‘I need Blue and White and Clarets to take control of the bridge’ he said, standing up from his table, and walking over to the window. He watched the battle for a few seconds, raging three hundred yards away, before continuing. ‘That bridge is key, that’s where the majority of the new fighters are coming from, it needs clearing so we can bring the flanks together.’
‘Yes sir’ replied Sergeant Welsh, ‘Gear up lads, we move out in five.’
I decided to take my Welrod, I didn’t know how it would go on the bridge, but if we wanted to clear it stealthily, it was our best bet. After three minutes we were all stood in the back garden of the property, waiting for the sergeants, who arrived together in conversation. I don’t really know any of the members of Clarets Company just yet, just names. Their sergeant is called Hargreaves, and team members include King, Porter, Keresley, Ashby, Gibson, or maybe it was Higson, and Walters their medic.
‘Right men’ said Sergeant Welsh. ‘We are going to try and do this as quietly as possible. Check your weapons, and let’s get moving.’
We left the property through the back gate, and ran along the outside edge of garden, sticking close to the Hedgerow. There we could see the only route to the bridge was along the edge of the battle ground, littered with bodies and debris. We quietly made our way through the snowy field, towards the huge concrete structure. The field we were in was covered in undisturbed snow, just the odd crater, probably from a badly aimed mortar. As we got closer to the trees bellow the bridge, I noticed a couple of trails appear in the snow, footprints running in the same direction we were. I stopped momentarily, to focus on our destination, when a machine gun opened up on us. The bullets thudded into the mud ten yards in front of us, and we all hit the deck, which was cold and wet. I pulled my rifle across my body so I could aim it forward, and crawled towards Little D, who was straining to get a better view of the gunman. The gunfire stopped, and a man ran out of the hedgerow to our right, heading straight for us, firing a hand gun. Murphy shot him through the chest, and then through his head as he tried to get back up. I searched the hedgerow in a mild panic, looking for any more fighters, but it was difficult to recognise anything. The machine gun opened up again as Welsh ordered us to lay some fire down on its position, when he was changing a clip. We just kept our heads down, and when there was a pause in fire, we climbed up and opened fire as one, so Welsh could run. He took Murphy with him, and sprinted parallel to the hedgerow towards the gun placement. Another man appeared from out of the trees, and shot at them both, screaming out loud as he ran. Welsh shot him dead, before diving into the position he’d just vacated, behind a large tree. The gunner sprayed bullets across the field, as we crawled over the frozen ground towards him. Sergeant Welsh got his breath back, before lobbing a grenade at the gun placement, which exploded, killing the shooter. We cleared the area out before reaching the steep banking, that climbed up the side of the bridge. Welsh said he would go first, with Murphy, and recon the area. As we waited I ate a nutritional bar out of my pack, and had a quick word with our new recruit. He had a few questions to ask, and looked a little shell shocked, the realities of being shot at is not as glamorous as the generals told him. He was white, and stuttering, but he was alive, hopefully he would be by the end of the day. Welsh slid back down the banking on his arse, and set about planning our move.
‘The carriageway is three lanes deep, on both sides, Blue and White will take the left three, Clarets will take the right three. Keane, there is an articulated lorry right above our position, I want you to climb on top of the cab, and cover everyone. There are none of Torriero’s men for three hundred yards, way beyond all the abandoned vehicles. Or if there are, they are strays, to take out silently. We all climbed the slippery banking, using the stone bridge wall to help maneuver our way up, at the top we gathered around the lorry. Keane was cursing to himself, as Little D help him climb up the side of the cab, and position himself.
‘It’s pretty clear for around four hundred yards, on both sides’ whispered Keane. ‘Just a group of men, on the left side around twenty cars deep.’
