Chapter 664: Melee

In the ruins, a German gunman held his G43 semi-automatic rifle and aimed at an American soldier who was crouching behind a low wall. The enemy clearly had not noticed he was being targeted; his movements were still light and slow.

Crack! Crack! Two shots without the slightest hesitation. The bullets crossed the short distance in an instant, piercing the enemy soldier’s chest. Seeing the enemy get hit, the German soldier immediately crawled away without a trace of delay. A moment later, a cloud of white dust was kicked up by American bullets where he had just been, as if venting the enemy’s hatred.

An American M4 Sherman tank rumbled forward slowly. The American soldiers who had been following the tank had long since been cut off by German snipers and the sudden attack of an MG 42 machine gun dozens of meters away. Amidst the sound of gunfire and flying bullets, two German soldiers, holding their helmets and crouching low, crossed the street behind the tank and ran towards a building on the other side.

And there, another simple position was being established. A German machine gunner was taking a belt of ammunition from around his neck and feeding it into the MG 42 in front of him. Not far from him, a rifleman was loading bullets into the magazine of his G43 automatic rifle.

The two German soldiers who had crossed the street jumped into a still-smoking crater. One of them picked up the walkie-talkie inside and began to alert his comrades behind him, “One new-model American tank, heading for defense sector 6. No infantry cover. Over!” Beside him, the soldier covering him had already cut down an American soldier who had run up with his gun raised with his MP-44.

And on the other side of this building, an assistant gunner had already loaded a rocket into the back of a Panzerfaust. He then tapped the helmet of the gunner in front who was aiming at the target and shouted to remind his comrade, “Loaded! You’re clear to fire!”

The gunner in front had already locked his sight on his target. Upon receiving the news that it was loaded, he waited only two seconds before pulling his trigger. A blast of gas erupted from the rear of the Panzerfaust, and a rocket shot out of the tube, trailing a long flame as it streaked towards the rear of the American tank.

BOOM! With a loud bang, the rear of the American tank caught fire. Thick smoke began to pour out violently. The tank, which was not fast to begin with, gradually slowed down and finally came to a complete stop.

The tank’s hatch was thrown open from the inside. The American tank commander had just poked his head out when he was shot in the neck by a German sniper not far away. The driver, who had jumped out from the other side, had not run more than a few steps before he was turned into a sieve by an MP-44 assault rifle lying in ambush nearby. As for the loader, gunner, and radio operator, they never made it out of the tank and were forever trapped inside by the burning gasoline.

In Patton’s frontline command post, his staff was reporting the losses at the front. The combat effectiveness of the German paratroopers was clearly stronger than estimated, and by more than just a little. After five hours of hard fighting, Patton’s troops had not only failed to complete the plan to divide and encircle the Germans, but they had not even completed half of the original plan.

The Independent Armored Brigade and the infantry that had been attached to it had paid a price of 1,100 casualties and had still not been able to capture a single city block from the Germans. After all, the German paratroopers were urban warfare specialists who had fought their way through ruins and wreckage, while the American soldiers had been fighting in the desert and had never experienced such bloody street fighting before.

In their eyes, the Germans were a group of cunning rats. They squatted in the rubble and debris and could fight with the Americans for a whole hour over a single small corner. Bullets swept over from all directions, making it impossible to dodge. The Americans were fed into these city blocks company by company, and the result was that they disappeared from the force statistics, company by company.

“We’ve already lost 77 tanks. If you count armored cars, the number is even higher. We’ve fired 900 artillery shells, and there are no buildings over two stories left here, but we still haven’t been able to force the Germans to give up their resistance,” the staff officer said dejectedly. He knew what the situation was. Once Rommel in their rear had dealt with his various troubles and caught up, it would all be over.

“How is the flanking maneuver going? The 8th Armored Division is attacking the city center from several directions at once. There’s no reason for them to be pushed back, is there?” Patton was also shocked by the terrifying tenacity of the German paratroopers. He had never seen such a resilient army. Even on a pile of rubble, even without any reinforcements, they were still holding their ground.

The staff officer knew that the competition now was about who was more ruthless, who was less afraid of losses and sacrifice. He pointed at the map and said to Patton, “The 8th Armored Division is attacking here, and here, and here and here simultaneously, but the fighting is very stalemated. I don’t know if they can break through the German defense line.”

