Fourth Vector Ch. 41

"I'm as much in danger here as out there," argued Michael. "Bancroft could kill me any time he wishes. Yes, I know my family isn't well liked in Java anymore but I'd rather take my chances out there than stay here as his prisoner. And that's not counting my personal life either."

Artemis stopped what he was doing and looked at Michael firmly. His fatherly smile came back. "You've grown up a lot in the last few weeks, Michael. You have big dreams. There's no doubt about that. But for the first time ever, you're thinking about someone beside yourself. I say that not to chastise you but rather to commend you. You're growing up, Michael."

Much to Artemis' surprise, Michael moved around the cabinet and hugged the older mentor. "Much is changing in my life now, Artemis. I could be carefree as long as I had nothing to live for but now, I have so many plans that I need to accomplish. The first plan for today is getting breakfast to my lovely girlfriend. After that, the plan is to work on our future. I think this is what manhood is all about, Artemis. Putting aside the carefree life of the child and embracing responsibility and love as an adult. In a way, you've taught me a lot about that over the years."

Artemis started to chuckle. "You're a good man, Michael. You're young and you have your entire life ahead of you. I know it seems right now that the path in front of you is so clear but I want you to remember part of being an adult is dealing with the uncertainty of life. The only thing I can leave you with is to know yourself before you make any major decisions. Know your limits. And for the love of god, don't do anything that I wouldn't do."

Michael grinned. "I've heard most of your stories, or have you forgotten that? There's not much you haven't done in your life, Artemis."

Artemis' chuckle turned into a full-blown belly laugh. "This is true. Experience is the best teacher though. While I could tell you all I know about women and life, most of it would go in one ear and out the other. You have to experience it for yourself. I won't rob you of that experience. All I ask is that you be careful. The best laid plans can become very complicated very quickly."

Michael shook his head. "Don't worry, Artemis. Nothing is going to stand in the way of our love."

If only he knew just how wrong he was about to be.

*****

Two mornings later, the assault on the Swabian capital city of Dagobern started precisely the way Jack intended it to. The initial bombardment was kicked off the day before when he gave the order for the first rounds of the artillery barrage to begin. The early stillness of the morning was shattered by the sounds of fire and carnage as the first shells were lobbed into the city.

They were soon joined by what naval forces Jack had outside the harbor but these were few and far between. The bulk of the navy was still pursuing the Swabian fleet, but Jack had a small task force based around theDestiny and several support destroyers following along the coast. It wasn't much in the way of naval artillery, but their guns were added to the barrage.

After a day spent softening up the city, the assault was due to begin on the second day.

"It's a good day to have a battle," said Greg upon hearing the artillery. "And it's a good day to end this war!"

Greg's optimism was only briefly shared by Jack. Ferberg's warning to Jack about a longer siege being necessary was still on his mind, as well as the thought about this being the last battle, and what it might mean for his chances of survival. While the rest of the army seemed to be brimming with confidence, Jack felt an odd sense of dread as the day finally began.

It was a sense that he might not live to see the end of it.

There was no use in letting that momentary fear rule his actions that day. Jack pushed those thoughts to the furthest recesses of his mind and prepared his course of action.

Today's fight would be dominated by two main thrusts. There would be a coordinated attack against the eastern positions of the city as well as one from the west. A southern option was suggested and eventually declined, mostly because any thrust from the south would inevitably run into the main highland position dominated by the imperial palace. Since there was no entrance to the palace from the south, that attack would run the risk of breaking east or west, threatening organization from either side. For that reason, only the western and eastern attacks received the green light to proceed.

There would still be light pressure on the southern front but it was here that Jack stationed his most exhausted soldiers. The Picards and the Apulians were hardest hit in the battles leading to Dagobern and had suffered the most casualties. For this reason, they were firmly stationed in the south.

For the western attack, Jack entrusted Greg, who was leading a mixed formation of Javans, Samarans, and Galicians through the city's outer suburbs. Greg was also entrusted with about a quarter of Jack's tanks for making the assault since the land on that side of the city wasn't as flat as on the eastern side.

