The War for Profit Series Omnibus (83 page)

Two weeks later at zero dark thirty, the Jasmine Panzer Brigade was on the move westward along the
National Road, the capitol city of Batista its long-range objective. The recon company was out front, ahead of the main body by five kilometers. The Cavalry squadron and the Light Tank battalion were next, ready to provide a quick response to any threat. Next was the Stallion tank battalion. The helos rode a hundred meters above, moving slowly up and down the length of the armored column. The Legion and its battle cars were intermixed with the vehicles of the Brigade Support Battalion, its cargo trucks and support vehicles nearly as numerous as the Legion itself. In the middle of the column were the Ajax tanks, the Mechanized Infantry in front of them. The Hercules tank battalion was at the rear.

The wide open terrain gradually sloped upward for two hundred kilometers, a piedmont that met the foothills of the higher ground beyond. There, the
National Road passed through a canyon into a broad mountain valley that led another two hundred and fifty kilometers into Batista City. The column halted and the recon company went forward into the canyon. Recon managed to get through the canyon and then began sensing enemy units. The enemy began firing on the recon company.

Two recon tanks and a modified infantry fighting vehicle burst into a thousand pieces, overwhelmed by fires from Batistian guns. The recon company’s first platoon leader dismounted and ran forward to place ground sensors and detected the position of the firing elements. Another volley of fires from the enemy, and the lead platoon of the recon company was destroyed, not one vehicle or troop left alive. The recon second platoon eased forward, sensors scanning. They discovered the positions of enemy units, weapons, artillery. A force three times the size of the Jasmine Panzer Brigade was there, set up to destroy anything coming through that canyon. Second platoon recon lost two vehicles and pulled back.

Tad saw the reports from Recon and ordered Recon to withdraw and rejoin their task force. Then Lieutenant Colonel Day turned her task force, the Light Tank battalion and the Cav Squadron, to the right and moved north into rough terrain. She then turned west, quietly flanking the Batistian defenders. The Ajax tanks and the Mechanized battalion and the Stallion tanks followed. The Hercules tank battalion moved ahead of the Legion and the Support Battalion, to seal off the canyon from the East end. Galen then ordered the light infantry battalion brought forward to dismount and provide support and security for the heavy tank battalion and the support battalion, and then released the Legion to follow the Task Force.

Sevin took command of the elements moving through the rough terrain to the northwest, moved them along and lined them up and brought them on-line behind a final piece of concealing terrain. The
Ajax tanks moved toward higher ground and lay behind the last bits of hilltops, prepared to move forward and engage targets. Pescador analyzed the terrain and looked at the reports of enemy positions, formulated a fire plan. Sevin assigned sectors of fire for the tanks, formulated a maneuver plan and established objectives for subordinate units. He had it all ready to go and sent a copy of the plan to Galen.

Not that Sevin was asking for approval; he just felt that Galen had a right to know what was going on. Galen ordered the Hercules heavy tanks to push into the canyon and make a show of trying to exit the West end, to keep the Batistians busy, to keep them focused on the canyon, to distract them from the real threat on their flank. The lead Hercules tank managed to find a target, sighting just along the edge of the canyon wall’s exit. It traded blows with a fixed antitank gun, scored a kill. Galen ordered the crew out and then had them send the Hercules forward on auto-drive. It was not more than half way out of the canyon when overwhelming Batistian fires reduced it to a burning pile of scrap metal. The burning Hercules blocked the road and gave the Batistian defenders a rational reason for why the Brigade wasn’t pushing through the canyon.

Pescador dismounted and crawled up the hilltop in front of his Ajax and peered across the valley. On a hill opposite there was a reinforced command bunker overlooking the field of battle. He went back to his Ajax and set the bunker as his priority target. He sent ‘in position ready to fire’ to Sevin and lowered his seat and closed his hatch.

Sevin sent back, ‘do it.’

