Judgment Day: A Military Sci-Fi Series (Holy War Book 2) by Rick Partlow

Author:Rick Partlow [Partlow, Rick]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Aethon Books
Published: 2021-06-28T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 16

“All right, listen up!” Ryan Hendrix barked, pacing in front of the line of planetary militia. “You’ve all been through hell, and you did a damned good job, so I’m not going to pretend you’re idiots who don’t know which end of a gun the round comes out of. You fought as guerillas, hitting and fading, winning as long as you didn’t lose, just trying to stay alive. But if the Tahni come back, you’ll be looking at a different kind of fight.”

The men and women were trying to stand at attention as they’d been taught, but one or two were already fidgeting, shifting their rifles a few millimeters from side to side where they were digging into their shoulders. They were a ragged, mismatched lot, though at least the armor and rifles were new, provided by the Fleet in a shipment that had come in just after the battle, too late to do any good. It was his job to teach them how to use them like professionals.

“If the Tahni come back, you’ll be looking at a stand-up fight, where you bloody your knuckles against each other until one side’s had enough and folds. That’s the kind of fight I’ve had twice now with those bastards and it wasn’t fun either time. It wasn’t something I’d wish on any of you or any broke-dick dog.”

A few chuckles at that, which he’d intended. The best way to get his squad loosened up had always been to start talking like his great-grandfather, Grandpa Billy. He’d always enjoyed their visits to the man. Billy was a throwback, living deep in the Carolina woods, working as a wildlife officer, and he talked with an accent most outsiders found barely understandable.

“How is it that different, Sergeant?” one of the men asked. He was a big, brawny blond who had the look of a city boy, but Ryan recalled he’d been among the badly wounded after the battle. Johann Brugger, that was his name. “How is different than what we did?”

“Tactics,” Ryan told him. “Logistics. Communications. Everything. Guerillas don’t do defenses, static or dynamic, but that’s exactly what you’ll have to do if the ugly bastards come back. Defenses. You’ll dig in, reinforce the lines of the Marines who’re gonna be stationed here, and you’ll have to be able to work with them. With us. And that’s why you have to learn things a bit differently.”

He motioned toward the line of hasty fighting positions dug for them by the engineers.

“Today, we’re going to go over the basics of a static defense. You’re going to start at the platoon level, then once you’ve learned the basics, you’ll go on to a company level, which, believe me, is a lot more complicated.”

Ryan pulled up his boonie cap and wiped absently at the sweat. It was early afternoon and, somehow, he’d managed to get stuck in Gennich in mid-summer.

“All right, we’re gonna run this by platoons, so who’s First Platoon leader?”

“I am, Sergeant.” Johann again. The kid didn’t strike Ryan as a leader, but that was why he was here.

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