Hey, everybody. Back with another chapter, and our first taste of ground combat between Americans and Orcs in Beleriand.
Let's get to it!
Branlex22c: I'm working on the next update now.
Guest: I'm gonna have a number of countries send fighter squadrons, and at least Canada and Britain will be sending troops to provide reinforcements as necessary. However, I don't currently plan for there to be large scale NATO involvement.
Chapter 8- Bloody Ridge
(February 3, 2018)
The sun is just beginning to rise over Beleriand. In a section of forest in the Fens of Sirion, despite the chaos that has engulfed the region in recent years due to the ongoing war between Morgoth and the Free Peoples, birds begin chirping as the sun slowly peaks over the horizon.
On a small bluff overlooking a small creek in the forest, a man slowly pokes his head around the side of particularly large tree. His name is 1st Lieutenant Steven Miller, an officer of the 75th Ranger Regiment's 1st Ranger Battalion, and leading of a platoon-sized group of Rangers who call themselves the Devil Raiders.
Starting about two months after the declaration of war on Morgoth, the US had begun dispatching special ops troops to Beleriand to engage in reconnaissance missions and reach out to the peoples of Beleriand and spread the word about the United States' entry into the war with Morgoth and establish contact. They were either flown in by helicopters flying off the aircraft carriers now off the coast or deposited by submarine. Initially, each group of special ops troops was accompanied by an Elf who spoke Sindarin and the languages of the Edain. However, at this point, enough Americans had learned Sindarin, Taliska, and Haladin thanks to a few Sindar Elves who had been brought to America to teach the languages that Elves rarely accompanied them anymore.
By now, months after the first deployments of special ops troops began, there are almost 1,800 special ops troops in Beleriand. They're a mix of members of the US Navy SEALs, the Delta Force, the Rangers, the Green Berets, the 24th Special Tactics Squadron, the 1st Special Operations Wing, and the Marine Raiders. In addition, as part of a recent agreement between the US and the UK, a squadron of the British SAS will be deployed to Beleriand to join in the effort at the start of March.
All of the troops have been divided into groups ranging from small squads up to platoon size, like Miller's group. Most groups do not have a formal designation, and so are known by nicknames chosen by the groups themselves, just as Miller's group is known by their nickname, Devil Raiders.
The Devil Raiders are currently on a mission to recon the area around the Fells of Sirion, where a number of Morgoth's forces have been spotted by US reconnaissance aircraft. Their task is to report back on the composition and size of the enemy forces and develop detailed maps of the area for when the invasion comes. They are also meant to look for a rumored hidden Elvish settlement in the area. So far, sightings of any Orcs have been rather scarce. However, Miller doesn't trust to luck, and knows that they could encounter Orcs at any point.
Miller scans the area below on the banks of the creek. Spotting nothing, he whistles lowly. A second later, he hears rustling and looks back to see three of his Rangers moving carefully out of the breach, carbines raised as they scan the area. Seeing no enemies, they lower their carbines but keep them at a ready position.
One of his squad leaders, a Sergeant first class by the name of Gary Cobb, moves up to Miller. "The two men I just sent out a scouting trip just got back. They reported no Orcs north of us so far as they searched, which was about 5 miles," Cobb says.
"Good. We should be close to the spot where we heard that Elvish settlement was. It should be less than a mile west of our current position. Cobb, you take your squad and lead the way," Miller orders.
Cobb nods, knowing this is not only because he has some of the best fighters in his squad, but also because of the five men among the Devil Raiders who speak Sindarin, three are in his squad. He moves forward out of the brush, the rest of the men of his squad moving quickly.
Miller and the rest of the Devil Raiders move carefully and quietly behind them, hoping not to alert any Orcs that may be in the area now that they know they are losing the high ground.
Miller reaches a large boulder. Hearing a crack of a branch, he immediately ducks up to boulder as the rest of the Devil Raiders duck for cover, pressing his back against it. As he does, he hears a slight clink of the hilt of the short Elvish saber he was given as a fall-back melee weapon, a common practice among the special ops troops deployed into Beleriand.
The entire platoon is dead quiet for several seconds. Then, a deer walks into view. Everyone sighs a bit with relief. One Ranger contemplates killing the deer for the platoon to have for breakfast, but decides against it.
The platoon stays quiet for another minute before Miller says very quietly, "Move on."
