16 Chapter 16

Hidden behind some curtains on a second floor window, a German Sniper took aim through his scope at the British troops slowly approaching down the long gravel road. There were other German troops hidden in the other houses on both sides of the street and were ready to ambush the British. The sniper adjusted his aim and saw the man leading the group of British was wearing a uniform with a black triangular shield and a red S-symbol on the chest. There were rumors spread among the Germans and Italians that the US had a super soldier fighting for them. He was called the Man of Steel and was the reason their defense of the island was going so poorly. Stories of his incredible feats had reached Centuripe long before the British arrived and while the Italians quickly fell for the Allied Propaganda, the German's weren't fools or cowards. The German sniper pulled the bolt on his rifle back and checked to see he had a bullet loaded before putting the bolt back. He looked through his scope and lined up a shot on the so called Man of Steel before taking a deep breath and squeezing the trigger.

The bullet flew out of the barrel and traveled down its path towards the Man of Steel faster then the human eye could perceive. The only way to notice a shot was fired was the distinct crack of the rifle and state of the man who was just shot. The sniper watched through his scope, excepting to see the so called Man of Steel to drop dead but that's not what happened. Instead, the Man of Steel raised his hand and caught the bullet before it hit him in the face.

"SNIPER!" Kingsley shouted as he and his men quickly scrambled to the side of the road and took cover by the buildings. Clark just stayed in the road and lowered his arm down before opening his palm to show the flattened sniper bullet. He then looked up at the sniper in the window and made direct eye contact before putting up his other hand, raising up his index finger and moving it back and forth. The well-known finger wagging gesture, basically saying that was bad move.

"Schiesse…" The sniper muttered as he quickly chambered the spent round and loaded a new one to fire but saw the man was gone. He felt a rustle of air next to him and saw the Man of Steel standing next to him.

"I believe this is yours." Clark handed him the bullet and the sniper looked at him in disbelief before he took out his knife and tried to stab him but his hand was grabbed. "That's not very nice."

Kingsley and the others kept their backs to the buildings and looked around for any other Germans or snipers while Clark had vanished. That's when they heard some struggling from one of the buildings and soon enough the German Sniper was thrown out of a window and landed on the street. He was still alive with some minor wounds suffered, likely from being thrown out of the window. Clark reappeared on the street and soon enough the Germans hidden in the houses opened fire at him. The bullets bounced off or deflected against his body while he stood there and made himself the target before looking over at Kinglsey who kept his head down. He signaled to Kingsley to move around and flank before super speeding around the houses nearby and grabbing the hidden German soldiers.

"All right, you lot. Let's move." Kingsley led the men down an alleyway to flank around the main road that Clark kept moving down. He continued moving through house after house and taking out the Germans hidden around before the main road he was on led to a small town intersection. That's when he saw a pair of Panzer 3 tanks and about two dozen men waiting for him. The men and machine guns on the tanks opened fire but Clark charged forward through the gunfire. The tanks aimed their cannons at him and fired but missed as Clark sidestepped the shells.

He closed the distance and shoulder charged one of the Panzer tanks, making a large body shaped indent in the front. He had physically compressed steel and iron with nothing but his body and the crew inside the tank were panicking. The German soldiers around the tanks tried killing Clark but their bullets did nothing. With their attention so focused on him, they didn't notice Kingsley and his team had completed their path to flank around the main road without the Germans noticing. Kingsley and three other men took out No.36M Mk.1 AKA Mills fragmentation grenades, pulled the pins and then threw them.

One of the soldiers reloaded his MP-40 as he saw Clark punch the left tracks off of one of the tanks when he felt something hit his foot. He looked down to see it was a grenade with three others scattered around. "GRANATE!"

His warning came too late as the grenades went off. The explosions killed 14 of the Germans and knocked the others to the ground. Kingsley and his men then rushed out and shot at the remaining Germans, killing the rest since they had the element of surprise. Clark got on top of one of the Panzer tanks, ripping open the top hatch and pulled out the tank crew before jumping onto the other tank and doing the same.

"Grenades!" Clark shouted so Kingsley tossed him two. He pulled the pins and dropped one in each of the two tanks before jumping off. The grenades went off and destroyed the inside of the tanks. Kingsley's men took the German tanks crews into custody as one of the men used Clark's radio to inform the rest of the battalion to move up the main road and to get men to remove two destroyed German tanks.

"That wasn't that hard, was it lads?" Kingsley asked him men and they all cheered for Clark as more reinforcements were coming up to their position.

"Sergeant, we just got a distress call. A Canadian team is trapped on the western sector of the city. They've hit a well-fortified German platoon and need reinforcements." The radioman informed him.

"All right, let's go. They need help." Clark told him and he began heading west.

