2023-02-05 09:45:55The next day. I was walking around the compound with my M16 when another explosion went off near the fence, followed by a bunch of gunfire. It was a little past 3AM. A little more probing, I think. Lucky, I had that gun locked and loaded. Let’s just hope they don’t come as far inside the perimeter now. But he did have his pistol ready. Red and I jumped out and stormed towards my position. We both noticed that the right flank machine gun was not firing.
“GET THAT DAMN MACHINE GUN FIRING, MICKEY!” she commanded.
I rushed towards the machine gun, then fired away almost immediately. You know, when you fire that thing, you’ll feel an overwhelming force pulling you into shape, protecting you. A steady stream of thumps hurt you a little at first, but it made you feel stronger over time. And with a cartridge that powerful, the weight seemed not to be a problem for a while.
I kept pulling the trigger until I ran dry. That gun fires rather slowly, but 200 rounds don’t seem to be that much. I wondered why. Red was still behind me, covering me while I reloaded. “Dammit, where are the ammo cans?!” I was sure I put it where I knelt. Not taking too long, I discarded the machine gun and went back to my M16. It felt like a feather after firing that behemoth. But of course, I was losing firepower.
The wave was not as sporadic as last time. It was still manageable. Had I fired more controllably, I might’ve stopped that wave single-handedly with that machine gun. Little did I know, that smaller group dealt more damage than it seemed.
In less than 5 minutes, the wave stopped. I just remembered I had loaded a used ammo belt, only 100-ish rounds instead of the standard 200 and I discarded the rest somewhere God knows. And in that confusion, it turned out I knocked over the ammo cans over the sandbags. The ammo cans were in front of our cover, only hidden behind a bush. As I turned around to check on Red, she was breathing rather heavily.
“Are you okay?” I was worried.
“I think so, yeah,” she knelt.
“Where the hell is Karl?”
I then saw Karl run off towards us, leaving some people behind him. Those people seemed to be rushing to help someone. I stood up, asking him what had happened.
“Harry got hit. Bad,” he said after abruptly stopping before us. We looked at each other, then stormed off towards his position.
“How the fuck did he get hit?!” Red shouted, with such pressure that even I was afraid.
“I… I… don’t know, he was running back and forth to cover more areas and stuff,”
I immediately knelt down, joining Mark and Ryan who were trying to stop the bleeding. Harry trembled as sharp, agonizing pain traveled through his chest. A few of the Marines called out to their medics, who then rushed towards us after finishing up with their comrades. The medic then took over from us, but I saw a moment later that it was too late. They discovered that the round went through just under his left armpit. That, my friend, is a clear path towards the heart.
A few long minutes later, Harry stopped breathing. A pool of blood formed around him. I just stood there, unable to swallow what I had witnessed. As bad as Red might feel right then, I felt even worse. I tilted my head back and jerked it forward, trying to contain the anger and disappointment I had for myself.
We knelt beside Harry for a while, paying respect to what he had done with us here. He had been following Red by heart—they were best friends during freshman years. Red turned towards me and laid her head on my shoulder, sobbing. Her hand was clutching on my rolled sleeve. I then gently rubbed that hand, trying to calm her down. I leaned my head towards hers, feeling what she felt.
“He was a good man. Poor Harry,” she said.
I couldn’t say anything. Red was hit hard by the fact that she lost one of her best friends. I was thinking she regretted not hanging out with him as often as we got here. She was too busy organizing the rest of us. Come to think of it, she was his best friend. And she never thought she’d lose any of us.
The rest of the squad gathered near Harry as they began to move him. Ryan felt guilty the most and turned quiet. He was trying to hold back tears as much as he could. But we need to keep our heads up. Everyone else seemed to be unable to hold their emotions. But being guys, they tried not to cry, at least out loud. That is, until we heard about Frank.
“Staff Sergeant,” said Ian towards Red, “I am so sorry,”
“What?” she said, unsuspectingly.
“Your friend, he… he was hit when he tried to get up to help you guys. Last thing he said was—" he didn’t have the heart to continue. “We rushed him back in first thing, but… there was nothing we could have done,”
We all froze. Our eyes widened, mouths agape, heads turned in disbelief. In one day, we lost not one, but two friends. That’s a lot, considering there were only eleven of us. We needed to try even harder to save ourselves, now. There’s no other way out of this. How the heck are we going to explain to their families about what happened here? Red then fell on her knees. The rest of the guys rushed in to calm her down.
