The Ambush
The twenty-four year old lieutenant carefully lowered his binoculars and barely turned his head to the left to where his sergeant was waiting behind the fallen tree. The sun beat down on them as the sergeant raised an eyebrow causing several beads of sweat to run down his forehead. The Lieutenant turned back to look at the road some 50 yards away where the column of tracked vehicles lazily moved under his gaze, he was waiting for the perfect time, but there never seemed to be one.
The enemy commander had still not deployed any of his infantry. It was a mistake to let them all ride in the armored personnel carriers, one that the, men would pay for, yet again, with their blood. The lieutenant held up two fingers to the sergeant indicating which target he wanted hit with the antitank weapon. The Sergeant looked down the line alerting the others to get ready.
O.K. the LT thought. Hit them with two rockets, then fall back. The enemy Major would then have the armor and infantry deploy. The troops would move into the brush looking for their ambushers, by the time they got 25 feet into the woods the LT and his squad would be in position to fire the mines and kill them. It would work, he knew because it had worked three times yesterday and it had worked once already today. The LT brought his rifle up to bear and looked for targets, there were none, no heads sticking up from a hatch, at least they had learned that lesson, and it only took six or so men to die to learn it.
The Sergeant sighted in on the vehicle and aimed at track. Hitting that will destroy its ability to move and take a few hours to repair. He knew the LT would prefer to score a hull hit, but there would be no guarantee that it would be effective. It could knock a hole in the side killing those inside or it could hit the ammo causing the tank to be destroyed but most likely it would leave the paint scorched and scare the troopers inside. Targeting the treads was a more effective strategy to slow them down. When the desired location appeared in the sights, he gently squeezed the trigger mechanism, whish was in reality more of a button. The tube on his shoulder roared to life, as soon as the rocket cleared him, he dropped and rolled to the left, pushing up and running back, he noticed the LT in a full run beside him as they darted around the trees and smaller brush. The explosion was never as loud and impressive as they remembered from the movies of their youth. It sounded almost hollow, the trees started to snap and pop as bullets were blindly fired into the area where the rocket had come from.
It was always a rush, the adrenaline pumping, the prospect that the air they were forcing into their lungs my be the last ever tasted, that the pain that they felt in their legs from forcing them to move faster than they ever had before in a vain attempt to outrun death himself, the panic that sat their in the backs of their minds demanding them to run away and not stop running, all worked to make them aware of each and every thing that was happening to them. The two men reached the ambush site and ran through it to the small berm on the other side.
Falling down on the other side, they looked at each other. “Once again” the Lieutenant said, grinning while the sergeant looked at him like he was crazy. The sergeant handed off the rocket launcher and unslung his rifle. Inching back up he peered over the top of the pile of dirt. “Here they come” he whispered as the other men in the squad got ready. The private to his left picked up the command detonation device and held it ready to hit it three times when the enemy soldiers got into the kill zone.
The LT forced himself to slow his breathing down, gulping air and wheezing would not be good for his health for the next two minutes. He looked at his group, proud that they were able to do this, time and again, keeping the enemy on edge, destroying their moral. He was proud that they had only lost one man in two weeks. This was not an easy job but they were doing it and doing it well. He felt a sting then several more on his back and realized he must have landed in an ant bed again. It was the only mistake he had made in several days. It was his job to protect his men from mistakes, to exploit the mistakes of the other guy.
The LT realized, all of a sudden that something was wrong the infantry was being much more careful this time, they were moving slow, that was to be expected, but they were moving too slow and being too noisy about it. He whipped his head around to the sergeant and could instantly tell he knew too. His brain was racing, with hundreds of possibilities, none of them good. The Lieutenant decided to give the order to fall back. As he opened his mouth the sergeant’s head exploded into a pink, grey and red mist. He could only watch in horror and more bullets ripped into the lifeless corps of his sergeant. He looked left and saw the private with the detonator jerk with the impact of several rounds; beyond him other kids were also being chewed to bits.
Somewhere in the back of his mind his body was telling him something, something important. He fell over wondering what pushed him down. The nagging in his brain drew his attention to his legs, they hurt, bad. His stomach burned as new pain originated and shot outward. He tried to move his hands but couldn’t. The Lieutenant gasped, gulping in air and tasting blood in his mouth. The pain was terrible from all over his body and just when he thought he could not stand it anymore he noticed how blue the sky was. It was a rich blue with just traces of white clouds, the sounds of automatic fire stopped and he heard nothing for a second it was peaceful, and the pain seemed to be gone.
He heard twigs breaking and leaves crunching. At the edge of his vision he saw the blued barrel of an assault rifle turning towards him, his heart raced, he coughed, blood spraying from his mouth. The Lieutenant wanted to say something, to ask them how they had ambushed him, why they were going to kill him now that he was wounded. Panic filled him, as he tried to move but his broken body failed him, much the same was as he felt he had failed his men.
