Chapter 5

We saw the mountains that the lads should be on, and it was less than a mile away. I radioed into Spike to let him know we were coming in. The road got smoother, and we made good time.

I could not see the sangars from where we were, but ten minutes later they came into view. The lads had done a great job.

We pulled onto a goat path that led up the right-hand slope. I got off my ATV and took my water bottle off the ATV and took a long swig.

Spike came jogging over. We bumped fists...

“So, it went well then Rosie?” he asked.

“Yes mate, we managed to destroy a few vehicles and take out a few troops,” I said as he led me over to the fortifications.

“Do we have any ideas of the numbers mate?” Spike asked as we walked.

“No idea mate, it was dark, and they were hidden in the tree line,” I said as I cast my eyes over the sangars.

The guys had done as we had discussed and built both forward and rear sangars with a small dug-out trench that joined them.

Taff joined us and we wandered around making sure that the lads were all okay.

I checked the sangars on both sides of the road, now I was here Spike would lead his lads from the right and I would lead my lads from the left.

The GPMG was on the left. We only had ten magazines for it, three hundred rounds.

We had around a thousand rounds left for the M16s and around the same for the UCIW’s. Taff and I had no rounds left for our L96A1 sniper rifles, we all had Glocks with around three spare mags each. But to be fair if we had to use the Glocks we were in deep shit. We had some grenades and flash bangs but that was all we had in our armoury.

We really needed that airdrop ... or things might get a bit hairy.

Between the forward and rear sangars, one of the lads was brewing up, we left two lads on stag duty.

I sent Taff off with mugs of coffee for the lads in stag. The rest of us sat around and chatted. The lads asked about the Titashians and what we were to expect. I guessed they were nervous about their first taste of real action. Taff had done himself proud and I had no doubt that the other lads would be okay in action as well.

I ate some food out of a ration pack. Veggie stew, rice pudding and some energy bars. Most of the lads ate as well. We all knew that once the action started there would be little time for food and coffee.

It was an hour later when we heard one of the lads shouting. We all grabbed our guns and headed back to the sangars.

Ian ‘Coxie’ Coxen handed me the binoculars. In the distance, I could see a convoy kicking up dust as it powered down the road. It was hard to count the men as they were walking alongside the vehicle. There were at least thirty troop carriers, but they might not all be full of men. There were armoured trucks and some guys on motorbikes. There were three or four of the WW2 copy Bren gun carriers as well.

They were out of range so all we could do was watch them coming toward us. They were kicking up loads of dust and it was hard to see where the convoy ended.

We all just stood at the sangar wall and watched them as they drove toward us. You could feel the tension in the air.

Ten minutes later we heard the drone of an aircraft. I turned toward the direction of the drone. I could see a C-130 Hercules. It was coming in low. The RAF were bringing in our gear. Thank fuck for that I thought to myself.

I used the comms unit to contact Spike.

“Mate, as soon as the pods have landed get three of your lads to go and gather them up, I will send three of mine as well,”

“Roger that Rosie!” he replied.

I watched as the Hercules dropped four flares; they would use them to judge the wind. Luckily for them and us, it was a windless day.

It then took its time circling and setting up its run. I saw the rear hatch being lowered and the aircrew pushed out six pods. Their parachutes opened and they drifted down toward the ground. They landed a hundred yards behind our position, a perfect drop.

I stood guard as the lads drove their ATVs out to get the gear.

The head shed had done us proud. There were a couple of dozen boxes of M16 rounds, the same for the UCIWs, we had two boxes of rounds for the L96A1 sniper rifles. That gave us another hundred rounds for each of the snipers.

There were thirty grenades for the M203s and some hand grenades. There were six hundred rounds for the GPMGs.

Another one of the pods had ration packs, spare comms batteries, and first aid kits. There was fuel for the ATVs. Another of the pods carried a spare GPMG and another six hundred rounds.