The Ajax tanks pulled forward and executed their fire plan. Their fires overwhelmed the scattering of anti-aircraft, clearing the air corridor in less than four seconds. Pescador blasted away at the base of the enemy command bunker, tore away its foundation until its face fell away and rolled down the mountain. Then he blasted at its exposed insides with high-explosive rounds, then three incendiary rounds to finish the job. The other four Ajax tanks tore into enemy artillery units, fixed guns, fired into any position that seemed to present a threat to maneuver units moving to close with the defenders.

The Stallion tanks moved first, laying down covering fire for the Legion troops and the Light tanks. Soon the Batistians were pinned on their left flank and the medium tanks and infantry carriers of their right flank were coming off the line and organizing to launch a counterattack. Galen then came forward in the canyon and used his very own tank to push the burning hulk of the previously destroyed Hercules out of the way. Then he turned left and halted and pivoted to face the defensive line, Spike in his tank right beside him. The Hercules tank battalion then burst through the canyon and spread out and began firing at targets of opportunity. The center of the Batistian line was still in place but incredibly distracted. They were losing their firefight with the Hercules battalion.

Then the Cav squadron charged. The Batistian forces that had been organizing for a counterattack turned to get on the National Road heading west and sped away at top speed. The left flank of the defensive line was overrun by the Cav and the center of the defensive line was then enveloped between the Cav and Hercules battalions. The Mechanized battalion sealed off the road heading west, dismounted to prevent any more retreating by Batistian forces. Sevin ordered a cease-fire. Galen and Tad came forward in their tanks and saw unarmed Bastian soldiers coming out of their defenses, hands raised. The Support Battalion came forward and parked in a circle. A long line of enemy prisoners of war made its way into the circle to be processed.

The Legion conducted mop-up operations. There were a few stubborn holdouts who wanted to eat grenades but mostly they found Batistian survivors too injured to move on their own. Legion medics stabilized them and handed them off to the Support Battalion.

The Stallion tanks formed up and went in pursuit of the Batistian forces that got away. They hadn’t retreated, it was a route. The Bastian soldiers fled as fast as they could, passed through the city of Hillsboro and just kept going.

Hillsboro
was Batista’s second largest city and marked the approximate halfway point along the National Road from Bristol to Batista City. The Stallion tanks approached the city cautiously and were greeted at the city limits by the mayor waving a two meter square white flag over his head.

The Stallion Battalion commander dismounted and met he mayor.

The Mayor said, “I declare Hillsboro an open city.”

“Glad to hear it.” The Stallion Battalion commander got back in his tank and led his troops through to the other side of the city and parked them on line facing west. He then called up to Galen to let him know the city was clear, friendly, devoid of resistance. The sun was going down. Galen brought the Brigade TOC forward and had it set up on a broad field on the south side of the
National Road, just inside the western end of Hillsboro. He announced that Command and Staff Call would be at 0700 hours in the morning and then he stretched out on the back deck of his tank and slept.

Spike climbed up on Galen’s tank and shook his shoulder. “Hey. It’s morning.”

Galen sat up, stood and stretched. “Wow. Thanks.”

“Thirty minutes,” said Spike. He climbed off the tank and went to the TOC and entered the dome.

Galen removed his combat suit and stowed it inside the turret, put on his field cap and gun belt, climbed off the tank and visited the latrine. There were openings in the shower trailer but he decided to skip that for now. He didn’t want to piss off his subordinates at the meeting by showing up smelling all fresh and clean. They had undoubtedly been up all night, getting their business straightened out. Galen did swing by the chuck wagon for a cup of coffee, drank it in one gulp, and then headed over to the TOC dome.

He entered the vestibule and strode in and said, “Keep your seats.” Tired commanders and staff looked up and watched Galen step to the front to face the array of seated officers. “Ladies and Gentlemen, I thank you all for your outstanding battlefield performance and I am looking forward to your reports this morning.”

Tad stood slowly, shuffled up to stand next to Galen. Tad’s eyes were bleary and bloodshot, his shoulders drooped. His left arm hung in a cravat. “Yessir. First up, we’ve had reports of guerilla attacks on our convoys between here and
Bristol. Nothing significant yet, but I do expect that to become more of a problem over time.”

