Chapter 16
MARCH 26, NOON
ADRIAN STOOD BEFORE THE ASSEMBLED men. He looked them over, noting they appeared eager to get on with the fight, as they should be. They were facing not only a threat to their lives, but to their families, their homes and their hard won crops; and they had been training hard. Good training made men eager to fight, to test what they had learned, and themselves. This was a hard looking bunch, reminding him of what the early American militias must have looked like. Each man dressed according to his own taste, weapons of all kinds and makes, mostly they were bearded and skinny from the daily work of surviving by their own hands for years. They were fiercely independent individuals that had come together to face a common threat. These men were the new salt of the American nation, its new backbone. These men, these pioneers, he now believed would fight fiercely and well.
Adrian raised his voice to be heard all the way to the back. “Men, this will be the last time I’ll be able to gather you together in a bunch and shout. From here on, orders will come to you by chain of command, quietly and while we are trying to stay invisible to the enemy. So I’ll take this occasion to make a short speech.
“Patton said, ‘No bastard ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country.’ Remember that as we face a vicious enemy willing to die to take our village, to rape our women and our children, and then kill them. That is their goal, their desire, their driving need. They will do this if it kills them, and it’s our job to kill them. They have us outnumbered, but we have them outclassed. We will kill them before they can get here! We will do it by attacking them in the field, and attacking with a fierceness they have never encountered in their lives, or dreamed of in their worst nightmares. Your job is to kill them, not to get killed yourself.
“We will take losses, that’s a fact. If we stick to discipline and training, we will minimize our losses to the maximum extent possible. But even under the best of circumstances, some of you will die on this campaign. I will not come back alive if we lose. You need to have a clear picture of this in your minds. We are going to fight to the last stand, to the last bullet, to the last man. I don’t believe it will come to that, but each of you has to be prepared for it in your own heart. This is your last chance; if you aren’t willing to die for your family and friends, then you need to stay behind. If you’re not willing to lay down your life, you could do us more harm than good, and I would rather not have you with us. If you can’t make that commitment, simply stay behind when we march, or fall back at any time along the way before the shooting starts.
“I also want every man to know this: if you die, after we win, your family will be taken care of. We will see to it that they have everything they need. They will not be abandoned after your sacrifice; they will want for nothing.
“We attack day after tomorrow at dawn. The ambush team has already left to begin killing, harassing, and slowing them down for us.”
The men looked back at Adrian with a solemnity that spoke of their determination. Adrian didn’t believe a single man would stay behind or return before the fighting started, but he had to make it clear they could.
The men remained silent. Many looking down, some were looking around at the other men, wondering who wouldn’t come back. All of them were wondering if they would be coming back. Most of the men were looking at Adrian. There were no jokes about speeches or bear cubs this time.
Adrian waited a long moment and then shouted, “Let’s move out!”
MARCH 27, EARLY MORNING
Perry, Matthew, Roman, and Tim were the guerilla team and were already in position to watch the raiders. They were older and slower on foot than the main body, but they were also intelligent, experienced, and more than willing. The four men had been watching one of the raider groups since the sun had come up. Perry was, by unstated consent, leading the team. These four men had known each other for decades and knew each other well. They had many common bonds, not the least of which was they were all military veterans. Each had different strengths and talents, and each was primarily a lone wolf. They let Perry lead because of his unusual ability to out think any of the other three on just about any topic. A tough act with these men.
Perry said, “Okay, they’ll be crossing the meadow in about half an hour. Tim, you set up here with your fifty-cal and take out the lead man. Matt, you move to that small grove of trees to be closer. Roman, you take position behind that pile of boulders. I’ll be in that draw just over there; we’ll have them in a neat crossfire. I’ll take the number two man as soon as Tim shoots, and Matt will take the number three guy, and Roman the fourth man. Tim, you take the shot when they are halfway across the meadow. That will put them in our range.
“That’s all we are here to do for now—one shot each, two at the most. Tim, you’ll cover us with one more shots if needed. Take out whoever you can and make them hunker for a few minutes. We leave immediately and spread out, meeting up as soon as we can at the old windmill. From there, we go into watch mode, figure out our next ambush spot. Any questions?”
Tim asked, “Why not take a few more? We’ve got the room for it, and there’ll be several exposed.”
Perry replied, “Because that’s not the mission. The mission is to hit fast and run fast, you old codger, and you can’t run fast.”
“So you’re saying if I could run faster, we could kill more?”
