"Steady... Steady..." Said Rokossovsky while using a binocular to overlook an approaching mass of Polanian soldiers. Situated inside a run-down Orthodox church, Rokossovsky awaits the right moment to spring the trap.
Even with the weapons looted from the Polanian forward elements, they're still underequipped to fight the numerically superior Polanians in a standoff engagement. So, taking a page out of the good Lieutenant Adam's book, Rokossovsky will be fighting dirty. Now that the enemy is moving in a larger formation to lessen the chance of an ambush, Rokossovsky has been preparing to bite at them in smaller, more manageable chunks.
The Polanians leading the push to the slum are foot mobile accompanied by a few TKS tankettes and trucks with machine gunners using FM 24/29 machine guns. Just the initial spearhead alone is more than enough to make Rokossovsky second-guess himself, not to mention the trailing elements behind enemy frontliners. As such, it's time to even out the playing field a bit.
When one of the trucks in the rear of the Polanian spearhead drives over a loose set of road pavement, Rokossovsky gives the order. "Now!"
At his order, a Belkan Pioneer that has been Adam's liaison to Rokossovsky presses his clacker twice.
CLACK CLACK BOOM
The ground beneath the truck loaded with a four-man machine gun team explodes in a fireball, thus torching the vehicle and burning the exposed passengers alive. The trap, made using a small amount of remotely detonated plastic explosives, scavenged fuel, and flammable materials, completely blocks the narrow road. This prevents the main body from immediately crossing to support the cutoff spearhead.
Adam signals the Slavs hiding over on the roofs as well as the second and third stories of the buildings flanking the road the Polanian spearhead was traveling, to hit the Polanians below with everything they have. Some ignite their Molotov cocktails before throwing them on top of the leading tankettes and trucks, the sight of them catching fire very reminiscent of battles from the Great War era. The burning liquid from the Molotovs disables the tankettes by slipping into the engines or the crew compartment. In the case of the exposed machine gun trucks, it outright eliminates them from the firepower equation. It's a textbook divide, block, and ambush. Seizing the chance, both Rokossovsky and Adam, though separated by many buildings, order at the same time.
"Fire at will!"
Utilizing a combination of battle rifles, bolt-action rifles, and submachine guns, the combined Rusviets, Belkans, Slavs, and sympathetic Polanians welcome the panicking and burning enemy spearhead with a faceful of lead. The distraught Warsaw garrison soldiers are beset with a sudden hail of bullets from multiple angles from above. From the church, Rokossovsky has some of his Rusviet guards use their long-range rifles to snipe the enemy. While Adam over at the side buildings has his Belkans and the lesser-skill slum defenders firing at them at close range, creating a dense field of fire. Though minimally trained in their looted weapons, the close distance and elevated position mean the slum defenders can still hit with reasonable accuracy. Very soon, nearly all of the enemy Polanian spearheads are either dying or injured, with all of their vehicles disabled or burned down with their crews still inside. Rokossovsky does not envy how those people go, not one bit. The Rusviet General prays that those Polanian soldiers are at least innocent in whatever has happened in the slum. Otherwise, Hell will give them a fate much worse than being scorched to death.
Rather than sticking around to finish them off, Adam calls for a tactical retreat. Rokossovsky has to commend young Adam for his quick and decisive thinking. The incendiary trap blocking the rest of the Warsaw garrison from rescuing their spearhead is now dying out. If Adam and his force had gotten greedy, they wouldn't have been able to retreat in time and risked being slaughtered by the enemy. Fortunately for Rokossovsky and Adam, the slum defenders are reasonable and experienced hunters, they know when and when not to pick their fight. Hence, the defenders comply with the retreat order promptly, conserving their limited firepower and manpower for the next engagement.
Rokossovsky and his detachment at the abandoned church provide overwatch until the last of Adam's force has retreated before they too swiftly withdraw out the back of the church. Such a perfect ambush is rare, and it won't work twice unless the Warsaw garrison commander is very, very dumb. As such, Rokossovsky and Adam aren't counting on them being able to set up another such scenario again. Instead, what follows next will be a series of intermittent, medium-to-long-range shootouts. They aim to kill as many of the enemy's officers as possible while stalling for time, at least until things can be resolved in one manner or another.
Basically, they just have to make them bleed until it's done.
-------------------------------------
"Fuck... Off!" Delivering a nasty blow using the butt of his MP9, Adam knocks away the teeth of an unfortunate Polanian.
He then pulls out his pistol and shoots the bastard right in the head. Letting his enemy's brain matter spill on the floor, Adam resumes his position by the broken wall of a flower shop that the now-dead Polanian used to break into their fourth holdout position. "SITREP!"
"Good!"
"PEACHY!"
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
"NOT GREAT, NOT TERRIBLE!"
"I JUST GOT A NEW HAIR CUT!"
Such were the positive replies with some reporting yellow on ammo. Even with them all using semi-auto fire mode or bolt-action rifles only, they're burning through supplies at a frantic pace. Unfortunately, by this point, they have taken some casualties, with a few of them permanent. The Belkans are fine since those that got hit were trained properly and were wearing bulletproof vests. Yet the slum defenders took the most damage as they're not fitted to be in active combat. Already, they're down to less than thirty combatants, with Rokossovsky's Rusviet units also losing one soldier due to a case of self-sacrifice. That heroic Rusviet jumped on a frag grenade to save the Belkans and Slavs, dying without an intact face.
