Before sundown, Mike put together what he would need the next day. The rifle was still set up with the 16” barrel. That would be perfect for the sneak and peek that he had planned. He’d wear both the ballistic vest and inserts in the morning. Nothing that the raiders had would penetrate that. A lucky shot to the head or hitting an artery in the leg would end him, but that was a risk he was willing to take. Mike checked his gear one more time. He had his Vortex rangefinder that was part of his hunting kit, the Nikon binoculars, noise protection and a small notebook and pen. For food he’d take a couple of nutrition bars. That should be all the he needed. The range finder would give him distances out to around 700-800 yards. He knew that he couldn’t get all that he wanted. But that should give him a good idea. He’d already decided that if he could take a lot of the raiders down, he’d do it the day after tomorrow.
Having settled all that in his mind, he ate an MRE and then set his phone for a wake up in the morning. When it went off, he was up and got ready. The ballistic vest went under his shirt. He was in all cameo today and added some face paint. He didn’t want his white face to stand out. Then he headed towards the stream. It was just starting to get light and he had no trouble navigating the ford. It was cold and he was thankful for his Gortex boots.
The cows had worn a path from the corral, north down beside the processing house to the pastures beyond. He noticed that one guard was on the path and could watch the processing house door. He was far enough away that the villagers couldn’t jump him. The guard wasn’t that alert, he was focused on the processing house and looking away from the woods. He was only 10 feet or so from the forest. Mike knew that he could get up behind him and then take him out. Once he saw that, he concentrated on the other two guards.
Both guards were on opposite ends of the corral, facing towards the corral and facing away from the woods. They were both about 30 feet or so from the woods. The cows and the people milking them were making enough noise that if he was quiet, he could sneak up on them. Mike couldn’t get in position to get more information until the people doing the milking went back into the village. He moved back to the edge of the stream and sketched out the positions in his notebook.
It was past noon when the milking crew went back into the village. With that Mike moved up to the path and then quickly ran in crouch to the northern edge of the corral. Once there, he paused to check that it was clear. Satisfied that he was still good, he crawled along the fence until he was at the other end of the corral. From there he took out his range finder and got the distance to the wall. 110 yards was the reading and he put that in his notebook. Then he took out his binoculars and looked around.
The first thing he looked for was guards by the wall. He spotted one and took a range on the north wall. He got back 174 yards. He noted that. He wasn’t surprised to see a guard at the west gate. He was only 130 yards away. Then he looked at the fields he saw two guards watching people set up plows. He had to do a double take. It looked like they were using Amish plows. He’d seen pictures of those as a kid. That technology was mid 1800’s or later. The flintlocks looked like early 1700’s or may be 1750’s. This was a disconnect. He’d worry about that later. Using the range finder, he got 640 yards to the guards. Looking around he saw a good spot to take out the guards. It was about 30 yards up and to the right of where he was. He had all the information he needed here. He then slowly crawled back to the path.
Once he was on the path he walked in a crouch to the south end of the corral. Then he repeated the process of crawling up to the other end nearer the wall. From there he saw the vineyard. It was extensive. With the binoculars he could see four guards. They were standing on wagons, guarding the people he saw working in the vineyard. There was one looking away from Mike at the far end of the vineyard. The rangefinder showed 680 yards. There were two in the middle of the vineyard. One facing away and one looking towards were Mike was. They were 425 yards away. The final one was all the way at the end of the vineyard and was facing away from Mike. That guard was only 210 yards away. Mike assumed that there would be a guard towards the middle of the south wall as well. So far, he had thirteen guards. There had to be one at the east gate, plus two or three with the sheep made 16 or 17 guards. These were all doable shots even with the 16” barrel. But he’d change to the 20” with suppressor for this. It depended on good weather the next day. He didn't want to attempt this in windy or rainy conditions.
Mike crawled back to the path and made his way back to the ford and then across the river and on to his camp. The first thing he did was to take the 20” barrel and torque wrench out of his gun case and change out the barrel. Loosen two bolts and the 16” slipped right out and the 20” replaced it. Tighten the bolts and it was good. The suppressor went on as well. It was the quick attach kind and all he had to do was press in a pin and screw it on. There would still be noise, just not as much, mostly from the sonic shock. The bipod went on the rifle as well. He put in a 25 round magazine. Finally he'd take his noise cancelling headphones. Normal noise wouldn't be blocked, but loud noises like a shot would be. He was going to take out the guards by the cows silently. He was pretty sure he could do it. A bit of snake eater stuff, but he’d been taught that in the Marines. Once that was done, he went to get some water from the river to make diner.
He boiled the water before putting in the freeze dried beef stew. With all the animals around, he didn’t think that he could drink it without boiling. Last thing he needed was to get the trots. He fixed his meal, ate and then cleaned up. He packed everything away, so that if he had to bug out, all he had to do was grab the pack. Tonight, like he had for the last few nights he’d be sleeping in his poncho. He then sat down to plan out his attack. First, he would take out the guard near the processing house. It would be fairly easy to sneak up on him and kill him. Drag him back not the woods and then kill the other two. He’d like to get the guard by the west gate silently if possible. If not, he’d go when he took down the guards in the vineyard.
