The battalion moved forward to the west and stopped when the squads spotted Mosh units in the distance, called up reports. The Hercules and Stallion and Hellcat tank battalions moved up the road and faced west and pulled in behind the light infantry squads, stayed far enough back so that the Mosh wouldn’t spot them. The Interceptors came and hit targets designated by the infantry, destroyed or neutralized most of them. The squads moved forward, spotted more Mosh. The tanks came forward as well.
The Light tank battalion and Cavalry squadron sped north on the road, past the other units, and then turned west to stab into the rear areas of the Mosh units. The Interceptors came and made another run, hit more targets. The heavy and medium tanks moved ahead of the light infantry and paused. Mosh units reacted and came east to attack and were cut down by the tanks. The tanks moved forward with the infantry watching their backs. The left flank of the heavy and medium tanks moved forward so that the line was diagonal from southwest to northeast.
The Cav and Light Tanks pushed along a westerly axis and smashed into scattered resistance, took down several brigade headquarters and sent a detachment to overrun each of the Mosh division command centers. They stopped when their lead element reached the bank of the Gang-nam River and then they faced south. The heavy and medium tanks pushed on and picked their way to the river bank as well, taking out any Mosh they ran across. They faced across the river and fired on targets of opportunity on the other side at extreme range.
Cav and Light Tank then moved south right up to the edge of the city and fired into Mosh positions and waited there until the Mandarin regular army moved north to clear out the rest of the Mosh still in the city’s outskirts. The helos came and picked up the light infantry and then the heavy and medium tanks did a final police call across the area of operations on their way back to the road, headed south in column, back to their designated hide areas in the city of Chong-gok op.
Cav and Light Tank made their ways back to their hides as well. Twelve hours spent, two Mosh light divisions taken out. Galen informed his troops they had two days to lick their wounds and reconstitute for more maneuvers. That was plenty of time. Six Hellcat and two Stallion tanks lost, eighteen troops killed, five more injured too badly to return to duty.
***
Galen stood in the ops center and stared at the battle map.
Spike walked up to stand beside him and said, “Battle’s over. Get some chow and go to sleep.”
Galen said, “That was too easy.”
Spike said, “Not really. The Mosh lost twenty percent of their warriors and more than half of their combat support weapons when they burned in for a hard landing. They also lost nearly half their line warriors when they first entered the city. Most of what we ran over today was rear-echelon pukes. Then their fighters were caught between us and the Mandarins at the edge of the city. What we really took out today was more like half a division, and they were low on ammo.”
Galen rolled his shoulders, pointed at a spot to the left on the battle map. “Is this data current?”
Spike said, “About an hour old at the most.”
“That,” Galen tapped the unit markers for a Mosh armored corps, “is what I’m worried about.”
Spike said, “They aren’t moving very fast. Their route is hampered by Mandarin units. The Mandarins stand and fight and die in place. They are slowing down the Mosh armor.”
Galen looked at the town at the bottom of the map. “It looks like the bridge farthest to the south is now in Mosh hands. The Mosh armor could cross there tomorrow.”
Spike said, “That bridge was destroyed by the defenders. When the Mosh main force moves in, they’ll need a couple of days to put up a new bridge.”
Galen stared, looked around the map.
Spike said, “Maybe we should send some Marines to the west side of our bridge, bolster the Mandarin defenders.”
Galen said, “No. Don’t split our forces.”
“Our mission is to hold that bridge, I thought.”
Galen smiled. “Yes. That’s why we’re here. But I’m thinking…”
Spike said, “You need rest. Let Tad fry his brain staring at this map.”
Tad entered the ops center. “You talking trash about me again?”
Spike said, “You know it. Brilliant operation you ran today, by the way. You’re an operational genius.’
Tad said, “Whatever. Phase two will blow your mind.”
Galen said, “Phase two?”
“Sure. We let those three Mosh light infantry divisions coming in from the west make it to the bridge, then we punch across that bridge and clear them out of the industrial city. Combined arms, Marines with the tanks. Then we circle back around and get back on this side of the river and then wait for the lead elements of their armor to get on the bridge and then destroy the bridge with them on it. Then phase three, we attack south and meet some Mosh armor head-on.”
Spike said, “You are sick and twisted.”
Galen said, “I like phase two. We’ll do that. Phase three, that’s a whole different story. Phase three, we move back to our old Jasmine Panzer Brigade compound and stand down for a while.”
Tad said, “I’ll get to work on phase two tomorrow. Time for some sleep.”
Galen left the ops center and went upstairs to his office and ate a field ration and stretched out on the couch.
Chapter Seventeen
The Mosh High Chief paced in front of his five Clan leaders, stopped and stared at them. “Sit!”
They sat on flimsy fold-up camp stools. The warehouse they were in was a sturdy steel structure, their command skimmers parked behind them inside the building. The High Chief’s command tank, an eighty ton monster, was behind him. He said, “We are still wining, there is no doubt our victory is certain. But it is taking longer than expected and we are losing more warriors than anticipated.”
