Chapter 5

Nestor followed Hap's tank through the gate. He carefully scoped both left and right as they approached. Just through the fence, the tank stopped, completely blocking the road.

"Damn!" he shouted. "The fucking trans, again?"

Meanwhile, the infantry clinging to the vehicle quietly slipped off and faded into the shadows.

"What's the problem?" a Com officer stepped forward. "You can't park that here."

"Transmission problem," Nestor told him. "I'll need to swing the gun around to get at the access hatch."

"Do what you have to do," said the officer. "Just get it out of the way or we'll have to tow you."

Nestor watched as the gun trained around. It stopped, pointing directly at a nest of automatic cannon protecting the main approach. "Now!" he said.

The gun crashed, emitting a vivid, yellow flame. The tank rocked back with the recoil and spat out the shell casing from a port on the rear. The blockhouse instantly exploded, showering pieces of debris far and wide. The gun trained 2 degrees left and fired again. An APM launcher disintegrated sending it's flaming rocket cartwheeling into the air.

Around him, the tank riders fired at everything moving. All was chaos and shouting, screams and dense, billowing smoke.

Ahead in the square, Hap's gunner fired with his flatscreen targeting computer at the fuel and ammunition dumps on the far side of Canaan. His men ducked into alleys and side streets, taking up positions wherever they could. They commenced firing as Com soldiers began to spill out onto the streets.

Elsewhere, Suetonius stood over his communications man anxiously. A man of action, or an utter control freak, it was difficult to judge. Reports began to filter in slowly, and he felt he should be there. Moira Lys's ragged group of Travelers and Black Guard were engaging raggiare on one flank and Hap and Nestor were taking on the other. Just how strong a position Canaan was, was a matter of debate among his reconnaissance people. The Bakhunin reinforcements seemed to be taking their time he felt and he urged Borisov to keep them moving.

"Soon," Borisov had insisted. "They are Russians. 'Soon' is a vague concept to them. It could be an hour or next week," he shrugged.

It was then a strange message began to be broadcast on all frequencies. 'This is a joint statement from the High Commissioner of the Committee Provinces and the Senior Negotiator for the North American Association now dissolved," it read. "The parties have agreed that the said North American Association is henceforward at an end. It is agreed the Committee Provinces will now be independent of Capitol and has been granted the authority to institute such laws as the Central Committee of the said Committee Provinces sees fit.'

"So it's done?" Suetonius looked at Borisov.

"What of us?" he asked.

'Mutual agreement on borders has been reached. Henceforward, the line of the Floral river to NAS West Floral then due South until the White Mountains..."

"What the fuck... ?" exclaimed Borisov in astonishment.

' ... North from New Glasgow Field to..."

"This is outrageous!"

" ... including all territory called the desert regions not currently directly administered by either party. In recognition of the peaceful and law abiding nature of the inhabitants not previously subject to the North American Association, citizenship has been granted to those who have a legitimate and provable claim to the land they currently occupy. This generous offer is made on the understanding that the occupiers have not engaged in acts of rebellion and lawlessness.'

"Well, that's about everybody," Borisov said.

'Further, all acts of murder, theft and vandalism now being perpetrated by criminal gangs will be dealt with severely and said gangs are advised to turn themselves into the authorities forthwith."

"That's going to happen," Borisov said, wryly.

"Signal, block that shit out, I've heard enough," Suetonius told the man. "Who can we send to reinforce West Floral?" he's asked. "Capitol may try and occupy it."

"Look around you, Suetonius," Borisov told him. "You, me, a few of the lightly wounded and headquarters security. I make it about 40."

"Arnold has left a battery in place there. We must reinforce it. I guess it falls on us."

"Well, comrade, shall we mount up?"

Meanwhile, the battle at Canaan began to form into some kind of shape. Com troops withdrew from the southern side of town and took up positions in a rough line while Hap's tank poured rounds into the houses to drive them back. The balance of Haps' infantry had sprinted into Canaan leaving their vehicles out of town. Some of these went forward to reinforce Hap while others joined Nestor in neutralizing the southern defenses. This was important to keep the way open for the expected Bakhunin cavalry.

