Eden's Hammer - By Lloyd Tackitt Page 0,53
If you can’t make that commitment, simply stay behind when we march, or fall back at any time along the way before the shooting starts.
“I also want every man to know this: if you die, after we win, your family will be taken care of. We will see to it that they have everything they need. They will not be abandoned after your sacrifice; they will want for nothing.
“We attack day after tomorrow at dawn. The ambush team has already left to begin killing, harassing, and slowing them down for us.”
The men looked back at Adrian with a solemnity that spoke of their determination. Adrian didn’t believe a single man would stay behind or return before the fighting started, but he had to make it clear they could.
The men remained silent. Many looking down, some were looking around at the other men, wondering who wouldn’t come back. All of them were wondering if they would be coming back. Most of the men were looking at Adrian. There were no jokes about speeches or bear cubs this time.
Adrian waited a long moment and then shouted, “Let’s move out!”
MARCH 27, EARLY MORNING
Perry, Matthew, Roman, and Tim were the guerilla team and were already in position to watch the raiders. They were older and slower on foot than the main body, but they were also intelligent, experienced, and more than willing. The four men had been watching one of the raider groups since the sun had come up. Perry was, by unstated consent, leading the team. These four men had known each other for decades and knew each other well. They had many common bonds, not the least of which was they were all military veterans. Each had different strengths and talents, and each was primarily a lone wolf. They let Perry lead because of his unusual ability to out think any of the other three on just about any topic. A tough act with these men.
Perry said, “Okay, they’ll be crossing the meadow in about half an hour. Tim, you set up here with your fifty-cal and take out the lead man. Matt, you move to that small grove of trees to be closer. Roman, you take position behind that pile of boulders. I’ll be in that draw just over there; we’ll have them in a neat crossfire. I’ll take the number two man as soon as Tim shoots, and Matt will take the number three guy, and Roman the fourth man. Tim, you take the shot when they are halfway across the meadow. That will put them in our range.
“That’s all we are here to do for now—one shot each, two at the most. Tim, you’ll cover us with one more shots if needed. Take out whoever you can and make them hunker for a few minutes. We leave immediately and spread out, meeting up as soon as we can at the old windmill. From there, we go into watch mode, figure out our next ambush spot. Any questions?”
Tim asked, “Why not take a few more? We’ve got the room for it, and there’ll be several exposed.”
Perry replied, “Because that’s not the mission. The mission is to hit fast and run fast, you old codger, and you can’t run fast.”
“So you’re saying if I could run faster, we could kill more?”
“No, not really. I was just poking at you for a reaction. Fact is that staying too long at an ambush is a tactical error. Adrian explained it some, and he’s right. Our mission is to slow them down, make them timid about moving forward. Killing some of them is the means to that end. Killing more than four or five does not slow them down any more than killing six or seven would. We could sit here and kill eight or even ten, but then they have a much better chance of getting one or more of us because we stayed too long. On the other hand, by killing four or five and getting away, we can do it again and again. In the long run, we’ll kill more of them by not getting too greedy. Pigs get fat, but hogs get slaughtered, you know. We want to be pigs, not hogs. The more often we can hit them in different places, the more timid they’ll all become, and that definitely enhances our mission. One or two hits will make them timid. Ten or fifteen hits spread all over the place will make them downright scared to move. Our job