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Praetorium Honoris

Tuesday, October 10, 2023

Night March

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The soldiers were hurrying, the day had been long and when the clouds and the rain had moved in, the night promised to be longer still. The Sergeant noticed some of the soldiers occasionally looking back over their shoulders, a look of fear mixed with anger was on many of their faces. What should have been an easy affair had turned violent and bloody.

"Sergeant," he barely heard the Captain's voice, everyone was trying to be as quiet as possible.

"Sir?"

"Halt the column, the troops need a breather."

"But Sir ..."

"Now, Sergeant." The Captain's tone left no room for debate.

Gradually, reluctantly, the column of exhausted troops came to a stop. Whispered commands went up and down the length of the column - eat, check your gear, no fires - many of the troops were beyond caring about eating or their equipment, they sat heavily in the mud and stared into the distance.

The sergeant identified those few diehards, present in every army, who would do their duty until killed or invalided out. Those he sent off to either side of the ill-defined track, more an animal trail than a proper road. He himself went to the rear of the column with his three best troops, two men and a woman who had been with him since the early days.

"Move down the track about fifty meters, I want to know if we're being followed."

The woman nodded, her corporal stripes giving her the command of the little group. "If we are?"

"If there are a lot of them, send a man back to let me know their strength. Then kill as many as you can. I'll try and help you out, but ..."

"I know Sarge, slow the bastards down. If we can break free, we will, if we can't ..." she shrugged.

The Sergeant watched as the trio vanished into the darkness. The rain drowned out any sound their movement might have made. He stared into the darkness, hoping there was nothing back there, knowing there probably was.

"What was that about?" he nearly jumped out of his skin, this damned officer moved like a cat.

"Checking to see if we're being followed. I sent out flankers as well. Some of the troops are still game."

The officer slapped the man on the back. "Good job, now get some rest, I'll wait here for them."

He didn't have to specify who he was waiting for, but in reality he might have meant the party sent to the rear, he might have meant the enemy who was almost certainly following them. The Sergeant didn't really care as he moved towards the center of the column to find a place to put his head down, if even for a few minutes.


The Captain started, he had nodded off, something he would probably have a soldier shot for doing. Then he heard it again, a low whistle, like a night bird. He answered with a low grunt, try as he might, he had never learned to whistle.

"Coming in, hold your fire," it was a woman's voice low and soft, but surprisingly clear. She was surprised to see the Captain. But she covered it well.

"We're being followed, about twenty of them from what we could tell, Jensen knows these things, I trust his judgement. We left them some surprises, should slow them down until we can get clear of these woods. Sir."

"Surprises?"

"Traps, the kind that inflict pain but don't kill, we didn't have enough time to do anything fancy. Couple of pits with sharpened stakes, easy to see in the daylight but ..."

She was interrupted by a piercing scream from down the trail.

"I think they found one."


A mist had settled into the forest when the rain had stopped. The Sergeant wanted to get moving again, but the troops were reluctant to do so. More than one had let him know, in no uncertain terms, that they were done, they weren't moving another inch.

He couldn't blame them, they had left their dead and wounded behind. Down in the valley near the town which had been their objective, and along the creek which led up into the forest. The pursuit was desultory at first, their opponents weren't regular soldiers. But as the word spread of the day's affairs, more men, and women, came out to join the locals.

"What are they so f**king mad about, Sarge? They broke the law, they have to suffer the consequences, don't they?" One of the younger soldiers had asked as he made his rounds.

"It ain't that simple, trooper. Some of them have argued that the government had no such right to pass that law. That got the locals riled up, I suppose."

One of the other men sat up, "Isn't that for the courts to decide?"

The Sergeant nodded, "I agree, but the officers say march, we march. They say go do a thing, we go do it. Somebody up the chain of command decided to act before the courts. So here we are."

"Deep in the shit." the first man said.

"That's enough, now get off your asses, we need to move." the Sergeant noticed that the mist was getting lighter, it would be daybreak soon enough.

The men around him began getting to their feet, reluctantly, but they were moving.


"How bad is it?" the leader of the local militia looked down at his next door neighbor. Their medic had just finished binding the man's wound.

"Hurts," was all his neighbor said.

The medic stood up, shaking his head, "There are probably more of those traps around, stake went right though his calf. I stopped the bleeding but he needs to see a real doc, might be splinters in there. If he doesn't get them out, they'll fester. He could lose that leg."

The man who had stepped into the trap went pale when he heard that. "Come on, doc, really?"

The leader nodded at two of the other men, "Rig a litter, let's get back to town. I'm sure the regulars will be back. Not today or tomorrow, but they'll be back."


As the sun rose and the mist gradually burned off, the men who had survived the ambush and the running battle from the day before emerged from the forest. They had been promised reinforcements but when they got to the rally point, there were only three men waiting for them, their battalion commander, the battalion sergeant major, and the commander's orderly.

