“Get a fucking shift on!” he shouted.
The last men were being pulled aboard the trucks. He could see that the company was mentally exhausted. Their resolve and morale had taken a heavy blow and they were already moving like defeated men. Overcoming this would be Jones’ next big task, but for now, survival was the only priority.
“Move out!”
His vehicle moved forward as his batman enthusiastically raced ahead. No one among them desired to stay in that spot for a second longer. As the battalion sped north towards the city, energy pulses were fired amongst the column. Jones watched as one of the trucks was hit, the engine bay and front axle obliterated as it flipped onto its side.
Jones wanted nothing more to go back and help the soldiers, but being in full retreat he couldn’t risk slowing anyone else down. The Captain could see that Chandra had seen the incident and was already on the comms to the survivors, instructing them to make their way north through the cover of the forest. He prayed that they would make it but knew their chances were slim. Realising that their first battle was over, Jones slumped down in the seat of the RDV with a sigh. They were fighting such a fearful and advanced force.
Minutes later they were out of the range of the invaders and Jones turned his attention to their destination. Up ahead they could hear the thunderous echo of the tank guns of the French Armoured Division. Machine guns rattled off in the distance as the battle raged on. He could make out the continuous trail of civilian vehicles pouring out of the easterly flyover heading for Morlaix. All Jones could think was that it wasn’t far enough.
Their column was rolling towards an absolute war zone, and the Captain knew exactly how on edge his troops were at that moment. They were one of the best trained fighting forces in the world, but the prospect of going from one defeat into a second battle in the same day was morale crushing. Sadly, he knew that there was no choice. Troops would be amassing in Rennes, but it would take time, for now, they were it.
Dust and smoke poured from locations across the old coastal city as they rolled into the urban outskirts. All around them were civilians desperately trying to load their vehicles and leave. Many asked for help, but the only help they could provide was to fight the invading enemy. The call came out on the radio for A and B Companies to halt at the southern inner city district and take up positions.
Jones’ company followed on with Major Chandra to the city centre and the western district where the fighting raged on. The inner city was completely abandoned, few vehicles remained and no people in sight. People’s possessions and businesses’ stock were scattered across the roads. The population had run in fear of their lives, which was the sad reality of their situation. The convoy came to a halt and the Captain stepped out of the vehicle looking around the desolate city, before issuing his orders.
“Company dismount, take up defensive positions around the convoy. Command section with me.”
Lieutenant Green now commanded the Captain’s platoon. Every man in their force was trained and instructed on how to fulfil the tasks of those above them, should the need ever arise. No one had ever expected such a responsibility to fall upon them. Jones continued forwards along the line of the convoy with the few men of his command section at his side.
Up ahead they could see a number of light armoured vehicles parked up at a crossroads. The French Lieutenant Colonel Girard, leader of the 2
nd
Armoured Division was looking at a map projection of the city that was set up on the bonnet of one of their scout vehicles. Beside him was Major Chandra. They were in a heated discussion, but Jones could not merely stand by and watch.
“Ah, Captain, step up please. Colonel Girard, this is Captain Jones, recently promoted to Company Commander.”
“Captain. Let us get back to the battle. I brought a little under two hundred and fifty tanks to Brest. Now I command only one hundred and eighty. Our infantry battalions are having difficulty holding back the enemy, we cannot hold out for much longer.”
“What do you suggest, Colonel?” Chandra asked.
“What is the situation of the rest of the British Division?”
“My battalion is at about sixty percent strength. The armoured units we had have mostly been driven back or destroyed. We haven’t got the heavy armour of your division. Many of the units have retreated to Landerneau, we are simply unable to hold the lines.”
“Colonel, there are still a lot of civilians leaving the city via the main roads, we can neither travel on those routes, nor leave them to the mercy of our enemy,” Jones added.
The French Colonel gasped as he looked down the length of the western street. Their main battle tanks could be seen fighting at the end of it.
“Then we fight on, as long as we can, we have no choice,” said Girard.
Jones nodded in agreement. They knew that they were condemning many of their soldiers to death, but it was their duty to defend the citizens and lands with their lives.
“Have the troops you have in Landerneau set up on the main road to Morlaix and Rennes. They’ll be needed as a barrier defence to the enemy and to defend our route back.”
“You think they’ll need to use our roads?” asked Chandra.
“From what we have seen so far, yes. They have aircraft, but if they are using sea and land craft to transport troops, then they’ll need solid roads to cover distance quickly,” said Jones.
“How long can we hold out here in Brest?”
“Your guess is good as mine, Major, we’ll do what we can. Have your battalion set up on the southern perimeter of the city centre as a defensive line against anything coming up from the beaches. If any more of your division roll in, send them to me. Good luck, Major.”
Chandra nodded and saluted as she turned to leave. They both knew that they were being asked to set up against the very invading troops that had just driven them from the beaches, but at least this time they had the cover of the terrain, and the French armour at their backs.
“Where is the rest of the division, Major?” Jones asked her.
“Mostly as I told the Colonel. At least some of our troops got cut off down south and are retreating further inland, but they are mostly scattered to the wind. It appears we have about a brigade strength in Landerneau, driven back quickly from the positions north of the city, as well as just south of our original position.”
