Hunting

Bundesarchiv
Bild 101I-587-2253-15 / Schneiders, Toni / CC-BY-SA 3.0

"Slow and easy, Mac. Those damn German paras seem to be everywhere. If there's an opening in a hedgerow, avoid it. I guarantee you that there will be a Kraut MG covering it."

Sergeant Ian MacIlroy nodded, then asked his lieutenant, "Just how important is this reconnaissance, L.T.?"

2nd Lieutenant Jim Holbein looked at his first squad leader, "Captain says we need to grab a prisoner. Battalion and higher have no idea what kind of strength the Germans have in front of us. Battalion S2 thinks it's most of their 6th Parachute Regiment, regimental G2 says that those guys have pulled back, you should only run into stragglers."

"When's the last time regiment got something right?"

"Head on a swivel Mac, grab a Kraut but don't take any undue risks doing so. If it's easier to kill 'em, then kill 'em."

"Roger that, L.T."

The rain had stopped an hour ago, the fields were starting to steam as the hot sun burned off the wetness. The three man machine gun team were soaking wet and tired to the bone. They'd had no rest since the landing almost a week ago.

Schütze Hans Kirche flinched as yet another flight of Allied Jabos boomed overhead. He nearly wet himself in fear. Where the hell were their own planes?

"Are our flyboys all back in Paris on leave, oder was?" he groused at his sergeant.

Feldwebel Manfred Streicher shook his head then put his field glasses back to his eyes once more. "They're defending the Reich, Junge. Don't be fooled by the rumors, the Amis and the Tommies are bombing us back to the Stone Age. You know Horst Reichling, ja?"

"Sure, 2nd Company."

"He came back from home leave just after the landing, he went through Hamburg, said there's hardly a building still standing. The Tommies come at night just to bounce the rubble. The Amis are over the Reich during the day, he saw a raid, said there were hundreds of enemy bombers overhead."

"Scheiße!"

"Indeed, Junge, we're definitely in the shit."

Mac dropped to one knee, hand aloft mimicking the point man's signal to halt. Ferguson turned and looked at him, then gestured him forward.

"Whaddaya got, Bruce?"

"See that opening in the hedge? Just across the field I could have sworn I saw movement."

Mac nodded, "The bastards like to dig in under the hedge itself, good overhead cover and they can still sweep the field in front of them."

Mac had his glasses out, he scanned the area Ferguson indicated, but saw nothing.

"Ease on up to that opening, something smells funny here."

"Amis."

The man on the gun, Gefreiter Kurt Hartstein, leaned into the stock of his weapon.

Streicher nodded, "I think they spotted our decoy position. Keep your heads down boys, let's see what the Amis have in mind."

"Robinson, Cohen, set up your gun to cover the field, the rest of you, with me!"

Mac led the squad up to where the point man, Miller, was waiting.

"I don't like it, Sarge. We're on a prisoner grab, if we go into that field, we're gonna get into a firefight, and we'll be at a disadvantage."

Mac looked at his watch, nightfall was a long way off, but he didn't want to enter the enclosed field if he could avoid it. He turned to Smith.

"Smitty, think you could work your way around and see if that position is legit? If it's for real, then there should be an entry point for the Krauts to get in and out."

Private First Class Jacob Smith nodded, "Reckon I can, Sarge. Might take a while."

"Take all the time you need, Smitty. You wanna take Hudson with you?"

Smith and Private Jedediah Hudson were both from the Ozarks, they'd grown up hunting and fishing and knew their way around any landscape you could offer.

"Wanna go huntin', Jed?"

Hudson grinned, "Sure 'nough. You want a prisoner, right Sarge?"

"Well, that's the goal, Jed. Right now I just want to see what's up with this field."

"I get it, Sarge, but the Cap'n only needs one prisoner, right?"

"More is better, to my way of thinking. But if you can nab a guy, do it. We want to get in and out without much fuss. Okay?"

Smitty grinned, "We'll do what we can, Sarge."

Then, in what seemed like an instant, Smith and Hudson slipped away.

Hunting.