Ardennes Sniper: A World War II Thriller Read Online Free

carried a great weight that no one else could see.
    As the officers took their seats again and waited in tense silence, Hitler revealed his plan quietly and slowly at first. It was something he called Operation Watch on the Rhine.  
    "My generals, the time has come for us to change the tide of war," he said matter of factly. "We must crush the Allied forces and drive them back into the sea."
    In many ways the plan that Hitler laid out was Germany's version of D-Day—only this massive invasion would take place through the Ardennes Forest and across the Meuse River, which was the natural boundary between the rugged Ardennes region and the more open country of Belgium—and France beyond.  
    Hitler explained that the operation had been planned in utmost secrecy. Most of the generals in the room had no idea that all through the late summer and fall, panzer corps had been massing along the German border for the push into Belgium. Great caches of ammunition and petrol were dispersed in the Ardennes to resupply German forces. What remained of the Luftwaffe had been gathered at secret air fields in order to support the attack.
    Von Stenger wondered where so many men and so many tanks had come from. The forces along the Eastern Front, the final defenses against the Red Tide, must be nothing but straw men and cardboard tanks. No, Hitler was making one last great gamble here. It was clear that it was win or lose—if the attack failed, there would be no way to replace what had been lost.
    Hitler's voice built to an excited crescendo. He became animated as he had in the old days, exhorting the troops to victory at Nuremberg. Now his hand chopped at the air. Spittle flew from his lips. "Nothing short of victory! There is no turning back!"
    Abruptly, the Führer ended his speech. He stood there before them, no longer a stooped old man but their charismatic leader once more. For the moment, he had cast his familiar spell on the officer corps.
    "Heil Hitler!" echoed through the room as men sprang to their feet. He had given them a plan. He had given them hope.
    Von Stenger glanced over at Friel's face. It glowed in admiration.

CHAPTER 4

    The tanks rolled before dawn. When it came, the morning was a poor excuse for daylight, being dull and gray. Snow fell and wind blew. But that had been part of the timing of Hitler's surprise attack—the bad weather would keep the Allies' planes grounded.  
    Even Von Stenger had to admit the plan was almost crazy enough to succeed. As Goethe had said, "Daring ideas are like chessmen moved forward. They may be beaten, but they may start a winning game."  
    Swirling with the gray dawn mist were thick diesel fumes and, almost improbably, the smell of coffee and frying sausages. Von Stenger’s belly growled hungrily. He lit a cigarette. One had to shout to be heard over the sound of clanking tank treads and churning engines. It was as if some great, rumbling beast had awakened and was now on the prowl through the Ardennes.  
    Kampfgruppe Friel was comprised of more than twelve hundred SS troops—not baby-faced recruits, but mostly battle-hardened veterans. The battle group was equipped with six hundred Tiger II tanks, mobile anti-aircraft guns called Wirbelwind , and scores of combat vehicles. It was more than a formidable fighting force. It was a conquering army.  
    At the head of the column, Friel rode in a Tiger II tank. It was not just big—it was a monster. The tank weighed seventy-seven tons and was armed with a cannon and machine gun. Powered by a 700 horsepower Maybach engine, the tank could reach speeds of twenty-four miles per hour on good roads or through open country. The more lightly armored Sherman tanks used by the Allies did not stand a chance against a Tiger II tank. It would be akin to a medieval knight on a war horse attacking a peasant armed with a stick. All across the countryside from Normandy to the Ardennes, the blackened wreckage of Sherman tanks testified to that fact. It