Patton nodded and finally said no more. Just as he was asking his staff about the progress of the battle, the American tanks encountered the most terrifying scene since the beginning of their attack. An advancing American tank was suddenly destroyed, and because of the obstructed view, no one saw where the attack came from.

The remaining few American tanks accelerated their charge on the German positions, covering the infantry as they cleared the Germans out of the trenches one by one. The battle had reached its climax, and hand-to-hand combat had even broken out in many positions. The number of German losses also began to rise sharply. Student received a report that the Germans had lost over 500 men.

However, when the American tanks discovered a German “tank” in front of them, this attack once again came to nothing. The terrified American soldiers threw down their helmets and armor and retreated to the positions they had started from. Reports flew like snowflakes to Patton’s command post, all with very similar content, all saying that Rommel’s armored forces had appeared in Damanhur.

“This is bullshit! Those are the few paratrooper fighting vehicles the Germans have! They’re not Rommel’s armored forces at all! Tell those idiots to continue the attack! Taking Damanhur is victory!” Patton crumpled the telegram in his hand after reading it, furious. Although the attack resumed under the bombardment of artillery a dozen minutes later, the news of German armored vehicles appearing on the battlefield had struck a blow to the already crumbling morale of the American army.

Borol had already moved his command post to the front of the 1st Company’s defense, less than 50 meters from the front-most trench. In the entire battalion headquarters, only he, Donner, and a walkie-talkie operator had not yet joined the battle. The rest, including the cooks and medics, had all begun to act as ordinary infantry, joining the increasingly brutal fight.

“The Americans are attacking!” With a shout, the battle began again. This time, there were not many American infantry, but there were a full 10 tanks. Everyone’s face was grave. This was clearly a large-scale attack. No one was sure if they could stop this American offensive.

“Prepare for battle!” Borol glanced at the somewhat nervous Donner and picked up his rifle. The American tanks had already crossed the first line of trenches in front of the 1st Company. The huge tracks rolled over the bodies of several German defenders. Even from a distance, they could feel the ground trembling slightly.

Crack! A German sniper in the distance fired the first shot of the German counter-attack. An enemy soldier fell without even having time to let out a scream. With this shot, more German positions opened fire, cutting down the already small number of American soldiers.

The American tanks were not idle either. The hull machine guns also began to spit fire, and soon German soldiers were hit, falling in their foxholes, their fate unknown. As the battle progressed, the already riddled German defense line began to show more and more holes. An American tank rolled past Borol, its huge track less than a meter from his steel helmet.

But the Americans soon paid the price for their rash advance. Two rockets flew out from the ruins on the side. One hit the track of an American tank, and the other hit the side armor of another. These two American tanks quickly came to a halt. The crew members, under the cover of the other tanks, jumped out and fled to the rear.

BOOM! The American tank at the very front ran over an anti-tank mine. The massive impact made even Borol, who was not far away, sway twice. Sand and dirt were thrown up, hitting the people around like waves.

The coaxial machine gun of the second American tank opened fire. The bullets swept over Borol’s trench and extended into the distance. A German machine gun position over there was instantly hit by a cloud of white smoke. From the looks of it, that machine gun was probably lost.

BOOM! The paratrooper fighting vehicle hidden in the corner finally opened fire. A 75mm armor-piercing shell directly penetrated the not-so-thick frontal armor of the M4 tank, like a steel nail being driven into a wall. The massive force brought the American tank to an immediate halt. The crew inside was likely all killed instantly, because Borol didn’t see anyone escape.

The appearance of the paratrooper fighting vehicle was the last straw that broke the American armored force’s back. This large-scale attack had once again come to nothing. One intact M4 tank with a broken track was left on the position, along with another whose armor had been penetrated but had not burned or cooked off. Including the two destroyed by the German infantry, four American tank wrecks were now left here. If one counted the ones the Americans had abandoned earlier, it was almost the equivalent of an armored company.

Published: 2025-09-16T09:36:35.000+00:00
Last Edited: 2026-02-13T16:10:47.000+00:00
URL: https://www.patreon.com/caleredhair/posts/mtr-c664-melee-139012764

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