There was a pod full of bottled water, which would be good as we would not be able to set up the purification unit.

Spike and I opened the pods and split the gear between the two teams. We got onto the job and got it into the sangars. Once the kit was stowed away, I told the lads to get ready for some action.

“Right mate, I think it is time you got over to your sangar. Get some rations down you and then get the lads to load up their spare mags, I think in an hour or, so we are going to see some action!” I told him.

“No bother mate, see you on the other side!” he said, and we bumped fists.

I scoffed down two ration packs, and then I started off a self-heating cup of coffee.

I loaded all my mags and made sure all the kit was easily reached.

Then I found a good firing position in the sangar. I used the rifle’s scopes to have a look at the convoy. They were on the edge of the range for the L96A1. I gave them another ten minutes and then I had another look.

There were a lot of soldiers and a lot of vehicles coming our way. We would need backup of some sort even if it were the Shabarain army, as rough and as useless as they looked.

I used my comms kit to call Taff.

“Taff, are you fed, watered and ready for action mate?” I asked.

“Yes Rosie, good to go when you give the word!” he replied.

“Right let’s do what snipers do!” I said.

I lined up my first target, the driver of the first vehicle in the convoy. It was another one of those old WW2 copies of a gun carrier. I fired and my round hit the driver but lower than I had expected. It was still a kill. I saw the GPMG gunner firing in our direction.

He was a mug; his weapon only had half the range of my L96A1. He was just wasting ammo. I heard Taff firing. I shifted my aim and fired into the windscreen of the second vehicle in the convoy. It shattered; my second round hit the driver in the head. My third round took out the passenger.

Men were running into the bush on either side of the road. I did not waste rounds. I made sure I had a clear and clean shot before pulling the trigger. The next hour was a game of cat and mouse. Taff and I kept the enemies’ heads down. We had to worry them, to get them hunkered down and not moving forward.

We had to give the backup time to get to us and picking of the odd man here and there was definitely doing that.

The other lads in my sangar spent their time cleaning weapons and loading spare mags. Sometimes the other lads would come to the sangar wall to see the action. To be fair we were too far away from the enemy for them to get into it. Taff and I were both on the edge of the range of our sniper’s rifles.

Every now and then a couple of men would leave their hiding places and try to scramble up the slopes of the hill. It was an easy job for me and Taff.

During the lulls in action, I thought about the job we had been given. There must be thousands of men out there, okay some would be conscripts, but many would be proper soldiers. At least we had a GPMG in each sangar and plenty of ammo. We needed back up and we needed it soon.

I saw three men with what looked like an old-school American bazooka rocket launcher, I was not sure of the range of that bit of kit, but I was not going to take any chances.

My first shot took out the guy holding the bazooka. A headshot took him down. The next lad to him reached over to pick it up and I squeezed my trigger. The round slammed into his chest. The third guy shuffled back into cover.

I kept my eyes on the bazooka, if they tried to retrieve it, they would be dead.

Things went quiet for an hour; they would be making plans. I sent two of the lads out from each sangar to check that no one was working their way around our flanks.

We saw smoke rising from their rear lines, campfires being lit, and food being cooked I guessed.

I kept my eyes on the front and wondered what the lads would find behind us.

They came back and told us that we had nothing behind us. That was good news for us and bad leadership by whoever was running their show.

Taff and I fired a few more rounds. I saw the old artillery piece being towed up to the front of the convoy. That might stir things up a little bit.

“Lads get ready we might be getting some shells coming our way!” I said into the comms unit.

I saw a gunner lining up the artillery piece. He was a silly lad, he stood up and he died as one of my rounds ripped into his chest. Another man ran in to take his place. I pulled my trigger, and my round ripped into his guts.

The sun would be going down soon. If I were commanding the forces in front of me, I would wait until darkness had enveloped the bush and then send some men out to take us on. I would send men around our flanks and at the same time send guys directly at us.