“No, not really. I was just poking at you for a reaction. Fact is that staying too long at an ambush is a tactical error. Adrian explained it some, and he’s right. Our mission is to slow them down, make them timid about moving forward. Killing some of them is the means to that end. Killing more than four or five does not slow them down any more than killing six or seven would. We could sit here and kill eight or even ten, but then they have a much better chance of getting one or more of us because we stayed too long. On the other hand, by killing four or five and getting away, we can do it again and again. In the long run, we’ll kill more of them by not getting too greedy. Pigs get fat, but hogs get slaughtered, you know. We want to be pigs, not hogs. The more often we can hit them in different places, the more timid they’ll all become, and that definitely enhances our mission. One or two hits will make them timid. Ten or fifteen hits spread all over the place will make them downright scared to move. Our job is to hit them and survive, and hit them and survive, over and over and over.”
“Yeah, I know, it’s just like you said: I get greedy. Okay, I’ll do it your way,” Tim said with a wink.
Roman jumped in, “Are you sure it’s hogs that get slaughtered? I always thought it was the other way around. I’m not much in favor of being called a pig.”
Perry, realizing he’d been subtly poked back by Tim and knowing that Roman liked to make irrelevant statements in a crisis just to see the reactions, his sense of humor being somewhat strange, smiled ruefully and said, “All right, then, let’s go.”
Forty minutes later, the raider in the lead seemed to briefly levitate in the middle of the meadow. Perry knew it wasn’t the hard hit from the fifty-caliber bullet; it was the man’s final reflex action of his life, the bullet must have torn his spine out sending one massive spasm signal to the muscles. As the raider crumbled to the ground a spray of blood covered the man behind him and simultaneously, the sound of the fifty-caliber sniper rifle boomed in the distance. Perry had his bead drawn on the second man already, as Matt had on the third man and Roman on the fourth. Within a half-second of the lead man dropping, Perry, Matt, and Roman fired simultaneously. Three more men dropped—less dramatically, but just as dead.
Perry took off. He had taken only a few steps when he heard the roar of the fifty-caliber again and knew another raider was down. He did not turn to look or slow down. All four men took diverging paths, and quickly melted into the woods. Their rendezvous had been chosen carefully. It was easy to find, southwest of the raider’s line so that if they tried the circling maneuver, they would be outside the circle. It was far enough away to be out of the raiders’ immediate reach, but close enough for them to get to without exhausting themselves.
Tim arrived first and set up immediately to provide cover fire if need be. Within half an hour, Perry came in. Tim spotted him from a distance, losing sight of him most of the time as Perry used the terrain for cover. Ten minutes later, Matt came in and five minutes after that Roman joined them.
Perry said, “Five down, and they’ll be considerably slower moving forward. Now, let’s look at the map and pick our next attack. We have time for more ambushes before Adrian hits them, then our job changes to flank support. I’m thinking we can do more damage if we split up and hit them individually.”
Matt said, “I like that idea. We can spread out and operate on our own. Pop up here and there, hit fast, and then drift off and do it again. I like it. When do we start?”
Tim said, “First thing tomorrow.”
Roman chimed in, “Good, I’m getting tired of taking care of you guys.”
Perry laughed. “I guess we are in accord, then. Okay, let’s get together every night and compare notes. I’ll take the north end of their line. Tim, you and Roman take each side of center, and Matt the south end. Choose your spots as they present themselves to you. With luck, we may be able to each hit them two or three times tomorrow. That should keep them sticking in tight cover and moving slow. I still think it best if we each go for one or two kills max in these solo ambushes. Tim might take up to three if he has enough range on them. We can meet up tomorrow evening at the little waterfall on Mill’s Creek.” Perry showed them the spot on the map; he had been fishing there before.
By dawn the next morning, Matt had gotten into position. He easily found the raider’s camp by their campfires. The raiders still seemed bent on being obvious. As the light increased, he saw two scouts moving towards him. They were walking along an old fence line, staying in the cover of the brush and trees that had grown up next to it.
Matt thought about how that would work out when he started shooting. These two men could come around behind him if he waited much longer. On the other hand, he thought, why not take them out? That would be twice as effective because I would also be putting their eyes out. With that, Matt eased back from his chosen ambush spot, and using terrain and tree cover, moved into a spot up the fence line, took cover, and waited.
He had noted that the two scouts stayed side by side as they walked and this gave him another idea. He’d been carrying one of his modified shotguns strapped over his back. Why not wait until they are close then take them both? With that in mind, he placed his M4 on the ground next to him and took the shotgun off the sling. He lay back down and waited.
