“We're stuck,” Javy said. “Of course, you already know that.”
Danny debated whether to put his head up or not. One false move and he could have a bullet in his skull, but cowering behind a pile of rubble wasn't going to get them anywhere.
“Javy, can we make it over into the enemy positions?”
“That's going to be pretty tough. Why?”
“We're not getting anywhere if we're sitting here taking potshots at them,” Danny said. “We need to keep the pressure on them.”
“I get that, but do you really want to go up against them with just a squad?”
“They've never had problems charging us before. I think it's time to return the favor.”
“Whatever, it's your call,” Javy said in a tone that indicated he though Danny was completely insane.
Danny activated the platoon's channel. “All units, we're going over the top. Prepare for hand-to-hand combat. On my signal toss grenades at them, then charge.”
He punched a few buttons in his wrist menu, sending a countdown clock to every member of the platoon, which would display on their HUD. Once it reached zero they'd spring into action.
Five. Four. Three.
Danny set down his machine gun and pulled out a pistol, then grasped another grenade on his harness. Once he went over the top he'd draw his knife for the coming fight.
Two. One.
As the clock reached zero Danny pulled the pin and tossed the grenade into the enemy position. A second later a series of explosions rippled through the air. Had they hit their target?
He was about to find out. Danny pushed himself to his feet and charged over the rubble with the rest of his platoon.
* * *
The first bomb screamed down toward them, and for one awful second Nora thought it was going to land on top of them. But just before it impacted the projectile seemed to slow, and then it fell behind them.
She ducked down into the hatch to avoid the storm of shrapnel, hoping that the blast wouldn't catch them. Even if the bomb didn't score a direct hit, the shockwave could still be enough to send them careening off course or even flip them completely.
BAM!
Nora felt the explosion rattle the Gazelle, sending it swerving for a moment as Liz tried to keep control. She could hear the sound of shrapnel pinging off the hull, but for now they were safe, at least.
That wasn't going to last much longer, though. Nora peered out of the hatch and looked up at the sky to see more bombers diving in on them.
“They're wasting a lot of bombs on us,” she commented. That might be to their overall benefit, even though Nora didn't fancy getting killed at the moment.
“The bombers can't hit any of the frontline troops since they're so close to friendly lines,” Anna said. “And going into Jones Harbor is just asking for trouble. They have a top cover combat air patrol and a lot of antiaircraft guns on the ground.”
“Still, this is a lot of bombs for one vehicle.”
“If you're going to have to drop them, why not hit something with them?”
Nora didn't have time to respond as more bombs came plummeting out of the sky.
BAM! BAM!
She ducked down into the shelter of the hull as a blizzard of shrapnel clanked off the hull like hail. She felt the Gazelle swerve again as the shockwaves rattled them around, much harder than the last time. Nora didn't have to be a genius to know that the enemy's aim was getting better.
“Can we fire back?” she asked.
“There's no way I'm going to be able to hit a moving plane from a moving vehicle,” Anna said.
“Well, we need to do something before they blow us sky high,” she protested. The machine gun might not do much, but it was better than nothing.
“I might have an idea,” Liz cut in. “Hang on. This is going to be a rough ride.”
Nora didn't have time to ask what she meant, but Liz's intentions became clear very quickly. The Gazelle suddenly lurched to the left, throwing her off balance so hard that she slammed her head into the interior wall. Nora lay stunned for a moment, then struggled to regain her bearings. She pulled herself up into the hatch and took a look around.
A few more dive bombers came screaming down at them, ready to release their bombs, but Liz put the Gazelle into another tight turn and sped down another street. This time Nora managed to brace herself in the hatch and avoid any serious damage.
“How long are you going to keep this up?” she asked.
“As long as I have to. Just hope we don't make a wrong turn,” Liz replied.
That was the least of their concerns right now, Nora mused. They still had several dive bombers on their tail, and the enemy didn't look like they wanted to give up. She hadn't thought they would be this persistent, but apparently they deemed the Gazelle to be highly dangerous.
And even though they had done their job, Nora had no illusions about their chances. She had a fairly good idea how this would end, and it wasn't pretty. But until then, they would continue to try to stay alive.
* * *
Bravo Wolf's bold charge caught the Valkyries by surprise. Most of them barely had time to look up before Black Wolf troops came surging over their positions, firing quick bursts and bayoneting anyone who got in their way.
Danny unloaded a trio of shots into an enemy at point-blank range, sending them sprawling backward into the rubble. He blasted away at anyone who crossed his path, killing a few and wounding more.
A bayonet came slicing by, missing his face by a mere inch. Danny sidestepped the blow and lashed out with his now-empty pistol, catching his assailant with a stunning blow. The Valkyrie stumbled backward, then fell dead as someone else caught him in the chest with a bayonet thrust.
Wild thoughts raced through his mind. Keep moving. They had to keep pushing forward to keep the enemy off balance. If they were given enough time the Valkyries would rally, and then they'd be in for a nasty, brutish fight.