Galen put his hand on Tad’s shoulder and spoke softly, “Hey, take a seat.”

Tad sat down. Galen looked toward Karen and said, “The prisoners. What’s the pan for getting them out of here?”

Karen said, “The worst of their injured have been sent back to
Bristol and handed off to Republic forces. What remains now are more than five thousand able-bodied enemy prisoners of war.”

Galen said, “Why so many?”

Karen said, “The crews for the defenses of Hillsboro, from the fixed defenses, their space cannons and lasers. We rounded them up, shut down their guns.”

“And how long to get them to
Bristol?”

“Four days. That’s if we utilize all our available rolling stock to haul them out. But I have an alternative, one that puts us at less risk to partisan guerilla attacks. But it requires your approval because it breaks with standard doctrine.”

Galen smiled, “I like that. What’s plan B?”

Karen said, “A foot march. It’s less than two hundred klicks from here to
Bristol on the national road, so we march them fifty klicks a day. That gets them handed off to Republic forces in the same amount of time without putting an undue burden on our logistics, and it reduces our exposure to guerilla attacks.”

“Sure, make that happen. I’ll sign off on that. Who’s escorting?”

The Light infantry battalion commander said, “We’ll herd them along and the helos will patrol above. And there will be trucks at the rear to pick up stragglers. I’m estimating five percent. We’ll have enough trucks for that.”

Galen said, “It’s a large group. Are we sure we can handle it?”

The Light infantry commander said, “Yessir. Carrot and stick. We put hot chow twice a day out ahead, they have to keep moving to get to it. And four hours of secure sleep at night, and of course we’ll use stun sticks to jab troublemakers, and tranq rounds for the ones who try to run. It’s just a simple hump along an improved road and they won’t be carrying any gear. They can make it and we can handle it. It’ll give them a story to tell their grand children.”

Galen said, “Karen, do we have any distinctive uniforms for them?”

Karen said, “We have rescue-red emergency ponchos. I’ve already had them strip to the waist and put them on.”

“Good.” Galen recognized a Major from the Cav squadron and pointed at him. “I see the blood spattered on your coveralls and I’m thinking you have something important to say.”

“Yessir,” the Cav major stood. “I’m now in command of the Cav Squadron. We lost our commander and executive officer yesterday, along with fifteen percent of our strength.”

“And how long do you need to reconstitute?”

“Right now we’ve cross-leveled by cannibalizing Delta Troop. To get back up to full strength would take months. I’m prepared to finish this contract with just the three Troops.”

“Well you certainly took the worst of it yesterday. I’m very surprised to see you’ve regained combat effectiveness in such a short time.”

The Major said, “Gary Owen.”

Tad said, “Cav was about to get smeared off the battle map. The enemy had amassed a counterattack force consisting of medium tanks and assault guns and dismount support that outnumbered Cav by a ratio of more than ten to one. Why they chose to flee is a complete mystery to me.”

Galen said, “Either way, Cav did well. As for the enemy’s command incompetence, all I can say is it indicates that President General Theil must have been there. He fled to save his own skin and preserve his heaviest forces for the defense of Batista city.”

Tad said, “Our reports indicate that Theil is still in the hospital and may not survive.”

Galen said, “Who was in the enemy command bunker that the Ajax destroyed?”

Chief Koa said, “It was Lieutenant Colonel Jacoby. We found part of his lower jaw and used it to positively identify him.”

Galen nodded. “Yes. He was Theil’s operations officer. When that bunker went down it degraded their command and control capabilities. The counterattack force was uncertain if their route of retreat would be cut off so they fled, led by Theil. Had they engaged, we’d have certainly lost a considerable amount of our forces, enough to bring a very long halt to our march on Batista City. However, the Mech battalion would have then been in position to cut them off from retreating. From our perspective, their retreat was a tactical blunder. But the death of their President General would end the war. It was a good strategic move, and only because Theil was there. Nothing else explains it.”