Forty-five minutes later, he could hear them coming. The fools were occasionally talking to each other and not whispering. They were bitching about being singled out for scout duty; neither appreciated being away from the main group. Within a couple of minutes, he could see them coming towards him, they were still walking only a couple of feet apart. They were moving slowly and looking around with focused attention. Since the shotgun only had two shots before reloading Matt decided that when he fired the second shot, he would drop down and grab the M4 and pop back up shooting again, if need be.
When the two men were twenty yards away, Matt popped up, shotgun at his shoulder. He came up with the shotgun already aimed at the man on the right and he fired, moving his finger to the rear trigger as he swung left, and when he was centered on the man’s chest, he fired again. Both men were virtually blown apart in just over a second. He reloaded, shouldered the shotgun on its strap and picked up his M4. Then he walked up to the two bodies. The amount of carnage the .779 saboted slugs had wreaked upon the two men was extreme. Both men were hit center mass. The entry wounds were the size of the slug, but the exit wounds were almost as big around as a pie plate. The massive slug had penetrated and then mushroomed, just as designed. Matt looked around and then moved back up the fence line quickly. He had plenty of time for two more assaults on the raiders. In the distance, he heard the booming voice of Tim’s fifty-caliber. Then two more booms two seconds apart. Tim doesn’t miss—he nailed three more in a bit over three seconds. Damn glad he’s on our side.
Tim lay down beside his rifle. He had dug the bipod’s legs slightly into the ground so there would be no wobble after the first shot. The scope made the men look as though they were only a few feet away. The way it gathered in light made the early dawn seem to be high noon. “Range just over nine-hundred yards, no wind, simple shot.” He had set the cross hairs for a dead on aim point for the distance. “Best bet is to wait until two or three of them are lined up, take the closest one, then move the sight up a hair and take the second one. Might get a third if he doesn’t drop behind cover too quickly.”
Matt waited what seemed like hours for three men to move into a line with each other. He heard distant twin booms, almost simultaneous shots. Damn, I bet Matt is playing with his shotgun, nothing else sounds like that meat eater. Matt smiled while watching through his scope, the distant gunfire had made the raiders visibly nervous. Two minutes later he had his three men lined up. As soon as he did he fired the first shot and recovered his sight profile after the resulting movement from the recoil. He then moved the sights up a hair onto the second man and squeezed the trigger. As soon as he recovered the sight picture again the third man had moved forward directly into the aim spot and Tim fired a third time.
The first man had gone down, stunning the second man into a second of immobility as he watched the man’s back blow towards him. Before he could react he was hit in the chest with a sledgehammer blow and went down. The third man reacted by darting forward, trying to get to a downed tree, but just as he was diving for the cover, he was slammed down. Everyone else in the group behind them disappeared as they took cover.
Tim watched for a couple of minutes. Between me and Matt, that’s five; I wonder what Perry and Roman are up to? He didn’t consider that Matt shot twice at one man, or that he may have missed, Matt didn’t miss. No one from the raider group was coming in pursuit. With slow movements, he eased back into cover and walked off.
Perry watched a group of the raiders eating breakfast. Scurvy bunch of a*sholes, he thought while he waited. He had chosen his spot carefully, based primarily on advantageous terrain. Once again, he was using a dry creek bed. The bottom of the bed was sand. Without getting down into the creek bed, he had walked alongside it, looking for two easy places to enter or exit the steep banks. He needed one close to the raiders and one much farther back, and both had to be on the opposite side of the creek from the raiders.
When he had the two spots identified, he entered the creek bed at the location closest to the raiders. Then, facing away from them, he ran up the creek bed to the second exit location he had chosen, and up and out of the creek. Then he went back to the first spot and re-entered the creek, being careful to walk along the edges where he wouldn’t leave footprints. Perry took up his sniping spot. He was in a standing position with the creek bank at just the right height to support his rifle. He had a good field of fire, and a quick exit point on the far side of the creek from the raiders with extensive tree and brush cover. He could fire, disappear over the creek bank into heavy trees, and then head for his next ambush spot.
It was only a matter of seconds before he acquired his targets and began shooting. Perry rapidly fired two times, dropping two men before the rest of the men could scramble for cover. Perry then ran in the middle of the creek to his exit point, the one closest to the raiders. He carefully made his footprints in the sand line up with the footprints he had left earlier, the ones that led to the other exit point. Unless they had a skilled tracker with them, they would follow his tracks all the way up the creek. When he had accomplished that, he exited the creek bank and disappeared into the woods.