Danny was in the process of turning when something smacked him in the head. The blow glanced off his helmet, but it was enough to stun him momentarily and send him stumbling to the side. As Danny turned he saw the shape of a tomahawk or hatchet descending toward him.
Thinking quickly, Danny quickly lashed out with a kick, catching the Ragnarok trooper in the shin with a strike. It wasn't much, just enough to throw him off balance a bit, but it did the trick. The tomahawk slammed into the pavement beside him, inches from his shoulder. The Valkyrie started to lift his weapon back up for another attack, but Danny wasn't going to give him the chance to use it again. He pushed himself up with his right and lunged forward with his knife firmly in his left. The Valkyrie barely had time to register what was happening before Danny buried the blade in his chest.
As he climbed to his feet Xavier contacted him over the radio.
“The enemy's falling back. What do you want us to do?”
Danny looked around at his own surroundings. Sure enough, the survivors of the initial attack were in full retreat, probably electing to fall back to better positions instead of staying in a hopeless situation and fighting to the last.
“What's your casualties? That goes for all of you?”
“No losses on my end, somehow.”
“We've got two wounded,” Allen said.
“We've lost another three. Two dead and one severely wounded,” Javy reported. “I don't know how much longer we can sustain this without the Gazelle.”
Danny nodded. “We're in their positions and we've turned their flank. Redd Foxx is hitting them from the north and pushing them back too. Let's take a moment to regroup and then prepare for the next advance.”
He retrieved his machine gun and reloaded, then began to contact the other platoons. They had progress. Could they parley it into something more? Only time would tell.
* * *
Nora didn't know how, but somehow, some way Liz had managed to keep them alive through the storm of falling bombs. By now she had no idea where they might be, but t
he quick turns down various streets had completely thrown off the enemy's aim, making every single one of their runs go wild.
“They're pulling away,” Anna commented over the link. “Looks like they've given up on us.”
“That means it's time,” Nora commented. She opened up her wrist menu and made a few button presses to activate the long-ranged radio. “Hunter, Hunter, this is Wolf 2. Enemy dive bombers have expended their payloads and are headed back to base. I say again, enemy dive bombers are headed back to base.”
“Copy that, Wolf 2,” Selene replied. “Did you take much damage?”
“It got a little hairy at times, but we made it through,” Nora said. “Good luck on your end.”
Their part in the scheme was over. Now, its success was completely in the hands of their forces to the west.
24
Victory or Death
Selene looked down at her wrist menu and paced impatiently. Even though the signal had reach them she couldn't order the attack to begin immediately, otherwise the enemy would have a chance to warn the incoming pilots. No, she wanted to give the signal when the dive bombers were in the process of landing. If they timed it right they could catch the planes on the ground while they were still rearming.
But that meant waiting for the enemy to reach that point, and the seconds ticked by slowly. Miko and the rest of the scouts had determined it would take about ten minutes for the Ragnarok planes to reach the desired area, so they had a while longer to stand around before they could head in toward the airfields.
As soon as she gave the signal the three separate forces would spring into action, making a beeline for their objectives, labeled Nests 1-3. Barghest would tackle the southern airfield, Nest 1. Gavin would handle the northern airfield, Nest 3, with Alpha Wolf at his side. And she, with her composite group with the callsign Hunter, would tackle the central airfield, Nest 2.
The infantry would move in on foot, but the raiding force had plenty of support. Raven Flight had brought their full complement of helicopters to bear, toting fearsome firepower. The Hornets would go in first, using their superior agility to keep themselves out of danger while they took out critical antiaircraft emplacements. The Typhoons would follow, laden down with rockets, miniguns and other armaments. They might lack the agility of the Hornets, but they could carry far more firepower.
And then there was their trump card. After a bit of begging and pleading Zach had managed to secure three more Gazelles from Hephaestus Forge, which had been clandestinely dropped the night before from a pair of Colossus transports. Each attack force would be supported by one, giving them a little extra firepower. At the very least, it was something the enemy garrisons had to think about.
Selene looked down at her clock again. Eight minutes. Waiting was going to drive her crazy.
* * *
“We all set?” Zach asked Gavin as he made a last-minute check of the Gazelle. For once he didn't have to be in command and could simply fight on the line with the rest of his company.
“We're all set and ready to go. Just waiting,” Gavin confirmed. “Are you sure that you don't want to take command?”
“Why would I?”
Gavin shrugged. “Well, you're company commander and the senior officer, so that'd make sense. I wouldn't blame you if you did.”
“You're the one in charge,” Zach said, grasping at the machine gun to make sure it was positioned properly. “You're the one put in charge of Alpha Wolf, and you've been planning around that for a week. Why screw with that balance right now? It's the same reason why I didn't take over command of the entire operation. Besides, I have faith in you guys. It's not like you're amateurs.”
“Glad to hear that,” Gavin nodded. “Still… first time commanding a platoon in combat, and it has to be precisely timed. I'm so lucky.”
“Considering the type of missions we get any other first time would be just as bad. Maybe even worse.”
Gavin laughed. “Point there.”