The far guard in the vineyard would be a 600 yard plus shot. That was the toughest and most critical shot. Then he’d take out the two middle guards and finally the one nearest him. Two shots for the far guard, re-establish the target for the middle guards. Then three to four shots. Do the same with the last guard. The guard on the south gate would probably react. Kill him, an easy shot. That was eight guards down.
Then move across the top of the corral. He may have to engage both the guard on the west gate and the north gate. Close range stuff. At that range, if they were good, they could hit him with their muskets. It was a risk but a good one. Then take out the guards at the fields. From the position he took out the guards on the fields, he could cover both the west and north gate, plus anybody come out of any other gate. Those would be 150 to 175 yard shots. Very doable, like deer hunting.
While Mike was figuring all this out Mordt was meeting with some of the village leaders. They were all upset about the men holding the village hostage. One complained. “These people are interfering with our work. People have guards looking at them all the time. It makes them mad and nervous. I’m afraid somebody is going to do something and then we’ll have trouble.”
Mordt tried to calm them. “I wish that the ground would open up and swallow them whole. But they are going to be here for at least another week to ten days. We must keep the people calm. The men who left are obviously going to raid a big caravan. The last time they tried that, years ago, they fooled us. I guess this time they didn’t think dressing up as merchants would fool us again. If I could, I would warn the Duke, but we can’t get to him easily. No, we just have to hold on and hope that there will be a time when we can spit on their bodies. Please go and do what you can to keep the people calm.”
Meanwhile Alivina, was in her parents’ house. She couldn’t stay in her house. The memory of what happened to her husband was just to recent and to painful. At least here, she had people to comfort her. While, she didn’t say anything, she was constantly thinki
ng of ways to get revenge for the death of her husband.
In the morning, Mike woke up and ate, relieved himself and then touched up his face paint. He crossed the river once again and waited by the bank until the cows were in the corral. His rifle was slung across his back, barrel down. He could easily loosen the sling and bring up into a firing position in a couple of seconds. He moved north along the game trail that ran alongside the river until he reached where he thought the first sentry would be. Then he moved quietly in a crouch to the cow path. As he neared the path, he moved until he was behind the guard. Two of the villagers were moving a cart full of milk to the processing house.
Alivina and Jan were taking milk in to be processed into cheese, butter and yogurt. Alivina saw the guard and Jan could tell that she wanted to run over and attack him. “Careful, Alivina our time will come. Let’s get this milk delivered.”
Once the two villagers were inside the shed, Mike rose up and move softly towards the guard. The guard wasn’t a big man, maybe 5’9” or less. He must have sensed Mike behind him and started to move, but it was too late. Mike grabbed him around the neck and under his chin and twisted like he’d been taught. This broke the guard’s neck and the man slumped against him. He grabbed the musket and dragged the guard back into the woods. When that was done, he moved back to the game trail and then to the south to get the next guard.
When Alivina and Jan were coming out they couldn’t see the guard. “Where do you think that prick is Jan?”
“Maybe he went back in the woods to water a tree.”
“I hope he runs into that plant that causes the rash and itching and gets it on his member and his crotch.”
Jan laughed. Then they finished bringing the cart to the corral where the barrels would be filled with milk again. Both went in to help with the milking. As they were doing this Mike was making his way quietly to the guard on the north corner of the corral, very near where Alivina was. This guy was bigger, and Mike was going to use his KA-Bar on him.
When he reached the guard, he put his hand over his mouth and at the same time sunk his knife up and under his ribs right into the heart. The guard sagged against him. As he was doing this, Alivina turned to look at the guard. She saw someone putting a knife into the guard and she was shocked and put her hand over her mouth to stop herself from making any noise. Mike looked up to see a very pretty young girl looking right at him. He put his finger to his lips, and he saw her nod. Then he slipped back into the woods.
Alivina turned to Jan. “Jan, don’t say a word, don’t look shocked. I know where that other guard is. He’s dead, just like the one over there. Look slowly and carefully.”
Jan slowly looked, and he could see the guard’s feet on the ground. “What’s going on. Who killed him?”
“I don’t know. He was dressed funny with paint on his face. There was a funny looking musket strapped over his shoulder. He slipped back into the woods. I bet he’s going to go after that other guard. I’m going to help him”
“How?”
“I’m going to distract him. I’m fertile as you can probably tell. That always gets a man’s attention.” With that she loosened the top of her shirt. “Showing a little more tit never hurt either.” With that she headed towards the south end of the corral.
Mike positioned himself behind the last guard. Alivina was looking for him. When he started out of the woods, she went up to the guard and started to talk with him. She made sure she got close enough to him so he could tell she was fertile, and she made sure to give him a good look at her tits. Mike saw what she was doing and smiled to himself. He got behind this one, and just like the last, the knife went in and the guard was dead. He laid him down on the ground out of sight of the village. Alivina spit on the corpse.