When the raiders pursued, they would keep going past where he had actually exited and then well up the creek. Let’s see if they come out of the creek bed with a paddle. I’ll have a new name to put on the map for this creek if they don’t. He mused as he jogged toward his second ambush point. The false exit spot would be another prime ambush spot. He knew exactly where they would come out of the creek and he had just enough time to set up. After two or three came over the bank, he would cut them down, then he would disappear again. Perry smiled as he moved through the woods.
Roman had been watching the way the different groups set up their camps, each separated from the other by several hundred yards. This gave him an idea, a somewhat high-risk idea, but one that had an undeniable appeal to him. Using their campfires to spot them, he slowly and carefully eased his way between two campsites in the dark. He watched for sentries, but doubted they would be alert this time of night—if there even were any. By dawn, he was behind the raiders’ line.
His idea was to confuse the raiders by attacking from a completely different direction to make them start watching their back trail instead of assuming no one was behind them. If anything would slow them down, it would be having to watch behind them as well as in front. It only took him a half hour to locate a good ambush spot. A heavy cove of trees that extended along an ancient fence line led back into a boggy area. It gave him cover to retreat, then circle back and find his way through their lines to get in front of them again. That was the dangerous part, moving through them in daylight.
He decided that if he couldn’t get back through he would simply stay behind them and skip the nightly rendezvous, operating on his own until the big battle. The others might worry when he didn’t show up, but worrying that others were worried wasn’t something to be taken into account during a war. He liked the plan—he liked it a lot.
Just as the men he was watching finished packing up and starting to move out, Roman fired two times, dropping two men. He then evacuated the area using the tree line. When he got to the bog, he circled around it and followed a dry wash to another heavily forested area and started moving back toward the raiders again. When he achieved a visual on another of their groups, he could tell he wasn’t going to the rendezvous that night. They were stirred up like a kicked-over fire ant nest; his and his compadres’ ambushes were definitely working. Instead of trying to slip through, he eased in closer and shot two more, then quickly moved back. Hell, I can keep this up as long as I have ammo, and I have plenty of, he thought as he began circling back for another shot or two. Roman was enjoying having the entire backfield to himself. It gives me a lot more latitude. No pun intended.” He thought.
That evening Perry, Tim, and Matt rejoined by the little waterfall. Once they were together, they sat down to eat the cold ration bars that Sarah’s team had put together. They weren’t very tasty, but they packed a big calorie load and served their purpose.
Tim was the first to comment on Roman’s absence. “I hope he got lost again, I’d hate like hell if he got killed. He never did have a good sense of direction. Damned old fool could get lost in a phone booth.”
Matt replied, “I heard shooting from back behind their lines; I wouldn’t be surprised if he didn’t wander right through them in the dark and found himself stuck back there behind them.”
Tim added, “I’ve seen him get lost in San Angelo, of all places, and more than once. Simple little town like that, and he’d get lost like he was down in the f*cking Amazon Basin without a compass. I’m with Matt—I thought I heard gunfire behind them and was thinking it had to be that damn Roman; who else could be back there? Hells bells, who else would be back there but him? It’s just the sort of stunt he likes to pull. If he’s smart, he’ll stay back there and keep hitting them from behind. Pretty good idea, too, making them watch their six as well as their twelve. He better be back there, dammit, or I’ll beat the shit out of him when he shows up.”
MARCH 27, EARLY EVENING
Adrian sat on the ground with a map across his lap. He had just received the latest scout reports and sent the scouts back out. He pointed at a spot on the map that showed two hills near each other.
Adrian said, “Bollinger, let’s go over the plan again. We’re going to use these two hills and the draw between them. Rex’s men are east of them a mile or so right now. He’s pulled his men in a bit closer together, thanks to the ambush team, but they are still too spread out to suit this operation. I’ve gone over every strategy and tactic that I can think of, knowing Rex knows all of them, too. I’m hoping that he is expecting us to do something fancy and tricky—that’s usually the way his mind works. So we’re going to do something simple and as old as war itself.
“We’re going to use Sioux battle tactics. Hit them with a small force, engage them, and then suddenly run in panic to get them to give chase into our real ambush. The trick is to not give them time to think about it, so the attack will be close to the ambush spot, maybe two hundred yards. I’ll lead the hit team and then pull back through the draw between these two hills. Our main body will be split into four groups, one on each hill, one right here on the west end of the draw, and the fourth, led by you, will be hidden on the east side of the north hill. As soon as the last of Rex’s men passes by, you move in behind them and plug the rear of the draw. We’ll have them surrounded with two of those positions, having the advantage of height. From there, it stays just as simple: everyone fires at their own discretion, picking them off.
