Chapter 3

Band-aid was on the radio, and he was looking worried.

I got some water and scran down my neck, the food in the ration packs was crap to be fair, but they were fuel and that was what was needed. A good soldier eats, sleeps, and drinks when he can and what he can.

“Right lads, the Yanks have a drone up and they tell us that the other trucks are at the camp, the head shed has sent the paras, they should be with us in four hours.”

“But we don’t know numbers or what they have weapons-wise!” Sacka said.

“The Yanks have spoken to the Para head shed and they are just going it blind” Band-Aid said.

We all looked at each other and shook our heads, it made no sense at all.

“Do we have any orders mate?” Ship Asked.

“We have been tasked with securing one of the flanks to stop anyone escaping,” Band-aid said.

He then gave us the map coordinates. We all tapped them into our GPS systems.

“Right, we need to get a move on,” Ship said.

I had just reached my Bergan when the first mortar landed less than ten yards from us. I was blown off my feet as was Sacka. My ears were buzzing, and I had to shake my head to clear it.

I could hear Ship calling out to Band-Aid to call it in and get us some reinforcements. I grabbed my rifle and stood up. I ran over to the rocks and peered over the top. Bearded warriors were pouring out of trucks and four-by-fours. Most of the four-by-fours had machine guns mounted on them. We heard them start to fire and heavy-duty rounds rattled around us.

I could not count the number of enemy combatants that were jumping out of the vehicles and heading our way. There must have been at least a hundred.

I fired off some three-round bursts and was soon joined by Ship.

“Fuck we are outgunned” he said, “Sacka get up here make we need you.”

I was picking targets and letting have it, at the same time I was ducking as AK rounds buzzed around us.

“Lads the paras are in the air,” Band-Aid said into our earpieces, “and the Yanks are sending in some choppers.”

“How long will they be mate?” I heard Ship say as he fired at the Taliban.

“Chopper’s half an hour, Paras not sure they are going to change their LZ to get closer to us.”

As he said it another mortar landed behind us, and rock chips showered down on us. I dropped to one knee as a Taliban zeroed in on me and let fly with a full AK mag. He was firing like an idiot, wasting ammo firing at the place where I had been. As he stopped to change his mag I stood up and slotted him with three rounds. Two in the torso and one in the head. As he hit the ground his mates fired at me, I dropped to one knee.

I changed mags stood up and picked some targets, I killed three but so many men were attacking us It was obvious we were in trouble. It looked like more trucks were coming our way. I could see a trail of dust as they motored across the sand. I tried to count them but had to stop at ten when a Taliban mortar round came my way and I had to get into cover.

“Rosie, retreat until you get to that stand of rocks on the higher ground and then use your sniper skills to give us time to get back to you!” Ship said into my earpiece.

“Roger that mate,” I said and dropping down I scuttled across the ground and picked up my sniper rifle and my Bergen, I ran back and up the slope of a low hill. Rounds hit the floor around my feet, but I just kept running.

I got settled behind a stand of rocks and put my Glock on the ground beside me before setting up the sniper rifle. I put all of the spare mags on the ground beside me. I got the feeling I would need them. I took a swig of water as my mouth was dry from the dust and the cordite that was filling the air.

Then I started to line up targets.

I saw a guy with an RPG, he was using the back of a four-by-four truck to aim at the rocks the rest of the lads were hiding behind, I steadied my breath and put a round through his forehead. Not bad for a first shot.

He dropped the RPG, but a guy ran from the cover of one of the trucks and picked up the RPG. I fired at him, my first shot ripped into his right arm, and my second shot ripped into his throat.

My next target was the gunner on the GPMG that was mounted on the roof of one of the trucks. My first shot hit his shoulder, my second ripped the back of his head off.

The Taliban warriors were not well trained if they had been we would have been dead within minutes. They grouped up too much and did not try to outflank us. They seemed to be happy to fire off their mags in one burst as well which was never a good thing.

