Oh Suzannah, Don't You Cry For Me

Chapter Thirty-One: The Battle of the Bulge

Whelp, this story is officially over 300 pages in my Google Docs. :D

Chapter Thirty-One: The Battle of the Bulge

Thanksgiving came and went. The food, however, tasted much better than any prior meals the army served. Despite the delicious food, the entire camp remained quiet and on-guard. Celebrations remained at a minimum due to their location near the German border. Nazi patrols, if they knew of the 90th's whereabouts, would certainly use the holiday as a distraction to their advantage. While everyone ate, the Nazis might attack and slaughter them all without warning.

Thankfully, nothing happened and the 90th ate undisturbed. Worry nagged at everyone, so they ate their Thanksgiving meal in an anxious state, ready to spring into action at any moment. Like the Israelites preparing to escape Egypt, the soldiers ate in haste and kept their guns close at hand.

Unlike the enslaved Israelites, the 90th plowed their way into enemy territory and captured several prisoners. In the wake of the Moselle River battle, crossing the German border proved rather unremarkable. The German officer they had captured claimed the Germans thought the area impossible to attack. The attack caught them off guard.

Plus one for the Allies.

Things were looking up.

The 90th's persistent attitude scored them several consecutive wins against the Germans. For the first time in weeks, the 90th hunkered down in townhouses in a small German town instead of tents scattered around in a clearing. The houses provided better protection from the escalating winter weather and also from stray German bullets. Not to mention, the cellars in the houses each had a wealthy supply of canned fruit and meat, eggs, and other delicious food the soldiers accepted joyously. K-rations went untouched for quite some time after the fantastic discovery of the well-stocked houses.

Suzie's twentieth birthday also came and went. December 9th remained unremarkable except for Steve gifting her a new pair of boots and Bucky finally allowing her to finish reading The Hobbit. Richard and Alice worked together to scrounge up enough ingredients to bake a small cake, which the trio shared in a hidden area behind the infirmary. The cake lacked frosting and tasted like dried sawdust, but having the chance to sit and spend time with her friends meant more to her than any cake ever could.

Not one to be outdone, Bucky—how he ever managed something so absurd went beyond her—procured a small piece of gingerbread. It tasted nothing like Ma's yearly tradition of baking gingerbread for Suzie's birthday, but the effort tasted sweeter than the actual food. Bucky looked extremely proud of himself for acquiring such a rare food item all the way out on the frontlines. His ties to Captain America and Howard Stark probably helped him find ginger-freaking-bread, but Suzie didn't ask how he found the treat.

The agreeability of the November holiday and her December birthday didn't last. After the battle at the Moselle River, the 90th never ceased in their efforts to surge forward on their goal to eliminate German presence in Luxembourg and Belgium. They never stayed in one place long, constantly on the move, and always on high alert for enemy activity. Battles became commonplace, and the sounds of the injured and distant firefights overpowered the noise of typical army life.

Against all odds, the 90th continued to take prisoners and plow their way into German-controlled territory. In the fifteen days it took to cross the Saar River, twenty-one square city blocks fell into the control of the Allies, and the 358th alone captured twenty-five German pillboxes, three tanks, and two hundred and eighty-six prisoners.

After the Saar River crossing, the 90th, separated into smaller regiments, set up a defensive position, and held it as Christmas arrived. A section of the 90th returned to Paris while other divisions settled into towns in both France and Germany and along the Saar River.