Patriot Dawn: The Resistance Rises (33 page)

The
Regime hunter-killer company commander, Captain Brookings, had organized a flanking assault utilizing his second platoon. They pushed upslope and pushed down towards Zulu Delta from the north, effectively a left flanking assault from the enemy point of view, coming in at right angles to their point platoon downslope to the west.

The
Regime assaulting platoon also adopted a skirmish line with flank protection. It was the best formation for fighting in the woods. They knew that contact was imminent so they came forward by bounding over-watch, working in pairs along the length of the line, in short rushes from tree to tree.

As they reached fifty meters from the front of 1
st
Squad’s line of foxholes, which remained unseen by the Regime troops, the fighters opened fire. The enemy immediately went to ground in their ragged skirmish line formation and a firefight developed between the two sides. Again the foxholes were hard to spot and the advantage remained with the defenders.

The
Regime hunter-killer company was breaking like waves on the rock of the Resistance triangular defensive position. The flanking attack was bogged down, and casualties were screaming in the trees. Calls for medic were shouted along the line.

Captain Brookings
pushed up towards the fighting in the center, his third platoon waiting in reserve. He had to be careful about deploying the third platoon to flank further round to the east of the Resistance position, because at some point they would end up opposite his point platoon to the west, with the Resistance position in between, and thus they would be in each other’s sectors of fire.

He decided to keep his third platoon in reserve for now, pushing them upslope to the
north east a ways, but keeping them back from the action. Meanwhile, a stalemate developed at Zulu Delta. The enemy was taking steady casualties, but the fighters had to conserve ammunition. The fighters could not withdraw, but the enemy was unable to press the assault.

Chapter Fifteen

It took the Company fifty minutes to make the five miles down the trail. 1
st
Platoon emerged on the edge of the old Zulu ravine, breathing hard with sweat pouring off them. Caleb pushed them across the draw into a position lining the far side.

             
Jack joined him with his tactical HQ. 3
rd
Platoon pulled rear security while Alex Lambert joined the group. Three hundred meters ahead they could hear the firefight, the noise ebbing and flowing with the action.

             
Jack assessed the situation, listening and reading the battle as best as he could. Unfortunately, they had pulled out the landline communication between Zulu and Zulu Delta so they could not communicate with 2
nd
Platoon securely. Jack did not want to compromise his intent by asking for a situation report over the insecure net.

             
Jack gave his platoon leaders quick battle orders, giving them an opportunity to question and clarify. Once they were happy, he sent them back to their platoons. He then got on the net and briefly sent to Owen: “Got your back.” He got a double click response. This allowed Owen to pass out the news to his men to be on the lookout for friendlies from the south, thus reducing the chances of fratricide.

             
As the platoon leaders organized their platoons, Jim established a casualty collection point in the Zulu gully, using the three squads from the 82
nd
to provide security for Megan’s team.

             
Caleb’s 1
st
Platoon formed into a skirmish line with flank protection, anchoring the line on the trail to the left. They eerily mirrored the formation the enemy point platoon had adopted as they had moved south down the valley. Caleb mirrored them as he prepared to move north, aiming his axis to the left of the patrol base. It was to be expected, they had all learned their light infantry tactics in the same schools.

             
Alex’s 3
rd
Platoon formed up on the right. Their intended line of advance was upslope of Zulu Delta, to take them to the east, uphill and on an axis to the right of the patrol base. Alex adopted a different formation, a platoon column. He had his point squad moving in a skirmish line, followed by his tactical HQ and then the other two squads in a travelling over-watch echelon column behind.

             
Caleb’s platoon started to move forward; as they got to within two hundred meters of Zulu Delta they broke into bounding over-watch in pairs. This meant that along the frontage of the skirmish line, each buddy pair moved together, while keeping the integrity of the line as a whole.

Alex
’s platoon also started to move forward on the right. As they closed with the sound of the firing his point squad also began moving by bounding over-watch, in short rushes from tree to tree, the rest of his command following behind.

At Zulu Delta, the enemy was starting to get a stranglehold on the defensive position. It was not easy for them, and they were being held at bay by the accurate fire from the concealed foxholes. However, as the firefight continued the hunter-killer platoons started to get a better target identification on where the bunkers were.

             
Captain Brookings was too far forward for best command and control, but he was an honorable and brave man and his men were in harm’s way and he wanted to lead by example. Just then, his tactical HQ group were being suppressed by fire from a Resistance bunker and the radio operator lying next to him passed over the handset.

             
“Sir, it’s call sign Overlord. He’s demanding to speak to you no.!”

             
“Overlord? What the hell?” said Captain Brookings as he took the handset. “This is Falcon Alpha, send over.”

             
Director Woods screamed into the radio microphone back in the RTOC, “What the fuck Brookings, what’s taking you so long?!”

             
“Sir, we have dug in enemy, heavy resistance, we are pinned down.”

             
“Brookings, I don’t give a fuck. You are a coward. Get onto that position and kill those redneck hick fucks. Think about the welfare of your family Brookings. Get moving!”

             
“Roger that sir. Out.”

