Grant's Battle Book 2 by Eric Meyer

Author:Eric Meyer
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

* * *

The briefing room was crowded with nurses and medics, and Lucy watched General Weathers step onto the stage. There was something about him that intrigued her. The usual, confident self-possession was absent, almost as if he was haunted by some recent setback. She stared at him a moment longer, but she hadn’t heard of any major problems.

Maybe it’s a setback waiting around the corner. What could it be?

They stood to attention, and he ordered them to relax. For almost a minute the room was silent as they sat on the rows of chairs. He just looked at them, as if unable to make up his mind about something. When he spoke, his voice was hoarse, and he had to take a drink of water before he got into his stride.

“The attack on Zormat, codenamed Operation Anaconda, will come as no surprise to most of you. As you know, I’ll be sending troops straight down the main road. It’s the only viable route for our armor and heavy equipment, and the enemy knows this, so there will be a considerable risk. However, Captain Noyan of the Afghan National Army has suggested your medical convoy take an alternative route. He’s identified a secondary road well away from any known insurgent activity.”

He paused, and Lucy felt uneasy.

Traveling behind the main military convoy could expose us to enemy fire, in the event of an attack. But isn’t that why we’re here, to be on hand to treat casualties with all possible speed?

Her boss, the senior surgeon Colonel Dennison, climbed to his feet, and cleared his throat in a familiar way. The way he did when trying to make a simple point to the ignorant and ill informed.

“General, our place is with the men doing the fighting, not sneaking along some back road, afraid we might get involved in some fighting.”

Weathers waved away the objection. “I hear what you say, Colonel, but I want to ensure the safety of my doctors and nurses by keeping them out of harm’s way, at least until the battle starts. You’ll be traveling separately from my main force, but even if you came across them, I doubt the Taliban would target vehicles displaying the red crosses.”

The Colonel jumped back to his feet, shaking his head in disagreement. “General, that’s bullshit, and you know it. The hospital was mortared, and we’ve been shot at more times than I can remember.”

Weathers frowned. “There’ve been incidents, sure, but they’re rare. Besides, in the event of any trouble, you won’t be without protection. I’ve assigned an Infantry company with armored vehicles to accompany you.”

“I thought this Afghan captain said there was no insurgent activity along this alternate route?”

Weathers looked grim. “I like to play it safe, Colonel. You’ll have a Bradley AFV on point, another in the rear, and a company of Infantry, more than enough firepower to deal with anything unexpected. You’ll have the protection of almost two hundred of my soldiers. Take it from me. This plan is optimum.

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.