Tales of the Ranch - Phoenix Rising

[Grand58742]

CHAPTER 5


Z Day Minus 36 hours

[Grand58742]

CHAPTER 5 CONTINUED

********************

[qrprat77]

Awesome!
Great to see the invasion begin.
Well, not great for the troops...

[tech]

Woo hoo! what a way to begin the weekend...Thanks for the latest installment!

[sniper69]

Grand - your writing is excellent as usual. :)

[Grand58742]

CHAPTER 6


Z Day


Suddenly it was raining. Not from the low hanging clouds, but rather from the explosions that started in the water adjacent to our landing craft. While the war was bringing serious technological advances to the battlefield, we still used the old fashioned landing craft used for generations before. Some were modified Higgins Boats (although slightly larger) like we were while others traveled in style in hovercraft and AAV7A3s. But no matter what, we were heading to shore after unloading from our ship and getting into the well deck underneath. It was finally upon us and we knew there was no turning back.

But as we crept closer to shore, fighting the increasing surf and the winds, the IU had different ideas on their mind since they were shelling us and attacking us with bombers and other aircraft. The protective SAM ships were hit first by antiradar missiles and the landing craft soon came under attack as well. I guess lucky or unlucky the larger ships made more plentiful targets and received the brunt of the IU aerial attacks. As did the larger landing craft, medium and landing craft, tank and the hovercraft. Lucky or unlucky, we were under heavy bombardment. Apparently the Air Force and the Navy weren’t as effective as they thought they were going to be.

I tried to cringe lower in the craft, but how far down could I go when the death was raining in from above? I peeked upwards as more shells hit nearby and rained more seawater into our boat. A hand clasped down on my shoulder and I didn’t even realize I had a death grip on my rifle before then.

“Relax, we’ll be on the beach soon enough,” said Gil.

It sounded reassuring enough, but I could see the concern written all over his face as well. And while his hand was supposed to allay my fears, he was clamped down pretty hard as well. I had come in at the tail end of the fighting in England and had never been subjected to the heavy bombardment we were under at that time. Oh sure, we had mortar fire and some artillery rounds, but nothing like the large caliber shells landing around us. A near miss rocked the craft upwards in the water and I thought it might capsize before settling back down on the path towards the beach.

Lighter explosions supplemented the larger guns as mortars and automatic grenade launchers started ranging out to hit us. Heavy machine gun fire was interspaced with the explosions, some hitting our craft. I really hoped the engineers knew what they were talking about when they said the hulls were designed to withstand the heavy machine gun fire currently peppering the exterior of the craft. I peeked out the side and saw the craft to our left get hit by an antitank missile fired from somewhere on shore. It ripped into the thin hull and exploded among the two platoons waiting inside to depart the craft. Our own missile defense system fired from the front of the craft, intercepting another missile before it got us. The mesh screen deployed as advertised and exploded the warhead twenty yards in front of our craft. The remains pinged off the bow armor as I looked at the scene to our sides once again out of the only window available.

Another craft further down received two direct hits, one from a 122mm rocket and a 240mm mortar. It seemed to come apart in the water as soldiers spilled out of the burning craft, trying to shed the heavy equipment before they sank to the bottom. I could see dozens of smoke plumes up the coast as the bombardment was taking its toll on our landing forces. An AAV-7 in front of us was hit by another antitank missile fired from a shore battery and sank below the surface quickly with no survivors emerging. More machine gun fire was heard slamming into our hull and a flight of IU attack aircraft screamed by overhead, dropping their cluster bombs and heavy ordnance onto the formations before being chased away by FNC fighters. However, some returned and targeted us with their cannons as their buddies battled the fighters in the air. I thought it was pretty dangerous to be flying around in the middle of an artillery bombardment, but if it hit the IU fighters, I could have cared less.

“Two minutes!” announced the coxswain before our boat was rocked by five explosions from one of the automatic grenade launchers. It hit right in the middle of the control area and killed the coxswain outright and wounded those in the rear of the craft. Some were hit in the body armor while others had superficial wounds. Others still weren’t as lucky as their wounds were far more serious. I wondered if they might have been the lucky ones since they were out of the fighting now and didn’t need to worry about being hit.

I saw the Company Commander and the First Sergeant scrambling to the controls trying to figure out how to steer and control the craft as others tended to the wounded in the rear of the craft. At less than two minutes to landing, I hoped they quickly learned the controls or at least how to stop the thing. More rounds pinged off the armor as the general purpose machine guns starting sending out their green lines of death towards us. It appeared the IU had plenty of ammo to spare and didn’t worry about wasting rounds. More explosions rocked all around us, slamming the craft back and forth. I could hear the Captain and the First Sergeant going back and forth trying to figure out the boat.

“This!”

“No, this one!”

“We need to pull back on the throttle!”

“Drifting left!”

“Engine controls! Got ‘em!”

“Pull back on the throttle!”

The engines suddenly cut back and the craft tossed us forward since the resistance of the water suddenly came back into play. I could see more smoke plumes from the horizon as many of the landing craft never even made it close to shore. It looked like something out of the deepest parts of Dante’s Inferno as I stared at the extended scene of hell to my sides.

“The throttle is jammed closed!” shouted the First Sergeant.

“Wade in! We are only fifty yards! We’re sitting ducks out here!” shouted the Captain as he located the release controls for the doors on the front of the craft. The doors started opening and it looked like the shore was a lot further than the fifty yards as planned. It looked more like a mile at the time.

“Get to the beach! Remember your sectors and assignments! Regroup on the beach!” shouted the Captain as he and the First Sergeant scrambled out of the control area.

While we didn’t especially want to leave the relative safety of the craft, we knew we would eventually be ranged by the machine guns and would be killed. And since I was at the front, I ran towards the bow and jumped towards the water. However, while in midair, I suddenly realized I had no idea how deep the water was and how I would be able to float with all the gear I had on if I needed to. Sure, I had that little rubber thing around my neck, but I’m pretty sure it’s only going to delay me from sinking to the bottom rather than keep me from certain death. But lucky for me, it was only up to my neck so drowning was put into the back of my mind for the moment. I started moving forward as the waves lapped over my head. It wasn’t easy moving forward, like something out of a dream where you are trying to run away and your legs don’t really work that fast. The situation as it stood was certainly surreal and nothing like I had ever imagined or experienced before.

I didn’t remember the explosions, the bullets zinging by or the water. I didn’t hear the flight of F-15s fly by and drop their bomb loads on targets just off the beaches. I couldn’t tell you when the friendly artillery fire was lifted on the beaches as we waded ashore. The only thing I remember was forward, ever forward. Move forward. A primal instinct to move towards dry land. I had a goal, a single accomplishment in life at that given moment in time, forward to the beach. I think subconsciously I knew it had to be safer than waiting on the tide to come back in and drown us all, so I moved forward as training took over. I could see several landing craft starting to turn and head back to the ships to pick up the second wave of troops. Some were hit on their return trip as they just were unlucky. But I also knew we needed to claw out enough real estate to get them to land without the troubles we were currently facing.

And I saw we weren’t the only ones that had to wade into shore. There were more than a few craft in our predicament and troops were trying to make it to shore. Gunfire zipped by me once again and I dropped to a knee in the water. Lucky for me, I was in waist deep water by then and most of my body was covered. I knew the rounds could go right through the water and still kill me, but I wasn’t concerned with it at that point in time. Survival was my only concern. I got back up and headed towards the shore again as the IU started concentrating on the troops that had already arrived on the beach and ignored us for the moment. The water still slowed me down and made our gear impossibly heavy, but I now saw the method in the madness of Sergeant Winfield in having us train while wet. I thought at the time he was just being cruel, but I could see he was conditioning us to be able to perform under any conditions. And I understood why he insisted we put in extra drainage grommets into our gear.

Just as soon as the water drained out of my pack and web gear, an explosion knocked me over and back into the water. Sudden panic took over as I was weighted down under water, but remembered all I had to do was stand up. I wasn’t having the best of luck making it to the beach, but I knew I needed to get there quickly to support my team and my friends on the beach. Someone, I have no idea who, grabbed me and helped me up. I realized I had continued holding my rifle the entire time and never lost it so one training condition that was helpful. I finally reached knee deep water and was able to run a lot faster than my slow progress to this point. And it was then I noticed the tracer fire from the various positions on the beach. The green lines of death heading this way and that into preselected points of death that had been programmed years before by the Islamic Union. And test fired since then to make sure they were properly positioned.