“Rex will have two options: stand and fight, which I doubt; or gather his men close and charge one of the groups to try and overrun them and get out of the ambush zone. I don’t think he will try to take the hills—the terrain works against him too much. So it’s either charge backwards or charge forward. My guess is, knowing Rex, that he’ll charge forward. He never liked to back up, and going forward puts him closer to the village. If he can break through, he knows it will be to his advantage to get between us and the village. Based on that I’m going to have most of the men on the west end of the draw. I’ll be joining up with them as we pull back. You’ll be in position against their rear and the men on the hills will have a clear field of fire without worry of crossfire. The two teams on the ends of the draw will have to be careful or we could end up shooting into each other. Make sure everyone knows to take specific aim at an enemy only, no wild shooting.
“My group will be entrenched and take advantage of cover. Rex will have to keep moving, which exposes his men. You’ll direct the other three groups, joining them up and tackling the rear. Your men will have to be moving which exposes you, but you’ll be getting a little less heat if Rex keeps his men moving forward. What do you think? What are the weaknesses?”
Bollinger replied, “The first weakness is that they might not chase you. It’s so old of a trick that only a greenhorn would fall for it. Rex won’t, unless he is overthinking and suspecting that you actually want him to not follow, that you’re double-bluffing him. I think he might just do that—overthink it, I mean. He’ll be thinking that you have something up your sleeve and that by not following he’ll be in a weak spot; that you want him to stay where he is or move right or left. I think you might need to help him along with that thought a bit, have some of the scouts flash a light at them from their rear and flanks a couple of times before daybreak—nothing obvious, just a few flashes to let them know someone is out there. Do that before you attack to give him time to spin his mind up tight trying to out think what you’re doing. He’ll be expecting tricks, because, like you said, that’s how his mind works. Sometimes being as smart as he is turns into a handicap.
“The other weakness is that he moves forward, but on a tangent going either north or south of the hills, and gets around us. The only defense against that is to have the men ready for it and have a plan in place to move into his line of march and engage.”
Adrian replied, “I like the flashlights, ask for volunteers. Make it clear that this is only a ploy, no engagement with them, it won’t do anything except weaken our ploy, make real sure they understand that because these men are eager to start shooting. Also, pull the guerilla groups into a position to fire on the raiders if they choose one of the tangents instead of the draw. They can buy us time to bring the other men into position. If the raiders don’t go on a tangent, the guerillas can come in and join your group in the east.”
Bollinger said, “Done.”
MARCH 27, LATE EVENING
Linda gathered the women fighters together. They were sitting near the eastern edge of the village defense line.
Linda said, “Our mission is to defend the village as a last straw defense. A Hail Mary kind of defense. Everyone else has been evacuated; it’s just us here now. The reason that Adrian didn’t take us on the battlefield is because he was worried that the men would become overprotective of us, and therefore less effective. It’s a good reason, a sound reason. But it has flaws. First flaw is that we are only defending property. I know it’s important to defend our homes and crops and livestock, but is it critically important? If we save all this but lose our men in the process, can we call that victory? Would we want to live on like that? You tell me.”
While the women were looking at Linda and shaking their heads back and forth Shirley asked, “What are you suggesting we do instead?”
Linda replied, “I’m suggesting that we follow the men out onto the battlefield, stay together as a unit, and provide them with backup reinforcement. I’m suggesting that we get into a position behind them where we can see what’s happening and move into any area that needs to be supported. I’m fully aware that we may startle the men, and maybe some of them will be distracted when we arrive. But our bullets kill the same as their bullets, and if they need support, I’m confident we can provide it. However, it’s also necessary that those that go are willing to go, want to go, and believe it’s the best thing to do. Sitting here on our hands doesn’t appeal to me.
“The options for you to consider are to go with me, stay here to defend our houses, or pull all the way back to defend the older people and children at the evacuation point. Personally, I think it would be best for any that don’t want to go with me to pull back and defend the evacuation point. If the raiders get past the men—and us—they may eventually find the evacuees, so they will have to move as far away as they can as fast as they can and you can certainly be a positive help with that. Bottom line is that I am going to the battlefield—alone, if need be.
“Now, those who want to provide protection at the evacuation point, raise your hands.” Four women slowly raised their hands. Linda continued, “Those who want to go with me, raise yours.” The rest of the women quickly raised their hands.
Linda said, “We’ve got a few hours of daylight left. Go home, get your gear, and meet me here in thirty minutes. Bring four of Matt’s cannons; we’ll take turns carrying them in teams of three. We’ll be marching all night. I know where Adrian plans the first engagement, and we have just enough time to get there before the shooting starts. We’re burning daylight, ladies, let’s move!”