After regaining composure, she stood up. She was then determined to keep us safe, even more so than doing our objective. From then on, she really took care of us. She started checking on us, making sure the rest of the squad is okay. No one else was wounded besides me and Buck, or hopefully so.
I needed some time alone and decided that I’d check out Grace. I thought I’d vent it all out to her. There she was, with her parents inside her room. Well, I then kept my intention to myself. I felt a tap on my shoulder then, and it was Soko.
“Hey, Mick… I uh, I’m sorry about your friends,”
“Soko,” I greeted, “Thank you,” I let out a heavy sigh. “How do you feel?”
“Not so good, man. I’ve been leading for only less than what, 16 hours? And I already lost so many of us. That includes your friends,”
“Dude, it was me who brought them here,” I tried to calm him down, “It wasn’t your fault, they died. It’s the enemy’s,”
“Nice save, Mick,” he chuckled, “Thank you. You be careful, okay?” he tapped my arm twice, and walked off. Checking out on the guys, I presume.
The Major then went out of the room, trying to look for the Sergeant Major. The old man was nowhere to be found. Not even in the command center. The Major then proceeded and let me into Grace’s room. Ian, her caretaker at this point, then went out too, letting me have a few words with her. I feel different now, though. I don’t… I don’t know. The feeling was still there, it was just fading away a little—probably because of the combat.
“How do you do?” I asked her.
“A little better, I think,” she replied, “How are you?”
“Not good. Got two dead friends outside,” I answered. “I dragged them here, and they got killed,”
“Oh…” she sat up, “I’m sorry,”
“It doesn’t matter,” I said, getting a bit closer. I could see her sympathizing, worrying about me, “It’s not your concern,”
“Of course, it is. My dad issued an order to tell you to come here, right?”
“He did,” I confirmed, “However, I should’ve looked after them better,”
“There’s nothing you can do about it now, Mike,” she said, “Just stay alive,”
“Hmm,” I had nothing else to say.
I then stood up and walked outside. It was dark, a little past sun-down and the lights were mostly off. There, I saw Red all alone. She needed some time alone, too, I figured. I proceeded to walk towards her, wanting to calm her down. All of a sudden, she turned towards me. We sort of looked at each other, before I finally took a seat next to her. She leaned towards me again, staring blankly into the ground.
“It’s okay,” I gently spoke, “You did your best, Red,”
“I know, I’m just… everything happened so quickly,” she said, sighing and wiping her tears off. “Harry, Frank, they didn’t deserve it,”
“We’ll make them pay, Red, you and I,”
“We sure will,” she said, sitting upright again. Wiping her face, she then turned to me and said, “I wanted you to lug the machine gun because I trust you with it. But since it’s not your job, then—”
“Hey,” I interrupted. “I’ll do what I can. And Red?”
“Yes, Mickey?”
“Stay alive, would you please. And drink some water,”
“You, too,” she smiled while nodding softly. I checked on my watch, and it was about half to eighteen hundred hours. Suddenly, a bright yellow flash appeared from beyond the wall. A hiss and a splat later, Red fell on her back.
“RED!!” I shouted as I ran towards her aid. As I crouched down to pick her up, bullets flew towards us, hitting the walls and the floor of the house. Gunfire started to fill the air again.
“I’m okay! Get killing!” she said, after I got her behind cover. I started firing my weapon towards the direction of incoming fire. This time, the wave got bigger. I got into thinking I should take the machine gun. But not now. It seemed to me now that the enemy knows a high value target is inside this house. Ah, fuck it.
“I’m getting the machine gun! You stay here!” I finally told Red. I stormed off before she got into saying anything. I heard a faint NO! Shit! though. I somehow managed to dodge all those bullets and rockets that were flying all over the place. I was thrown by an RPG explosion as it hit the walls of the house, but it was nothing. I managed to get back up and running again.
I got to the M60, finding Karl trying to clear a jam. The bolt got stuck. I told him to scoot over and let me clear the jam. I cleared it in no time after opening the feed tray, then I let it rip. I fired more carefully this time, though, finding targets first rather than just sweeping the barrel left and right.
