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Dan, used to harsh conditions from his upbringing and a veteran of several cold nights, does what he can to finish up the Fighting Positions, and even finds some spare lumber and canvas to add roofs to some of the fighting positions.
At first light he wakes the others, and makes sure that he and Kent get some chow and some shut-eye.
He sleeps in one of the roofed FPs.
"At least is not snow, yes?", Aleksei says as he is woken for his watch. He cleans his equipment and then sets to patrolling the grounds, his cigar smoke matching the steam from his breath.
"Ah, another typical day in London. At least I'm used to it" Bobby says as he takes up watch.
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Aside from the rain, the day offers no surprises. Work is suspended for the duration of the storms and much of the day is spent by the digging teams swapping stories. No action is seen from the front lines.
The next day, the sun is shining and the sand is soon dry enough to shovel, so work resumes. On the third day, reinforcements arrive from Cairo and relive the team. The lieutenant in charge tells you that he has new instructions. You are to head back to Europe!
The return trip is uneventful and when you report back to Doyle, he is in a snit.
"Damn them! I've told them that you are too valuable to waste on standard field work, but I was outranked! You will be assigned temporarily to the 11th Engineers. They have been told to hold if possible, or destroy if not, a crucial railroad bridge outside of Paris. I'll let Captain Walker explain further when you arrive.
"The higher-ups have insisted that you perform regular duties just like everyone else, at least on occasion. Don't fret, you'll be back on missions for me soon enough, but for now, just try not to get yourselves killed. Any questions?"
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Dan could not say that he was sorry to see the last of the arch dig. Seemed like the sorriest of guard duties. Near enemy resources and, apparently, no way to strike back. Seemed a decent enough place with decent enough fellows, but the food was bad and the accommodations worse. 2 rain-soaked nights out of five. Would not risk pneumonia again.
The trip back was a vacation, by comparison. Dry bunks and decent enough grub. OF course, anything not field rations was a welcome relief.
Ah, well, nothing good can last forever. Back to more trenches!
"Enemy disposition, sir? Is this something we've held for awhile? Can you say how many of those dirty, dirty huns are about to come down on it?
Of course, just as long as there aren't any of those new-fangled 'tanks' that I'm starting to hear about and some decent foxholes to stand to in, we should be okay."
The voyage back to base Aleksei spent telling stories of how Russia used to be before Bolsheviks causes problems. He was used to sudden changes in plans and rolled with them very easily. The numerous cigars that he seemed to always find helped with that.
After the briefing he looks to his comrades. "Back to front, where enemy is easy to find and hopefully stay down when they are shot. Bridge must be very important if we are being attached to an entire division to protect it."
"No, sir!" Bobby answers Doyle's last question, consciously resisting the urge to automatically salute.
When he's alone with his comrades he says "Drat the luck! I was just getting used to all the weirdness we've experienced. Going on an 'ordinary' mission is going to seem dull..."
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You make the journey to meet with your temporary new commander, Captain Walker. Walker is a tall American with dark hair and a southern drawl. He greets you curtly, but not rudely. "Okay, boys. This bridge is a vital supply line into the city. Our mission is fairly straightforward. We hold this position unless it looks like it's going to fall, in which case we blow it. Based on troop movements, we're expecting a German assault within a day or two. We've set up explosives along our side of the bridge, but the enemy may try to sneak past our sentries and disable them, so stay alert! We do have a platoon or our own moving into position, but they won't be here until tomorrow. The canteen is over there and we keep a pot of fresh coffee on the burner. Find yourselves a dry spot and fall in."
The bridge is positioned over a river, about 45 feet above the waterline. The bridge is 250 feet long and 15 feet wide, with a single track running down the center. There are several foxholes dug in various positions about the tracks and the edge of the bridge and sandbags have been set up to either side of the track where the bridge begins.
Aleksei half salutes the captain as they report in. "How many Germans do we think are on approach? They probably already know you have reinforcements coming, so they will more than likely attack before they arrive." The Russian takes a puff of his cigar. "Do we have enough ammunition to hold out for those two days?"
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The canteen is on the near side. Foxholes are on both sides of the bridge, but more are on the near side than the far side. There is a platoon of 20 engineers present (and all are combat trained), as well as a squad of 12 infantrymen to help in defense.
"How many Germans do we think are on approach? They probably already know you have reinforcements coming, so they will more than likely attack before they arrive." The Russian takes a puff of his cigar. "Do we have enough ammunition to hold out for those two days?"
"We suspect that there are two platoons on approach, probably about 90 men or so. You're right in that we do expect an attack before the reinforcements arrive, but we have sufficient ammunition to hold off twice that number."
