Tim said, “Got it. See you at the barn, children.” He got up and started walking without further comment.
Adrian said, “That’s what I like about Tim. No nonsense, no fussing, no false heroics. He does what he says he’s going to do, and does it damn well. Most men would have tried to make excuses for being slower than us, but not Tim. He just sees it as a fact and deals with it. Gotta love that, don’t you?”
Jerry just grinned without taking his eyes off the distant tree line. “Look, movement at your ten.”
Adrian quickly moved his field glasses to his left, following Jerry’s instruction where to look. “I see four men, and they’re coming fast.” Swinging his glasses even farther to the left, he said, “And there are more coming from the nine position.” Moving his glasses back to the right, he said, “Okay, more coming from the two spot. Looks like they’re trying to make a big circle, hoping to catch us inside of it. Let’s roll.”
Adrian and Jerry trotted down the backside of the hill and angled off forty-five degrees to the left of Tim’s line of march. They double-timed, but used all the cover they could.
March 17, morning
After half an hour, Adrian and Jerry slowed to a walk and began looking well ahead of them. “Look over by that peach orchard, Jerry—I see eight or nine men. They’re moving back in to close up the circle, and we’ll be just outside of it. Once the loop is closed, I think they’ll start closing the circle in, trying to flush us out. There is definitely disciplined thought behind this; they just didn’t make the circle big enough to catch us. We’ve got two choices: shoot some more of them, or stay silent and get back to Tim. If we start shooting, we’ll likely have them on our tail all the way to the barn. I think we’ve found out what we can and it’s best to leave them be for now. What do you think?”
Jerry replied, “Well, it’s a cinch we’re not going to defeat them by ourselves. What is it you always say? ‘Pick battles small enough to win but big enough to count?’ I agree—let’s head on back.”
Tim watched from the barn’s roof, his .50 in the ready position as Adrian and Jerry came in. Tim watched behind them, but did not see any movement. He picked his rifle up, slung it over his shoulder, and descended the ladder. “Well, kids, I’ve had a nice nap and I’m ready to roll when you are. Did you have fun?”
Jerry replied, “Not a bit. Just a casual stroll through the country. We did stir them up, though.”
Adrian said, “The definitely have discipline, Tim, and a plan in place for when they are attacked. They moved fast—real fast—to form a circle around where they thought we might be, and then started shrinking it. None of the scouts has mentioned that tactic at any point before this, but they moved into it fast and smooth. Their reaction had already been planned out. Makes me wonder even more about them. Things don’t add up. They move cross-country in a deliberately sloppy way, then they pull a trained rapid response like that.”
Tim said, “If they can pull that tactic that fast, then every damn thing else they do is deliberate, as well. That means their so-called sloppy forward advance is on purpose and planned. They have a reason for it, even though I can’t quite cotton on to what that reason is. But I’ll guarantee you this: they aren’t total muttonheads. The only thing I can think of is they want us to know they’re coming. That only makes sense to me if they think it will scare us away, and that doesn’t make sense, ‘cause we’d take our women with us, and you know they want women as much as they want food. Hell, maybe the sons of bitches really are just a bunch of dumbasses. I’d like to think that, but that fast circle doesn’t show dumb. It shows wanting to take prisoners. It’s like watching a clown suddenly turn into an acrobat, then going back to being a clown. Shit, Adrian, nothing about this makes sense to me.”
Adrian replied, “Then let’s use logic. They deliberately burn every house, making big smoke signals. They move slow enough, and with enough forewarning, that everyone knows they’re coming miles ahead of time. They’re drawing attention to that fact. So the logical conclusion is they want everyone to know they’re heading toward them. The question is why?”
Jerry said, “Maybe they are trying to draw us out to them? Could they be headed to Fort Brazos for a reason and want us to come out and fight instead of forting up?”
Tim said, “Bottom line is it doesn’t make any difference. We’ve already decided to take them on in the field, and the reasoning behind it is sound. Whether they want us to come out or not, it’s still the best option. So the ‘why’ doesn’t matter—it’s what they have in mind to do once we engage that we have to think about.”
