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Praetorium Honoris

Saturday, October 2, 2021

Pushback

(U.S. Army photo by Paolo Bovo)

The Javelin team could hear the convoy before they could see it, so they were ready when the spotter got the message, "Juliet One, cleared hot."

As the first white-painted UN vehicle nosed its way up the rough track, Private First Class Javier Lopez Garcia put his cursor on it. A second later the missile was on its way downrange.

The missile climbed up, tipped over, then slammed down into the APC, the men aboard never knew what hit them.


Lieutenant Zhang looked up as his lead vehicle exploded. He seemed mesmerized as he stood up in the hatch, oblivious to the sound of bullets in the air passing very close. Finally he was pulled down into the vehicle by his sergeant.

"Comrade Lieutenant, you have to take charge, we should either retreat out of the range of those anti-tank missiles or deploy and attack our ambushers, there can't be that many of them!"

The lieutenant looked at his sergeant, as if seeing him for the first time. Lieutenant Zhang had never been in combat and all the combat drills and maneuvers never prepared one for the real thing.

"Damn it Comrade, make a decision!"


It was an older model Abrams, it had been passed on to the Guard years before. As the unit only had five of them, they had lovingly maintained them and kept them in fighting trim. Unfortunately when they had had to hightail it out of town, just minutes before a Chinese armored unit had shown up, they only had a single lowboy trailer available. It was only sheer luck that they had one of their tanks loaded on it.

Now it looked as if the Guard unit's luck was paying off.

Another UN APC had been hit by Juliet Two. It had suffered the same fate as the lead vehicle in the convoy. The Chinese response seemed sluggish Major Morrison thought, almost as if they had expected no opposition. As SSgt Sager had said, "The 42nd was not going to roll over to some damned peacekeeper force!"

Now the Abrams was in position, its first round hit the last APC in the column. The gunner had put a HEAT round into the aft doors of the vehicle, which went through them like a hot knife through butter. The explosion inside the vehicle was spectacular and immediately fatal to the men inside.


Zhang finally awakened to the danger his unit was in. "Sergeant Liu, deploy the squad, get on the radio to the remainder of the platoon, signal Action Plan Blue Dragon!"

Liu sprang into action, the driver of Zhang's vehicle was already on the radio. He discovered that of the other vehicles only two remained.

"Sir, Tigers Two, Three and Five are not responding. Four says he's under fire by a tank!"

Zhang spun around to look at the driver, "A tank?!?"

"Yes Sir! Coming up behind us!"

Liu had the rear doors open, the first two men out were immediately cut to pieces by machine gun fire. "Huang, close those doors, we are..."

Sergeant Liu was hit in the chest just as Tiger Four was hit by tank fire and exploded. The driver of Tiger One was mesmerized. He realized that this was it, he was never going to see his home again.

Lieutenant Zhang pulled Liu's body deeper into the APC, as he checked the man for a pulse, he looked up. He recognized the man standing behind the APC for what he was, an American infantryman, his M4 rifle pointed directly at Zhang.

Reluctantly Zhang began to raise his hands in surrender. The American didn't even blink as he fired a round into Zhang's head.


As the Guardsmen examined the wreckage of the Chinese convoy, they didn't find much worth salvaging. Four of the vehicles had suffered catastrophic damage, the fifth, the platoon leader's vehicle was a mess inside. Blood and body parts everywhere.

PFC Washington had tossed a grenade into the vehicle after shooting a man who may or may not have been trying to surrender, then slammed the doors shut. The resulting explosion killed the survivors in the back, the driver had been shot down climbing out of his own hatch moments before the grenade had detonated.

Washington's team leader, Sergeant Leroy Baker, looked at the carnage, "Damn Wash, remind me to never piss you off."

SSgt Morrison came past and shouted over, "Ain't much to salvage, let's load up and boogie, come on troopers! Let's move it!"


Colonel Xin Donghai lowered the phone to its cradle. He had expected a pacified, compliant populace. His predecessor had assured him that the troublemakers in the region were few and were quiet at the moment.

Now he had a dead sentry from the compound, seven wounded and two dead balanced against a destroyed American hamlet with thirty-three dead Yankees, but this latest news was devastating. It was only through a huge expenditure of energy that he resisted the urge to slam the phone down and immediately send a punitive expedition into the nearest big town.

The phone call had been from one of their American informants, he lived not far from a secondary road into the mountains. Upon that road he saw the remnants of five UN armored vehicles. There were also a few dead soldiers nearby.

He had asked if the man saw any survivors, the answer had been no, four of the five vehicles looked like they had blown up, the man explained, the fifth was still burning.

Xin knew that he had to report this up the chain. This was serious resistance, unexpected resistance. As he pondered how to word his report, his aide came into the office.

"Comrade Colonel, Captain Zhou has been found, he and his driver were murdered on the grounds of the American military base twenty miles from here. The American compound there is deserted, we think that there is an intact American armored unit out there. Shall I send a helicopter patrol out?"

