WW2 Supers d6: SST 11: Mission Three: The Courtyard of Hell

[max_vale]

December 18-20, 1943, Naples to outskirts of Ortona, Italy


After their 'interlude' in Naples; when the men of SST 11 returned back to their garrison, they found that they were being given an assignment that would take them briefly away from the First Special Service Force. While the rest of the Forcemen would be assigned the mission of taking the town of Radicosa and the surrounding hills from what Intelligence projected as 'minimal' German forces; SST 11 was to make its way to the Adriatic coast on the opposite side of the Italian Peninsula to the outskirts of a port town called Ortona to help out the Canadian 1st Infantry Division....

After Sicily had been conquered and the decision was made to invade the Italian main land back in September; most of the American troops landed at Salerno, with some British units as well and these were moving up the west coast of Italy; taking Naples and now breaching the lines to get at Rome. Meanwhile, the British 8th Army, of which the 1st Canadian Infantry Division was a component; had been assigned the task of rolling up the German units on the East Coast of the country. The mountains which spread over the central 'spine' of the nation caused the German Defensive lines to be formidable across the width of the peninsula however, so there were several battles which were fought against the 8th Army and a lot of losses had been suffered. In particular, the British STS (Special Talent Section) 14 which had been assigned to the Canadian Division, had reportedly been mostly shredded in a recent battle and the Canadians were asking for some Talent help for the next upcoming assignment; the capture of the Port Town of Ortona.

Allied High Command had decided to 'lend' the members of SST 11; seeing as how its Commanding Officer and half of its members were Canadian to them until a UK STS replacement could reach them, some time around New Year's. So, the men of SST 11 had hopped in a series of trucks and jeeps over the course of the past two days and were now nearing the end of the trip in a Canadian Broadcasting Truck with a trio of pressmen and a small unit of Canadian troops escorting the former. In that time, they had learned a lot about the battles the 8th Army had been fighting....



They had also had to deal with the respectful, but somewhat insistent questions from reporter Gil Fleurry of the Montreal Standard News Agency; his tired looking cameraman Peter Haines and the near silent, but respectful photographer Sam Gunn. The small unit of Canadian troops were easy to talk too and their veteran leader was SGT Grant Young who gave off a competent air and the annoying-in-a-little-brother-kind-of-way non stop questions from young Private Martin Tulley, who seemed to practically worship all Talents.

Most of SST 11 were heartily sick of it all within half-an-hour; but Captain Hyde-Smythe seemed to be eating it all up. While there was much eye-rolling at their leader's expense; the other men WERE happy to not have to deal with all of the reporters' (and Tilley's) questions. Finally, late in the afternoon, they come to a stop and soon a British Corporal is opening the door for them as they all get out and stretch to regain feeling back into their limbs. Meanwhile, Fleury is quick to break out his microphone and hook it up while Haines starts the Camera rolling while also warning; "We've only got about 5 minutes of daylight left Gil"; "No worries...we can always edit with re-shoots in the morning....Ahem...", he clears his throat and looks into the camera.

"Hello from the front lines my fellow Canadians. It is my great honor to show you the arrival of the largely Canadian members of Special Services Team Eleven; soon to engage in battle against the formidable German foe. Their leader is none other than Canada's own; Captain James Hyde-Smythe-"; here he directs Peter to swing the camera over towards a ramrod straight and pose-striking Hyde-Smythe, "-and his fellow battle-tested Talents as they prepare once again to enter the cauldron of fire and blood known as BATTLE....."

He cuts it off and right about then a Canadian Corporal comes running up to Hyde-Smythe and he does not salute as he says; "Captain, sir! I am here to inform you that General Vokes has asked that you and your men attend the Briefing, which is about to commence." "Why didn't you salute me, Corporal? You can certainly see that I am Captain!"; Hyde-Smythe says with arrogant anger burning in his eyes. The Corporal stiffens up but replies; "Sir.....in the field, the men of 1st Division do NOT salute officers as it frequently leads to casualties in the leadership Corps. Sir, right this way"; and with a precise spin, he turns to lead everyone towards a Farmhouse that has clearly been taken over by the Canadian forces. Some of the other men of SST 11 have the pleasure of noticing both Hyde-Smythe's face turn red in a bit of embarrassment AND see the Corporal's eye rolling when his back is turned to the Captain.

