Hey Everyone! How's it going? Just putting another chapter on the wall, as per usual. Enjoy!(speech is somewhat taken form independence day)
Chapter 4: Last one to fall, will never sacrifice their will.
Panther Squad 5am
Prophet rubbed his eyes as he yawned. He had been driving for the past 3 hours, as to reach the hostile H.Q. as fast as possible, the squad all took shifts driving the Jeep. They had reached an actual roadway which led to the Hostile H.Q. which could be seen in the far distance. They still had 30 mins or so until they reached the base.
The Jeep had come with enough explosive charges to make a nuke look small, Redeski was obviously suggesting they sabotage the Hostile H.Q. Which would of course be beneficial to the actual spear head coming from the north. The sky was dark however, as an unexpected cluster of rain clouds had dropped over the match. This rendered any air support useless, which had its benefits and disadvantages.
All Prophet could hope for was for it not to rain, as he'd rather not be soaking wet while trying to do this. But if Murphy's Law had taught him anything, it was that it was gonna be one hell of a storm.
About 20 minutes later Prophet woke the squad up. They had arrived close enough to the base to be spotted if the continued by vehicle.
"Erik, stay here, and be ready to gas it if we come running out." Prophet ordered.
"Don't be too quick now." Erik joked, he and Prophet chuckled.
"Alright, Karelia and Alexis, I want you two to grab half of the explosives and target their communications structures. Me and Jess will target their defenses and armor on the northern area." Prophet ordered. "set the charges to 45 minutes once planted and head back to Erik if you can."
"God Speed." Alexis said as they went their different ways.
Central H.Q. 5:30am
Redeski awoke to the sound of an alarm. The Central flank had returned to the H.Q. around midnight in response to General Order 24. They had rigged most buildings and defenses along the way, hopefully to slow the Hostile assault down. It looks like it seemed to only bide him 4 hours of sleep.
A shelling of the base had begun, there was explosions along the trenches dug. It was only mortar fire however, and proved to be barley effective. They had more than a few M7's pulled back from the central flank to begin counter battering. The first drops of rain were few and far in-between. Then that turned into a drizzle, then a drizzle turned into a light rain, which turned into rain, which turned into a downpour, which finally turned into Vietnam.
The Makeshift trenches would most certainly be flooded, as they didn't have time to dig a proper drainage system, but they would hold.
He took a sip of coffee, and assessed his situation. The recon squad on the southern flank was to sabotage the Hostile H.Q. in order for the Northern flank to be able to break through their defensive line. Now all he could do was wait for the plan to fold out, as he had no other option. Due the horrid weather, air support was out of the question, but that wouldn't be needed due to the M5 A.T. positions, they could repel most of the hostile armored assaults.
He decided to visit his men in the most frontal defensive line, and geared up into his officer's uniform, and didn't bother putting a poncho on, his men didn't have one so why should he? He walked out of his bedroom and into the storm. The ground was muddy to say the least, and he was immediately soaked in a matter of minutes as he troughed his way to the defensive line.
The shelling had stopped for the time being as the hostile forces would have to relocate to avoid counter battery fire. As he approached the forward trenches, the soldiers were exhausted to say the least. Those who could find a dry place to sleep were few and far in-between.
"AREA ATTENTION!" Someone called. Those near him stood at attention, the one who called it saluted him. Redeski looked him in the eyes, there was black bags under them.
He returned the salute and said "As you were!" He walked over to the soldier who had called the area to attention. "Status report?" Redeski asked.
"Doing as well as we can sir. Some ponchos would be nice, but I know that there isn't enough to go around from the H.Q.'s storage." The Soldier replied.
"I'll see what I can do." Redeski replied. He then continued to walk down the long trench, there were holes every now and then from the motor shelling. The soldiers he went by stood at attention, he didn't know what to say. Then he had an idea, that speech from that movie, the one he did to get that one promotion!
He pulled a box out from a storage section and stood on it. Soldiers gathered around (Best they could in a trench) and he began to speak.
"Good morning everyone. As you know, the enemy is at our gates and I have called upon you to make sure they won't get in." He took a breath. "As you know, in most likely less than an hour, the hostile forces will try and break through into this base to secure victory. But we will not give! We will refuse to back down, my brothers, my fellow men and women, we will not go quietly into the night! We will not vanish without a fight! We're going to last, and we are not going to be defeated!" there was a silent pause, but then they heard the sirens, the hostile attack had begun.
"ALL HANDS MAN YOUR STATIONS!" Redeski ordered. The crowd quickly liquidated as every soldier started to return fire to the incoming forces, there was explosions and yelling all around him.