The Rangers get back up and start continuing to head through the forest in the direction of the spot where the rumored Elvish settlement is located. They move quickly, but quietly, moving like shadows through the lightening forest.
Soon enough, one of the men in Cobb's squad whistles slightly. Cobb moves forward, and before the young corporal can even say anything, Cobb sees what caused him to whistle. The light of a fire up ahead.
Cobb gets on his radio and calls back to Miller, "Lieutenant, we've spotted a fire up ahead. No movement or sound heard yet. I believe we've found the Elves." All of the platoon have their radios turned down to minimum volume to avoid the sound alerting any Orcs nearby. However, it's loud enough for Miller to hear it.
"Copy. All men, converge on Cobb's location," Miller orders, and the Rangers hurry to close in on the target.
Cobb and his men move towards the fire they can see. However, a few seconds later, they break through the brush, and come to an immediate halt at what they see.
They had in fact found the Elvish settlement. Or rather, what was left of it. It seemed to be very small. Maybe home to a hundred Elves at max. The huts and small houses have all been broken down and burned, and the inhabitants are scattered around the clearing and among the trees, all lying in pools of blood. Mixed in among them are the bodies of Orcs.
Cobb and his men stand there for several moments before Cobb says, "See if any Elves may have survived." Then, as his men start moving to follow out his orders, Cobb gets on his radio and says, "Lieutenant, we have a problem. We found the Elvish settlement alright. Except it's in ruins and the Elves have been slaughtered. And there's a lot of Orc bodies here, so we know who did it. Morgoth got here first."
Miller is silent for a moment before he says, "All men, double time!" Abandoning silence, the remaining Rangers start running in the direction of the light from the fire. It takes only seconds before the rest of the Rangers burst into the clearing and see the devastation.
Miller lowers his carbine slightly as he looks around. He then looks at Cobb and asks, "Any luck finding any survivors?"
"No. They're all dead," Cobb responds simply.
"Damn it!" Miller says angrily, furious they couldn't have gotten here first. He then looks down towards the body of a male Elf lying about two feet away. Concerned at what he sees of the Elf's wounds, he steps forward and kneels down beside the Elf. Examining the Elf's wounds, he feels a sense of concern fill him. Trying to be certain, he presses his left pointer finger into the pool of blood the Elf is laying in, then raises it and examines it. Growing more concerned, he touches some of the blood on the Elf's skin surrounding the wound in his stomach that clearly killed him.
As he feels how wet the blood is, alarm floods him, and quickly gets back to his feet and raises his SCAR rifle to a ready position. "This Elf's wound is fresh. The blood around it hasn't dried yet. This all took place recently," he says urgently. He pauses, then says, "Whatever Orcs did this are still close by."
Pretty much everyone hears this, and instantly raises their M4s and SCARs, aiming them outwards in all directions. Everyone is completely silent, listening for any sound of Orcs.
After a few seconds, Cobb says, "We need to get out of here."
Right then, there's a screeching sound. Everyone turns to see three Orcs running out of the forest towards the Rangers, swords raised. However, two Rangers fire their M4s and gun down the three Orcs easily. However, the Rangers now begin to hear the sound of many bodies running through the brush, the sound only growing louder.
"Everyone! Follow me!" Miller shouts, knowing now that the Orcs have spotted them.
The Rangers take off running into the forest. Only seconds later, Orcs pour into the clearing, running after them.
Although the Rangers are extremely fit, and are able to keep ahead of the Orcs, Miller knows that they won't be able to keep this going forever. He also highly doubts that the Orcs directly behind them are the only ones. He realizes within a few seconds that a direct fight is inevitable at this point.
At almost the same moment he realizes this, Miller spots something up ahead. Not far ahead, the trees thin out greatly, and just beyond that is a large ridge, rising at least a hundred feet, and looking to be at least a half mile long.
"There! That ridge! We need to take up position there! Wilson! Savage! Slow 'em down!" Miller shouts.
Two privates, Wilson and Savage, turn around and aim their grenade launchers behind them. They quickly fire a grenade each before turning back to continue running. The grenades explode, each killing a few Orcs and causing the others to stop for a few moments in surprise, giving the Rangers a considerable lead.
Cobb is the first to reach the ridge. He stops at the base of the ridge to keep watch behind them as the rest of the Rangers keep running, heading for the top of the ridge.