As they fall in to follow their C.O. to the building, Private Tilley can't help himself and yells out; "IT WAS GREAT MEETING YOU! GO KICK SOME JERRY BUTT!", before SGT Young yells at him to pipe down.....

[Urson]

Porcupine
John has been enjoying the constant questions, piling up bigger and more outrageous lies about his teammates- and Talents in general. He does this with a perfectly straight face, even though he knows he's creating trouble down the line.

He'll join the rest as they head for the briefing.

[Rex]

Nahum Chisholm

Nahum ignore the questions as much as possible. He then moves in to hear the briefing.

[ateno]

Koda just watches the spectacle that is the white man.

[kipper]

Phil has been remaining mostly silent (he does not even to contradict Porcupine's most outrageous statements, and merely ignores the question if asked).

He is eager to hear what is said at the briefing.

[max_vale]

Early Evening of December 20, 1943, Outskirts of Ortona, Italy


The Corporal leads the 7 members of SST 11 up to a door of a mostly intact stone house and nods at the guard at the door who nods back and opens the door for them. "Right then, into the Orders Group you go", the Corporal says as he stays at the door that is shut behind them. 'Orders Group' is what the Brits and Canadians call a Briefing. The Talents walk into a large room that most of the furniture has been moved away from and immediately hear a booming voice echoing throughout the chamber. About 35 men are in the room and most turn to look at the group who quickly file in and move off to one side while everyone turns back to the speaker; a strong man of about 6 feet in height who looks to be in his late 30s and sports a mustache and the insignia of a Major General. Presumable, this would be Vokes, the Commander of the 1st Canadian Infantry Division.

"Right then, I'm glad you lot could make it", he says to the newly arrived Talents and then he turns back to continue addressing the crowd. "I expect Jerry will fight tenaciously for a bit, but it's unlikely they'll try to hold onto the town after we give him a cracking good thumping." One of the officers in the crowd speaks up, "Based on the demolitions we've heard today, it doesn't appear these Paratroopers are planning on leaving anytime soon, sir". Vokes looks sharply at the man, absent-mindedly swatting a fly whisk (a club with a bunch of dangling leather straps at the end) against his knee; "That's not what our intelligence chaps tell me. They believe the town is occupied by a few companies at most and they'll most likely just destroying anything of value before they leave and we'll be apt to walk into a ghost town. Nevertheless, we'll be bringing overwhelming force to bear and give Jerry a reason to be on his way quickly. Hoff...", he says with a nod to a man wearing the insignia of a Brigadier (1 star General) and the man gets up and turns to face the crowd.

One of the officers standing near SST 11 turns and whispers to you; "Right, that's Brigadier Hoffmeister, commander of 2nd Infantry Brigade*"; and 'Hoff' looks a bit world-weary, but quite capable. He addresses the room with the plan for the attack. "Okay then; on the left side, coming in through the olive groves will be two Companies of the Loyal Edmonton Regiment and on the right will be two Companies of the Seaforth Highlanders along the main roads leading into town. One Company from each Regiment will stay back as a Reserve if needed and after clearing the approaches into the Town of any Jerry resistance, a platoon of Engineers will clear the roads of the mines the Germans will have certainly seeded them with so that we can bring up the Tanks of the 12th Canadian Armored Regiment."

"Once this is accomplished, the Loyal Eddies will secure the area from the main Piazza or town Square to the Hospital. The Highlanders main objective will be clearing the area all the way up to and including the Church of Santa Maria di Constantinopoli". While Hoffmeister certainly seems like a confident, capable officer, something in his voice makes the vets of SST 11 know that he isn't as optimistic as Vokes seems to be about how easy a task this will be.

Open questions are encouraged at an Orders Group (or Briefing) and many officers do ask a few things here and there. Eventually, Captain Hyde-Smythe asks about how and where SST 11 is to be deployed and if there are any indications of German Talents in the Area. Vokes again defers to Hoffmeister, who replies with; "At first, you'll be assigned to Colonel Jim Jefferson's HQ Company of the Loyal Eddies as the ground they will be attacking is rougher, at first and therefore more likely to be heavily defended. As for German Talents, we've had a few reports that indicate there MAY be some Paratrooper Talents in the area...which is notably as they are the ONLY German Talents that aren't directly in the SS, as far as we know. However, these reports are NOT definitive....so, stay alert."

