Battle of the Bulge

{(set: $head to (font: "Bebas Neue")+(size: 1.25)) (size: 3)+(font: "Bebas Neue")[Battle of the Bulge] (set: $yel to (css: "color: #c0af00; font-style: italic;"))} (size: 1)[ ] (size: 2)+(font: "Bebas Neue")[Featuring XXXX] (size: 2)+(font: "Bebas Neue")[] by B.J. Best for //Combat Master// by Alfa Bravo Inc. March 15, 2025 [[Introduction]] [[Map]]

(append: ?SideBar)[\ [[Home]] [[Introduction]] [[Bing Crosby]] [[Belgium]] [[Nicknames]] [[Foxhole]] [[Surprise Attack]] [[Heads or Tails]] [[Bandage]] [[Belly Crawl]] [[Firefight]] [[Sarge]] [[Counterstrike]] [[Regroup]] [[Resupply]] [[Return]] [[Fan Out]] [[Chain of Command]] [[Medic]] [[Corporal]] [[Tex]] [[Sniped]] [[Dogface]] [[Lifesaver]] [[Lefty]] [[Shelled]] [[Map]] ]

(size: 2)+(font: "Bebas Neue")[Operation Name] (size: 1.25)[Battle of the Bulge] $head[Tagline] [So much for a white Christmas.] [[Bing Crosby]]

<img src="https://bjbest60.neocities.org/cm/bulge/map.png" style="max-width: 100%; max-height: 100%;"> [[Home]] [[Bing Crosby]]

$head[Mission] **Bing Crosby** $head[Intro] December, 1944. A week ago I was in France with a bunch of other GIs and Tommies. It was a USO show, and Bing Crosby was singing about a white Christmas. Except it was hard to see through all the fog. $head[Resolution] Snow might sound pretty in a Christmas song, but it makes it hard as hell to drive a tank through. The Andrews Sisters at the show were prettier, so I preferred thinking about them as we headed northeast. [[Belgium]] [[Map]]

$head[Mission] **Belgium** $head[Intro] Never thought I'd ever have any reason to visit Belgium. Never thought I'd have the pleasure of marching there, either. $head[Resolution] Since we were in Belgium, I asked Sarge if we were going to stop for some chocolate and waffles. "Just keep it moving, Spike," he said. Maybe he'd be less cranky if he had some chocolate. [[Nicknames]] [[Map]]

$head[Mission] **Foxhole** $head[Intro] It was mid-December and everything in Europe seemed to be covered in fog and rain and mud and snow. Dogface and I dug out a foxhole to share. I was honored to be the second handsomest guy there. $head[Resolution] On the front, sleep comes in shifts. I went first. Four hours later, Dogface woke me up. It was his turn. He was out instantly. Even in his dreams he whimpered and moved his legs, just like a dog. [[Surprise Attack]] [[Map]]

$head[Mission] **Nicknames** $head[Intro] They call me Spike because I think I'm pretty sharp. I call my buddy here Dogface because he think he's pretty handsome. The dames back home probably think he is. That doesn't mean he isn't Dogface. $head[Resolution] "How's it going, Dogface?" I asked as we finally reached our position. Whenever I called him that he barked or whined or howled. This time he just snarled. I promised him after the war was over I'd find him a bone. [[Foxhole]] [[Map]]

$head[Mission] **Surprise Attack** $head[Intro] And then all hell broke lose. Rifle fire and machine gun fire and Panzers roaring in the distance. In the forest, we had no idea where it was coming from. The Jerries weren't supposed to be near here. $head[Resolution] Dogface woke up so quickly that I had to slam him back into the ground. I readied my M1 while he fumbled with his pistol. Our heavier gear was hundreds of yards away. We knew he had to get it. [[Heads or Tails]] [[Map]]

$head[Mission] **Heads or Tails** $head[Intro] Anytime we were in this kind of position, Dogface and I would flip a coin to decide who got to see danger first. We had no time for that, and Dogface needed firepower more than I did. He started climbing out. $head[Resolution] And just as quickly, Dogface fell back in. His left arm was bleeding from something. He whimpered and howled. A ridiculous way to hide real pain. I had a first-aid kit, but the flak and fire was getting closer. [[Bandage]] [[Firefight]] [[Map]]

