Until the End
Chapter 19
Fall Back
"As Chinese and Japanese forces push further into Siberia they are met with little resistance. After the first battle near the border between Russia and China, no heavy battles have taken place, and while Russian officers tell us that they are doing everything they can, one has to wonder, is the government in Moscow simply going to let Siberia fall into the enemy's hands?" Kyle McCormick, a CNN reporter said to the camera located just thirty miles outside of Alden.
"Many Russian soldiers that I've talked to have been asking why America has not put forth more of an effort to help them. The soldiers all understand that America has greater concerns in the Middle East at the moment, they don't think that the meager help that America has supplied to be sufficient enough."
"But other than that, moral is quite high with the Russian soldiers-" McCormick was cut off as Akane threw the remote aside and laid Akari down on the couch.
"What the hell happened to her?" Akane asked as she removed Akari's blood and vomit-covered blouse.
"I don't know, but it might have to do with all those DMG (defense ministry guard) guys that showed up at the palace," Ishii replied, he paused a bit before going on. "And why we found that guy with his head smashed in on the front of the building."
Akane blanched. She herself had seen the man with the crushed skull, and she was quite sure it would ruin her appetite for quite awhile. "Your not actually suggesting that Akari did that are you?"
Ishii shrugged. "Unless you have a different opinion, than yes. I almost forgot that Ranma has been training her in Anything Goes all this time. But seeing those guys beaten to death was quite enough to jog my memory."
"Are you sure that other guy was dead?" Akane asked. "I think I saw him move around a bit when we got Akari."
"It may sound crude but I'm hoping that he was," Ishii said. "If he saw Akari's face than were going to be in deep trouble, especially is he can recognize her. Were not going up against the Yakuza this time Akane, were taking on the entire Japanese government, they can take us down without as much as a blink."
Akane was about to reply but Akari began to stir.
"How are you feeling?" Akane asked as she placed a moist washcloth on her head.
"Like I got hit by a truck," Akari replied and tried to sit up. The movement immediately grated her damaged ribs and she cried out in pain. Akane and Ishii tried to steady her.
"Oh god, oh god," Akari moaned.
"What's wrong?" Akane asked worriedly.
Tears formed in her eyes, "I killed him, I knocked him off the roof, oh god!" Akari wailed.
Akane hugged Akari as best she could without knocking her side. Ishii frowned for a moment before trudging off to the kitchen, and returning with a mug of tea and two pills.
"Here," Ishii said, lightly prying Akane away from Akari. "Take these Akari."
Akari painfully sat up and took the tea and pills. She swallowed them before lying back down and continuing to whimper.
"Were going to need to get you out of these clothes Akari, and it'll be easier if I help Akane, do you mind?"
Akari shook her head side to side before her eyelids closed and she seemed to drift to sleep.
"What did you give her?" Akane asked. She unbuttoned Akari's jeans and began to work them off of her, with some help from Ishii.
"Some barbiturates, they should keep her out long enough to wrap her rips, it looks like she took a couple of shots there," Ishii replied, pulling her jeans free, he folded them up and set them on the nearby table. "Alright, let's move her into her room."
With Akane guiding him, Ishii carried Akari into her bedroom and lightly set her on the bed, Akari's only response was a mumbled sound of content.
"Do you think that you could wrap her ribs on your own?" Ishii asked as he checked his wristwatch.
"Yeah," Akane responded. "Why? Where are you going?"
"I need to go visit Kimura for now; it seems like those DMG guys knew exactly where we were. My guess is someone tipped them off, which could mean we've got big trouble coming our way soon."
Ishii left the room without another word and in a few moments Akane heard the engine of his car start and him pulling out of the driveway. Without another thought, Akane went in search of some bandages to wrap Akari's ribs. She had just about left her room when something caught her eye, a picture that was sitting on Akari's vanity mirror. Deciding that it wouldn't hurt to let the search for the bandages wait for moment, Akane approached the vanity and picked up the picture.
The picture contained the four of them, Ranma, Ryoga, Akari and herself. Ranma and Ryoga each had an arm around the other's shoulder and were laughing, Akane and Akari were shaking their heads slightly at the display of their respective boyfriends.
It took Akane a moment to place where the picture had been taken. It was about four and a half years ago, maybe a month before Ranma and Ryoga went with Ishii to try and get Seiji's body back from the Chinese government. That was of course the last time any of them were able to pose for a photograph ever again. Ryoga was shortly thereafter captured by the Chinese with Ranma and he was taken away and reportedly shot when Phil's tank battalion went to rescue them. Of course, with what Akane and the other's knew know, Ryoga might not be dead.
Akane stopped herself from sobbing; crying wasn't going to help anything. She took a last look at the photograph and set it down and went in search for the bandages. Before she left the room she glanced back at Akari, clad in only her bra and panties. How was it possible that Akari could look at that photograph every day? Maybe she was afraid that she would forget what Ryoga looked like. Akane had heard enough stories of couples that lost a loved one would forget what that person looked like. She herself was unable to remember what her mother looked like.
Akane shook her head softly and continued her search for the bandages.
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Parker looked up at the afternoon sky. It was a nice cool minus seventeen degrees Celsius, an average temperature for mid-March. He snorted, in all truth he was freezing his ass off out here, and it was entirely likely that he was going to get frostbite. The thick fatigues he was wearing didn't do much to stop the biting wind that tore through the trees every few seconds.
His grip on his rifle was tight. The reports he had been receiving for the past few hours did not bode well for them. The Chinese and Japanese were moving at a rate consistent enough to allow them to reach the Russian- American positions by nightfall. This news, coupled with the report that the Air Force planes had been redirected to attack a few locations inside China, was enough to make Parker consider the option that he was going to lose his first battle today. The notion made his stomach churn, but he allowed himself to dwell on the fact. Right now the Russians had about 120 000 troops, and there were 250 American Green Beret's. If the reports from the scouts could be believed, the Chinese alone had 150 000 troops. They were at a serious disadvantage, especially because the Chinese still had control over the skies. A report from the Chief of Staff the other day told him that the Russians were setting up SAM sites around Alden. This would be a great help later in the war, if the Chinese broke through their defenses and ended up moving on toward Alden. Parker had asked for some Patriot missile batteries to be diverted to Siberia, but he had received no word on the matter. Parker was quite sure that the reason he was not going to receive the missiles was for political bullshit.
His brooding thoughts were interrupted when General Petrov came trudging through the thick foliage. Parker turned to regard the man when approached.
"How are you this fine cold frigid afternoon?" Parker asked with a smile.
General Petrov laughed. "Believe me General, I am in quite the same frame of mind as yourself. But for right now I was hoping to discuss how you think we should go about spreading out the troops. I have already got most of them organized for the initial defense, but I was hoping to get some advice on where to place the tanks and flanking troops."
Parker stopped and considered his options for a minute. Making a quick decision was surely going to let the Chinese roll right over them. A thought struck him just as he was contemplating this.
"General, have we received any information if the Chinese and Japanese are actually fighting alongside one another, or if they are kind of going separately, with the Chinese dictating their movements?" Parker asked the Russian General.
"From all reports I've received, it would seem that they are separately moving along. From what the scouts have been reporting, just a few hours ago the Chinese moved all Japanese forces except for a few units over onto the left flank. They aren't going to be fighting along side one another if that's what your wondering."
"So it would be plausible to think that we could separate the two forces?" Parker asked. General Petrov looked as if he was about to shout 'Eureka!' "I think I know where you should put your troops general."
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"So after General Petrov informed me that the Japanese were not going to be fighting with the Chinese, I came up with this plan," Parker informed Lieutenant Gogol as he stood with Gogol on an outlook that let them get a good view of where the battle would take place.
"And you think it will be enough to stop them from forcing their way into the Alden?" Gogol asked as he looked down at a Russian tank battalion move across the stretch of trees.
"It should," Parker said. "I informed General Petrov that he should move at least two thirds of his ground troops and a half of the armor units over to meet the Japanese head on. Instead of putting the infantry out front were going to show them our tanks and see just how many of them feel like making a charge. Once we have their attention, we'll hit them with everything we've got. Once the Japanese are taken care of, the soldiers remaining will move in an arch and meet the Chinese from behind. We box them in and wear them down from there."
"It is quite a gamble," Gogol observed. "But, I think it'll work."
"Glad to have your support," Parker said dryly. "Now that you know what the plan is, I was hoping that you wouldn't mind going out to help with the troops that are setting up to intercept the Japanese."
"Sure," Gogol said. "But what about you General?"
"I'm going to stay here with the other troops and try and stave off the Chinese until you guys can take out the Japs," Parker said as he checked to make sure his pistol was at his side.
"But aren't you going to be outnumbered?" Gogol asked.
Parker turned and offered Lieutenant Gogol a wry grin. "All the more reason for you and the others to finish off the Japanese and come help us out."
Without another word Parker walked back down the outlook post and into the woods.
Gogol shook his head and started down in the opposite direction.
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"They're about two kilometers ahead of us Lieutenant," the Armor Major said.
"Thank you sir," Ranma responded and hopped down from the halftrack and ran over to his platoon.
"What's up Lieutenant?" Sergeant Yoshida asked.
"We've got about half an hour before we make contact," Ranma said. "According to the Chinese CO, it's going to be our job to cover the Chinese armor battalions when they begin flanking the Russians."
Ranma dismissed the other troops and pulled Yoshida to the side.
"Alright Sergeant, I don't want you to leave my side for even a minute once the shooting starts."
"Sir," Yoshida began but Ranma cut him off.
"No," he said sternly. "I don't want you running around and getting your head blown off just because you're worried about the troops."
"Is that all?" Yoshida asked impatiently.
Ranma surprised him by putting an arm around his shoulders and hugging him for a moment.
"And besides asshole," Ranma said, his voice tight, "if you were to get blown away I would miss you, you're the best friend I have right now."
Yoshida didn't respond, he merely nodded and tried to keep the fact that tears were in his eyes unknown from Ranma.
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"We should see them in about ten minutes General," General Petrov said to Parker as he tried to get into a comfortable position in the snow.
"Good, I think I might throw up any second now," Parker replied.
Petrov laughed. "That is true. No matter how many times we do this it always feels like its going to be our last."
Parker nodded at that sentiment. He looked at General Petrov and noticed something sticking out of one of the pockets on his fatigue jacket.
"What's that you're carrying with you General?" Parker asked, indicating the object in Petrov's pocket.