Soon, the questions come to an end and Vokes leaves by saying; "The battles at the Moro River and the Gully leading up to here have made for a hard fight, but now we have the Hun on the run. One more sharp jab-" he punctuates the phrase by shadow-boxing the move; "-and he'll pull back. We'll have the Port that Montgomery needs for the hook strike into Jerry's flank and the road to Rome will open. So, get in there feet first and give the enemy a swift kick to the crotch!"

Some forced and polite chuckles follow and Vokes leaves quickly, while many of the other officers take their time to introduce themselves to the men of SST 11. As the Talents leave the house, it has gone completely dark and they are drawn to a scene of a man with bandages around half his head and face, his arm and a leg being loaded into the back of a truck with the Red Cross markings of a military ambulance. Two men have their helmets off respectfully and are talking to him as the Medics get ready to load him aboard. As the men of SST 11 get closer, they realize these are the survivors of STS 14.

The bandaged man is an officer; a 1st Lieutenant named Mitchel Sterlin and in a raspy, obviously pain-wracked voice, he tells his men to solider on and that he's never been prouder in his life as he has serving with them. The two men, a Corporal and a Private are on the verge of tears and its obvious they have enormous respect for their leader. Looking over and seeing Hyde-Smythe; Sterlin gets out; "Sir....please look after my men...they're all I have left and they're too bloody excellent human beings to not come back home from this war." Hyde-Smythe seems a bit uncomfortable at this emotional scene, but simply says, "I'll see to it Leftenant" and Sterlin is then transported into the back of the ambulance and it drives off.

The other two Talents, after a moment to gather themselves, introduce themselves as CPL Robert Baker; a man whose strange accent and obviously mixed heritage tell of his Caribbean-by-way-of-Africa roots and PVT James Faraday, who looks like he's all of 15 and who has a no-sh#t hockey stick slung on his back, along with his Rifle and a Red Cross arm-band showing that he's a Medic. Hyde-Smythe asks about the hockey stick and the Private blushes a bit and says; "Sorry sir....it's part of my Talent Power....it's my old stick from school and when I first manifested, it just....popped into my hand. Now, my power doesn't seem to work unless I have it on me sir." The Captain just nods and tells them all to carry on after they've been taken to their tents for the night.

After the officer leaves, the enlisted men get to talking more plainly and Robert 'Brilliant Bob' tells them that his power first manifested in Sicily while Jimmy 'The Maple Leaf Kid' became a Talent just a week and a half ago during the fighting at the Moro River. Baker, normally clever, became other-worldly intelligent when his Talent Power was active and could tinker with weapons and vehicles and make them far more effective than they otherwise would be. When his power went inactive, he couldn't replicate exactly what he had done, but whatever he modified still worked. He showed them his Rifle which he said worked like a Bren, but was much lighter and more portable and had a strange tube underneath the barrel that he claimed cold launch grenades he had modified like a mortar. (I.e. he has the equivalent of a modern day Assault Rifle with under-barrel grenade launcher). He had also modified a vehicle, he'd be happy to show them in the morning. Jimmy on the other hand, was all of 17 and had lied about his age to enlist; became a Medic and who had loved hockey all his life growing up in Toronto; and when his Power manifested, he found himself holding his old Hockey Stick, which came out of nowhere and he could use it like a Ray Gun when he aimed it at something like he was a child and a powerful beam would shoot out of it. He couldn't replicate the beam with anything other than a hockey stick however.

Bob is friendly, but a bit reserved whereas Jimmy is an easy going, smiling kid, happy to talk about sports, Army life whatever. When asked about Sterlin, both men get quite serious and a bit sad and Bob eventually tells them about the 'fight for Sterlin's Castle' in The Gully action. About a week ago, on the 14th of December; some heavy fighting was going down all along the area that became known as the Gully and the men of STS 14 were sent in to help win the day. Sterlin was their commander and they were 8 strong and they quickly waded into the fight and were helping to turn the tide, when a well hidden and held in reserve German Company; some 150+ strong, surprised attacked. The conventional troops were quickly killed or driven off and two members of STS 14 fell as well. Sterlin had the power of Telekinesis and he used it to build a crude 'castle' with boulders and rocks in the area and for the next 6 hours, they fought off wave after wave of the Germans before they were relieved by the 'Van Doos'; i.e. the the 22nd Infantry Regiment from Quebec. Sterlin had lost an eye; had an arm badly burned and a leg broken and still led the fight; despite losing 3 more of his men as well, but he never let them falter for a moment. The Van Doos said that over 100 German bodies were found all around the 'Castle' when they arrived....