Aleksei looks to his companions and then back at the Captain. "Then we should get to work making sure they can't just sneak by and make the explosives useless." He points out the ridgeline on their side of the bridge. "Maybe we can set up some guns along the ridge on our side, funnel them to the bridge, catch them in a cross fire."
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"Well, ya got that right. Yeah, that's a part of it.
First off, the far side--we can not hold it. I propose that we fill in all those foxholes over there so that _when_ they take it, they don't profit from it. It'll be quick, they take long to dig put are quick to fill.
We can't hold the far side, because we won't have a good line of retreat, and they can attack a position over there from anywhere.
But we -can- hold this side, because they have to come over that bridge, which forces them into one long, narrow bottleneck. We just need to all have cover and we'll be okay.
Then we dig a semi-circle around our side, into one big trench. And the dirt we pile up, into a big foxhole. That way if any do make it across, they don't have any flat ground to run over.
We'll kinda 'beseige' the near side of the thing, so that as they come at us we'll always have cover. And if one side of our big foxhole needs more men, they can run over there.
Basically we'll be uniting all the foxholes in one big 'communication trench'.
How's that sound?"
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The captain raises an eyebrow. "I like your way of thinking, son. Alright, let's get it done!" The men rush around, filling in foxholes and digging new ones. Gunners take up position along the ridge.
The Captain calls you near and unfurls a crude map of the bridge. "They've got no place to hide if they come across the top of the bridge, so I don't expect that of them. More likely, they will move in small numbers on the superstructure beneath it to try to disable our explosive before moving onto the bridge itself. It's a safe bet they know that the bridge is wired." He points to several locations on the map. "Our explosives are here, here, here, and here and are all wired to one plunger to go off simultaneously."
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Dan nods as he looks at the map. "Then we should keep a few independent foxholes waaaaaaay off to the side, so they can keep a good eye on the bottom, pick 'em off if they try.
Those foxholes, we can even build a big wall of sandbags to their front, as they don't need to shoot ahead, just play overwatch to the sneaks SOB's.
Whoever goes there, should be a good shot. Back home they call me Sharpshooter, so I guess I volunteer.
Where do you guys wanna go?" he asks of Aleksei and Bobby. "Front or sides?"
Aleksei follows the plan, nodding approvingly. "If they follow typical tactics, they will have many come to front to distract for small teams. I will help hold them off." He readjusts his rifle over his shoulder, patting its stock. "We're going to do good work."
Bobby asks the captain "Do you have a spare rifle I could use? I fear that this pistol will be of limited use considering the ranges involved."
In answer to Daniel's question he says "Put me wherever would be closest to where the enemy will be, I'm not as good a shooter as you two."
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"Alrighty, looks like we got us a plan.
Aleksei, you take the Foxhole on the Left. It seems that they made into a nice inverted 'V', so you've got some room to maneuver and make a new front even if we get hella-flanked.
Bobby, you take Center. Try and keep whatever yokels they stick us with in line, and pile the brass up hip-deep. You even think you see Gerry, empty a clip in that direction. Don't do no good to get captured with a pocket full of ammo.
I'll take Right.
Now that the foxholes are dug, make sure we put plenty of tins of ammo in some magazines in 'em. Can't be runnin' back to the canteen every time you empty a clip.
How's that sound?"
Dan pours himself a cuppa hot joe.
Aleksei nods. "They will not flank us. I will make sure of it." He heads over to the left foxhole and begins to settle in, checking sightlines and fire coverage.
Huh? What?
Aleksei squints his eyes and then as he confirms what he sees, he quickly gets the attention of the others, pointing first to his eyes with two fingers, then at the underside of the bridge, then he holds up eight fingers. Once he is sure the message is spread, he aims his rifle.
Bobby also takes Aim to offset the cover of darkness...
"Chyort!", Aleksei swears as he squeezes off a round towards the German he was aiming at. Morgan's shot sent them scattering and the round missed. He instinctively ducks as they return fire.
Bobby mutters under his breath "Dammit, Dan, why couldn't you have bloody well waited so that we could all shoot together?"
Waiting for the next round to fire.
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= 11.
Dan drops as a ricochet skips off his shoulder. He pauses to look at the hole in his uniform, frowning at how much sewing it'll take to patch it back up.
Otherwise unhurt, he pops back up, aiming downrange, wonder how the blazes Germans are able to cling to the bridge, find decent cover -and- fire their weapons.
Master race indeed!
"I thought I'd try shooting them with guns and see how that works!" Dan calls back to Bobby.