Panther squad 7am
Erik had put a green blanket over the jeep, keeping him dry for the moment. Also to camouflage him in the grass, as it was hard to see anything in this rain. The radio had blared to life about 5 minutes ago. Judging from what was being said, the H.Q. was finally under assault. Hopefully their attack would go better than the hostile one.
He hated the rain and this place. Worst of all he hated that he was basically useless. Then he heard something besides the rain. Gun shots. He immediately drew his pistol and prepared to shoot the intruder, but the rain was persistent, and kept him on edge, waiting for whatever was to come.
Prophet & Jess 7:10 am
The plan was going smoothly. They were able to avoid the majority of the hostile patrols, but something seemed off. Prophet and Jess quickly rounded the corner of a building and spotted tanks inside a shed. Jackpot.
Prophet used hand signals to order the planting of explosives and such on the armor. The priority targets was the Hostile heavy armor, and once the explosives had been distributed to their max effectiveness, Prophet and Jess pulled out of the tank shed. With their mission completed, and the charges set to go off within the hour, He and Jess headed back to Erik.
However, with Alexis and Karelia, things weren't going too well.
Alexis & Karelia 7:15
Alexis and Karelia had run into a patrol. The hostile forces immediately opened up on the duo, pinning them down behind a bunch of barrels. Alexis had returned fire with her shot gun, and Karelia with her pistol. Things weren't going too well, as they couldn't fend off the whole base.
"We should surrender." Karelia said as more hostile soldiers arrived.
"What? We can't until the bombs are planted!" Alexis replied, and she took a look around. There was a Kubelwagen behind them. She immediately thought of a plan. "Karelia, cover me while I try to highjack that Kubel."
Karelia nodded and threw a smoke grenade at the hostile position, and shot anyone that came out of the smoke. Alexis broke the window with her shotgun's stock, and hopped in. Hotwiring shouldn't be too hard, just put this wire there… and that one there…..
The Kubel started with a kick, Karelia sprinted with rifle and pistol in hand, firing the pistol at the hostile position while going to the Kubel.
Once they were inside the Kubel, Alexis hit the gas. Bullets ricocheted off the Kubel, some even penetrated the engine compartment, which started to smoke itself after they cleared the firefight.
"Alright, Karelia set the explosives now, once we hit the comm tower, plant and hop back in. Then we can get out of here." Alexis stated. Karelia nodded reloading her pistol, and setting the explosives.
They reached the tower, there was two guards at it. They signaled for the Kubel to stop, as one drew his weapon. Karelis rolled down the window, pulled her pistol and shot them both. Neither could do anything before their armor froze up and were incapacitated.
Karelia quickly got out and planted the explosives. She got back in the Kubel and they headed toward the Jeep to meet up with the rest of the squad.
Central H.Q. 8 am
Redeski fired his Lee Enfield at the 2nd wave of enemy forces. They had nearly broken through the with the first wave, but luckily enough they had been repelled before they could break the line.
The soldier next him jolted back as a hostile bullet hit its mark. The rain had deterred the Hostiles from using any heavy armor, as it would probably get stuck in the ever growing mud. He looked to his left and right, what once was a full garrison was merely a quarter of what had been. He would've started to pull his men back, but he issued General order 24, and there was to be no retreat. Time seemed to slow down as explosions surrounded his position.
Dirt rained down on his helmet as he fired into the charging enemy, there was knocked out halftracks and other infantry support vehicles all over the battlefield. The hostile forces started to pull back, but this would only provide a temporary pause for the impending collapse, they would not survive another assault.
Then it hit him. The only way to win this would to be to catch the Enemy off guard, but he would need to act quickly.
He sprinted back to the command room. "Operator, order all forces to gather at the center of the frontal defensive line immediately, all armor included." He quickly stated to the radio operator. He then ran back to the frontal defensive line and waited. His men quickly showed up, even though some of the heavier tanks had trouble maneuvering in the mud.
After what looked like all of his forces arrived, he immediately hopped onto one of the M4A2(76)'s (Which was the bulk of the tank force, the rest was Stewarts and some Jacksons) He then began to explain what he was about to order his men to do.
"We are surrounded and under siege, and I'm sure I don't have to tell you that we are cracking at the seams. But we are going out from this wretched place into the open to stand against the enemy, whoever is shot will be remembered. Whoever doesn't will have his name honored!"
He hopped down from the M4A2 and started to walk toward the enemy positions. His soldiers created a path down the middle in which he walked through. He then turned to face them.
"I will lead this charge; you do what I say. And God being my witness, I will fight with you to the end, my brothers!" He finished. There was a mummer throughout the gathering. The rain finally started to clear, and a ray of sunshine descended upon the soldiers.
"When I fire this flare, we will fight without fail. There is no retreat, it is a matter of do or die!" Redeski stated. He slowly pulled out a flare gun, turned around, and fired it aimlessly at the sky.