Lowering his rifle the trooper, reached for his microphone to call in and let the major know that his plan worked perfectly.
The enemy commander had still not deployed any of his infantry. It was a mistake to let them all ride in the armored personnel carriers, one that the, men would pay for, yet again, with their blood. The lieutenant held up two fingers to the sergeant indicating which target he wanted hit with the antitank weapon. The Sergeant looked down the line alerting the others to get ready.
O.K. the LT thought. Hit them with two rockets, then fall back. The enemy Major would then have the armor and infantry deploy. The troops would move into the brush looking for their ambushers, by the time they got 25 feet into the woods the LT and his squad would be in position to fire the mines and kill them. It would work, he knew because it had worked three times yesterday and it had worked once already today. The LT brought his rifle up to bear and looked for targets, there were none, no heads sticking up from a hatch, at least they had learned that lesson, and it only took six or so men to die to learn it.
The Sergeant sighted in on the vehicle and aimed at track. Hitting that will destroy its ability to move and take a few hours to repair. He knew the LT would prefer to score a hull hit, but there would be no guarantee that it would be effective. It could knock a hole in the side killing those inside or it could hit the ammo causing the tank to be destroyed but most likely it would leave the paint scorched and scare the troopers inside. Targeting the treads was a more effective strategy to slow them down. When the desired location appeared in the sights, he gently squeezed the trigger mechanism, whish was in reality more of a button. The tube on his shoulder roared to life, as soon as the rocket cleared him, he dropped and rolled to the left, pushing up and running back, he noticed the LT in a full run beside him as they darted around the trees and smaller brush. The explosion was never as loud and impressive as they remembered from the movies of their youth. It sounded almost hollow, the trees started to snap and pop as bullets were blindly fired into the area where the rocket had come from.
It was always a rush, the adrenaline pumping, the prospect that the air they were forcing into their lungs my be the last ever tasted, that the pain that they felt in their legs from forcing them to move faster than they ever had before in a vain attempt to outrun death himself, the panic that sat their in the backs of their minds demanding them to run away and not stop running, all worked to make them aware of each and every thing that was happening to them. The two men reached the ambush site and ran through it to the small berm on the other side.
Falling down on the other side, they looked at each other. “Once again” the Lieutenant said, grinning while the sergeant looked at him like he was crazy. The sergeant handed off the rocket launcher and unslung his rifle. Inching back up he peered over the top of the pile of dirt. “Here they come” he whispered as the other men in the squad got ready. The private to his left picked up the command detonation device and held it ready to hit it three times when the enemy soldiers got into the kill zone.
The LT forced himself to slow his breathing down, gulping air and wheezing would not be good for his health for the next two minutes. He looked at his group, proud that they were able to do this, time and again, keeping the enemy on edge, destroying their moral. He was proud that they had only lost one man in two weeks. This was not an easy job but they were doing it and doing it well. He felt a sting then several more on his back and realized he must have landed in an ant bed again. It was the only mistake he had made in several days. It was his job to protect his men from mistakes, to exploit the mistakes of the other guy.
The LT realized, all of a sudden that something was wrong the infantry was being much more careful this time, they were moving slow, that was to be expected, but they were moving too slow and being too noisy about it. He whipped his head around to the sergeant and could instantly tell he knew too. His brain was racing, with hundreds of possibilities, none of them good. The Lieutenant decided to give the order to fall back. As he opened his mouth the sergeant’s head exploded into a pink, grey and red mist. He could only watch in horror and more bullets ripped into the lifeless corps of his sergeant. He looked left and saw the private with the detonator jerk with the impact of several rounds; beyond him other kids were also being chewed to bits.
Somewhere in the back of his mind his body was telling him something, something important. He fell over wondering what pushed him down. The nagging in his brain drew his attention to his legs, they hurt, bad. His stomach burned as new pain originated and shot outward. He tried to move his hands but couldn’t. The Lieutenant gasped, gulping in air and tasting blood in his mouth. The pain was terrible from all over his body and just when he thought he could not stand it anymore he noticed how blue the sky was. It was a rich blue with just traces of white clouds, the sounds of automatic fire stopped and he heard nothing for a second it was peaceful, and the pain seemed to be gone.
He heard twigs breaking and leaves crunching. At the edge of his vision he saw the blued barrel of an assault rifle turning towards him, his heart raced, he coughed, blood spraying from his mouth. The Lieutenant wanted to say something, to ask them how they had ambushed him, why they were going to kill him now that he was wounded. Panic filled him, as he tried to move but his broken body failed him, much the same was as he felt he had failed his men.
Lowering his rifle the trooper, reached for his microphone to call in and let the major know that his plan worked perfectly.
posted by Vulture 6 | 4:56 PM
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