It takes only a minute before all 42 men of the Devil Raiders have reached the top of the ridge. Knowing this is where they will have to make their stand, they begin setting up. Two men carrying sniper rifles set up in a good position to allow them to stay hidden and get a good shot as soon as the Orcs come out of the forest. Two more men set up a pair of M240 machine guns. All the others set up in any position they can with their carbines.
Down in the forest, they can hear the Orcs, and know that the Orcs are trying to wait to coordinate their attack on the ridge. While the anticipation would make many normal troops feel a bit nervous, the Rangers are completely calm as they wait for the Orcs to make their move. Some of them find themselves wishing they had flamethrowers, thinking that would be a very effective weapon right now.
The Devil Raiders don't have to wait long before the first Orcs begin to stream out of the forest, screeching loudly and waving their swords. A few try firing bows at the Rangers, but the arrows fall well short.
However, they are not out of range of the Americans' weapons. The two men armed with sniper rifles fire almost the moment the Orcs come running out of the trees, killing two Orcs with their first shots. The two snipers calmly reload their weapons and fire again, again killing two more Orcs.
The Orcs feel a little less nervous as they approach, thinking that if the Americans can only take out two of them every five seconds or so, they may be able to overwhelm them. However, the Orcs don't know that Miller has ordered his men to temporarily hold their fire to lure more Orcs into range.
Then, the Orcs cross within 500 yards of the Rangers' positions. Miller, correctly estimating their distance, calls out, "Light 'em up."
Instantly, the two Rangers manning the two machine guns pull the triggers, swivelling the machine guns back and forth, sending a torrent of bullets tearing through the Orcs as the sound of the machine guns rattles through the surroundings. The rest of the Rangers aim their carbines and fire at the Orcs not getting hit by the machine guns. Black blood is flying in all directions as the rounds from the multitude of guns tear through their bodies. Dozens of Orcs collapse, some of them shredded into bits by the machine guns.
The Orcs begin to screech and scatter in panic at the torrent of hot lead. Seeing the Orcs are no longer concentrated together, the men manning the machine guns switch over to their carbines to avoid using up too much ammunition for the machine guns needlessly.
Orcs continue to fall as bullets from the Rangers tear through their bodies, their armor doing little to stop the deadly rounds. It doesn't take long for one of the surviving leading Orcs to order the Orcs back off the ridge.
The Orcs quickly rout back towards the trees, fleeing in a panic, hoping that once they get back into the trees, they'll be safe. Once they get beyond 600 yards, the Rangers cease fire, knowing they can't afford to waste any ammunition.
As Miller watches the Orcs disappearing into the trees, he knows this is far from over. He can hear the sounds of the Orcs just inside the treeline, and can hear the sounds spreading. He knows that the Orcs' next attack on the ridge is going to come from another direction.
"They're going to come at us from another direction. Heads on a swivel!" he shouts.
The Rangers carefully look around for the sight of any movement by the Orcs. For about 30 seconds, there's nothing but the sounds of the Orcs milling about in the trees. Then, with a cacophony of screeching, the Orcs burst from the trees again, now coming at them from the east, and just 500 yards away.
"9 o clock! Engage!" Miller shouts. Every one of the Rangers quickly turns towards the Orcs and lets rip with their carbines and machine guns. Once again, a torrent of hot lead tears through the Orcs, sending spurts of black blood flying everywhere as the Orcs fall like dominoes.
However, the Orcs keep coming, some trying to press on through the torrent of fire coming their way. However, the Rangers still have a few tricks up their sleeves. Eight of the Rangers that have M203 grenade launchers attached to their carbines load M576 buckshot grenades into the launchers. Then, at a signal from one of the men, a corporal, all eight men fire. The grenades hit amidst the Orcs, bursting apart and expelling their buckshot pellets in all direction. Almost thirty Orcs are killed in the space of a few seconds. The few survivors quickly retreat back down the ridge and back into the trees.
Miller keeps his carbine raised, but listening intently. He can hear the sounds of the Orcs further spreading. At this point, after two single assaults had failed miserably, and also based on the direction of the sounds he can hear, the Orcs are now going to try and attack from multiple directions at once. If the Rangers are not careful, the Orcs could potentially reach them at last.
"Men, prep stun and smoke grenades. If any of you have tear gas rounds, prep those too. If we're going to survive this next one, we're gonna need to hit their senses first," Miller says. All of his men hear this, and those that have smoke, stun, or tear gas grenades ready them and load them into their grenade launchers if applicable.
