Hello. I am back with Chapter 3.
I haven't updated this in a while. And I know I said that would be the case for this story. But I decided I wanted to write another chapter now.
This chapter will feature the start of the landings and the first day of the invasion. It will focus mostly on the landings near Ilfracombe. It will also feature the introduction to our main character. A large portion of the chapters will include him.
Let's get started.
Chapter 3- The Landings
Nice day for an invasion.
That's the thought that ran through Blake's head as he watched the beach ahead of him.
Sergeant Blake Williams of the US Marine Corps was one of the 20,000 US Marines assigned to land on the beaches near Ilfracombe. He was known as one of the best shooters of the 2nd Marine Division. He was leading a squad of about 80 men who were part of the troops landing on a beach just to the west of Ilfracombe, codenamed Dragon Beach.
His landing boat carried his squad and a Humvee. Most of the initial landing boats only carried troops and Humvees. The heavier equipment, such as tanks, artillery, and other heavy equipment would be brought ashore when the beach had been captured and the forces had begun moving inland.
At 1015 Zulu time, a message was sent out from General Watson, the British general in charge of the ground forces. Admiral Kimball had given the go ahead. The landing boat's engine began to rev up as it moved towards the beach.
"Alright, men! Let's get ready!" Sergeant Williams yelled to the men on the boat. A chorus of "Oorah!" met his statement. Williams turned to look ahead at the beach.
He could still hardly believe what this invasion entailed. It was whack enough that he would have to fight against British military units who would kill forces they had called allies for years. But wizards, witches, and all the magical creatures friendly wizards and witches had briefed them on. It was mind-boggling.
As the landing boat moved ahead, Sergeant Williams looked carefully at the beach ahead. He could see smoke hovering above and beyond it from five inch shells fired by the cruisers, destroyers, and frigates just offshore. He could also see a column of thick black smoke rising from further inland where a Tomahawk had destroyed a big, major bunker complex. He could hear the rumble of jet engines, though they were faint. He could only see a few air superiority fighters in the general area. All attack fighters were currently working on hitting their targets inland.
As they neared the beach, and came within easy artillery range of the shore, Williams braced himself for artillery fire to be sent their way. However, no shells came their way.
Slowly, the boats drew within half a mile of the shore. "Weapons ready, men!" shouted Sergeant Williams. The Marines checked their M16s to make sure they were operational, made sure their grenades were secured. A few of the men hefted flamethrowers and bazookas. The gunner on the Humvee ensured his 20mm gun was loaded and operational.
As the landing boat drew within a hundred yards, Williams shouted, "Get ready!" He adjusted his grip on his M16. You better be ready for us, snake-face, Williams thought, using the nickname many Americans forces had begun using for Voldemort, cuz we're coming for you.
(40 miles out to sea)
In the CIC of the Nimitz, Admiral Kimball was monitoring the landings. The first landing boats had just hit the beaches at Dover. They reported only minimal resistance. So far, only about 100 Imperiused British soldiers had been seen at the landing beaches, with a few artillery pieces. About 4 wizards had attacked the troops, but French wizards among the landing forces had dealt with them. The first of the Ilfracombe landing boats were seconds from landing. The boats heading towards the Port Talbot beaches were just under a mile from the shore. So far, none of Voldemort's forces had been spotted at either the Ilfracombe or Port Talbot landing sites.
Kimball smiled. This invasion was going off without a hitch so far.
(Dragon Beach)
The boat hit the sand at Dragon Beach, the first boat to land at Ilfracombe. The front of the boat dropped open. In seconds, Sergeant Williams raced out of the boat, holding his M16 at the ready. The rest of the 80 men in his squad raced out behind him, along with an American wizard in the squad who was there for help against magical forces. The Humvee remained in the boat for the moment.
Williams and his men raced away from the boat before dropping to the sand about 10 yards from the water, as did the rest of his squad. By this point, other boats had hit the sand, and Marines were rushing out. They also hit the sand . But not a shot was being fired at them. Save the sand of the moving boats and the Marines moving onto the beach, the area was quiet. There was no sign of any resistance.
"Move! Move! Move!" shouted Williams he jumped up and raced up the beach, his men following him.
The squad made it almost to the back of the beach before Williams dropped again. The rest of his men did the same. At the same time, the Humvee began rolling out of the boat.
For several moments, the Marines stayed pressed against the sand. When they heard no shots or noises besides those behind them, they slowly stood up. "Forward, men! Let's get off the beach!" shouted Williams. He moved forward, his men following him. In seconds, they were officially off the beach and making tracks inland. Behind them, the Humvee slowly moved up the beach. At the same time, more of the 20,000 men assigned to land at Dragon Beach were moving up the beach.