Zach glanced down at his wrist menu. Three minutes until the signal went out, if all went according to plan.
“Well, I'm going to make sure everything in the Gazelle is ready,” Zach said before climbing into the commander's hatch.
“Have fun,” Gavin said. He walked off to join the rest of the platoon.
Zach synced his radio to the vehicle intercom. “Alright then. You guys on board?”
“I'm here,” Chris said from the driver's seat.
“Here as well,” Avery confirmed. Snipers weren't going to be as useful during a fast-moving fight, especially against hard targets, so Zach had elected to poach one for the gunner position. His long-range aiming skills would come in handy engaging targets through the cannon's scope.
Zach stood up and made a final adjustment to the machine gun mount, bring it down slightly so he could fire it comfortably if needed. The Gazelle's cannon would do most of the work, but he needed a self-defense machine gun to protect against a possible infantry attack. Zach had elected to take an infantry machine gun, similar to the type that most heavies carried. It didn't have the stopping power of a .50 caliber gun, but it had a higher rate of fire and was more than enough to take out infantry. The job of taking out the planes would be left to the cannon and the heavy weapons teams.
He tensed a bit with anticipation, wondering how he'd fare his first time commanding a vehicle in combat. Even more than that, he relished the thought of being just another soldier on the battlefield, free from the chains of command. If he was going to transition out of the role he needed to see who else could handle the job, and this was Selene's time to make an impression.
Zach glanced down at his wrist clock again. Three minutes until it was go time. Once again Ghost Battalion had to spearhead a critical raid, and failure would be a significant setback. He doubted they'd get another golden opportunity like this, so they had to make the most of it.
Like it or not, Black Wolf had one objective: catch the enemy birds on the ground, and kill them in their nest.
* * *
The drone of engines filled the air, and then a flock of shadows passed overhead. Selene watched them go by for a second, counting their sheer numbers. There had to be at least twenty, maybe more.
Their concealment in the forests protected them from being spotted from above, but the task force couldn't afford to dawdle. Every second wasted was another that the enemy ground crews could use to get the dive bombers in fighting shape, and if Ghost Battalion didn't move quickly enough the Ragnarok planes might be able to take off and escape in the middle of the fight.
Selene activated her radio. “All units, raid the nest. Raid the nest,” she signaled.
A series of acknowledgements followed, and a second later the task force started to move. Dozens of shapes suddenly appeared out of concealment in the undergrowth, toting all manner of weaponry needed for the coming fight. Redd Foxx might have the premier stealth troops in the battalion, but the rest of them weren't slouches either. Stragglers from Black Wolf, Spectre and Redd Foxx who had been killed during the battle for Shorewood moved forward in a practiced fashion, advancing rapidly but quietly.
That pleased her greatly. Selene had been worried that the various units wouldn't mesh properly, but right now there seemed to be no problems. Even the squads with troops from several different companies seemed to be working together well. Ghost Battalion's insistence on integration and flexibility seemed to be paying off.
Now, they just had to destroy the enemy birds on the ground. Right now they had two options besides the Gazelle. Their first was recoilless rifle rounds fired from a distance. The shells were capable of taking out a tank and didn't require the troops to get close, but their telltale backblast would bring all sorts of return fire down on them.
Their backup plan was explosive charges. Every trooper in the task force carried two, though only the explosives specialists could use them to the greatest effect. They could be concealed so the enemy wouldn't know who was carrying them, but
her troops had to get up close to the planes to actually use them.
They could worry about that later, though. First priority was to suppress the airfield defenses so they could go about their work relatively unhindered. And they wouldn't have to do it alone. Selene heard the sound of more engines above, and a few seconds later a rush of air washed down over the forest. A half-dozen shapes zoomed overheard toward the airfield.
Ragnarok wasn't the only one with birds in the sky.
* * *
The Gazelle's engine roared and the vehicle surged forward out of the undergrowth into the airfield clearing. Zach gripped his machine gun and prepared to fire, but the first sight that greeted him left him stunned for a moment.
Parts of the airfield were already in flames. Zach could see the shapes of antiaircraft guns, or rather, what was left of them, little more than blackened scrap metal at this point. He looked up just in time to see a Hornet make a pass at another gun that was blazing away at the sky, trying desperately to stop the rain of fire.
No such luck, though. Two shots later and the gun lay scattered in pieces, completely blown apart. More joined the fray, blasting heavily armored targets with their rockets and gunning down softer ones with their miniguns. Zach looked on at the carnage with completely awe for a moment. After spending so much time in Milwaukee without proper air support, it was easy to forget the kind of punishment Raven Flight could dish out.
But he couldn't just sit here and admire the scene. Even under devastating fire the remaining enemies started to regroup. Zach could see groups of enemy troops hurrying around the parked dive bombers, opening up the panels and switching out the fusion batteries. He had to admire their guts, at least. Out in the open with nowhere to run or hide and faced with a torrent of fire they continued to work to get their planes in the air, heedless of their own safety. Several fell, but more continued their work.
Commando City: A World at War Novel (World at War Online Book 7) Page 24