Petrov looked at Parker a minute before removing the object from his pocket. Parker saw that it was an envelope, and it had not been opened.
"A letter from my wife, she does not write me often, but she has never forgotten to send me a letter before I go into battle," Petrov explained.
"But why haven't you opened it?" Parker blurted.
An amused expression crossed Petrov's face. "I am an old man General, and I for one am too old to change my superstitious ways. Every time my wife sends me something before a battle, I have waited until my enemy has either retreated or been defeated before I open it, and so far, that has proven to be my driving point. The anticipation of reading her loving words is enough to make me fight the entire Chinese army with only thirty thousand men."
Parker smiled at the General but kept his thoughts from being voiced. Toni had sent him a letter a week or so ago and he had read it almost twenty times by now. The anticipation must be killing Petrov, Parker decided.
"So general, if we do push these Chinese barbarians out of this wonderful land, do you believe they will be able to mount a second assault?" Parker asked.
"When we push those barbarians from our soil I believe we will follow them into their dens and give them the beating of a lifetime," Petrov said in a conversational tone.
"Than may we both survive to the day when we might stand outside the Politburo's office and order the final charge that will bring down their empire," Parker declared. "But for now we must wait."
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"Sir, the troops are wondering why we are not going with the rest of the Japanese forces," Sergeant Yoshida said to Ranma as they checked their gear one last time before starting the battle.
"We don't have much of a choice Sergeant, the CO has declared that since the Chinese will not be able to spare many platoons to cover the armor battalions, Japanese platoons will have to be used instead. It doesn't really matter though, were all going to be fighting the same enemy," Ranma reasoned.
"Of course sir," Yoshida replied.
"You just about squared away their Sergeant?" a passing major asked Yoshida.
"Yes sir," Yoshida replied and snapped off a salute that the major returned. Once the major was out of range his salute changed into the finger.
"Hey now," Ranma said laughing. "You do that and you'll find yourself on latrine duty for a month."
Yoshida smiled back.
The two men rejoined their platoon and were then joined by the armor battalion they would be charged to cover once the shooting ensued. A very small Chinese Captain climbed out of one of the Type 97 Light tanks and approached Ranma with his hand held out. Ranma took his hand on reflex and shook it, the Captain's hand was cold and clammy, and there was just enough pressure to be able to call what they did a handshake.
"I'm glad to see you lieutenant," the Captain said in Japanese. "I was wondering if we were going to have to fight this battle with nothing at our backs other than the wind."
"Not to worry sir," Ranma replied. "We'll do our best to cover your unit."
The Captain nodded and walked back over to his tank and climbed back inside.
Ranma shook his head ruefully. "I sure as hell hope that this battle doesn't last too long."
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The Russians and Americans had picked out their positions with a strategic eye. The Chinese and Japanese were going to have to travel down a very steep incline into something that reassembled a valley. Once they passed that, they were going to have to climb back up another incline that would lead them straight into the Russia-American forces, which were to be shrouded in the thick trees that covered the area.
The goal, as General Parker and General Petrov explained over the secure radio network, was to delay the Chinese for as long as possible, allowing the other Russian and American forces to remove the Japanese and to whip around back and come at the rest of the Chinese from behind, boxing them in where they could whittle their forces down to a point where it would be possible to coax them into surrendering.
The only major problems that Parker could see with their battle plan were things that he himself would have taken advantage of if they came about. For starters, no one knew if the remaining Russian and American soldiers would be able to contain the massive Chinese force long enough for the other soldiers to finish off the Japanese. If they were unable to stop the Chinese, than the other forces would have to play catch-up all the way to Alden. Another major problem Parker saw was that, when the other soldiers were to come up from behind on the Chinese, they would have to follow the same demanding course that the Chinese were forced to. They would travel down into the deep valley and then back up again, which would make them easy targets when the Chinese noted their presence. And lastly, Parker was worried about the skies. The American planes promised by the Air Force were operating sorties in China at the moment and it would not be possible to for them to make a run over to where the battle was taking place at least until sunrise. There were Russian planes, but were greatly outnumbered by the Chinese Air Force. The only silver lining in that fact was that the two enemies were going to be battling so close to each other that if one of the planes did decide to attack to the ground troops, they were equally likely to hit their own army as they were to hitting them.
With that being said, Parker decided to not join some of the more rowdy troops in the betting of how long it would take to knock the Chinese on their asses and send them running back to their rice paddies.
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The first shot fired in the battle was not directed at any soldiers; instead it was targeted at very large pine tree that was barring the path of many Chinese tanks. One of the tank commanders ordered the tree to be removed, and the gunner fired a round at the base of the tree, sending it tumbling down the edge of the valley.
When there were no answering shots from the other side of the valley, the large Chinese force began to move down into the valley.
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Parker noticed with interest that the Chinese were traveling down into the valley with as little speed as possible. He concluded that the commanders were probably worried about losing soldiers and tanks to simple accidents, like tumbling down the hill or running over stone that would churn up the tank tracks and immobilize them.
He turned to the young Russian Captain next to him and whispered.
"Remember, when the claymores blow, that's when you open fire," Parker said. "Pass it on down the line."
As the order was passed down, Parker let his mind deal on the thought of the mines. It had been a gamble to put them where they did, but if they were to have any chance to hold the Chinese in their tracks; they would have to do everything and anything possible. It was also entirely possible that the mines could be their undoing, that when the returning Russian and American forces would hit the mines as well.
In the end Parker had ordered the mines to be placed. He didn't want to take any unnecessary chances, and from what he could tell, not placing the mines would be just that.
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Ranma grunted with exertion as he double-timed up the steep hillside. He cast a glance to his left and saw that he was the only soldier that was keeping up with the tanks and halftracks. Deciding to let that problem wait until he reached the top, Ranma pushed his body a little more and began leaping up the hill. A comparable feat considering he was carrying additional 110-pounds to his 150 pound frame. It wasn't until he reached the top of the hill that he realized something was terribly wrong.
His heightened senses told him that he was at the moment facing a very large force. Another thing that worried him was that there seemed to be something buried underneath the ground. As the tanks and halftracks began to move into position, Ranma realized exactly what it was.
"Stop the tanks!" Ranma screamed as he tried to ward off the other vehicles.
His cries went unheeded as the first Chinese tank rolled over top of a claymore mine and detonated. Shrapnel ripped through the tanks underside and ripped the soldiers inside apart. The unexploded ammunition inside the tank detonated when shrapnel contacted a HEAT round. The resulting explosion threw a fireball almost thirty feet into the air.
Ranma, who was standing near the tank, was lifted off his feet and thrown backwards where he hit a tree. The wind knocked out of him, Ranma lay still trying to catch his breath as the soldiers in the trees opened fire on the Chinese armor units.
===============
The soldiers were obviously a good deal more disciplined that Parker thought at first. Not a single man opened fire when the Chinese armor battalion rolled up the hill. Parker had been worried that some soldiers might get nervous and open fire prematurely and ruin the first of a long list of surprises they had in store for their enemies.
Parker found his strategic mind going over the current positions of the Chinese tanks. At the moment they were lined up in a traditional offence stature that was commonly pursued in the PLA. In that moment Parker was glad he had studied the armor movements of the Asian countries before he shipped over. While studying the Chinese armor maneuvers, Parker had stumbled upon a very fatal flaw. When the tanks were deployed out in the normal aggressive positions, it left the near left flank of almost all types of tanks quite open and presented a blind spot for the gunners and drivers inside the tanks. If lady luck decided to bestow upon them her presence tonight, than it would be possible for the other Russian and American troops to come up on the left flank of the armor units and slaughter them more effectively than could have been possible under any other situation.
He was feeling quite elated when he figured that fact out, but his mood took a dramatic turn when he noticed a single soldier running after a Chinese Type 97 Light Tank that was about to roll over one of the claymores that they had placed only a day before. Parker nearly fell back in surprise when he recognized the soldier. It was Ranma, and he was shouting for the tank driver to turn back because he was about to run over a mine. It took Parker a moment to realize that he was shouting Ranma's name but as soon as he realized that, the mine detonated underneath the tank. Ranma had been standing much too close, and when it detonated he was lifted off his feet and sent off further down the line of tanks.
Parker lost sight of him, and the sound of the thunderous boom of multiple intense rounds going off consecutively made Parker realize that he had other duties right now. He moved his rifle to his shoulder and fired at a Chinese infantry unit that was just moving up the hill and observed in a detached sense that he had hit four soldiers.
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Ranma climbed to his feet uneasily and shook the cobwebs from his head and wondered why there were black spots in his vision. It took a moment but the spots disappeared, and Ranma realized he was standing in between a very large tank and a lot of muzzle flashes from what appeared to be a Russian infantry platoon. Believing that the best thing he could do was find his platoon, Ranma took off down the line of Chinese tanks.
He stumbled upon Sergeant Yoshida quite by chance, literally, as he was running. Yoshida was bent over on the ground trying to feed a magazine into his rifle when Ranma collided, and toppled over him. Yoshida yelped in surprise, thinking that maybe it was a Russian, and was about to stick Ranma with a knife when the knife he was holding was flipped out of his hand and into the hand of his lieutenant.
"Try to keep this in its sheath Sergeant," Ranma said conversationally as he handed the knife back to Yoshida.
"Where the fuck did you come from lieutenant?" a private asked in surprise. One second he had been shooting at the Russians and coming up the hill and the next Ranma was lying next to Sergeant Yoshida.
"Hasn't anyone told you not to look a gift horse in the mouth private?" Ranma asked to the genuine amusement of the platoon.
"Where the hell is the tank units were supposed to be covering?" Yoshida asked.
Ranma took a look behind him and saw the wreckage of quite a number of Chinese tanks and halftracks that had been rendered scrap metal and gave Yoshida his answer.
"Gone," he said simply, and took the chance to survey the battlefield. The Chinese armor battalions, after initially suffering a brutal beating, were pushing the Russians further into the forested area. The additional Chinese infantry units were pushing up ahead of the tanks.
"We should move up and try to establish a line of offence!" Ranma shouted to his troops, hoping they would hear him over the heavy roar of the thunderous fire from the tanks and the continuous crackle of machine gun and rifle fire.
Yoshida heard Ranma at least and he nodded.
"Alright boys, let's move up!" Yoshida bellowed in a voice almost as loud as the explosive rounds that volleyed over their heads.