Then, just as Miller predicted, the Orcs again come surging out of the forest, screeching and howling and firing arrows, even though the arrows are falling extremely short.
The Rangers are very careful as they wait with their specialty grenades. Then, as the Orcs draw within range, they make their move.
First off, they throw M18 smoke grenades. The grenades burst, sending out small clouds of smoke that obscure the Rangers from the view of the Orcs. The Orcs begin to slow down and even stop, milling about in the billowing smoke.
Still knowing where the Orcs are, the Devil Raiders open fire with their machine guns and carbines, mowing down dozens of Orcs as the Orcs try to get their bearings in the smoke. The Orcs can hear their fellows dying all around them, but can't see many of their fellows as they are killed.
However, a fierce wind begins to blow, which begins to disperse the smoke. Regaining sight of the Devil Raiders, the Orcs resume their charge.
However, the Devil Raiders are ready for this. Now, they begin to throw M84 flashbang grenades and fire M651 tear gas rounds. As the flashbangs burst, the Orcs cower from the bright flash and the loud sound. Then, the gas from the M651s begins to billow out of the grenades as they hit, and Orcs begin to scream in pain as the tear gas hits their eyes.
"Light 'em up!" Miller yells, and again their guns spring to life, hurling bullets into the midst of the Orcs.
One of the Rangers, Sergeant Anthony Gleaves, pauses for a moment as he reloads his M4. However, as he does, he glances around and sees a group of about 20 Orcs coming up from the opposite direction as the others, having come around to try and surprise them behind.
"Behind!" Gleaves shouts, but the roar of the machine guns prevents anyone else from hearing him.
Knowing he has to act, Gleaves jumps up from his spot and runs down the slope, emptying his new magazine into the approaching Orcs, killing three of them and wounding a fourth.
The Orcs howl and screech in anger and charge to meet him. Knowing he's about to have to attack them hand to hand, Gleaves slings his M4 onto his back while pulling out the Elvish saber he was given for just such a situation while drawing one of his Glock 19 pistols with his other hand.
The first three Orcs race to attack Gleaves with weapons drawn. Gleaves hits the ground and slides between two of them, avoiding their swords, while slashing off the legs of one of them. He spins back to face them and beheads the two uninjured ones from behind before putting a bullet through the head of the one whose legs he just cut off.
Knowing he can't keep his back to the enemy, Gleaves whips around, and manages to bring his sword up just in time to block a strike from an Orc. He quickly shoots the Orc in the chest once with his pistol before kicking the Orc to the ground.
Immediately, Gleaves is confronted with two more Orcs. Gleaves ducks under a slash from the first Orc before driving his sword into a weak spot in its armor, killing it. He then slashes the sword out of its body and through the neck of the other Orc that is about to bury an axe in his head.
Another three Orcs race up to attack him. Gleaves manages to kill one with two bullets to the chest from his Glock before having to duck under a sword from one of the other two. The second Orc slashes its own sword at Gleaves, but Gleaves parries the blow with his sword. He exchanges several slashes and parries with the Orcs before twisting one of the Orcs' sword of its hand and then driving his own through its face.
The second Orc takes advantage of the brief distraction and slashes his sword at Gleaves. Gleaves tries to dodge aside, but the sword cuts into his side. The cut is not long or too deep, but the pain is arguably just as bad. However, Gleaves pushes it aside and kills the Orc with a slash of his sword.
Looking around, he sees that there are still 8 Orcs ready to attack him. Four race up to him, slashing wildly at him with their swords. Gleaves parries the blows, at first with ease, then a slight desperation. Even though he's trained with his sword extensively over the last few months, he is starting to wonder how much he can stand up against four Orcs at once.
Then, one of the Orcs makes a mistake and swings too wildly. Gleaves dodges the strike before stabbing his sword into the Orc's exposed armpit. He quickly draws it back out and uses to block another slash from another Orc as the Orc falls dead. He then kicks another Orc in the fork of the legs before beheading it.
The two remaining Orcs slash at him at the same time. Gleaves ducks back and pulls out his pistol again, killing one of the Orcs with a shot to the face before cutting the last one in half.
Gleaves now turns to face the last four Orcs. However, before he can attack them, the four Orcs fall dead from gunshots.
Gleaves turns back up the ridge, and smiles a bit to himself as he sees two of his buddies at the top of the ridge, guns pointed in his direction to show they were the ones who killed the Orcs.