Mike looked at the village and pointed towards the gate. He held up one finger, then two and shrugged his shoulders. He hoped he got the message across. Alivina realized that he was asking about the guard at the gate. She held up one finger, then she climbed out of the corral and signaled Mike to wait. Mike once again shrugged his shoulders not knowing what she wanted. Alivina put her hands under her breasts and then bounced them. Then she swayed her hips and smiled.
Mike got right away that she was going to distract the guard. She did have a grade A body on her, and these guys weren’t that disciplined. Even if they were, somebody like her could distract even a good sentry. She led the way and Mike followed in a crouch. He was ready to draw either his Glock or use the AR if discovered. When they reached the gate, Mike put himself flush against the wall holding his knife. He could hear her talking to the guard, he couldn’t tell what she was saying but it sounded nice.
Alivina, convinced the guard she had dropped an important trinket just outside the gate and he went out to help her look. Mike saw him bend over and just took the hilt of the knife in both hands and came down in a vicious chop on the medulla. This would have gotten him kicked out of any dojo. It was a blow that could either kill or seriously injure the person. But it was just what the situation called for. Mike didn’t wait, he put the knife in him and then dragged him next to the wall out of the way of the gate. He then motioned the girl to head back to the corral.
With that he moved in a quick crouch to the position that he’d picked out the previous day. He extended the bipod on the AR and went into the prone position. The noise cancelling headphones went on. He used the rangefinder to quickly check the ranges to his targets. The farthest was now 635 yards, the middle 390 and the closest was 180. He carefully lined up the shot on the farthest guard and squeezed the trigger. The recoil was minimal, the rifle stayed on target and he fired again almost immediately. He then acquired the two middle guards and sent four bullets their way in quick succession. By the time he’d acquired the last guard, that guard was starting to react. The man apparently heard the shots and was confused. There was no smoke, like from a black powder gun, so he could tell direction but had no idea where the shots came from. One shot took him center of mass and blew him back off the wagon. Mike looked up and could see the gate guard starting to come running towards him. Mike put him down as well.
The guard on the farthest wagon was standing there idly wondering when he could sit down on the edge of the wagon. He never heard the shots that killed him. They were still supersonic when they hit. The first one hit his right shoulder, the second hit his left lung and exited out the front. He dropped to the ground immediately. The workers heard the muffled shots, mostly the sonic shockwave, looked up and saw the guard falling. They stood around in shock. The middle guards heard the shots and then saw their buddy fall. They started to look around for the shooter, but before they could do much, they were dead as well. Three hits were fatal, the last was just a shoulder wound. The last guard realized the shots were coming from slightly behind him and to his left. He started to turn and bring his musket up to fire. Before he could do anything, he was hit right in the chest with a .308 and went down. The guard at the south gate heard the shots and started towards the noise. He hadn’t gotten 20 steps before a bullet slammed into him putting him out of action.
The guard on the north gate heard what sounded like shots. He hesitated for a moment. It didn’t sound like musket fire. He briefly wondered if it were rifle fire. If it was then it would take a long time to reload. He started running towards the shots. At the same time Mike had stood up and was running towards his next position. He was holding his AR up by the pistol grip. As he neared his spot, he saw the guard coming around the corner of the wall. This wasn’t totally unexpected. The guard and Mike saw each other at almost the same time. What the guard saw was somebody dressed in strange clothing carrying a strange musket. Who was that? It was his last thought. Mike stopped and fired three quick shots at the guard. All hit and the guard was dead before he hit the ground.
Mike lay down and positioned his rifle. He had time, as the two guards by the fields were heading towards him but were still hundreds of yards away. He took a quick range and got 590. He put
the BDC rectile on the 600 yard mark and adjusted it up just a hair. He then squeezed off one shot. The first guard staggered. Mike then switched to the second and fired off two shots. When he looked both were down. They could be wounded or dead. It didn't matter, they were out of the fight. He then adjusted his position so he could cover the west gate and also quickly engage anybody coming out of the north gate or around from the east gate. Once he was set, he dropped the magazine out of the AR and put in the second 25 round magazine.
He needn’t have worried about the guard at the east gate. As soon as he heard the repeated shots, he thought that the royal guard had arrived. With that he started running towards the road to the pass and the forest beyond. He would be the only raider to escape. As soon as the shepherds saw the guard running and heard the shots, they realized that the raiders were under attack. With that they signaled for their dogs to attack the two guards. These were not small dogs, they were big mastiffs, bred to protect the sheep from wolves. They jumped the guards and they went down. The shepherds finished the guards off with their knives and spit on their bodies.
Kornin was relaxing in his guest house. He was satisfied so far with how things had gone. The men had been well behaved, of course he had told them, if any of them caused a problem there would be a new grave in the graveyard. He was slightly concerned. The village was tense and angry, he could tell that. He had no idea what to do about it. The only thing he could think of was to ride it out. Then he heard the shots. Kornin bolted upright. He knew that those didn’t sound like muskets, but they were shots of some kind. He ran next door where the night watch was sleeping. He shook them awake and started yelling at them to get ready, there was trouble.
Through the Gate: The Chronicles of Cornu Book 1 Page 42