Baker
Joseph Hartsock is one of the best soldiers I’ve ever had the honor of serving with. During Normandy, he was the first of the squad to link up with me, Mac, and Leggett, and fought with me till the end. Hell, he fought on after that even; taking command of second squad throughout the journey and leading them as a temporary sergeant until his official promotion following the Battle of Bloody Gulch. Even though I never wanted command of third, he helped me through that. He summed it up perfectly once; “Taking command isn’t easy, taking the consequences is even harder.” He fully deserved the promotion he got; still, there’s something more than that. Red’s my best friend; I know he’s not under my command anymore, but I feel like I’m holding his fate in my hands, too.
September 22nd
It was almost six in the afternoon outside the hamlet codenamed California. There was a strong wind blowing through the area. There were dark clouds covering the sky, but no rain; the griffons placed them there in hopes of hindering reconnaissance runs by pegasi. However, they already knew about a heavy artillery battery within the buildings.
Just barely outside of the hamlet sat second and third squads on the side of the road that lead into the structures. Mac had already taken the rest of the platoon around in wide flanking move and succeeded in setting up a blocking position on the road as it exited the village, behind the enemy’s lines.
“We’ve got confirmation of an enemy artillery battery in town,” Baker explained. “The crows have locked down the main road, so we’ll have to pinch them between us.”
“Great,” Corrion mumbled.
“Not now, Sam,” Baker replied.
“Yea, not now Sam,” Jasper joked in a smug tone.
“And you get to babysit these two,” he told Hartsock.
“Oh shit,” Jasper sighed.
“Asshole,” Connor whispered to the gunner. “Your mouth is too big! Every damn day I say it; your mouth is too big! You could fit a bass in there!”
“I’ll take the rest of third and whip around their left flank,” Baker told Hartsock. “Red, you take second along with the MG and go left. We’ll catch them in a pincer move.”
“Alright,” Hartsock said. “We’ll have to move fast to catch those guns. Those things can do a lot of damage if we let them slip away.”
“That’s why we’re here,” Baker said. “And no one dies today!”
“Well that’s good news,” Jasper commented. “Oh shit; I did it again, didn’t I?”
“Mac’s patrol is set up in a blocking position on the road behind the crows. We’ll all meet back together when it’s done,” Baker explained. “Let’s move! We’ve got work to do!”
Baker led his squad off to the left and out of sight.
"So, why a bass?" Jasper asked.
"I don't know, I panicked," Connor replied. "I needed something big to prove my point."
"I once stuck one of those donuts from the Fort Bragg mess hall in my mouth once; whole thing!"
"You mean those rocks they call donuts?"
"Yea, I nearly chocked to death," Jasper said. "McCreary still owes me six bucks for that."
Hartsock led his troops off to the right flank. They moved a short ways through some bushes before they came up to a short field that separated them from the buildings. The sound of small arms fire to the west told him Baker and his squad was already making their assault.
Hartsock ordered the machine gun to be set up on a boulder and cover them as they moved towards the village. He moved, along with his other six men, towards the village. The griffons must not have noticed, because they made it to the wall of the first house without trouble.
Checking past the corner of the right house, he spotted two teams of griffons with three in each. They also spotted Hartsock and took cover; one group behind a feeding troth, the other behind a small shed adjacent to it. There was a short stone wall that was just long enough to cover the three men of the fire team, Paddock, Firar, and Roselli. He ordered them to fire on the enemy while the assault team, Campbell, Marsh, and McConnell, to follow him past the left corner of the building.
Turning the corner, the men saw another two trying to use a well as cover. Ducking behind a short fence, they put fired heavily on the two targets until both were hit and killed. They continued to move and took cover behind another two small sheds that were in a perfect position for a flanking move. Opening fire from behind the walls, they succeeded in taking out the remaining enemies.
Hartsock gave the call for the squad to reassemble. He also called for Jasper to bring the gun in. They continued to move cautiously through town. They kept their eyes open as they moved through, but didn’t meet any more resistance.