"Whose helicopters Bolin? The South Africans? We don't have any aircraft yet, they are still in Canada with no fuel and no bombs. Get me Area Headquarters on the line, we will need reinforcements and soon. Also go and arrest the local political leaders. Bring them here, immediately!!"

As Lieutenant Chou rushed to do the colonel's bidding, the colonel spun his chair and looked out the window into the compound. The Americans still had teeth, it was his job to pull those teeth. He didn't have the right tools for that just yet, perhaps he could get one of the more pliant locals to assist him. After all, Washington DC had invited the peacekeepers in, they should help support the peacekeeper's mission.

The Colonel wanted American aircraft, especially those venerable A-10s, he knew the Americans still had at least two squadrons of them still in service.

That would be a nice touch, destroying the American rebels with their own aircraft.

He needed A-10s.





50 comments:

  1. I don't think of Attack pilots as the being the types to cooperate with invaders, whether Washington invited them, or not.

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    1. Up until six months ago I would have agreed.

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    2. A pilot is a pilot is a pilot, some are good pilots, some are adequate pilots. But their politics don't factor into mission accomplishment. But in this situation, I wouldn't make any bets.

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    3. jim - If any of them have leftist inclinations, those were in place long before the current misadministration took office.

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  2. Best-laid schemes o' mice an' men gang aft a-gley though I doubt the good Colonel has read that.....

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    1. But he might have read Helmuth von Moltke:

      No plan of operations reaches with any certainty beyond the first encounter with the enemy's main force.
      Kriegsgechichtliche Einzelschriften (1880); often quoted as, ‘No plan survives first contact with the enemy’

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    2. To paraphrase Mike Tyson (well regarded tactician) "Everybody got a plan, 'til they get punched in the cocksucker."

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  3. I thought their APCs would be MRAPS, "requisitioned" from state and local "Law Enforcement" who got them from FedGov when they came back from the sandboxes. If not, do any of the resistance know how to make IEDs?

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    1. Oh, trust me. Lots of people know how to make IEDs. From modified artillery shells to tannerite-like explosives. And there are US Army manuals on all sorts of stuff like this that people have been downloading for years.

      The ChiComs would most likely use their own armor. Whatever their version of an IFV somewhat based on an old soviet design upgrated.

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    2. Mark - The peacekeepers would use UN provided equipment, saves them the expense of shipping their own vehicles. Guess who probably pays the bulk of that cost?

      As for IEDs, too much detail for this story, any fool can make something that goes boom.

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  4. There is a round object called a brake chamber under the rear axle of big trucks. Poke a hole in that, and the brakes lock up. Then it's soap flake goo or styrofoam goo time. I guess if you were devious and could get close, you could use a hilti gun to lock the doors and just build a regular fire under it.... Now that's interesting..... a piece of angle and a hilti..... Oh man, how elegant.

    Be very careful taking uxo and heating it to remove the jello. Those are major mass killers of the mechanics doing the heating. But a hole in the road with a pole, like they use to flip cars in movies..... I wonder.... pop it up with an acetylene ballon? Or a propane bag.... I bet it would work using an estes rocket ignitor..... Use a hole cover like a those small valve covers for water? Make it look legit... Holy crap, how about a Fougasse Flambe in place of a regular manhole cover? That sounds even better!! hehehehe.....

    All of this takes time, but study now, so you don't get caught short later..... Perfect practice makes perfect!!

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    1. Airbags can be used to propel a fougasse. Explosion and ignition all in one. And they are everywhere. Not that I would use force or any resistance against our masters, no...

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    2. You guys need to read the "Freehold" books by Michael Williamson.

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    3. STxAR _ This is a novel, not a "how to" manual. But that sort of thing is "good to know."

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    4. Beans - See my response to STxAR.

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    5. Beans, you magnificent Florida Man!!!! Well done..... very well done.

      I was thinking about those area denial devices they use in Pommyland and the EUwwwwww. The rising digit.... Now with more vigorous thrusting!!!

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    6. OAFS - I give you one BTG! (Big Texan Grin) and a wink.

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  5. I gotta wonder how much "ready service" ammo would be at an average Guard Armory. Ain't like the old days. I'd expect most of the ammo and things like the Javs would be in some "secure" compound run by Feds.
    Now, since the state TAG is obviously thoughtful perhaps a load of training ammo was made available. Not a huge problem to get 5.56 but I imagine HEAT rounds might be scarce out in the hinterland.
    Boat Guy

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  6. Sarge, well written as always.

    The scene of the almost surrender is where things become difficult: when one has pushed a population to the point that they simply have nothing to lose, then events will escalate rather quickly. The only choice becomes to ratchet things up even more - and risk a full blown conflict.

    The new Colonel has a problem -and given at least the public impression about how the Chinese government deals with failure, I do not envy him his position.

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    1. He really has taken hold of the tiger's tail, he just doesn't know it yet.

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  7. The rules of surrender (the unwritten ones) are pretty clear, if you are retreating and can't take prisoners, well, it's either leave them or kill them. Since leaving them alive would leave an intel source alive, sadly, in a guerilla campaign (yes, you can guerilla even with tanks) surrender is just not an option. Unless one can use the enemy as hostages, and that's a bad game to play.