Ranma took a few calming breaths before he took off at a run towards the tree line. He knew he was going to get their before the rest of his troops, but even if he would have to face the prospect of running into an entire regiment of Russian troops, Ranma didn't want to spend another second out in the open.
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To say that Lieutenant Gogol was scared would be quite an understatement. This battle being only his second actual full out battle, Gogol was still a novice in the grand scheme of things. Though compared to the nearly 100,000 other troops he was currently battling with, he was a battle hardened veteran. What made the troops look at him in even greater was that he had personally shot and killed the commanding officer of the invading Chinese and Japanese forces in the opening days of the war. It was of course complete bullshit; Gogol had shot at the moving jeep out of complete instinct, not some superior ultimate soldier. But when he had expressed his concerns to General Parker, whose opinion he had come to greatly respect in the past months, Parker told him to let the troops believe what they want, it would make it easier for them to follow Gogol during battle.
While Lieutenant Gogol did understand what General Parker was saying, it did not change the fact that he wished the young privates and greenhorns would stop asking him how many Japanese he was going to shoot.
Gogol, who was absorbed in his thoughts at the moment, completely missed the signal given by the other platoon that they had spotted the Japanese, and therefore was unable to mount his platoon to rush forward and meet the Japanese in fierce combat. This turn of events served to spare Gogol and his platoon, because when the other platoon rushed forward, it was immediately cut down by heavy Japanese machine gun fire. The screams of horror and pain brought Gogol out of his deep thoughts and he was immediately aware of the situation.
"Mount up," he told his platoon in a calm voice. He absently checked to make sure his safety was in the OFF position before moving up to meet the Japanese, but unlike the other platoon, he did not run, and he did not do it in the open.
Lieutenant Gogol found himself wondering just where the Japanese infantry was, for it looked as if they were sitting back and simply waiting for the Russians to come charging in. As he knelt down in the shrubbery Gogol remembered that he had been informed by General Parker that he believed the Japanese were the weak link, that, with the exception of very few, their soldiers weren't well equipped and were generally unwilling to fight.
Well, Gogol thought, were definitely going to test that theory right now. As his thought finished, Gogol heard the familiar sound of the tanks and halftracks moving up the path. It was hard to direct his platoon's fire from inside the dense forest, as the Japanese seemed to shoot from one area and then shoot again further on away from the original position.
Through some blind stumbling, Gogol found a mortar team, assembling their equipment.
"If you don't mind too much, I think it would be best if we helped keep the heat off you guys for a moment!" Gogol shouted over the gunfire.
Gogol didn't hear any replies, because just as the commander of the mortar team looked up to regard him, a Japanese mortar round flew over the tops of the trees and hit the ground right in front of the mortar team. Gogol watched, stupefied, as the Japanese mortar round seemed to strike the ground in slow motion before finally detonating, and taking the nearby mortar team as well as their ammunition out. Gogol had just enough time to scream for his platoon to duck when all the mortar ammunition exploded, sending shrapnel and pieces of the mortars whizzing by. Gogol was fortunate, for he escaped unscathed. Unfortunately, he was the only one.
Several of his men were most obviously dead; a few soldiers had the jagged pieces of shrapnel buried in their throats, as the soldiers thrashed on the ground, trying to force air into their bodies, though it was futile. Gogol went in search of his NCO and found him, his eyes staring up at the night sky in surprise. As he looked down at his Sergeant's chest, he noticed that a very large chuck of shrapnel had lodged itself into his chest cavity. Lieutenant Gogol felt bile rise in his throat as he noticed the pink froth dribble down from the Sergeant's mouth. Steeling himself, Gogol knelt down and set his palm over his eyes, closing them for the last time.
Lieutenant Gogol shuddered a few more times as he tried to collect himself. Once he was reasonably sure he had control of himself, he reached for his radio and called for a medic. With that taken care of, Gogol went to collect his rifle. He found it, twenty feet from where the original blast occurred. It had obviously been ripped right in two, and would no longer be useful. Shrugging, Gogol went to one of the many bodies and relieved the soldier of his rifle, and ammo pouch.
He staggered back into the bush, and made his way to where the Russian and American forces were now openly engaging the Japanese.
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Parker had been convinced that the Chinese were at least rational soldiers, but from what he had just seen, he was now under the impression that they were fucking insane.
It seemed that the Chinese Air Force had finally gotten their asses in gear and decided to start sending fighters and bombers for the battle. For the first three hours of the battle the Russian planes had simply been flying overhead and attempting to relay information on enemy positions to the soldiers on the ground, most of the time to the advantage of the Chinese.
Parker had been relieved when the planes showed up late. By now they were actively engaging the Chinese in close combat, and it would be far too impossible to have the planes drop any bombs and not expect to take out as many Chinese soldiers as they would Russian. That theory did not stand up for long.
It had been about twenty minutes since the planes showed up when a platoon must have called in for help, because about thirty seconds later the bombers let fly with their bombs. The Chinese platoon that radioed in must not have had a clear understanding of where they were, because the planes dropped their bombs about twenty yards behind the Chinese lines.
The ensuing confusion and carnage was something Parker had never seen. The Chinese were now of course thinking that the American and Russian troops had snuck up behind them, and they began to disengage the actual enemy and turn to face an invisible one.
Despite the major turn of luck for the defenders, they were still fighting an uphill battle, and one they would not win unless Gogol and the others could take the Japanese down and link back up with them again.
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The concussion blasts were getting more intense as Gogol moved closer and closer to the battle. At one particular moment, he felt what must have been an anti-tank round explode maybe twenty feet from him and it nearly rendered him unconscious. Needless to say, when Gogol finally did find the Russian infantrymen, he was quite injured. His ears were bleeding from the harassment they were taking, and Gogol idly wondered why the plugs that he had stuck in his ears before did nothing.
The regimental commander that Gogol stumbled upon took a very quick look at Gogol and instructed him to move up. The regiment had been pinned down by sniper fire, and they were stuck behind trees and the ditches in the earth.
Lieutenant Gogol watched as the commander ordered two sergeants to make a quick dash for the nearest ditch. On the quick count of three, they were up and running, and before they were even able to go three steps they were down, one of them hit in the leg and the other struck in the head. The man hit in the leg tried desperately to get to his feet but was shot again, but in his other leg. Gogol became enraged when he noticed that the snipers were obviously taking the time to see how much they could injure the sergeant before he died, most likely from shock or blood loss.
In much the same instinctual manner that Gogol acted on during the first Russian-Chinese engagement, Gogol grabbed his rifle and stood up slowly, purposely. As the Japanese snipers took notice of him, they immediately shifted fire. Two bullets struck the tree Gogol was standing next too but he failed to take notice. He had instead been watching where the muzzle flashes of the snipers were, and once he had gotten the location of them inside his head, he lined up his sights.
The regimental commander, seeing what Gogol was doing, got to his feet and dashed over the ditch and grabbed the fallen sergeant, and pulled him back into the ditch into the waiting arms of a medic.
There were two sharp cracks as Gogol fired at the snipers. As soon as the rounds had exited his gun, Gogol shifted fire, shooting at the other sniper. But the sniper was a faster shot, and he hit Gogol in the lower right calf. His leg was thrown out from underneath him, but Gogol was able to shift his stance to a kneeling position. The adrenaline that was being fed into his system kept his body from passing the message that he should be collapsed in pain. Gogol fired again, a two round burst.
As Gogol slowly sank back into the ditch, the other members of the regiment listened carefully. Finally, one brave lieutenant poked his head above the ditch and when there were no answering shots, the soldiers began to climb free.
The regimental commander approached Gogol and crouched down beside him as a medic came running over.
"That was some fucking impressive shooting there lieutenant."
"Thank you sir," Gogol said as he hissed in pain as the medic probed the wound on his leg.
"It passed through lieutenant," the medic said. "Maybe some muscle damage but that's about it."
"Good, slap a tourniquet on my leg so I can keep going and go see how that sergeant is doing," Gogol said, his voice betraying the pain he felt.
"You do that lieutenant and you're going to wind up with some extensive damage," the medic replied.
"I don't give a flying fuck doctor, now splint my fucking leg or I'll fucking do it myself," Gogol said angrily.
The medic looked helplessly at the commander.
"Do it," the commander said. "Once your ready join the regiment about two hundred yards up the field. We'll be covering the armor tracks as they try and take out those Japanese tanks."
Gogol nodded, the most he could do as the medic slapped a compressed bandage over the two holes in his leg.
===============
Ranma hadn't actually seen the planes come by, but he certainly did see what the aftermath was. He wasn't exactly sure if what they had dropped was napalm or actually bombs, but what he did know was that the Chinese platoon he and his platoon had been running alongside was now nothing more than a large group of dismembered and burning corpses. Members of his platoon, the one's that had been spared of the bloody battle so far, became quite sick, and many of them had continued being sick even though the only thing in their stomachs was stomach acids.
Ranma himself had almost become sick when he witnessed the horrible friendly-fire bombing, but he quickly recovered, and was now making sure that the rest of his troops were able to continue on. Except for a few that had caught some burns and minor cuts, everyone was 100%.
"So, after just a few set-backs, what do you think our chances are right now?" Ranma asked Yoshida as they began the long walk back to where the forces were engaging.
Yoshida looked at Ranma for a moment before replying. "We're not going to win today sir."
Ranma nodded but couldn't think of anything to say. He instead concentrated on the facts at hand. From what he could tell, the Chinese may be pushing the Russians back, but right now they were inflicting minimal damages to them. He had few disillusions about how the Japanese forces must have been fighting at the moment. Ranma had correctly assumed that they were in fact fighting a smaller force of Russian and American soldiers than the Japanese were fighting.
===============
"You sure that you'll be okay sir," the young sergeant asked Lieutenant Gogol as he leaned heavily against a tree, attempting to catch his breath.
"I'll be alright sergeant, now go see to your platoon," Gogol said softly. The sergeant shrugged and walked away. As soon as he was out of sight, Gogol collapsed to his knees.
Goddamnit! Gogol thought angrily. I'm not going to have enough strength to get through this!
As he knelt in the snow, Gogol failed to hear the sound of a jeep moving quickly through the dense forest before it had burst from the foliage. It took Gogol a moment to realize that the jeep had come from where the Russian lines were, and that the driver was slowing down and looking at him curiously.
"Need a ride Lieutenant?" the driver called out. It took Gogol a moment to place the driver. The man was a Lt. Colonel attached to the one of the tank battalions engaged in the battle.