For the eastern attack, Art took the rest of the Galicians for making the main charge. On this side of the field, Art was also paired with Jack's newest general, Lindy, and Jack wanted the close coordination between the two to help Lindy catch the ropes of what it meant to be a commanding general. Art also received all the rest of the tanks for the first concentrated push against the eastern suburbs of Dagobern. As such, when the artillery bombardment ended, both forces were now in position to begin the attack.

Funnily enough, the first wave of the attack went according to plan.

*****

"Keep pushing right through that gap right there!" said Greg to his subordinate deputy as he gestured to an open hole in Swabian lines.

So far, his men had been putting pressure on the western defenses of Dagobern and had been seeing much success. What defenders the city had steadily crumbled as the battle was pushed further into the city, accompanied by the nascent tank force that Greg had under his command.

What horrified Greg was seeing the Swabian dead. Most of the defenders looked young enough to still be in their schooling years. Even worse, Greg stepped over the body of a dead woman that was clearly pregnant, still clutching her rifle like it was the baby that would never come.

The Swabians had truly resorted to the last amount of manpower they had left, and the results were telling. The battle was far from a cakewalk though. The defenders may not have had much in the way of training or skill but their tenacity was hard to deny. They fought with everything they had, and in some cases, made the most out of the defensive terrain to surprise the attackers. More than once, Greg saw the bodies of several dead Galicians or Samarans with one dead Swabian precisely in the middle. It wasn't hard to figure out that the Swabians had surprised them with a suicide attack, taking out entire squads in the process.

The fighting became even more cruel the further they proceeded into the city. By this point, several of Greg's tanks had been taken out by waiting Swabian forces and his advance had slowed considerably. Forward progress was stalling because the lines of defense seemed to be strengthening. It appeared to Greg that the enemy deliberately set their weakest lines on the outside of the city. As they moved inward, those lines became much more difficult to overcome, wearing them down in the process.

When combined with nasty surprises encountered by his troops, all forward progress completely came to a halt by midmorning.

"Get some mortars on that position right there," said Greg as he pointed to a large building that had once been some kind of municipal hall. It was now a nest of snipers, and quite a few of his men had been taken out in the process of moving forward.

It was only as they took the time to clear out the house that the enemy ordered several suicidal waves of attacks against the Allied Army. Greg's men were instantly put on the defensive as the Swabians sought to overwhelm them with sheer numbers.

"This is madness," said Greg as he watched the attacks from afar. "They're going to exterminate themselves just trying to keep this city out of our hands!"

It wasn't that far from the truth.

*****

On the other side of the city, Art's men were having no better of a time despite their clear advantage in tanks.

The enemy was no less tenacious and their tactics surprised even Art in their level of sophistication. Of particular concern was the role of sticky bombs against his own tanks.

While the Swabians hadn't yet recovered their losses of tanks from the earlier battles of Castus and Murgullah, they had at least picked up the use of sticky bombs--no doubt from those very few surviving veterans of the Picard campaign.

It was here that Art was surprised the most by their dedication in taking out tanks. The Swabians were willing to sacrifice a hundred men just to take out one tank, mostly by having those hundred swarm a single tank while offering covering fire for just one boy to dash out toward the back of the unit and place his bomb.

These swarming tactics were having their intended effect. By midmorning, Art had lost nearly half the tanks he'd been allocated, and he was now being much more cautious with those that remained.

It was hardly helping the clearing of the eastern suburbs of the city either without the armor spearhead. Just like in the western part of the city, forward progress stalled as the Allies continually went up against defensive lines that were tougher than the one before it.

It was in the residential sectors that the fighting was the most savage. Groups of Swabians would fight building-to-building, making these one-time homes death traps for any Allied soldiers that came near. Clearing them out was a job that no one wanted as there were casualties in nearly every house that was cleared out.