$head[Mission] **Bandage** $head[Intro] I ripped open the kit, applied a tourniquet and some bandages. "Thanks, Spike," Dogface panted, a faraway look in his eye. He was never the kind of guy who said thanks. I knew he needed serious help. $head[Resolution] "Now, you just wait here a doggone minute," I told him. I was trying to keep it light. He raised his hand like a paw. I shook it. "Good dog," I said. [[Belly Crawl]] [[Map]]

$head[Mission] **Belly Crawl** $head[Intro] It was a 200-yard crawl through mud and shrapnel to reach the field tent. Doc was on the ground, just like everybody else. "I heard you make house calls," I yelled at him over the noise of war. $head[Resolution] We crawled back. Dogface was sitting up, maybe a little better. Doc looked him over and said he'd be okay. "I'm going to whack you on the nose with a rolled-up newspaper," I told Dogface. [[Firefight]] [[Map]]

$head[Mission] **Firefight** $head[Intro] I knew Dogface would be okay. But that didn't solve the problem of bullets and shrapnel and trees and everything exploding around me. $head[Resolution] Sarge was crawling over, yelling something I couldn't hear over my M1 as I fired it wherever I thought opposing fire was coming from. Anger suddenly shot through me like--well, like a spike. [[Sarge]] [[Map]]

$head[Mission] **Sarge** $head[Intro] Sarge tumbled into our crowded foxhole. He glanced at Dogface. "Spike, regroup with the squad. You"--he pointed at Dogface--"get as far back as you can," he ordered. "We'll cover." $head[Resolution] I knew he was right. We needed strategy. But for everything horrible I'd seen in this war, seeing Dogface bleed broke something in me. I'd never been so angry. I wanted to make those Jerries pay. [[Counterstrike]] [[Regroup]] [[Map]]

$head[Mission] **Counterstrike** $head[Intro] I wasn't going to wait. I started crawling forward, blasting anything that moved with the M1. I'm pretty sure I knocked three Jerries down. Then I saw the same thing Dogface had: blood on my left arm. I howled. $head[Resolution] I crawled back to the foxhole. I started bandaging myself. The wound wasn't too bad. But I knew I'd have to crawl further away. "So much for your sharp idea, Spike," I thought to myself as I slithered through mud. **You should have listened to Sarge. Choose a different path to successfully complete your mission.** [[Map]]

$head[Mission] **Regroup** $head[Intro] We retreated a bit, and Sarge hated retreating. We hid among the trees. "Men, ammo up and fan out. We can't be sitting ducks for these Jerries." Dogface would have quacked just then. $head[Resolution] The men were ready. I was ready, too, but down a medical kit. I could make it to the field tent. Or start pushing ahead. "Stop standing around like a damn railroad, Spike," Sarge said. He wasn't funny. [[Resupply]] [[Fan Out]] [[Map]]

$head[Mission] **Resupply** $head[Intro] I trudged and crawled through freezing mud and slush to the field tent. Dogface was there, slumped in a corner but alive. He panted happily when he saw me. "Sit. Stay," I said. $head[Resolution] The kits were easy to find, and Doc somehow had a stash of chocolate for the wounded, so I helped myself to some of that, too. It was the least Belgium could do. [[Return]] [[Map]]

$head[Mission] **Fan Out** $head[Intro] I took up my position and looked for other members of the squad. I saw Sarge through the fog to my right. He tapped his helmet and glared at me. That meant I wasn't supposed to get any bright ideas. $head[Resolution] I followed his signals: advancing, firing, hitting the dirt. Except the dirt was snow and shrapnel. I never knew how much that would make me appreciate regular old dirt. [[Chain of Command]] [[Map]]

$head[Mission] **Return** $head[Intro] A bullet whizzing by your ear can sound like a fly or the wind or a train. But you know it's none of those. It's mostly a cue to get the hell down and stop thinking pretty thoughts. $head[Resolution] Sarge was right, as he usually was. We needed to thin out through the trees. They were the best cover we were going to get. Maybe I'd carve my name in one later. [[Fan Out]] [[Map]]

