Retribution (Soldier Up - Book Five 5) (8 page)

Captain Tony Lane was an A-Team Commander, 19
th
Special Forces Group, 2
nd
Battalion, Charlie Company out of Kenova, West Virginia.  He and his team were on the run from an infantry company from the 172
nd
Infantry Regiment that was under the command of Colonel Magnus.  The team had spied what looked like a squad of Soldiers earlier in the day heading their way and there was no doubt they would find the hide.  In the hurry to evacuate the hide and move further into the forest to hide from the approaching Soldiers, Sergeant First Class Toby Powell tripped and block his ankle.  Out of all the things that could happen at the most inopportune time this was it.  Captain Lane ordered the rucksacks to be left and destroyed.  They were all piled, so they thought, and a thermite grenade thrown on top did the job.  The only problem was that SFC Powell’s ruck was left against the wall because everyone thought he had tossed it in the pile. 

              The ruck was, to their dismay, found by the squad which reported it back to their Platoon Leader and subsequent chain-of-command.  The chain-of-command apparently had decided to assign an entire company to determine the origins of said rucksack.  Now the team was in full retreat and had ducked into what they knew was a box canyon and hoped they’d be able to find a way out.  The team moved its way to the rear of the canyon; once there the team split into two.  Part of the thirteen-man team group set up security while the others searched for a way out.  Captain Lane and the others were aware that the Company that had been pursuing them had halted at the canyon’s mouth—a prudent idea Captain Lane thought.  He also knew that eventually they would send in teams to flush them out. 

              Although Captain Lane and the others knew that the soldiers pursuing them had fought and killed other United States service members they weren’t too keen on it themselves.   Currently their Rules of Engagement (ROE) were defensive in nature: if they were fired upon they could return fire but they were on a recon mission only.  Ideally, they shouldn’t be in a position where they needed to defend themselves since they were supposed to ghosts.  However, everyone knew that ‘Murphy’s law’ was alive and well and it always decided to kick in at the worst possible moment.  Most experienced teams planned for Murphy, but Captain Lane and his team weren’t all that experienced.  This was their second real world mission and none of the men had served in Iraq or Afghanistan.  To be fair, during their training at the Q-course and subsequent field exercises they were constantly reminded to plan for Murphy.  Obviously, this was something Captain Lane and his team missed during this missions planning session and was now costing them. 

              SFC Henry, the team weapons sergeant, was on security he passed back to Captain Lane that they had at least a two squad element moving slowly toward their position.  SFC Henry wanted to know what his orders were if they got within a hundred yards of their position.    Captain Lane relayed back first not to fire unless fired upon and if they got close to a hundred yards, pull back as far as they could and reset security.  He went on to say that he hoped they would have a way out of their situation soon.  SFC Henry and the other NCOs watched as the two squads for lack of a better word stumbled through the brush and trees.  They were making enough noise to wake the dead and they were reasonably sure they wouldn’t find their position until they were right on top of them.

              The Special Forces soldiers saw the squads break off six men from each squad then break those six men down into three man teams. They went out to the right and left of the squad to presumably cover more area in their search for the team.  SFC Henry thought it was stupid as they would be easily captured by the team, secured and bundled up.   As the soldiers continued to move forward on the A-Team the Special Forces soldiers slowly and methodically pulled back; they were running out of room.  “Captain Lane!” said SFC Roth the Communications Sergeant. “Anytime now; they’re just about on top of us.”

              Shots fired to the left. The soldiers were conduction recon-by-fire, and unfortunately they were getting close enough to hit one of the A-Team members.  “Sir!” Master Sergeant Dexter the Engineering Sergeant said. “Your orders; do we return fire?”

              Captain Lane was hesitant as he didn’t want to fire on fellow United States Army soldiers. He was confused and he didn’t want it on his conscience.  “Sir!” SFC Henry yelled. More shots rang out. Captain Lane dropped to the ground.  Master Sergeant Holtz, the team’s Doc hustled over to Captain Lane and began a quick examination, “Dead.”

              “Chief what are your orders?” SFC Henry asked directly to Chief Warrant Officer Two, the team’s XO. 

              “Engage when fired on, but do your best to only take out the shooter. Let’s try to limit the number of casualties.” Chief Gibbs said.

              “Roger that,” SFC Henry said. “Let’s get the word out.”

              The word was given, weapons free; the men of the Special Forces A-Team were not comfortable with firing on their own, but it was either that or be killed and they preferred to live.  Chief Gibb also passed the word that the only way out of the canyon was the way they came in.  The A-Team didn’t need it explained to them. They knew that unless the Company of soldiers at the head of the canyon decided to leave, which was unlikely, they would have to fight.  The two three-man teams on the right were the first to go down. They were the one that took out Captain Lane. 

              Next the A-Team members heard the sound of an M-249 and M-60 being unleashed and arbitrarily firing into the canyon, spraying bullets every-which-way.  Unfortunately SFC Harris and Chief Gibbs were caught in the onslaught and killed.  SFC Roth was hit in the shoulder and another team member was nicked on the left side of his rib cage.  MSG Holtz was on the run moving from injured man to injured man while trying to stay alive himself. 