As the soldiers moved inland, Williams shouted, "Stay alert!"
No sooner did he say that than he heard the sound of helicopter blades. He stopped for a second. There were supposed to be Apaches coming in from the amphibious assault ships off the coast. But, after a second, he realized something. The sound of the helicopters was coming from ahead, not from behind.
"Hostiles incoming! Everyone take cover!" Williams shouted.
The Marines reacted smartly. They headed towards any potential cover. Some retreated back to the beach and dug themselves in. Williams hurried back to the edge of the beach, hiding behind the ridge that separated the beach from the grassland beyond it, aiming his M16 up into the air.
Then, he saw them. Six British Apache attack helicopters, all armed to the teeth, slowly closing in on the landing beach.
Williams was dismayed. The Marines didn't have any adequate defense against attack helicopters yet. That equipment hadn't been brought ashore yet.
Williams activated his radio, calling out to the Nimitz. "This is Sergeant Blake Williams of the 2nd Marine Division, calling in from my position on Dragon Beach. We have six Apaches bearing down on us, and we have no air defenses. Requesting immediate support."
"Standby," replied a controller on the Nimitz. A few seconds later, the controller said, "Sergeant, we have support incoming. 2 F-15s. They'll be at your position momentarily."
Only a moment later, the sound of 30 mm cannons ripped through the air. Streams of bullets lanced across the Marine lines. A number of men screamed as they were killed. One Apache fired a pair of rockets at men coming off another landing boat. About a dozen men were killed, and their Humvee was destroyed.
Then, the roar of jet engines came. The Marines looked up as the two F-15s roared in. One launched a Sparrow missile, bringing down one of the Apaches.
The two Eagles streaked by the attack helicopters, which scattered. The F-15s looped around, ready to engage again. However, these F-15s had already spent much of their weapons engaging British fighters under Voldemort's control. Each only had one missile left now, and only the wingman had any ammunition left in his cannon.
But, this was not going to stop the Eagle pilots. The wingman locked himself onto an Apache that was heading for a boat that had just hit the beach. His last Sidewinder sprang from its launch rails and shredded the helicopter, which crashed on the beach, killing 2 Marines. The leader pursued an Apache that was fleeing towards Ilfracombe itself. He locked up the chopper and launched a Sidewinder, bringing down a third Apache.
His weapons now spent, the lead F-15 pulled up into a climb, while his wingman snapped his Eagle into a tight turn, looking for an Apache to use his gun on. He spotted one that was firing on some Marines dug in on the back of the beach. He turned towards it, put the helicopter in his gunsight, and fired off the rest of his ammunition. The 20 mm shells ripped the tail off the helicopter and tore up its main rotor. The flaming helicopter spun to the ground and crashed.
The wingman made a few fake passes, succeeding in temporarily scaring off the two remaining helicopters. However, his low fuel gauge soon guided him to pull away and leave with his leader to find a tanker.
On the ground, Williams watched in dismay as the two Eagles left. They had brought down 4 of the Apaches. But two more remained. Those last two continued retreating for a few moments, before they apparently realized the Eagles really were gone. Then, they turned around and started heading back towards the beach.
"Get ready, men! Let's bring those choppers down!" shouted Williams. The Marines raised their M16s, pointing them towards the incoming attack helicopters. But, right as the Apaches started to fire their cannons, and the Marines started to fire back, the sound of incoming helicopters intensified. Except, this time, it was coming from the behind.
Williams turned around. From the direction of the USS Tarawa came two American Apaches, heading straight for their British counterparts.
A series of cheers and "Oorah!"s rose from the Marines as the American Apaches raced over the crouching Marines. The two British Apaches realized they were about to be engaged. One turned to engage the American Apaches, while the second turned to retreat.
One of the American Apaches pursued the fleeing british Apache and fired a Stinger air-to-air missile. The Stinger detonated just behind the tail. The explosion tore up the tail of the helicopter, which went spinning down in flames.
The other two Apaches merged with each other. The American Apache dodged a stream of 30mm cannon fire. As the two helicopters moved the side to fly past each other, the American Apache stopped in midair, rotated, and let loose with its 30mm cannon. The stream of cannon rounds from such close range completely shredded the final British Apache. The flaming wreckage fell to the ground, crashing just beyond the beach.
"Oorah!" the Marines shouted as the two Apaches circled protectively over their heads. The Apaches continued that for another minute as more boats started hitting the shore and the Marines regrouped. Then, the two helicopters turned and flew further inland to scout for threats.