It got to the point that Art had authorized mortar rounds to destroy the buildings rather than clear them out but the surviving Swabians would still occupy whatever rubble remained, making the job no easier.

As with Greg, Art's forward momentum had all but stalled out as it neared midday. For an army of young boys and pregnant women, the Swabians had certainly proved adept at defending their capital.

"We need something different up here now," radioed Art to Jack back at headquarters. "We're pounding them with everything we have but it's like Avila has armed every civilian in the city. We either need more firepower or we need something to distract them and make them lose heart."

"Keep hanging in there," replied Jack through the radio. "I have something that just might make them lose heart. Tell your men to look toward the skies and you'll soon see what I mean."

Art just hoped that it would be enough. If things didn't change soon, they were liable to fail on this attack.

And if they couldn't take the city, what else could they do?

*****

"All right men, let's get airborne! We have some ordnance to drop on the enemy!"

Dustin's voice roared down the line as he grabbed his flight helmet and prepared to jump into the cockpit of his warplane. The four men making the flight with him did the same and soon the noise of five engines filled the makeshift airfield.

Dustin eyed the runway and hoped they had enough room to take off. It wasn't any shorter than it needed to be, but Dustin now had several hundred pounds of bombs strapped to his wings, and the added weight was liable to need more runway to get airborne.

With a few encouraging words, his warplane soon took off at full speed down the runway while Dustin pulled back gently on the stick. Much to his satisfaction, the plane was soon airborne, and he circled the field several times waiting for the rest of his squadron.

Once they were together and in formation, Dustin led them toward the city, only a short distance away. They didn't have much time to build altitude in the process but Dustin wanted to make sure they were at least high enough to drop the bombs unscathed.

In doing so, they were about to launch the first truly coordinated bombing run in history to that point, a fact that wasn't lost on Dustin. And if this was going to be the first, he wanted to make sure it was done right.

The goal was to drop the bombs at various points in the city, mostly where the defenses were concentrated. While the bombs weren't strong enough to severely decimate the enemy, the hope was that they weren't expecting to get attacked from the air and it would cause a loss of morale amongst the defenders. Dustin wanted them to realize they could be bombed from the air at any time, and hopefully that realization would cause them to quit fighting and surrender.

There was also the hope on his side that they wouldn't be surprised with enemy warplanes while they were still rigged with bombs. That wasn't so much to hope for as very few enemy planes were being spotted these days since most of them had been captured after the Battle of Castus.

"We're just about over targets now," muttered Dustin to himself. He reached over and gave the signal to the men on either side of him. The five plane soon fanned out as Dustin reached over to grab the lever that kept the bombs attached.

"Hope you like what's coming to you," he said to himself as he looked below him. Even from this height, he could still see the makeshift defenses of the Swabian forces.

"Here we go, bombs away!"

Dustin yanked the lever and felt the plane instantly lurch upward as the bombs were released. The same thing soon happened on the other four planes as their ordnance dropped on the city below.

Far below him, he saw the first evidence of the bombs going off. Large puffs of dark black smoke erupted from the targets below--the only signal of their success. Dustin whooped at having delivered their payload successfully and soon signaled to have the men turn around.

However, it wasn't bound to be that easy after all.

Dustin soon saw the first evidence of bullets flying all around him. Turning around, he saw Swabian warplanes now centering in on his backside.

"I was wondering when you'd boys would show up!" he roared as he dove toward the ground.

*****

"Get those men some help before they're overwhelmed!"

Greg's orders seemed like they might almost be too little, too late. On the western side of the city, all his advance units were under heavy counterattack by suicidal wave tactics. Common Swabian civilians were now threatening to overwhelm their positions and push them back out of the city.

The situation was becoming more desperate. Not even more artillery could push back the Swabians defenders, and even Greg's tanks were having a hard time keeping from being disabled by the sticky bomb-wielding Swabians.

