Commando City: A World at War Novel (World at War Online Book 7) (24 page)

A spear of flame shot out of one of the windows in the hospital campus, drenching a few of the enemy in flames and forcing many others to scramble for safety. Danny couldn't quite contain his glee as he watched them run for their lives. Flamethrowers had a much further range than most people thought at first, and there was nowhere to hide from them. The burning fuel would wrap around cover and reach into crevices, and the only way to avoid it was to get out of range.

“Good work Allen,” Danny said.

“Thanks. We thought that might give them something to think about.”

“Be careful though,” Danny warned. “Now that they know you have a flamethrower in there they probably want to take it out. Have the operator keep moving so he doesn't get sniped.”

“Roger that.”

Danny peered out of cover again and fired off another burst, catching an enemy soldier in the chest. She sprawled backward onto the pavement, dead before she hit the ground.

The sensation continued to thrill him. Danny reveled in being able to actually hurt the enemy instead of just suppressing them. He knew his earlier roles had been vital, but this change of pace thrilled him. He shifted his aim, trying to find more targets to take down…

Something flashed in front of him in the distance. Danny's first instinct was to drop down into cover, but his body seemed to move on its own. He squeezed the trigger again and sent a long burst streaking toward a spot further to the south, next to a large decorative fountain. Chunks of masonry shattered under the impact of his shots, but .

It took him a second to realize that he had seen the glint of sunlight off a scope. That could only mean one thing: sniper. Danny might have just escaped death by a split-second.

Had he managed to kill him? Danny didn't feel like sticking his head up to find out. Instead, he got on the radio.

“Bravo Wolf, anyone with a recoilless rifle target the statue at the far end of the hospital campus. We have a sniper in the area.”

It might be overkill and not even necessary, but Danny wasn't going to take any chances. A well-trained sniper could throw any plan into complete confusion, and he wanted to end that possibility as soon as possible.

BAM!

Seconds later an explosion rose above the sound of gunfire. Danny decided to take a chance and took a peek toward the sniper's former position.

The fountain lay in ruins, completely pulverized by the sheer force of the blast. Anything sheltering behind it would be stone dead at this point, killed by the concussive force or shredded by the hail of flying concrete.

“Did we get it?” Javy asked over the radio.

“Well, I haven't gotten my head shot off yet, so I think we did,” Danny replied.

He quickly reloaded his gun and resumed firing, concentrating on the Valkyrie force that seemed to be stalling out. The NPC troops in the area were all but annihilated at this point, leaving the two alliances to brawl once again. But contrary to what he normally faced, the enemy seemed to be hesitating.

That struck Danny as being quite odd, since the Valkyries were known for their aggressive actions. He had expected them to charge in and engage in close-quarters combat like their previous fights, but they seemed to be hanging back. Did they know something that he didn't? Or was their commander unsure about pressing forward now that the situation had changed so drastically?

Whatever the case, he was going to take it.

“Allen, keep up the cover fire. Xavier, Javy, move up! They're hanging back, so let's press them.”

“Getting a little bold, aren't we?” Javy said.

“Do you really want to sit back here and trade potshots with them, or do you want to win.”

“Eh, put that way I can't argue.”

Gunfire zipped toward the enemy positions from the southeast end of the hospital, and the two squads on the ground broke cover. Danny was about to join them when his wrist alert went off.

“Looks like we're clear in here,” Gray said. “We just found Allen.”

“Good. Help them lay down some cover fire while we charge.”

Danny hefted his gun and moved out of cover. The sound of gunfire continued to echo around him, but it seemed to be dying off a bit in front. At this point he expected the Valkyries to put up a furious defense, trying to keep their positions within the hospital campus, but it didn't seem like that was happening.

In fact, for all intents and purposes it looked like they might be drawing down their forces. Danny could see shapes moving away toward the south as the volume of gunfire continued to drop by the second.

“Keep up the advance,” he ordered. Another thought entered his mind. “Make sure to watch out for traps, though.”

“Wouldn't put it past them to leave a couple of mines behind,” Xavier agreed. “We'll be careful.”

The advance started to slow, but it didn't matter at this point. The gunfire coming from the enemy died out completely, and then his troops stopped firing as well. A deafening silence fell over the campus.