Williams did a quick check in with his men. 6 had been lost in the helicopter attack. The others were eager to get moving, and the squad's Humvee was undamaged. "Alright, men. Move out!" shouted Williams. He then turned and charged off the beach, his men and their Humvee following him.
William's squad made it about half a mile inland, then halted. The orders were for the original 5,000 troops to hit the beach were to secure the beach itself, then move inland about half a mile and set up a defensive perimeter around the beach. The original 5,000 were only landing with Humvees and their weapons. Once those 5,000 had secured the area and established the line, then the rest of the troops, heavier equipment, supplies, and extra ammunition would begin landing.
As the men of William's squad dug themselves in, ready to defend against incoming threats, Williams looked back at the beach. The first 5,000 troops had already landed, and the defensive line was almost finished being assembled. The first of the larger landing boats, loaded down with supplies, was nearing the shore, as was a landing craft that was transporting an M1 Abrams tank.
Williams looked back inland. There was no sign of any incoming hostiles. So, he called out to his men, "Sit back, men. Looks like we're in the clear now." He passed out a box of chocolate bars, and watched as his men snacked on them.
(HMS Invincible)
From the CIC of the HMS Invincible, British General Watson, overall commander of the ground forces, was monitoring the invasion. So far, all of the original landing forces were ashore and had established defensive perimeters around the landing beaches. Now, the landings of the rest of the troops and the rest of their equipment were about to begin. That would take hours, but, once those landings had been completed, then the troops would begin moving on to secure their next objectives. The Port Talbot landing force would capture the town, then head east towards Cardiff, Wales, to secure both the town and the airport. The Ilfracombe landing forces would surround the town and capture it. Then, the Dover landing forces would move north about 10 miles, then start advancing west towards capturing the Gatwick Airport, then move on to a rendezvous with the other forces.
Reports were also coming in the most of the attack fighters and bombers had finished hitting their targets, and were heading for bases in France, Belgium, and Spain. Dozens of important military targets across Britain had been destroyed, and much of Voldemort's command and control had been crippled.
Watson grinned as he looked at the displays before him. "This is going very well," he said to himself.
(Several hours later, area around Ilfracombe)
Williams shifted his grip on his M16 as he and and his men continued their march. Most of the troops and equipment had been landed by now. 5,000 troops were remaining behind to guard the beach while the last troops and equipment were landed. The remaining 13,000 men, along with 7,000 of the Free British soldiers that had landed at Centaur Beach to the east of Ilfracombe, accompanied by 15 American and 3 Free British tanks, were now closing in on Ilfracombe.
6 Apaches from the Tarawa and Saipan had advanced ahead and were currently above the town, scouting for hostile forces. One had been shot at, and the person who fired the missile had escaped. But, another Apache had found a mountain troll that was being held in a cage and put it out of its misery with a Hellfire missile. Other than that, the Apaches had not found any of Voldemort's forces. But, a Resistance fighter had sent a message a short time ago saying that Voldemort still had forces in Ilfracombe.
That worried Williams. If the Apaches couldn't find the rest of Voldemort's forces, then that meant they were probably going to be using guerilla tactics, or trying to ambush NATO forces.
As they neared the outskirts of Ilfracombe, Williams shouted to his men, "Alright, boys. Eyes sharp and weapons tight. Keep your eyes peeled for unfriendlies." He paused for a moment, then shouted, "Alright, boys. Let's move!"
Williams' 74 men, their Humvee, a second squad of 75 men, their Humvee, and an M1 were the first American forces to enter Ilfracombe. They had their weapons locked and loaded, ready for any of Voldemort's forces to show themselves.
As they marched down the street into Ilfracombe, Williams noticed something. The town, save for the sound of the circling Apaches, was eerily silent. There was no sign of any of Voldemort's forces or any civilians. The latter was the more worrisome. Williams thought that the British civilians would be very welcoming of their liberators given what he knew of the conditions under Voldemort's rule. But where were they?
"Stay alert, boys!" Williams shouted, "They could be anywhere. Be ready for anything!" The men stayed quiet, but Williams knew they understood.
Suddenly, the crack of a rifle shot echoed through the air. One of Williams' men dropped dead without a sound, his brains blown out. Two more shots echoed. Another of Williams' men, along with one of the men from the other squad, dropped dead.
"Take cover!" Williams shouted. His men ran for cover, as well as the men of the second squad. The men took cover inside buildings, behind cars, or other objects offering sufficient cover. Williams himself took cover behind a large mailbox on the side of the street. As the men raced for cover, more rifle shots dropped three more of his men, and two from the second squad.