Adrian said, “You’re right. Meeting them in the field is what we’re going to do. Figuring out how to approach them and what their reaction will be is key. It isn’t their motives we need concern ourselves with, it’s their actions, and trying to outguess their actions is all that counts. Let’s get home; I’m tired of listening to grandpa snore every night.”
Tim picked up a limb and pretended he was going to give Adrian a spanking. Adrian took off running and Tim and Jerry followed at a walking pace.
CHAPTER 13
March 21, evening
S
hortly after returning to Fort
Brazos, Adrian went over the training results with Linda.
Linda reported, “We’ve completed all the tasks you wanted. The results are good. Surprise attacks on the village really brought out weaknesses. We’ve worked on those over and over. These ladies aren’t going to be caught napping ever again, that’s for sure. We have forward scouts out all the time now, mostly to the east, because we know that’s where they’re coming from, but also in all other directions in case they circle around. Even without the scouts, the women are on constant alert status. But the scouts give us a heads-up when anyone is coming. Even if the scouts get caught up, they’ll have time to fire a couple of shots, and that’s all the warning we need.
“The men have trained in ambushes and the specific attack tactics you suggested. The men have gotten very good at setting up ambushes, hitting hard and fast, then fading out to meet back up at a rendezvous point. We’re out of paint balls and gas cylinders, but I think they’ve done us as much good as they’re going to now anyway.
“I’ve identified the men and women that will be the battlefield medics and stretcher bearers. They’re all in intensive training at the hospital and every one of them is catching on fast. Their morale is good, and they are all proud of their role. They are getting tremendous support from the combat teams also; they see them as battle field angels and let them know it.
“The MASH unit is organized and ready to set up wherever needed. They can set up in under twenty minutes now, excluding tents, and start moving out to relocate on a minute’s notice. You didn’t mention drilling them but I thought it a good idea so went ahead. They needed to learn how to pack and unpack quickly. They’ve also been getting training in map reading so that they can find their way to the next spot. The village hospital has been organized for rapid response to incoming patients from the MASH unit, or from walking wounded. That’s something else I instituted. The medics will determine if a person can’t continue to fight, but can walk to the hospital bypassing the MASH unit. If they can be treated on the battle field and returned to the fight they will be. Triage in the field, so to speak.”
Adrian said, “Good report and excellent decisions. How do you feel now about being second in command?”
“Better. Your demonstrated trust in me hasn’t gone unnoticed by the troops, and I was given enough rope to prove or disprove that trust. Apparently I am proving it, because I haven’t had a single problem with my orders being followed. I thought I would have some trouble from the men, but I haven’t.”
Adrian said, “That’s well and good, and as I expected, but I meant how are you feeling yourself? What’s your confidence level now?”
“As good as it can be, knowing I haven’t been tested under real conditions.”
“That’s an honest answer. I appreciate that. I want you to know that I have one hundred percent confidence in you when the bullets are flying. I didn’t choose you for this randomly, but I can’t exactly explain my reasoning, because it is more of an intuitive feeling than a logical formula. My gut tells me that you’ll remain cool and level no matter what, that you can and will think on your feet, and that you’ll remain clear-headed and see the big picture as events change and swirl around you. That is a rare talent—staying cool and seeing the overall battlefield under intense pressure. It’s what makes a leader, and exactly what the troops not only need, but fully deserve. They deserve to receive orders from someone who is in control and can act rationally and rapidly as needed.
“I’m sure you’re still wondering why I didn’t pick one of my own teammates from the Army to command the women. Let me add in another element I didn’t go into previously. My guys are all outstanding soldiers, battle tested and excellent at what they do. What they do is follow orders extremely well. What they don’t do—and never had any expectation of doing—is to have to think up what those orders should be. I was in the same boat until recently, when events forced me to take a leading role. It was sort of a field promotion. Creating battle plans, organizing troops, determining the strategy and tactics were new for me. Maybe I have some talent for it—I think I do—but more important is that other people believe I do and rely on me, so I have to do it well.