“Looks like they're running for it,” Javy observed. His troops were the first to reach the enemy's former positions.

Danny slowed to a walk and lowered his weapon. No, running didn't seem like the right way to describe this. The enemy commander probably deemed the situation unwinnable and decided to withdraw to prevent unnecessary casualties.

“Danny, what are your orders?” Xavier asked.

“Spread out and make sure we cleared out all of the NPC garrison. We want to make sure we have this place secure. After that? See what kind of supplies you can find stored here.”

He shook his head as the rest of his troops went about their orders. They had taken their objective, crushing one enemy force and driving off the other in the process. And yet, Danny felt a twinge of disappointment.

It was the way they won, he thought to himself. They finally had a change to come to grips with their most bitter rivals, and they left the battlefield before his troops could fight it out. It left a bitter taste in his mouth.

The Valkyries were still out there, ready to fight. Danny didn't imagine their next battle was going to go so smoothly.

“
T
his is going
to be difficult,” Bryce commented.

Zach took a deep breath to gather his thoughts before speaking again. Once again he had to stand in front of the military council to push his plan through, and this time he was starting to run out of allies. Karen was present, but with Anna still stuck in the Shorewood District he lacked someone with the sheer amount of clout he was used to. David looked skeptical as well, and Zach wasn't sure if he could drum up support from any of the others.

“I know this is going to be difficult,” he continued, trying to resist the urge to snap. What were they expecting? Ghost Battalion had been tossed into an impossible situation without a second thought, so why were their own battalions immune to something like this?

“You're proposing a really ambitious plan,” David spoke up. “A general offensive across the entire front? That's quite the gamble, especially if Ragnarok has reserves to counter us. This could turn into a mess very quickly.”

“I don't think they have any significant reserves left,” Karen said. “Think about it for a minute. They've lost St. Francis, they're in the process of losing Jones Harbor and they're stuck in a stalemate at Shorewood even though we only have half our battalion present. Don't you think they would have done something by now?”

“They may have some sort of backup plan,” Shayna said.

Zach felt even more annoyance rising in him. “What kind of backup plan has them losing two districts within the span of a month?”

“There was the time they tried to flank us.”

“That's not going to work this time,” Karen argued. “The flank is way too heavily defended right now, and Ronin's alliance can send even more reinforcements to us if needed.”

Ronin and its allies were still in the process of taking Davenport, but the campaign was winding down. They continued to rotate troops in and out of the western end of the line, which marked the furthest extent of both theirs and Hydra's territory. Pushing through the dense forests against heavy opposition would be difficult even with optimal conditions, and Zach believed their enemy was very much on the back foot right now.

But could he convince the others of that? Their previous fights against Ragnarok seemed to linger in their minds, and Zach could hardly blame them for being a little nervous. The enemy wasn't stupid, and Ragnarok had lured them into traps before. But there was such a thing as being too cautious, especially when it flew in the face of all of the available evidence. Ragnarok Company was reeling, he was sure of that, and now was their time to smash them for good.

Why couldn't they see that? Why were they so aggressive and cavalier when planning their own offensives, but when something went wrong they reverted to defense mode? Even with all the setbacks Ghost Battalion was still holding out, and they could turn their recent disasters into a stunning victory with the right amount of support.

It was maddening, trying to do everything he could to salvage a plan he never liked in the first place. Ghost Battalion should have been used elsewhere, but that ship had sailed long ago and they needed to find a way to win in their current situation.

He knew about the dangers of putting too much stock in sunk costs, but he didn't think it was the case here. They weren't going to throw troops into the grinder simply because they had already expended so much to try to take Shorewood. Instead, he was advocating it because, despite the previous two disaster, he felt they had a realistic shot at winning the campaign. All plans looked good until they met the enemy, after all, and the mark of good commanders was the ability to adapt to a rapidly changing situation.

They had an opportunity to completely turn the tables on Ragnarok right now. Once they had half of the city the Hydra Alliance would be firmly in control of the campaign, and that was an opportunity they couldn't afford to miss. Zach would do everything in his power to make sure that happened, even if he might have to step on a few toes in the process.

“Look,” he started again, “we're getting close to the tipping point. Ragnarok can't keep this up for much longer, especially if we own over half the city. Eventually their position is going to become untenable, and they'll either have to retreat, or we'll crush them. That's why we tried this plan in the first place, right?”

