"Hello? It's ok. You're safe now. We're Americans." Clark said in German and a few civilians popped their heads out from behind cover. They had all taken refuge in the basement from the Germans. A young girl walked out holding a teddy bear so Clark took out a chocolate bar from his pocket and handed it to her as her older sister stepped out. She had a rifle in her hands but put it down and held her sister. "It's ok, you're safe now."
"Oh, man. This isn't good." Pierson said.
"All right, we passed that truck a few hundred yards back. We can use that to get them out of here." Turner suggested.
"With all due respect, sir, our orders were to secure the hotel. We don't have time to worry about civilians." Peirson told him.
"I'll take them back. The hotel needs to be secured but I can get the civilians back to safety. Turner, you and your men can secure the hotel and I'll be able to join you shortly." Clark told him.
"All right. Aiello, Daniels, go with Captain Elbert. We'll bring the civilians up to the west side entrance of the hotel." Turner told them and they quickly went back upstairs where more reinforcements were quickly setting up defensive positions.
"Let's move! Set up your defenses. German reinforcements will be here soon! I want machine guns up on the second floor and secure these exits!" Clark shouted.
"Yes, sir." The men quickly got to work as Clark, Aiello, and Daniels rushed outside. Clark's hearing picked up the German reinforcements so he'd handle them.
"Aiello, Daniels, get that truck up and running. I'll handle them!" Clark told them before going to handle the German Reinforcements. They took up positions in a building and opened fire at him so he raced forward and jumped into the air, smashing through the third floor of a building shield first. German soldiers were sent flying out in quick succession before he jumped down and the street cracked under his boots. More reinforcements were coming up the street along with a Tiger tank so Clark's eyes glowed red and he fired a blast that melted the tank into a heap of metal before more quick bursts took out the rest of the Germans.
Taking care of the German reinforcements only took about a minute and when he returned to the hotel he saw the truck at the west side entrance and all the civilians getting into the vehicle. "All right. Germans are on the run. Hold the hotel and wait for reinforcements. I'll be back shortly." Clark said to Turner when they saw one of the women begin to panic.
"What's wrong?" Turner asked when they felt a brush of wind blow past them and a few seconds later another brush of wind and they saw Clark standing there with the young girl holding her teddy bear.
"She went back to the basement to get her bear." Clark handed the young girl to her sister before ushering them into the truck. "All right, hold the position. I'll be back." Clark got into the driver's seat and drove the civilians to safety. He'd return in about half an hour before helping other platoons push the Germans out of Aachen, thus giving the Allies their foothold into Western Germany. From this, the push to Berlin began.
Two weeks later…
Hürtgen Forest, Germany
The fighting was getting intense as the push east from Aachen moved the Allies towards the Siegried Line which was a defensive line built back in the 1930s as their version of the Maginot Line. 390 miles of defensive fortifications, bunkers and tunnels stretching from town of Kleve in Northwest Germany on the border with the Netherlands and going down the western border of the country to its border with Switzerland. It was Nazi Germany's main defensive measure and was fortified with heavy gun emplacements and artillery pieces which were aided by the rugged terrain of dense woods, deep ravines, and high ridges making it a challenging battleground. The Germans needed to keep the Allies from breaking through the Siegfried line and the Allies needed to break through to advance into Germany. To aid in that endeavor, General Eisenhower ordered all available units to begin an advance into Germany. The Allies had them surrounded from the west, south, and east with the British beginning the liberation efforts of Denmark to the North which only made things better. From a strategic plan, the Western offensive into Germany made the most sense as the supply chain from the UK to France would be smoother than if they attempted it from the East. The US and UK forces had taken western Poland, Czechoslovakia, and Austria while the Soviets had everything from Eastern Poland and further east. All of that territory was under Soviet control and seeing the war was still to be won an agreement was reach. President Roosevelt and Churchill had spoken with Stalin and Soviet forces were joining the Allies push from the east but there was underlying tension and worry that the Soviets could try and take territory that was under US/UK occupation so they were moving at a glacial pace.
The Western advance was their best bet as it they could make a punch through the Siegfried line then they could move armor and infantry into Germany and begin taking the country. Pushing through the Hürtgen forest was key and their ultimate objective was to take hill 493. It was the tallest hill/ridge with a clear view of the entire valley. The Germans knew it was important which is why it they had put in heavy artillery pieces and had it heavily defended. On top of all the men and armor they had they also mined and boobytrapped the entire surrounding area. Taking the Hürtgen wasn't going to be easy and cost a lot of men and resources.
That would be without a special advantage the Allies had.