“Sounds like it’s chaos.”
“It is, Captain, we’ve never had to deal with anything like this. Command structure is in tatters, many of the key officers of the division are dead or wounded. Brigadier Dupont appears completely out of touch with the situation on the ground. All that we know for certain is that we have at least a sizeable force in this city, and we will do our best to defend it.”
“If we stay much longer, there’ll be no way out for any of us!”
“I am aware of that, Captain. As the only known forces to still hold coastal ground, we are giving the EUA time to gather forces and for the civilians to evacuate east. These are our only priorities at this time.”
“Yes, Sir.”
“Oh, and another thing. The situation is strictly between us, I won’t have the morale of our troops pulled down any further, understood?”
“Sir.”
“Captain, we’ve got a job to do, go to it!”
Jones nodded and continued on towards his company. They were spread out in the street, taking cover near the buildings. He could see the worry in their faces and the lack of faith in their equipment. The prospect of an enemy so superior in firepower, armour and strength had never even been considered a possibility for the men of the division. He could see that one of the platoon trucks had been allocated as a med station for wounded only.
Of the one hundred and fifty men in his company, only two thirds were still standing. Many of those had suffered glancing hits or concussion from near misses. He was left with a physically and mentally crippled body of soldiers. He knew without a doubt that what they needed more than anything else was to get out of the hostile zone and re-group. None of them had ever seen serious combat, they needed time to recover and re-gain some confidence.
It was even clearer to Captain Jones that they needed one thing more than anything else, bigger guns. They outnumbered the alien invaders in every fight, but didn’t have the individual firepower to bring them down.
“Let’s get this street closed down, I want dragon’s teeth on a thirty metre stretch and ABDs up now!”
The platoons leapt into action. The last fight had given them no more than a few moments to prepare, but now they could bring new hardware to the table. The men pulled out boxes from the side and under trays of the trucks. They threw them down on the roads up ahead. The devices automatically created dug out trenches with earthwork barriers and tank traps.
The technology had cost a fortune to develop and the devices they used were equally as expensive. Never in their military’s history had they had need for their usage. A platoon would take half a day to dig a trench and ground up earthworks, but these could do it in less than an hour. Better still, they could do so on any surface. Drawing anything from ground, from earth to concrete, they could create highly defensive positions in an astonishing time.
“Take up positions in the buildings! I want ARMALs on the roofs, deploy motors, set up a firing arc on this route. Let’s give these bastards hell!” Jones shouted.
Chandra stepped back to his position after barking similar orders to the company she previously commanded.
“Captain, I have ordered A and B Companies to hold the southern limits as long as they can, this will be our last line of defence for the city. If they get past us here, the armour is finished.”
“Girard having a hard time?”
“He’s just about holding, but sounds like the enemy have brought up heavier equipment that we are yet to see. He might last a while in his current positions, but only if we can hold the rear.”
Jones took the Major’s arm and led her out of earshot of any of the men.
“We are digging our own graves here, Major. The only exit point we have left is the road to Morlaix to the east and we are getting dangerously close to be encircled.”
“I am well aware of that, Captain, as is Brigadier Dupont.”
“So he intends to leave us here to die?”
“No, Captain. The brass has accepted that our armour will never leave this place, they are organising a mass airlift as we speak. They only ask that we hold out as long as possible to keep the enemy from advancing further east while they amass forces.”
Jones sighed in relief. He was beginning to lose faith in their leaders, now at least they had a plan. Their attention was quickly turned to a soaring sound of powerful engines to the west, followed by explosions in the city. They looked up to see the familiar blurred outlines of the camouflaged ships of the invaders flying by overhead. The city shook with the tremors of whatever bombs they had just dropped. They could only imagine the pounding the French armour was taking.
* * *
Taylor still sat uneasily amongst the top brass in the General’s Command Centre. He never wanted the responsibility of sitting at a desk and making decisions that affected countries. The Major was a combat soldier. His rear was going numb and his knees beginning to ache. It was a clammy and humid room, but that may have just been the tension of the situation.
For all of his gruelling combat and physical training, Mitch had never felt so fatigued as he had done in this room. He looked again at the scanner, showing the flight trajectory of thousands of aircraft.
“What’s our status?” asked Smith.
“Our boys are fifteen minutes out from target,” said White.
The next step of the U.S. forces had been a massive aerial strike. No longer had their leaders fretted about small strikes or testing the water. They had amassed more fighters and bombers for one single mission that had been seen since a world war. Where a dozen missiles failed, thousands of aircraft could succeed, or at least that was the principle.
“Do we have any idea if we can shoot their craft down?” Smith asked.
“This is a new experience for us all, we can only do the best under difficult circumstances. Our boys have faced off against these bastards. Major Taylor was able to bring down their soldiers and they aren’t invulnerable. We’ll keep hitting these bastards until they go down!” shouted White.
“General White, may I have a word with you in private?” asked Taylor.
The General nodded, he’d never been interrupted in the middle of an operation before, but he had quickly come to trust the Major. Not only that he knew he had to open his mind to new ideas. Both men were glad to get to their feet and stretch their weary bodies. White led Taylor into a small office next to the command room. They happily stood as they straightened their backs.