The sound of soldiers yelling and running towards the enemy position could be hear thought the battlefield.
The enemy forces thought they were just yelling at first, to taunt them. Some even laughed it off and continued to relax and eat and such. But then the explosions came. They scrambled to put up a defense before they would be overrun by the advancing force.
Panther squad 8 am
The squad met up at the Jeep, just in time to watch the explosions go off in the enemy base. The ground shook, and smoke pillars rose as they admired their handy work.
"What now sir?" Erik asked. He had a good point, the northern flank would now commence their attack, and they didn't have enough of anything to really make a difference. The squad had done what they could do. Prophet thought about it, then decided it would be best the help the Central H.Q.
"We're gonna help Central H.Q. with their defense. We need to be quick if we're going to make a difference." Prophet said. Everyone hopped on the Jeep, abandoning the beat up Kubel. Erik hit the gas and they headed toward Central H.Q.
The way back seemed quicker than expected, as they were there within 40 mins. Partially due to Erik's reckless driving. Short cuts, and top speed. Before they knew it they saw the enemy camp a far enough distance away from Central H.Q. to avoid small arms fire, but still in range to mount assaults. Suddenly there was a surge from Central H.Q.
"What the hell are they doing! They could lose us the match if this assault fails!" Erik said.
"I know Redeski, unless they have a-" Prophet was cut off.
"They will fail." Karelia stated, they took a look at the assault, Redeski's men were few. They would probably be outnumbered, and possibly outgunned, but they would fail with dignity at least.
"Well, what are your orders sir?" Jess stated, trying to get things moving.
Prophet thought heavily on it, was there anything left he really could do? To head back would be useless now. To help with the assault would be suicidal at best. The only course of action would to assault the hostile camp from the rear, but with what? He had 5 people, one of which couldn't basically do anything, but what other choice did he have?
He decided to go through with that course of action.
Redeski 8:40am.
There were tracers and yelling everywhere, the ground was still muddy from the rain. They kept running, with him in the front. They couldn't stop until they hit the base, or this would be a complete failure. He quickly took a look behind him, the tanks were firing on the move, Soldiers getting cut down while running. It would soon be over one way or another, and he kept on charging, the enemy sand bag line was almost within reach.
Him and about 7 soldiers were able to reach the sandbags, shooting at the hostile soldiers, taking them out and hoping the bags. They began to fire on the adjacent sandbag positions. Soon more soldiers joined their position as they cleared the no man's land. His Lee Enfield ran out of ammo, so he drew his Colt.
The beachhead was quickly secured but the hostile forces fought with a new found fierceness. They were saved by the tanks, which had finally found their way through the muddy and potholed landscape. The hostile light tanks stood no chance for the M4's, but the hostile heavies were still unaccounted for. Suddenly there was a chain reaction of explosions coming from the tented area. Suddenly a Tiger backed up through the line of tents, firing in the opposite direction, firing at the other hostile Tigers.
It was quite the odd site to see, and Redeski knew of no reason it should be happening, but why question it.
Panther squad 8:40 am
Prophet sat in the commander's position of the Tiger, how they managed to capture the tank? Simply knocked on the hatch and threw a grenade in as the hostile tank crew thought his squad was one of theirs. It went a lot easier than anticipated, and Alexis being the Mechanical genius she was, managed to get it driving. The rest was easy, aim and shoot. They then engaged the hostile Tigers, knocking out 3 of the 6 before they realized what was going on, then they started to return fire. The rest was just pure luck, as they managed to bounce shot after shot. The crew compartment started to heat up, sweat was a constant struggle, Prophet didn't know how tank crews did it.
Before they knew it Alexis had backed them up so that they had Friendlies at their back, from there the Sherman's were able to surround and knock out the hostile Tigers. It was quite the scene, as the Hostile forces were scrambling in retreat, and the few that remained fought valiantly, but either surrendered or got taken out trying.
Prophet then opened the commander's copula, to meet Redeski staring at the tank in awe. With almost perfect timing Erik rolled up with the Jeep, and he had a passenger, he had his M1 pointed at the passenger and was steering with his good leg and hitting the gas with his bad one.
"Alright everyone, lets hand this over to an actual tank crew. Dismount." Prophet ordered, and his squad started to dismount.
Prophet Jumped off the Tiger and saluted Redeski. Before he could say anything Redeski said, "As you were." And saluted back.
The Hostile prisoner Erik had captured in his retreat was looking at the two soldiers greeting each other. All he needed to do was set a grenade on his uniform off and he could nail the General of his foe. But it would have to wait, as he had no way of doing so with his hands bonded.
Well, that's it guys, hope you enjoyed. Reviews are always welcome. Until next time – Sho'reg.