“We—”
“Silence!” the High Chief turned his back, climbed up on his tank and reached inside, removed a fold-up chair and climbed back down, set up the chair and sat facing the Clan Chiefs, sat on it hunched forward. “Speak.”
The first Clan Chief said, “The current operation is still salvageable. We have taken three of the four upstream bridges intact. The one farthest to the south was destroyed, but it was the least important to our plans.”
The High Chief said, “As we all know, the Northern Province must be cleared. The Mandarins have mobile space lasers and they pop up in coordinated attacks that damage our transports that carry our women and children and livestock and servants. This must stop.”
The second Clan Chief said, “It will taken longer than expected, it will be a difficult fight.”
The High Chief made a sweeping gesture with his left hand that encompassed the first two Clan Chiefs. “You two, my own sons, were tasked with getting across that river and conquering the Northern Province. Instead we are here wondering how it is possible to fail, how it is possible we lose more in this fight than all previous losses that came before. Your cousins, my nephews, they are doing quite well and want to breach the Central Province’s western defenses and charge right into their capitol city, stab at the heart of our enemy and end this war.”
The High Chief’s operations specialist, an unarmed man wearing green coveralls, made his way from behind the command tank and stood at attention on the High Chief’s left side. The High Chief said, “He will share his thoughts. He will speak freely and take your questions at the end.”
The operations specialist said, “Thank you, Chief.” He relaxed his posture and stuffed his hands into his pockets. “For the most part, the opposition is lightly armed and poorly trained masses of draftees, called up to defend their home world with little preparation for war. Our generally aggressive, straightforward tactics work well against them and we’ve made great headway. However, we are now running into their regulars and they are putting up an effective fight. They are fielding new equipment, individual weapons that are effective against our
chain mail body armor as well as shoulder-fired weapons that are effective against our armored vehicles.
“They are also building armored vehicles that in many cases outclass our tanks, although in very limited quantities. That is not surprising. We had to bring our armor half way across the Galaxy while we fight right at the gates of their factories. The most interesting of their tank designs, causing the greatest threat to out advance, is a new vehicle they call a ‘peoples tank.’ It’s a gun carriage with a charge six laser cannon pointing right out of the glacis plate. It’s comparable in performance to our own MS-100 tank destroyer, although it lacks adequate mobility for offensive operations.
“This people’s tank relies on a gas turbine engine for mobility, and then draws power from an external electrical power source for its weapon. In some cases, an escort vehicle with an adequate fusion engine has provided power but generally they tap into the power grid of the towns and cities they defend to have the energy necessary to fire their main gun.
“I suggest it is essential to continue the current operation. This river valley is the heart of their industry and seizing it will prevent them from producing more tanks. The plan to spread out from there to conquer the Northern Province is secondary, something we can delay for an indefinite period. As for a breakout in the south followed by a drive to seize their capitol, that is feasible but will not end the war; crushing their industrial base will reduce our losses. That is our focus. When our conquest is complete we’ll need living warriors to occupy this planet and exploit the population. Warriors can’t help us from Valhalla.”
The second Clan Chief said, “You speak of new tanks and the Mandarin Regular Army, but there is another force at work here, something unexpected. Yesterday I had two divisions of my best warriors wiped off the map.”
The High Chief waved his operations specialists away, gestured for another man in green coveralls to approach. The second man said, “I have compiled battle reports and done extensive analysis and research. There is a Mercenary Brigade, called the Jasmine Panzer Brigade, in Chong-gok op. It is supported by three brigades of Capellan Confederation Marines equipped with medium powered armor. They also have a squadron of Interceptors, responsible for seventy percent of our bomber force losses. They were the ones who gave us a bloody nose at Cherry Fork, and they stand against us now.
“Analysis shows they are the single greatest threat to our forces, due to their high degree of technical and tactical expertise and superior equipment. Attacking and destroying them under the most favorable conditions would mean a loss ratio of five to one against us. Add in factors such as terrain and Mandarin military support and that number goes way up very quickly.”
The High Chief said, “Thank you,” and waved the intelligence specialist away. Then he turned to his three nephews and said, “I have a job for you three. Learn what you can about these mercenaries and then create a task force equal to them. Take warriors from each of your clans, organize and train them and put a leader in command of them who can think independently. He will report directly to me and I will charge him with the mission of meeting this Jasmine Panzer Brigade in battle, to keep it busy and out of the larger fight. You have six weeks to make this happen. Do you understand?”
The eldest nephew said, “Yes, Chief.”
The High Chief waved them away with his right hand. Then he said to his sons, “Conquer the valley and take their factories. But be mindful that we may need to use those factories to build more tanks for ourselves. Failure is not an option.”
The two remaining Clan Chiefs stood. The elder one said, “Father, we will not disappoint you.”
“I know. You may go.”
They left. The High Chief drew his sword and pulled a stone from his pocket and began sharpening the blade. The blade was already as sharp as it would ever get. Sharpening it was just something he did to help him focus, help him relax.