Lieutenant Gogol got to his feet and limped to the jeep and jumped into the back.
"You get separated from your platoon?" Lt Colonel Kache Kachikov asked as he started the jeep and continued on his way.
"A Jap mortar took them out," Gogol answered, and then remembered to add, "Sir."
"That how you got injured in the leg?" Colonel Kachikov asked as he maneuvered around the trees.
"No sir, I met up with the regiment covering the armor battalions and a sniper got a good shot off," Gogol answered.
Kachikov turned and looked at him closely, finally he smiled.
"Is there something wrong sir?" Gogol asked.
"No, it's just that the Major from the regiment radioed me and told me that a lieutenant that joined up with them after his platoon was wiped out had stood up out of cover from a ditch when two soldiers were down and, with complete disregard for his own personal safety, he fired at the snipers and killed both of them, but not before he was shot once in the leg. He called and asked I come pick the lieutenant up. It's funny, I kind of pictured you being a little taller," Colonel Kachikov said.
Lieutenant Gogol couldn't think of a reply to that so he instead changed the topic.
"So where are you taking me?" Gogol asked.
"The 84th," Colonel Kachikov replied, if he at all minded Gogol not using 'sir' in his question he didn't show it. "Have you ever been in a tank Lieutenant?"
"No sir," Gogol replied.
"Well, unless that leg gets healed on the way over to the 84th, that's what you're going to be doing."
Gogol nodded his head, and instead concentrated on keeping himself conscious. It didn't work; he drifted off into sleep very quickly.
He awoke to someone repeatedly slapping his face. When he opened his eyes he saw Colonel Kachikov leaning over him holding his hand out to slap him again.
Seeing that Gogol was awake, Kachikov leaned back and got out of the jeep.
Gogol watched him for a moment before taking a look at his surroundings. He was in the middle of what appeared to be a graveyard for tanks. The twisted and torn carcasses of tanks and halftracks littered the area.
"Where are we?" Gogol asked groggily.
"About three miles from the front lines," Colonel Kachikov responded. "If you're wondering why it's so quiet, all I can tell you is that it beats the hell out of me."
"Why are we stopping here then?" Gogol asked. He climbed out of the jeep and just remembered to grab his rifle as he followed the colonel.
"The roads are impassable by now, and I don't want to have our own guys shooting us down because they think were the Japs," Colonel Kachikov said. "So were going on foot for now, are you going to be alright?"
Gogol looked down at his leg and realized that it no longer assaulted his with pain. It was now numb, like he had been sitting on it for awhile.
"I should make it," Lieutenant Gogol said simply. Colonel Kachikov nodded and began the long trek through the thick trees.
===============
Lieutenant Saotome watched helplessly as two more Chinese tanks were hit by oppressive fire from a Russian position further up in the trees. The shots didn't do much damage, but it was enough to make the tanks stop and back up. The tank commander popped out of his hatch and looked down at Ranma.
"We need to get through here lieutenant! Take out those goddamned Russians and let us pass!" With that said he went back down into the tank and closed the hatch.
Ranma looked over at his platoon, who were submerged in the thick snow. Yoshida looked at him with a helpless look.
"We could try going around and approaching on their left flank," Yoshida suggested.
Ranma frowned. "That would only work if they couldn't see us approach. But with the way they're dug in up there, they could see us coming from about a hundred yards."
"Than what should we do?" Yoshida asked.
Ranma thought about it for a minute before looking over at his troops.
"Does anyone have some grenades I can borrow? I'm all out."
He received three grenades from the troops and was about to stand up when Yoshida grabbed his arm.
"Just what the hell are you going to do Ranma?" Yoshida demanded. He was obviously upset for he forgot to call Ranma 'lieutenant'.
"We need to take out those Russians," Ranma answered simply. "I'm thinking that a few well placed grenades will be able to fix the problem."
"By yourself?" Sergeant Yoshida asked incredulously.
"That's right, and I don't want anyone moving up either, and I want you to make sure that everyone obeys that order, especially you." And with that Ranma jumped up and ran very quickly into the thick trees.
===============
Parker had been hoping to catch the small platoon by surprise. He had been up helping some Russian platoons keep a Chinese tank unit from approaching. As they fired at the tanks Parker noticed a platoon down in the snow but too well covered to hit. He informed the platoon leaders of where he was going so they would not shoot him when he appeared down in their line of view.
But once Parker was about halfway through to the platoon, he heard someone come crashing through the trees. Using his ears, he deduced that there was only one man rushing through the trees, and decided to take him out quietly. Positioning himself behind a tree that the person was undoubtedly going to pass, Parker waited.
The soldier was moving quite quickly, and it wasn't long before Parker realized he had to make his move. Changing his rifle's position, Parker brought the butt end facing up and took a deep breath before spinning out from behind the tree.
===============
Lieutenant Saotome was very surprised when the large American soldier spun out from behind the tree. He was so surprised that he quite forgot to move in the last second before the butt end of the rifle collided with his head. The force of the blow, coupled with the obvious strength of the American soldier, stopped Ranma in his tracks, and propelled him backwards. He was able to catch a fleeting glimpse of the soldier before he succumbed to unconsciousness. What he saw was enough to let him slip unconscious without much of a fight.
===============
"What the fuck is taking him so long?" one of the privates asked as the Russian soldiers continued to assault the tanks.
Yoshida glanced helplessly at the soldiers before dumping his web pack.
"I'm going up there; I want you guys to stay here for the time being but if you do have to move, make sure you stay with the tank unit."
"But Sarge!" a private shouted but it was too late, Yoshida was up and running into the trees.
===============
Parker looked down in shock as Ranma's body lay still on the ground. His rifle fell from his hands and slowly walked over to him. He leaned over and placed his hand on Ranma's wrist, checking for a pulse. It was steady, but thin. He was going to need some medical attention.
He was about to hoist Ranma up onto his shoulders when someone else popped out of the trees. He took one look at Ranma and Phil and raised his gun. Parker didn't have time to move, and when the soldier fired, he hit Phil in the shoulder.
The pain wasn't much but Parker was surprised and fell backwards. He half expected the soldier to shoot him again but all he did was sling his gun around his shoulder and pick Ranma up in a fireman's carry and head back the way he came.
===============
Lieutenant Gogol was much more haggard than he thought he would be once they finally made it to the front lines. His haggardness quickly disappeared though, when he noticed that not a single soldier was shooting.
Colonel Kachikov jogged over to where a whole hell of a lot of tanks were sitting and climbed up and knocked on the hatch. A soldier popped out and Kachikov talked to him for a moment before grabbing the soldier's helmet and speaking into the built-in radio. It took a few moments but Colonel Kachikov finally gave the soldier back his helmet and came back to Gogol.
"So what's going on?" Gogol asked.
"It seems that the Japanese have surrendered," Kachikov said, a large grin on his face.
"Are you serious?" Gogol asked. He didn't wait for a reply and turned to look where most of the soldiers were. On closer inspection he noticed that most of the soldiers were now surrounding an even greater mass of soldiers that were sitting down in the snow. All the soldiers sitting on the snow had no weapons; they were all of Asian descent.
"Well now, how's about we go pay our brother soldiers a visit?" Colonel Kachikov asked.
===============
It took Parker nearly an hour to get his shoulder patched up. He knew that shoulder injuries, especially gunshot injuries, could prove to be more difficult to heal than a gut wound.
The medic, after realizing that the general was not going to listen to his reasoning, arranged to have a tank take him back to the front lines. When Parker arrived, he realized that things had taken a turn for the worst. A Chinese regiment had broken through the lines, and they were assaulting the 171st to the point where attention had to be diverted to help them out. This of course led to the weakening of the lines, and the Russians were now just holding on.
Parker looked helplessly off to the West, where the Japanese would be fighting about now. It was at that time he noticed something odd. The thunderous roars that the Russian armor had been making for the past several hours had ceased. His curiosity got the better of him and he reached for the radio that had fallen from one of the Russians when they were hit by a stray anti-tank round.
He made sure that he was on the right net frequency and radioed in.
"Thunder God this is Black Bear, please acknowledge," Parker spoke in Russian. He repeated it again before anyone replied.
*You're radioing in now you bastard?* the deep voice of Lt. Colonel Kachikov asked.
"Report situation Thunder God," Parker ordered.
*I sure hope you boys haven't given up yet Black Bear, cause the fucking cavalry is on its way.*
Parker took a moment to respond.
"Could you repeat that Thunder God?"
*I said,* Kachikov's voice thundered, *you can forget about flying the Chinese colors because the fucking cavalry is on its way!*
"Thank you Thunder God, we will await your arrival," Parker said, his voice tight with emotion.
Parker turned to the soldiers next to him and proudly let his orders go out.
"Hold the line boys! The cavalry is coming to join our plight!"
A thunderous cheer arose from the Russian and American soldiers as they returned the Chinese shots with their own and fought with vigor that they had not thought possible.
The battle cries of the soldiers became even louder when the sight of a single Russian T-36 tank came rolling down the far hillside, it's .50mm caliber gun blazing and it's anti-tank rounds firing at an inhuman speed. The Chinese had no time to react before the entire hillside was flooded with Russian tanks and Russian and American soldiers as they ran without pause towards their enemy.
The scream of jet engines from above diverted the attention of the men on the battlefield, and Parker cursed the sudden turn of luck. It was not until he spotted the American flag on the low flying jets that he let a cheer erupt from his own throat. The radio in his hand crackled to life.
*Come in Black Bear, I repeat, come in Black Bear.*
"This is Black Bear," Parker responded as calmly as possible. "You guys sure took your sweet time getting here."
*A minor setback Black Bear, but now that were here we kind of want to know if there's anything we can do to help.*
"Your goddamned right there's something you can do, put those damned billion dollar aircraft into use and see if you can help us push these sonsofbitches all the way back into Beijing."
*Roger that Black Bear, you give us the coordinates and will see what we can do.*
As Parker read off the coordinates he was filled with a fire he had though had been extinguished long before this war had started. It was hope, and he now realized that they were about to push the Chinese right out of Siberia.
They had won, for now.
===============
Author's Notes: Promises, promises, you see, I kept my word. And this is definitely the longest chapter so far in the story. I really hope you enjoy it and I hope that you can find the time to pass on your feelings about it.
P.S. Sorry about all the foul language.