"Let's go, lads. Time to help the Canadians!" Kingsley added and the others followed. They were riding high on morale with their recent success and with the Man of Steel on their side then they would be fine.

Over on the western sector of the city, a platoon of the Canadian-American joint commando unit had made their way through the streets and alleyways of the city only to run into a well-fortified defensive barrier 200 yards from their position. They had high sandbag walls that perfectly covered their 2 MG-42 and 2 MG-34 machine guns, several rifleman providing additional suppressive fire and three mortars set up behind the guns. Scattered around the street were the Canadian soldiers of the First Special Service Force AKA the Braves Alpha Battalion. The First Special Service Force was a special Canadian-American commando group and specially trained for combat, undercover operations and operating behind enemy lines but at the moment they were folded in to the larger Canadian army for Operation Husky. The Canadian soldiers of this battalion were taking cover behind bombed out buildings, defensive barriers the Germans had set up, trucks and cars on the street and whatever else they could hide behind to avoid getting shot as 20 men of the platoon were already dead or injured. The German machine gun fire was so oppressive that they couldn't push forward or even retreat without getting gunned down.

One of the NCOs in the platoon, Sergeant James Logan Howlett had rushed from his cover to drag a wounded private so he didn't bleed out. It was suicide and several bullets ripped through him but he managed to pull the private behind cover and used some bandages to tie up the wound. Sergeant Howlett seethed and hissed in pain as the bullets were pushed out of his body and his wounds healed up like they never happened. The ricochet scratch on his cheek healed up the same way. He put his cigar up in his helmet strap and peaked out from his cover before pulling back to avoid a ricochet.

"Son of a bitch…" Howlett cursed as one of his men managed to crawl over to him. "Connor, take care of the private."

"Got it, Sarge." Another private replied as he helped his injured friend as best he could. Logan loaded his Thompson M1A1 and saw a bullet riddled car up ahead for cover so he jumped over his rubble cover and ran. He fired a few bursts from his Thompson and hit one of the Germans in the shoulder but one of the machine guns had a clear line of sight on him.

Logan saw the machine gunner take aim at him when someone tackled him from the side and they both landed on the ground behind the car. "You all right?"

Logan looked up to see the guy who pushed him out of the way. His uniform styling was American but wasn't typical army and judging by the giant S-symbol he had on his chest then it was the Man of Steel guy. "I'm fine. What are you doing here?" Logan asked him.

"Heard there was a Canadian platoon trapped and needed some help. How bad is it?" Clark questioned.

"Not that good. Germans are dug in tight and have this entire road pinned down. About 20 are down or injured." Logan told him. That's when Clark saw Kingsley and the others arrive down the road.

"Well, you've got about 30 more men now and more reinforcements are coming. Medics will take care of your wounded. I'll take care of that barrier." Clark assured him before rushing out and heading straight to the German defensive barrier 200 yards down the road. Logan and the other Canadian soldiers witnessed the Man of Steel in action for themselves and saw him rush straight at a wall of bullets which bounced or deflected off of him like he literally was made of steel.

"Töte ihn!" A German sergeant shouted kill him as everyone focused their fire on Clark but he just kept running straight at him with their bullets deflecting off or breaking against his skin. The mortar crews adjusted their aim and fired their shells which dropped around him as he closed in on the barrier.

"Son of a bitch…" Logan muttered before he reloaded his Thompson. "He's drawing their fire! Let's move!"

Logan was the first out of cover followed by Kingsley and the other British and then the Canadians followed after. Clark unslung his BAR and fired a barrage at the barrier, killing a few Germans but their fire hit his gun. The holes in it made it useless so he tossed it aside and kept running. One of the Germans grabbed a Panzerschreck and took aim at Clark before firing the rocket which hit him in an explosion of smoke and fire. Clark just took a small leap forward and barreled right through the sandbags, sending four Germans flying back. He pushed and kicked the Germans away and broke their machine guns as Logan and Kingsley were the first to arrive at the barrier and shot down the Germans with the rest falling back and turning the corner at the end of the road.

"Wait here a moment. I'll go ahead." Clark told them before he took off running down the road and following the Germans who were retreating.

Clark ran down the streets, covering his head as a mortar shell exploded near him and sent some debris up. A German MG-42 perched up on the second floor of a building unleashed hell on him but the bullets deflected off his body. He grabbed a rock off the ground and threw it at the gun, taking it out of commission. He covered his head as more mortar rounds landed around him when one got close and the impact knocked him into a building. He pushed off and jumped across the street, breaking through the window of a building, and ended up knocking a German soldier into a wall. That's when he saw the room was occupied by German soldiers.