OOC: *The Canadian 1st Infantry Division is about 14,000 strong when fully manned and is divided into 5 'brigades'; the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Infantry Brigades; the 1st Armored Brigade and the Support Brigade which consists of Artillery, Medical, Anti-Tank, Anti-Aircraft and Engineer units. Each Bridge is broken down into 3 'Regiments'....note, a British/Canadian Regiment is the equivalent of a U.S. Battalion (about 600-800 troops) and each has a unique name; i.e. the Loyal Edmonton Regiment (Loyal Eddies) or the Seaforth Highlanders or the 22nd Quebec Infantry Regiment (the Van Doos); etc., etc.

Okay, ignore the dates in this map, but to get an idea of what the city looks like/path you're following (you're initially with the blue line on the left) into the City, check this out:

[Rex]

Nahum Chisholm

Looking around he says to the others, "I don't have a good feeling about this."

[ateno]

"So we have no other plan than to walk the line, no mobile commands, just walk with the other warriors?"


Koda

[Rex]

Nahum Chisholm

"That is what it sounds like, and I don't like it. We best be on our toes, once we need to move it is going to be to late already."

[kipper]

Phil is prepared to join the Loyal Eddies and do his duty as the leadership decides.

[Urson]

Porcupine
I'm with you, Chisholm. Somebody's over-estimating his troops ability, and we're prob'ly going to get turned into GI bologna. 'Stay on our toes' is the best we've got.

[Zhym]

Nado says nothing, but his sour look says enough. He's no more thrilled about the mission than are the others—especially because it's going to be an urban battle.* He'd much rather be out in the wilds.

*Nado's definition of "urban" is a bit different than most.

[max_vale]

Approx. 6:45 AM, December 21, 1943, Outskirts of Ortona, Italy

After a long night that consisted of a lot of short naps followed by waking up due to artillery duels then cat naps, then more waking up due to demolition charges going off in the distance in the big town/small city; the men of SST 11 woke up around dawn at 5AM and were soon traveling to the HQ tent of the Loyal Edmonton Regiment. There they found themselves with little to do for the next hour and 45 minutes as the battle commenced and they soon realized they were about a mile away from the action as runners kept coming back with written notes for Colonel Jefferson and/or his Communications Corporal; a harried young man named Fairchild; kept his headphones on and frequently talked loudly and sometimes yelled into the microphone of the 'wireless' set he was on and which was connected to the advanced units currently in the fight. The veterans of SST 11 KNEW that Jefferson's HQ was too far back from the front lines for adequate command of the battle; the runners were getting tired already....

The plan had been simple and straightforward; two of the Regiments 4 companies; B and D were to advance on either side of the road; B to the East and D to the West; clearing the road itself of the mines so that the Sherman Tanks of the 12th Armored could roll in after them. Meanwhile, A & C Companies were to be held in reserve until the first blocks of the City were captured and they would then relieve the initial assault Companies and move to capture the line from the Hospital to the Piazza. Meanwhile, the Seaforth Highlanders were doing the same down the opposite road a bit further East and South with the Santa Maria di Constantinopoli church as their main objective. From what the members of SST 11 could follow, it sounded like the Highlanders were doing well and Company B was dealing with light skirmishing but making good headway in clearing the road for the 12th Armored and moving into position for the assault on the Hospital and Piazza. However, Company D was NOT having as good a time....

Major Jim Stone was in overall command of Companies B&D and he was on the wireless now and he was telling Corporal Fairchild that D Company, while crossing the Olive Groves right outside town had run into heavy opposition and they needed reinforcements. Colonel Jefferson got on the headset and called out; "Major, this is Colonel Jefferson. B Company is already several hundred yards ahead of you and capturing the first blocks of the town. They need you on their flank or Jerry will figure it out and counterattack them on that open side and drive them back. You MUST advance up that flank!"

Stone's response was tinged with indignation and desperation; "D Company ran into at least 4 or 5 machine guns in slit trenches out in the groves that caught them in the open field and shredded them. A bloody pillbox came out of NOWHERE with another MG crew in it and several dozen men are dead or badly wounded. We need reinforcements to clear the MGs out. Send up A&C Companies!"