Chapter 19
Fall Back
"As Chinese and Japanese forces push further into Siberia they are met with little resistance. After the first battle near the border between Russia and China, no heavy battles have taken place, and while Russian officers tell us that they are doing everything they can, one has to wonder, is the government in Moscow simply going to let Siberia fall into the enemy's hands?" Kyle McCormick, a CNN reporter said to the camera located just thirty miles outside of Alden.
"Many Russian soldiers that I've talked to have been asking why America has not put forth more of an effort to help them. The soldiers all understand that America has greater concerns in the Middle East at the moment, they don't think that the meager help that America has supplied to be sufficient enough."
"But other than that, moral is quite high with the Russian soldiers-" McCormick was cut off as Akane threw the remote aside and laid Akari down on the couch.
"What the hell happened to her?" Akane asked as she removed Akari's blood and vomit-covered blouse.
"I don't know, but it might have to do with all those DMG (defense ministry guard) guys that showed up at the palace," Ishii replied, he paused a bit before going on. "And why we found that guy with his head smashed in on the front of the building."
Akane blanched. She herself had seen the man with the crushed skull, and she was quite sure it would ruin her appetite for quite awhile. "Your not actually suggesting that Akari did that are you?"
Ishii shrugged. "Unless you have a different opinion, than yes. I almost forgot that Ranma has been training her in Anything Goes all this time. But seeing those guys beaten to death was quite enough to jog my memory."
"Are you sure that other guy was dead?" Akane asked. "I think I saw him move around a bit when we got Akari."
"It may sound crude but I'm hoping that he was," Ishii said. "If he saw Akari's face than were going to be in deep trouble, especially is he can recognize her. Were not going up against the Yakuza this time Akane, were taking on the entire Japanese government, they can take us down without as much as a blink."
Akane was about to reply but Akari began to stir.
"How are you feeling?" Akane asked as she placed a moist washcloth on her head.
"Like I got hit by a truck," Akari replied and tried to sit up. The movement immediately grated her damaged ribs and she cried out in pain. Akane and Ishii tried to steady her.
"Oh god, oh god," Akari moaned.
"What's wrong?" Akane asked worriedly.
Tears formed in her eyes, "I killed him, I knocked him off the roof, oh god!" Akari wailed.
Akane hugged Akari as best she could without knocking her side. Ishii frowned for a moment before trudging off to the kitchen, and returning with a mug of tea and two pills.
"Here," Ishii said, lightly prying Akane away from Akari. "Take these Akari."
Akari painfully sat up and took the tea and pills. She swallowed them before lying back down and continuing to whimper.
"Were going to need to get you out of these clothes Akari, and it'll be easier if I help Akane, do you mind?"
Akari shook her head side to side before her eyelids closed and she seemed to drift to sleep.
"What did you give her?" Akane asked. She unbuttoned Akari's jeans and began to work them off of her, with some help from Ishii.
"Some barbiturates, they should keep her out long enough to wrap her rips, it looks like she took a couple of shots there," Ishii replied, pulling her jeans free, he folded them up and set them on the nearby table. "Alright, let's move her into her room."
With Akane guiding him, Ishii carried Akari into her bedroom and lightly set her on the bed, Akari's only response was a mumbled sound of content.
"Do you think that you could wrap her ribs on your own?" Ishii asked as he checked his wristwatch.
"Yeah," Akane responded. "Why? Where are you going?"
"I need to go visit Kimura for now; it seems like those DMG guys knew exactly where we were. My guess is someone tipped them off, which could mean we've got big trouble coming our way soon."
Ishii left the room without another word and in a few moments Akane heard the engine of his car start and him pulling out of the driveway. Without another thought, Akane went in search of some bandages to wrap Akari's ribs. She had just about left her room when something caught her eye, a picture that was sitting on Akari's vanity mirror. Deciding that it wouldn't hurt to let the search for the bandages wait for moment, Akane approached the vanity and picked up the picture.
The picture contained the four of them, Ranma, Ryoga, Akari and herself. Ranma and Ryoga each had an arm around the other's shoulder and were laughing, Akane and Akari were shaking their heads slightly at the display of their respective boyfriends.
It took Akane a moment to place where the picture had been taken. It was about four and a half years ago, maybe a month before Ranma and Ryoga went with Ishii to try and get Seiji's body back from the Chinese government. That was of course the last time any of them were able to pose for a photograph ever again. Ryoga was shortly thereafter captured by the Chinese with Ranma and he was taken away and reportedly shot when Phil's tank battalion went to rescue them. Of course, with what Akane and the other's knew know, Ryoga might not be dead.
Akane stopped herself from sobbing; crying wasn't going to help anything. She took a last look at the photograph and set it down and went in search for the bandages. Before she left the room she glanced back at Akari, clad in only her bra and panties. How was it possible that Akari could look at that photograph every day? Maybe she was afraid that she would forget what Ryoga looked like. Akane had heard enough stories of couples that lost a loved one would forget what that person looked like. She herself was unable to remember what her mother looked like.
Akane shook her head softly and continued her search for the bandages.
===============
Parker looked up at the afternoon sky. It was a nice cool minus seventeen degrees Celsius, an average temperature for mid-March. He snorted, in all truth he was freezing his ass off out here, and it was entirely likely that he was going to get frostbite. The thick fatigues he was wearing didn't do much to stop the biting wind that tore through the trees every few seconds.
His grip on his rifle was tight. The reports he had been receiving for the past few hours did not bode well for them. The Chinese and Japanese were moving at a rate consistent enough to allow them to reach the Russian- American positions by nightfall. This news, coupled with the report that the Air Force planes had been redirected to attack a few locations inside China, was enough to make Parker consider the option that he was going to lose his first battle today. The notion made his stomach churn, but he allowed himself to dwell on the fact. Right now the Russians had about 120 000 troops, and there were 250 American Green Beret's. If the reports from the scouts could be believed, the Chinese alone had 150 000 troops. They were at a serious disadvantage, especially because the Chinese still had control over the skies. A report from the Chief of Staff the other day told him that the Russians were setting up SAM sites around Alden. This would be a great help later in the war, if the Chinese broke through their defenses and ended up moving on toward Alden. Parker had asked for some Patriot missile batteries to be diverted to Siberia, but he had received no word on the matter. Parker was quite sure that the reason he was not going to receive the missiles was for political bullshit.
His brooding thoughts were interrupted when General Petrov came trudging through the thick foliage. Parker turned to regard the man when approached.
"How are you this fine cold frigid afternoon?" Parker asked with a smile.
General Petrov laughed. "Believe me General, I am in quite the same frame of mind as yourself. But for right now I was hoping to discuss how you think we should go about spreading out the troops. I have already got most of them organized for the initial defense, but I was hoping to get some advice on where to place the tanks and flanking troops."
Parker stopped and considered his options for a minute. Making a quick decision was surely going to let the Chinese roll right over them. A thought struck him just as he was contemplating this.
"General, have we received any information if the Chinese and Japanese are actually fighting alongside one another, or if they are kind of going separately, with the Chinese dictating their movements?" Parker asked the Russian General.
"From all reports I've received, it would seem that they are separately moving along. From what the scouts have been reporting, just a few hours ago the Chinese moved all Japanese forces except for a few units over onto the left flank. They aren't going to be fighting along side one another if that's what your wondering."
"So it would be plausible to think that we could separate the two forces?" Parker asked. General Petrov looked as if he was about to shout 'Eureka!' "I think I know where you should put your troops general."
===============
"So after General Petrov informed me that the Japanese were not going to be fighting with the Chinese, I came up with this plan," Parker informed Lieutenant Gogol as he stood with Gogol on an outlook that let them get a good view of where the battle would take place.
"And you think it will be enough to stop them from forcing their way into the Alden?" Gogol asked as he looked down at a Russian tank battalion move across the stretch of trees.
"It should," Parker said. "I informed General Petrov that he should move at least two thirds of his ground troops and a half of the armor units over to meet the Japanese head on. Instead of putting the infantry out front were going to show them our tanks and see just how many of them feel like making a charge. Once we have their attention, we'll hit them with everything we've got. Once the Japanese are taken care of, the soldiers remaining will move in an arch and meet the Chinese from behind. We box them in and wear them down from there."
"It is quite a gamble," Gogol observed. "But, I think it'll work."
"Glad to have your support," Parker said dryly. "Now that you know what the plan is, I was hoping that you wouldn't mind going out to help with the troops that are setting up to intercept the Japanese."
"Sure," Gogol said. "But what about you General?"
"I'm going to stay here with the other troops and try and stave off the Chinese until you guys can take out the Japs," Parker said as he checked to make sure his pistol was at his side.
"But aren't you going to be outnumbered?" Gogol asked.
Parker turned and offered Lieutenant Gogol a wry grin. "All the more reason for you and the others to finish off the Japanese and come help us out."
Without another word Parker walked back down the outlook post and into the woods.
Gogol shook his head and started down in the opposite direction.
===============
"They're about two kilometers ahead of us Lieutenant," the Armor Major said.
"Thank you sir," Ranma responded and hopped down from the halftrack and ran over to his platoon.
"What's up Lieutenant?" Sergeant Yoshida asked.
"We've got about half an hour before we make contact," Ranma said. "According to the Chinese CO, it's going to be our job to cover the Chinese armor battalions when they begin flanking the Russians."
Ranma dismissed the other troops and pulled Yoshida to the side.
"Alright Sergeant, I don't want you to leave my side for even a minute once the shooting starts."
"Sir," Yoshida began but Ranma cut him off.
"No," he said sternly. "I don't want you running around and getting your head blown off just because you're worried about the troops."
"Is that all?" Yoshida asked impatiently.
Ranma surprised him by putting an arm around his shoulders and hugging him for a moment.
"And besides asshole," Ranma said, his voice tight, "if you were to get blown away I would miss you, you're the best friend I have right now."
Yoshida didn't respond, he merely nodded and tried to keep the fact that tears were in his eyes unknown from Ranma.
===============
"We should see them in about ten minutes General," General Petrov said to Parker as he tried to get into a comfortable position in the snow.
"Good, I think I might throw up any second now," Parker replied.
Petrov laughed. "That is true. No matter how many times we do this it always feels like its going to be our last."
Parker nodded at that sentiment. He looked at General Petrov and noticed something sticking out of one of the pockets on his fatigue jacket.
"What's that you're carrying with you General?" Parker asked, indicating the object in Petrov's pocket.