After a short conversation between Sergeants Welsh and Hargreaves, Clarets Company left us, heading over the bollards, and onto the opposite side of the motorway. They stayed in unison, working their way between vehicles and debris. As they past the hole in the bridge, caused by the truck that ploughed off yesterday, we set off. Sticking close to the vehicles, we moved swiftly and silently, until we reached a overturned van, tangled in a stinger stretching across the carriageway. Sergeant Welsh put his hand up, causing us all to stop. I knelt down in shards of smashed glass, and looked under the vehicle we were positioned behind. I could see the feet of four men, standing around six yards away. Sergeant Welsh indicated for Little D, Atkinson and myself to follow to the right and he and Murphy would take the left. We switched to silent weapons, crept around the vehicle and took them out quickly and silently. We removed their bodies from sight, hiding them in the vehicles they’d been standing around. We pushed on past the traps they had lay, into the quagmire of abandoned vehicles and debris. We checked every vehicle we past, in one Sergeant Welsh killed a sleeping man with a bullet through his temple. The debris covering the carriageway was difficult to avoid, glass, mangled bodies, rocks and pieces of twisted burned metal, we had to watch every step in case the noise alerted anyone. We tried to keep Clarets Company in view, we could only use the element of surprise once, and it would be more effective if we timed it as one. There was a large hole in the carriageway, caused by an explosion, with a vehicle hanging precariously over the edge. There was a dead fighter who had been shot as he tried to climb out of the glassless windscreen, and other frozen bodies littering the area. Through the hole in the road, we could see the battle ranging below, as the army tried to hold onto their position. The snow had been coming down steadily for around an hour, but the sky had turned a darker kind of grey, and was rolling our way. The winds started to pick up, Sergeant Welsh wanted to achieve the objective before it reached us, and pushed us on. There had been few footprints in the snow, on our approach to Torriero’s holding, but as we got closer, they became more common. Ahead there was a large coach jackknifed across all three lanes of the left carriageway, and the trailer from a truck across the right. There were four men in front of the coach, two on either side of the road guarding the camp behind, where all Torriero’s men were gathered. Sergeant Welsh wanted to get a better view of what was beyond our sight, and sent Murphy and Little D closer to investigate. He also sent a radio message to Keane, to find a position closer, where he could cover the area beyond the coach, and take out the men guarding the camp. We got a signal from Sergeant Hargreaves that they were in position, and Sergeant Welsh used the radio on Murphy’s back to speak to him, and organise a plan. Keane took position, and watched for an opportunity to take the shot, as we all waited patiently. The two guards on our side were leaning against the coach, two yards from each other, talking. The two on Sergeant Hargreaves side were patrolling, Keane took them out with one shot, as they past each other. The kind of shot I know we’ll get to hear about tonight. The second pair of guards were slightly more problematic, they remained in their position, leaning against the coach, having a conversation. The first bullet echoed over our heads as it arrowed towards the first guards head, the widow breaking behind him as he collapsed to the floor. The second guard leapt to his feet, and had just lifted his rifle to his side as a bullet tore through his neck, and then another went through his brain as he lay on the floor spluttering blood out of his mouth. Two members of Clarets Company moved in, to remove the bodies from sight, Sergeant Welsh ordered Murphy and Little D to do the same. Another guard appeared suddenly on our side of the road, he didn’t notice the bodies and went to take a piss by the wheel of the coach. Murphy and Little D where stuck in cover, unable to get to the bodies without alerting the guard. Keane couldn’t take him from his position, so Sergeant Welsh signalled for me to
, I left my position, and swiftly crept towards him. The steam was rising from the floor, as his urine burned the snow off the ground. He was one of Torriero’s men, so I had no problems executing him, with a bullet to the back of his head. His body slumped to the floor, as Murphy and Little D came out of cover, and made their way to the bodies. I lifted the guard into the coach, and lay his body on the floor. From there I could see through the window into the crudely assembled camp, at what we were going to have to deal with. There was one large group of men, maybe as many as three to four hundred, all trying to stay warm, under what looked like armed guard. They appeared to be regular men, not fighters, they had no weapons, no uniforms, in fact some didn’t even have a jacket on. The guards on the other hand were wearing long black trench coats, the uniform of choice for Torriero’s true supporters. I counted eleven guards surrounding the group, an amount I felt comfortable we could deal with. There was another smaller group of around thirty men, close to the stairs leading down to the battlefield. They too were under armed guard, but had weapons themselves. The question was going to be, what would the other men do, when we take out the guards? Will they fight for Torriero, or would they see us as liberators? We couldn’t be sure either way, so would have to remain alert and vigilant. Sergeant Welsh spoke to Lieutenant Colonel Carter, who informed us the flanking army was in position, ready to move into the battle, we needed to complete our objective now. After a short radio conversation with Sergeant Hargreaves, Sergeant Welsh ordered us to move in, using deadly force. We moved in formation around the coach, and into the centre of the camp, in line with Clarets Company. The first people to see us were some of the large group, but the guards were alerted by their interest, and turned around for a face off. The first bullets fired were by Sergeant Welsh and Murphy, who killed the two guards nearest them. Then bullets rang out in all direction, as Torriero’s guards realised what was happening. I knelt down by a burned out car, using the bonnet to rest on as I fired at one guard, who was running towards me. His bullets hit the car, tearing holes in the body work as I hit him in the legs with a rifle burst. He lay on the floor writhing around until Little D finished him off. The group of men looked on nervously, not sure of their fate. I shot at another guard, who dropped his weapon, and put his hands in the air. But a bullet felled him, from the direction of Sergeant Welsh and Murphy. I glanced at Clarets Company, who had worked their way to the smaller group of men by the steps, killing four guards on route. There was only one guard left, who was pinned down by the steps, using some of the group as a human shield. I couldn’t get a clear shot, no one could, he was surrounded, but wouldn’t give himself up.