They raised their rifles at him so Clark acted. He kicked a table and pinned a German to the wall as the rest opened fire but their bullets were useless. One German attacked him with the bayonet on his rifle but he grabbed it and then kicked away another soldier who tried to attack him from the side. He elbowed a soldier in the head, knocking him to the ground before snapping the rifle in two and blocking a knife from another German. He grabbed the German by the jacket and then kicked him out of another window so Logan, Kingsley, and the others saw him fall down as they ran by.

"What the hell was that?" A soldier shouted.

"Keep moving!" Kingsley ordered and they kept moving down the main road while the German ambush that was waiting for them was too busy being occupied by Clark.

Clark busted through the doors of another room in the building he was in where more Germans were residing. He slid forward and punched a soldier in the chest lightly, sending him flying into the wall before kicking another in the leg which sent him into a table. He pushed one German into another and then grabbed them both by their jackets before tossing them up into the roof where they dropped back down like bricks. A German soldier shot at him with his rifle but the bullet deflected back at him. Clark saw the Germans were dealt with so he jumped out a window, landed on the roof of another building, and kept running.

Logan, Kingsley, and their group kept moving down the road but hid behind a building as there were some Germans waiting for them the second they turned the corner. Logan pulled the pin of a grenade and threw it. After it exploded, he charged forward, jumped over a sandbag barrier, and kicked a German to the ground, shooting him when another German hit him across the face with his rifle butt.

"GRRRR!" Logan just headbutted the German in the face, kneed him in the balls and threw him to the ground before unloaded the rest of his submachine gun clip at him. Two more Germans ran out of a building to kill him but Kingsley gunned them down. Logan nodded in thanks before reloading his gun and they kept moving.

Clark jumped from the roof of the building he was on and landed in a large town square filled with Germans and a Panzer 2 light tank. Germans were sent flying as he pushed, punched, and kicked them out of his way. The MG-34 on the light tank fired at Clark while its 20mm cannon turned. Clark leapt into the air to see the cannon was facing him and fired a round at him so he just punched it. It stung a little bit but it was destroyed in a small explosion. He landed on the ground and shoulder charged the light tank in the side, causing it to crumple in before he grabbed it from the bottom and with a powerful yell, lifted it into the air. The Panzer light tank was flipped and crashed onto its roof.

Clark turned and raised his hand to block another bullet when he saw the German soldier who shot at him get gunned down. He looked over and saw Kingsley standing side by side with the Canadian soldier he saved and the two opened fire at the Germans. Clark pulled out his Colt pistol and fired, standing with Kingsley and Logan as they took down the remaining Germans in the square. The rest of Kingsley's Platoon and the Canadians arrived and assisted in the fire fight with the Germans having no chance and were all killed.

Some of the civilians in the area stepped out of their homes when the fighting stopped and saw the British and Canadians arrive. That's when they heard a loud crack and one of the Italian civilians had gotten shot. Clark looked up at the bell tower of a church and saw the German sniper up top. "SNIPER! TAKE COVER!" Logan shouted so everyone ran for cover. Clark ran over and grabbed the civilian who was shot and quickly took him inside a building for cover before rushing back out and covered any other civilians outside.

Kingsley saw Clark was covering the civilians and none of them had a shot on the sniper so they needed to make a shot. That's when he saw the bent metal siding of the light tank that Clark destroyed and knew it was perfect cover and a way to get Clark to take out the sniper in the tower.

"Cover fire! Follow me!" Kingsley rushed out from cover with two of his men and Logan with the others providing suppressive fire at the bell tower. Kingsley held up the steel plate siding and the others quickly followed his lead. "Ok, we're gonna put this on our backs and when I say go, lift hard. Elbert! Jump!"

Clark looked over and saw what Kingsley and the others were doing so he nodded. He ran towards them as they placed the metal siding on their back and when he was close enough, he jumped. "GO!"

Kingsley, Logan, and the others lifted hard and Clark jumped off. He leapt through the air and barreled through the bell tower like a wrecking ball. The bell tower collapsed on the church and was gone with nothing but rubble and dust. Kingsley and Logan dropped the steel siding to the ground and looked up. Everyone looked at the destroyed bell tower in awe and wondered what happened. That's when they saw Clark walk into view from atop the church, alive and unharmed.

The Italians erupted into cheers in applause along with the British while the Canadians were just dumbfounded. "So…that's the Man of Steel?" Logan asked.

"That he is. Lives up to the name. With him on our side, this war is as good as over." Kingsley declared.

More reinforcements arrived in the square with trucks, tanks, and soldiers. The civilians cheered and eagerly shook Clark's hand, pat him on the back and arm, and the women both elderly and young kissed him on the cheek. They were saved from the Germans who were now running with their tails between their legs. Logan checked with a commanding officer and the injured were being taken to a medical tent. After that, he took out his lighter and removed his cigar from his helmet before lighting it.

"You know, that's bad for your health."

