Revenge in the Homeland (12 page)

“I try not to show it, but damn it, she is special. We had two girlie girls and one tomboy. Angela was by my side all of the time while the others played with dolls. I tried to treat them all the same, but Gail and Pat never wanted to go fishing or hunting like Angela. We spent many an hour in a boat or a duck blind together. She can clean fish or skin a buck better than most men can. We spent a lot of time together over the years and I guess it shows.”

“I wouldn’t worry about that; they know that you love them and would do anything to make their lives better. I am so glad that they approve of us getting married.”

Gus laughed, “Whoa, wait a minute Ginny. We don’t know that they approve yet. They left here and sat on a couch drinking wine and talking about us for an hour before they took a vote. I am pretty sure that they will approve, but won’t be able to tell until in the morning.”

“Gus, how will you know?”

“I just will. If they don’t see us for a couple of days, we are in trouble and will have to work hard to get them used to the idea. Anyway, it will be their problem not ours. You are stuck with me.”

Gus and Ginny woke up the next morning to see three grown women jumping up and down on their bed.

Gus grabbed Ginny and said, “I guess we're approved! I don’t think they ever grew up.”

“Dad, we approve and you can keep her with one reservation.”

“Okay, shoot.”

“She gets to join us in general mayhem and rowdiness.”

Angela spoke up and said, “One more. She has to help me find a man.”

Ginny replied, “Fine by me. I already have a man in mind for you.”

Ensign Teller was spoken for and didn’t have a clue.

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Chapter 14

There had only been sketchy reports out of Corpus Christie since Lucio and his family bugged out three days ago. One report said that the Cabra leader, Gorge, had flown back to the Cabra headquarters to take over leadership because Cortez had been killed. Other reports indicated a high desertion rate that increased dramatically when Gorge left due to the heavy handed approach of Caesar Velez the replacement for Gorge. Gus’ intelligence group worked closely with the Navy to find every bit of info that would assist them in the liberation of Corpus Christie.

The 82
nd
Airborne had just over 2,000 men and women on the northwest side of the city and Gus had 3,500 ISA troops on the south side. The Navy was to land 800 Marines just south of the city. They were staged and ready to begin the assault after the Rangers and Seals captured or killed their targets. The Navy also had four Seal teams and a hundred Marines set to enter the city an hour before dawn followed by over a thousand marines that would be landed southeast of the city just before dawn. The Seals were tasked with taking out the Cabra Leadership and the two remaining airports, the Corpus Christie International Airport and the Naval Air Station. The Army Rangers were to capture several supply dumps scattered about the city. Scott’s team had the main barracks just south east of the airport for its target.

Armed drones and laser guided missiles would take out command and control groups and generally soften up the resistance an hour before the bulk of the force began the attack. The Seals and Rangers would hole up out of harm’s way until the bombs took out their targets and then mop up any survivors.

***

Scott and Jim both had twelve man teams made up of the best soldiers that the ISA had to offer. Scott moved Imelda and Joan to another group a day before the mission started. They were pissed, but he said that it was not possible to command his troops and watch over his fiancée at the same time. Imelda and Joan would join Joe’s ranger group for the rest of the campaign. Both teams walked the last three miles down Highway 44 from the west until a half mile from the target and split up to attack from two sides.

“Scott, this is Jim, we are about 100 meters from the target on the east side. Will hold and wait for the fireworks.”

“Roger. We are also in position and waiting. Twenty five minutes until touchdown.”

The twenty five minutes seemed to drag on forever. Each one on the team was on watch for the enemy and stayed hidden to make sure that none of the enemy was forewarned.

Scott’s team was spread out in a shallow drainage ditch on the west side of the complex. They saw guards walking the perimeter and several guard stations at truck entrances to the complex of nine buildings. The only sounds were a few barking dogs and an occasional vehicle making its security rounds. Then suddenly there was a commotion at the building in front of them. Several soldiers rushed out of the building, attacked the guards and quickly killed them. Then 20-30 more poured out of the building headed straight at Scott’s team.

“This is Bravo Echo, we are about to be swarmed by deserters. We will have to begin firing before touchdown.”