[Explosions]
A series of explosion went off in the distance in the forest and was being observed by a regiment of Waffen-SS soldiers from a nearby ridge. They were the first line of defense before hill 493 and had various artillery pieces and mortars set up. The three thousand men that made up the regiment watched the bursts of explosions and even saw flares being shot up into the sky. Said explosions were the minefields they set up deep in the woods and the flares were boobytraps they had set up in the area. If someone snagged a wire then it triggered a flare thus exposing their position. When the artillery teams on the ridge and hill 493 saw the flares go up they immediately adjusted their guns and opened fire. It would be fair to say that the artillery guns rained down a literal hellfire of shells in the forest, wiping out anything and everything. Trees that stood tall for hundreds of years were reduced to logs and splinters while craters that could collapse trucks littered the ground. After a continuous barrage that lasted five whole minutes the guns stopped firing and a thick cover of smoke blanketed the impact area like a heavy fog.
No normal human being could have survived that onslaught.
The Waffen-SS commander of the regiment looked through his binoculars to see if there was any enemy movement in the area but couldn't see anything through the thick cloud of smoke. That was until he saw a flash of red light and a split second later a beam of red energy flew through the air into the side of hill 493 and took out one of the large artillery pieces in a huge explosion. Then a blur of red and blue raced through the forests and began decimating the Waffen-SS regiment. Their guns were cracked in half, their mortars smashed to pieces, and the men were thrown around or knocked unconscious. Clark moved at super speed and took down the Waffen-SS regiment before skidding to a stop after smashing through an armored half-track and manned artillery piece. He walked out of the inferno when his super hearing picked up the sound of treads and he saw several Tiger Tanks closing in on his position.
The tanks opened fire but Clark dodged the tank shells before he charged. He rushed at a Tiger Tank and threw the shield. It sliced through the front cannon and then the body of the tank before Clark continued running and bashed through the rest of it with ease. He jumped up and slammed into a tank shield first causing the front to buckle when a Tiger tank blasted it, trying to kill Superman but Clark stepped out completely fine. Another Tiger tank drove at him full speed but he dove to the side and sliced through the treads on its left side with the shield, sending it spinning out of control. He then grabbed it by the cannon and ripped the top half off of the tank before using it to smash another. A series of heavy explosions went off around Clark as some of the artillery pieces on hill 493 opened fire on him. They inadvertently killed their own men but it was their desperate attempt to stop the Superman which didn't work. How did they know that? Because Superman came leaping out of the smoke and fire and landed up on the hill.
Far away, the US army could see distant explosions as the Superman made quick work of the German defenses at hill 493. What would have taken hundreds if not thousands of men braving through harsh terrain and heavy resistance resulting in heavy casualties was taken care of by one man. The army would still get to do their thing but thanks to the aid of Superman he was able to push them further and spare them serious danger.
August 1944
Remagen, Germany
The makings of the push into the heartland of Germany was at hand. Remagen seemed like nothing but another town in Germany that the Allies would need to push through in order to get closer to Berlin but it was much more important than that. The reason for that was because of its location on the Rhine river and its strategic bridge that crossed said river. As the Germans saw that they couldn't hold back the Allies western offensive they began to slowly retreat, taking out key bridges over the Rhine as they did so. The Rhine river ran through the country from the border to the Netherlands up in the Northwest all the way down to the southern border in France. Without the bridges then the crossings would take longer which is what Germany was counting off which is why they took out the bridges with the last one standing being the one in Remagen. If that last bridge was destroyed than the western offensive would be halted in order for them to build a crossing which would give the Germans ample time to regroup for a counterattack. They knew the Allies needed to get the bridge and thus would throw everything they could at it so the Germans would delay them as much as possible to allow the bridge demolition to take place.
One of their spies informed them of the Allies route to Remagen so they arranged for a fleet of heavy bombers to conduct a bombing run and halt the convoy with the hope of scattering them for the time being and give enough time for the reinforcements at the bridge to finish the demolition. The Heinkel HE 111 bombers would be escorted via Messerschmitt Bf 109 and Focke-Wulf Fw180 fighter planes and they even got Heinkel HE 162 Volksjäger and Messerschmitt Me 262 jet-powered fighter aircraft/bombers to assist them. The Allies may have quantity on their hands but nothing like the pinnacle of German engineering which would cut down the convoy and any kind of air fighters/bombers they might have though from their reports they weren't going to be used in Remagen.
