RM Vol 3: For a World without Boundary – Chapter 63-3: Brawl (Part 3)

RM Vol 3: For a World without Boundary – Chapter 63-3: Brawl (Part 3)

Adam barely manages to jump over and into a barely serviceable fighting position when bullets are already flying over his head. He, alongside his frontline unit, narrowly escaped being jumped upon by a maneuvering enemy unit. Now that they're back in a defensible position which is their last defense line, they must now protect it against an already sizeable enemy infantry unit.

Adam swivels his head, taking a quick headcount, and ultimately spots Rokossovsky in the very back who is taking charge of the defensive situation. Currently, the enemy has three avenues of access, so three places to defend unless the Polanians somehow rigged a place to blow up. Since they have limited supplies and manpower, Rokossovsky has to play the balancing game pretty hard to keep aside from being overrun. As such, they've decided prior that if air support arrives, Adam should be the one to coordinate them instead of Rokossovsky. Firstly, the General already has his hands full. Second, Rokossovsky admits that he knows nothing about Belka air control, so Adam needs to be the one to call the shot even though he's just a Lieutenant.

Mulling aside, the battle rages with the hostile Polanians taking shots at the slum defenders. Adam rolls onto his stomach, poking slightly out of his fighting position and taking potshots at the enemy. Though their cumulative firepower of rifles and SMGs isn't potent, it's enough to deter the pursuers that track Adam and his unit down earlier. The Belkan Lieutenant then ducks down, reaching for his throat mic. "This is Alpha 1-1! All friendlies are back in the last defense line! The enemy is already probing our line, we need confirmation on that CAS, over!"

"Alpha 1-1, this is Bravo. Patching you over to Rigel Squadron!"

After a few seconds of radio silence, the line buzzes back to life. "This is Rigel 1, we're circling above you on Angel 5. Mark your position with green smoke and let us take care of anything you can't handle." Rigel 1 kept it simple, knowing that the ones below weren't trained JTAC.

Adam grasps a smoke grenade with a green stripe on his belt, pulling the pin before tossing it somewhere with a clear line of sight behind him. "Friendly position marked!" He said as the green smoke started spewing out into the sky.

"Affirm, we're seeing it. Allies are guarding a bank with three avenues for the enemy to assault, can you confirm? Over."

"Confirm!"

"It's a messy area down there, Alpha. We will give top-down fire support but be mindful of stray fragmentation. Your best bet will be calling down CAS on any of the lanes that are under heavy assault. It will take some time for us to line up an attack run, but we can lay down explosive carpets on each avenue. If we drop our bombs anywhere else, it will either be ineffective or blue-on-blue. Do you copy, over?"

"Good copy Rigel 1. Is it possible to bomb their head of operations and be done with it? Over." Adam asked wistfully.

"Negative on that one, Alpha. We're already risking an international incident as is. The enemy HQ is damn near curious civilians, bombing them will make us into the bad guys here." Rigel 1 replied in annoyance. "You guys just have to keep your heads down and tide through this until an extraction can be prepared."Thê source of this content n/o/v/(el)bi((n))

"Damn it, here I thought some divine punishment would have been more than enough to call it a day. Any chance we can get an aerial resupplies?" Adam asked jokingly, knowing that Rigel Squadron couldn't fulfill the request. It's more to relieve his tension, honestly.

"We're CAS, not resupplier." Rigel quipped back. "We can knock on heads, not feeding kids. That said, be prepared to receive two Humvees from Bravo, loaded with more guns and supplies. Bravo will get back to you on when they're ready to set off."

"Understood, Rigel 1." Adam said, only to feel the throes of combat intensifying. "Argh, damn! It seems they are getting tired of waiting, hostiles are closing on the middle lane!" Adam said after peeking his head out to see multiple enemies firing at them with the whole shebang.

"Rigel Squadron, you're clear to engage enemy vehicles at will!" Adam hugged his head as a stray bullet kicked up the dirt near him. "And I need one of yours to make the middle lane a no-factor!"

All around Adam, the defenders are being suppressed by enemy machine gun fire, making it nearly impossible to even poke their heads out, much less retaliate. Rather than letting the bulk of the enemy force gain ground undeterred, Adam pulls out the hammer right off the bat. He is hoping to set the tone of the battle and boost the morale of their friendly units. Knowing air support is there and seeing them in action are two different things, after all.

"Rigel 1 to Rigel 4, datalink pegged enemy machine gun positions. Lasing them for precision bombing, engage at will."

"Number 4 here, turning for a bomb drop."

Rokossovsky, who has now joined Adam in his pit, marvels at the smoke-filled avenue.

"... Reminds me not to piss your nation off, son." Rokossovsky deadpanned, though Adam could hear the relief in his voice. "It takes some damn ballsy and impressive flying to even drop that amount of payload and not hitting a friendly at this distance."

Adam laughs with his cheek still bloody from the earlier scuffle. "We're lucky, General. Our asses got covered by an Ace squadron."

Rokossovsky raises an eyebrow. "No fucking wonder then... You Belkans are notorious for your Aces. Though in this case, Heaven blesses us."

Adam leans back on the floor at the comment. After the devastation earlier, the Polanians probably received a scare that caused them to put a hold on the assault. Adam and the others now got a breather at last. The Lieutenant says. "Unfortunately, the day is not yet over... If they're desperate and smart, they will be flanking us instead of a frontal assault. Probably all avenues at once even... At that point, air support can only do so much."

Rokossovsky sighs. "Shit ain't easy even after many years, huh..." The man complained, having already fought in some conflicts in the past.

"Rigel 4, in position, beginning bomb drop... Pickle, pickle."

Moments later, the slum can hear the whistling of bombs, with Rokossovsky comments. "The fuck...?"

Then, the enemy machine guns are silenced when 250 kg bombs start hitting the buildings they're garrisoned in. Though smaller than the usual 500 kilos, the 250 still packs more than enough punch to completely eviscerate the slum buildings the enemy is using.

Seeing the explosions and dust generated by the bombs, Adam pats a surprised Rokossovsky on his shoulder. "Yeah, you'll get used to our Aces soon enough."

Though the initial engagement resulted in an overwhelming number of Polanian casualties, the day is far from over.

"Yeah, we're gonna need an ammo top-up soon."