Thunder Run (Maelstrom Rising Book 6) by Peter Nealen

Author:Peter Nealen [Nealen, Peter]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-02-25T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 18

We hustled into the woods south of Sroda Slaska as the S-70s roared off into the night. Chris pushed in about ten yards, and then we hunkered down and went still and quiet, watching and listening for any sign that we’d been detected.

We’d come in low and fast, and we were still almost ten klicks from the corridor that the EDC had forced through to Wroclaw. We were outside the presumed security envelope around their headquarters and primary supply line. They’d moved too fast to secure much of the countryside beyond the corridor along Highway A4. But good tactical habits are good habits for a reason, and we’d certainly had too much experience to slack on an op like this.

I listened as the snarl of the helos’ rotors dwindled in the distance. No Modocs this time; this was purely a Triarii op, with no Army support at all.

And that was a matter of concern. Just not one I had the time for at the moment.

After ten minutes, I was confident that we were clear. There was no sign of the other teams around us. They’d spread out in different directions, effectively covering the approaches to the LZ. There should be several hundred yards between each team by now.

But we still stayed in place. We weren’t the only pieces on the board this time. Those S-70s would be back. And we had to be in position to respond if the enemy reacted to their return.

The night got quiet, except for the distant rumble of artillery and the even more distant roar of clashing fast-movers in the sky above us. The fight for Wroclaw was still on.

We wouldn’t get to it that night, but we were in position to profoundly affect how it ended.

***

The infantry sections came in a couple hours later. We stayed on alert and talked them in via radio until we could link up by IR flashes. Then we set security and hunkered down in the woods for the day. Dawn wasn’t far off. We had inserted just after 0200, and while we probably could have simply gone into Sroda Slaska and linked up with the local Policja, we didn’t want to risk getting bogged down, or worse, having our presence leaked to the enemy.

So, we waited.

***

Things seemed to have calmed down as the day went on, but the updates we were getting via radio told us that that was only because the Poles and the small contingent of US Army, Slovak volunteers, and a few Hungarians had held their ground and the big EDC push had momentarily pulled back to their nearly-complete cordon around the city. The fight wasn’t over.

I didn’t sleep much during the day. Between the occasional jet flyover and sporadic harassing artillery fire—which sounded like it was going in both directions—there were a lot of noises to wake me up. The tensions and uncertainty of the friendly situation as well as the enemy sit didn’t help, either.

So, I was already tired when the sun went down and it came time to move.

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