Zaitsev's Ghosts: Operation Chronos Week 1 Part 1.

Shock and Awe

Excerpt from Kapitan Tanya’s Command Journal Dated – spring 1947.

                The sleeping City of Leboux had been woken violently by the fighting that erupted within its concrete jungle five days ago. Both Axis and Allied forces resumed fighting for the remaining active VK mines in the city completely oblivious to our presence. That is until my scouts reported the presence of Koshka fighting at the center of the city. Steel Wind; as she named her battle group appeared in the middle of the fighting carrying with her only the bares minimum of our forces from what reports say; though I doubt its reliability, Two light infantry squadrons, a group of steel guards and her favorite toy “Grand’ma”. Apparently she succeeded taking a page from the Axis books “Blitzkreig” they call it, those fools must have been shocked. It irks me to say that I let her take the initiative; but now the eyes of our enemies as we place bullets at the back of their heads. I however will show our enemies the meaning of Shock and Awe!

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Spring 1947 First week of Operation Chronos.

Serzhant Kova’s report

                I remember it clearly; it was a rainy day the fighting in Leboux had been going on between the axis and allies for days my Kapitan told us it was time. Our enemies should be weary and low on supplies and should be expecting reinforcements soon; moments later one of my steel death teams sent me a report. The Axis was the first to move, two Ludwigs a Konigsluther and a few squads of light infantry were coming in from the south east commercial area of the city; I looked at Tanya, she nodded signaling the beginning of our haunt. We mobilized quickly to catch the enemy off guard, their Infantry may move faster than our steel guards but they cannot afford to leave their precious Konigsluther unattended, slowing them down. We arrived earlier than expected and took positions in the ruined buildings hiding from sight, I remember telling my men “This isn’t Stalingrad do not die!” my men looked at me in astonishment as if I had said something a child would; they probably saw the curious look on my face to which one of my men replied with a wry smile on his face, “Serzhant ghosts are already dead.”  They were the best men anyone could hope for.

A few minutes had passed as we laid in wait, then we felt the earth shake and the buildings rumble, they were near. Their large walkers’ steps echoed across the empty city streets their massive metal bodies cramped in the urban jungles; trapped like rats they were.  As soon as they were within range my snipers opened fire making short work of their commanding officer. The ancients used to say cut off the head and the body will follow, with their commander dead the axis troops soon fell into disarray they did not know where we were coming from, discord sewn in their ranks their men fired blindly. Their light infantry was like paper to my men; heavy shotguns and auto-guns tore through flesh and bone leaving Axis soldiers crumpled to the ground riddled with holes. The German’s precious supplies; dropped by the dead became, my new objective.

As soon as we were close I ordered my men to stand-by; I told them we would use it as bait to lure our remaining enemies into the kill-zone. One by one the remaining enemies walked to our trap, they knew we were there but with their guns useless and all they could hope for was to secure their precious supplies. They hid behind cover frightened to leave knowing that death was waiting for them should they attempt to take it. While I was focused on the objective I heard the sound of stone break I turned to look, a massive walker burst from the dust and rubble. I saw two of my snipers foolishly present themselves to the Konigsluther; I called out to them, “TAKE COVER!” I said straining my voice but it was too late; the massive walker’s cannons drowned out my voice. I flinched as a loud bang and a bright flash erupted where my men had stood, when I opened my eyes all I saw was a blackened crater in the middle of the street; no sign of my men, nothing left to take home to the motherland.

My remaining troops faced with the two Ludwigs at the northern side of the area, enemy infantry nowhere to be found and our weapons effectiveness reduced thanks to the walker’s armor plating. My men instinctively knew what to do, the squad of Steel Tornado’s advanced drawing the enemy’s cannons to them; praying to the gods that their armor protect them, while the snipers scoped out the pilots, gaps in the Ludwig’s armor plating and lightly armored joints. Slowly but surely the snipers whittled down the Ludwigs’ defenses turning them into scrap metal but at a cost; the Tornado’s that stood to protect them were nearly decimated only one man stood remaining, the crumpled bodies of his comrades lay behind him their armor unscathed but the bodies inside nothing more than a pile of meat as the successive shockwaves from the walkers’ cannons bombarded them.

By the end of the day the rest of the enemy infantry lay dead or dying, however before we could call it a complete victory we had to face the Konigsluther; this one machine could turn the tide as none of our weapons could damage it. We had to resort to more barbaric means to destroy it; I ordered my men to charge and strike it with their fists. Loyal men they were, they knew that some of them would not make it but they charged none the less, the first squad of tornados reached the gigantic machine and so started their onslaught the distinctive sound of metal against metal echoed through the battlefield, the mechanical beast’s armor began to break. It’s pilot whether skilled or desperate moved back while firing its cannon, I lost more men. My men were enraged as they saw their comrades die at the spider-like machine’s feet; they marched faster reaching the walker in seconds and struck their fists at its metallic hide away from its arc of fire. They continued to pound it till it finally gave way. The sound of metal grinding against metal seemed to me as like the cry of a large dying beast as the machine lurched and fell to the ground with a loud bang. As the earth stopped shaking and the dust settled none of the enemies remained a complete slaughter, the location was ours. The term “Shock and Awe”, rang in my mind and the panicked and fearful faces of the Germans corpses forever in my head as we tried to count our own dead; some without bodies to bring to their mothers, my hatred only grew, “Shock and Awe” indeed.

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24 Hours later

                Nightfall came soon and before my men could rest and resupply we were woken by the familiar sound and shake of the heavy walker’s gait coming from the distance. “They must be wondering what happened to their reinforcements” I thought as I peered through my armor’s enhanced binoculars. The Germans had sent out a search party to our location they carried with them a similar formation like the last one; a couple of light infantry squads supported by heavy infantry and two Ludwigs. The remaining men I had left was me, my medic and engineer, two fresh tornado squads and death teams while the rest were unfit for battle due to their wounds and casualties. “This will be enough” I confidently whispered as I looked behind me watching my men rearm themselves. With a nod we left the safety of the ruins under cover of night. We caught the axis party searching for their allies in an open portion of the area; only rubble to mark where buildings once stood it was a perfect battlefield for us to fight on.

                The black veil of the night was torn by the searchlights on both Ludwigs the shaft of light rending the shadows that covered our approach reflected off our armor plated suits. The flash of our guns’ muzzles tore more of the darkness the enemy troops had no time to react; their light infantry were quickly shredded alongside their commander. The heavy infantry; laser grenadiers, recovered quickly from the sudden shock of our appearance, fired their weapons against us. The night turned to day as bright red flashes of searing hot lasers streaked through the air melting stone and burning wood, but our armor protected, only blackened scorch marks appeared on our armor and nothing more.

It was our second battle with axis troopers and we’ve learned how they fight however they haven’t learned about us yet; and I don’t intend to let survivors give high command information. The enemy platoons once again left without a leader quickly fell to our guns and not long after so too did their walkers, leaving no one to tell of our existence. We managed to win that battle with only few casualties; none of my men died, injured but nothing a proper night’s rest wouldn’t heal. Too bad by the time we had finished the black of night started to turn a hazy purple and when we returned to camp the sky turned blue, we may have won two successive battles but the war is yet to be finished. I hope that my men last.