The fighter planes were surrounding the bombers in a protective formation while the jet fighters had flown ahead being faster and would make the first assault before the bombers had their run. One of the lead pilots in a bomber adjusted his heading after a call in from the flight engineer when he saw explosions in the air in the distance.
"Mayday! Contact! Enemy Cont-AAHH!—Bzz"
The radio cut out after the frantic emergency call as more and more explosions were seen along with flashes of red light. The copilot used his binoculars to try and get a glimpse of what was going on ahead of them and even though the ride was shaky he seemed to have a clear view of the falling debris and smoke. Helped that it was a fairly clear day and the clouds were a bit spare but he didn't see any enemy fighters. If it was enemy artillery then they would have been hit as well and none of them heard the loud explosions indicative of anti-aircraft shells. He continued looking around for any sign of enemy planes and all the gunners and pilots were now on high alert after losing their jet fighter support. They all kept a watchful eye out for signs of enemy fighters but so far nothing.
"Anybody see anything?" The lead fighter pilot asked.
"I got nothing. Skies are clear." His wingman replied when another fighter in the squadron saw something.
"Wait, I think I see something." The pilot squinted his eyes as he saw something small moving in. "It looks like a circle—[SMASH]"
The red, white, and blue shield of Captain America sliced through the left wing of the plane causing it to begin spinning out of control and plummet to the ground. Said shield ricocheted and hit several other airplanes before one hit knocked it into the front rotor blades of a fighter. That impact destroyed the propellers but sent the shield flying up into the hands of Superman who crashed down through another fighter plane before landing on the cockpit of a Luftwaffe Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighter plane. The pilot looked on in disbelief as Clark gave him a smile before he smashed the front rotor with his shield and jumped away. The pilot managed to open his cockpit and bail out at the last second, parachuting to the ground.
Clark swerved through the air towards some Heinkel HE 111 bombers while the remaining fighter planes turned around in an attempt to protect them and maybe get a shot at the Superman. The gunners in the front bomber fired at Clark who swerved his body until he crashed through the front gunner port of the plane and punched the gunner out. He grabbed the bombardier and did the same to him before making his way through the bomber and kicking another gunner in the chest. The last remaining gunner pulled out a knife and tried to stab him only for Clark to bash him out of the plane. A bright flash of red light later and the bomber was destroyed as Clark jumped onto another bomber and raced across the wings. He smashed both rotor blades before jumping onto the next bomber to continue the process, taking down bombers one by one in quick succession.
Clark's landing on the next bomber crumpled the metal on its right wing before he blitzed forward at super speed and smashed through the rotor on the left wing. He then jumped into the air and threw his shield. It sliced through the air and then the wings of another bomber before ricocheting back to him just as his body smashed through two fighter planes that tried to shoot him down. He landed on another bomber and dragged the shield through the metal frame and then jumped off as it exploded before diving shield first through another bomber and throwing the shield on his way to the ground. The shield flew through the air and sliced into the wing of a fighter plane. Said fighter plane lost control as Clark dove towards it, managing to grab onto the wing and yank the shield out. The plane crashed into the ground a second before Clark landed, his boots crunched into the dirt and his impact making a small crater but he was fine. He looked up and saw the bombers drop some of their payload, perhaps in an attempt to take him out so his eyes glowed red and he fired a few bursts of his heat vision. The blasts of intense heat took out the bombs and a few planes before the rest called it quits and made emergency U-turns to head back to where they came from. This was a fight they couldn't win.
Clark stood on the bridge in Remagen and watched as jeep after jeep, truck after truck, and tank after tank drove by and over the Rhine river into the heartland of Germany. A regiment of soldiers would stay behind in Remagen along with some MPs. They would help keep the peace and deal German POWs while the main force pushed on. Many of the men in the jeeps and trucks gave Clark a salute as they drove by in respect and thanks for his efforts. Because of him, they were now one step closer to Berlin and ending the war. His helped enabled this blitzkrieg-like offensive which was kind of ironic as Germany had managed to conquer most of Europe with this tactic and now it was being used against them. Some like General Patton felt that this was exactly the kind of pace they needed to maintain. Clark actually saw him pass by and he was exactly like he had heard he was. Standing up from the top hatch of a Sherman tank as the 3rd Army group followed him in force. Seeing him with the helmet on his head, riding crop in one hand and the stern expression on his face as he saluted Clark on the drive by was a very ethereal experience.
