Battle Earth VI

Chapter 9

From the second they put down at the defensive line at Jerusalem, Taylor knew it was like nothing he had seen before. Multiple nations of often-conflicting religions had gathered to defend the city in unprecedented numbers. Deep trenches had been dug for hundreds of kilometres. Behind them lay thick concrete walls with gun emplacements every twenty metres and tanks having to sit almost track to track in some places.

He stepped off the copter to a wholly different world to anything he had experienced in the second war for Earth. Jones stopped and took a deep breath and exhaled.

“Ahh, that’s gotta make you feel good.”

“What?” Taylor asked.

“The smell of oil, grease, fresh dirt, liquid concrete, and sweat. All the things that we need.”

“Maybe for you. A good night’s sleep and the company of a fine woman is more what I had in mind,” Taylor joked.

Jones smiled, for he knew Taylor revelled in it as much as he did.

“If we can’t hold this, we can’t hold shit.”

“Eloquently put,” Jones replied.

“About as eloquent as your love of grease and sweat, you limey bastard,” he laughed.

It was good to be back among allies and the safety of strong defences. The rapport had completely changed in the initial moments that the stress had been taken off them.

“They chose the wrong city to go for,” added Jones. “Too many people will fight to the bitter end for this one.”

“And maybe that is why they chose it. Maybe capturing it would have significant impact on the belief which humanity has, that it can win.”

“I don’t doubt it would, but they can’t take it anyhow.”

“Not now we’re here.”

"Mmm," mumbled Jones as he looked across the endless lines of allied troops and armour. It was a comforting setting, which would have been a welcome thing through much of their experiences.

He knelt down to the brew of tea he had going on a stove he had managed to acquire quickly upon their arrival. Taylor leant against the edge of the rampart wall to look at the dust cloud to the south. It was the massive enemy army approaching.

"Want one?" asked Jones.

Taylor pulled out of his empty canteen and separated the base, passing it to his friend. They both knew it was the last moment of peace they would see for some time.

"That looks like ours," said Taylor.

Jones left his brew and stood up to see what he meant. Taylor lifted his binoculars.

"Son of a bitch. It's Phillips. He made it."

The Commander had an arm over a soldier each side of him, and a leg wound clearly having been patched up.

"Should we go to him?"

"No, that wound has earned him a pass out of this fight. There'll be time enough to reunite if we make it through."

They watched as the Commander was hauled through one of the main gates a few hundred metres east of their position. Jones was quick to get back to his brew and handed Taylor his canteen.

"How many soldiers do you believe we have here, Mitch?"

"I can tell you how many marines we have here, that's for sure."

"You know what I mean."

"Who knows? Must be tens of thousands spread over hundred of kilometres. They say the line extends from Tel Aviv to the Dead Sea. Could even be hundreds of thousands with those still arriving."

"Colonel Taylor!"

He turned to see Harney approaching along the wall.

"Good to see your boys made it."

"Very nearly didn't. That was a total fuck up at Hebron."

"Maybe, but every action further south has bought us time to get as much here as humanly possible."

He looked past Taylor's shoulder to address Jafar. He had been sitting quietly on the edge of the wall for some time.

"Do you think it will be enough, Sergeant?"

"If everyone here stands his ground, yes."

"That's what I like, a solid answer. We're positioned east of here, past the next tower. I just saw Commander Phillips go through the gates. Good to see him alive, but he'll be sitting this one out."

"Who is in charge here?" asked Taylor.

"Honestly, nobody knows. There are high-ranking officers from six or seven armies amongst us. Communications aren't centrally managed, so right now, it seems each force is in charge of their own lump of turf. I'll have my hands full with the 5^th. I suggest you handle your own shit as well."

He nodded in agreement.

Great, nobody breathing down our neck and trying to get us killed.

The Colonel turned to look out south towards Hebron. They could now just make out the silhouettes of the enemy heavy tanks across the barren landscape. They were surrounded by swarms of what were clearly Mechs but still several kilometres out.

"I'll leave you to it, Taylor, good luck."

"And to you, Colonel," he replied.

Harney strode off along the line to return to his regiment.

"A whole regiment? As a Colonel, you should have the same," said Jones.

"Yeah, but you know how it is. It's easy to promote individual officers, not so easy to recruit, train, and sustain a full regiment. Anyway, I can't say I'd be interested. This Battalion is a handful as it is. I liked commanding a company. It was tight and flexible. It worked."

