Reich Marshal of the Belkan Reich

RM Vol 3: For a World without Boundary – Chapter 30-7: Seeing the Elephant (Part 7)

Flying above the battle zone is a squad of veteran Witches of the Spanish War. Led by none other than Staff Sergeant Langley herself, they're waiting for the right moment to strike the unsuspecting Sardegnians below.

"The exchange of fire is growing a lot more heated despite the lack of visibility from both sides." Langley commented as she saw the result of Parker's platoon suppressing the smoke cloud that the Sardegnian attackers were hiding behind. "Signal the Lieutenant, have him stopped firing in 30 seconds. After that, we dive down." Langley spoke to her RTO.

As the woman starts communicating with Parker down in the harbor area, Langley orders the rest of her squad. "Ready up people, we'll go down as soon as our friends stop firing. Prioritize disabling targets such as snipers, MG, and vehicles. Do not risk it, pull back if you have to."

"The day is far from over."

Once the request is sent and received by Parker, the gunfire from the Spanish side ceases abruptly. However, only the Witches notice this detail as Sardegnian troops still have their attention pulled, not knowing of the threat that is about to befall them. Langley raises a hand up before swinging it down, signaling the attack.

With, the eight Witches diving for the ground, some use their weapons to take precise shots at enemy soldiers that are out in the open. Others pull on their magical talents instead, conjuring orbs of thunder, ice, and fire in their hands, sending them spiraling down at clusters of enemy or garrisoned windows. All of a sudden, Sardegnians die from bullets gouging their heads into pulps or exploding into charred or bloody messes. The aerial raid comes as a complete surprise for the Papal soldiers, just the opening move alone has cost them dozens of casualties. Nonetheless, after a period of struggling against raids by the Witches, veterans on the Sardegnian side start pointing their guns upward. Facing retaliation fire, two Witches hang back in the air with their sniper rifles, picking off dangerous elements from afar so that the rest of their battle sisters can go up close and personal.

Under the covering fire from the two snipers, Langley leads the rest of her squad, diving into a chaotic CQC. As a harpy, Langley inherits renowned traits such as an enhanced vocal cord and ferociousness in battle. Hence, it isn't much of a surprise when Langley starts off with a magically amplified ears-deafening screech, one that stuns the nearby soldiers and prompts them to collapse weakly onto the ground. With the enemy incapacitated, Langley and her Witches waste no time at all before dispatching them into the afterlife. They then move with speed and ferocity, clearing from one building to another and keeping themselves mobile. Due to their limited number, the last thing they need is to be pinned down.

Langley's favorite means of attacking is, surprisingly, dual-wielding her C96K, each with 20-round magazines. This setup grants her the best mobility available in the squad and abiding by her nature as a harpy, her eyesight is ridiculously good. Thanks to her vision, Langley's aim is perfect despite bringing only pistols in a chaotic deathmatch. Before the enemy can even register her visage, she has already gifted them a bullet to the head before disappearing from the spot, dashing for the next prey out there. With ample munition in her pistols, the Staff Sergeant swiftly cut through a squad of enemy soldiers without a need to reload. For tougher oppositions, Langley can either fall back to her grenades... Or just have her subordinates send an ice bolt in, exploding into icy shrapnels that go everywhere and killing machine gunners and snipers alike. Which they did, wonderful.

In less than ten minutes, Langley's squad has taken care of approximately half of the attacking enemy. This forces the survivors to barricade themselves in chokepoints, ones that prove more trouble than they're worth to clear. As such, Langley calmly orders a tactical retreat back to safety. And just in time too as her troops report more enemy units heading their way, vehicles are spotted in the mix. Langley idly wonders why are they not sending these armors up at the frontline. Surely those can be of more use blunting the Spanish force on the precipe of the town rather than sending them here to be destroyed needlessly. Regardless, the harpy spots an opportunity for a parting gift before making their way back.

"Girls, prep your grenades. We'll be doing a flyby on the next wave of enemy." The Witches nodded.