After he had taken cover, Williams looked around to see where the shots were coming from. He saw two snipers with their rifles aimed at his men. One was situated on the roof of a shop just across the street. The second was on the roof of a hotel a little further down the street.
Williams had a perfect line of sight to the first sniper. He aimed his M16 and fired a few rounds. The bullets hit the man in the chest, sending him flying back and killing him. The second sniper jerked off another shot, missing his target. Then, the sound of an artillery piece firing pierced the air. The next second, the top of the hotel exploded, and the second sniper was incinerated. Looking back the way he had come, he saw a small cloud of smoke at the end of the barrel of the M1's gun, confirming where the shell had come from.
"Move!" Williams shouted, and his men started moving.
As they advanced down the street, his radio crackled to life. "US Marines, come in." Williams picked up his radio and said, "This is Sergeant Williams, 2nd Marine Division. I copy you."
"This is Lieutenant George Middleton, Royal Army. We are moving into Ilfracombe from the east. We have encountered about 100 of our countrymen who are under the Imperius Curse. They are giving us some trouble, but we will be able to get through them soon enough."
"Copy that. We've only encountered two snipers. So far, no other resistance," responded Williams. "Understood. We'll see you soon," called back the Lieutenant. Then, the radio went quiet.
"Forward, men!" he shouted, and the Marines hustled down the street. A minute later, they ran into a squad of 20 British men under the Imperius Curse who had taken shelter inside a few homes, and were shooting at the them through the windows. The Marines sent sprays of bullets at the homes, killing 14 men,while losing 5 of their own. The remaining six were Stunned by three wizards, and taken back to be transported to the Ilfracombe prison once the town was fully under NATO control, where they would be kept until the Curse could be removed or broken.
Williams spurred his men on. However, as they reached an intersection, they saw forms moving towards them from ahead, the right, and the left. Williams pulled out his binoculars to take a closer look. The things moving towards them looked like rotten corpses.
"Holy s***!" Williams exclaimed to himself. He took a quick look over, and guessed their numbers at about 1,000, give or take a hundred. Then, he felt someone come up beside him. Looking, he saw Ted Grant, the American wizard tasked to his squad. He was gripping the M16 he had been issued.
"Sergeant, those are Inferi. Corpses enchanted by Dark Magic to essentially come alive and follow a Dark Wizard's orders. They're basically what you know in your Muggle culture as zombies."
"You've got to be kidding me," Williams said, "Zombies? Well, this operation just took a step up on the weirdness scale."
Suddenly, the other two wizards with the second squad raced forward. Ted and the other two wizard took up position at each part of the intersection. They put away their guns, pulled out their wands, and said a few quick incantations. Streams of flame suddenly shot out of their wands,curling around to form up behind the incoming zombies, or Inferi as Ted called them. The zombies seemed to freak out, especially when the flames started to come upon their sides as well.
Ted shouted as loud as he could, "Inferi love the dark and cold. Fire is their main weakness. They hate it!" Williams got the point, then shouted, "Flamethrowers!"
About a dozen Marines holding flamethrowers rushed forward, four grouping around each wizard. The let loose with their flamethrowers, incinerating a few Inferi and driving the rest back. The Marines' flamethrowers and the wizards' flames had the Inferi trapped. Williams signalled the M1 behind them, which opened fire, sending 4 shells into the group of Inferi directly ahead. Two Apaches came in and unloaded 70mm rockets into the remaining two groups of Inferi, destroying them. The wizards then quenched their flames, and the Marines shut off their flamethrowers. "Advance!" shouted Williams.
As the Marines advanced up the street, Ted came up to Williams. "Remember, Inferi can't just be killed by a shot or two. You pretty much need to completely destroy them in order to stop them." "Got it," said Williams.
The Marines continued their advance up the street. Other than a third sniper, which killed two men before he got blasted the the gunner on Williams' squad's Humvee, they encountered no more resistance.
A few minutes after the Inferi encounter, Williams jumped over a fallen mailbox when the gunner on his Humvee shouted, "Sir! Incoming ahead!"
Williams took out his binoculars and looked ahead. Columns of soldiers,accompanied by a tank, were advancing down the street ahead. Williams was about to order that the M1 behind them open fire when he noticed they were flying two flags: the British flag and the NATO flag. It had been decided before the invasion that Free British forces were to fly both their country's flag and the NATO flag to distinguish them from British forces under Voldemort's control.
"Stand down, boys. They're friendly," Williams shouted.
Just a minute later, Williams walked right up to a man in a British Army uniform. He extended his hand. "Sergeant Blake Williams, US Marine Corps," he said. "Hello, Sergeant. I'm Staff Sergeant Henry Felton, Free British Army," said the Brit.