And what of the naval and aerial bombardment you might ask? Well had they built the positions on top of the cliffs our artillery fire might have taken out more. But the main defenses were built into the side and the base of the cliffs, obviously a lesson learned from the last war. I managed to get out of the water and started running for the first cover I could find, a crater from one of the naval shells on the edge of the beach. I dove in behind the deep walls of the crater just as a line of tracers flew over my head. I quickly checked my rifle and removed the barrel cap before pulling the bolt back to make sure the water had drained from the barrel and chamber. I released the charging handle, sending a round into the chamber and preparing it to fire. I peeked up over the wall looking for targets to put some effective fire on. Pulling the scope cover off, I saw it had managed to make the journey without any serious malfunctions either. I started peering through the optic looking for a target.

But honestly, there were everywhere and nowhere. I couldn’t pick out one to start and watched as another line of tracers flew onto the beach. I saw where they began and where they ended, right into a fire team just getting ashore. The explosions were constant, the firing nonstop, the screams of the dying filled the air, the acrid smoke choked our lungs. It was like sensory overload and nothing we had accomplished in training could ever prepare us for what we faced. I looked around, trying to find anyone from my unit. I saw nobody I recognized from my team, squad or platoon. Checking behind me, I couldn’t see the remainder of them wading ashore. I saw more than enough soldiers on the beach, but again, nobody I recognized. I started taking aim at the nearest bunker, trying to focus in on the machine gunner currently sending fire out towards the incoming troops. More explosions made me cringe back into the crater and I repositioned myself to get a better angle on the shots.

However, by me moving, I put myself right into the line of fire from another machine gun nest. As soon as I started bringing my rifle up, a round tore through the actions, destroying the weapon. And another managed to hit me right in the trauma plate of my vest. It knocked me silly and ended up taking the breath out of my lungs. I fell over backwards and just laid there for what seemed like a long time until a combat medic came by to check my vitals. I waved his hand away from my neck and started to sit up, making sure I was still below the line of fire from the enemy nest.

“You okay?” he asked.

“Yeah, took a round to the plate,” I replied.

“Okay, just make sure you-” he started to say and was cut off by the round that impacted just below his helmet in his neck. It came from the rear and out the front and I saw his lifeless eyes as he hit the ground in front of me. I checked his pulse and found he was dead from the round that had ripped through his neck. I ducked down just as several others ducked into the same crater I was in to seek cover from the incoming fire. I knew I needed a weapon and I grabbed at the medic’s rifle and started removing the magazines from his web gear. I put my other ammo inside my pack, knowing I would eventually find another marksman rifle and be able to use the ammo. Or I would be able to pass it on to someone who needed it.

I put the new magazines down into the pouches and quickly checked the rifle. It hadn’t been fired yet and water spilled out of the barrel. I was glad I checked it since an exploding barrel would just be the icing on the cake for me today. The M4A4 was familiar to me, but unfamiliar at the same time since it had been quite some time since I fired one. The balance was a little different, but it would go bang and send rounds at the enemy so I didn’t worry about the weight difference. I concentrated my fire on the nearest bunker and sent several single shots through the opening. I don’t know if I hit anything, but hopefully I gave them something to think about. I remembered I had others in the crater with me and turned to see them cowering behind the wall.

“Get up and fire! That’s the only way off this beach!” I yelled at them. They looked at me like I was crazy, but jumped up and started firing wildly at the cliffs, not aiming at anything in particular. It was then I noticed the diverse types of weaponry they had. The female soldier quickly emptied her MP7 at the nearest bunker on full auto, changed magazines and started repeating the process. Another was blasting away with a pump action shotgun and another had no long gun whatsoever.

“Who are you guys?” I asked.

“288th Support Battalion!” one answered.

“What are you doing here?” I asked.

“Got mixed up when we embarked. We were supposed to be in the third wave!” he answered.

“Go gather rifles and ammo! Those weapons are useless out here!” I ordered.

“Where at?” he asked me.

“Right there!” I said and pointed at a group of dead soldiers with their weapons lying nearby.

“Go out into that?” he asked and his eyes got big.

“Yes, go out into that. Only one way off this beach today and that’s through the defenses,” I said and quickly grabbed at the female as she was preparing to fire another magazine, her fifth.

“At least aim your shots!” I said. “Go with them and get those rifles and ammo!”

“Sir! We aren’t infantry! We’re just supply!” she objected.

“Ain’t no such thing as just supply today. Today we’re all infantry! Now you can sit here, waste all your ammo and cower in this hole or you can come with me and fight our way off this beach. Now what’s it going to be soldiers? Fight and live or sit here and die?” I shouted at them over the constant explosions. It seemed like I had jammed a cattle prod up their rear ends as they all scampered out of the hole and started grabbing just about every weapon within reach. And they made a second trip for the ammo as well and grabbed whatever looked useful. On the way back, one of their number was hit, but not mortally. I could see them searching for their first aid kits, so that was a good sign. Their own training was taking over and they were getting into what Sergeant Winfield liked to call “combat mode.”

“Which one of you is the best at first aid?” I asked.

“I am,” said one of their number.

“Okay, you, you and you come with me,” I said and pointed at the other three. “You stay behind and treat that guy. We’ll send more wounded back your way along with a medic. Got it?”

“I’m not a medic sir!” he objected.

“Again, we’re all medics today,” I said. “You guys get those weapons ready and get those harnesses on!”

They scrambled to get the web gear on and nervously grasped at the rifles they had gathered before looking at em and wondering what to do next. I peeked out over the beach and saw a group of soldiers starting to gather at the seawall near the cliff.

“We’re going forward! Follow me!” I yelled and jumped out of the crater and dashed forward towards the seawall. I hope they were following me as I dashed this way and that, trying to avoid being hit. Eventually I made it to the seawall with my new fire team and found a surprise.

“You made it!” said Staff Sergeant Gilbert. “I thought you bought it when that artillery round hit next to you!”

“No, just startled me. Where’s the rest of my team?” I asked.

“Lomax didn’t even make it to the beach. Arnold got hit just coming into shore. Don’t know about Delacruz,” said Gil and shook his head. “Who are these folks?”

“Support battalion. Somehow got mixed up with the first wave,” I said.

“Can they fight?” asked Gil.

“They will today,” I said and hoped they would perform under pressure. “Game plan?”

“Get rid of these bunkers one at a time so we can consolidate the holdings here. And at least stop this direct fire,” said Gil. He nodded towards the nearest bunker and I immediately started looking around for something to take it out with. I spied an antitank rocket, an M72 type, nearby and got ready to head towards it before Gil stopped me.

“No, we need to get this wire cleared first as well as gathering up additional stuff to take them out. Gather explosives and anything that will go boom!” he said.

I grabbed my new fire team and found they knew what crates carried what and were eager to get the weapons instead of charging forward into the bunkers to our front. It wasn’t any safer going back out into the exposed areas, but maybe it made them feel safer. They started running relays back carrying all different types of explosives, antitank weapons, grenades and mines. The rest of us were still returning fire on the bunkers as best as we could while they quickly gathered what they found.

We were somewhat protected from the artillery and mortar fire being this close to the cliffs. It still impacted to our rear and we could see several groups still stuck out in the middle of it trying to inch their way towards safety.

“Here Sarge!” said one of the supply troops as they handed over a device to Gil.

“What’s this?” he asked.

“Line launcher. You can attach a charge to the end of the line and it will carry it over the wire,” said the Specialist

“You know how to work it?” asked Gil.

“Yeah,” he said.

“Then you’re nominated to clear that wire,” he said. “Here’s the explosive and the prima cord. Get it over that wire to our front. The rest of you start getting the weapons sorted out.”

The Specialist didn’t know exactly how to prime the explosives, but figured the Staff Sergeant or someone would help him out with that. But he did know how to operate the line launcher since they had used them frequently in base tossing lines up and over rafters in the buildings. And generally fooling around with them when nobody was looking. He attached the explosive filled line to the cord and aimed up over the wire emplacements. There wasn’t really much aiming he needed to do and the line was carried over the wire where it hung loosely.

“I don’t know how to detonate this!” he said.

“Give it to me!” said Gil as he slipped in the blasting cap into the end of the charge. Rolling out the electrical wires, he tossed the explosive filled line over the top of the seawall and prepared to fire. “Fire in the hole! Fire in the hole! Fire in the hole!”

Everyone dropped behind the wall and covered up as best as we could. He flipped the safety off on the old style M57 firing device, still the most reliable means of detonating a blasting cap to this day.

The seawall was rocked by the manmade thunder and sand flew back at us from the area he had just finished detonating in. Gil and I both looked at the opening in the wire. It was about a three foot gap in the wire leading right to the base of the cliff and the relative safety it provided.

“Clear that bunker!” Gil yelled at me. I took aim with the M72, making sure I had a clear back blast area before pushing down on the trigger and launching the round. It flew right into the bunker (although too fast for me to see it) and exploded inside. Flames shot out of the insides and the machine guns inside fell quiet for a moment. Several soldiers immediately started rushing the wire to get through.

“No!” screamed Gil as he saw lines of tracers reach out from the adjacent positions and fly right into the group. They were hit badly and the IU continued shooting them up until they made sure they were dead.