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Being spotted when they approach is a concern, as such, Langley has trained her Witches to utilize the terrain to their advantage. Flying in a chevron formation and just barely dodging the chimneys and red-tiled roofs, Langley's squad is soon above the Sardegnian reinforcement. With a cursory glance, the harpy quickly identifies the most dangerous unit in the bunch, a few armored cars armed with 20mm autocannons. Making a swift hand signal, Langley and her squad fly past the group of vehicles and soldiers, but not before dropping some presences before getting out of Dodge.

*Clank* *Clank* *Clank*

Those are the sounds of M24 stick grenades dropping on the paved road, right amid tightly packed groupings of infantry. And not just that, Langley and a couple of other Witches proceed to deposit bundled grenades too, landing smack dab on the engine blocks of the armored cars. As much as Langley would like to take a look at the carnage that's about to happen, the Sergeant knows better than to dally around in an active combat zone. Hence, by the time the sound waves from the many explosions reach the squad of Witches, they're already long gone and back in the safe area, safe being the relative word here.

 Regardless, that many grenades dropped in the middle of their formation should have disrupted their advance for a while. All they can do now is hunker down and wait.

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Wait they did, sure. But trying to stay alive has proven to be more difficult than expected, Julia thought. Julia has expensed five clips already and somehow, they just kept on coming. Parker, on his part, is down to his second to last mag of his BAR, and Katia by his side is also not doing too hot on ammunition. Despite prior preparation and with Parker deliberately giving the order to conserve their ammo, their platoon is consuming ammo at an alarming rate. That paints a picture of just how desperate the Sardegnians are, sending waves after waves of soldiers just to remove this stubborn obstacle that stands on their way to freedom.

Firing off another shot before having to duck down to avoid return fire, Julia complains. "Alright, why the fuck aren't our tanks firing!?"

Katia is the one to explain. "One has a jammed breach after relentless use and another got their turret drive damaged from a lucky shot by the Sardegnians. To say that we are outgunned right now would be an understatement!"

"Just great then!" Julia said." Why can't everything just go according to plan like earlier!"

Parker interjects. "Was thinking that it was too smooth to be true! Last mag!"

"Shit! Here come more of them!" Katia reported. "And they are bloody charging directly at us! We don't have the firepower to stop all of them!"

"Then don't!" Parker cut in. "Leave it for Rum to handle!"

Julia pops over the ledge and fires off another shot, mentally wincing when she suddenly sees a horde of infantry charging at them with bayonets. "Even with Rum on the flank, we will be overrun when they run out of their MG ammo! We need that artillery support since yesterday damn it!"

Katia rolls her eyes while hiding herself. "You can't expect them to be familiar with Sardegnians howitzers. It takes time to learn otherwise it would be us that were pounded to pulps!"

Parker tucks down, pulling out his empty magazine. "Well, they better learn fast because I am empty as fuck here! Hey, I need a weapon here!"

Down below, a Private tosses him an Mp-35. "Last mag, Lieutenant. Make it count!"

"Yeah," Parker speaks up amidst the suddenly more intense gunfire from below. "We are really not holding up well." With the enemy getting closer by the second, the ground floor has to increase its volume of fire, further reducing its limited ammo pool.

"Wait...!" Katia suddenly shouted. "It's the vineyard, they got the artillery pit up and running!"

"About damn time. Hallelujah!" Julia cheered.

Parker, on the other hand, looks at Katia. "Give me your weapon." Knowing what Parker is suggesting, Katia promptly hands over her gun and its ammo. "Cover me, I need to coordinate with our fire support."

Katia abruptly lays a hand on her headphones, reporting. "More good news. Captain Bannon is fifteen minutes out. We just need to hold the Sardegnians here until then."

Parker nods, pleased with the news. "Great! Now concentrate, we don't want to waste our precious artillery shells." Though Parker said that, he knew that Katia was already in the process of directing their artillery. The Witch is the epitome of efficiency and professionalism, keeping her request clear and concise. Hence, it takes only a single minute for her to finish her communication. Now, it's a tense waiting game amidst a field of bullets.

