“Fire at will!”
She leapt up to a firing position on the trench shelf and quickly acquired a target. She figured there must be two dozen of the things. Cannon fire ripped many apart as their shots landed. Grenade fire hit a few dead on, the troops getting deadly accurate with them now. Just a few seconds later, the guns went silent as they looked on at the carnage.
The putrid smell of sulphur filled the air, clinging to their throats. Despite its foul taste, it was the residue of victory. The Major climbed out of the trench and stood up to survey the scene. The Mech devices were littered along the street across the bridge. They were little more than smouldering wrecks.
“You think those were manned?” asked Jones.
She lifted her rifle and peered at the wrecks through her scope.
“I guess not, they must be drones.”
She turned and looked all around. The entire area was mostly silent. She wondered for a moment what the purpose of the enemy drones was, a preliminary attack or a scouting party. Seconds later they heard artillery rounds whistling towards them.
“Cover!” she shouted.
She fell into the trench as the first pulses smashed into their positions. Chandra and Jones were huddled at the very bottom of the trench with their heads down to protect their faces. The ground around them shook violently as the fire landed everywhere. One of the buildings was struck dead on and blasted out across their positions. Rubble smashed against the tank turrets and rolled into their trench.
They could just make out the muffled sound of footsteps approaching them hard and fast. They lifted their weapons and aimed at the top of the trench. Seconds later a dozen soldiers jumped and rolled into the cover with them, ducking low into the trench. Explosions continued to erupt all around their positions. One of the troops looked up with a smile. He was a Lieutenant in the Royal Welsh.
“Lieutenant Yorath, reporting for duty, Ma’am!”
“You picked a hell of a time to turn up, Lieutenant!” she shouted.
“How many are you?” Jones asked.
“Eighty-five, plus a few dozen stragglers from other units!”
Chandra nodded in appreciation. She’d been promised re-enforcements, but she wouldn’t believe it until she’d seen them.
“You the officer in charge?” asked Jones.
“I’m the only officer, Sir.”
Jones gasped as he remembered the Commander briefing him on their losses. An artillery pulse landed just a few metres from them, shaking the ground so violently that it sent several of them tumbling from their kneeling position. As Chandra got back up, her ears were aching and her hearing numbed, but she realised the bombardment was over.
They looked around, checking that everyone was still in one piece. Chandra turned to Yorath who had a broad grin about his face.
“Is it always this rough round here?” he asked.
“You were in Nantes, were you not Lieutenant?”
“Yes, Ma’am.”
“Then you already know the answer.”
His smile vanished as the memories of the brutal battle came back to him once more. Chandra found Yorath’s light tone to be rather unsettling in their present situation, but she knew that it was his way of coping with the carnage and losses.
“We’re in for a rough afternoon,” said Jones.
“Just had it, didn’t we?” asked Yorath.
“Drones and then artillery, it’s the preliminary stages to an assault.”
The Major staggered to her feet, still a little disorientated. Clambering out of the trench she looked on at the devastation. One of Becker’s tanks was belching smoke and was utterly destroyed. Two others had received lesser damage. One of the hatches prized open and the Captain climbed out. He looked on at the damage to the vehicles as if he had been personally offended. His crews were already climbing out to get to work on what repairs they could.
Several of the buildings had been smashed by the enemy fire. One was almost completely destroyed, and others had walls and roofs missing. The road was filled with vast craters.
“They missed the bridge,” said Yorath.
“Deliberately, I should think. They’ll be rolling over it before long,” said Jones.
“We could blow it.”
“They’d only replace it,” said Chandra. “And we may yet need it. There may be hostiles to the north, but they aren’t the only threat.”
She turned back to the two officers as Friday and Suarez approached to investigate the new arrivals. It was more troops than she’d had at her disposal since the fighting had begun.
“Listen up, we have some organising to do. I’ll command the paras as Platoon Alpha. Captain Friday, your marines will be Bravo. Jones, Suarez and Yorath, I want you to divide the Royal Welsh and the rest of the stragglers between you in Charlie, Delta and Echo.”
The officers nodded in agreement. They were glad to be getting back to some kind of structure and with respectable numbers. She looked around at the battle scarred district. The Major spotted a bank on one corner that overlooked the bridge with balcony sections above.
“I’ll take up position above the bank there. It’s probably one of the strongest buildings here. I doubt we have a lot of time, so get to it, Gentlemen.”
She shouted to the paras to join her as she strode towards the bank. The doors were ajar from where an artillery shell handed landed beside them and blown the frame apart. As she suspected, the building was extremely robust with better foundations and supports than most.
“Take up positions anywhere you can that overlooks the bridge!”
The bank was five storeys high with mostly offices higher up. She went two floors up and out onto a large balcony set up as an open air cafe. It gave a great position above the bridge, and the thick walls provided a relatively safe defence. As she walked towards the far wall, she grabbed a chair and placed it down next to the outer wall. She sat down with a grunt, for her leg was still far from fully healed.
Chandra could hear her platoon setting up around her and on the floors above and below. The road between them and the opposing buildings spanned fifty metres or more. The tanks and trenches formed a solid line of defences from edge to edge. She was happy with their position, but they were spread thin. She let her head rest back and her muscles relax. Chandra would gladly have fallen into a much needed sleep, but she would not have such luck.
The sound of tracks roared in the distance along with a hive of activity that was getting nearer. She shot up, and pain surged through her leg, causing her to wince. From her position, she couldn’t see down the long length of the road, only just past the bridge. She tapped her intercom but realised it was being jammed once again. Chandra turned and stepped to the edge, shouting down at Jones who was getting his recently formed platoon into a trench.
“Give me an update, Captain!”
“We’ve got incoming!”
“In what strength?”
“At least a half dozen tanks and plenty more on the way!”
“Everyone into position! Fire in your own time!”
The Captain nodded and jumped into the trench after his troops. Lieutenant Yorath was in the other trench on the opposite side of the street, with Friday’s marines between them. Lieutenant Suarez was positioned in the brick building opposite the Major’s bank. The armoured crews scrambled to get inside and batten down the hatches. She turned back to her platoon.
“Fire when ready!”