As much as Greg hated to think it, this attack wasn't going to plan. The Swabians were supposed to be on their last legs, and this was hardly the action of a defender who was down and out.

Wounded Allied soldiers were now being brought back in droves, and ground was being ceded back to the Swabians. With nowhere else to turn, Greg's men began to pull back, letting the Swabians reoccupy ground they'd held at the beginning of the morning.

Judging by reports through his radio, the eastern attack was coming up against the same difficulties. For that reason, Greg attempted to radio Jack to figure out just what the hell he was going to do about this attack.

"Jack, we need to do something. We're getting pushed back out again!"

*****

"Not today, you stupid son of a bitch!"

Dustin roared in approval as he dipped low around a Swabian tower, which caused the enemy plane on his tail to miss their next shot. In doing so, he was temporarily out of their sight, which enabled him to slingshot his way back around in an attempt to get around his attacker. All around him, the other members of his squadron were dealing with the other two Swabian planes that had come up to fight, a total of three who had risked a confrontation in the air with his men.

Dustin was shocked they still had three warplanes to work with but that didn't matter so much when two of the three were quickly sent barreling to the ground after heavy fire from his own squadron.

That just left the one on his tail but it soon became apparent that this man wasn't a veteran pilot. He let Dustin maneuver his way out of the close pursuit until Dustin had managed to turnhis flank, ensuring that the hunter became the hunted.

It wasn't a sign of a regular flyer, and Dustin suspected that like the defenders on the ground, the Swabian pilots left in the air didn't have much in the way of combat experience.

"How do you like it when someone's shooting back at you?" growled Dustin as he opened up the first burst of fire from his NT-12s.

His shooting was good enough to spark a fire in the enemy's plane. The fire caused a black puff of smoke to envelop the entire warplane, and the pilot soon lost control. He barreled into the side of a building, killing him instantly.

"These guys almost make it too easy anymore," said Dustin after all the enemy planes were destroyed. "It's like there's no one left that can fight!"

In the skies of Dagobern, the Allies reigned supreme.

*****

"Jack, what do you want us to do? We're getting overwhelmed here with their tactics!"

"Keep up your pressure and don't let your positions get surrounded," advised Jack to Greg over the radio. "If you have to cede ground to counterattack, do so but don't let yourself get cut off!"

It was a nearly futile response, and Jack felt true frustration as both his generals were soon reporting the same thing.

The most apparent conclusion from the state of the attack was that they didn't yet have enough firepower to completely overwhelm the Swabian defenders. If they were bound to fight without any regard for their own lives, they could hold this city for a long time, or until Jack received a lot more forces to counter them.

Since that option was likely off the table for now, Jack had to bring in more firepower if they were going to take the city.

For that reason, Jack gave orders for both generals to soon pull back their forces. By midafternoon, they were moving once again through neighborhoods that they'd taken early that morning with the Swabian defenders hot on their heels. By the time of early evening, both forces were back in their starting positions, with a whole lot of death and carnage for the sake of nearly nothing.

By nightfall, both Greg and Art (with Lindy accompanying Art) appeared at Jack's headquarters.

"We need to maintain the siege for the time being," said Jack. "It's going to cost us too much in blood to take the rest of the city right now. For tonight, we're going to call off the attack and move back to enforcing the siege."

"If we regroup and put our attack solely on one side, we can probably still take the city," argued Greg. "If not tonight, then we can start again first thing in the morning. We may still have the chance to end this tomorrow if we fight hard enough."

Jack found himself shaking his head. "For right now, let's just maintain the siege. We lost a lot of good men today as well as a good portion of our tank force. The Swabians are more committed to their defense than we gave them credit for. For now, we're going to maintain the siege until I say otherwise."

"We can't besiege the city forever though, Jack," warned Art. "They'll take heart from the fight today thinking that it was a victory that we couldn't take the city. It'll give them thoughts of breaking out or organizing a relief force."

"We can deal with that tomorrow," replied Jack. "For now, let's rest our men. This attack has failed. We must find another way."