Gleaves, now clutching the wound in his side, carefully makes his way back up the ridge. One of his buddies, who is also one of the men serving as a medic, races down to meet him. "Okay, buddy. Sit down. Let me see how bad it is," the man says.
As Gleaves is treated and bandaged up, back at the top of the ridge, Miller moves to reload his magazine. By now, the Rangers are down to about half of their ammunition. Miller knows that if they have to keep fighting the Orcs for much longer, they may run too low on ammunition, or even run out.
However, as Miller raises his carbine to fire again, he sees something. As two of his Rangers are engaging a few Orcs that got too close with their own swords, some of the Orcs near the rear are starting to turn and run back for the trees again. As his two machine gunners continue mowing down Orc after Orc, the Orcs begin to turn tail and run. After a few minutes, the last of the Orcs disappear back into the trees.
Silence begins to fall over the ridge as the Devil Raiders wait for the Orcs. However, minutes pass, and the Orcs don't return, and the sounds of them continue to diminish before fading altogether.
Miller is quiet, thinking if this is a trick. Then, he says, "Cobb. Go take a look."
Sergeant Cobb nods and gets up, heading for the trees, carbine raised. It takes him a little while to reach the trees, due to all the bodies he has to walk over while walking so slowly and carefully. However, he finally reaches the trees and moves carefully into them, looking for any sign of the Orcs.
Cobb moves slowly and quietly through the trees for about 5 minutes, but with no sign of the Orcs, save a few wounded ones who dropped to the ground to die during their retreat, which he dispatches quietly with his sword if they're not yet dead.
Finally, Cobb realizes that the Orcs have retreated. He turns and heads back to the ridge. As he merges from the trees, he look in the direction of where Miller is waiting and gives a thumbs up.
Miller falls backwards against a rock as he lets out a sigh of relief. At last, the long fight is over. And incredibly, even though Gleaves and another man have been wounded, none of the Devil Raiders have died. However, on the other side, the Rangers are surrounded by a sea of dead Orcs, with what look likes small rivers of black blood running down the ridge. Several of the men pull out cameras and take pictures of the carnage.
One of the other squad leaders walks up to Miller. "We did it. We beat 'em and all got through," he sayhs.
"Yeah, we did. And if just us could cause this much devastation among Morgoth's forces…he doesn't stand a chance when the rest of the Army gets here," Miller says.
(February 7, 2018)
"Yes?" General Milley asks as a number of reporters have their hands raised, pointing to one of them.
"General, will those men be returning home anytime soon?" the reporter asks.
Milley smiles a bit as he says, "Yes. After what they went through, and having completed nearly everything they had been tasked with, we think they deserve a little time at home." The reporter just nods at the response.
About two days after it took place, news of the first ground engagement between Americans and Morgoth's forces hit the news in America. When the truth of the engagement reached the American public, people were in awe at what they heard the Rangers of the Devil Raiders had accomplished. Current casualty estimates put the number of Orc casualties at over 1,800 dead.
The battle between the Devil Raiders and Morgoth's Orcs had quickly become famous, and was now being referred to as the Battle of Bloody Ridge. This name was given by the American public after hearing it had taken place on a ridge and after seeing the photographs of the incredible carnage among Morgoth's forces.
The men of the Devil Raiders had quickly become national celebrities, and had been highly decorated. Sergeant Gleaves had been awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. Lieutenant Miller and two others had been awarded the Silver Star. The rest of the Devil Raiders had received the Bronze Star, and the group as a whole had received the Presidential Unit Citation. A number of men had also received promotions as rewards for their bravery and skill in combat.
However, perhaps the greatest outcome of Bloody Ridge was the effect it had on morale. The American public now realized just how much they outgunned Morgoth's forces, and many felt that if the rumors were true that the military high command intended to eventually deploy up to 2 million men, this war would be over rather quickly. While Milley still had some reservations about that, it had definitely helped boost his confidence.
And, I'll end there.
I hope you liked this chapter, and seeing the first fight between American troops and Orcs. While it was a complete, one-sided slaughter, I can promise not all future battles will turn out so well for the Americans.
For those of you who are history nerds, there have actually been two battles known as the Battle of Bloody Ridge. One was on Guadalcanal in WWII, and the other took place in the Korean War. I decided to use the name again because I thought it appropriate for this battle.
Next chapter should be up soon. Until it is, please leave a review and stay tuned!