Disclaimer:
I do not own Love Hina or anything from Red Dawn. Any other characters used in this fic are mine, however.
Chapter 10 – Crossroads
July 5th
According to the latest news from the front, several Warsaw Pact countries as well as China have broken their alliance with the Soviet Union and are surrendering to NATO forces. Covert operations on occupied areas have disrupted supplies and inflicted heavy damage to the Red Army. All remaining Warsaw Pact countries are pulling back to Soviet territory – in general, they were now on the defensive. In Asia, all major Soviet elements are being pulled out to defend more strategic points on the east coast of the Soviet Union. After seeing how badly the Red Army was losing in Europe, the Chinese have pulled out of areas near India and have signed a ceasefire agreement with the British government, declaring that they were now out of the war. With NATO and UN Coalition forces closing in, all that remained is to retake Japan.
~~
July 7th – U.S. CENTCOM Headquarters
General Frank R. Jennings, commander of all Coalition Forces in the Asian Theater, stepped into the briefing room, ready to lay out the framework of the liberation of Japan. All personnel present immediately stood up and saluted him.
"As ease, please be seated," said the General. "Now as many of you may know already, the war has turned in our favor. The UN Security Council in cooperation with the leaders of all NATO forces have now authorized the planning of the invasion of Japan"
Jennings motioned to a large projection of a map of Japan. "According to intel from SOCOM, several resistance groups in coordination with the Navy and Air Force have effectively weakened the infrastructure that Soviet forces need to repel an invasion. Over the past week, our forces have softened up and effectively isolated entire divisions in several parts of the country. In a nutshell, we have all enemy forces spread too thin in the areas we are going in."
"Permission to speak, sir," asked one man.
"Go ahead, Colonel."
The Colonel stood up. "Well sir, our first priority is to make sure that the landing areas and airstrips we've pre-selected are going to be clear. Our resources are limited, and trying to send in more Special Forces troops would be a waste of resources. What is the contingency plan if the Soviets mount a counter-attack on our forces?"
General Jennings moved to another slide on the projector, showing one of the beach landings was near Hinata City. "Since most Soviet forces are broken up, t would be easy to assume that they'd try to get as much of their equipment and men to the beach landings the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, the 8th Army, and remnants of the J.S.D.F. are going to be assaulting. We also have several beachheads located further north that is going to be taken by UN Coalition forces."
The General switched to the next slide, showing areas of organized resistance marked on the map. "As I stated before, there are many resistance groups operating near these areas. Our plan is to have these groups delay any hostile forces trying to get to the beach. Air drops of the necessary equipment and arms have already reached these groups."
He then turned back to the officers. "The key to the operation is to have these people hold many strategic points along our axis of advance so we can make a breakout possible. Doing so will break the back of Soviet operations in Asia, and help establish forward air bases that can attack the USSR itself."
Another officer stood up. "So, when do we go, General?"
General Jennings turned around to face those in attendance. "We go in 72 hours."
~~
July 10th, 0217 hours: Three miles from the crossroads
Ever since taking out the helicopter threat, the Hinata Resistance, along with the Special Forces have been on the offensive. Keitaro and the others made good use of the equipment that the Americans have given them. So far, they've taken out a number of bridges and power stations around he city by calling in air strikes from high-flying B-52 heavy bombers. They've also been busy extracting downed pilots and leading Special Forces troops to and from targets.
But this morning had brought great news as well as new dangers. The group had been asked by the Americans to help other resistance fighters in the area to capture and hold a key crossroads that was located in a small residential community. The road lead from the beaches and into the city, and all knew what that meant – liberation was at hand. They could hear distant gunfire coming from the coast as well as the crossroads; it seems as though another resistance group had reached the objective. Just then Tama-chan spotted something coming toward them.
"Myuh!" Tama-chan cried. She pointed at the incoming vehicle.
"Soviet patrol, coming toward us!" Motoko said. Everyone took cover as a BMP was traveling through the field. Su brought a LAW launcher to bear, when two explosions landed near the vehicle. The engine died and it started to billow smoke. Five soldiers scrambled out, only to be cut down by Kitsune and Haruka. All of them approached the vehicle slowly, not knowing what to expect. Then suddenly, a familiar voice called out from behind the brush.
"Hold your fire! Friendlies coming out!" Soon three figures emerged, all equipped with American made weapons. Keitaro approached one of them.
"Thanks for the assist…you must be the other resistance fighters in the area," Keitaro said.
The figure approached him and turned to the others. "It's good to see you all again," he said, taking off his mask. Who they saw was a shock to them all, but they were overjoyed to see him once more.
"SETA!" they all cried.
~~
July 10th – 0300 hours: at the crossroads
After walking all morning, the group finally managed to reach the crossroads. Though, the map they had showed that it was a residential neighborhood, all that remained was several deserted and run-down buildings. It looked as though no one had set foot in the place for ages. Seta, along with his group of eighteen other partisans had managed to take the crossroads in this area. After introducing Kietaro and the others to them, they walked over to a makeshift Command Post and dropped their backpacks.
"So Seta," asked Kitsune, "How did you survive the initial invasion back in April?"
Seta lit a cigarette and took a puff. "Well it wasn't easy. The moment the Soviets came in, they arrested all teachers and facuilty at the University. Luckily me and several of my students were able to escape by using the sewers."
"I guess being in dark caves finally came in handy," said Naru.
"Indeed," replied Seta. He took a seat near a machinegun nest. "We did find others in the streets and those who were in hiding. Then we took what gear we had and headed south of the city. If we had went west like all of you had, we've would've linked up sooner."
