Once in a safe location and circling the two pilots watched as the large missiles came to bear on the convoy. All four MLRS fired their dual missiles and the 8 weapons came in directly on the column, one after another. The lighter vehicles stood no chance against the small munitions and the exposed troop trucks were simply devastated. Once the carnage was over the two pilots swooped back in to take shots at the survivors. Vanessa noted that the heavier armor was not affected at all and recommended loading with anti-tank loads for the next salvo. The base acknowledged.
The convoy was in a panic and started to fan out all over the highway and the shoulders to get away from the burning vehicles and damaged road. The panic caused collisions which further jammed up their progress. It was a nightmare on the ground and the sound of munitions cooking off and people screaming drowned out the orders of officers trying to get their men calmed down.
The helicopters swooped in with their guns blazing catching the soldiers off guard again. They had just began to come out from any cover they could find following the missile attack and were now pinned down again. They fired back at the birds but the little devils were small and quick enough to avoid any major damage.
General Santa Anna barked out orders and eventually got his men calm enough to regain effectiveness. He ordered the column split into 8 parts and to fan out in 4 forward moving directions. The tactic of splitting the group into manageable portions worked well and the column was soon underway minus about 15 vehicles and a large number of infantry troops.
Vanessa and Larry made a couple more passes but decided to head out when the Zeta’s fire became more and more concentrated and effective. Vanessa’s chopper had a 5.56mm round penetrate the pilot’s bubble which left a perfectly round hole in the lexan. Luckily it did not strike the rotor on its way through nor did it hit any Vanessa parts on its journey.
As they exited the battle field a salvo of BATs fired from the MLRS came to bear on the convoys. BATs, short for Brilliant Anti-Tank Munitions were smart bomblets that would discover and home in on what they deemed the biggest threat. 4 missiles containing 13 anti-armor munitions apiece chose to seek out the BMPs nearly wiping out the entire complement at once.
Back at base Vanessa and Larry debriefed and discussed refitting and going back out. Mark told them not to bother; the column had been reduced to almost half of its original size with the technology they had brought to bear on it. Mark didn’t want to over-use their technology and end up with an empty storehouse within a matter of a few battles. He also didn’t want to show his complete hand at any point in the game. If he always kept his enemies guessing then they might question whether or not it was worth being wiped out by him.
When the convoy got in range of the artillery Mark had them fire 5 salvos. They were able to take out two more vehicles but the main effect was to make them realize they were not just going to march in without any further resistance. At 4 times the BMP and ERC-90 effective range the M120 mortars opened up with several salvos of high-explosive rounds. Mark had guided munitions at his disposal but they were in relatively short supply as they were experimental units before the wars broke out.
Vincent and his tanks were stationed around and behind the enemy’s approach and once the mortars stopped firing it was his turn to open up. They closed in on the ragged attack force and proceeded to pick them apart. The French built ERC-90s could defeat modern armor but the Abrams main gun outranged it by over double. Vincent told his tankers to be sure they stayed outside their range while engaging.
The Bradleys played the run and gun game after launching their TOW missiles at the beginning of the engagement. They could only fire while stationary so the plan was to launch and then rely on the chain gun from that point on.
Victor Sanchez was an Abrams driver and Vincent’s #2 tanker. He had already fired two salvos at a pair of BMPs that came into his crosshairs. He was scanning for another target when an ERC-90 barrelled through the woods at him. “Target 10 o’clock” his driver shouted out as he watched the French light tank level its gun at them. Victor’s gunner swung the turret into action and the two vehicles fired simultaneously.
The 90mm armor piercing round struck the Abrams in the front left corner. It’s specialty round penetrated the armor and showered the driver with molten metal fragments. Victor heard his screams from the command position and began calling down to see if he was ok. He said he was hurt but functioning and quite pissed. Victor smiled and ordered the gunner to fire again. As the round exited the tank Victor shouted “Remember the Alamo motherfuckers!”
The crew of the ERC-90 would never remember anything again. The first round shredded the thin armor and wounded or killed everyone inside. The second round just compounded the destruction and sealed the fate of the survivors in a firestorm of shrapnel and destruction.
The ambush went well and the cache’s infantry was sent out to mop up the mess and wrangle up survivors. The command tank of Santa Anna was still out there and Vincent was doing his best to track him down. Radar showed a group of 8 vehicles still together with another 10 or so milling about randomly. He ordered Victor to coordinate the destruction of the stragglers and he and 2 Bradleys would head out to meet up with Santa Anna.
Santa Anna had seen enough, he was on the retreat. He knew he was a dead man if he returned to Zeta territory so he decided to run north and hopefully disappear into the free-lands or worst case, defect to New China. He and the rest of his command thundered up 17 to work their way around West Plains and towards the vast wilderness to the north.
Several of the locals who were loyal to Mark and his people called in the location of the fleeing general. Vincent pushed his crew forward, adjusting their direction with each new call in. Mark dispatched Vanessa to monitor or engage as necessary. Once she had a visual the chase was over but still had to play out.