Williams smiled. "Well, now that we've enjoyed a little meet and greet, how about we finish kicking Snake-Face out of town?" "Sounds jolly good," Sergeant Felton said.
Williams and Felton turned around to work on coordinating their forces. The established a line of troops and tanks along the streets they had used to enter the town. The rest of the forces then moved north-west through the town to the coast, then reversed course and captured the rest of the town.
After they captured the north-eastern half of the town, and were reversing course to finish taking the town, they finally began to see civilians. They appeared in windows, cheering their NATO liberators. One civilian leader came down to bring Sergeant Williams up to date on what had happened lately in the city. Apparently, Voldemort had turned almost 1,800 civilians into Inferi, after killing them, and left them to be used as weapons in the city. Almost a third of the remaining population had been extracted from the city and sent somewhere secret. The rest of the town's population was left alone, relatively speaking, so long as they didn't make trouble for Voldemort.
As the Marines were approaching the border of Ilfracombe, the last place Voldemort's forces still held, they ran into their fiercest resistance so far. 910 British soldiers, 600 Inferi, several armored vehicles, and 4 Challenger tanks, accompanied by 7 wizards. They put up quite a fight. However, the main thing the Marines had that Voldemort's guys didn't have proved their undoing. The patrolling Apaches decimated his forces. Supporting NATO artillery and tank fire eliminated most of the rest before the Marines finished off the last survivors while American wizards took care of Voldemort's wizards. The efficiency of the collaboration between the NATO units helped keep the casualties among the Marines and Free British down to just 107 men.
After the last pocket of resistance was cleared, Williams radioed Colonel Branson, the leader of the Ilfracombe Marines. The Colonel then radioed General Watson on the Invincible, letting him know that Ilfracombe was in NATO hands. The General then ordered that they secure the town and hold the landing beaches, but otherwise, they were to stop offensive operations and bed down for the night.
As Williams prepared for a brief night's sleep in the home of an Ilfracombe citizen who was offering him and some of his men lodging for the night, he counted the cost of the day. 6 of his men had been killed in the brief action on the beach, and 10 more during the taking of Ilfracombe. The Humvee was undamaged, and they still had all their equipment.
Williams sighed and lay back on the bed he had been given. He hoped to get what may be his last good night's sleep for a while before heading out to the bridge in the morning.
(HMS Invincible)
It was now night-time. The sun had set about an hour earlier. In his quarters on the Invincible, General Watson was reviewing the progress of the forces ashore.
The Dover landing force was the first to hit the beach. They had marched 10 miles inland, before they began moving west. They were now almost halfway to the Gatwick Airport, and were bedding down for the night. The troops of the US Army gathered near Normandy were beginning to be ferried to Dover. About half of the 20,000 troops there were already on the beaches at Dover.
The Ilfracombe force had encountered the most resistance of any of the groups when taking their target. They had also been the only force to encounter the monsters known as Inferi. But, Ilfracombe was now under their control, and the troops were bedding down for the night.
The Port Talbot landing force had encountered virtually no resistance in Port Talbot. They had now made it to Cardiff. They were the only force not bedding down for the night, as resistance in Cardiff was stronger than anticipated. They had secured almost half the town, and were just beginning to surround the airport. The Colonel in charge of the force reported heavier casualties than anticipated, mostly due to the actions of wizards. However, based on resistance already encountered, and estimates on Voldemort's remaining forces, the Colonel estimated that the town of Cardiff would be under NATO control within the next 30 to 40 minutes, and within another hour, the Marines would also have seized the airport. Based on that estimate, a pair of C-130s were scheduled to transport troops and equipment to Cardiff, and were scheduled to land at the airport in 2 hours and 15 minutes.
General Watson smiled. The first day of the invasion was going very well. Three towns had already been captured, with a third and its airport almost to that point. Almost 1,200 square miles of British territory was under NATO control, and the numbers of the forces ashore were expected to nearly double by the end of tomorrow.
So far, there had been no communications from Voldemort or his Muggle military leaders. It had been confirmed that most of the communications network in Britain had been disabled by the NATO airstrikes that had proceeded the landings. However, Voldemort had made no attempt to contact NATO, whether through conventional or magical means. But, that didn't bother General Watson. He knew that with magical support, the army under his command far outclassed Voldemort's forces.
I hope you're ready for us, Voldemort. Because whether you are or not, you don't stand a chance.
Okay, that's it for this chapter. Next chapter won't be up for a while.
Raptor2216 out.