The caravan of trucks that passed were filled with weapons, ammunition, and supplies including food and gasoline and it reminded Clark of one of the few downsides that his rapid blitzkrieg offensive had. Logistics. Clark could stand against a convoy of German Tiger tanks, destroy a bomber squadron and easily handle a fortified hilltop with heavy artillery guns no problem. He's saved the Allies from experiencing heavy casualties, saved them the loss of vehicles and supplies, and his work in the war has been depleting the German's resources but there was a counter to all that progress. The coordination for war was something monumental which is why it was often handled by the rear echelon aka the administrative efforts in supply and logistics. All the support elements were vital as they aided the war front. Clark's effort on the war front pushed the war faster than most people anticipated which in turn affected logistics. Command put in additional requests for gasoline to keep up with the demand for all the moving they've been doing and the influx of prisoners kept food logistics working 24/7. Supply lines needed to be maintained in order for the war effort to not get hampered. Thankfully, Superman's efforts prevented German attacks on their supply lines so transportation was their biggest concern rather than protection. He also helped in that regard and a few makeshift roads had been created to get the trucks moving.
Thankfully, there was a solve for the logistics part. Now that they had advanced into the heartland of Germany, Clark would step back and help the logistics and supply divisions. With his speed and strength, he could move supplies and do the work a whole caravan of trucks did. He could still aid in recon and the advance would still continue but with him not taking the lead then it could move in a pace more beneficial for everyone.
Line Break xxxxx
Late August 1944
Hamburg, Germany
[Metal groaning and clanking of wood]
"All right, we're hear. Check your weapons. It's time." Clark's voice spoke out in the darkness followed by the safety clicks of various guns before a door was slid open. Said door was to a train car and it opened, letting in the wind and rain but very little light aside from the passing rail lights and distance glow of fire from a nearby city. From the large swatches of fires and accompanying smoke the city of Hamburg was under siege. Not literally, but had been hit by artillery and air bombing runs. The ambient line shined into the train car illuminating Clark alongside Taskforce Vanguard and the Howling Commandos. The special teams of operators had gathered for a very special mission behind enemy lines.
"Take a look at that." Arthur Kingsley said.
"Hell of a world…who's up for saving it?" Richard Webb quipped. Clark leaned his head out of the train and saw their ride coming up so he nodded to Polina Petrova and Daniel Take-Yatsu.
"Do svidaniya!" Polina said to them before she shouldered her rifle and climbed up to the roof of the train car.
"Wish us luck." Daniel followed her up there to provide sniper cover. As they climbed up, the train they were on had caught up to another train on the adjacent tracks which was their target.
"Let's go!" Lucas Riggs patted Wade Jackon on the arm before he jumped onto a train bed.
"Showtime." Wade jumped right behind him followed by Webb and then Arthur who took down two German SS soldiers who had been standing guard but weren't paying attention. They knifed them in the back before kicking them off the train. Everyone else jumped onto the train bed one by one and began making their way to the front with Clark being the last one.
"Kal, you sure we can pull this off?" Dum-Dum Dugan asked him.
"Compared to what we've had to deal with Hydra? This will be simple." Clark assured him before they moved up. Clark's dismissive response could be seen as arrogant or egotistical but given how Clark wasn't someone who walked around with an aura of superiority, an arrogant attitude, or a massive ego then it wasn't. Compared to what Clark and the teams have been through before this mission was fairly run of the mill for them. They had all been through a lot together and since this wasn't a Hydra outpost or a special weapons project than they'd be fine. If Clark had any reservations about this plan then he would have told everyone.
They kept moving up the trains, having to move between the two when their way was blocked by all the cargo that wasn't passage. Jumping from moving train to moving train was exhilarating but for these soldiers it was just another day. Their going was smooth, only running into a soldier every now and then who was on guard duty who they took out quickly and quietly. They stopped in a train car when they saw four soldiers up on the next train bed all talking. Clark nodded to Arthur and Webb who aimed their suppressed Sten submachine guns before he signaled to Polina and Daniel on the roof of the opposite train. He gave them some hand signals and they nodded before aiming their sights on the soldiers. Clark counted down on his hand from five and when he hit zero Arthur and Webb took their shots, taking out two soldiers but before the other two could raise alarm they were taken out by headshots from Polina and Daniel.
"Damn, they're good." Jim Morita remarked before they kept moving up. They kept moving up the train bit by bit and thanks to Clark's speed he was able to take down the SS soldiers with ease as they kept moving up to prevent them from being discovered. It helped maintain the stealth part of their mission for the longest. Clark's senses also let him know when they needed to hide as the train passed by trucks on the nearby road. Forward, they kept going but stopped in a storage compartment that was a few train car lengths away from the conductor. By then they had taken care of all the SS troops and the train they had used to get here had taken its path when the tracks split. Now they were on their way to Hamburg.