Su looked at Seta for a moment "Where's Sarah?"
"She's here. When the Special Forces came to get in tough with my group, I wanted her to go back with them." Seta laughed lightly, "But you know how she is." At that moment, Sarah came out of one of the burnt buildings. She wore dark colored clothing as well as a medical back strapped to her back. The other figure that emerged behind Sarah was Shinobu's friend Akiko Taichi. Both girls looked tired and worn – the war had made them into adults in the past few months.
"Hey guys!" cried the blonde-headed girl. Su immediately rushed over and gave them both a hug.
"Guys! It's great to see you two again!" said Su.
Akiko smiled at Su, and then began to look around the area. A look of concern formed on the girls face as she turned to Su.
"Su…..where's Shinobu?" asked Akiko.
"Yeah, where is she?" chimed in Sarah.
Su turned her gaze away from her, as did the others. Su tried to find the right word to tell the two what had happened. Su faced both girls again and felt a tear well in her eye. The moment that Sarah and Akiko saw Su's face, they knew what had become of her friend. Both girls were hit with a wave of sadness; Akiko had to sit down to collect herself as Sarah stood there in disbelief. Seta turned from the here back to Keitaro and the others – a look of remorse on his brow.
"I'm….I'm really sorry. I had no idea…." said Seta.
"We know," replied Haruka. "Listen…we have a job to do know, so….we better get to work."
"Yes….of course," said Seta. He led everyone to a map of the area on a table inside the CP that he and his group had set up earlier. Using what he'd learned after securing the neighborhood, Seta pointed out several defensive positions that they could all take up, when the Soviets try to send reinforcements into the beach.
"Basically, our mission here at the crossroads is to stop or delay any Soviet forces sent to repel friendly forces landing at the beaches. The reason why these crossroads are so vital is because they provide a direct route from the beach into the city," explained Seta.
"So if we lose control of the crossroads, then that means the beach landings are at risk," concluded Mutsumi.
"Exactly," said Seta. "Which leads us to our biggest problem: even with your arrival here, we don't have enough equipment or people to stop a large mechanized force from coming through here. There are simply too many gaps in our defenses."
Naru studied the map and realized that her former tutor was right. Marked on the map were places that heavy armor can get through between buildings – not to mention the dozens of places enemy infantry can get through as well.
"What equipment do we have altogether that can stop infantry and tanks?" asked Naru.
Kitsune answered her question. "We have thirty hand grenades, the machinegun with three spare belts of ammunition, two RPG launchers with four rockets each, two LAW rocket launchers, and we brought a flare gun."
"Seta, what did you and your group have, equipment-wise?" asked Keitaro.
Seta pulled out a small slip of paper from is pocket. "Well, we have about three LAWs left, twenty Claymore antipersonnel mines, three crates of C4 and a grenade launcher."
"With that answered, how can we use all of our resources to our advantage?" asked Motoko.
"Our only concern is any armored threat that they may be sending our way," said Keitaro. "Maybe if we position some of the antitank mines in the more exposed areas along with a few of the claymores, we can discourage any soldiers taking a direct approach to the beach."
"Another way is to set up claymores in some of the buildings the Soviets may use to bypass the mined road and alleys," added Haruka.
"Well, if we do decide to do that, that only leaves this large gap between several destroyed homes here," replied Seta, pointing at the map. This was a problem that they all saw. The gap was just a few yards south of the main road. If a tank got through this area, then it puts possession of the vital crossroads at risk.
Su looked at the gap, and determined that the only way a T-80 would be able to get through is one at a time. An idea soon popped in her head.
"Why don't we try and disable it. The gap is only big enough to allow armor to get through single file. If we disable one of them, it'll create a roadblock prevent anymore armor from slipping through."
Everyone looked at each other, then back at Su. "How do we pull that one off, Su? I mean it'll take a lot of LAWs and RPG rockets to kill a tank," said Kitsune.
"We could try using the C4. We only need to blow off the tracks, and since C4 is pliable, one of us could stick it on its wheels as it passes near the ruins of the houses near the gap," said Su.
"I don't know Su, it sounds too risky to have someone plant the explosives onto the tank," said Motoko.
"We're already risking our lives Motoko, so what makes this any different when we took up arms," commented Naru.
Motoko thought for a moment. "I guess you're right Naru."
"Since that's settled, what are going to do against enemy infantry," said Keitaro.
Seta thought for a moment. "We have a lot of gasoline cans lying around, so we could use fougasse traps if we run out of landmines."
"Umm...what's fougasse?" asked Mutsumi.
Fougasse is an old defense the Brits used in the last world war," explained Seta. "Basically you take a container like a trash can or oil drum, place an explosive like a small amount of C4 on the bottom, and fill the rest up with gas and whatever's lying around. It's pretty simple."
"That could really come in handy," remarked Naru.
With their defense planned out on paper, both groups of fighters set out to set up their defenses. It only took a good hour with the help of Seta's team to finish. After surveying the fortified positions, three people from Seta's group along with Tama-chan went out on patrol, while the others, some twenty-three total defenders took the time to rest and wait.
It was clear that the Soviets would try to repel an invasion force at any cost. No longer was it a question of if they'd come, but rather when. All they knew was when the Soviets did show up, they hope that their defenses will delay them. Unknown to any of the partisans, they were about to find out soon enough….
***
A/N – Well, chapter 10 is now done! I hope you enjoyed my story so far; with finals now over for me, I should be able have this fic completed soon.
Thanks again for all of your reviews and suggestions - keep 'em coming! ^_^