Santa Anna’s command vehicle flew the Mexican flag and the Zeta flag. It was a AMX-VCI APC of French decent. It was converted from a troop carrier to a mobile communications and command platform. It retained the 20mm cannon of the normal model. The rest of the remaining convoy were in the Panhard VCR APCs armed with only 50 caliber machine guns. When Vincent finally caught up it was going to be a quick affair.
Everyone was going roughly the same speed so catching the General was proving to be very difficult. Vanessa volunteered to slow them down and Mark agreed that it would be the only way to catch up with them. She did a couple strafing runs with her machine guns blazing and forced the group to take evasive measures. The fleeing crews took shots at her and forced her to retreat for a moment so she wouldn’t get hit.
Vincent’s tanks made up valuable ground on the command group and were finally in range of the Abram’s main gun. Vincent coordinated with Vanessa and they fired a salvo together, her with a Hellfire and Vincent with the 120mm smoothbore gun. The rearmost vehicles exploded in a pair of fireballs which sent the rest of the convoy scattering like roaches when a light turns on.
Another pair of coordinated attacks and Santa Anna’s crew was halved. He had his vehicle floored and was trying to weave back and forth to avoid being hit. Vanessa shadowed him and plinked at him with her 50 cals while Vincent took care of the rest of his command.
It wasn’t long until Vincent had his command unit surrounded and he sent one of the Bradleys forward to force him to halt. His APC ground to a halt with a puff of smoke and a cloud of dust around it. The General emerged with his hands up as if he was going to surrender.
Vanessa hovered above the command tank to watch for funny business while the cache’s tank crews deployed to take the General into custody. Twelve men surrounded the tank with their M4s at the ready. The General reached down to his waist and pulled out a revolver with a swift motion. Vanessa thumbed her fire button and sent a dozen half inch bullets into the man before he could even get the gun at the ready. The battle was over and the new Alamo would not fall.
Back at the cache the troops returned before night-fall to report that
any organized resistance had been mopped up. There were some stragglers running around but it was decided that there was nothing that they could do to harm the cache or its inhabitants. The night watch would keep an eye out and dispatch anyone around the perimeter that looked shady.
The battle was not without costs, 32 men and 4 pieces of equipment were destroyed and another 47 were injured though most was superficial or non life threatening. The Zetas lost nearly 800 men and almost the entire complement of armor and equipment. It was a devastating loss for their organization and Mark knew they were not going to take kindly to it.
The mess hall was packed with celebrating soldiers and support personnel. A couple kegs were tapped and the mess crew grilled up steaks for everyone thanks to the locals donating a dozen cows. Mark invited the town’s folk to come celebrate but warned them that there were still some troops on the loose. Most declined but said they would take the crew up on the offer once everything was completely stabilized. Mark told them that day was a long way off but he would do what he could.
Chapter 28- Recivilization
The process of building civilization out of chaos was a tiring affair. Mark almost preferred war to the daily mess of civil issues. It was a job that had to be done and he and his fellow committee members did the best they could to keep the majority happy.
The cache had become the capitol city of what everyone agreed to dub The United Conservative Alliance or UCA. They had formed a committee that consisted of the family, Vincent, Vanessa, Timothy, Simone, and the mayors of the cities they vowed to protect. Important matters were passed through the committee and what they decreed was considered law. It provided a basic structure of a government while allowing their people to have some influence on the situation.
The UCA was a relatively stable region; raiding parties avoided them due to their projection of strength and battle history. The defeat of the Zeta army was repeated in stories throughout the continent and each time the battle became even more one sided. The weapons that the UCA possessed were feared and very few of the organized groups would dare to even poke at them.
The corporation and Zetas were two exceptions. The Zetas continued to lick their wounds but would regularly harass the UCA by performing annoyance raids on the UCA and Zeta border towns. Mark was forced to send armored units from the cache to the border to protect their people from rape and pillage.
The corporation continued to make empty threats to Mark. They were quite sore over Mark’s defection and vowed to wipe him off the face of the Earth. It became a weekly occurrence for him to get calls from Mechacorp officials telling him what they were going to do to him. Mark eventually got fed up with it and went down to the silo with a video camera. He painted New York City on one of the nukes and filmed it. During the next week’s call he interrupted the threat and showed them the footage combined with some footage of the destruction of Memphis. The message was received loud and clear and the harassing calls stopped.
Within a matter of months the UCA spread to include a land-mass that reached from St. Louis in the north to Memphis (or the Mississippi River to be exact, nobody wanted Memphis) and the outskirts of Little Rock. The territory continued along I-40 to Fort Smith then direct north to Joplin MO. It then followed along I-44 back up to St. Louis.