    The 'fun' thing about the above ambush is to see how quickly the resistance and push-back spreads. How quickly and where will it spread? Just the country? Or in the major cities.

    And, well, I was listening to The Snake Charmer (an Indian bagpiper) while reading today's serial and it popped up "Då Som Nu För Alltid" which, let me tell you, just listening made the hair on the back of my neck rise and put some stiffness in my spine. Maybe the Swedes aren't lost after all. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bubOcI11sps

    Once again, you portray a chilling picture of what could be, that is frighteningly too possible.

    Und zo, to lighten the mood.... I present The Dead South... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9FzVhw8_bY

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    1. I'm a fan of the Snake Charmer, good piper.

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    2. Beans, the Snake Charmer AND the Dead South? Might we be cousins separated at birth, or something? You're not getting my info from an Alexa, 'cause I'd never own one.
      Sarge, well written, once again, and leaving 'em wanting more. One suggestion:
      Either 'As SSgt Sager had said, "The 42nd is not going to roll over to some damned peacekeeper force!" ', or
      'SSgt Sager had said that the 42nd was not going to roll over to "some damned peacekeeper force!" '.
      "As SSgt Sager had said" implies a direct quote, which would be in the present tense.
      Eagerly awaiting further developments (and likely envelopments),
      --Tennessee Budd

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    3. Bad paragraph perhaps, Morrison was thinking of what Sager had said, I made it a quote.

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  8. "The avalanche has already begun; it is too late for the pebbles to vote."

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    1. Could be it was already too late in November of 2020.

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    2. Likely. Thing is, President Trump wasn't our last chance; he was the left's last chance. This train is now headed for half-a-trestle with the throttle wired full open.
      Boat Guy

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  9. A great imagination to go with great writing.

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  10. OldAFSarge, I just finished reading all of the installments of this. It is very well written. I didn't know that many others were thinking of the same scenario that has been running through my head since 2016. I fear that you are writing future history rather than just a novel. Looking forward to the coming installments.

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  11. I especially enjoyed the buckethead who believed surrender was an option.... and his fate.

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    1. Being a dirty commie, I'd guess he was "thinking" what he was programmed/told to think. That's part of what makes the left so dangerous. Hell, the ones we suffer here in America actually believe our superhuman patience is fear. Why? Because their propagandists have told them so. Wont they be surprised when they find the end of our "fear"?...

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    2. The end of fear is reached when folks have reached the end of their rope, tied a knot in it, and the knot is unraveling. Because, let's be honest, knots can and do loosen over time. Fear as a long term motivator just doesn't work.

      My other observation is be sure not to forget the ladies, like Ida, as all warriors need to have safe places to re-arm, get food, warm clothes, blankets, and medical care for the injured. Someone needs to be "keeping the home fires burning". Someone needs to be feeding the cows, chickens and hogs, growing the gardens, preserving the vegetables, fruits,jam/jellies, pickles, meat, cheese, bread and alcohol (beer, wine) as well as preparing the bug-out bags for when the UN troops come checking up on the "homestead",whether that home is in the city, town or waaay out the other side of the ridge. Or when an observation post needs to be manned. Need to have ammo reloaded? The shop "manned" because the shopkeeper is not available? When information needs to be gathered in town, or needs to be communicated. Few women are looked at very closely, especially those that are older. Women are "the weaker sex", which is true physically at least. But don't forget, women birth children, and raise them up...how many men do you know who are big, tough-talking wouldn't-want-to-meet-in-a-dark-back-alley-types who wouldn't say boo to either their Mom or wife???!!
      There are many women who fully support their husbands and sons, fathers and brothers, as those men go off on maneuvers.

      Women...we are smaller, usually, weaker physically, usually, but we are still pretty tough when we want to or need to be. How many times in fiction, have you read about the "compliant" wife/woman of the house who offered to cook/share supper with the troops that just shot the man of the house in an attempt to delay being raped/killed, and then those troops are either incapacitated, or out-right killed because the lady of the house poisoned the stew with mushrooms, or another herbal "spice". Or the "lady" who, um, shall we say keeps the UN military leadership types "happy"...pillow talk is a real thing...information can be gathered, and has been in the past. Loose lips and ships and all that...

      Let's not forget, also, that the fastest growing group of gun owners over the past couple of years has been women. Ladies are showing up for training and for practicing with their newly acquired guns, and, according to a couple of trainers I have talked with, are better students and learn faster because they don't have any "bad habits" to unlearn and are more amenable to listening to the trainer/range master. Folks of that sort could increase any UN commander's nightmares.

      Just a few thoughts I'm throwing out there for contemplation by the Muse.

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    3. Suz - I haven't forgotten the ladies. Ida is going to play a big part in coming events.

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  12. @ lol no/ You DO realize don't you, that your "handle" , if slightly re-arranged alphabetically reminds one (i.e., me) of lon nol the Cambodian General & Prime Minister in the Vietnam era. :)

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