Task Force Baum by James D. Shipman

Author:James D. Shipman
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kensington Books
Published: 2019-10-01T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 15

South of Burgsinn, Germany

March 27, 1945, 1100 hours

“I don’t care how you get it, just get the damned petrol here now!” Hauptmann Koehl screamed into the receiver. The town of Burgsinn was a scant half kilometer off. The Americans would be there at any moment. If he could get his fuel immediately, he still might cut them off in the cramped streets of the city and annihilate the enemy column. Instead, he was arguing with this schweinkopf on the other end of the line. He’d called the colonel, who had patched him through to supply. He’d spent five minutes trying to prove to some dim-witted sergeant on the other end of the line that he wasn’t an enemy spy, only to learn, after the man finally decided that Koehl was in fact a German, that they’d located some petrol, but there was no way to get it to him.

“Our refueling truck is up on blocks right now, Captain. I’m sorry. We had to change the oil. You can’t let these vehicles go without their regular maintenance, you know. Particularly with all the wear and tear in the field. If your ground troops were a little more patient and gentle with our equipment, we would be able to get—”

“I don’t give a damn about your problems!” shouted Koehl. “If that truck isn’t on the road in ten minutes, full of petrol for my company, you’ll be the one up on blocks! Do you hear me!”

“Jawohl, mein Hauptmann,” said the sergeant, hanging up quickly. Koehl hoped he’d scared the bastard enough to get some movement out of him. He needed that fuel, and he needed it now.

A half hour of agonizing waiting later, the truck rolled into view. Koehl stared at his watch, calculating the distance from Hammelburg. As frustrating as the delay was, the sergeant had moved quickly to get the refueling vehicle back into operation and all the way to the Main. Now it would be another twenty to thirty minutes to fuel the vehicles. A wasted hour.

“Fill them halfway only!” he ordered. He was taking a gamble, but if they reduced the intake, he could save ten minutes or so in the process. He only hoped the Americans were delayed. The truck filled one Ferdinand, then the next. He watched the process, keeping a close eye on his watch and shouting orders to move down the line when he felt the behemoths had enough petrol. Finally, the last one was done. The driver of the truck saluted. “I’ll be heading back to Hammelburg if that’s it, sir.”

“No, you will not. You will be coming with us. I may need you again before this is over.”

“But, sir,” the soldier protested, “I have orders.”

“You have new ones now. Get your vehicle to the end of the line. We are leaving immediately. Schnell!” Koehl looked down at his watch. Seventeen minutes to refuel. Well, there was nothing he could do. The anti-tank vehicles rumbled back into operation and lurched down the road toward Burgsinn.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.