I saw some RPGs being aimed at me. I managed to take down one of them, but there were two more. As I took out the second, I flinched, hoping that they didn’t get me. But just as I flinched, I heard some automatic fire from behind me—and an explosion on their part. Red, Kris, and Karl came towards my position, supporting me. Karl used that grenade launcher on his rifle.
“Kris! You cover him while he reloads!” Red commanded.
“Karl! Get over here and feed me!” That M60 was really smooth once you get it working. The first few rounds would always overwhelm me at first, but then I got used to it.
This time, they brought like, I don’t know, 2, maybe 3 platoons worth of foot soldiers. No technical, though, so it’s sort of easier to take them out. Sort of. I had a bad feeling about this one, though. It looked like there were too many of them for us to overcome. But seeing they had very little support, that thought got brushed off.
While I was reloading, I saw Soko running back and forth organizing the rest of the Marines. He was coordinating with a sergeant from the 1st Squad when the sergeant took a hit and dropped dead in front of him. He then returned fire with his rifle. He himself then got hit, but seemed to be saved by the vest. I was amazed by how he managed to get back up again that quickly. For a moment, I lost focus.
“Mick! Mick! Snap out of it!” Karl said, shaking me around to get me back on track. He finished reloading our gun, but then I heard a hiss and a splat.
“KARL!!” I screamed as he tumbled towards the ground.
I froze right there, confused for a little while. Should I take care of Karl or continue firing? I decided that Kris would cover me and Red while I take care of Karl, and I told him so.
“Roger!”
There Karl was, with a bleeding hole gaping through his neck. He was gagging as we tried to put pressure on the wound. I got blood all over my hands as I had to plug his wound with my hands while Red was frantically trying to open the bandage kit. That is, until we realized it was too late. He laid there, pale-faced, eyes wide open. His mouth was still moving a little, trying to hold on to his last breath.
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Irregulaire Refuge
“FUCKING BASTARDS!!” Red let it rip with her M4, switching it to full-auto mode, expending the rest of her magazine. I got back to the machine gun, handling it even more furiously. But the wave got so close I figured we would’ve needed to call in support—but we were alone. We didn’t have mortars either, and our grenades would’ve been less effective. Not long after that, two rockets flew past us. The Marines still had a few LAWs, it turned out. It was very much like Independence Day celebration, with bursts of explosion from the rockets lighting up the compound and the enemy positions around them. Now where is that can I left in the bushes? “Red! Last can! I need to find some ammo!” “Alright, Mickey, take off!” It was just a few steps towards my left, but it felt like yards. Enemy fire went above my head as I turned back to look at Red and Kris. Red had moved forward, taking cover behind the fence, beside the MG position. She kept firing and firing, magazine after magazine. When she
Irregulaire Last Glance
The rest of the squad were mostly okay. Mark’s ears were still bleeding, and Kris’ upper arm was scratched. But for the most part, they’re okay. We then gathered with the Major who then commanded us to clear the field of fire. The dead bodies of the enemy piled up again, and it needed to be torn down. “Why didn’t you just ride your way out to HQ?” I asked the Major.“I was waiting for you. I need an escort to move out, so I sent for you to stand guard in their place and take care of Grace while we leave,” he said, smoking his pipe. “But we didn’t get to take off because—well, you saw it yourselves. We couldn’t risk getting flanked. Every time I thought it would be clear for me to move out, they make a move on us,” “How about an airlift?” “We couldn’t send out a request,” he shook his head. I remember now that the tower cannot transmit anything. “That radio tower is busted. The last thing I sent for using the radio was you. Besides, it’s too hot of an LZ,” he concluded.A few minutes
Irregulaire Waves
“HERE THEY COME!” somebody shouted. Technicals rolled into the open fields, firing their .50 caliber machine guns towards anything they saw. Tracers and rockets were flying all over the place, tearing the skies with streaks of yellowish light. Explosions went off all over the ground inside the base, some of them hitting the Hesco gabions and the perimeter walls. Every time I tried to get a look on the enemy, their rounds went past so close to my head I had to duck. Red was just waiting there, patient. “Wait until the first line opens fire, then we follow,” she instructed. The hisses of near misses disturbed our ears, tearing through the air. I could hear bullets hitting the other side of where I took cover, and it was way more intense than any of our encounters with the enemy before. I went on and checked my new weapon, whether or not it really was locked and loaded. It’s way too late for that, I know. But I just had to. I pressed the button on the grenade launcher to open the tube,