“Roger, touchdown is two minutes. Hold fire as long as possible.”

“Team, hold your fire until I fire. Pass it on down the line.”

The deserting Cabras were just a few yards away when Scott and his team began firing at the surprised men. They were mowed down without firing a shot. Several Cabra guards came out of the building just in time to see the last one fall.

Scott stood up, waved at the guards and lay back down in the ditch. The guards laughed and went back in the building thinking that the deserters had been killed by fellow Cabras.

The bombs and missiles hit the airport a few seconds before the barracks were hit. Several bombs hit each building and disintegrated them and the people in them. Only a small handful of Cabras survived the bombing and they were killed quickly by Jim and Scott’s teams.

Scott gave orders, “Mop up the survivors and let’s join the Rangers north of here at the supply dump.”

“Scott, I have a prisoner who says that most of the Cabras were asleep in the barracks when the bombs fell. The surprise is that the supply dump a mile north of here has a below ground barracks complex that we didn’t know about. The Rangers are outnumbered 20 to 1.”

“Jim, have two men hide in the ditch for 30 minutes and make sure there are no surprises from this place and then join us if all is clear. We must go help the Rangers.”

“Will do. Imelda and Joan may be at that supply dump. We have to help them until troops can arrive. I’ll call command and let them know about the unexpected Cabra troops.”

The supply dump was close to the intersection of Highway 407 and Navigation Road and was about two miles as the crow flies. The bombs had awaken everyone in the city for the day. They were standing outside their homes watching the fires and secondary explosions. When they saw the ISA flag on the team’s uniforms, they began cheering as they passed.

“Get back in your houses, the battle has just begun. You are in danger.”

Men and women joined them with pistols and rifles. They could not be persuaded to go home. There were over fifty and were growing by the minute as they marched towards the supply dump.

“Team, check with the civilians to see who has had any military training.”

It turned out that about a third had military training and the others were hunters and gun enthusiasts. Many in the crowd killed the Cabras living around them and took their weapons, so there was a mixture of AK47s and deer rifles.

Scott instructed his team to tell the ones with deer rifles to become snipers and the ones with AKs to join them in the assault. They were told to get on top of the adjacent buildings and be ready to support the assault team when they got closer to the supply dump.

They were about halfway there when they heard gunfire and a few explosions. There was a major firefight in the direction of the supply dump.

Jim sent a man to the top of a building and received the following, “Sir, there is a pitched battle going on. Our Rangers are pinned down in a junk yard about 500 yards due north of our position. The enemy is attacking from their east and has armored vehicles approaching the Rangers from the north."

“Command, Rangers are pinned down at 407 and Navigation Road. We need air support ASAP.”

“They have called for support and it will be 15 minutes before the Apaches can break away and another ten minutes to get there. Help them if you can.”

“Men we are their only help. Send the snipers to their positions. Send a dozen men with LAWs to get on top of the buildings nearest those Rangers and take out that armor. Jim, flank them on the right and I’ll take the left. Give us your LAWs. We have to kill some of the armor.”

***

Imelda and Joan’s teams objective was the supply dump just south of Highway 407. There were four 12 man teams making up the group. Their team leader was Joe. Their mission was to take the three warehouses intact and save the supplies for later use by ISA forces. A team would take and guard each warehouse while the forth team would keep the area secure.

They had moved from the west side of town to their objective in a little over three hours without being spotted. The buildings had a dozen guards walking a patrol around them and three two man guard posts. They were watching the three buildings when the missiles and bombs hit their targets and they noticed that the center building suddenly had lights come on and sirens begin to wail. Soldiers began pouring out of the building by the hundreds. They took cover, but were soon spotted and pinned down in a junk yard of old cars.

The Cabras tried several times to rush their position, but had to cover over 50 yards of open ground to get to the Rangers. They were mowed down wave after wave. They finally got smart, moved a few snipers in position and were able to pick off a few Rangers before the Rangers took them out. Each Ranger had 300 rounds of 5.56, 50 rounds of 9mm and two LAWs. They had used five LAWs to take out the snipers so they weren’t worried about running out of firepower, but the enemy was getting smarter and could keep them pinned down until their re-enforcements arrived.