Nearing the center of the town and the position of where the artillery supposedly was, Hartsock ordered his men to get ready. They moved in, but they didn’t find what they were expecting. There was only one artillery piece, which had a broken wheel on one side, and two griffons trying desperately to fix it, who were quickly gunned down by the squad.
When the area was cleared, the men began to look around for any sign of the missing guns. Hartsock heard Baker call out ‘hold your fire’ as he and his squad entered the square. The look on his face was one of confusion and desperation.
“Where are the guns?” he asked.
“I don’t know,” Hartsock replied. “Maybe they retreated down the road and Mac’s patrol got them.”
“No, no, can’t be,” Baker said, becoming uneasy. “Mac would’ve called in if he did.”
“What are you thinking?”
“I’m going to take third down the road and find Mac,” Baker said. “I saw most of the remaining crows run off in the direction of a field to the northwest. You go after them.”
Baker called third back together and they took off down the road. Hartsock regrouped his men and moved through to the northwest. They encountered no more resistance as they moved to a final, two-story house that stood out a small ways from the rest.
The squad took cover behind the building while Hartsock and the machine gun team moved inside. They moved through quietly to the second floor. Hartsock looked out of one of the front windows facing the field. He spotted some twenty griffons; disorganized, but trying to rally for a counter-attack.
“Jas, set up the MG in this window,” he said. “Cover the squad’s advance.”
“Got it, Red.”
Hartsock moved out of the house to the back where his men were waiting.
“Ok, we have a large number of them in the field, but they don’t know we’re here,” he explained. “Jasper’s going to cover us with the MG from upstairs. We’re going to move in quick and close and try to take them out. I want the fire team up the left flank, assault up the right; I’ll stay in the center to direct. Make sure to use whatever cover you can find, but go quickly and keep up the pressure.”
“Ready when you are,” Paddock answered.
Hartsock peeked back through the doorway.
“Jas, open fire!” he called to the gunner.
The machine gun opened fire; it’s long stream of bullets and tracers lacing through the field. Both teams immediately moved along their individual lines. They took cover behind the closest object, a picket fence, and opened fire.
Though the initial volley killed a couple of griffons, they quickly dived behind whatever cover they could find; rocks, fallen logs, and dirt mounds. Returning fire, they began to give a challenge to the soldiers. Red spotted one wearing a rather official cap and yelling at the grunts; he guessed this was an officer. Raising his Carbine, he took aim and fire, hitting the officer in the head and knocking his cap off.
Resistance immediately began to falter. Fire slackened and some began to fly or run away. Red ordered the teams to continue moving up and throw grenades to the last pockets of resistance. Paddock and his men moved up to a fallen log that was previously occupied by griffons and fragged two teams of four. Campbell moved up solo, covered by his team, to a rock and threw a pineapple into a large group of five. The remainder broke and fled, leaving most of their comrades lying on the field.
Hartsock gathered the men and returned to the town square. Waiting for him there was third squad, Mac, and a few soldiers, some of them wounded.
“Mac, what happened?” Hartsock asked. “Did you stop the battery?”
“The first shot we took hit our radio,” Mac explained. “It was a griffon sniper flying high up in those clouds. We got him; but, not before he destroyed the radio.”
“What about the guns?” Hartsock asked.
“Right after we lost the radio, we came under a heavy and coordinated attack from both sides,” Mac continued. “We didn’t have much cover and were taking heavy fire, so we had to abandon our position on the road and take cover in a small house off to the left while the battery slipped by. We held out there until Baker arrived and drove them off. Most of first squad is either dead or wounded.”
“Damn,” Hartsock sighed. “We missed a big opportunity; those cannons had enough range to bombard Ponyville itself.”
“Well, there’s nothing more we can do,” Mac said. “C’mon, let’s head back to camp. Those guns will pop up again someday.”