“But you're not much better off yourself,” Bryce commented. He opened his wrist menu. “Your reports indicate your battalion has taken heavy losses, especially regarding equipment. Can you really sustain an offensive at this point?”

And who's fault is that?
Zach thought to himself sourly. He bit his tongue, though.

“We don't have the numbers to sustain an offensive. Not in the face of Ragnarok's air force. But that's the point of committing so many troops to the attack. We'll draw them out and then destroy them. Once they're gone a major obstacle is out of our way.”

“And that would certainly be welcome,” Lex agreed. “We're having more luck fending them off with the newer antiaircraft guns, but they're still causing damage.”

“Right, and even if they have other fire support options they're not as mobile or versatile as their dive bomber forces,” Zach said. “Plus, we have the momentum right now. We shouldn't squander it if we can help it.”

“I agree with that,” Lex said. “We're making steady progress, but we'd be done a lot faster if we were given reinforcements. I'm starting to get worried that Ragnarok will have enough time to rally and stall our offensive. Then we have another Cudahy on our hands.”

“I agree with that, but we're not exactly in a position to do much right now,” Cody spoke up. “I'd love to go ahead with the plan, but my battalion took pretty significant losses during the St. Francis campaign, so I don't know how effective they'd be.”

Zach thought for a moment. “Would they be able to do anything on the defensive?”

“Oh yeah, that's not a problem, it's just if you want us to act as an assault force we're not going to be as effective as you'd like, unless you give us several weeks to retrain. And I'm guessing that's outside your timeframe?”

“It is.”

The remnants of Ghost Battalion might be holding on for now, but he didn't expect that to last much longer. If Ragnarok could rally more support they'd certainly bring it to the field, and depending on the timing it could prove fatal. Jones Harbor might be well out of hand for them, but the situation in Shorewood was still winnable. A smart commander would take the higher chances of success almost every time, and there were no shortage of those in Ragnarok.

But while Ghost Battalion might be reeling, Hydra wasn't spent yet. Not even close.

“I think we should shift our forces around,” he said. “Rogue Battalion hasn't done much fighting during the campaign yet. If they switch places with Dragon it gives us plenty of fresh troops to reinforce the Jones Harbor offensive. And it also lets Dragon get back up to full strength.”

“But that leaves one of our weakest battalions guarding the Old Chicago corridor,” David pointed out.

Karen looked over at him. “Again, where are they going to get enough troops to do something about it? Ragnarok doesn't have infinite numbers like every here seems to think they do.”

Zach could hear the frustration mounting in her voice as well. His own patience was starting to wear thin, but right now they had little choice but to play politics. It wasn't like Green Bay, where they had sufficient forces in place to go rogue and defy the council's orders. If they wanted any chance at success they needed the full support of the rest of the alliance.

At least it wasn't all bad. Cody seemed to be on their side, as well as Lex. David, Bryce and Shayna didn't seem enthusiastic, but Gina's opinion concerned him the most. Having stayed silent the entire meeting, he couldn't get a proper reading on her opinion, and her face betrayed nothing. And with Anna in the north, she was the swing vote. As hard as he could try, Zach wasn't a part of the council and couldn't take part in an important vote like this.

He decided to approach it a different way. “Rogue Battalion doesn't have to be the ones to move off the line. We could also use Knight Battalion instead. That puts Dragon further away from any potential fighting.”

“Fair enough,” Bryce shrugged.

“And Knight has a little more experience in urban combat.”

“Tch, a little more,” Gina commented with a slight smile on her face. “Are you forgetting who did a lot of the fighting in Indianapolis?”

“Ah yeah, sorry. It's been a while, so I kind of forgot,” Zach replied.

“You're trying to bait me, aren't you?” Gina said. “Trying to get me all offended so I'll jump to have my battalion fighting in the offensive, right? Rogue Battalion isn't cut out for street fighting, so let's get someone else who's better to do it, is that it?”

Zach laughed. “Well, I wouldn't go that far. But it would be easier if your guys did it. There's a lot less distance to travel, for one. And you have the armored forces to backup a heavy assault.”

“Tanks don't always fare well in urban combat,” Shayna said.