Fucking Hell, Adam hasn't signed up to see such a death, but he still stomached it anyway. The stakes are high since innocent lives are on the line. These shoot-first-ask-question-never Polanians will turn the civies into Swiss cheese the moment they see them.
Adam shakes the morbid thoughts away, pulling out his empty MP9 mag before replacing it with a new one from his vest. Right, he too is yellow on ammo. Poking around the broken wall, Adam aligns the iron sight with an enemy soldier prepping for a grenade throw. He pulls the trigger, hitting the Polanian in the shoulder, forcing him to drop the grenade. Seeing the live grenade beneath their feet, the other Polanians jump for cover. Adam sees the explosion from his position, yet he has no clue just how effective it has been. Already, the Lieutenant can see more Polanians peaking their guns out from behind covers and windows, trading fire with the defenders in the flower shop.
To make matters worse, a tankette turns the corner, pointing its 8mm machine gun.
"Fuck! Get down!" Adam hit the deck alongside the other combatants in the flower shop, just in time before a burst of 8mm bullets rips through the front of the shop.
Being suppressed, Adam calls out for the markswoman in his small unit. Armed with a scoped G1 rifle, the designated markswoman has to double up as a tankette hunter. The reason is that the Polanian TKS tankette has extremely pitiful protection against Belkan's more modern 8mm Mauser bullets. Her G1 rifle can precisely snipe the TKS crews through the thin 8mm steel of the tankettes.
"Goddamn it, Hedwig, I need that MG silenced yesterday!"
Stout rifle reports can be heard from the top floor before the tankette stops firing its machine gun. "Thank you so much, lady!" Adam says through his throat mic.
Daring a look, he can see that the tankette has new holes on its front armor plates. Nevertheless, the suppressive fire did its job as the Polanian soldiers are dangerously close to them.
"Damn it, pull back to the last defense line! Those that can cast shield, do it now and provide cover!" Adam calls for another tactical retreat before dodging a bayonet swipe from a Polanian that comes through the bullet-ridden front door.
"Eat this!" After ducking below the swipe, Adam rises with his pistol in his left hand. Pulling the trigger, the Lieutenant sends a 9mm bullet through the chin and into the brain of the Polanian.
Turning, he sees one of the Slavs fist-fighting another enemy, he saves him by pulling the trigger of his USP a couple of times. Looking at the front door, Adam uses his MP9 on his right hand and fires a suppressive barrage after flipping it to full-auto. His action buys the group enough time to regain their bearing, with the rescued Slav thanking him before retreating behind two Belkans who know how to cast shielding magics. The shield can take a few rifle hits, but it drains them of their mana quickly whenever one is cast. It's why Adam saved their abilities till now when they have to make a hot retreat.
"Use the rear door! We need to get back to the last defense line! Move!" Adam urged.
Protected by the shields that already have some cracks, Adam's unit makes it out of the flower shop a bit worse for wear. To prevent them from being followed, one of the Slavs has the idea to toss a Molotov into the flammable shop.
"Good idea, now move people!" Adam compliments the man, recognizing him as the Slav he saved earlier. Both men share a respectful nod before they hike with the group back to their last holdout.
Adam switches his radio to the command net, screaming. "Talk to me Bravo, where the fuck is our air support!?"
After a beep, Lukas reports back with anxiety and relief in his voice. "Rigel Squadron is right above you. They are unable to identify where you are to drop their ordinance safely, so you better haul ass to where they can't hit you by accident!"
"That's the best news I've heard all day long!" Adam finally managed to let out a gunpowder-stained smile.
"Try to hold on Alpha, more support is on the way with an AWACS. They can help you more than me. I have a plan in the works to see if I can get you more guns, if not an early extract!"
"If you manage to do that then don't be surprised when my fiancee pulls you into a crushing hug when we get back!" Adam laughs, finally, there's hope for them yet.
"Sorry Alpha, but I am not into NTR!" Lukas remarks.
"The fuck does NTR even mean?!" Adam quipped.
"I don't know, it's what the Japs said!" Lukas says before shutting down the line for now. The Sergeant probably goes off to get his own plans going.
Anyway, their banter sure works wonders for his unit's confidence as they hear it all on speaker. It was an intentional choice by Adam to let the Slavs and the others hear what he discussed with Lukas back on the train. As a result the defenders' fighting spirit is rekindled once more. When handling an unprofessional force, Adam learned that it's much better to keep the morale up rather than discipline. All those years training back in the Academy sure paid off unexpectedly.
Nevertheless, he needs to convey the new information to Rokossovsky and the other defenders. It's time to hunker down and watch the bomb being dropped, literally. That and prepare for close-quarter combat at their last defense line. Unfortunately, the line is smack dab in a dense urban setting with crisscrossed buildings and small alleyways. CAS may have limited effectiveness in such a setting so they have to rely on the tried and true bayonets, buttstocks, and bloodied fists at the end of the day.
Whatever the plan to get them out of the danger zone is, Adam hopes that it can be completed fast.
"Oh Mother Goddess, please watch over me. Oh the staunch figure of victory, our Marshal, please bless us with the Fortune of War. My sweet Aria, pray for your fiancee and the innocents." Unknown to Adam, his prayers were said aloud.
There will be some interesting repercussions down the line because of his prayers.