Petrov looked at Parker a minute before removing the object from his pocket. Parker saw that it was an envelope, and it had not been opened.
"A letter from my wife, she does not write me often, but she has never forgotten to send me a letter before I go into battle," Petrov explained.
"But why haven't you opened it?" Parker blurted.
An amused expression crossed Petrov's face. "I am an old man General, and I for one am too old to change my superstitious ways. Every time my wife sends me something before a battle, I have waited until my enemy has either retreated or been defeated before I open it, and so far, that has proven to be my driving point. The anticipation of reading her loving words is enough to make me fight the entire Chinese army with only thirty thousand men."
Parker smiled at the General but kept his thoughts from being voiced. Toni had sent him a letter a week or so ago and he had read it almost twenty times by now. The anticipation must be killing Petrov, Parker decided.
"So general, if we do push these Chinese barbarians out of this wonderful land, do you believe they will be able to mount a second assault?" Parker asked.
"When we push those barbarians from our soil I believe we will follow them into their dens and give them the beating of a lifetime," Petrov said in a conversational tone.
"Than may we both survive to the day when we might stand outside the Politburo's office and order the final charge that will bring down their empire," Parker declared. "But for now we must wait."
===============
"Sir, the troops are wondering why we are not going with the rest of the Japanese forces," Sergeant Yoshida said to Ranma as they checked their gear one last time before starting the battle.
"We don't have much of a choice Sergeant, the CO has declared that since the Chinese will not be able to spare many platoons to cover the armor battalions, Japanese platoons will have to be used instead. It doesn't really matter though, were all going to be fighting the same enemy," Ranma reasoned.
"Of course sir," Yoshida replied.
"You just about squared away their Sergeant?" a passing major asked Yoshida.
"Yes sir," Yoshida replied and snapped off a salute that the major returned. Once the major was out of range his salute changed into the finger.
"Hey now," Ranma said laughing. "You do that and you'll find yourself on latrine duty for a month."
Yoshida smiled back.
The two men rejoined their platoon and were then joined by the armor battalion they would be charged to cover once the shooting ensued. A very small Chinese Captain climbed out of one of the Type 97 Light tanks and approached Ranma with his hand held out. Ranma took his hand on reflex and shook it, the Captain's hand was cold and clammy, and there was just enough pressure to be able to call what they did a handshake.
"I'm glad to see you lieutenant," the Captain said in Japanese. "I was wondering if we were going to have to fight this battle with nothing at our backs other than the wind."
"Not to worry sir," Ranma replied. "We'll do our best to cover your unit."
The Captain nodded and walked back over to his tank and climbed back inside.
Ranma shook his head ruefully. "I sure as hell hope that this battle doesn't last too long."
===============
The Russians and Americans had picked out their positions with a strategic eye. The Chinese and Japanese were going to have to travel down a very steep incline into something that reassembled a valley. Once they passed that, they were going to have to climb back up another incline that would lead them straight into the Russia-American forces, which were to be shrouded in the thick trees that covered the area.
The goal, as General Parker and General Petrov explained over the secure radio network, was to delay the Chinese for as long as possible, allowing the other Russian and American forces to remove the Japanese and to whip around back and come at the rest of the Chinese from behind, boxing them in where they could whittle their forces down to a point where it would be possible to coax them into surrendering.
The only major problems that Parker could see with their battle plan were things that he himself would have taken advantage of if they came about. For starters, no one knew if the remaining Russian and American soldiers would be able to contain the massive Chinese force long enough for the other soldiers to finish off the Japanese. If they were unable to stop the Chinese, than the other forces would have to play catch-up all the way to Alden. Another major problem Parker saw was that, when the other soldiers were to come up from behind on the Chinese, they would have to follow the same demanding course that the Chinese were forced to. They would travel down into the deep valley and then back up again, which would make them easy targets when the Chinese noted their presence. And lastly, Parker was worried about the skies. The American planes promised by the Air Force were operating sorties in China at the moment and it would not be possible to for them to make a run over to where the battle was taking place at least until sunrise. There were Russian planes, but were greatly outnumbered by the Chinese Air Force. The only silver lining in that fact was that the two enemies were going to be battling so close to each other that if one of the planes did decide to attack to the ground troops, they were equally likely to hit their own army as they were to hitting them.
With that being said, Parker decided to not join some of the more rowdy troops in the betting of how long it would take to knock the Chinese on their asses and send them running back to their rice paddies.
===============
The first shot fired in the battle was not directed at any soldiers; instead it was targeted at very large pine tree that was barring the path of many Chinese tanks. One of the tank commanders ordered the tree to be removed, and the gunner fired a round at the base of the tree, sending it tumbling down the edge of the valley.
When there were no answering shots from the other side of the valley, the large Chinese force began to move down into the valley.
===============
Parker noticed with interest that the Chinese were traveling down into the valley with as little speed as possible. He concluded that the commanders were probably worried about losing soldiers and tanks to simple accidents, like tumbling down the hill or running over stone that would churn up the tank tracks and immobilize them.
He turned to the young Russian Captain next to him and whispered.
"Remember, when the claymores blow, that's when you open fire," Parker said. "Pass it on down the line."
As the order was passed down, Parker let his mind deal on the thought of the mines. It had been a gamble to put them where they did, but if they were to have any chance to hold the Chinese in their tracks; they would have to do everything and anything possible. It was also entirely possible that the mines could be their undoing, that when the returning Russian and American forces would hit the mines as well.
In the end Parker had ordered the mines to be placed. He didn't want to take any unnecessary chances, and from what he could tell, not placing the mines would be just that.
===============
Ranma grunted with exertion as he double-timed up the steep hillside. He cast a glance to his left and saw that he was the only soldier that was keeping up with the tanks and halftracks. Deciding to let that problem wait until he reached the top, Ranma pushed his body a little more and began leaping up the hill. A comparable feat considering he was carrying additional 110-pounds to his 150 pound frame. It wasn't until he reached the top of the hill that he realized something was terribly wrong.
His heightened senses told him that he was at the moment facing a very large force. Another thing that worried him was that there seemed to be something buried underneath the ground. As the tanks and halftracks began to move into position, Ranma realized exactly what it was.
"Stop the tanks!" Ranma screamed as he tried to ward off the other vehicles.
His cries went unheeded as the first Chinese tank rolled over top of a claymore mine and detonated. Shrapnel ripped through the tanks underside and ripped the soldiers inside apart. The unexploded ammunition inside the tank detonated when shrapnel contacted a HEAT round. The resulting explosion threw a fireball almost thirty feet into the air.
Ranma, who was standing near the tank, was lifted off his feet and thrown backwards where he hit a tree. The wind knocked out of him, Ranma lay still trying to catch his breath as the soldiers in the trees opened fire on the Chinese armor units.
===============
The soldiers were obviously a good deal more disciplined that Parker thought at first. Not a single man opened fire when the Chinese armor battalion rolled up the hill. Parker had been worried that some soldiers might get nervous and open fire prematurely and ruin the first of a long list of surprises they had in store for their enemies.
Parker found his strategic mind going over the current positions of the Chinese tanks. At the moment they were lined up in a traditional offence stature that was commonly pursued in the PLA. In that moment Parker was glad he had studied the armor movements of the Asian countries before he shipped over. While studying the Chinese armor maneuvers, Parker had stumbled upon a very fatal flaw. When the tanks were deployed out in the normal aggressive positions, it left the near left flank of almost all types of tanks quite open and presented a blind spot for the gunners and drivers inside the tanks. If lady luck decided to bestow upon them her presence tonight, than it would be possible for the other Russian and American troops to come up on the left flank of the armor units and slaughter them more effectively than could have been possible under any other situation.
He was feeling quite elated when he figured that fact out, but his mood took a dramatic turn when he noticed a single soldier running after a Chinese Type 97 Light Tank that was about to roll over one of the claymores that they had placed only a day before. Parker nearly fell back in surprise when he recognized the soldier. It was Ranma, and he was shouting for the tank driver to turn back because he was about to run over a mine. It took Parker a moment to realize that he was shouting Ranma's name but as soon as he realized that, the mine detonated underneath the tank. Ranma had been standing much too close, and when it detonated he was lifted off his feet and sent off further down the line of tanks.
Parker lost sight of him, and the sound of the thunderous boom of multiple intense rounds going off consecutively made Parker realize that he had other duties right now. He moved his rifle to his shoulder and fired at a Chinese infantry unit that was just moving up the hill and observed in a detached sense that he had hit four soldiers.
===============
Ranma climbed to his feet uneasily and shook the cobwebs from his head and wondered why there were black spots in his vision. It took a moment but the spots disappeared, and Ranma realized he was standing in between a very large tank and a lot of muzzle flashes from what appeared to be a Russian infantry platoon. Believing that the best thing he could do was find his platoon, Ranma took off down the line of Chinese tanks.
He stumbled upon Sergeant Yoshida quite by chance, literally, as he was running. Yoshida was bent over on the ground trying to feed a magazine into his rifle when Ranma collided, and toppled over him. Yoshida yelped in surprise, thinking that maybe it was a Russian, and was about to stick Ranma with a knife when the knife he was holding was flipped out of his hand and into the hand of his lieutenant.
"Try to keep this in its sheath Sergeant," Ranma said conversationally as he handed the knife back to Yoshida.
"Where the fuck did you come from lieutenant?" a private asked in surprise. One second he had been shooting at the Russians and coming up the hill and the next Ranma was lying next to Sergeant Yoshida.
"Hasn't anyone told you not to look a gift horse in the mouth private?" Ranma asked to the genuine amusement of the platoon.
"Where the hell is the tank units were supposed to be covering?" Yoshida asked.
Ranma took a look behind him and saw the wreckage of quite a number of Chinese tanks and halftracks that had been rendered scrap metal and gave Yoshida his answer.
"Gone," he said simply, and took the chance to survey the battlefield. The Chinese armor battalions, after initially suffering a brutal beating, were pushing the Russians further into the forested area. The additional Chinese infantry units were pushing up ahead of the tanks.
"We should move up and try to establish a line of offence!" Ranma shouted to his troops, hoping they would hear him over the heavy roar of the thunderous fire from the tanks and the continuous crackle of machine gun and rifle fire.
Yoshida heard Ranma at least and he nodded.
"Alright boys, let's move up!" Yoshida bellowed in a voice almost as loud as the explosive rounds that volleyed over their heads.