"And this still works now!"

It was a reminder to both of them that the real missing link was Chandra.

"Well it sure is nice to have numbers on our side, anyway," added Jones to lighten the tone.

A loud boom rang out as one of the heavy gun emplacements fired the first shot.

"It's begun, Charlie."

He leaned in against the wall with his canteen of tea still steaming. He never understood how a hot drink could be so soothing even in a hot climate, but he knew now why Jones was always so keen to brew up. The shell from the gun landed just shy of the enemy vehicle it targeted, but another soared out from the gun within a few seconds of the shot landing.

It was almost deafening. The turret looked more like it had come off a warship than anything else. It was far larger than anything their tanks used.

"I guess they had the defence of this city in mind for a while!" shouted Jones.

"They must have fought here in the first war. Question is, did the area hold because they built these defences, or did they build them when they recovered the ground?"

Neither of them knew for sure what had happened through much of the Middle East in the first war. It was such a far away land for them at the time, it seemed of little concern. For the next hour, they watched the enemy attempt to advance across the open terrain. Their tanks slugged it out with the gun emplacements and tank regiments of several countries who had sent aid. There was little for those on the walls to do but hunker down and avoid the fire until they closed the distance.

After a few minutes of watching the battle, Taylor and Jones sat down against the barricades and propped their rifles up beside them, resting their weary legs. It was a strange experience for them, to be able to rest while the battle raged all around them. So often they had been the frontline in battles, and now they were several lines back from it. They didn't envy those down in the trenches before them. The thick concrete and steel walls that were five metres high provided a solid defence against all but the heaviest weapons.

The hour passed before the infantry below began to engage the enemy with anti-tank weapons and small arms soon after. They knew it meant the aliens were just a hundred or so metres out of their range. Taylor finally got to his feet, and it was a welcome break after sitting on hard concrete for so long. He looked to the east and west. It was much the same sight as was in front of them. Lines of burning tanks were being used as cover from the enemy advance, and thick smoke and dust made the battle seem so much smaller than he knew it to be.

"They're slowing down," said Jones.

"Yeah, can you blame them? Look at the beating they're taking."

"You think this means we have stopped them?"

Taylor looked to Jafar.

"They cannot keep this up for much longer. It would be foolish."

"No, coming back to Earth was foolish. It was the biggest mistake they ever made," Taylor replied.

"It's not over yet," added Charlie.

"2nd Inter-Allied, fire in your own time once in range," Taylor ordered across their comms.

It was clear to him that if the enemy did reach their range, there wouldn't be much fight left in them. Despite that, they continued to drive forward. But he could see the back of their ranks now. No longer were they an endless column of armour and soldiers. They were spreading thin across the plain.

"They're thinning out."

"Or they've held back the next waves," replied Jones.

"Either way, this is the turning point."

He lifted his rifle onto the rampart and could see they were so close now to being within range. His finger wrapped around the trigger as he took aim at the Mech who was going to enter his sights first. Just another few metres and he could fire, but the creature was killed by a burst from the soldiers below. He was about to swear at the pleasure of the kill being taken from him, but he knew there would be so many more opportunities.

"Almost there!" yelled Jones.

A huge mass of Mechs took to a running pace, trying to rush for the trench positions. It brought them immediately into range. Taylor smiled as he shouted.

"Fire!"

He had already given them the ‘fire at will’ command, but he could not resist crying out. Volley upon volley poured from the walls into the Mech advance. It was a new layer of defences the enemy had not yet encountered, and it was devastating. In just three minutes, their lines were crippled, and they began to falter.

"Go on, run you bastards!" Jones screamed.

Just as he shouted it, many did turn and run. Cries of excitement rang out from the trenches below, followed by shouts that seemingly called for an advance. Hundreds of IDF troops then climbed out of their trenches and rushed forward to pursue the fleeing enemy.

"No! Stay in the trenches!"

None of them heard Taylor over the distance and noise.

"What the hell are they doing?"

They watched as the success overcame the troops, causing them to forget the dangers posed by the enemy. Screams rang from all around them, and they could tell a similar practice was taking place along the line. Taylor could do nothing but stand and watch.

"Idiots."

"Dead idiots," Jones added.

The enemy had retreated a kilometre from the wall when they stopped and stood their ground. From that distance, they could just make out the lines of pulses smashing into troops who had given pursuit. They watched silently as they were slaughtered in the open ground and joined the mounds of enemy dead.