I saw a guy running with an ammo box, my first shot knocked him off his feet, and I put another round into him to make sure he was out of the game.

Targets were easy to find, I lined up a guy that was about to fire a GMPG. He had just clambered into the back of a four-by-four. My first shot hit him in the stomach, my second, his chest, and the third hit his shoulder.

My next target was an older bloke who was instructing others to attack us. I hit him with three rounds to the chest.

I then lined up the fuel tank of one of the trucks. I held my breath and fired. The truck blew up and took out at least half a dozen men. Some dead, some injured. The rate of fire coming from them slowed as they ran around like headless chickens.

“Good work mate,” Ship said in my ear, “Count to ten and do that again and we will retreat to your position.”

“No worries” I replied and at the same time shot a lad who was carrying machine gun belts to a gunner that was bedded down in a hollow in the ground. I fired at the gunner, but he was well hidden.

I lined up the fuel tank of another truck. Men were firing off its flatbed, my aim was true, and the truck exploded in a ball of flames, as the truck rolled onto its side, I saw my mates running for cover. I kept up a nice rate of fire, picking good targets and making every round count.

I saw more trucks unloading their men and these lads looked more like seasoned warriors.

“Ship we have some old heads coming to join the fight,” I said into my throat mic and at the same time shifted my aim and took aim at a guy who was leading some of the troops. He was waving his arms trying to get his men to advance.

My shot hit in the chest, and his arms waved around as he hit the ground.

Some of the new men, the older more experienced warriors got behind cover and more and more rounds came our way. These guys were not trigger-happy. They were firing three-round bursts, the mark of a good soldier. I saw three guys running in with a mortar tube. I targeted them and got rounds into two of them.

I lined up another fuel tank, my first shot winged it, my second hit home and the truck exploded.

We were in the middle of a serious firefight; the enemy kept their heads down for long enough for the lads to take up firing positions. I heard a noise behind me, and I turned and picked up my Glock at the same time. Two bearded warriors were moving toward Band-Aid. They had missed me, I fired six times hitting the first man twice and the second three times. They dropped to the ground. I shuffled back and made sure they were dead. Both had AK47s and spare mags. I took the weapons and the ammo; I got the feeling I might need them. I had a good look around but did not see any more enemy soldiers, so I got back to my main job.

A bunch of Taliban had rounded the rocks and overrun our original camp. I would not need my L96A1 Sniper Rifle, they were so close to us now. I picked up one of the Aks I had just liberated. I dropped to one knee and aimed.

I fire out the mag in the first AK, nice three-round bursts. Once that mag was fired out, I slotted in a new one. There were targets everywhere. I ducked as the rock in front of me was peppered with rounds.

I heard the lads open up, the sounds of their M16s and H&Ks sounded so different to the Aks.

I ducked as I heard an incoming mortar. It landed behind us. I knelt up and fired, picking targets, and letting them have a burst from the AK. Another mortar landed yards to the right of our position.

“Rosie, sort out that mortar crew please mate” I heard Ship say into my earpiece.

I swapped the AK47 for the L96A1 Sniper Rifle. I used its powerful scope to scan the trucks. Somewhere out there was mortar. It took a few seconds, but I found it. a three-man team were huddled around it.

My first round ripped the throat out of the loader, he was dead before he hit the ground. One of the other men tried to grab the mortar tube. It was obvious he was going to try to get behind some cover. I fired and his head exploded like an overripe melon. The third man stood up and took two paces to the left. Then my round threw him off his feet. I put two rounds into the mortar hoping to put it out of commission.

I then picked out two more targets, one looked like some sort of officer or leader. He had an AK 74 in one hand and sat phone in the other. I shot him in the chest, and he dropped to the ground. To his right was another officer type. He had a pistol in his left hand, I shot him as he turned to watch his mate hit the ground.

I fired out the rest of my mags for the L96A1 Sniper Rifle, making each round count.