Opening Moves

A small group of commandos took position on the walls above the entrance and started to pour down fire and grenades, causing horrendous casualties to the elements forming for a second assault. However, a quick-witted Kapitan swiftly organised four sniper-rifle equipped troopers and they quickly silenced the French fire with well-aimed and mainly fatal results.

Another platoon of paratroopers was immediately directed to use their grapnels and gain the wall position under the covering fire of the sniper unit. The grapnels rose and all but two held first time. One landed harmlessly back on the ground and was recovered for another, again unsuccessful throw. The other fell back and heavily struck an unsuspecting young trooper on the head, splitting his skull and dropping him senseless to the grass. His comrades ascended the taut lines, each second expecting the stinging impact of bullets.

At the north wall of the Château, two more platoons were already in the process of scaling the wall of the Little Bastion, having taken down three guards with silenced rifle fire before they could respond.

In the allied officers sleeping quarters in the main building, pandemonium ensued as the alarm was shouted and then reinforced by the unmistakeable sounds of gunfire nearby. Each allied officer had his pistol in his hand as they emerged on various floors, grouping up and deciding what to do.

Prentiss was senior rank in his group and decided they should stay together and head towards the sound of the guns.

At the main entrance, the latest Russian assault had been more fruitful. Forty men had gathered on the pathway near the gate and rained grenades on the defenders, killing or incapacitating every man not in good cover.

A sudden surge brought success and the wooden gateway fell, its guards slain with no chance to close the wooden door. It was a matter of design that the defences should offer no protection to attackers, so the turret and wall positions were all open to fire from inside the Château. Paratroopers surged inside, taking cover where they could but all the time suffering casualties from the numerous firing points that could bear in the killing ground between the archways.

The next gate was closed and barred, obstructing the way into the Basse Cour. The Captain in charge ordered two men forward with satchel charges to resolve the blockage. Above the door were holes designed in a different age, defensive measures that had permitted defenders to pour pitch and oils upon any assault force. The old provision proved equally effective when used in conjunction with grenades, and one per man arrived, shredding the two paratroopers before they could successfully deploy their explosives.

Reacting swiftly, the Russian officer sent forward one of his flamethrowers, and in seconds, fire blasted through the same slits to fatally envelop the grenadiers, their screams rising above all the noise of battle.

The Captain ordered more explosives forward but exposed himself in the doing, falling bloodily to the stone with his jaw shot away by a French rifle bullet.

The explosives set, Russian paratroopers scrabbled for cover as the fuses burned down and ignited the charges, turning the door into dangerous matchwood. Two French commandos and one paratrooper were struck down by large splinters, all three fatally.

Dubois had organised the defence of the lower courtyard, positioning the unit’s .50cal heavy machine-gun by a stone trough, ready to cover down the approach to the gateway and flay any attackers who got past the portcullis that he had ordered dropped.

Russian paratroopers charged into the smoke of the explosion and ran headlong into the medieval obstruction that barred their way.

Gathering in the areas between the two gates, more casualties were inflicted by the still active defenders of the living quarters, who shot down into the throng.

Makarenko pulled his men back into some sort of reasonable cover and ordered the portcullis destroyed. Three men dashed forward, one with explosives, the other two with rifle grenades. Meanwhile, support fire lashed the openings of the Basse Court Tower.

Both rifle grenades were fired through the portcullis and into the Basse Court itself, the first striking the door frame of the Alsatian House, killing three French officers who had posted themselves there. The other struck the rock path and sent deadly splinters into two commandos positioned on the corner of a low stone building.

The explosives set, the three retreated at speed, finding safety at the moment the portcullis disintegrated. A number of grenades bounced through the dust and smoke, causing casualties amongst the men who were swiftest off the mark. Reloaded, the two rifle grenade men sent their deadly missiles through the gateway, again finding targets in the Alsatian House and beyond.