$head[Mission] **Chain of Command** $head[Intro] "Corporal!" Sarge yelled at me, and I immediately knew it was bad. He only called me that when he had to. I saw the red snow and Sarge twitching in it. $head[Resolution] I sprinted to him. "It's just a scratch," he laughed, blood oozing from his uniform. "It's your command now. Use that big dumb head of yours." He needed Doc bad. But the other men needed me, too. [[Medic]] [[Corporal]] [[Map]]

$head[Mission] **Medic** $head[Intro] I couldn't just ... leave him. "Medic!" I shouted, but who was going to hear me over the fire and now aircraft approaching? I'd have to get Doc, and fast. $head[Resolution] The first bullet hit my helmet, a loud and dull ring. The second blew off some of my ear. The rest of them missed the rest of my body, fortunately. Sure, I still had my brains, but they weren't going to help my men now. **You needed to follow orders, not your own ideas. Choose a different path to successfully complete your mission.** [[Map]]

$head[Mission] **Corporal** $head[Intro] I didn't know if Sarge would make it, but I now had the rest of the men to worry about. I advanced to a sturdy tree. Suddenly, someone trotted up behind me. I whipped out my pistol, then heard barking. $head[Resolution] Dogface may have been a handsome idiot, but he was ready to fight. Tex was to our left, engaged with a sniper nest. Lefty, naturally, was on my right, assembling the mortar. And Dogface wanted to charge straight ahead. [[Tex]] [[Lefty]] [[Dogface]] [[Map]]

$head[Mission] **Tex** $head[Intro] "Howdy," I said to Tex as I crawled up to him, because that's the sort of thing you say to someone named Tex. He just nodded and motioned with his BAR to where he thought the sniper was. $head[Resolution] We'd performed this act plenty in the past. He'd cover with some suppressive fire from the BAR and I'd advance. Tex was actually from Ohio. But he could sling a gun like the best of the outlaws. [[Sniped]] [[Map]]

$head[Mission] **Lefty** $head[Intro] Lefty injured his right hand early in the war, but was determined to see his service through. He was better with his one hand than most men were with two. His mortar was ready but he was waiting for an order to fire. $head[Resolution] The forest clearing offered a view of the sky, but that meant Lefty was fairly exposed. I told him to aim for about a half mile out where there were sounds of vehicles. He smiled and gave me a left-handed salute. [[Shelled]] [[Map]]

$head[Mission] **Dogface** $head[Intro] I looked Dogface over. It was clear he wasn't ready for battle, but he wanted to support our squad, our brothers. He had his Colt out in his right hand while he clutched his left arm tenderly against his chest. $head[Resolution] "Dogface, you can't go out like that," I said, but he was ready to advance. He may have been delirious from morphine. "PFC Douglas, stand down. That's an order," I said. He cowered like I had beaten him. [[Lifesaver]] [[Map]]

$head[Mission] **Sniped** $head[Intro] Tex painted the air with bullets as I crept forward. Maybe there really is an art to war. But all the slop and snow reminded me I was far away from some beautiful museum in Paris or Rome. $head[Resolution] Once I saw him, the sniper was easy to dispatch, cowering under all of Tex's fire. "Yee-haw!" I shouted at Tex as I returned. He reminded me, yet again, that he was from Ohio. "You sure are, cowboy," I said. **Congratulations! You're not a bad gunslinger yourself! You've unlocked the XXXX!** [[Map]]

$head[Mission] **Shelled** $head[Intro] Sometimes it's hard to know which explosions are yours and which are theirs. But Lefty knew. The white smoke from a mortar isn't the same as the black smoke of a burning tank or truck. $head[Resolution] Whatever the vehicle was, it didn't make noise anymore. Not bad for a blind shot up and over the forest. "You're my right-hand man," I told Lefty. He rolled his eyes and began nudging the mortar a bit to the left. **Congratulations! You were right to trust Lefty! You've unlocked the XXXX!** [[Map]]

$head[Mission] **Lifesaver** $head[Intro] I had never called Dogface anything official. I turned to face him and tried to explain about Sarge. Suddenly, Dogface raised his pistol and fired, barely missing my right shoulder. $head[Resolution] I never saw the Jerry who was advancing on me, but he laid dead twenty-five yards away. Dogface howled in victory, but then slumped against a tree. "Good boy," I told him. "Very, very good boy." **Congratulations! You did your duty and Dogface did his! You've unlocked the XXXX!** [[Map]]