Ranma took a few calming breaths before he took off at a run towards the tree line. He knew he was going to get their before the rest of his troops, but even if he would have to face the prospect of running into an entire regiment of Russian troops, Ranma didn't want to spend another second out in the open.
===============
To say that Lieutenant Gogol was scared would be quite an understatement. This battle being only his second actual full out battle, Gogol was still a novice in the grand scheme of things. Though compared to the nearly 100,000 other troops he was currently battling with, he was a battle hardened veteran. What made the troops look at him in even greater was that he had personally shot and killed the commanding officer of the invading Chinese and Japanese forces in the opening days of the war. It was of course complete bullshit; Gogol had shot at the moving jeep out of complete instinct, not some superior ultimate soldier. But when he had expressed his concerns to General Parker, whose opinion he had come to greatly respect in the past months, Parker told him to let the troops believe what they want, it would make it easier for them to follow Gogol during battle.
While Lieutenant Gogol did understand what General Parker was saying, it did not change the fact that he wished the young privates and greenhorns would stop asking him how many Japanese he was going to shoot.
Gogol, who was absorbed in his thoughts at the moment, completely missed the signal given by the other platoon that they had spotted the Japanese, and therefore was unable to mount his platoon to rush forward and meet the Japanese in fierce combat. This turn of events served to spare Gogol and his platoon, because when the other platoon rushed forward, it was immediately cut down by heavy Japanese machine gun fire. The screams of horror and pain brought Gogol out of his deep thoughts and he was immediately aware of the situation.
"Mount up," he told his platoon in a calm voice. He absently checked to make sure his safety was in the OFF position before moving up to meet the Japanese, but unlike the other platoon, he did not run, and he did not do it in the open.
Lieutenant Gogol found himself wondering just where the Japanese infantry was, for it looked as if they were sitting back and simply waiting for the Russians to come charging in. As he knelt down in the shrubbery Gogol remembered that he had been informed by General Parker that he believed the Japanese were the weak link, that, with the exception of very few, their soldiers weren't well equipped and were generally unwilling to fight.
Well, Gogol thought, were definitely going to test that theory right now. As his thought finished, Gogol heard the familiar sound of the tanks and halftracks moving up the path. It was hard to direct his platoon's fire from inside the dense forest, as the Japanese seemed to shoot from one area and then shoot again further on away from the original position.
Through some blind stumbling, Gogol found a mortar team, assembling their equipment.
"If you don't mind too much, I think it would be best if we helped keep the heat off you guys for a moment!" Gogol shouted over the gunfire.
Gogol didn't hear any replies, because just as the commander of the mortar team looked up to regard him, a Japanese mortar round flew over the tops of the trees and hit the ground right in front of the mortar team. Gogol watched, stupefied, as the Japanese mortar round seemed to strike the ground in slow motion before finally detonating, and taking the nearby mortar team as well as their ammunition out. Gogol had just enough time to scream for his platoon to duck when all the mortar ammunition exploded, sending shrapnel and pieces of the mortars whizzing by. Gogol was fortunate, for he escaped unscathed. Unfortunately, he was the only one.
Several of his men were most obviously dead; a few soldiers had the jagged pieces of shrapnel buried in their throats, as the soldiers thrashed on the ground, trying to force air into their bodies, though it was futile. Gogol went in search of his NCO and found him, his eyes staring up at the night sky in surprise. As he looked down at his Sergeant's chest, he noticed that a very large chuck of shrapnel had lodged itself into his chest cavity. Lieutenant Gogol felt bile rise in his throat as he noticed the pink froth dribble down from the Sergeant's mouth. Steeling himself, Gogol knelt down and set his palm over his eyes, closing them for the last time.
Lieutenant Gogol shuddered a few more times as he tried to collect himself. Once he was reasonably sure he had control of himself, he reached for his radio and called for a medic. With that taken care of, Gogol went to collect his rifle. He found it, twenty feet from where the original blast occurred. It had obviously been ripped right in two, and would no longer be useful. Shrugging, Gogol went to one of the many bodies and relieved the soldier of his rifle, and ammo pouch.
He staggered back into the bush, and made his way to where the Russian and American forces were now openly engaging the Japanese.
===============
Parker had been convinced that the Chinese were at least rational soldiers, but from what he had just seen, he was now under the impression that they were fucking insane.
It seemed that the Chinese Air Force had finally gotten their asses in gear and decided to start sending fighters and bombers for the battle. For the first three hours of the battle the Russian planes had simply been flying overhead and attempting to relay information on enemy positions to the soldiers on the ground, most of the time to the advantage of the Chinese.
Parker had been relieved when the planes showed up late. By now they were actively engaging the Chinese in close combat, and it would be far too impossible to have the planes drop any bombs and not expect to take out as many Chinese soldiers as they would Russian. That theory did not stand up for long.
It had been about twenty minutes since the planes showed up when a platoon must have called in for help, because about thirty seconds later the bombers let fly with their bombs. The Chinese platoon that radioed in must not have had a clear understanding of where they were, because the planes dropped their bombs about twenty yards behind the Chinese lines.
The ensuing confusion and carnage was something Parker had never seen. The Chinese were now of course thinking that the American and Russian troops had snuck up behind them, and they began to disengage the actual enemy and turn to face an invisible one.
Despite the major turn of luck for the defenders, they were still fighting an uphill battle, and one they would not win unless Gogol and the others could take the Japanese down and link back up with them again.
===============
The concussion blasts were getting more intense as Gogol moved closer and closer to the battle. At one particular moment, he felt what must have been an anti-tank round explode maybe twenty feet from him and it nearly rendered him unconscious. Needless to say, when Gogol finally did find the Russian infantrymen, he was quite injured. His ears were bleeding from the harassment they were taking, and Gogol idly wondered why the plugs that he had stuck in his ears before did nothing.
The regimental commander that Gogol stumbled upon took a very quick look at Gogol and instructed him to move up. The regiment had been pinned down by sniper fire, and they were stuck behind trees and the ditches in the earth.
Lieutenant Gogol watched as the commander ordered two sergeants to make a quick dash for the nearest ditch. On the quick count of three, they were up and running, and before they were even able to go three steps they were down, one of them hit in the leg and the other struck in the head. The man hit in the leg tried desperately to get to his feet but was shot again, but in his other leg. Gogol became enraged when he noticed that the snipers were obviously taking the time to see how much they could injure the sergeant before he died, most likely from shock or blood loss.
In much the same instinctual manner that Gogol acted on during the first Russian-Chinese engagement, Gogol grabbed his rifle and stood up slowly, purposely. As the Japanese snipers took notice of him, they immediately shifted fire. Two bullets struck the tree Gogol was standing next too but he failed to take notice. He had instead been watching where the muzzle flashes of the snipers were, and once he had gotten the location of them inside his head, he lined up his sights.
The regimental commander, seeing what Gogol was doing, got to his feet and dashed over the ditch and grabbed the fallen sergeant, and pulled him back into the ditch into the waiting arms of a medic.
There were two sharp cracks as Gogol fired at the snipers. As soon as the rounds had exited his gun, Gogol shifted fire, shooting at the other sniper. But the sniper was a faster shot, and he hit Gogol in the lower right calf. His leg was thrown out from underneath him, but Gogol was able to shift his stance to a kneeling position. The adrenaline that was being fed into his system kept his body from passing the message that he should be collapsed in pain. Gogol fired again, a two round burst.
As Gogol slowly sank back into the ditch, the other members of the regiment listened carefully. Finally, one brave lieutenant poked his head above the ditch and when there were no answering shots, the soldiers began to climb free.
The regimental commander approached Gogol and crouched down beside him as a medic came running over.
"That was some fucking impressive shooting there lieutenant."
"Thank you sir," Gogol said as he hissed in pain as the medic probed the wound on his leg.
"It passed through lieutenant," the medic said. "Maybe some muscle damage but that's about it."
"Good, slap a tourniquet on my leg so I can keep going and go see how that sergeant is doing," Gogol said, his voice betraying the pain he felt.
"You do that lieutenant and you're going to wind up with some extensive damage," the medic replied.
"I don't give a flying fuck doctor, now splint my fucking leg or I'll fucking do it myself," Gogol said angrily.
The medic looked helplessly at the commander.
"Do it," the commander said. "Once your ready join the regiment about two hundred yards up the field. We'll be covering the armor tracks as they try and take out those Japanese tanks."
Gogol nodded, the most he could do as the medic slapped a compressed bandage over the two holes in his leg.
===============
Ranma hadn't actually seen the planes come by, but he certainly did see what the aftermath was. He wasn't exactly sure if what they had dropped was napalm or actually bombs, but what he did know was that the Chinese platoon he and his platoon had been running alongside was now nothing more than a large group of dismembered and burning corpses. Members of his platoon, the one's that had been spared of the bloody battle so far, became quite sick, and many of them had continued being sick even though the only thing in their stomachs was stomach acids.
Ranma himself had almost become sick when he witnessed the horrible friendly-fire bombing, but he quickly recovered, and was now making sure that the rest of his troops were able to continue on. Except for a few that had caught some burns and minor cuts, everyone was 100%.
"So, after just a few set-backs, what do you think our chances are right now?" Ranma asked Yoshida as they began the long walk back to where the forces were engaging.
Yoshida looked at Ranma for a moment before replying. "We're not going to win today sir."
Ranma nodded but couldn't think of anything to say. He instead concentrated on the facts at hand. From what he could tell, the Chinese may be pushing the Russians back, but right now they were inflicting minimal damages to them. He had few disillusions about how the Japanese forces must have been fighting at the moment. Ranma had correctly assumed that they were in fact fighting a smaller force of Russian and American soldiers than the Japanese were fighting.
===============
"You sure that you'll be okay sir," the young sergeant asked Lieutenant Gogol as he leaned heavily against a tree, attempting to catch his breath.
"I'll be alright sergeant, now go see to your platoon," Gogol said softly. The sergeant shrugged and walked away. As soon as he was out of sight, Gogol collapsed to his knees.
Goddamnit! Gogol thought angrily. I'm not going to have enough strength to get through this!
As he knelt in the snow, Gogol failed to hear the sound of a jeep moving quickly through the dense forest before it had burst from the foliage. It took Gogol a moment to realize that the jeep had come from where the Russian lines were, and that the driver was slowing down and looking at him curiously.