Thirty seconds later, faint whistling can be heard by keen individuals, but for most of them, the gunshots drown out the sound of descending artillery shells. It is not until repeated explosions happened in the Sardegnian formation that the Spanish platoon finally registers the fact that they now have support.

"Fuck yeah! That was right on the money!" Parker commented while Julia heaved a sigh of relief. The Private pulled the bolt of her Kar98k back, showing it empty so she had no choice but to take out her sidearm.

Katia, after checking the impact zone, speaks into the radio. "Fire for effect. I say again, fire for effect."

"Alright people," Parker addressed the troops while there was a short lull on the battlefield after the ranging salvo. "We're in the last stretch so hold on tight! Help is on the way and we have fire support!"

"Yes, sir!" 

Parker is then patted on the shoulder by Julia. "Hey LT, they're regrouping for another go."

"They're desperate, that's why. They will be going all in soon so get ready." Parker commented as he looked and saw Sardegnians running about, shouting something, most probably officers.

Julia replies. "I have my pistol but clearly this won't be enough... Shit, here they come!"

"They're fucking mad!" Parker shouted out a curse word as he witnessed the Sardegnians charging with reckless abandon. If last time around they sent in a few squads at a time, moving from cover to cover with bayonets. This time, it's a whole shebang of Sardegnians with pasta forks and knives, going out for blood. Hell, it looks like half of the town's occupant force is now rushing straight toward them like mad bulls!

"Screw conserving ammo, it's do or die now! Fire at will!" Parker shouted before pulling out his pistol, joining Julia and Katia in putting down whatever Sardegnians they could.

In the middle of their crazy charge, the artillery shells also come down,  exploding them into a shower of gore, dirt, and bone fragments. Nonetheless, these Papal soldiers keep running into their dead, but this time, they are being mowed down by Rum's garrison. Despite using up a lot of ammo, Rum's soldiers still have enough of a reserve to cut down a swath of hapless Sardegnians. By the time they get into the firing range of Parker's pistol, a majority of them are either on the ground bleeding out, in pieces or are too shellshocked to continue. With the survivors coming up against the muzzles of the Panzer IIIs' MG-34s. Suffice to say, they're more than enough to thin the herd.

Nonetheless, a few managed to break through despite the odds. These brave few burst through the windows on the ground floor, plunging the area in a brief fight of good old fisticuffs. Hearing the commotion down below, Parker and his cohorts run to the railing, aiming their pistols down below and open fire at the Sardegnians rushing at their comrades with bayonets and rifles' buttstocks. In a burst of gunfire, the Sardegnians are swiftly cut down or shot down. Not a moment too soon as they're just about to rush into the cowering civilians in the slipway.

"Damn it, that was close!" Parker cursed. "Secure the area, there may be more of them coming in!"

While Parker is busy checking on the troops below, Julia and Katia have returned to their prior positions. Instead of acquiring a new set of targets, the ladies see something else. "You may want to belay that, Parker." Julia grabbed the Lieutenant's attention.

"What? Why?" Parker asked back immediately.

Katia just points her index finger out the window. "Because it won't be needed. Look, our help has arrived."

Parker runs to the window, only to see the heartening sight of an M3 Lee rolling into view. By the sides, leftover Sardegnians lay down their arms, raising their hands up in surrender. Popping open the hatch of the M3 is Captain Bannon who then surveys the area while holding a Thompson SMG. The Captain then spots Parker who is waving at him from the drydock with the LT saluting him soon after. Bannon returns the salute and nods at Parker, very impressed with Parker's defense of the civies. The odds were stacked against them, yet they pulled through marvelously from what Bannon could gather before coming here.

Respect is earned indeed.

"Alright Charlie Company, spread out and secure the area. I want logi to move in and aid the civilians and relieve Parker. The LT has done enough, now it's our show."