“We need to take out at least two more of those positions,” said Delacruz who had just arrived. It was nice to see some of my team had made it through.

“Donnie, grab Delacruz and two teams and head east up the beach. Take something that will knock out those positions,” said Staff Sergeant Gilbert. “I’m heading west to take out the ones in that direction.”

I immediately grabbed the first three infantry I could see while Delacruz grabbed three more. My surrogate fire team immediately asked to be included.

“Come on Corporal! We can help!” objected the female Specialist.

“Grab your gear and let’s roll,” I said and grabbed at another antitank launcher. The other seven followed me as I headed down the lines with soldiers continuing to pour fire onto the defenders in the bunkers. They had managed to take out the lower bunkers around this area and all that remained were the higher bunkers in the middle of the cliff.

“Delacruz, take your team and start pouring some covering fire on that bunker,” I said, knowing he at least had been under fire before and designating him as unofficial fire team leader.

“Got it boss!” he yelled. “You, you and you. Let’s go and bring that SAW.”

They managed to get into position and started sending in aimed fire, hoping to suppress the defenders inside. This was a larger bunker and had several firing ports for the occupants inside. The female Specialist came back up to me.

“Try these,” she said and handed over several of the 40mm grenades.

“You got a launcher?” I asked. She scanned around and found an unused M203 lying close to a dead soldier. “Fire them into that puppy.”

She took a moment to figure out the sights on the weapon and loaded a round into the chamber. She wasn’t at all familiar with the workings of the weapon, but it was a pretty simple operation to figure out. Aiming down the quadrant site, she launched one of the rounds inside and I saw it sail into the opening. And nothing happened for the first three seconds. A dud I imagined, getting wet from wading into shore. But suddenly a roar was heard and flames shot out of the inside of the bunker along with ejecting one of the IU soldiers down the cliff.

“What are those things?” I asked.

“Thermobaric bomblets,” she said with an evil grin as she reloaded and sent a second round into the same position with the same results.

“Give some to Delacruz,” I said.

“I’d rather do it myself,” she objected.

“Go, nobody’s holding you back,” I said and started firing at the second opening. She fired another round into the position, but saw as it bounced off the grenade screen to the front of the position. We all hit the ground as the fuel air explosive was set off just outside our position and covered us in sand once again.

“We need one of the rockets to take out that screen!” yelled Delacruz. Another weapon, this time an M136 type was handed up and he cleared the screen with a thunder as the shrapnel bounced off our body armor and helmets.

“Kind of close with that one,” I remarked.

“Sorry boss,” said Delacruz. “Let her rip girlfriend!”

The Specialist took aim once again and fired through the now open mesh in front of the position. It sailed inside as the others had done and exploded after filling the enclosed space with the charge inside. She followed up again with a second round before a shot hit her in the side and she fell screaming. I immediately went to her and checked her vitals, finding the bullet had gone between her vest and the protective plates and ripped into her belly.

“I’m fine sir!” she grunted through gritted teeth.

[Grand58742]

CHAPTER 6 CONTINUED

I checked the third opening and didn’t see any fire coming from it. It was a possibility they had been knocked out by the previous two explosions, but I wasn’t in the habit of taking chances like that. “Delacruz, you a good climber?”

“Got it,” he said and grabbed a second person. Lucky for him, the cliff wasn’t as steep as it could have been and he was able to reach right under the opening before tossing in two hand grenades and waiting for the explosions. He managed to pull himself up over the edge and dropped inside the bunker. Dead and dying IU soldiers were inside the main firing area and the lighting was still working inside despite the explosions. The second member of the team climbed in after him.

“What now?” he asked.

“Now we check the bunker,” said Delacruz as he started searching the area. Some of the dying IU soldiers attempted to fire at the two, but quick shots ended those futile attempts and they pressed on further into the nest. Delacruz saw one soldier attempting to run away. He fired one round from his M16A6 before it ran dry. Instead of trying to change magazines, he quickly transitioned over to his pistol and fired two more rounds hitting the IU soldier. They continued past him and found he was the only person still alive in the bunker. Eventually they had cleared the main areas, but not the tunnel connecting it to the surface. Delacruz headed back to the opening and yelled down.

“Don’t shoot! It’s Delacruz!” he yelled.

“What’s going on?” I asked.

“Main areas are clear! There is a tunnel that leads to the surface, but we need more people to clear it!” he yelled and appeared in the opening.

“Hang on,” I said and started looking for anything that could assist us in getting to the surface.
Delacruz passed down a rope he had found inside after knotting the middle so we could climb up easier. It seriously helped out and I was the first up the makeshift ladder and into the bunker.

“Who’s watching the tunnel?” I asked once I was inside.

“The other kid,” said Delacruz as he grabbed the hand of another member climbing in. “Go into the hallway, turn right and find the other guy.”

The soldier, even though he outranked Delacruz, didn’t argue as we all knew we needed to work together to get the remainder of the bunkers cleared. He headed up and kept a watch on the door from the inside. More troops were climbing in and getting ready to take positions inside to go up the tunnel.

“Corporal! We found another tunnel leading down to the other bunker!” announced one of my team.

“Grab three guys and check it out,” I ordered as more troops seemed to be aware of the opening in the lines and headed our way from the beach. I could hear them opening the trapdoor and dropping in grenades before heading down inside and checking out the interior of the lower bunker. Eventually I had enough troops to move up the tunnel in sufficient force and prepared to open the door. I did happen to notice the walls were lined with sandbags and how rounds fired into the bunker would typically bury themselves inside without hurting the occupants.

“Delacruz, get the door,” I said and loaded a fresh magazine into my rifle. He headed over and grabbed at the large handle before yanking it back. The expected shots never came and he used a mirror to peer around the side.

“Clear!” he announced and headed around the corner with his team in tow. I had no choice but to follow him and we headed up to a ninety degree angle in the tunnel. He used his mirror again before gunfire erupted in the area we were in.

“Three guys, one with a machine gun,” he announced for the benefit of us all.

“In the open?” I asked.

“Sandbagged position,” he said.

“Can’t use the thermobaric bombs in here,” I observed.

“Mexican standoff,” he said. “Got a claymore?”

One of the supply troops handed up one of the bags containing the antipersonnel mine to Delacruz. Lucky enough it was equipped with a radio detonator although the bag was wet.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

“Using this as a large hand grenade. Get the rest of the team down the tunnel to the starting point, this might not be that safe,” he announced.

I sent everyone back down the tunnel and stayed behind with him. He turned and saw I was still standing there. “You need to go.”

“You need someone to cover you,” I said.

“If I get fragged, you will know it was a bad idea,” he objected.

“Just get the thing ready to go,” I said as another burst from the machine gun erupted from the tunnel. He quickly got the detonator installed and tested the radio device. It seemed to be in working order and he prepared to throw the mine. I leaned around at the same time and fired a long full auto burst from my rifle while he tossed it down the hallway like a Frisbee. It managed to land right behind the nest and I heard yelling in Arabic before he hit the detonation button. The mine exploded and some of the shrapnel ended up all the way into our area of the tunnel. And if our hearing was diminished from the constant gunfire and explosions we had that morning, it was certainly gone now.

“Did you get them?” I asked in a yell.

“What?” he yelled back.

I pointed towards the tunnel with a curved finger. He grabbed his mirror again and saw the machine gun nest was destroyed and the three IU soldiers were probably dead.

“We got ‘em!” he yelled back at me. The remainder of the team joined us although I couldn’t hear a darn word they were saying.

“What?” I yelled as someone mumbled behind us.

“I said, let us take the lead going out of here!” yelled a Sergeant First Class that had come off the beach with another group. Our exit off the beach was working out great for the landing forces and we could start rolling up the defenses now.

“Right!” I yelled and tapped Delacruz on the shoulder.

“What?” he yelled.

“Move over!” I yelled and looked at a full squad of troops headed around us and up the tunnel. More followed as we attempted to head back and find the remains of our teams. We finally caught up with them and were handed our assault packs we had dropped before heading into the bunker.

“You okay sir?” asked the female Specialist.

“You’re wounded!” I yelled back at her, wondering why she was in the bunker.

“Just a scratch,” she said and pointed at the dressing someone had applied.

“No, you need to get seen by a medic!” I yelled at her.

“Why is he yelling?” she asked a nearby soldier.

“He and D-Dog were too close to an explosion. Their hearing is gone for the moment,” explained Corporal Devons. At least some of my platoon had made it through the madness alive.

“You need to get to a medic!” I repeated.

“She’s fine!” yelled a man with a combat lifesaver bag. He had gotten in front of me so I could read his lips. “I checked her out!”

“You did what to her?” I yelled.

“She is okay!” he yelled accenting his words.