              Then there were two loud explosions to center left, two Claymores that the A-Team had planted and set with trip wires.  What the A-Team didn’t know was that the Claymores had taken out first squad, first Platoon, of Alpha Company, 3
rd
Battalion, 172
nd
Infantry Regiment, leaving second squad, who had lost the six men with the initial engagement with the A-Team.  At this time, there were only six men pursuing the A-Team. They stopped and pulled back to the rest of the Company.  They were suffering heavy casualties.  This was a blessing for the A-Team to varying degrees since they had also suffered casualties, but they had a reprieve now. They had time to patch the wounded, and try to get the hell out of the canyon.

The loud explosions, deep in the canyon startled Alpha Company. They knew it wasn’t either of the squads sent in because they carried no explosives.  The chattering of the two machine guns didn’t help to calm nerves either.  However, the officers and NCOs of Alpha had no idea which side was firing the machine guns because each side was armed with the same weapons.  It was true that First and Second squads entered the canyon carrying the weapons so it could be them.  It was also true that the unknown entity they assumed was an Army Special Forces A-Team could have them too. 

              Ten minutes after the two explosions, what was left of Second Squad came limping out of the canyon.  SSG Patel reported to the CO that they had men down in the field and as far as he knew that they were all dead.  He reported that from what he observed there were between eleven to thirteen men they had been following and all were heavily armed.   He also reported that it was remarkable that they hadn’t fired on them sooner as they had clear fields of fire.  He went on to state it was their machine gun’s firing into the canyon and that he believed the enemy had taken casualties.  Once that had happened the enemy began to return very accurate fire, killing half of his squad.  The explosions they heard were Claymores and they killed all of First Squad which ended up bunching together.  The two three-man teams apparently had never left First Squad; for some reason they were killed too.

              Alpha Company’s Commanding Officer was visibly angry now. ‘How dare they kill his men!’ he thought to himself.  Captain Kelso, Alpha Company’s CO, went from conservative and reserved about committing his Company to entering the box canyon. Now angry and seeking revenge for the men he had lost, he was full steam ahead ordering the Company into the canyon with no real game plan on how to engage the enemy within.  The Company’s First Sergeant, Platoon Sergeants as well as the Platoon Leaders objected to the Captain’s rush into harm’s way.  Regardless, Captain Kelso ordered all platoons into the canyon to capture or kill, preferably to kill the men responsible. 

              First Platoon, which effectively lost two squads, was ordered to hold as a reserve force. The rest of the Company was ordered to move into the canyon with Second and Third Platoons leading the way and Fourth Platoon in over watch.  Second Platoon took the right side and spread out left from there. Third platoon took the left side and spread out right, essentially the two Platoons forming one large skirmish line.  Each man was about 5 feet part. Once they had executed the movements, Captain Kelso ordered them to move forward.  Fourth Platoon found some high ground witch gave them a view of about half the canyon; after that the trees and brush became too thick. 

              Second and Third Platoons Platoon Sergeant and Leader thought the skirmish line idea crazy and told Captain Kelso how they felt.  He told them they were more than entitled to their opinion, but it was his sandbox and if they didn’t like it they could leave.  There would be a court martial waiting for them back at Battalion.  Neither Platoon Sergeants nor leaders were going to abandon their men but they all felt it was their duty to question what they considered an unsound order, which could potentially turn into a blood bath. 

              The two Platoons moved forward together. The trees and underbrush were becoming thicker as they pushed forward.  They were a loud bunch as they moved. Most were not combat veterans and were part-time soldiers prior to the event.  To the left there was gun fire but no one knew who had fired them or the enemy.  The soldiers of Second and Third squads fired their weapons in panic, spraying bullets every which way towards the back of the canyon.  The squad leaders and platoon sergeants called cease fire cease fire as well as used hand signals to stop all of the firing.  No one had a clue at what they were firing out as far as they knew they had all wasted quite a bit of ammunition. 

              The skirmish line kept moving forward, but for now there was no return fire as they moved forward. It was eerily quiet.   As they approached the rear of the canyon they came upon the bodies of the enemy soldiers.  It wasn’t all a cake walk. Third and fourth squads of Fourth Platoon tripped three grenade traps set with trip wires.  All three traps took out a number of troops almost wiping out the two squads, which were in different locations on the battlefield.  Captain Lane ordered the bodies brought back to his CP.

              Once the bodies of the enemy soldiers were gathered and brought back they were searched.  The men had dog tags and their uniforms carried Special Forces, Ranger and Airborne qualification tabs.  They also had the 19
th
Special Forces unit patches on their shoulder right under their qualification tabs.  That was verification enough for Captain Lane; he sent word back to Colonel Magnus that they had killed an A-Team out of 19
th
Group.  Colonel Magnus wanted to know where they were stationed out of, but unfortunately Captain Lane reported back that the men carried no additional Intel, so he had no idea where they were stationed.

