“I hope they are losing as much as us, because we can’t keep this up forever.”
“We have no choice, Colonel. This isn’t a war of our choosing. They want our homes and we have nowhere to go, we fight or we die as a race,” said Taylor.
“Our American friend if right, Colonel. No price is too high, for extinction is the only other option.”
She nodded and turned to look back out towards the battlefield. She could just make out the last of the Mechs and vehicles retreating.
“They’ll be back soon enough, and in greater number. No one likes taking a beating and they’ll be eager to set the record straight.”
“We’ll be ready for them!”
“Captain, get on the line, we need ammunition and re-enforcements brought up immediately. I am guessing their next assault will be twice as strong as this one was. Also make sure we get plenty of water, and organise the wounded to be moved back!”
“Yes, Sir.”
He leapt from the tank to carry out his tasks. They had made the city of Paris a fortress, and in doing so they all realised what a siege it was about to become. The first of the re-enforcement detachments were already clambering over the rubble on the road from the centre of the city. They poured into the trenches as the wounded and dead were pulled out, more lambs to the slaughter.
“Colonel!” shouted Lieutenant Green.
She turned to see the man pointing at a fresh wing of enemy aircraft heading for their position.
“Into the trenches! Take cover!” she screamed.
She leapt with Mitch from the tank landing hard in the trench below, crumpling to the floor. Seconds later the first of the strafing runs began and bricks and mortar peppered their positions. They watched as half a section of re-enforcements were annihilated on the road east before they could reach any solid cover.
The strafing run was just the beginning. Moments later they were overhead and bomb-like objects dropped all around them. The defences burst into light as continual explosions erupted. The troops could do nothing but huddle in their trenches and hope for the best. The remaining tanks tried to counter the aircraft with their secondary mounted anti-aircraft weapons. They knocked out a couple of the alien vessels, but it had little effect.
Taylor could see Chandra shouting orders, but couldn’t hear a single word despite her being only a metre away. The ground shook and rumbled continuously as if hit by an earthquake. A nearby bomb struck Price, blinding him instantly and leaving his face cut and mangled, he was alive but no good to anyone. Taylor saw him moving and wailing but couldn’t hear his screams over the deafening noise.
The bombing run raged for fifteen minutes until friendly aircraft arrived to once more do battle. However it was too late, the alien planes were already returning west and the EUA fighters were forced to turn back in fear of being over hostile lands.
Taylor and Chandra stood up to survey the damage. Both tanks were now utterly destroyed and another eight men were dead in their trench, as well as many more wounded. The Colonel remembered dispatching Captain Jones just moments before the attack had begun, she could only pray she hadn’t sent him to his death. Seconds after the distressing thought the Captain appeared from behind one of the burning wrecks to report in.
He stopped and looked around at their trench for a moment. Blood trailed up his armour but it seemed it wasn’t his. He looked back to the Colonel dumbfounded.
“Sir, you had it light here, I suggest you take a look.”
Chandra clambered back onto the tank she’d been on before the bombing began. The vehicle was smouldering and she could feel the heat through her boots. Looking along the line of defences she gasped at the carnage. There were gaping holes in their defences where entire trenches had been left as ragged craters. Most of the armour on the front line was blown apart or still burning.
In the distance came the frightful sound she had been dreading. Tank tracks in vast numbers were rolling towards their positions. Still a couple of kilometres off but in great numbers, she doubted they had more than fifteen minutes before all hell broke loose. Jumping off the vehicle once more she strode to the wired phone in their trench and ripped the handset from its cradle.
“This is Colonel Chandra, get me Commander Phillips!”
“This is Phillips.”
“Sir, we’re in deep shit here! We’ve got heavy casualties. Our armour is mostly gone. Enemy is approaching in substantial numbers, I do not believe we can survive another assault!”
“Understood, Colonel. Brigadier Dupont is receiving the same reports across the line. I am ordering you to withdraw immediately! A defensive line is being setup along the banks of the Seine. Fall back and take up positions there. Good luck, Colonel.”
The Commander cut off the transmission, but Chandra had already heard everything she needed to know. She turned to look at the troops in the trench. A few were helping others to patch over minor wounds, though most were awaiting her orders.
“Immediate fall back to the Seine! Carry all wounded! Leave the dead! Let’s move!”
The troops hated leaving their fallen comrades, but were also relieved to be leaving the site of such slaughter. Their previous victory had been bittersweet after the mauling they had just received. As they got to their feet they could see that the other infantry regiments and surviving vehicle crews were already pouring down the main roads.
Seeing the front line armies in full retreat was a morale destroying experience. It was half an hour before they reached the river bridges and streamed over them. Two fresh EUA divisions had deployed along the banks of the Seine and erected even greater defences than they previously had.
The clean and fresh soldiers stared in silence at the battle fatigued and battered combat troops as they rushed back behind the new line of defences. Not even the best-trained and equipped armies of the world had faced such a voracious foe. The new line of defences had thick concrete barriers inset either side of the trenches creating blast defences. Heavy armour was lined up all along the roads facing across the river.
Officers from the signals units directed the combined company to their new area just twenty metres off from the entrance to a wide road bridge. They had been allocated a line of four-storey buildings built as defences for the bridges a hundred years before. The thick walls and strong structures were a welcome sight to the troops defending the vital area of the river.
Taylor and Jones were quick to deploy their troops to every defensive position that they could. Even the wounded no longer able to carry their own bodyweight were propped up with plenty of ammunition. Within five minutes the troops were ready and taking a much needed rest.
The two officers found their Colonel on a roof looking out west from where the enemy was approaching. Charlie and Mitch walked up to her as she panned across the city. Smoke plumes still rose from the battleground they had fought on that morning.
“They’ve stopped,” said Chandra.
“You sure?” asked Taylor.
“Listen.”
The three officers stared into the distance just listening for anything. Troops continued to march on the roads behind them, but the front was quiet.
“Do you think they’ve had enough?” she asked.
“Not a chance. Think what we would do if the enemy had retreated to greater defences. They are pausing to amass their forces before a grand assault. This could be it, this next battle could decide the fate of one of the greatest cities in the world,” said Taylor.
Chapter 11
The troops of the 2 ^ nd Inter-Allied Battalion had laid about in their defences for over an hour. Ammunition supplies were brought up and troops continued to pour in from the west. Their communications were working as normal, though the signals staff were still working hard at installing wired connections in readiness.