“That's if they're not being used right. And we have assault guns,” Gina said. “So long as we use the right tactics we'll be fine in the city.”

“So you're in favor?” Karen asked.

Gina looked directly at Zach. “First I'd like to hear what kind of concrete plan you have. Or don't you have one at this point?”

Zach opened up his wrist menu and pressed a few buttons. “Oh come on, when would we ever come in front of you without a plan already in place? Keep in mind this is preliminary. We'll change certain things based on the situation when we launch the actual attack.

Selene and Nora had designed most of it with only minimal input from some of the others, but Zach knew the plan well. Magic and Ghost Battalion would launch an offensive into the remaining enemy pocket in the Jones Harbor District, supported by artillery and armor. Meanwhile, Knight Battalion would make a few probing attacks in the forests to the west. It was mostly meant as a diversion, but Ragnarok couldn't ignore the potential threat posed by the action. If they did their entire army might be cut off from their supply lines from Madison.

Dragon Battalion would continue to hold the area around the Old Chicago corridor, though if the opportunity presented itself there they could almost make a few limited attacks. And finally, that left Ghost Battalion. Their forces within the Shorewood District remained somewhat scant, but they could at least tie down the Valkyries and force them into a corner. The NPC garrison remained a wildcard, but given the choice Zach would rather take a chance with them than with Ragnarok.

Their advances across a wide front would force Ragnarok to respond, likely by calling up their remaining reserves and all of their available firepower. They couldn't afford to let Hydra roll over them, lest they lose the initiative permanently. If the alliance could capture Milwaukee they'd have a dagger pointed right at Madison's throat, and the Ragnarok Company was in
real
trouble.

And if they had to call out their reserves, their air force would be at the forefront of those operations. The planes that had caused them so much trouble during their previous two attempts to take Shorewood would likely be committed to Milwaukee, flying sorties in an attempt to stem the deluge of Hydra troops. Zach expected that they'd inflict serious losses on the attackers, but that would be acceptable in the name of victory. Even if they were extremely effective they'd need to return to base to rearm and switch out their fusion batteries.

When that happened, the rest of Ghost Battalion would be waiting for them. Three forces would converge on the trio of enemy airfields, supported by Raven's helicopter gunships. Once they reached the target area their orders were simple: destroy everything and anything they could manage. Planes took priority, of course, but destroying munitions, power supplies, facilities and other logistical necessities would go a long way toward smashing the enemy.

Once the dive bombers were destroyed the assault force would withdraw, leaving nothing but smoldering wrecks. With one of their main sources of fire support gone Ragnarok would be forced to make a choice, because they couldn't sustain their forces in both Shorewood and Jones Harbor. One of them would have to give way, and that would leave the door open for Hydra to claim yet another valuable district.

And once the Jones Harbor District fell Hydra could start sending reinforcements over the land route, finally allowing Ghost Battalion to end the nightmarish fight in the Shorewood District.

“Well, it's thorough,” Bryce commented.

“As I said, we planned it out.”

“Here's one thing,” David said, tapping his finger on his holographic display. “What if Ragnarok doesn't come out to play ball?”

“Then we take the Jones Harbor District from them,” Zach said. “And that also gives us the opportunity to send reinforcements to Shorewood, which eliminates one of our biggest problems. That's why I think they'll come out and fight. If they don't then they're going to put themselves in a really bad position.”

“If they hit us during the advance there's the potential that we'll lose quite a few armored vehicles,” Gina pointed out. “I know that might be a necessary risk, but is it one we can afford to take? I know Hephaestus is pretty backlogged as it is.”

“We can provide you with some cover,” Lex spoke up. “There's Perseus Flight, for one. And we do have some mobile antiaircraft guns that have been fairly effective against them.”

“It's going to be a necessary risk nonetheless,” Zach said. “It's the same thing with us putting our helicopter gunships on the line at the airfields. There's probably going to be AA guns present there as well, but we need the fire support.”

“Still not exactly sold on this,” David said. “We're risking a lot.”

And what about the last plan?
Zach wanted to say, but again, he bit his tongue. If he had to stand here nodding silently to get them to go along with this, so be it. They had a chance here, and they needed to take it.

“Let's put it to a vote then,” Cody suggested. “I'm in favor.”