“Oh, okay!” I yelled back. “Get together, we have more troops out there!”

We gathered up and started heading up the tunnel. By the time we reached the surface, we found the other squad had already set out a perimeter and was quickly getting a game plan to head to the adjacent bunkers. A Captain had appeared at some point and was giving orders.

“Sergeant Neely, take two squads and head over to the nearest bunker to the east. Who’s the next ranking individual out here?” asked the Captain. I barely could hear him but started reading his lips as best as I could.

Everyone turned and looked at me although I could easily see a few Sergeants mixed in with the squads that were departing. “Sir, I’m only a Corporal!”

“You’re a Sergeant now,” he said and grabbed one of the departing NCOs. He took off one of the rank tabs quickly from his collar. “Battlefield promotions are authorized in extreme cases and the way you got this bunker cleared was perfect. If anyone asks, you tell them Captain David Walters 1st of the 114th pinned those on you.”

“Form your troops here into two squads and take command soldier. You head west and take out the next bunker,” he ordered me as he quickly pinned on the rank and yanked off the Corporal tabs. “Move in five minutes.”

I quickly organized the various members into fire teams and found I had barely enough for four. We had exactly eighteen to take out another bunker like the one we had just finished off. But I knew it should be enough to get the job done and it took us closer to the remaining member of my squad I knew was alive. Lucky for us, we could see the entrance through the scattered brush that had survived the initial bombardment and got into tactical formation. While some of the troops were not used to doing tactical movements, they learned quickly as we went towards the entrance and saw IU soldiers starting to come out of the rear.

We dropped in position and started firing on them as they ran. They were in the open and there were few areas they could seek as cover. We ended up hitting seven of their number, although another five escaped. We located the tunnel leading into the bunker and tossed in a grenade for good measure before clearing the bunker systematically. Lucky for us, the IU had departed and we saw the remains of the antitank missile we had shot off earlier.

“Clear!” was announced by several members of the team as we finished clearing and started heading towards the entrance once again. I checked out the front of the bunker and saw troops were heading towards the now destroyed positions and climbing up ropes and ladders brought in to scale the small obstacles. We finished up and went back out, preparing to move towards the next position. However, the Captain returned and gave us additional orders.

“Those are cleared already and you are out of position to help further down the beach. Head out three hundred meters and set up a defensive perimeter. We are holding our lines here until we can get the chance to evaluate the situation and consolidate units. I’ll send additional troops your way, but until then, hold the line,” said the Captain.

“Roger sir!” I yelled, my hearing still not what it should be.

I quickly analyzed what forces I had. I had a few NCOs in my midst, but not that many and one of the Sergeants was part of the supply outfit we had assimilated. But still, we were all trained to be riflemen and soldiers so each and every one of them should be able to pull the trigger when it came down to it. Before the Captain departed, I made a request of him.

“Sir, two things,” I said.

“Yes?” he asked, seemingly in a hurry. “Best be quick, I’ve got a lot of things to do.”

“I have a wounded person who needs medical attention behind the lines. She got hit but is gutting it out. Can I get a replacement for her?” I asked.

“Absolutely,” he said and turned. “You! You are now assigned under this Sergeant.”

A soldier came running up and stood by with the remainder of the group. The Captain turned back to me for my second request.

“I have another troop I’d like a battlefield promotion for. He was busted some time ago, but has proved his skills under fire and was instrumental in taking one of the bunkers,” I said. “I need some fire team leaders out there that know what they are doing and he fits the bill.”

“Who is it?” he asked.

“Delacruz! Front and center!” I yelled. His hearing probably wasn’t back to normal either and had to be prompted by one of the other members before running over. I handed the Captain the ranks he had pulled from my shoulder earlier.

“Sergeant…what’s your name again?” asked the Captain.

“McIntyre sir,” I said.

“Sergeant McIntyre seems to think you’ve got what it takes to be a leader out here and said you were pivotal in taking the beach defenses down. If it’s good enough for him, it’s certainly good enough for me. Here you go Corporal, don’t let him down,” said the Captain as he pinned on the ranks on his empty sleeve.

Delacruz looked at me and back at the Captain before shaking my hand. He went back over to rejoin the group and the Captain turned back to me. “Anything else?”

“Resupply and reinforcement sir?” I asked.

“We’ll work the resupply bit and the next wave is due in sometime in the next couple of hours. We are holding the beach by a thread so they have to get here right quick. I’ll see what else I can scrape up and send this way as well,” he said. “Now get that line established and try to link up with the units on your right and left.”

“Huah sir!” I yelled and headed off to get my team established. But first things first. “Come here trooper.”

“Sir?” asked the wounded female from supply.

“You are replaced for the moment. Report back to the battalion aid station and get looked at. No arguments either, we need you there more than here,” I said.

“But Sergeant!” she objected but noticed my raised finger pointing back towards the beach. She headed back that way, grabbing her rifle and walking slowly.

“NCOs, gather on me,” I said and got ready to implement the orders from the Captain. The moved with a purpose and circled around me. I saw two Sergeants and four Corporals. “Okay, guys. We are to set up a defensive line three hundred meters inland. Sergeant, no offense, but you’re support. Unless you challenge the decision, I’m putting you under one of the other guys here.”

“No problem,” he said. “I ain’t even supposed to be here!”

We all laughed at the moment of levity and I continued. “Okay, Sergeant?”

“Flowers,” he said.

“You grab three as well as taking Corporal Devons here. Dev, you take three as well. Form second squad,” I said.

“Got it,” they said although Devons looked a little nervous.

“Corporals…” I said.

“Battle, Sergeant,” said the first.

“Martin,” said the second.

“You guys take three apiece and will form first squad. You with the radio? That thing work?” I asked.

“I think it does sir,” said the nervous looking Private First Class.

“Check it,” I said. “And you’re my new RTO.”

“Roger that Sergeant,” he said and immediately started fiddling with the radio.

“Ammo consolidation and resupply?” asked Delacruz. “Plus we could use some heavies.”

“Go ahead and consolidate mags,” I said and saw three soldiers wandering eastward down the beach. “Hey you three! Come here!”

They looked at me and started meandering their way towards us. I was surprised when Devons snapped at them. He was typically easy going, but had transformed during battle into a hard individual who didn’t like their casual attitude.

“Move with a purpose troops! An NCO just gave you an order!” he barked at them. It spurred them into running as they headed up to me.

“Yes…Sergeant,” said the first as he figured out my rank. It was two Specialists and a Private First Class.

“What are you guys doing and where were you heading?” I asked.

“We were looking for our unit sir,” said the unofficial leader.

“You know where they are at?” I asked.

“No Sergeant, we think they might be down that way somewhere,” he replied.

“Hold off on that for the moment. You’re assigned to another detail,” I said. “I want you three to head down to the beach and get as much ammo and ordnance as you can and bring it back here. Also, check for some rations as well.”

“Where at Sergeant?” asked the Specialist.

“Down on the beach,” I said.

“Is there a supply point put up yet?” asked the Specialist.

“Not yet that I know of, but there are plenty of dead troopers that don’t need their ammo. But I’m sure they would want us to have it so we can stay alive,” I replied.

“Sir, we really need to find our unit,” said the second Specialist.

“And we really need a resupply of ammo,” I said.

“And heavies,” said Devons from behind me.

“What kind?” I asked.

“Three 203s and three SAWs. We only have one apiece,” he replied.

“Sergeant, let me go. Leave one of these cats here and I’ll ride herd on the other two,” said the supply Sergeant.

“You sure?” I asked.

“I ain’t even supposed to be here, remember,” he laughed. “I can get what you need.”

“Go,” I said and pointed at one of their number. “You stay behind on his team.”

“Yes Sergeant,” he said although I still wasn’t comfortable with the title. He took the other two and headed towards the beach as the remainder of us formed up. A sudden gust of wind blew in our faces as we started off in tactical formation, heading out to set up the defensive lines near the edge of a hedgerow while the remainder of the troops consolidated the position and we would move on our next objective.

[RVN11B]

All I can say at this moment is

Damn! You do good stuff!!!!!

[Grand58742]

CHAPTER 7


D Day plus two hours


“Sir? I have some bad news,” said the Colonel in charge of the weather detachment sheepishly as he stood in front of the General of the Army’s desk.

“Yes,” he said and looked up.

“I uhh, the storm has changed course once again,” said the Colonel. “Prevailing winds are pushing it northeast.”

“To where?” asked the General.

“Warmer currents are still keeping it strong enough to have hurricane force winds,” said the Colonel. “And massive rains as well.”

“Which doesn’t answer my question,” said the General.

“It…is heading right towards Normandy sir. Looks like the leading edge will hit our invasion forces in the next two hours,” said the Colonel averting his gaze towards the floor.

“Can we get the second wave in there?” asked the General.