Irregulaire Confused
Being stationed in the Major’s outpost made us feel the brunt of the enemy forces. We were a little protruding towards the enemy territory, making us more vulnerable. Not to mention, the isolation of the post meant that there was little support. Moving towards the FOB, we felt… more secure. There were a lot more people around, more firepower to back us up.The way I saw it, we were alone being in the Major’s outpost. No other units or even other marines to be around, even when we have this FOB close by. I think this is partly because such big attacks were not expected in that area, being hidden under canopies and among other houses. Plus, as the Major stated, their radio being unserviceable meant that they just couldn’t reach out to this base to support us. Now that we’re in a bigger base, we would be the ones sending support to other Marines as we had enough men. We went ahead and gathered around a few more minutes while the Major walked back inside. Sergeant Major then appeared out
Irregulaire Blurry
Sergeant Major Wilkins came out of nowhere all of a sudden, with a very visible frown on his forehead. He seemed to have argued with someone—most likely the Major. “Ah, there you are. The Major is looking for you guys. He’s just outside the door,” “Yes, Sergeant Major,” we said almost simultaneously. We went outside and saw Major Metford looking uneasy. I guess he was the one Wilkins had argued with afterall. He took out a cigarette and lit it up before he turned towards the door and saw us. “Michael,” he called out to us, “Gather your team and get over here. We have a situation,” he said, taking a drag of his cigarette after. Red went on towards the guys while I stayed with the Major. They joked around and laughed while resupplying themselves with ammunition. Red decided to resupply too while she’s at it. As they walked towards us, I tried to talk to the Major. “What is it, sir? Are we moving out?” “No. Not us. Just you. You’ll be assisting a platoon I’m sending out,” “Were yo
Irregulaire Rescue Mission
Two days later, the Major summoned us again quite late in the evening. Like before, we followed Sergeant Major Wilkins to where the Major was. It was a CP in the middle of the base. They manage every patrol and operation they have in that room. They have everything—maps, radio, sand tables, even coffee. “Alright, so, we have a situation,” the Major started. “There was a group of Marines who radioed in, asking for help. They said they are in bad condition and needed support. These Marines were sent out on a patrol and are on their way back. However, they were caught in a firefight. They say they are with civilians now, which worsens their condition,” “Where are they now, sir?” Red asked. “A residential complex called The Delta Residence, just—" “A mile north of here,” I jumped in. “Oh you know where it is?” The Major seemed surprised. I used to live there when I was in elementary school. “We need you to find the Marines and bring them back to the FOB,” the Major continued. “Any pr
Irregulaire Familiar Faces
“Gavin?” I called. “Is that who I think it is? The hell are you doing here?” “I should be the one asking questions, you son of a bitch! The fuck are you on, here? You with the Marines?” I laughed. “Yea, as a matter of fact I am a Civil Guard—or something. Hold on, are you a Marine?” “Nah, man, we’re Irregular Reserve. But we are with the Marines. Got some of my friends here, we got Red, Mark, Ryan, and Kris. How about you—wait a second. Are you with…?” I gestured, seemingly not wanting to say a name. But he got the idea. “Well come with me and see for yourself,” Gavin said. I followed Gavin to the room they had been in. When he opened the door, I couldn’t believe what I saw—or rather, who. She was looking after the wounded guy. It turned out the guy was their close friend, too. I grinned ear to ear before calling out to her. “Quinn Christensen,” I called her name. She then looked at me, wide-eyed. “Mike? MIKE! OH MY GOD, IT IS YOU!” She exclaimed, walking towards me. “I thought
Irregulaire The Dark Room