But, behind the town, near the tankers set ablaze by Haps' rounds, a Com artillery battery set up and began to fire shells into Hap and Nestor's positions. Although the rounds had little effect on the thick armor of the tanks, the infantry began to suffer casualties from the spraying shrapnel. Try as they might, neither Hap's nor Nestor's tanks could find their range and no-one could get forward to fix their position. Nestor ran forward and had a hasty conference with Hap. It was plain the battle was in the balance unless something was done. Nestor suggested driving the tanks forward and smashing the way through.

"Stalingrad?" Hap said.

"What?" asked Nestor, scratching his head.

"At Stalingrad the wreckage on the streets held up the German panzers and gave the Russians perfect defense positions. In such close quarters fighting the defenders were able to throw incendiaries, jump onto the tanks and disable them with grenades, or simply blow off the tracks with mines or bazookas. Those streets are not wide enough to swing around the main gun and the tanks, don't carry auxiliary machine guns. These battle tanks were made to engage other tanks and that's about all."

"So, Napoleon, what do we do?" asked Nestor.

"Maneuver!" Haps said, suddenly inspired. "The tank's main asset is its ability to maneuver. We leave them here and it won't be long before some Com hero slips forward and hits them with an APM. We've got to take back the initiative and give the tanks something they were designed to do."

"Such as?"

"Such as backing them out of town and going back into the countryside. Take a sweep around the western edge of town, cut the road and seek out that artillery."

"Right, sounds a good idea," Nestor replied. "'Tank commander' is your job. I'll take over the infantry and keep those guys back."

So the battle developed while they waited for the Bakhunin column.

On the right flank, though, outside Berengaria, the battle had been ferocious, decisive and thankfully brief. The raggiare camp was in a shallow depression with their vehicles drawn into a wide circle. Several campfires had been lit and the raggiare were conveniently illuminated grouped around drinking, eating and planning their predawn attack. How these sweepings of the Provincial towns' streets were expected to charge Berengaria with hangovers is one of the minor mysteries of the entire campaign.

Such lookouts the raggiare posted were generally the youngest, stupidest or the unluckiest. One was caught snoozing and another so drunk he tried to kiss the young Black Guard who dispatched him. Following a shower of some 40 grenades fired from autorifles, the raggiare were caught in an overwhelming crossfire. Moira Lys described it afterwards as a 'turkey shoot.' The irregular threat from the Committee Provinces was broken in that half hour and very few proto-Arks shed a tear.

'Proto-Arks? Well, the name of the Arks could be said to have been officially christened that night. In a memorial to the slaughtered community of The Olive Grove a cry went up, 'for the Arks!' as the attackers commenced firing.

Left around the desert were hundreds of bodies and the clean up took the rest of the night. There had been very few prisoners and raggiare survivors had fled into the desert to take their chances without food, water, shelter or transport. Their chances of survival was likely zero.

One prisoner who had been taken went by the name of 'Spillaine.' He claimed rights as a prisoner of war, demanded to be given food and water and eventual repatriation. He got none of these. Unapologetically, he claimed the residents of The Olive Grove had been 'uncooperative', 'aggressive' and, outnumbered, the raggiare raiders suspected they were about to be attacked. Moira Lys gave him over to Mirri. He was never seen again.

Come morning the relief column of Black Guard finally arrived. They'd been riding hard all night and the men and horses needed time to recover. However, towards noon another column arrived, this time from along the Iberica road. Nins and Connollys, fed up with being left out of the war and discontented with their role as victualers, filtered into Berengaria in long columns. With their hybrid, alt-fuel, or electric vehicles came towed dozens of howitzers and batteries of the anti-armour APMs. Behind others were stacked supplies aplenty; tankers of fuel, ammunition, water, weapons, and, perched on top, an army of just over 6000 fighters. There could be few left behind in Iberica, heralding the complete commitment of the future Ark civilization in times of war and crisis. They may argue among themselves, but when consensus is finally achieved, Arks stick together until the thing is done.