             
Captain Brookings passed the handset back, the radio operator looking at him wide-eyed, seeing the shock on his face.

             
“Right, let’s get some momentum going,” said Captain Brookings, his face red with anger, “we need to press this attack.” He grabbed the handset for the platoon net and started to give orders.

             
The hunter-killer company started to hit Zulu Delta with 40mm grenades from their under-slung M203 grenade launchers, carried by two men in every squad.  They were only effective against the foxholes if they got them in through the bunker firing ports, which they were unable to do when faced with the effective fire from the Resistance fighters.

              Then, they brought up some SMAW-D bunker busting rockets. These were the equivalent of the AT-4 anti-tank rocked, one shot throwaway weapons designed in this case to destroy enemy bunkers and hard targets.

             
A team moved forward towards 1
st
Squad’s line of foxholes, given covering fire by the enemy platoon that had faltered in the assault and was static in the trees. The SMAW-D team crawled up to the line and was given directions on the location of one of the identified bunkers.

             
The first soldier knelt up with the SMAW-D launcher on his shoulder and was immediately thrown back, shot in the chest above his plate. His team leader dragged him into the cover of a tree, picked up the launcher and took aim around the tree trunk. The rocket fired with a concussive thump and went streaking towards the bunker, whipping over the top and detonating beyond Zulu Delta in the trees.

             
The response from Zulu Delta was immediate, as they went to rapid fire and began to suppress the area where the rocket had been fired from, dust still floating in the air from the launch. The Ranger team leader was a brave man, and he pulled another rocket towards him and readied it behind the tree. He swung out, acquired the target, and fired.

             
The rocket impacted the farthest east foxhole on 1
st
Squad’s line, killing the two occupants instantly. There was a ragged outburst of cheering from the Regime firing line as the remaining foxholes reacted with furious rapid fire. The tide was beginning to turn. Slowly, but it was turning all the same.

1
st
Platoon was moving north in their skirmish line through the trees. They were approaching Zulu Delta, it was up on their right. Suddenly, the near end of the enemy point platoon’s line came into view. The enemy was firing off to the right at Zulu Delta but they had a couple of guys facing south pulling flank security.

             
There was an outbreak of firing as both sides collided, Caleb’s skirmish line running for cover. Caleb himself was just behind the line and he urged his men onwards. They were facing the end of the strung out firing line of the enemy point platoon, and they continued to fire and move in their pair’s forwards towards the enemy.

             
For the Regime troops, this new development was highly disturbing. They had been flanked by an unknown force and were in serious danger of being rolled up from their right. Their right flank started to fold and they began to pull back to the north, Caleb’s advance supported by fire from the Zulu Delta foxholes upslope as he swept forwards.

             
Caleb pushed his platoon forwards until his right flank anchored on the southern foxhole of 2
nd
Platoon. His left flank was anchored on the trail and he ensured that he placed a team there facing west over the trail in order to provide flank security. This gave him an elongated ‘L’ shape orientated east-west, facing north.

             
The enemy point platoon was pulling back to the north by pair’s fire and movement, continually under fire from the foxholes in Zulu Delta as they moved. They were almost combat ineffective due to the accumulation of casualties. Those that were wounded but not immobilized were crawling and dragging themselves out, while others were dragged out by their buddies.

             
Meanwhile, on the right flank Alex’s platoon pushed northwards along the slope. They passed in front of Zulu Delta about one hundred meters to the east of the patrol base. Shortly after, the lead squad bumped into the flank of the hunter -killer platoon’s firing line. Again, there was a furious exchange of fire.

             
As this happened, Jack had been following 3
rd
platoon with his tactical HQ. He peeled out from the back of the platoon column and moved into the back of Zulu Delta. With the other three in his tactical HQ team he bounded forwards and they got into the spare foxholes on the rear south east side, where the team there occupied only two of the holes.

             
As Alex’s point squad went to ground and began engaging the enemy, supported by fire from Zulu Delta to the west, Alex pushed up to where he could observe the action. He called his two rear squad leaders forward and issued quick battle orders.

             
His second squad pushed around to the right, right flanking, in a squad wedge formation, followed by Alex. Behind him followed his third squad in echelon.

             
The second squad pushed through the trees and then turned west in their wedge. They hit the east end of the enemy firing line. Again this enemy platoon was faced with being rolled up. They began to withdraw, facing the fire from the squad to the east and the combination of Alex’s first squad and the remaining three north facing foxholes from 2
nd
Platoon.

             
As the enemy began to bound back through the trees, Alex pushed his third squad up beyond his second squad to keep the pressure on the Regime forces.

             
Jack was observing what he could see of the battle through his optic, scanning along the trees. He was looking towards the center of the enemy line when he saw through the trees one of the Regime commanders up on one knee, frantically shouting and giving orders in the face of the flanking assaults by Jack’s force, his radio operator beside him.

             
Jack focused in through his ACOG, looking to take the shot and take the man down. As he did so, the target looked in his direction. It was impossible for him to see Jack, but the man’s eyes appeared to look right at him.  Suddenly, recognition flashed.

             
Aaron. Shit.