood sir, here’s Bergmann, over.”
Paul passed the handset back to Bergmann and set about getting his company on the move.
The company was formed up in its platoon formations, crouched down, the platoon commanders and Max waiting for the order to move out. Erich and his men on the periphery. He beckoned Erich over.
“Problem Paul?”
“You could say that Erich, Meinhard Hoch has been killed.”
“Shit, I knew him quite well. He was a bit too nationalistic for me at times, but on the whole he was ok.”
Paul thought back to the lunch they shared together in Corinth, Meinhard explaining the particulars of wine tasting to them. He snapped back to the present.
“He’s a sad loss Erich, but Major Volkman has received approval for you to take over command of the company. Bergmann’s getting you
the coordinates of their location now.”
Paul held out his hand to shake Erich’s. “Welcome to Raven’s Battalion.”
Their handshake was firm and sincere. Erich was back in the unit with a command of his own, albeit at the loss of a comrade’s life and Paul was getting his friend back in the fold.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Max sauntered over to his commander who was stood close to the top of the slope scanning towards the coast as he talked with his friend Erich.
“We need to move soon sir.”
“Ok Max. For your info, Oberleutnant Fleck is taking over the command of Third Company, so will be leaving us. I’m afraid we’ve lost Oberleutnant Hoch. So, we’ll need to take Uffz Forster with us to the top of the tree line.”
“Scheiße, let’s hope he’s the last sir, but I’ve a feeling he won’t be.”
Max turned towards Erich.
“Congratulations sir, do you by the way need a new company NCO?”
“Feldwebel Grun. Oberleutnant Brand would shoot me for poaching, heaven knows why. And anyway I couldn’t cope with your insubordination.” They shook hands, Max genuinely pleased that the young officer was back with the unit.
Erich summoned his scouts and after some debate as to the best route to get to the coordinates provided by Major Volkman, they headed north to seek out Erich’s new command. Paul and Max brought the command group together again.
“We’re moving out in column, but with reasonable spacing. Roth your platoon will lead. Break off when you’re about two hundred metres away from the trees. Nadel, you will follow and break off at the same time. Leeb, you’ll be next. Unterfeld Richter, you will tail Leutnant Leeb’s platoon but you will also break off at the same time as Leutnant’s Roth and Nadel. Then set up where you see fit. Scout the road from the tree line if you need to, but for God sake keep your head down.”
“Yes sir. Apart from not dropping rounds onto the road, how far out do you want our eastern rounds to be?”
“They’re just to scare the enemy into avoiding that route of escape, so allow plenty of safety margin. Try and be within fifty metres if you can. But the kill zone, they need to be spot on.”