Koa nodded.

Karen said, “How long do we plan to pause here in Hillsboro?”

Galen said, “A week at least. Set up a bone yard and start repairing damaged and salvaged equipment. Take over part of the local hospital and start patching up our wounded, and set up a command center. We’re occupying this city.”

Karen said, “I’ll set up ALOC here. What about the Main Supply Route back to Bristol?”

Galen said, “Partisan attacks will grow. No matter how stupid our enemy, I’m sure they’ll figure out that’s our weakest area and they’ll go after it. Eventually they’ll learn from their mistakes and start taking our convoys apart. I’d like to deny them that opportunity.”

Karen said, “So we…I need a lot of ammo for those Ajax tanks. That’s what we can’t get otherwise.”

Galen said, “Chief Pescador?”

He stood and said, “Sir, we’re at a full load now but there is nothing available for reload unless we take on sub caliber rounds salvaged from Hillsboro’s defensive artillery.”

Galen said, “What? I’m not trying to insult you, but I really didn’t understand anything you said. I’m overwhelmed by your technical expertise. Break it down for me.”

Pescador said, “The main gun is a Gauss rifle. A magnetic field suspends the round and spins it in the breach, then sends the round down range with a rapid series of magnetic pulses down the tube. It is possible to fire smaller rounds, and very accurately.”

Galen said, “Okay, I’m with you so far. So, salvaged enemy rounds?”

“Yes sir. The guns here in Hillsboro use an assortment of 175 millimeter artillery rounds. They were chemically propelled, meaning an immediate explosion in their chamber to push them down the tube. That limited their range, as the rounds could only sustain a certain shock load upon firing. With the Gauss, we can accelerate the round more smoothly and increase its velocity by a factor of three without exceeding the maximum shock load the round can withstand.”

Galen said, “I kind of follow you. What are the drawbacks of using these, these sub caliber rounds?”

“I’d need to add a fourth crewmember in each Ajax to assist with loading rounds manually. The autoloader can only handle 200 millimeter rounds. Also, the rate of fire would be significantly degraded. No more than six rounds a minute.”

The Cav major said, “I’ll give you some troops, what’s left of Delta.”

Galen nodded.

Karen said, “We’ll still need some movement between here and
Bristol.”

Galen said, “True. One very heavily armed escort for a convoy once a week. Mech battalion, that’s your function now. Tad.”

“Yessir?”

Move the Helos and Interceptors down to
Bristol and give them the task of providing greater security for the convoys.”

“Yessir.” Tad made a note on his personal communicator.

“The rest of us, we’re going to push out some time next week. Patch yourselves up and get some rest. The work of planning the next operation will commence in three days, so focus on other matters for now. Any questions?”

Silence.

“Dismissed.”

The commanders and staff members stood and made their way out of the TOC dome. Galen tugged at Karen’s elbow. “When is this foot march set to begin?”

Karen handed him her personal communicator, “As soon as you give your official approval.”

Galen entered his command approval code, sent a copy to Tad’s database. “I’d like to address the EPWs before they leave.”

“Sure.” They left the dome and mounted Karen’s skimmer. They rode to the EPW area and Galen used the skimmer’s loud speakers to address the crowd of five thousand EPWs. They stood wearing rescue-red emergency survival ponchos.

Galen said, “Men, I’m the commander of the Jasmine Panzer Brigade and I’m here to tell you, prepare to be challenged. You will foot-march from here to
Bristol on the National Road, a distance of two hundred kilometers, and you’ll do it in four days. You’ll get two hot meals and four hours of rest each day. It’s hard but not that hard. Don’t be a weak-ass, keep up with the march. You’ll have a nice story to tell your family when this war is over. That is all.”

Karen used comms to call her executive officer, “Move ‘em out.”

The crowd of red ponchos became a stream of captured soldiers walking six abreast, clogging the right lane of the road headed toward Bristol. Troops from the Light infantry walked along either side in teams of two, watching the prisoners.