Joan yelled, “Imelda, three o'clock RPG.”

They both fired and killed the Cabra with the RPG and five more Cabras trying to cover him.

“Joan, there are a dozen more trying to flank us on the right. I’ll fire a LAW into them. Cover me.”

Joan had a SAW and riddled the advancing men with 5.56 rounds and they fell dead. The Rangers had killed over 100 so far and only had one dead and four wounded.

Joe saw the truck come around the corner of a building in front of Imelda.

“Imelda, a truck is going to try to break through our lines. Get your LAWs ready. Shoot them as soon as they turn the corner. I don’t want them to use the truck for cover.”

The truck popped into full view as it sped around the corner. Joan was already spraying the cab of the truck with the SAW while Imelda aimed the LAW. She fired the rocket and it hit the truck in the radiator, but it kept moving towards them. She fired another LAW rocket into the truck and it exploded. Several men jumped out of the covered bed and were on fire. Joan mowed them down as they cleared the back of the truck.

Joe yelled, “There are three more trucks heading your way. Get your LAWs ready team. We can’t let them build their own cover.”

The trucks rounded the corner and were immediately destroyed by two LAWs each. Joan and the other troops with SAWs concentrated their fire on the trucks to make sure none of the enemy survived.

“Joe, let’s move out to the trucks before they can advance and use them for cover. Let’s use their plan to advance towards them.”

“Good idea, Joan. Make it happen.”

Joan led Imelda and ten other soldiers to the burning hulks and used them for cover. They arrived just in time to fend off a wave of Cabras intent on using the trucks as a base to fire on the ISA troops. Again, without cover the Cabras were mowed down as they ran across the open parking lot between the buildings.

Joe saw the armored units approaching from both flanks and knew that they had to try to retreat across the open parking lot to their rear.

Joe’s radio operator yelled, “The cavalry is on its way. They are coming up behind us.”

Rockets streaked over their heads and began hitting the Humvees and armored cars. The explosions were deafening and rained hot steel down on the whole area. The snipers were not that accurate, but there were enough of them to help keep the Cabras pinned down.

Scott gave instructions, “Squad one go to the right side of the Rangers and scoot along Navigation Road until you are past the enemy positions and then flank them on the right. We'll do the same from the left. I’ll take the other squad up McCampbell Road and flank them on the left side.”

They quickly moved past their fellow Rangers and were about 50 yards away when Scott called Joe, “we are flanking the Cabras. Open up on them with all you have and try to pin them down while we advance.”

“Roger, we had them just where we wanted them, but if you want to play with them go ahead.”

Scott’s group travelled up some railroad tracks between several buildings and was able to get behind the enemy without being seen. When they came around the last building, they saw a large group of armored vehicles and several hundred men advancing towards the trapped Rangers. Scott looked at his watch and saw that they had to fight off the enemy for 15 more minutes until the Apaches arrived. He scanned his surroundings and saw the junkyard, warehouses and large storage tanks.

He radioed Jim, “Are you in position?”

“Roger, just arriving and ready to attack.”

“Do you see the storage tanks behind them and can you see what their signs say?

“Yes, the two signs on the left say some kind of oil and the other one is aviation gas. Damn, are you thinking crispy critters?”

“Yes, let’s shoot several LAWs into one of the oil tanks and the gas tank. I’ll take the oil tank; you take the gas.”

Rockets streaked out and hit the sides of the tanks. The explosions knocked holes in the sides of the tanks and started them on fire, but not the explosion and river of fire that Scott had expected.

“Fire two more LAWs into each tank.”

This time the explosions ripped the sides open and spilled a flood of burning fuel into the attacking Cabras. The armored vehicles were caught in the middle of the flaming death. Half of the Cabras were caught in the blazing inferno and the others fled north to save their lives. Just as the Cabras thought that they had escaped, the Apaches started strafing them and destroying the escaping vehicles.

The trapped Rangers had to retreat south due to the burning gas, which poured towards the junkyard. None were caught by the flames, but it forced them to move quickly to safer ground.

“Jim, secure the warehouses while I check on the Rangers. Report back when they are secure.”