The Captain made his way along the column to where the major waited, he saluted and looked around. "Where ...?"

"Still in barracks Captain. Well, 3rd Company is, 2nd Company is in the mess hall, Support Company is, well, we don't know where Support Company is."

"How do you lose ..."

"It's a revolution, Captain. Rioting broke out in the capital late last night, troops were sent out to quell the riot, a third of 'em joined the rioters, another third went home, the troops that stayed loyal are holed up in the museum of natural history, I think ..." he looked at his Sergeant Major, who nodded.

"Yeah, museum of natural history, I don't know what the official name is, at any rate, those folks are under siege now."

"Sir, I lost seventeen casualties yesterday, we can't just let this go."

"Well, normally I'd agree with you Captain. But right now, I don't know what to think."

"We're at war, Sir." The Sergeant Major offered.

The Captain gave the senior noncom a hard look, "No shit, ya think?"



56 comments:

  1. Took a while before realizing what campaign this is. Bit scary reading and hope that this post is NOT prescient Sarge.

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    1. I rather hope it's not prescient, a cautionary tale, perhaps?

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    2. I think we're well past "cautionary tales". Those who presume to rule over us are NOT receptive. Wish they were but " wishin don't make it so". Thus more likely prescient; wish it weren't.
      Boat Guy

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    3. I'm still optimistic, maybe we can, unlike so many other counties in the past, avoid the colossal failure looming on the horizon. Some people are stating to wake up, and I don't mean the woke kind, I mean really open their eyes as to what's going on. My only concern is, will it be enough?

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  2. "Bit scary reading and hope that this post is NOT prescient Sarge"

    Stole my words Nylon12 although I am unsure what campaign this is. Various languages it could be anything past the era of firearms given the "have that solder shot thought". Spanish Civil War, South Vietnam (given the punji trap mentioned) and so on.

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    1. Could be as early as the 1600s, or it could be in the next few years. We shall see.

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  3. From my time doing medical support at JFK Center Ft Bragg (what name is it today?) I learned setting up pit traps and punji takes a fair bit of time. Not easy nor quiet with shovel work to do on the run. Even the VC as I understood from vets that served there set them up with a zig zag route for a planned retreat path to discourage pursuit.

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    1. Sigh, today it's "Fort Liberty," which given the mindset of those who insisted on its renaming is something of a misnomer (IMHO).

      As to the stakes/pits thing, it's possible to do a real hasty job, but probably not in the time frame in the story. I claim "artistic license."

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    2. Chuckling. An Artist, are Yee? A wordsmith of quite some skill but is it art?

      Depending on the era it is most disturbing to hear the odd ping of a grenade spoon flying off.

      It is good to know the exit path, even in a "mostly peaceful" (thanks CNN reporters) situation.

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    3. I like to think it's art. I could be delusional but ...

      Yeah, that spoon flying off, gets your attention.

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  4. Sarge, you may have outdone yourself with hook this time. I could not tell where or when we were. Well done.

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    1. Not sure where this one is going yet. Might be a one-off, might be a teaser. The Muse will let me know, I'm sure.

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  5. The third that went home will be easy to catch...

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    1. Ah, but who will be doing the catching?

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    2. From what I've seen in the histories, "they" eventually decide that leaving like that something that really needs to made an example of and they will find the people to do that.

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    3. During a revolution that's hard to do, but once the revolution is over (and they always end) the winner might decide that those who "opted out" need to be made an example of. I guess that would be the "eventually" part.

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    4. The third that went home will be rather hard to catch, for the most, as they will be 'behind enemy lines' so to speak. Not actively resisting, but passively resisting. And most likely they went home with a full loadout, so any attempt to get 'jiggy' in base housing will be met very vehemently as those taking a neutral stance will fight tooth and nail to remain 'neutral.'

      And, even worse, any attempt by Those In Power to reprise upon families will push those 1/3rd directly into the side of the Revolution. And they'll lose about half of the 'loyalists,' too.

      Look to see any officer or senior NCO flying Loyalist colors to end up napping in/on/around/under the dirt.

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    5. Usually payback happens once the dust settles (for the 1/3 opting out). Bear in mind, those who went "home" may actually have gone home. I didn't specify if regulars or reservists were sent in to quell the riots. Might play a role down the line.

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  6. Bells, whistles & "accoutrements" aside, reads like universal soldiers doing their timeless duty.

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  7. I found myself thinking of the Heinlein short "Free Men," although that is about an invasion and occupation by an unnamed foreign power.
    The first part could be any time, any place. Then you go and bring in courts and law and revolution. I have no idea what you drew from for the inspiration. And pray that your Muse isn't named Cassandra.

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    1. Been reading a lot about Lexington and Concord lately. I've also been pondering the utter lack of talent in our country's "leadership," on damn near every level, public and corporate.

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    2. And that, my friend, is precisely the problem.