              Colonel Magnus put out an order that it was now evident that Special Operation forces were not active in the area, that all soldiers should be aware and report immediately anything out of the ordinary.  Colonel Magnus saw the Special Forces Soldiers as traitors to the cause. His mindset hadn’t changed. You were either with him or against him.  The SF soldiers were against him, so he ordered their bodies disposed of in a common unmarked grave and refused to recognize them.  This concerned many of the senior officers within his command, what it a war crime many of them wondered. At a minimum they should recognize the soldiers and treat them as such.  The senior officers weren’t all that sure they had the campaign all wrapped up.  They all suspected that the closer they got to the nation’s capital the more force would be thrown at them.  It was all but guaranteed that the 3
rd
Infantry Regiment was fiercely guarding the city.  Colonel Magnus had no friends within the Regiment. It was by and large the most loyal unit in the entire United States Military.

The forces under Colonel Magnus located at the rear of Fort Indiantown Gap included several batteries of 155 MM Howitzers.  While the batteries were set up the various light infantry unit’s unassed their vehicles and prepared to move onto the fort.  Scouting platoons were already probing the fence areas around the fort looking for signs of life.  Colonel Magnus didn’t want any surprises and the reports coming in from the scouts were very encouraging. So far they hadn’t sighted anything of concern.  However, near the furthest gate the scouts found tire tracks, lots of them, which looked to be recent. 

              There was no way to tell if they were coming or going. They led to the hard stand and the tracks were lost.  The scouts reported back to the CP what they had found, but at the time the Intel was mixed with everything else coming in.

              The scouts had cleared the rear entrances and the infantry units waltzed right onto the fort with no opposition.  The artillery batteries sat silent for now; they’d be called upon if resistance was met and they needed to suppress enemy forces.  Colonel Magnus’ infantry had advanced a good mile onto post when they encountered the first anti-personnel mines.  The first set of Claymores went off near Third Platoon. The entire platoon was bunched up as they approached a tree line, and there were several trip wires.  There were four Claymores set right and left of the platoon, two on each side, and the platoon was intentionally funneled down through the area leading to the trees.

              The soldiers somehow stepped over trip wires. The Claymores weren’t set off until mid-Platoon, shredding Third and Fourth Squads. First and Second Squads tripped the two Claymores in the trees which cut them down.  One entire platoon was killed within minutes of entering a cleverly set trap by the occupants of the fort.  The Battalion Commanders called an immediate halt to operations while they sorted out what had just happened.  The Company commander, XO and First Sergeant investigated the instance and while doing so stumbled upon another set of Claymores which killed them.

              Colonel Magnus intervened now. He ordered all units to pull back two hundred yards from their current positions, because he was sending in EOD.  Fifteen minutes later two EOD teams arrived in their Humvees loaded with various types of hand-held mine detecting equipment.  The four soldiers from EOD unloaded what they needed and headed into the field.  SSG Royal Wilson was the NCOIC of the EOD team.  They began clearing the try line where the two squads and others were killed. The EOD Soldiers had never seen what a Claymore did to the human body, because none had ever been in combat until now.  All of them were sick to their stomachs when they saw the carnage, and vomited.  SSG Wilson was able to rally the men and get them back to work. It wasn’t going to help them it they were so sick they triggered a mine themselves.

              They found two more Claymores and were able to disarm them; they then increased their search parameters in a circular fashion extending it a bit at a time.  Two hundred yards west of the tree line where the Claymores were they found grenades that had been strapped to the sides of trees with a trip wire attached to the pin partially pulled out.  Those were disarmed. So far the EOD team had been moving glacially slow and Colonel Magnus was getting anxious to continue on.  He ordered the EOD team to pick up the pace, which SSG Wilson refused to do as well as the men under his command.  Colonel Magnus recalled the EOD team and ordered the infantry to continue to move forward. He urged them to keep their eyes open for any mines and if they found them, then call in EOD.

              The Colonel and his forces continue to move forward. In the CP the radios were spitting out reports from the forward elements that had entered the main gate area.  They had reached main post and found it vacant. There wasn’t a soldier or family member to be seen any place.  The fort should have elements of the 28
th
Infantry Division, which also included 56
th
Stryker Brigade Combat Team.  Colonel Magnus ordered main gate forces to move from main post to the barracks and motor pools.  He warned them to be on the lookout for anti-personnel and vehicle mines, because there had been several casualties already.  As the combat teams entered the barracks and motor pools and began their search, they heard explosion after explosion at both sites.

              The vehicles that had been left in the motor pools had been mined as well as the rooms in the barracks.  For the 28
th
Infantry it was a no brainer; it was a given that the intruders were US Army and had the same training and doctrine.  It was a given that their commander would order a search of the motor pools and barracks. Hence they knew to mine the rooms and vehicles.  The explosions in one of the buildings that housed the barracks collapsed the entire building, wiping out three-quarters of a Company.  The radios at Colonel Magnus’ CP were alive with incoming reports of the explosions and the large loss of life; his soldiers were being killed at an alarming rate.  The Colonel ordered everyone to pull back a half mile from their current locations. He was ordering in artillery to take care of the situation. 

              The Colonel was adamant that if they weren’t with them, they could all go to hell and die, but wondered where they all went.  The only logical answer was south or east. They had come from the northwest and had seen no signs of a large military force, so his reasoning was that they were heading south someplace.