“Red? Are you okay?” I called as I approached her. Then there it was. She’s losing it again. I proceeded to grab her by the arm and walked her to the nearest wall she could lean on—right next to Gavin and Q. “Let’s sit down, okay? Come. Here, put the radio down,” I told her, “let’s take that helmet off,”“Your palm is wet,” she complained.“What happened?” said Q as she saw us. She got up and closer towards Red. “I’m so sorry,” Red breathed heavily. “I’m starting to worry I’m not gonna be able to bring you back safely. I should’ve had us waiting in the house,” “Hey, it’s oka—” “It’s not okay, Mickey. It’s not okay,” she started weeping. “A civilian in my group is now dead because of me. How is that okay? What if it was you—or Kris, or Quinn?” “Red, Red. Look at me. It’s not your fault. Okay? I could have objected to anything you said back in the house, but I didn’t. That’s how much I trust you,” “But I promised—,” “Promises don’t matter in combat, Red,” I said, trying to calm h
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Thank You Note
Thank you for reading Recon: The Battle for Crawford! This was one of my many war story ideas, however only a few turned into a meaningful fruition, including this one. I usually draw instead of write, and this is my first ever completed writing. Like a lot of stories, it began with a “what if”. It did take inspiration behind an amalgamation of various historical wars involving irregular and paramilitary fighting and invading forces, such as the Vietnam War, Korean War, Russo-Georgian War of 2008, etc. The result was quite fun, with world-building (that had not yet been completed as of this publishing date) that takes ages to write and carefully spun-off historical events. I got to experiment with a lot of ideas for the storyline, and it turned out pretty good. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed reading the story as much as I enjoyed writing it. Cheers!
Glossary
2IC: Second in Command, i.e., assistant leader. AG-(number): Autorifle, Grieland (number of iteration). Locally developed service rifle.AK: Automatic Kalashnikov. Introduced in 1947, its design evolved into a wide variety of firearms. ALICE Gear: All-purpose Lightweight Individual Carrying Equipment. A setup of belts and pouches to carry ammunition and several other things an infantry might need.Bandolier: ammunition pouches sewn into belts or sling. Boobied: slang for booby-trapped Booby Trap: traps set up to maim or kill enemy soldiers. The term came from how it fools the enemy thinking it was safe, hence the term booby (=fool). C2: Command and Control center Cal.: slang/short for Caliber Carbine: short rifles.Company: a unit of soldiers consisting of roughly three to four platoons plus their commander Compound: a military encampment CP: Command Post det-cord: short for Detonation Cord. a type of explosive shaped like a cord to cut through various structuresDMR: Designa
Epilogue
I took Red to the casualty collection point near the temporary aid station. Blood was still dripping down her face. Q followed close behind, with Neil and Vic walking alongside her. That 50-meter trip felt like the longest walk I had ever walked my entire life. The fountain we passed by became crowded with wounded men as a temporary aid station was placed there. Bloomberg was reporting to Soko. Colonel Patterson was seen organizing the men, telling people where to go and stuff. I put Red down near the building on the east side of that fountain. A medic then approached us, asking whether or not he could’ve helped. After putting her down, I reached into one of her pockets to retrieve our gold pouch, figuring I would hold on to it, though I wasn’t sure what I’d do with it. Following her request, I also took Red’s leather-strapped watch off her wrist and pocketed it. I caressed her hair one last time before heading back to the rest of our squad. I’ll see you soon, I whispered.Near the f
The Last Push
“Vic, you got a couple of frags?” I asked, to which he responded by giving me two pineapple grenades. I pulled the pin on the grenades and let the spoon fly off before tossing it consecutively inside the house. I closed the door right after, containing the blast inside the room. Two loud thumps and a few screams later, I kicked the door down. We then opened fire towards the inside of the building, which turned out to be a bakery.“CLEAR!” I shouted after looking left, to which everyone responded by coming inside, with Bloomberg and Vic clearing the other rooms. I instructed Q to stay away from the windows and Neil to guard the entrance to the rear. I then took a good look at the enemies laying around and popped off a few rounds to make sure they’re dead. They were in uniform, and it’s the ANM. “Red,” I called out, “Marren troops,” “No, shit,” she exclaimed. “Where the hell are the rest of the Marines?” Yeah. Where the hell are the Marines? We’re sitting ducks here waiting for them
Surrounded