“Sir, we are loading as we speak, but the destruction rate of the initial landing craft is sitting at around sixty percent,” said a General from the United States. “And the craft report rougher seas already. Maybe with the hovercraft, but with the Higgins Boats and the remaining armored vehicles? The hovercraft and armored vehicles were hit badly in the initial landings with an attrition rate of seventy and eighty percent respectively.”

“So much for the projected thirty percent,” said the General. “Can they make it to shore in time to reinforce what’s already there? In the Higgins Boats?”

“No sir, by the time the storm arrives, they will only be halfway to the destination,” said the U.S. General. “They could easily capsize. And we need to move the landing ships out into deeper water where they can get some sea room.”

“And with the weather, our air cover is gone,” said the General of the Army.

“They will have a hard time supporting the troops sir,” confirmed the General from the NESA.

“Get me in contact with the senior most officer on the beach, right now!” shouted the General. He felt like throwing something right then, but having a temper tantrum in front of his subordinates wasn’t what was done. The radio patch went through almost immediately.

“Phoenix Six, this is Sphinx Six, go ahead,” said the AFNAS General on Sphinx Beach. Out of the Generals assigned to the beaches, he was the most senior.

“Nate, got bad news for you,” started the General of the Army.

“I could use a little good news right now instead,” said the AFNAS General with a tone.

“How are things going down there?” asked the General of the Army.

“We’ve managed to clear the beach defenses in our sector along with Griffon Beach and Centaur Beach. Gorgon, Minotaur and Pegasus are still mopping up, but should be complete in the next hour or two,” said the AFNAS General.

“Any contact with the airborne forces?” asked the General of the Army.

“Sporadic at best. It appears most didn’t land where they were supposed to and were ambushed shortly after landing,” said the AFNAS General. “There are some strongholds, but not many.”

“And how strong are your defenses right now?” asked the General of the Army.

“We’re sitting okay for the moment, but we cannot press forward without reinforcements. Same goes for the other beaches. We’ve been through three minor counterattacks from the forces assigned to the beaches, but nothing serious yet. We can try to consolidate if we can and push out a little bit, but wishful thinking unless the second wave comes in,” said the AFNAS General. “And the bad news?”

“The storm’s turned and heading your way. Reinforcements are not going to be coming anytime soon,” said the General of the Army.

“This the same storm that rat faced Colonel said ‘shouldn’t be’ a factor?” asked the AFNAS General.

“Same one,” said the General of the Army.

“Remind me to wring his neck when I get the chance,” he replied.

“Can you hold?” asked the General of the Army.

“For the moment, yes. We took thirty five percent in casualties across the board, but we should be able to hold. Defenses weren’t as strong as we imagined. Indirect fire is still a concern and landing pretty regularly, but we are holding for the moment,” said the AFNAS General.

“What about your armor assets?” said the General of the Army.

“A lot of it was destroyed before landings or soon thereafter. We’ve got plenty of man pack stuff, but it depends on how long we will have to hold,” said the AFNAS General.

“Sir! We’re showing increased formations heading towards the beaches! Armor, mechanized infantry and regular infantry,” said an intelligence analyst as he looked over the satellite photos in real time. “Looks to be coming out of garrisons previously unidentified.”

“I’m putting you on speaker Nate,” said the General of the Army as he hit the button. “You there?”

“Right here,” said the AFNAS General. “Colonel, thanks for the brilliant forecast on the storm. Now how long until we can get the second wave in?”

“Impossible to tell. The storm should last only about twelve to eighteen hours. Unless it stalls,” said the Colonel.

“And if it stalls?” asked the AFNAS General.

“No telling. I am not going to make a bad decision here,” said the Colonel.

“How long before we can reinforce?” asked the General of the Army.

“Eighteen hours at the least,” said the Colonel.

“And the most?” asked the General of the Army.

“I can’t say sir,” said the Colonel.

“Then get out of here!” shouted the General of the Army. “You are relieved!”

“Sir! I’m giving you my best guess here!” he protested.

“I don’t want to hear best guess! You’ve got plenty of fancy equipment and should be able to tell me when a mouse farts in Tokyo! Get out!” shouted the General of the Army and turned to an aide. “Get me a forecaster in here right now!”

The aide quickly ran out and returned in less than a minute with an out of breath Captain. Overweight and out of shape, he had one trait that kept him in a job, his ability to make sense of the weather patterns over Europe.

“Captain, I want a forecast and I want it now!” ordered the General of the Army.

“Sir, I was in the stages of getting a new forecast when I was summoned here. Give me two minutes and a computer and I’ll give you what I believe will happen,” said the Captain, still gasping for air. The aide pointed him and an unused computer in the corner and the Captain immediately got to work.

“How about an air drop of critical supplies?” asked the AFNAS General.

“Probably not a good idea with the winds and all. It could easily get blown into the Channel. Plus, you are only holding what? A thousand meters of space?” asked the General of the Army.

“We’re holding about a click and a half in some places. The other beaches aren’t as lucky and have barely made it off the coast,” said the AFNAS General. “We managed to push that far out, but barely. And we haven’t linked up with the other beaches.”

“When can you link up?” asked the General of the Army.

“Impossible to say. The flanks are being very stubborn. The easiest way of taking out those positions is with the antitank weapons. But we need to hold those in reserve for the armored threat. So it’s taking a lot of time,” said the AFNAS General.

“What other assets do you have out there?” asked the General of the Army. “What are you using to hold the lines?”

“Sir, we’ve got everything from special ops and airborne units that made their way back to us to cooks and clerks sitting in foxholes. We could, strike that, should consider the idea of consolidating the beaches and even abandon some to hold the others. We could make plans to consolidate down to Sphinx, Pegasus and Minotaur and abandon our positions on Griffon, Centaur and Gorgon,” said the AFNAS General.

“I don’t like having to pay for real estate two times,” said the General of the Army. “And it puts us out of position to take Le Harve and Cherbourg in a timely fashion.”

“If we cannot be resupplied, better to have three strong positions that can put up a fight rather than six that will be taken piecemeal,” said the AFNAS General.

“We can take that under advisement,” said the General of the Army seeing it was a better plan to have a unified strong defense on one front rather than six weak ones.

“Sir, based on the current data, I can make a forecast,” said the Captain.

“Let’s hear it,” said the General of the Army.

“Based on the winds coming out of the north and a high pressure system following it, the storm will stall. It’s going to move into the Normandy area in the next two to four hours and hit this system here where it will cease its north east movement. Now when that happens, it will stall and swirl around this area here,” he said and circled a large portion of northern France and southern England on the large computer monitor on the wall. “Winds will be eighty miles an hour with gusts up to one hundred miles per hour, but decreasing as the storm loses strength over the next two days.”

“The significant problem will be the rain and the seas. We are looking for at least twenty inches of rain, probably more over a two day period if we go off historical data. And the seas will have swells of up to twenty feet with average tides of eight feet. Far too much for landing craft and possibly even for overloaded troop ships. Larger ships like the battleships and heavy cruisers should be okay, but going through gale force winds and seas and trying to accurately supply gunfire will not be a trivial task,” said the forecaster.

“How certain are you on this forecast?” asked the General of the Army.

“Fairly positive and this is worst case. It could clear up sooner than expected, but I doubt it. Once it stalls, it has to release the energy before it dissipates. Now we could, and I stress could, see this thing move on in twenty four hours if this system behind it nudges it eastward. But I believe this high pressure system is too strong and will lock it into place. I think you are looking for the term between a rock and a hard place when it comes to this storm,” said the Captain.

“I want an update every two hours from you and you alone. I want to know the minute the storm dissipates enough to land reinforcements,” said the General of the Army.

“Sir, I have others on the staff that are just as proficient as I am,” said the Captain.

“No, Major, I want the forecast from you and you alone. If those boys and girls on the beach don’t get any sleep, you won’t either until they are safe,” said the General of the Army.

“Hadn’t planned on sleeping much anyway General,” laughed the newly promoted Major.

“The Major has unlimited access to me any time of the day and get that man some oak leafs to pin on,” said the General of the Army. “Nate, in light of what we just said, what’s your plan?”

“Like I said, consolidating the beaches would be our best option over the long run if we can’t be resupplied. We’ll continue trying to link up and I can get the reports from the other beaches. I can even coordinate some attacks with the other beaches and attempt to open a hole in our flanks. But again, I would rather see one large beachhead with decent defenses rather than six that can be broken up easily. We have no retreat option here,” said the AFNAS General.

“I’m putting the staff on alert to start assisting in that area. Plus, we’re going to try as best as we can to get you air cover,” said the General of the Army.

“And the naval gunfire?” asked the AFNAS General.

“We’ll keep the battlewagons in the Channel for the time being as well as the Veracruz. The destroyers and others will have to move into the North Sea where they can weather the storm,” said the General of the Army.