Jefferson's face grew grim as he replied with; "Negative. We need them to exploit the breach once its made and capture the Hospital and Piazza. You're going to have to find a way Major". As he finishes, he looks around the tent and seemingly notices the Talents for the first time in over an hour. "I'm sending some support your way Stone", he finishes and 'hangs up' while calling out to Hyde-Smythe. "Captain, get your men out to D Company's position and report to Major Stone. "Yes sir!", Hyde-Smythe answers and he seems to be glowing at the chance to go into battle as he turns to the rest of his team.....

"Alright men; it looks like this Major Stone could use our help, so let's get to it!" He quickly gets a report of the last known position of D Company and then turns to Baker, "Okay then, you said you had some transportation for us then Corporal?" "Yes, Captain, a trio of Universal Carriers. Right this way", Bob replies and leads the men of SST 11 to a trio of small, treaded vehicles....



Two of the Universal Carriers are 'standard' models, with a driver on the right front seat; a passenger seat next to the driver and two spaces in the back where a man could sit/stand or where equipment could be piled up. A Bren MG was mounted on a flexible pole mount in each and the open-topped, small treaded vehicles were quite low to the ground, but at least offered some protection against gunfire. The last vehicle had been HEAVILY modified with a hard top and a 20mm cannon and Bob looked at it with a smile and had pride in his voice when he said; "This here is GLORIA.....I built her myself." She only holds two, I'm afraid and the turret is pretty much tailored for me to use...but driving is a piece of cake if any of you besides Jimmy here wants to have a crack at it?' he asks while the 'Maple Leaf Kid' shrugs his shoulders and smiles to show he has no hard feelings about who drives what....

Brilliant Bob's 'Gloria'...just, imagine no Iron Cross on it:



Soon, the 9 members of the team are loaded up in the two vehicles* and it's about a 15 minute drive out to a damaged farmhouse that is where Major Stone is currently 'holed up' with the remnants of D Company. The men of SST 11 park and get out of their vehicles some 50 yards behind the damaged farm house and move quickly in a crouch to the waving hands of Major Stone. They can see about two dozen men all around him, some wounded and out in the open fields to their left they can seen dozens of soldiers dead or badly wounded, all lying where they fell. Stone quickly introduces himself and tells them of the situation....

"Thank God you're here. Okay, the Company was about 100 strong when we moved out this morning...we're down to 24 effectives, counting myself. The main problem is out there in those slit trenches about 200 yards away the bloody Hun has 4 or 5 MG 42s and probably 40 or so troops. Some sharpshooters as well. I think at least one of those Uber-Men are out there too as nobody can remember seeing that Pillbox out there when we first came into the field and then all of a sudden, there it is...with another bloody MG 42 inside of it, helping to tear us to pieces."

"If there's any good news, it's that either Jerry doesn't have any Arty to spare or perhaps no radio to tell them our location as we haven't had anything fired out way this whole time. We've got two of our own small 2 inch mortars (about 51mm) with about a dozen HE and the same smoke shells for them...but they've only got an effective range of about 100 or so yards....too short to reach all the way out there, but we can create a small smoke screen for an assault.....thoughts?", the Major asks while looking at all of SST 11's members....

Outskirts of Ortona.pdf

(741.44 KiB) Downloaded 52 times

OOC: Okay, hopefully all of you can open that and read it okay.....you're all located behind the Damaged Farm House in the bottom right of the picture/map. Stone is pointing to the slit trenches which run from the left of the Pill Box all the way to the Corso (street) on the right. The Germans are, according to him, spread out all throughout those trenches. They are mostly about 200 yards from the Farmhouse. The 'pensione' are apartment buildings and they and the 2 story houses are believed to be empty, save for perhaps a sniper or two.

Who went in which vehicle is your call....they are yours to do with as you will.

[ateno]

Koda looks at the surrounding area and weather using his spirit for anything noticiable not seen by the white man.

Koda

[kipper]

Phil studies the drainage ditches, considering how they might be best used (Knowledge/Tactics).

[Rex]

Nahum Chisholm

Nahum uses Tactics to try and figure the best approach, studying the ditches and there layout.

[Urson]

Porcupine
John frowns as he looks over the terrain. Those ditches are too obvious. We need a second right answer.

[ateno]

Koda looks around the suppounding terrain, particullary off to the east. off the map.

"I have never seen man fight each other like this, should we not fight it like a bear, one brave warrior keeps its attention and trusted warriors attack the flank?

Koda

[Rex]

Nahum Chisholm

"Not a bad idea Koda. But who would be best at keeping their attention?"

[Urson]

Porcupine
Our fastest- or the toughest. And the one who hits hardest should lead the actual attack.