A hurried conference was held between Moira Lys and Finn representing the Travelers, Mirri for the slaughtered Arks, the Black Guard leaders and the Nins and Connollys. Consensus was reached quickly. The way appeared clear following the defeat of the raggiare and the right flank of the Com army exposed. It was agreed it would be foolish to allow them to regroup and they must keep the initiative. An objective was chosen - none other than the centre of the Com army, Newbury. Malak offered to remain at Berengaria and send a long report to Suetonius detailing the planned advance. It was readily agreed.

That evening, the columns set out with those knowing the ground ahead taking point. Black Guard riders slipped out first to screen and run down any remaining warlike raggiare. For ten clicks they found only bodies, so it was claimed.

When the news was relayed to Suetonius, he was seen to dance a jig. High fives were the first order of the day among the so-called headquarters staff. The general, himself, and Borisov, his 2IC, were camped below West Floral with a ragged company of 40 odd walking wounded, cooks, communications and security staff. Of course, all being Black Guard, they'd been throughly trained in all aspects of warfare.

Over the river, Cap activity had been routine and no sign of the anticipated attempt to take NAS West Floral in evidence. Suetonius was reluctant to initiate operations against the Caps unless provoked. A likely attack would be by an armored thrust backed by infantry assault vehicles. Modern armor would have no trouble fording the placid river and the thinly defended former air base would be in their hands in a matter of minutes. What was holding them up, Suetonius wasn't sure and he needed to know. Quite what he could do about it was another question. With Borisov and a dozen soldiers, he decided to ford the river and ask them.

The battle for Canaan was in the balance. Hap knew it, and the Coms knew it. Each waited for reinforcements - Hap, the Bakhunins, and the Coms, an armored brigade diverted from the general advance and sent to protect the Com flank. That this would open another gap in the line was unavoidable. The enemy tanks were expected to arrive in two or three hours - the Bakhunins, 'soon', whatever that meant to the Russians.

Hap commanded the Ark tanks and circled the town to the left. He paused briefly to destroy several fuel tankers fleeing along the road west, before continuing on to seek out the enemy artillery. He figured he needed to keep moving as fast as he could. He wasn't sure whether the Coms had anti-armour missiles available and he wanted to make sure they couldn't get a clear shot at him. On the way, he tossed a few shells into the Com positions in town to give Nestor some respite.

He found the artillery emplaced behind earth revetments and protected by batteries of APMs. Infantry fired at him from foxholes and improvised firing lines. Hap opened from long range to avoid the APMs and his first shells raised columns of dirt around the howitzers' positions. Return fire wasn't long in coming - predominately howitzer shells, lobbed high to rain down on the tanks like mortar bombs. The shells, however, were fragmentary rather than armor-piercing, but, nevertheless, the rattling on the hulls of the tanks from shrapnel was unsettling. By the same token, Hap's shells, being armor-piercing, were unlikely to knock out a gun unless by a direct hit. Carefully, Hap's gunners tried to pick out the guns while shells hammered down and with enemy armor coming to the rescue.

Two things happened to tip the balance. First up was the late arrival of Bakhunin cavalry, who sensibly, abandoned their horses and went into battle on foot. In the predawn light, they charged the infantry positions surrounding the enemy battery and, with wild courage, continued through the artillery barrage to take the guns. They did, though, suffer many casualties and, as a fighting unit, they were done. In danger of being surrounded, the enemy infantry withdrew from Canaan.

The second event was the capture and destruction of Com fuel supplies when Black Guard advanced into the gap left by the enemy armor and came upon their support convoy. It's destruction caused the enemy tanks hurrying to Canaan to abandon the operation. At the same time, news arrived at Com headquarters of the defeat of the raggiare and the columns of Arks moving up from Berengaria. Newbury ordered the army to halt to allow time to assess the changed situation. The war entered a new phase. The Com army was checked.