“Anything will help,” said the AFNAS General as a new round of artillery fire against the beach started. “Need to go sir, looks like we have another attack coming.”

“Stay in touch,” said the General as he clicked off the line. “I want the staff working on plans to consolidate the beaches down to four, three, two and one. We will hold at least one beach out of all of this. We will not have sacrificed our brave men and women to fail. We will not fail ladies and gentlemen. I want plans on holding the beaches at all costs including implementation of Operation Jericho,” said the General of the Army.

The staff looked at each other with concern. They knew the use of nuclear weapons was always a potential, but at the same time, they didn’t want to have to use them unless absolutely necessary. Operation Jericho was the FNC plans for utilizing nuclear weapons and was built into each and every plan they came up with. However, it was typically at the back of the index when it came to planning. They broke up and departed the office. After leaving, they heard a very loud thump against the wall and the intercom called to request a replacement computer monitor be delivered as soon as possible.

********************

“Continue digging into your positions,” I said to my gathered team leaders as another team made its way from the rear to me. “Yes?”

“Sergeant, we were sent here to assist in the defense,” said the Sergeant Fire Team Leader.

“Okay,” I said. “Right now, you’ll be mobile reserve, but our guys could use some help getting our defensive lines set up.”

“Roger that,” said the Sergeant. “Also, some supply guy said your stuff was being sent out here soon. He said you’d know what I was talking about.”

“Sure do,” I said and was thankful he hadn’t forgotten us. The squads went back to digging into their positions and keeping a watchful eye out on the areas we didn’t control. I didn’t really have enough information about the defenses out in that area and decided to put out some listening posts for additional security. “Sergeant?”

“Yes,” he said before departing to assist in the defensive works.

“Change of plans. I need some eyes and ears out there. Pair off and put in listening posts here,” I said and pointed. “And here. Grab a radio from the RTO, he has a couple.”

“Got it,” he said and grabbed up his other three individuals before setting out. Two of the soldiers I had seen earlier came huffing up along with two others in tow, carrying heavy packs and crates between them.

“Got your stuff Sergeant,” the Specialist announced. They set down the crate and unloaded the heavy weapons I had asked for. I grabbed Delacruz and had him go ahead and start designating the special weapons folks on the two squads. An elderly M-240B was brought out, having been taken off a destroyed AAV7A3 on the beach. There was limited ammo for it, but having a heavier machine gun was always a good thing. “And he said to say Merry Christmas.”

The Specialist handed over a M465 like the one that had been destroyed. While it wouldn’t be zeroed for me at extended ranges, I could work my magic with it once the shooting started once again and would be fine for the closer in work we would be doing.

“Sergeant Williamson,” I called. The other NCO assigned to the squad came over and I passed my 5.56mm magazines to him. “Have two of your guys start distributing the ammo and let’s pick a position for the machine gun. Have we tied into the adjacent sectors?”

“We have into one, but not the other. There’s about a two hundred meter gap right now,” said Sergeant Williamson.

“I hope someone happens to notice,” I said.

“I would suggest we put the M-G in this position here,” he said and pointed. “It’s got the best field of view and we can put in a final protective line across the front.”

“Sounds good,” I said. “How much ammo for that thing?”

“About three hundred rounds for the moment Sergeant,” said the Specialist as he continued to unload the supplies.

“What happened to the supply Sergeant?” I asked.

“Got conscripted by Battalion to set up a resupply point. Got a better job I guess,” chuckled the Specialist. “Some Lieutenant Colonel said he would send a replacement as soon as possible.”

“Got the weapons handed out,” said Delacruz as he came back.

“And the positions?” I asked.

“Hasty scrapes for the most part. I have the guys continuing to dig down, but I think we need overhead cover more than anything,” he said.

“Make it happen,” I said and heard artillery hitting the beach to our rear. “And make it quick, artillery generally gets followed up by an attack.”

“Got it,” he said and headed off to continue fortifying the positions.

“You four go ahead and grab something to eat and you will become our reserve force,” I said.

“Sir, the Colonel said he wanted us back as soon as possible. We are the only runners he has for the moment,” said the Specialist.

“Okay, go ahead and grab a bite first though,” I said.

“Gladly sir,” said the Specialist and pulled out a ration before grabbing his buddies.

“Contact the Company we are assigned to,” I told my RTO. “Let them know we still have a gap up here.”

“Roger that Sergeant,” said the RTO who had reestablished contact over the radio with the proper units. I found we were in 2nd Battalion, Charlie Company’s sector after we landed. And I hadn’t seen anyone from our Company or platoon since we landed. I had no idea what happened to Staff Sergeant Gilbert after we split up on the beach or any of the remaining members of our platoon. I had two squads from seven different units. “Sir, Battalion says they are sending additional troops up.”

“We can use it,” I said and headed over to help out on one position that was having issues with getting around some of the rocks in the ground. We were attacking it pretty good when I heard a voice from behind me.

“And who authorized you to do that?” asked Sergeant Winfield.

“Sergeant Winfield!” I remarked. “I didn’t realize you had made it!”

“You think some IU soldier was gonna get me that easily?” he grinned. And I saw the new rank as well. My eyes got big as he further explained. “Yes, they made me an officer.”

“Can’t get out of the limelight now sir,” I grinned. Second Lieutenant Winfield just sounded funny, but I knew for a fact we were in great hands.

“So who screwed up?” he asked.

“Screwed up on what sir?” I asked.

“Made you a Sergeant,” he remarked and grabbed at my collar.

“A Captain Walters sir,” I said.

“It fits,” he remarked. “Now give me the low down. This is now my sector and your squads are being assigned to my new platoon.”

I gave him the down and dirty of the area the two squads were in and the gap in the line to our left. He informed me I would retain First Squad as my own and the other Sergeant would continue as the Second Squad leader. And Lieutenant Winfield had brought two additional squads to supplement us.

“Looks good Donnie,” he said. “Glad you got everything covered.”

“Any word on our reinforcements?” I asked. He nodded his head to walk away and I followed at a close distance.

“The weather is turning once again if you hadn’t noticed,” he started and I realized the winds had been picking up and the dark clouds were filling the horizon. “The seas are picking up and the ships can’t make it into shore.”

“We aren’t getting reinforced?” I asked, my voice elevating.

“And this is what we want to avoid. Fear can get out of control if we let it. We are digging in and attempting to connect the beaches for the moment. Plus, the airborne drops were scattered all over the place and they have been ordered to move north. We put in quite a few special operations teams and airborne units prior to the landings. Some might be dressed in different camouflage and have IU weapons, so keep a sharp eye out. We don’t need any friendly fire out here and you best make darn sure of your targets before pulling the trigger. So we need to be wary of them reentering the lines,” he said.

“But we aren’t getting resupplied or reinforced,” I remarked.

“Resupply is different. We have enough supplies from the beach to make up for what we’ve lost so far,” said Winfield. “And reinforcements are coming, but we’ll have to hold out until they can get here.”

“What happened to Staff Sergeant Gilbert?” I asked.

“Took over a platoon from Delta Company,” he answered. “Didn’t get a promotion like yours, but he’s filling the spot.”

“And the remainder of the platoon?” I asked.

“Right now…” he started to say and let his voice trail off. “Looks like the guys you got here and Gil are the only ones left. The Lieutenant bought it coming onto the beach and the other squad leaders soon after. Seems like the IU was targeting the leadership deliberately. As for the rest of the platoon, there could be more out there. We were scattered all over the place.”

Shooting was heard to our right, down the line more towards the beach. Sergeant…Lieutenant Winfield immediately took to getting the two additional squads into position and the remainder of us got into ours. I headed over towards Delacruz’s position as he hunkered down looking out the front of his hasty scrape.

“We getting more troops coming up?” he asked.

“Not yet,” I replied.

“Later?” he asked.

I shook my head slowly as not to alert the trooper next to him. It was one of the support battalion folks still on the line with us. Delacruz’s eyes got a little bigger as a raindrop was heard hitting outside our position.

“Looks like rain,” he observed.

“We’ve got a storm moving in,” I said. I didn’t realize the duality of my words until much later.

[RunAndGun]

Awesome as usual Grande!

Been a way for a while so just got caught up on this one. Thank you for sharing your talent!

[C-POP]

Thanks for a great read !!!
Looks like the storm is coming in a big way !!!

[Grand58742]

CHAPTER 8


Z Day Plus 4 hours


“Tango Fox Nine, give me a SITREP, over,” said the voice over the radio.

“Golf Delta Four-Four, be advised, enemy troop column approaching, size, battalion strength, activity, approaching sector Sphinx Red 4, location, grid reference Sphinx Papa one-five, uniform, Islamic Union regulars, time now, equipment, infantry heavy forces with company sized mechanized vehicle support. How copy, over?” said the observation post into the radio as I listened in. Sphinx Red Four was the sector adjacent to ours.