‘Drop the weapon and come out’ yelled Sergeant Hargreaves, as we enclosed around him. But he wouldn’t, he ducked behind a man, holding him by the shoulder, keeping him in front. Sergeant Welsh shot at him, through the man, killing them both, and injuring another man caught in the line of fire. Another dead body, for the sake of killing this guard. For a moment, I thought it was going to pass without comment, but Little D couldn’t help himself.
‘Did you have to kill them?’
Sergeant Welsh grabbed him by the collar, and pushed him out of earshot, as Sergeant Hargreaves spoke to a couple of members of his Company, Porter and Ashby I think, and ordered them to form a gate by the coach, so everyone could be searched. He then addressed the group of men.
‘My name is Sergeant Hargreaves, and that is Sergeant Welsh. We are all members of the British Army, I can confirm this war is over for you. If you have a weapon in your possession, can you place it on the floor, and step away.’ The group of men by the stairs dropped their rifles, and moved away from the stairs, joining the larger group. ‘Are there any more of Torriero’s men here?’ Shouted Sergeant Hargreaves. There was no answer from the group, they all looked broken and demoralised, shadows of human beings. The snow was really coming down now, eighty percent of these men looked like they could die, if they stay out here much longer. Sergeant Welsh and Little D re-joined the group as Sergeant Hargreaves continued.
‘You’re all going to be taken back to Camp Blue, until this war is over. Grab your belongings, and head towards the coach, where you’ll be searched for weapons, before we move you out of here.’
He then used their company radio to speak to Lieutenant Colonel Carter, to request transportation for up to five hundred people. The condition of the men was described as serious, with signs of starvation and hyperthermia. I was acutely aware we had to be vigilant with these men, we didn’t know the half of what they had been put through, and with rumors of torture and brain washing, we must expect the unexpected. The weather was beginning to get too much, and the battle below us had started to peter out. Lieutenant Colonel Carter had recalled The Tangerines, Latics, Toffees and Reds Companies, and called off the flanking maneuver, due to bad weather. As the group of men started to disperse through the check point, they unveiled a trailer hidden behind them, with its double doors locked. When opened, they revealed the bodies of around sixty men. Most looked like they’d died from hyperthermia, or malnutrition, but others had bullet holes in their heads. While I was searching the guards bodies for food, I noticed one of them was Mercer, who I sat with at the meal where Sergeant Davis and Rhino had been killed. I didn’t feel glad about it, quite the opposite. I felt sorry for him, the little time I spent with him convinced me, dealt a better hand things could have been very different for him. The only man I wanted dead was Torriero, I don’t care about anyone else, just Torriero. We tried to rush the men through the security checks as quickly as we could, but there was so many of them. In all honesty, it became a bit of a joke, if any of Torriero’s men had been left within this group, they would’ve been able to get away, or launch an attack killing any number of us, the weapons check had became so lax. A few men collapsed they were that ill, Keane and Walters were flat out, trying to save anyone in need, but they couldn’t save everyone. We just didn’t have the man power, some were just left where they fell, as the weather engulfed everything. By the time the first group of men arrived at the farm building, the vehicles sent by the camp had started to arrive. They were Vectors, and looked like they were built to carry around twelve people, but we had to achieve better than that, getting around twenty men per vehicle, all stood up there was so little room. It probably helped them to keep a bit of warmth in their bodies, although we did hear reports of men collapsing out of the vehicles when they arrived at Camp Blue, they were so weak. The first few vehicles were carrying boxes of food and water, clothes and medication. We unloaded them into the farm building, and handed the contents out to the most needy. Lieutenant Colonel Carter had ordered the battalion to fall back, as visibility became none existent, due to the weather. The danger to life was now in the hands of mother nature, and she was showing her teeth. For a few hours, as the rest of the battalion returned, we tried to save and help as many men as we could, as a procession of Vectors, took them back to Camp Blue. The weather was atrocious, battering everyone and everything, we couldn’t get everyone out of it and undercover, the building wasn’t big enough. Some soldiers climbed into their Vikings to try and get some sleep, and protection. When all the men had been evacuated from the farm, we tried to get some rest, everyone looked exhausted. The bitter cold was impossible to get away from, we were literally sleeping on top of each other to try and share our warmth, with the fires blazing all night. We were woken at two am for our shift on look out, joined by The Hatter’s Company, who had been involved in the main battle. Their Sergeant, McNulty, spoke about the tactics used by the enemy, which involved only a few of their real fighters getting killed. He said at its most fierce, there were hundreds of men with guns, prepared to just run into gunfire, with Torriero’s men orchestrating from the back. The stats for the day were, twenty one soldiers killed, forty seven injured of which seventeen were serious enough to be evacuated. On a positive note, the weather seemed to have calmed down, if it stays like this we should be able to f
inish the job tomorrow.
4/1/28 -Time 22:20
After our watch in the early hours, we managed to get a little more sleep before Lieutenant Colonel Carter woke us up, walking through the dilapidated building, shouting at the top of his voice.
Aftermath: The complete collection Page 49