"Not bad. A lot of sleuthing but no problem." Solange remarked.
"Bob's your uncle." Arthur quipped before he and Webb opened up the doors so they could see their destination. The train was traveling along a large river with a huge shipyard/submarine base on the other side and behind it was Hamburg which was still dealing with the artillery and air bombings.
"Fuck me dead." Lucas muttered, seeing all that damage up close. "All right, boss. What's the plan?"
Clark walked over and pointed to the shipyard. "That's the Hamburg Submarine pen and shipyard. That's our final stop. We move in and secure our objective."
"But we still have no idea what that is." Halima reminded him.
"Even with all the spies the SOE and the SSR has at their disposal we're still going in blind." Padma added.
"I know. I don't like it either but what we do know is that whatever this Phoenix is, it's important. So important that despite all the work our best spies could do, the only thing we know for sure is that the man in charge is making sure it gets out of Germany before this war is over." Clark told them.
"And knowing Freisinger, it means trickery and a lot of people will die." Polina remarked.
"What? Not excited to see your old boyfriend?" Logan remarked and Polina spat on the floor.
"All I want is to see his head in my crosshairs." Polina stated.
"And we'll see you get that chance but not today. SOE could confirm that Freisinger is in Berlin as of yesterday. Could be he's meeting more people but Hamburg is where he goes every single time when he's done. Whatever Phoenix is, we'll find it here." Clark said.
"What do you think it is, Kal?" Diggle wondered.
"From what Lucas and Polina mentioned about him in their past encounters and with everything the SOE and SSR were able to confirm about his movements, Freisinger has a habit of collecting people, expanding a network of connections. It's what he did with Savage Von Strucker at Castle Caldera and they were able to confirm he met with Dr. Vought as well and even Rommel before he was killed." Clark recounted.
"But why? What's his goal and what the hell does it have to do with Hamburg?" Anna Drake questioned.
"I don't know but it can't be a coincidence that this place has the only functional submarine base left standing in the Reich. This could be there escape plan. Make a break for open water and escape while Berlin falls. Phoenix could be a part of that or it could be a final weapon they plan to us. Either way, we're here to make sure it doesn't make it out of Germany." Clark told them. "We do this, we bury the Reich for good."
"We have any kind of idea the resistance?" Jim Morita wondered.
"Not sure. Hamburg is important so they could have anything here but between the artillery and bombing runs, most of the armies attentions should be focused elsewhere. We slip in undetected for as long as possible, get what we can and then we get out." Clark told everyone which made Dugan cock his shotgun.
"Sounds like a plan." He smirked.
"Quiet! Get back!" Polina told everyone and they all found cover or a hiding spot as the train slowed down and pulled into the shipyard.
"This is it. We do it quick, quiet, and we get out before they find us." Clark said, putting the shield on his arm as the train stopped and they filed out one after another. He saw a gasoline tank car on an adjacent rail likely used for the refueling of ships and submarines. "Lucas, tank car and one on the train. Set the longest timer you've got."
"Roger that." Lucas took out some explosives that had a timer charge and set it for thirty minutes before putting one on the gasoline tank and another on the train. The group moved along the train but saw that the entrance to the submarine bay was across two railway tracks and a lot of open space. Not only that but there were a lot of Waffen-SS soldiers on patrol routes along with dogs.
"No way we make it past all of them without getting spotted." Dugan said when Clark got an idea.
"I got this." Clark cracked his neck before he vanished in a blur.
[Whooshes of wind]
There was a blur of red and blue racing all over the railyard entrance to the submarine bay and one by one all the SS soldiers were knocked out and restrained together with bent metal pipes. Even the dogs were gone, having been carried a mile away. The search lights were turned off, the MG-42s set up in machine gun were broken in half, and all the guns of the Waffen SS soldiers were destroyed so even if they woke up they wouldn't be able to use them.
Clark then reappeared at the entrance which was a service bay for trucks where they likely loaded and unloaded the cargo from the trains. It was all clear so he signaled everyone to fall in and they did, avoiding the passing trains racing by. Every single operator was on full alert as they covered their corners and moved in tandem. Clark led the way into the shipyard/submarine base and arrived at a command room, noted because the door was extra thick steel and had the same phoenix symbol SSR intelligence noted that Freisinger used a lot. Clark grabbed the door and ripped it off its hinges so the team could enter. It was like other command rooms they had seen in the past. A large map of Europe on the far wall but with smaller maps of more specific locations alongside desks and cabinets filled with papers but the place looked empty like it had been emptied in a cleanup.