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    3. Beg to differ on the "utter lack of leadership", Sarge. Reading Atkinson. There are a number of exceptions.
      As to whether or not " leadership" is a problem; might also beg to differ; ever hear the tale of the Airborne PFC roaming through Normandy with a pair of wirecutters?.
      BG

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    4. I mean in our current times, there was no lack of leadership in the Massachusetts Bay Colony back in the day. Today we seem to be lacking any adult supervision in DC and in most if not all of the state capitals.

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  8. I, juvat, do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God.

    Foreign AND Domestic. 'Nuff said!

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    1. Yup. No expiration date on that either.

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    2. When I took the Oath to enter the Navy in 1982, I had a pretty good idea of what a Foreign Enemy was, I wondered about a Domestic Enemy. These days I don't wonder anymore.

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    3. Being just a lowly civilian puke, "I Pledge Allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic, for which it stands, One Nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."

      Those who are in power now? They are not the Republic. They are far from it. National Socialist dictatorship, yeah, or neo-feudalistic ass-hats...

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    4. When I took the oath (I was enlisting so the oath was slightly different) on the 24th of March 1976 I thought of Richard Nixon .... now we have a cabal behind closed door running things. Talk about no leadership!

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    5. Beans - The Republic is teetering on the edge, we'll see if it goes over that edge next year.

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    6. Rob - Yup, the enlisted oath is different from that the officers take, hoever, both indicate that defending the Constitution is a BIG DEAL.

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    7. I am certain that General Milley concurs. Do you not agree?

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    8. Beans, I've always thought it strange that we pledge allegiance to the Flag. It is a symbol which stirs deep emotions, but it really has no bearing on how the country is (or, should be) run. What legal obligations does "I pledge . . " impose, as contrasted to "I do solemnly swear . . ."?

      That's the job of the Constitution, as lawfully amended. It makes sense to me that we should be pledging allegiance to the Constitution. Our armed services do. Our Court officers do. Why not the citizens?

      The Pledge is a Johnny-come-lately to American patriotism. I believe it to be an attempt to throw cold water on citizen allegiance to individual states and shift that allegiance to the National government, perhaps as a bandaid for the festering wounds of the CIvil War.

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    9. You raise some very good points. I was surprised to read that the Supreme Court had ruled on compelling people to recite the pledge. The first time they got it wrong, the second time they got it right. Can't compel the citizens of a Republic to pledge allegiance to anything is the bottom line in my interpretation. The oath the armed forces swear is vastly different, it's also legally binding. IMHO

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  9. Any time, any place, any war. Hell, any planet, any universe, any species. Universal.

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    1. Not sure about the any species part, but yeah.

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  10. As long as governments become oppressors this story will be retold.

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  11. The new rallying cry isn't going to be "Give me Liberty or Give me Death!," it will be "I just wanted to (insert swear words maybe) be left alone!"

    And we are seeing in Israel why private citizens need to have arms. And why evil forces don't want private citizens to have them.

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  12. I, BillB, do solemnly swear... I took that oath about 50 years ago when I got my commission. I think I must have done the other version when I became a full time, paid AFROTC Cadet because I got a copy of my Honorable Discharge as an Airman Basic from the AF Reserves about a month after my commissioning.

    OldAFSarge, is this in any way connected with that story line you started a few years ago about the oppressed U.S.? That one had my teeth on edge.

    I fear that we may be in for some "Very Interesting Times"(TM) in the latter half of 2024 into 2025. This scenario may rhyme with what happens then.

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    1. I've only ever done the enlisted oath. This story line is distinct from the story I started a while back (the Muse just looked at me and said "Maybe" - so I really don't know.) As for next year, yup, I have that in mind.

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    2. "OldAFSarge, is this in any way connected with that story line you started a few years ago about the oppressed U.S.? That one had my teeth on edge." Sounds VERY interesting.

      Link please

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    3. Wow, just wow, thanks for the link.

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  13. Taken and administered both oaths. No expiration dates on any of them.
    BG

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  14. Well written and thought provoking, as always.
    Not sure what is is, or how it fits in to anything specific in the real or fantasy world, but it is an entirely believable snippet of something which may or may not have happened in the past, present or future.

    I too have sworn both versions of The Oath, and find it troubling that the clear lines of demarcation between friend and enemy are now so confused, invisible, unclear and shifting, not only domestic, but foreign as well. Rule 1 has to be "If it ain't none of our business then don't go poking your nose in it." Rule 2 has to be, "Helping friends is good, as long as the aid provided does not hurt yourself in the long run." Rule 3 has to be "If you cannot pay for it, then don't buy it."
    John Blackshoe

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    1. I think those demarcation are becoming clearer every day, JB. I don't like what I see much, but it's definitely clearer.
      BG

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    2. JB - The lines were very blurry, I think the sides are starting to resolve themselves more clearly. I like your rules.

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