"Need a ride Lieutenant?" the driver called out. It took Gogol a moment to place the driver. The man was a Lt. Colonel attached to the one of the tank battalions engaged in the battle.
Lieutenant Gogol got to his feet and limped to the jeep and jumped into the back.
"You get separated from your platoon?" Lt Colonel Kache Kachikov asked as he started the jeep and continued on his way.
"A Jap mortar took them out," Gogol answered, and then remembered to add, "Sir."
"That how you got injured in the leg?" Colonel Kachikov asked as he maneuvered around the trees.
"No sir, I met up with the regiment covering the armor battalions and a sniper got a good shot off," Gogol answered.
Kachikov turned and looked at him closely, finally he smiled.
"Is there something wrong sir?" Gogol asked.
"No, it's just that the Major from the regiment radioed me and told me that a lieutenant that joined up with them after his platoon was wiped out had stood up out of cover from a ditch when two soldiers were down and, with complete disregard for his own personal safety, he fired at the snipers and killed both of them, but not before he was shot once in the leg. He called and asked I come pick the lieutenant up. It's funny, I kind of pictured you being a little taller," Colonel Kachikov said.
Lieutenant Gogol couldn't think of a reply to that so he instead changed the topic.
"So where are you taking me?" Gogol asked.
"The 84th," Colonel Kachikov replied, if he at all minded Gogol not using 'sir' in his question he didn't show it. "Have you ever been in a tank Lieutenant?"
"No sir," Gogol replied.
"Well, unless that leg gets healed on the way over to the 84th, that's what you're going to be doing."
Gogol nodded his head, and instead concentrated on keeping himself conscious. It didn't work; he drifted off into sleep very quickly.
He awoke to someone repeatedly slapping his face. When he opened his eyes he saw Colonel Kachikov leaning over him holding his hand out to slap him again.
Seeing that Gogol was awake, Kachikov leaned back and got out of the jeep.
Gogol watched him for a moment before taking a look at his surroundings. He was in the middle of what appeared to be a graveyard for tanks. The twisted and torn carcasses of tanks and halftracks littered the area.
"Where are we?" Gogol asked groggily.
"About three miles from the front lines," Colonel Kachikov responded. "If you're wondering why it's so quiet, all I can tell you is that it beats the hell out of me."
"Why are we stopping here then?" Gogol asked. He climbed out of the jeep and just remembered to grab his rifle as he followed the colonel.
"The roads are impassable by now, and I don't want to have our own guys shooting us down because they think were the Japs," Colonel Kachikov said. "So were going on foot for now, are you going to be alright?"
Gogol looked down at his leg and realized that it no longer assaulted his with pain. It was now numb, like he had been sitting on it for awhile.
"I should make it," Lieutenant Gogol said simply. Colonel Kachikov nodded and began the long trek through the thick trees.
===============
Lieutenant Saotome watched helplessly as two more Chinese tanks were hit by oppressive fire from a Russian position further up in the trees. The shots didn't do much damage, but it was enough to make the tanks stop and back up. The tank commander popped out of his hatch and looked down at Ranma.
"We need to get through here lieutenant! Take out those goddamned Russians and let us pass!" With that said he went back down into the tank and closed the hatch.
Ranma looked over at his platoon, who were submerged in the thick snow. Yoshida looked at him with a helpless look.
"We could try going around and approaching on their left flank," Yoshida suggested.
Ranma frowned. "That would only work if they couldn't see us approach. But with the way they're dug in up there, they could see us coming from about a hundred yards."
"Than what should we do?" Yoshida asked.
Ranma thought about it for a minute before looking over at his troops.
"Does anyone have some grenades I can borrow? I'm all out."
He received three grenades from the troops and was about to stand up when Yoshida grabbed his arm.
"Just what the hell are you going to do Ranma?" Yoshida demanded. He was obviously upset for he forgot to call Ranma 'lieutenant'.
"We need to take out those Russians," Ranma answered simply. "I'm thinking that a few well placed grenades will be able to fix the problem."
"By yourself?" Sergeant Yoshida asked incredulously.
"That's right, and I don't want anyone moving up either, and I want you to make sure that everyone obeys that order, especially you." And with that Ranma jumped up and ran very quickly into the thick trees.
===============
Parker had been hoping to catch the small platoon by surprise. He had been up helping some Russian platoons keep a Chinese tank unit from approaching. As they fired at the tanks Parker noticed a platoon down in the snow but too well covered to hit. He informed the platoon leaders of where he was going so they would not shoot him when he appeared down in their line of view.
But once Parker was about halfway through to the platoon, he heard someone come crashing through the trees. Using his ears, he deduced that there was only one man rushing through the trees, and decided to take him out quietly. Positioning himself behind a tree that the person was undoubtedly going to pass, Parker waited.
The soldier was moving quite quickly, and it wasn't long before Parker realized he had to make his move. Changing his rifle's position, Parker brought the butt end facing up and took a deep breath before spinning out from behind the tree.
===============
Lieutenant Saotome was very surprised when the large American soldier spun out from behind the tree. He was so surprised that he quite forgot to move in the last second before the butt end of the rifle collided with his head. The force of the blow, coupled with the obvious strength of the American soldier, stopped Ranma in his tracks, and propelled him backwards. He was able to catch a fleeting glimpse of the soldier before he succumbed to unconsciousness. What he saw was enough to let him slip unconscious without much of a fight.
===============
"What the fuck is taking him so long?" one of the privates asked as the Russian soldiers continued to assault the tanks.
Yoshida glanced helplessly at the soldiers before dumping his web pack.
"I'm going up there; I want you guys to stay here for the time being but if you do have to move, make sure you stay with the tank unit."
"But Sarge!" a private shouted but it was too late, Yoshida was up and running into the trees.
===============
Parker looked down in shock as Ranma's body lay still on the ground. His rifle fell from his hands and slowly walked over to him. He leaned over and placed his hand on Ranma's wrist, checking for a pulse. It was steady, but thin. He was going to need some medical attention.
He was about to hoist Ranma up onto his shoulders when someone else popped out of the trees. He took one look at Ranma and Phil and raised his gun. Parker didn't have time to move, and when the soldier fired, he hit Phil in the shoulder.
The pain wasn't much but Parker was surprised and fell backwards. He half expected the soldier to shoot him again but all he did was sling his gun around his shoulder and pick Ranma up in a fireman's carry and head back the way he came.
===============
Lieutenant Gogol was much more haggard than he thought he would be once they finally made it to the front lines. His haggardness quickly disappeared though, when he noticed that not a single soldier was shooting.
Colonel Kachikov jogged over to where a whole hell of a lot of tanks were sitting and climbed up and knocked on the hatch. A soldier popped out and Kachikov talked to him for a moment before grabbing the soldier's helmet and speaking into the built-in radio. It took a few moments but Colonel Kachikov finally gave the soldier back his helmet and came back to Gogol.
"So what's going on?" Gogol asked.
"It seems that the Japanese have surrendered," Kachikov said, a large grin on his face.
"Are you serious?" Gogol asked. He didn't wait for a reply and turned to look where most of the soldiers were. On closer inspection he noticed that most of the soldiers were now surrounding an even greater mass of soldiers that were sitting down in the snow. All the soldiers sitting on the snow had no weapons; they were all of Asian descent.
"Well now, how's about we go pay our brother soldiers a visit?" Colonel Kachikov asked.
===============
It took Parker nearly an hour to get his shoulder patched up. He knew that shoulder injuries, especially gunshot injuries, could prove to be more difficult to heal than a gut wound.
The medic, after realizing that the general was not going to listen to his reasoning, arranged to have a tank take him back to the front lines. When Parker arrived, he realized that things had taken a turn for the worst. A Chinese regiment had broken through the lines, and they were assaulting the 171st to the point where attention had to be diverted to help them out. This of course led to the weakening of the lines, and the Russians were now just holding on.
Parker looked helplessly off to the West, where the Japanese would be fighting about now. It was at that time he noticed something odd. The thunderous roars that the Russian armor had been making for the past several hours had ceased. His curiosity got the better of him and he reached for the radio that had fallen from one of the Russians when they were hit by a stray anti-tank round.
He made sure that he was on the right net frequency and radioed in.
"Thunder God this is Black Bear, please acknowledge," Parker spoke in Russian. He repeated it again before anyone replied.
*You're radioing in now you bastard?* the deep voice of Lt. Colonel Kachikov asked.
"Report situation Thunder God," Parker ordered.
*I sure hope you boys haven't given up yet Black Bear, cause the fucking cavalry is on its way.*
Parker took a moment to respond.
"Could you repeat that Thunder God?"
*I said,* Kachikov's voice thundered, *you can forget about flying the Chinese colors because the fucking cavalry is on its way!*
"Thank you Thunder God, we will await your arrival," Parker said, his voice tight with emotion.
Parker turned to the soldiers next to him and proudly let his orders go out.
"Hold the line boys! The cavalry is coming to join our plight!"
A thunderous cheer arose from the Russian and American soldiers as they returned the Chinese shots with their own and fought with vigor that they had not thought possible.
The battle cries of the soldiers became even louder when the sight of a single Russian T-36 tank came rolling down the far hillside, it's .50mm caliber gun blazing and it's anti-tank rounds firing at an inhuman speed. The Chinese had no time to react before the entire hillside was flooded with Russian tanks and Russian and American soldiers as they ran without pause towards their enemy.
The scream of jet engines from above diverted the attention of the men on the battlefield, and Parker cursed the sudden turn of luck. It was not until he spotted the American flag on the low flying jets that he let a cheer erupt from his own throat. The radio in his hand crackled to life.
*Come in Black Bear, I repeat, come in Black Bear.*
"This is Black Bear," Parker responded as calmly as possible. "You guys sure took your sweet time getting here."
*A minor setback Black Bear, but now that were here we kind of want to know if there's anything we can do to help.*
"Your goddamned right there's something you can do, put those damned billion dollar aircraft into use and see if you can help us push these sonsofbitches all the way back into Beijing."
*Roger that Black Bear, you give us the coordinates and will see what we can do.*
As Parker read off the coordinates he was filled with a fire he had though had been extinguished long before this war had started. It was hope, and he now realized that they were about to push the Chinese right out of Siberia.
They had won, for now.
===============
Author's Notes: Promises, promises, you see, I kept my word. And this is definitely the longest chapter so far in the story. I really hope you enjoy it and I hope that you can find the time to pass on your feelings about it.
P.S. Sorry about all the foul language.