Logan turned and saw Clark looking at him. "Pretty much everything in this war is bad for a person's health. Bullets, grenades, bayonets, tanks, and planes. Cigar is the lesser of those evils." Logan lit his cigar and took a small puff. "James Howlett but you can call me Logan."

"Kalvin Elbert. Call me Kal." Clark introduced himself and this gave Logan his first good look at him. His nose could pick up something abnormal with this guy but he wasn't quite sure what it was.

"So, all the stories about you weren't just exaggerations and bullshit."

"Do people think the news about what I can do is just propaganda?" Clark wondered and Logan shrugged.

"Pretty much. I did until now. Never seen someone run into gunfire without a scratch much less after getting hit by a tank cannon." Logan admitted. "Where the hell did you come from?"

"Kansas." Clark answered with a smile on his face. "But if you're referring to what you saw then that's because of what happened to me at the SSR."

Logan let out a playful chuckled when he heard that. "Oh, I get it. You let them turn you into a weapon. Not sure that was a smart move there, Kansas."

"Partially right but it's had its benefits. I've met some interesting people and helped in the war effort. Look at what happened here." Clark gestured to the civilians who were celebrating their liberation. "They're free of the Germans who are on the run. Anything I can do to help end this war sooner, even if by a day is worth it."

Logan chuckled at his naivety which was both charming and filled with genuine optimism. "Maybe they should replace that Captain America guy with you instead. I'm sure kids would eat up your optimism with a spoon."

"I prefer to call it hope." Clark corrected him. "But then again, hope only gets you so far and that's where action comes in. Speaking of action, you know your way around the battlefield pretty well. More so then a typical enlisted Sergeant."

"You've been in the army long enough to pick that up?" Logan wondered and Clark shrugged in response.

"I'm observant. And I'm trained enough to see that only people who've seen a lot of combat move and fight like you do." Clark pointed out.

"I'm the best there is at what I do…but what I do isn't very nice. And this isn't my first war." Logan admitted. Clark could tell there was more that he was keeping to himself. He had done it plenty of times to see it in other people. That and there were the bullet holes in the back of Logan's jacket and fresh blood stains but he was standing around and smoking his cigar like nothing happened.

"Clearly not your first battle. You don't need to get checked out?" Clark asked him and Logan just fixed the jacket so the holes weren't too noticeable.

"I'm fine. I've been through worse." Logan puffed his cigar and didn't answer any further so he decided to leave it at that.

"Fair enough. Still, nice work out there." Clark told him and Logan gave him a nod in response.

"All right, gentlemen! Get your gear! First and Second platoons are moving out!" A lieutenant shouted and the soldiers in those platoons got ready.

Clark took out his Colt pistol and ejected the empty magazine before loading in a new one. He put it back in his holster as Kingsley and the others joined him and the Canadians who were with Logan walked over. "You lads fancy sticking with us?" Kingsley wondered.

The Canadians nodded and Logan took another puff of his cigar before he pulled the cocking hammer on his Thompson. "Lead the men, Man of Steel." Logan told him and Clark smirked.

"All right, let's get ahead of the other platoons. We're scouting ahead. Watch your corners and keep your eyes peeled. We keep up the momentum and we can have the city by nightfall!" Clark told them, leading them further into the occupied city.

Clark's statement seemed arrogant and it was but it was only partially correct. It was thanks to the efforts of the Man of Steel that the British and Canadian infantry and armored divisions were able to move further and further into Centuripe then if he wasn't there. The Germans in the city put up a strong defense. They refortified their defensive barriers, set up ambushes by using the houses and buildings in the narrow streets deep into the city, and used what mortars and artillery they had to make it cost the allies. German Snipers were very dangerous as they had excellent hiding spots in the buildings throughout the city and the sheer tenacity of the German soldiers let them hold out for 36 hours until they retreated north past the Etna Line to the city of Adrano. So, Clark was wrong that they'd have the city by nightfall and instead they had it by the morning.

They had captured and secured the city of Centuripe with other British regiments capturing the city of Catania by the coast so they had two of the major cities on the Etna Line. The other two cities on the Etna line were Troina and San Fratello on the western part of the island. General Patton had finished mopping up his western reconnaissance mission and now had his forces heading to those two cities. Being Patton, he just kept the 7th Army armored column and infantry head straight to the city of Troina but he was in for a difficult advance. The Germans and Italians stationed there put in extensive mine fields making the unsteady ground and rocky terrain even more treacherous. To Patton's great annoyance, his forces couldn't establish any easy breakthroughs in the city and were stuck with the arduous routine of slowly prying the enemy off their fortified hill tops.

With Centuripe and Catania secured, Clark was called over to the US 7th army to assist in General Patton taking the last two cities on the Etna line. If he did, then the invasion of Sicily was closer to an end.

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