"What a waste," said Jones.

It was a sign of things to come. The day passed with occasional barrages from the larger guns, but no movement from either side. Taylor and his troops slept on the wall that night. There hadn't been any suggestion of billets for them, and there seemed nobody keen to replace them. A supply of ration packs handed out in the evening was the only luxury they enjoyed.

Taylor slept well that night. The great defences provided some comfort and sense of security. He was so exhausted that he doubted he could have stayed awake even if he'd wanted to. He had seen no need to set watches. The platoon commanders were already on it themselves.

An hour after first light, the sun lifted the temperature at a rapid rate, enough to wake Taylor from his deep sleep. The shining rays of sunlight blurred his vision and stunned him slightly as he got up. As he propped himself against the wall, Jones thrust an almost fresh cup of tea into his hands. He took it gladly but still wished it were coffee.

"Thanks."

It was surprisingly quiet, almost eerily so. Only a few footsteps broke the silence. His eyes began to adjust, and he peered out to the south as he took a sip. The bodies from the trenches had been cleared, and fresh troops now occupied them. The barren space from then onwards was still littered with bodies though. He cast his gaze across to the enemy side to see they too had dug in. Trench works largely hid their numbers, and he could see for kilometres each side now that the enemy positions extended as far as the eye could see.

"They're using trenches," stated Jafar.

Taylor turned in surprise to see the alien wide-awake and standing at his side.

"What of it?"

"I told you this. When they begin to dig in, it is because their tactics are failing. The Krycenaean armies never stop attacking unless they cannot succeed."

"So they are beaten?"

"For now. Until they can reinforce or find a different way to breach this line."

"Why don't they go round us?" asked Jones.

Taylor grunted in agreement.

"Yeah, they have ships, so why fight us in open combat?"

"Because it is their way, and if they cannot beat us in open combat, it is failure for them."

"So we just slug it out here until one side is done for?" asked Jones.

"Yes."

"Well, I don't know about you, but I'd like to see this ended sooner rather than later. Another army could come through that Gateway anytime and reinforce these bastards."

"Not likely."

"No? And why is that, Jafar?"

"Because Demiran has committed everything he has, and none of the other Lords would want to help him succeed."

"But they all want Earth, do they not?"

"Yes, but if Demiran wins, even with the support of another Lord, he will claim the planet his own."

Taylor laughed.

"What is so funny?" asked Jafar.

"These Lords, if they'd rallied together, they could have ended us all years ago."

Jafar shrugged his shoulders.

"So, through their own vanity and individual desire for power, they'd see nobody succeed rather than share a success? That's fucking brilliant," replied Charlie.

"I have to say I'm glad to hear it. Otherwise, we'd be in deep shit," added Taylor.

"And what if one day these Lords manage some kind of joint military pact? We'd be annihilated."

"Then pray they don't, Jones."

The enemy artillery and tanks opened fire with a fresh barrage, forcing them to duck down for cover. Taylor watched through the gaps in the rampart. The enemy was again advancing towards their walls.

"It's a God damn siege," he whispered to himself.

Their guns began to return fire, and everyone knew the next attack was coming. Within two hours of the sun rising, the enemy were once more being broken at their defensive line, but the casualties were mounting on both sides. Just as it appeared they would end the attack, as they had the previous day on Earth, a shattering explosion erupted to the west. The walls shook in their foundations and rumbled beneath their feet.

Huge chunks of metal and concrete were thrown into the air, and smaller debris even managed to reach Taylor and the others. It showered down on their helmets, forcing them to look away for a moment. When they recovered, they could see the wall had been breached. Taylor turned back to see the enemy forces were funnelling from each side in towards the hole in the perimeter. Gunfire smashed into their flanks, but it was not enough to stop them reaching the weak point. The troops in the trenches before the breach were quickly overwhelmed and driven aside.

Thousands of Mechs were pushing forwards to the breach with many more crossing no man's land to seize the opportunity.

"What do we do?" asked Jones.

"We have to go."

Taylor strolled to the inner edge of the deep walls and looked down to see a mass of troops sitting around with nothing to do. He didn't recognise their uniforms, but they were well equipped and available. He pinpointed the nearest officer and shouted at him.

"You there!"

The officer clearly heard him and froze.

"Get these men up onto the wall. There has been a breach which we have to deal with!"