“GET THE HELL OUT OF THE STREETS! GO!” Soko commanded the rest of his men. “Get away from the windows! Mark!” Red instructed. The explosion then rang all around us, rattling windows and kicking dust. A few rounds landed really close to the building we were in—thankfully, none of those landed on top of us. The shelling lasted for only a couple minutes, but it surely scared the hell out of us. When it fell silent, we poked our heads out and looked out the windows. Most of the platoon seemed to be okay, and we got out to the streets again. Soko then told us to move across the intersection, then take the now empty machine gun nest and settle there.“We’ll stay here for the moment,” he said. Feeling too bunched up, he spread his men to cover more area. “Konan, take 1st squad and cover the intersection to the south. Hal, take the 2nd squad and face east. 3rd squad will cover our rear. They might be coming down on us really soon,” The platoon then took a little break from the fights, howe
Going out
“I thought you said we’re walking,” I said to Soko, who was getting the drivers ready. By 10.05, we were already out front, lining up for the vehicles we were boarding to head closer towards our objective. “I thought so, too,” he answered, “But the Colonel said we could use the vehicles halfway through. Didn’t want to tire this little lady over here,” he added, looking at Q. She grinned. Now, these trucks are big, and it could be a bullet magnet if we drive all the way up to the front. Besides, we’re supposed to be a surprise element. It makes sense if we were to be dropped halfway. “Oh, yeah. Tell your radio guy to leave his pack. I got one with me,” “Alright,” I said, “Neil!” I called him. “This is it, fellas,” Red announced up front, carrying a map of the area we were going to attack. “Everyone, check your equipment. Put your helmets on. Team leaders, gather around,” she waved at us.“Here we are, Red,”“Okay, here’s the deal. I want you guys to split into two sections at our en
The Father
8.00 am. Mufudzi was kneeling head slumped, mourning his deceased friend. Victor and Neil knelt beside him, as they had served together. With Benson gone, we’re down to only 12 men. That effectively makes Harrison’s team the only one with four men—a proper fire team. I mean, a team of three had sufficed so far, but four was the actual infantry standard. About an hour later, Soko gathered his sergeants—including us. Looks like a briefing, as we had just been under attack. I figured it’s about the plan to reconstruct the defense in case another attack comes, but I figured wrong.“Looks like we’re heading out. Not now, though. Word is we’ll take three blocks of housing complex about two kilometers towards the northwest of the Airport. Enemy activity in that area is still perceivably high, so take caution,” Soko briefed us. “Wait, just us?” Red frowned.“No, word is I’m going with you,” Soko explained, “but I’m not sure so don’t tell anyone yet,”“Are we gonna be on foot?” I asked. “I’
Rage
Out of anger, a few of the officers and NCOs took off to catch those three men, carrying only rifles. They had already gone into the tall grass towards the South at this point, and a few gunshots can be heard. An eager officer later, a handful of men had already run outside, carrying their rifles and what little ammunition they could immediately take with them. It soon erupted into a firefight, as they had been walking—or running, rather—straight into an ambush. They soon pull back, with the rest of them standing by near the outer fence providing cover. I turned my attention back to Red and Harrison. Red was kneeling beside the Major, putting her hand on the Major’s wound. Soko was both furious and panicking. “Fuck,” Soko exclaimed. “You guys get back to your men. I’ll handle the Major,” he said to crowding Marines.“What happened? I heard gunfire,” Kris asked while coming over towards us with the rest of the crew as we came near our quarters.“The Major was shot,” Red answered. “Wha
Guests
We then saw rolling dust moving in towards the gate. I hope it’s the rescue team returning, as I had left my rifle inside. As it closed in, the gate swung open and three intact vehicles came in. Well, that was quick. But hey, at least they’ve made it. We stood up and walked towards them, and saw the three survivors of the crash—or so I thought. They were all in uniform, although I don’t necessarily recognize them. They were armed as well, only minus armor vests. Look out, we got some hotshots over here. Soko and the Major welcomed them and had them debriefed. It turned out they were not survivors of the crash—they were Long Range Patrols, one of the branches of Army Special Forces. They might have run into the jeeps on their way back here. One of those spec-ops guys was taller than the others, and had strikingly messy hair—something unusual for soldiers, but I guess it’s fine since they’re SF. “Well shit, this base even has a hooker on board,” one of the three exclaimed, looking up