Chapter Eighteen
Galen stood in the hatch of his command tank and monitored comms. For three days it had been quiet, too quiet. Then the Mosh to the west had pushed into the industrial town across the river and took it in two days. Then the call came from the guard detachment on the west side of the bridge: “They’re here.”
The fire support officer laid down fires to keep the Mosh away from the other end of the bridge and a company of mechanized infantry went across on the lowest level of the bridge and established security. Galen said to his driver, “Let’s go.”
The Lion command tank pulled out of the residential garage where it had been hidden and made its way to the east end of the bridge. The Hercules heavy tank battalion was there waiting. Galen moved to the head of the column and said, “Herc six, follow me.”
They crossed on the top level of the bridge, to let the Mosh see them, for psychological impact. The Stallion and Hellcat tank battalions crossed on the level below, and the Light Tank battalion and Cavalry Squadron crossed on the bottom level of the bridge. Galen popped has hatch and looked. The river was two kilometers wide, its surface smooth, the skyline of the city on the opposite bank reflected in its surface. The Hercules tanks fired as they moved, picked targets along the river bank at first, and then shot into the buildings. Suppressive fire for the most part. Not many identifiable targets, just good guesses at where an enemy might be. Galen dropped down and closed his hatch, fired short bursts from his cupola rail gun into a few windows in the distance.
After crossing the bridge he parked off to the left side and said, “All yours, Herc. Good luck.” Galen popped his hatch and looked around at the buildings. They were office and apartment buildings, most of them ten to twelve stories high.
“Roger. Herc Six out.”
The Hercules tanks spread out left and right on the riverfront street and stopped with a platoon facing up each of the streets. They exchanged fire briefly with Mosh defenders, neutralized the threat, and then waited in silence. Marines in battle armor ran across the bridge and fell in behind the heavy tanks, a company behind each platoon. These groups pushed foreword and stopped at the far end of the block.
The helos then came and placed light infantry on the roofs of the buildings and they fought their way down to ground level. The heavy tanks moved forward another block and the Marines cleared more buildings. The medium tanks spread out on the riverfront street and took up the far left and right flanks. More Marines came and fell in behind them. The Helos shuffled more light infantry around, set them onto the roofs of the buildings where the Marines met tough resistance.
The task force clawed its way forward to the center of the city and then paused, expecting an armored counterattack that never came. Galen’s tank was parked next to an oversized bronze statue of a Mandarin political leader that stood tall in front of the main steps of city hall. The fight was over, but an occasional blast of anti-aircraft fire from the task force met incoming indirect fire from scattered Mosh resistance.
Galen called Tad, “Hey Three, where’s the Mosh armor? I’m getting bored.”
Tad called back, “Sorry, Six. Their armor is hung up on a pocket of Mandarin resistance, in a town about forty klicks west of you. It could be a couple of days.”
“All right. That bridge wired to blow?”
“You know it.”
Galen said, “That’s it then. We’re withdrawing.”
“Gotcha. Sending the orders now.”
Four Mosh fighter-bomber aircraft dove and strafed. Galen ducked inside his tank and heard fragments from a bomb dropped nearby spatter the side of this tank. He then stood and saw three of the fighter-bombers smash into the sides of tall buildings. The fourth one climbed and was shot in the ass by half a dozen laser cannons and burst into a thousand pieces. Galen surveyed the area around him and saw no significant damage to his troops. He set his cupola gun to acquire and fire at incoming artillery, knowing the Mosh aircraft had likely reported the location of his units. He then buttoned up and listened to the noise of artillery shells bursting far overhead, taken out before the
y were close enough to do real harm.
The withdrawal was slow and deliberate, the perimeter slowly shrinking like a collapsing balloon as the task force units made their way back across the bridge. Some Mosh tried to peruse, but the Ajax tanks were on the east bank of the river overlooking the bridge.
Galen crossed last and then moved to the side and faced back toward the bridge. He called Tad, “We’re out.”
Tad said, “Not bad. We lost three tanks and eighteen troops over there.”
“Yes. Take down the bridge when you’re ready.”
“Roger. But it just won’t be the same without a column of Mosh armor on it.”
Galen said, “We can’t always get what we want.”
“I know. The bridge is coming down in a few seconds.”
Galen closed his hatch and watched through optics. Blasts at the anchors for the suspension bridge’s cables went off first and the road surfaces began to slacken. Before they fell two meters, heavier charges went off at the bridge supports, all of them simultaneously, at the water line. The explosions caused Galen’s heart to skip a beat, despite the dampening effect of the armor of his tank. The four main pillars fell with the road beds and a cloud of dark dust and smoke obscured the view. The Ajax tanks and other fire support units dropped a spread of incendiary rounds on the city across the river, a pattern that set thirteen blocks ablaze in a semi-circle that fanned out from the far end of the destroyed bridge.
A gentle breeze eventually cleared the smoke from the destroyed bridge and Galen popped his hatch and looked. The bridge was now a ribbon of rubble lying on the bed of the river. “Nice.”
The sun set and Tad called Galen and said, “On your order, Six.”
The War for Profit Series Omnibus Page 94