The man was still frozen for a second. Taylor could not work out if he was just surprised, or if he didn't understand English. He pointed down to the group of troops and gestured for them to get up onto the walls.

"Get them up here now!"

He lifted his comms device.

"We have a breach to the west. Replacements will fill our positions. Inter-Allied follow me!"

He turned to check those around him were ready, grabbed his rifle, and leapt from the wall. He used his suit’s boosters to launch him down into the nearest opening, and then immediately jumped clear of a line of instant shelters, landing not far from where troops were rushing to fill the breach. He was surprised they could barely see through to the hole in the wall for the mass of soldiers and tanks moving up to defend it.

Taylor looked up to the top of the wall to see the breach was twenty metres wide, and the walls either side had been cleared by the debris. Nobody remained on the stretch of ramparts.

"Up onto the wall!" he shouted into his comm.

They used their boosters twice more to land accurately onto the defensive positions. He knew it was about all the power they had, but if they couldn't hold the wall, it wouldn't matter anyway. He landed first on the walls and found a dozen dead soldiers scattered across the battlement, most of them killed by the explosion and shrapnel from it.

He reached the edge where the wall had fallen just as the rest of the Inter-Allied force landed around him, either side of the breach. They filled the wall from one tower to the next, replacing those who had been killed and thrown from the position. He drew both grenades he had left and threw them into the mass of enemy Mechs advancing between the gap. Fire was rained down on the attackers from both sides, and he could see the brutal onslaught lashed on those defending from inside the walls.

A few pulses raced past their heads, but they were firing from relative safety on the wall that had stayed firm, despite the massive blast. After fifteen minutes, the bodies of the Mechs were beginning to pile up, to the extent that others were struggling to make their way through. Taylor was reaching for his last magazine, and knew the others would be in a similar position, when they began to turn and flee.

He looked back at their allies, seeing they had learned from their last experience. They fought the enemy up to the breach and stopped. No one wanted to throw their lives away. He turned back to the battlefield and took a few more carefully aimed shots until the magazine was empty. He was shooting the enemy in the back as they fled, but he felt no sympathy for them. Jafar was doing the same beside him.

All along the walls, troops were shouting and whistling. He could not distinguish one voice from another and suspected it was a mix of insults and celebrations. He could see they had taken few casualties along the edge of the wall.

"We couldn't have managed much longer than that. Ammo was running thin."

"Tell me about it," he replied.

"Still, two waves repulsed. That must mean something, Jafar."

"It does. It means we have ground them to a halt."

He rested up against the wall and watched joyfully as the enemy fell back to their positions.

"Send for ammo. We're gonna need a lot more."

The excitement of their victory soon died down as the troops along the kilometres of defences lay about to await the enemy’s next move. The day passed into night without any more than a couple of exchanges between the artillery. The troops who had survived the trenches had worked to strengthen their positions all day.

When morning came, Taylor looked down from the wall and was surprised to see Commander Phillips approaching with a crutch under one arm and his other arm in a sling. One of his eyes was swollen and cuts showed beneath it. He looked like he'd been through hell. Phillips looked out at the mound of enemy bodies still lying in the breach only metres from where Taylor had slept. The troops had begun to clear the bodies but barely made a dent in their number.

"’Morning, Sir!"

Phillips balanced on his crutch and held up his good arm, trying to block the sunlight silhouetting Taylor's figure against the sky. Taylor could see him struggling to see so jumped down onto the nearest ramp to approach the Commander.

"Good to see you made it, Sir."

"Likewise, Colonel. And you held here. I'm impressed."

Taylor looked surprised.

"You doubted we could do it?"

"If you'd asked me a week ago, I wouldn't have doubted your chances of anything, but after we got hit on the way in, and seeing what was on the ground, I thought we were done for. It was only because I was carried out that I am here now."

"And back on your feet."

"Just about."

"You'll be back in the fight in no time."

"Not quite, Colonel. Our job here is done."

"How so?"

"Local forces are taking over, now that they have halted the enemy advance. The Battalion is to return to Naples for some R amp;R, followed by preparation for the next operation."

Taylor smiled and was utterly relieved, which took Phillips by surprise.

"You're happy about this? I thought you'd be pissed that someone else would be stepping in after you'd done the hard work."

"Hell, no, you think I like fighting those bastards? We're good to go."

Phillips smiled back in return, wincing in pain.

"They got you some pain meds?"