“We copy, battalion sized formation,” said the voice at the Battalion command post.

“Continuing to observe. E-T-A to Sphinx Red Four is approximately ten mike,” said the observation post.

“Alpha-Tango Six, this is Golf Delta Four-Four. Did you copy last transmission?” asked the command post.

“We copy, request additional forces and indirect fire, over,” said the young sounding voice in the adjacent sector.

“Troops heading for the neighbors sir,” I said as Lieutenant Winfield appeared.

“Best bet they are heading this way as well,” he said. “They rarely travel alone.”

And as if by magic, the internal radios came to life. “Alpha-Charlie Six, this is Alpha-Charlie Seven-Six. SALUTE report over,” said our listening post.

“Send it,” I said.

“Size, company…no, two companies, activity, preparing for assault, location, approximately one thousand yards to your front by Target Reference Point Juliet Four, uniform of IU Regular army, time current, equipment, armored vehicle support, ten BTR 80 type vehicles,” said the LP/OP.

“Keep them in place?” I asked Winfield.

“No, bring them on in,” he said.

“Alpha-Charlie Seven-Six, fall back to our position,” I said over the internal radio as Lieutenant Winfield relayed the information up to the Battalion command post. He was informed the reserve company was being sent towards us and indirect fire support was being arranged. It was raining pretty hard now and the winds were picking up even more than an hour prior. It wasn’t the best weather for a battle, but we would fight and stand our ground waiting for the reinforcements to show up.

“Pass the word, friendlies coming up from the rear,” said Winfield as he went to the other squads and checked on them. The LP/OP came back into view and headed past the line of positions so the enemy couldn’t track in on them. They came crawling back forward below the line of sight. Suddenly indirect fire was heard. Incoming rounds.

We all ducked into our positions as the mortar and artillery rounds fell to our front, maybe five hundred meters. It appeared the IU didn’t know exactly where we were at and were just dumping random fire into preselected points hoping to make a hit. But they were walking the fire forward and coming closer to our positions. I ducked a little deeper into my foxhole, wishing for the world I had more overhead cover. But I could hope in one hand and…well, you know the old saying.

The rounds impacted closer in now, hammering away at the ground as delayed fuses were mixed in with airburst rounds. The ground shook at the heavy guns continued to pound the areas until they were right on top of us. We heard additional rounds heading by overhead, friendly fire going towards the enemy concentration. We couldn’t tell how effective it was, but at least someone was doing something to help.

“Best bet the infantry is right on the heels of that artillery barrage,” yelled Lieutenant Winfield.

“They would have to be crazy to be right behind this,” I yelled back. “How do you know?”

“Because that’s what I would do,” he yelled in return over the increasing noise of the rounds. The ground shook violently below our feet and I was tossed into the side of the foxhole. A near miss sent us all into the ground and a sheet of dirt swept over us. We heard screaming for a medic coming somewhere from the right. We couldn’t send our medic right then since the rounds were still impacting randomly. But they were starting to move towards our rear and the pounding got a little better. I could hear the rounds from the friendly guns hitting to our front, but they just didn’t seem that large.

We waited for the charge by the IU to begin. Maybe Lieutenant Winfield was wrong this once and the forces weren’t right on the heels of the explosion. But we were expecting them at any time. Just like my granddaddy once said, you don’t put on your dancing shoes if you ain’t gonna waltz. And I figured the IU wasn’t going to send two battalions forward for no reason.

********************

“That’s the last of the wounded we can safely transport,” said the AFNAS Air Force Colonel in charge of the CV-22 being loaded. The Colonel himself had flown the mission to let the General know nobody else would be coming. Nobody else could be coming when flying through a hurricane strength storm.

“It’s something,” said the AFNAS General. “Appreciate you bringing in the supplies.”

“Least I could do,” said the Colonel as he saw a person fighting to be released from the loading.

“I’m just fine!” protested the female.

“You need to go! You’re the last that needs to go!” ordered the doctor.

“I can hack it!” she yelled once again and gained the attention of the General and the Colonel.

“What’s the problem here?” asked the Colonel.

“Sir, the young lady refuses to be medevaced out,” said the doctor.

“What’s your problem trooper?” asked the AFNAS General.

“Sir! I’ll be fine. I just got a scratch!” said the Specialist.

“A scratch that’s showing signs of peritonitis!” exclaimed the doctor. “It’s a gut shot that needs to be treated and she needs surgery to fix her perforated bowels!”

“I’m okay!” she yelled over the rotors.

“Specialist, I admire your courage and willingness to stay behind, but you need to get treated in a proper medical facility,” said the AFNAS General.

“My unit is here and I should be here!” she protested.

“And in time you can rejoin them,” said the General. “But you need to get your skinny behind on that chopper and get to England to be treated. The more time you waste here is more time it takes to heal.”

“I can hack it sir!” she pleaded.

“I wish I had a whole division of you out here,” said the General, very fatherly like. “But I need that same fighting spirit on the next wave coming in. You go back, get treated and I’ll guarantee you a place on the next wave after you get released. Deal?”

“You promise?” she asked.

“Absolutely soldier,” said the General. “Now get on that chopper.”

She turned and was assisted in getting on the back ramp, heading to the only space left available. An IV was started immediately in her arm as the Colonel shook hands with the General and ran back to the craft. Five other CV-22s had already departed and he lifted off just in time as more artillery shells started hitting the beach and the shoreline.

“Heading for Southampton,” said the Colonel.

“Hospital is full in Southampton. We are diverting into Eastbourne,” said the copilot.

“That bad?” asked the Colonel.

“We were the last of nineteen flights,” said the copilot. “And we still didn’t get all the wounded. Did manage to bring in some additional troops and supplies though and move out the worst of the wounded.”

“Something tells me those folks are going to need it,” said the Colonel as the aircraft buffeted around the sky from the incoming storm.

“Pilot, crew chief,” said the Tech Sergeant over the intercom.

“Go ahead Roger,” said the Colonel.

“We need to pick up speed, the last passenger just fell unconscious,” said the crew chief.

“Go ahead and get the medic on the horn to the hospital and let them know what’s going on,” said the Colonel. “And keep her alive if you can.”

“Fighters coming in from the continent,” said the copilot as he scanned the AWACS image from Southern England. The AWACS had reestablished control after the landing began, although they were far north of where they needed to be.

“Let’s get down to fifty feet,” said the Colonel.

“Doesn’t give us much room in these winds,” said the copilot.

“I trust you’ll help keep me out of the water?” asked the Colonel as the aircraft headed downwards, getting slammed by the increasing winds.

“My mother warned me there would be days like this,” said the copilot. “Altitude one hundred feet…seventy five…fifty. Level out.”

“Inbound threat, our interceptors are moving into position,” said the copilot. “Dropping down a tad, bring the nose back up sir.”

“Got it,” said the Colonel as he nudged the controls upwards. It was dangerous flying around in the storm, but he certainly wasn't going to make his troops do anything he wasn’t prepared to do himself.

“Hospital’s been alerted sir,” said the crew chief.

“She’s a feisty one, make sure she makes it,” said the Colonel.

“What’s the big deal with her anyway?” asked the copilot.

“You see that General back on the beach?” asked the Colonel.

“Yeah,” said the copilot.

“That’s his daughter,” said the Colonel.

“He evacuated his daughter out of the fighting?” asked the copilot.

“No, the doctor evacuated her,” said the Colonel.

“Did the doctor know that was his daughter?” asked the copilot.

“Probably not, she uses her mother’s maiden name so there isn’t any favoritism,” said the Colonel.

“And how do you know all this?” asked the copilot.

“Because she’s my niece,” said the Colonel.

“Whole family is involved,” remarked the copilot.

“Knew another one like that,” said the Colonel. “Father was killed a few months ago. Wife and both kids are still over here I think.”

“How did she end up out there anyway?” asked the copilot. “She was wearing a supply MOS badge on her uniform.”

“Some of the units got mixed up when they departed for the invasion. Some were supposed to be in the second and third waves ended up in the first. Like that field hospital that was set up on the beach. They weren’t supposed to be there,” said the Colonel.

“Fairly amazing,” said the copilot.

“The fact many of them are still alive is amazing,” said the Colonel. “And I hope they continue to amaze by holding out against all odds.”

********************

“The winds are picking up,” said the IU Colonel as he prepared for the attack. “It will not be easy to attack in these conditions.”

“The storm is moving in,” said the Division Commander. “But it will affect them just the same.”

“We are almost in position,” said the Colonel.

“Attack in force and find the lines. I will have the divisional artillery ready to support your unit and will have the follow on brigades push through the holes in the lines you create,” said the General.

“And our objective?” asked the Colonel.

“Drive through them to the beach,” said the General. “And then back into the water where they came from.”