“You’re in the same spot I was in. You’re having this thrust on you, on top of that, you have no battle experience . I can only imagine how strange this must be for you, but I believe you have the clear-headed thinking that the role requires. A bonus is that you don’t have baggage with any of the women, no old resentments from the past. The fact that you don’t have battle experience, of course, creates self-doubt in your ability to carry it off. Any intelligent person would and should have those doubts. Your being a woman is not relevant; this isn’t about what chromosomes you were born with, and I hope it’s not playing much in your thinking. It certainly isn’t in mine. If it is, just remember Joan of Arc, Zenobia, Golda Meir, Margaret Thatcher, and thousands of other female war leaders throughout history.
“It’s my firm belief that you are of that quality, and it’s backed up by what I’ve been hearing from the troops. You have my complete confidence and trust, and I feel good about you having my back. It’s a solid feeling knowing you’re here and that I can rely on you. Now I think it’s time for you to go out on a scout and see the enemy for yourself. Choose who you want to go with you— it’s your choice—and be back in short order. I’ll keep the training going while you’re gone.”
Linda’s head was reeling. She felt an involuntary surge of pride and confidence welling up from Adrian’s faith in her. She suspected that was exactly what he had intended, to bolster her confidence in herself, but the feeling was undeniably heady all the same. Suddenly, she realized that she would march into Hell with a bucket of water if he asked her to.
This
, she thought to herself,
this is what a good leader does; he motivates by showing trust and respect. I’ll take this as a lesson and use the same technique myself. He’s proving his trust in me by sending me out on a scouting mission, choosing my own people to go with me. Damn, he’s good at this.
Linda said, “Thank you General. I promise, I will not let you down.” Her smile was kept on the inside as she said it.
“Good. I don’t expect you to. Now let’s go over the duty roster name by name. I want to know what you think of each person.”
Later that day, Matt invited Adrian and Linda to observe a test firing of his pipe cannon. “This is basically a large single shot shotgun. It can be reloaded and reused, but it takes two people half an hour to set it up again—too long for any battle I can think of. As you can see, I’ve set pieces of plywood downrange to get an idea of the maximum effective range as measured by spread of the chain sections. My calculations indicate that the best range will be forty yards. The cannon has rudimentary sights welded on top for horizontal alignment. Elevation is set by using this carpenter’s level. At forty yards, we’ll need only a few degrees of muzzle elevation for the chains to hit at a three-foot height. I’ve estimated the muzzle elevation at ten degrees. I’ll measure where the chains actually hit and recalculate from that. Once I know for sure, the level will be marked to show the leading edge of the bubble. This test will also give me an idea of the most efficient length and number of chains to load. These are eight inches long. I love the way the chains can be rolled up and then loaded; they go in very compactly, so I can get a lot of them in there.
“Fully loaded, this thing weighs in at one hundred and sixty pounds. I’d thought I could do it under one hundred pounds, but I can’t. Still, if three women shoulder this, they’ll each be carrying fifty-three pounds. Put four women under it, and they’ll be shouldering forty pounds. It’s very portable. I’ve also welded lugs on each side of the barrel to tie off with. If the cannon isn’t anchored, the recoil could throw the barrel back several feet. An easy way to anchor it is by doing it the way I have for this test. Two spiral anchors—like these that were used for mobile home tie downs—are screwed into the ground using a longbar for leverage, and then the cables are connected from the anchor on each side to the lug on each side. It only takes a few minutes to set the whole thing up. Sandbags, tree trunks, rock piles—almost anything can be used to rest the barrel on. But I think I have time to weld adjustable bi-pods on them like this one. Two pieces of pipe, one just small enough to slide inside the other, with holes drilled through them and a pin inserted through the holes make it easy to set these up.
“Firing it is as easy as pushing a button. Instead of using capacitors, I’ve used a nine-volt battery. I found some while looking for the chainsaw chains. Okay, ready to see it go boom? Stand back over there and cover your ears.”
Linda and Adrian stepped away as he’d suggested. Matt followed them, stringing out wire. “I’m certain it’s safe to stand right next to it, but since this is the first test fire we’ll stay back out of an abundance of caution. Ready?”