"Basic stuff yeah, anything stronger, and I won't be fit to command. Get the Battalion up and moving to the coordinates that are being sent to your Mappad presently. It's a few clicks north of here, and there aren't any vehicles spare."

"We don't mind walking."

In truth, he did in the sweltering heat, but not so much when it was to return to a safe and relaxing environment where he could kick back for a while.

"Are we waiting to be relieved?"

"No, there are more than enough troops here to fill your place. Get moving now."

He passed on the order through his comms, and within seconds, the troops were clambering down the ramps. They didn't know yet where they were heading, but it seemed unfair to their allies to celebrate the end of the fight for them when the enemy wasstill very much at their door. Jones was first down from the defences and as surprised to see Phillips as Taylor was.

"On your feet already, Sir?" he asked.

"Near enough. I'll be hitching a ride to join you presently. One of the Generals has kindly offered his personal vehicle to get me there. I don't think I'll be walking any distance for some time."

He hobbled aside as the troops began to back up behind Taylor and waved for them to pass. Taylor led the way through the encampment. They hadn't travelled north beyond the wall before, and only seen it from their position. Line after line of trenches had been dug to give some shelter from the aerial and artillery bombardments. Armour had been dug into hull-up positions in multiple tiered defences spanning two kilometres north.

"You think we really did it, stopped them?" asked Jones.

"Looks that way. They aren't getting anywhere coming this way."

"They could just go east."

"No," replied Jafar. "They will want to prove they can win here."

"Then that'll be their undoing."

"So where we heading?"

"Back to Italy, Charlie, rest up and prepare for the eventual counteroffensive."

"You’re bullshitting us, right?"

Taylor shook his head.

"Thank God for that. Let some other bastards to the hard work for once."

"We were only called in as an emergency measure, after all."

"Yeah, and that usually entails us up to our necks in shit for a year."

"Well, it ain't over yet."

"Come on, Mitch, enjoy what we're getting."

"Mmm," he mumbled.

They continued walking past the lines of armour, and he knew everyone in the Battalion would be curious to know where they were going, though he suspected those who had eavesdropped on their conversation would have spread the rumours like wild fire along the column.

"What'll happen here now, do you think?"

"Meat grinder, Charlie. If Jafar is right, and they keep throwing themselves at the defenders, and those defenders are unwilling to give up the city, it could go on for some time. The casualties will be horrific. They have to be."

"Could buy us some time though."

"Yep, that's what General White was talking about. Gather our forces before we hit them and finish 'em for good."

"I bet there’s more than a few who think now we've stopped them, we should just leave them there."

"No doubt, luckily those idiots aren't in charge. Last time we thought we could just let 'em be, we paid a dear price. We should have continued under wartime conditions this time last year. At least the Navy construction did."

"Yep, saved our arses."

"But the idea this battle could have been won in space was foolish. They were always coming for Earth."

Jones turned to Jafar.

"You really believe if we can destroy Demiran and this army he has here that Earth will be safe?"

"Not safe, but safe from an invasion force."

"What else could we have to fear?"

"Demiran has always fought with only brute strength, the same as his kin, Karadag. But the other Lords should not be underestimated."

"We just maintain strong forces here, and we'll be fine," replied Taylor.

"If we crush this army, what's stopping us going back to Tau Ceti and crushing the rest of these Lords?" asked Jones.

Taylor shook his head as he thought about their first expedition to the enemy system.

"Didn't we lose enough the first time around?"

"And that is a reason not to try?"

"Demiran's armies were the most powerful, but threatening their homeworlds you could force the Lords to unite."

"Just like our armies have here," added Jones.

"Then why did we ever go there in the first place?"

"I warned you all of the dangers of Tau Ceti.”

Taylor nodded and remembered.

"Let's just enjoy what we do have. Let's crush this Demiran scumbag and his armies, and then we may just stand a chance of living in peace."

"And that is what you want?"

Taylor seemed surprised at Jafar’s question.

"What else would I want?"

"You are a fighter, one of the best. Why stop doing what you are so good at?"

"We fight because we have to, not because we like to."

Taylor could see it was a concept that was still taking time to settle in with his alien friend. Tsengal and Jafar seemed to do nothing but train in the time between the wars.

"Back when you served Demiran, what did you do when there was no war to fight?" asked Jones.

"We protected Demiran and trained to be better fighters."

"And the idea of being able to rest, relax, and do your own thing never appealed to you?"

"It was never an option I could ever have thought of."