The city of Little Rock desperately wanted to belong to the UCA but remained under Zeta control. Mark was in meetings with the mayor and prominent city members but told them they would have to revolt before he would provide assistance. It was his policy not to be an aggressor but would happily come to the defense of anyone who desired it. The officials would not commit to such an action so Mark told them they either needed to shit or get off the pot. They were still squatting so far.
The UCA had a policy of loaning out any equipment its citizens needed to improve their land or living situation. The rules stated you could check out any equipment you needed provided you maintained it and returned it in a similar condition. The policy seemed to be working well and the land around the UCA was flourishing with crops and livestock. The infrastructure was also vastly improved over post-war conditions. Cities would rent the construction equipment and rebuild roads and bridges that were damaged during battles.
The group also provided seeds to help farmers restart their farms. The people of the area were growing fruits and vegetables never seen in Missouri, Arkansas or Oklahoma. In return for the seeds they returned some of their crops to the cache to help feed its residents.
The UCA defense force was deemed mandatory for 16 to 21 year-old men and women. At 16 they would report to the cache and be trained in a non-combat support role. Once they were 18 they were trained in defensive combat and would serve in that role until their 21st birthday. In their final year of service they would also be taught a trade so they would have a productive future.
The offensive army was strictly voluntary. Again Mark felt that anyone who would be involved with raids or attacks on enemy territory should be a committed soldier. Obviously the border lands defense forces saw real action they would never be asked to do anything but defend their towns and people from attack.
There was no shortage of volunteers. In fact they had so many that they allowed some of the defense force to retire at 20. It seemed to be a good balance and the cities had no problem providing their youth for training as they were returned home with weapons and the means to protect their homes. The defense force required no travel except to the cache for occasional training.
One level of the barracks was dedicated to offensive force personnel, another level was for auxiliaries and the third level was for any civilian that wanted to live there. They would trade work for protection. The population of the cache was currently near 7,400.
Scholars from throughout the region would visit the cache’s vast library and museum to work on innovations and restoration of technology. St. Louis was building the first new factory since the wars. They were going to produce farm equipment. Mark requested a small armor production line to be built as well. The owners of the facility agreed and when the line was started up they would produce a dozen new tracked medium armored vehicles a year.
The cache’s ammunition factory was live and producing various calibres of ammunition. They only ran the facility one day a week to keep the shelves full. It could be put into full production at any time but they had millions of rounds on the shelf and were concentrating on wildcat rounds for hunting and experimental development.
The lever gun and bolt action section of the armory had been distributed to the people of the UCA. Everyone was issued a long-gun and a side-arm that was over 21 since all the younger folks already had an M-16 issued. People close to the border were issued military weapons while those further inland got sporting and hunting arms. Every household was armed and this caused the number of raids to drop significantly.
Mark had received word from Athena congratulating him for his discovery and his newly formed alliance. She informed him that she would gladly join as long as he secured the land between Memphis and Athenia. Mark told her he would be glad to do so but was very leery about returning to Memphis. She understood and told him she would be waiting and was willing to send 200 men to meet him in the middle. He told her he didn’t want to force anyone into an alliance and would allow them to choose. Such methods took much more time but free will went a lot farther than force and led to much more comfortable times of peace. Athena commended him on his humanity and told him she was eager to see him and Kara again.
Epilogue-
Six months after the birth of the UCA and the shaky peace was still maintained. Life moved on at an incredible pace and the cities and towns of the alliance flourished. Goods and services were being exported to the other regions and the UCA had become loose allies with the Coal Barons. They had free trade and relied on their energy while providing food and goods to their people.
Simone and Timothy married and had a dual ceremony with Joey and Cindy, both of whom served in the defense force even t
hough they were not required due to their positions on the council. They felt it was important to be examples for their people and the people adored them.
Simone was expecting their first baby in a few months. She was the honorary director of security after her performance in the battle for the cache and subsequent foiled attacks. She had a real knack for reading and interpreting the radar signals. She said she had to stay busy while Timothy was gone.
Timothy had moved east to start a river Navy. He had several small boats that he had helped convert. Mark dubbed him Admiral Timothy after he commissioned his first armored trawler. He had some plans to build a shipyard but told Mark he would wait until the UCA reached the Atlantic or Pacific Ocean. Mark kept telling him that would be a long time coming but Timothy was convinced they were only a year or two out.
Kara had taken command of the auxiliary staff and particularly enjoyed helping the kitchen staff. She felt she was the first official cache cook and on occasion headed up a meal for the entire facility. Mark told her she didn’t have to do it but she said she felt like she was the nation’s mother. Mark couldn’t argue and told her she looked damn good for a mother of nearly a million.
In the evenings Mark poured over the library in search of documents containing the location of the other Recivilization Caches. He had a thought that if he could obtain several of the units he could re-unite the country by means of the caches. If the UCA’s model worked in other locations like it did here the areas could lace together and form an unbeatable alliance. He thought it might be a pipe dream but Athena’s words continued to echo in his head.
The Last Gallon Page 17