“Nobody fires until they reach three hundred metres! Choose your targets carefully!” shouted Chandra.
Either side of their position were heavy tanks dug in and adjusting their elevation in readiness. Seconds later the ground shook as the vehicles recoiled at the firing of their main guns. Of the first two shells, one landed short of the enemy column, the second hit but did not slow them down. An apartment block in the distance collapsed as a vast enemy tank ploughed through it, shortly followed by more at its flanks.
Now at only a thousand metres the enemy forces were expanding into a broad front. The guns of their tanks opened up and began pounding the human positions. An artillery battery behind the lines was vaporised by the first volley. Several men were hit in a nearby infantry trench, though most of the fire had little effect. The defensive positions were so far providing excellent cover.
The intensity of the fire increased as all guns came into range and the EUA armour opened up with everything it had. Ahead of their position were five tanks and a hundred Mechs approaching in a fearless fashion. The first bombardment smashed an enemy vehicle and it burst into flames and thick black smoke.
Three of the Mechs were tossed aside like ragdolls by a shell from the heavy tanks. One scrambled back to its feet but the other two were done for. The return fire smashed into their positions and badly damaged one of the tanks at their flank. Screams of pain rang out from the trench the other side of the crippled vehicle.
“Six hundred metres! Be ready!” shouted Taylor.
The Mechs opened fire with their huge handheld energy weapons. Light pulses soared above their heads as the troops peered over the positions at their unrelenting enemy. One of the rounds slammed into the helmet of one of Green’s platoon, taking his head clean off.
“Four hundred! Ready!” barked Chandra.
The half strength battalion rested its weapons along the embankment of the trench that was dug into the tarmac and concrete of the road. Three of their troopers lay dead from the artillery and gunfire before they had yet managed to fire a round. The Aardvark launchers and anti-materiel rifles were carefully aimed and waiting for the go ahead. Every one of the troops was eager to rain down hell on their attackers.
“Fire!”
The trench erupted into a continuous volley of fire. Two rockets from the Aardvarks knocked one of the tanks out. The rifles and BRUNs were slowing the Mechs’ progress but rarely finding the weak points they needed to cause injury. M97 launchers fired off high explosive rounds with relative inaccuracy igniting all around the alien positions. A few ignited near the feet of some of the Mechs, blowing their legs off and rendering them useless as they fell to the ground.
Taylor laid his rifle down, pulling the grenade launcher from his back that he’d taken from one of the wounded on the British destroyer the day before. He fired off the high explosive rounds at the advancing Mechs. The first two hit the ground showering them with debris. The third struck one of the metal monsters dead in the chest and it exploded on impact. The beast was lifted off its feet and tumbled back in a twisted wreck.
Smiling at his efforts, Taylor was reminded of the grim reality of quite how little ammunition he had for the weapon compared to the growing number of enemy. Half of the enemy tanks in their sector had been knocked out, but their own armour was doing little better. The Mechs and surviving tanks continued to advance through the eternal rain of bullets and explosions.
“Get the ARMALs!” Jones ordered.
The men pulled the handheld devices off their backs and readied them. They knew how effective they could be at close range. The enemy were now just two hundred metres away. A pulse of energy smashed into the trench beside the Captain and Saunders, and another two of his platoon were killed instantly. For a second he looked in despair at their bodies, but quickly took up the ARMAL launcher they had been preparing.
The Captain didn’t have to give out any further commands. The men around him had already begun firing with the devices and everything else that they had to hand. As he armed the device he could see Major Taylor loading the AP rounds into his launcher. He nodded at his friend before taking aim. The ground the enemy had covered surprised him, it was far closer than he had anticipated.
Hoping to fire at one of the approaching tanks, Jones caught sight of a Mech turning quickly to fire at him. He snapped the weapon around and fired right at the beast. The round landed lower than expected, at the hips of the metal suit. The explosion caused the suit to scissor as if it was hinged, crumpling into a twisted mess.
The enemy tanks had reached the traps the EUA forces had hoped would stop them. However as they drew near, huge curved blades as broad as the vehicles themselves and slung low on the hulls began to spin. They met the traps with a deafening grinding as sparks flew in every direction. The vehicles were slowed, but were cutting their way quickly through the devices.
“Hit them now!” shouted Chandra.
Every soldier in the company with an ARMAL or Aardvark stood up and took aim with no regard for their own lives. They could only imagine the horrors they would face if the enemy armour got among them. The surviving crew of the crippled tank beside them continued to fire despite the smoke bellowing from its turret.
The company fired in a frenzy with everything they had. The tanks erupted with such heat that they could feel it inside the trenches. They watched as the Mechs began to step back. They continued firing but were in withdrawal. The troops continued to fire and the snipers took down another two as they clambered out of range.
Jones climbed up on top of the tank with the least damage on their flank. He stood with no fear for his life. Taylor leapt up beside him with his launcher. He reloaded as he stepped up top, not wanting to be caught with it empty.
The two officers looked out across the width of the battlefront. Burning wrecks littered the battlefield along with hundreds of lifeless Mechs.
“Have you ever seen anything so pretty in your life?” asked Jones.
Taylor smiled. It was the first time in the war that they had seen the enemy retreat or be defeated in any number. The continuous losses they had faced made them all wonder if they would ever stop the alien hordes in their tracks. Taylor turned to see Chandra standing at the vehicle next to him.
“How does it look, Major?”
“Come and see for yourself, Colonel!”
He offered out his hand to hoist her up. She initially looked insulted at the sentiment. It was never made easy for a woman in the military, even less so for Chandra who operated in an elite unit. Taylor smiled in a way she could see was both being friendly as well as larking about. She smiled back and took his arm. Taylor hauled her up onto the vehicle where she could see the wonders before them.
For a moment she let herself revel in the victory they had achieved. Seeing the enemy crushed was the most heart warming experience since the war began. Then, as Jones and Taylor continued to gaze at the fruits of their labour, Chandra turned back to look at their own lines and felt a sickness in her stomach.
Tanks and artillery were in ruin and hundreds of soldiers lay dead or wounded across the lines. She could see similar devastation in the distance. The alien forces had attacked across a several kilometre-wide front. She estimated that thirty percent of the troops of the units she could see had been decimated. It was a brutal reminder of the losses in Brest, and a horrific insight in what was to come.
“We paid a high price for this small victory,” she said.
Taylor and Jones turned to look at the grim sight. Their smiling faces were quickly muted as they looked at the carnage on their own side.