********************

“Fire mission complete sir,” said the forward observer. “Don’t know if we hit anything and the ships are ordered to move into deeper waters.”

“We needed something besides a destroyer and a cruiser. Where are the battlewagons?” asked the Lieutenant Colonel in charge of one of the battalions on the beach defenses.

“Supporting Gorgon, Pegasus and Minotaur. Apparently the IU has already counterattacked in force in those sectors,” said the forward observer.

“And the Mexican cruiser…what’s it called?” asked the Lieutenant Colonel.

“The Veracruz,” said the forward observer. “It’s supporting Gorgon as well.”

“Someone needs to tell those navy pukes we could use some help over here as well,” said the Lieutenant Colonel. “All our indirect fire except the small stuff was lost in the landings.”

********************

“Contact,” I said and saw the initial lines of IU infantry moving in towards our positions. It was going to be our first attack. I saw at least two companies of infantry moving along with armored vehicles in support. I really hoped the antitank weapons had arrived from the beach as I had no desire to let them get close enough to engage with the lightweight stuff we had.

“Fire when they get to three hundred,” said Lieutenant Winfield over the internal radio. “Keep the machine gun in hold status, but everything else is fair game.”

I acknowledged in turn as the other squad leaders did. Since Lieutenant Winfield had come back, I had been demoted so to speak and back in charge of a single squad. Not a big deal though as I really wasn’t ready for platoon level leadership. I was barely ready for squad level leadership although I was about to get a trial by fire.

The infantry moved forward cautiously but with a purpose. They had not followed the initial bombardment as expected and were unsure of where our lines were at exactly. I watched and heard incoming mortar fire against them. It appeared our Company Commander had waited to catch them in the open and had sent for the mortars. We didn’t have a whole lot, but hopefully it would break up the formations of the IU. Additional streaks were seen as antitank missiles ranged out and hit the BTR-80s in the front. Six were automatically disabled before the remaining ten switched on their smoke generators and stopped in place. Six more missiles ranged out and caught another five despite their efforts to conceal themselves. The remaining five turned around and departed back through the holes in the hedgerows.

The mortar fire wasn’t being very effective since the attack was at least a battalion size and many of the troops were advancing forward away from the barrage. We got lucky though as a flight of F/A-18Es swept in from the north and dropped their ordnance on the leading formations. The cluster bombs weren’t that effective as they had been dropped from a minimum altitude and didn’t have the chance to fully deploy before striking the ground. But it did enough damage as the first wave was hit hard. Five SAMs were sent after them, downing one of the number as the pilot bailed out over friendly lines and pointed his aircraft south to crash. The remaining three returned and dropped their loads of 500 pound unguided bombs on the formations and assisted in breaking up the attack. I saw one turn and fire off an antiradar missile at one of the SAM vehicles and heard an explosion.

I saw another flight of F-15Fs heading out around the other sector. They too were dropping iron bombs and cluster munitions on the advancing column. But they also turned and sent several antitank missiles towards the armored threat. There were about a dozen black smoke columns rising from that sector, evidence of more armored vehicles burning. I heard the antitank HMMWVs leaving from the sector to rearm and be on call for the next attack. The F-15s finally cleared after making several cannon passes and expending their ground ordnance. The F/A-18s came in doing the same thing, but it wasn’t as easy to fire on individual targets with the fast moving aircraft as it seemed. It accomplished little, but did give the IU something else to think about.

“Last run Kilo November 6,” said the pilot of the lead F/A-18. “Winds are getting too strong to fly close air support.”

“Roger, your wingman bailed out and is being picked up by friendly forces,” said the forward air controller.

“Thanks for picking him up,” said the pilot. “If you start getting into something you can’t handle, give us a call and we’ll try to make it out. Be advised, there’s also four ships on call in case you need them. They aren’t bugging out until after this attack. I’ll transmit the data to your device.”

“Thanks for the assist,” said the forward air controller as he saw the incoming packet from the pilot. “That’s the last air mission for a while, but we have some ships waiting for us.”

“Better than nothing. Which ships?” asked the Lieutenant Colonel.

“A cruiser, a frigate and two destroyers are waiting for this attack to end before heading out to the open seas. They are waiting for us to call with coordinates,” said the forward air controller.

“Give them the plot by grid and adjust,” said the Lieutenant Colonel.

“Hotel-Hotel Nine-Nine, this is Kilo-November 6 Echo,” said the forward air controller.

“Six Echo, this is Nine-Nine, send it,” said the fire direction supervisor on board the Burke Class destroyer PSS Sterett.

“Target by grid, over,” said the controller.

“Send it,” said the supervisor.

“Target, infantry and light armor, grid reference one-nine-nine-seven-four-nine. I will adjust, over,” said the controller.

“Churchill, Kauffman and Anzio, you copy grid reference?” asked the supervisor as he got the other ships online that had stayed behind until forced out of the area.

“We copy,” the three answered in turn and started training their gun mounts onto the coordinates given by the forward air controller.

“Sterett will fire first,” said the fire direction supervisor as he saw the plot was complete and the gun was trained. He hit the button to fire the gun. “Six Echo, shot over.”

A moment was spent while the shell traveled in flight. It landed close to the intended target, but behind the enemy formations. “Splash over! Drop one hundred and fire for effect!”

The cruiser, destroyers and single frigate went into rapid fire on the guns. While the three inch gun on the USS Kauffman wasn’t as effective as the five inch guns on the larger vessels, it was still providing some help as the newer airburst shells was breaking up the infantry attack. The five inch rounds landed in and among the infantry before they backed off and retreated back to the starting point.

“Nine-Nine, this is Six Echo, cease fire over. Troops are retreating to starting point,” said the forward air controller.

“We copy cease fire,” said the supervisor and relayed the message to the other ships. The last rounds were fired and came in among the retreating troops, killing and wounding a few more before the firing stopped. I could see them heading back through the gaps in the hedgerows created by the application of high explosives and fire.

“Got them on the run now!” I said with a grin.

“Just the first wave,” said Lieutenant Winfield.

“It’s something,” I said, but I didn’t realize the indirect fire wasn’t going to last forever.

“Sterett, this is Kauffman,” said the Captain on the frigate.

“Go ahead,” said his counterpart on the destroyer.

“Be advised, we are getting slammed in here and need to head to deeper water. We are already taking rolls of ten to fifteen degrees,” said the Captain.

“Roger, head west to Point California,” said the Captain on the Sterrett. He watched as the Improved Perry Class Frigate turned slowly and started heading out to the open ocean and away from the shallow water where the wave action would be worse. “How’s our own situation?”

“We’re taking some pretty heavy swells, Captain,” said the helmsman. “Winds are at thirty knots and increasing. We can’t fire at forty or more. We should think of heading out here soon.”

“Can we get another mission in?” asked the Captain to the fire direction supervisor.

“We can get maybe another five minutes in,” said the supervisor. “Let me get a point.”

“I don’t want to leave the Channel with rounds still in our magazines. I want us empty,” said the Captain.

“I’ve got a request that’s just in range,” said the supervisor.

“Fire it up, rapid fire, send everything we’ve got,” said the Captain. “Send the coordinates to the other ships as well.”

The three ships sent another ten minute barrage on another target somewhat close to the beach. But the winds were rapidly growing and the rounds were not being corrected. Fully half of them missed the mark entirely and fell into open space. However, the other half delayed an attack against the eastern flank of Griffon Beach, giving the soldiers there time to complete fortifications and attempt another attack against the beach defenses to open a supply route into Sphinx Beach. The cruiser and destroyers finished their fire missions, down to nearly a quarter of what they were supposed to have in the guns. While they weren’t empty, they were somewhat content they had served as long as possible. The larger ships, the Texan battleships and the Mexican cruiser would stay behind and assist as long as possible. The ship Captains all knew they were desperately needed, but knew their gunfire would be ineffective in the growing winds.

The other four ships that had supported the other sector were leaving as well. The three cruisers had depleted their ammo stores and were heading towards the open waters where they could get some room between the vessels and weather the storm. We hated seeing them leave, but we also knew if they were sitting on the bottom because they capsized, they would do us little good.

We were felling pretty good about then since the artillery fire had stopped what could have been a major attack against our positions. And we desperately needed that time to get our own fortifications complete and finish our resupply. While we had plenty of ammo, we also knew it went fast and we would have to make all the shots count. Runners came in with additional munitions and passed them out quickly before heading back and doing the same thing for additional sectors across the lines. We loaded up our ammo pouches and waited for the next attack to appear.

[Hawkeye]

You do realize, your making me wish I had my old A2/M203 combo back in and, and could start digging in...... ;)

[RVN11B]

DITTO! Definitely makes one want to charge to the sound of guns.

[tech]

Excellent!!! Only problem is I ran out of print to read LOL.

Thank you for your outstanding efforts!