Attack State Red by Richard Kemp & Colonel Richard Kemp & Chris Hughes

Author:Richard Kemp & Colonel Richard Kemp & Chris Hughes
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
Published: 2009-07-06T04:00:00+00:00

6

At 0300 hours Howes and 5 Platoon led the company away from the river, towards Katowzay. It was very dark, with a low moon. As soon as he set off, Howes began to pour sweat. Even in the small hours, without any sun, they were drenched within minutes.

Approaching from the north, Howes halted his men 1,000 metres short of the village. It was 0500 hours, and the rising sun was sending long shadows across the Green Zone.

The company moved into a well-concealed defensive formation in a network of irrigation ditches. The men stowed their night observation kit and – glad of a brief respite – slumped down to chew on the hard biscuits from their twenty-four-hour ration packs.

Half an hour later they were on the move again. Aston had pushed Howes’s platoon to the right and Broomfield’s to the left as they approached the village across open ground. His Tac HQ was in the centre, just to their rear. Aston was thinking how much he would have given for some cover.

Also sensing the danger presented by the open ground, Howes pushed 5 Platoon even more rapidly than normal into the compounds on the edge of the village. Aston’s Tac was close behind.

6 Platoon were still 400 metres out, in the open, when a long blast of automatic fire opened up around waist height.

There was a scream. ‘I’m hit.’

That was the last thing Broomfield wanted to hear while they were still out in the open.

A bullet had ripped between Private Luke Watson’s arm and upper ribs, slicing into his bicep and chest. Watson was on the ground, writhing in agony. A medic crawled forward and pressed a field dressing on to the wound.

As soon as the firing started, the men of 6 Platoon hit the ground then blasted fire back into the enemy-held compounds. Lance Corporal Ashby fired an AT4 anti-tank missile into a compound, and fire from there stopped but continued to pour in from at least two other directions.

Looking forward to the outskirts of the village, Broomfield saw Howes’s men appear on compound walls and roofs, firing down into the enemy positions.

Aston turned to his MFC, Lance Corporal Tony Warwick. ‘I want a fire mission on those buildings over there. Figure out the grid and check with me before you engage. Quick as you can.’

The JTAC, in an observation position 1,000 metres away on the high ground at the edge of the desert, made an immediate call for air support.

The FST commander, Captain Ridley, was figuring out deconfliction between the mortars and air.

Seconds later the Taliban positions were being hammered by high-explosive bombs fired by the Royal Anglians’ 81mm mortars. Aston was impressed at the speed with which Warwick had managed to get the fire mission on to the ground, but he wasn’t surprised. Warwick was an outstanding MFC.

The ground shook, and mud, dust and bits of compound wall flew into the air. With the enemy heads down, Broomfield was able to pull Watson and the rest of the platoon back into cover.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.