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.He rendered himself nearly impotent.He'll realize that mistake in time, but by then it will be too late.We will hold our positions until long range artillery can join us.Then we shall begin the forward march, clearing out great swatches of territory as we advance.Now return to your commands and get a good night's sleep.We have forward observation posts on alert, and they are manned by the best people we have.Raines and his little mosquito bands will not trouble us here."Brodermann was correct to a degree.He did have forward observation posts, and they were manned by some very good people.But not as good as the Apache, Pina, Navaho, and Zuni Indians who made up Ben's Special Operations Teams.While Ben and his Rebels had been overseas, those units had been training Stateside in preparation for this.Brodermann's SS units were about to discover what the U.S.Army had learned more than a century past: never underestimate the fighting skills and the stealth of the warriors who made up the Southwest Indian tribes.The SP teams had learned that the SS forward observations teams, with predictable Germanic precision, reported in at 00 hours and again at 0030 hours.On the dot.To the timed second.Which was why Ben had timed the assault to begin at 0535.For at 0531, the forward observation people would be dead in their bunkers.Brodermann would learn to88never underestimate the savage and unorthodox fighting techniques of Ben Raines.The fast attack vehicles of the Rebels had driven to within a couple of miles of the forward observation posts and then cut their muffled down engines and waited.Strict noise discipline was being observed.No one moved, no one talked, no one lit up smokes.At 0525 radio operators turned up the volume and began listening more intently to their earphones for the clicks that would tell them the outposts were cleared of all hostile living things.Except for perhaps a stray scorpion or a rattlesnake.The sky was just beginning to tint a faint silver in the east when Come said, "There it is, General.Two clicks.Repeated.We're clear."Ben looked at luminous dial of his watch.0533."Two minutes to go.Start engines."Brodermann was beginning to stir under his blankets.He opened his eyes and stretched, reluctant to leave the warmth, for the night had turned unusually cool.In about sixty seconds it would, quite unexpectedly, warm considerably."One minute," Ben said.Cooper slipped the Hummer into gear.The bolts of mounted.50-caliber machine guns were pulled back.Big Thumpers were armed.Mounted 7.62 M-60s were readied.Grenades were taken from battle harnesses.People swallowed to relieve the mouth-dryness of tension."Go!" Ben said.Corrie relayed the orders as the FAVs lunged forward, big fat tires digging at the ground.Cooper floor-boarded the HumVee as Beth stood up and worked her way into89the harness behind the roof-mounted M-60.She was bullet-proofed from her head down to her hips.The material wouldn't stop a.50-caliber slug, but it would stop anything up to that.The FAVs sped past the silent forward observation posts and silently screamed toward the still-sleeping camp of the elite SS troops south of Interstate 10 and east of Interstate 30.Ben and his battalion were taking the heaviest unit of SS troops, on Highway 181, next to the San Antonio River and the closest unit to Brodermann's location.Rebet was tackling the SS troops located on 123, east of Cibolo Creek.Danjou and Ned were attacking the SS forces bivouacked on Highway 80, and Buddy was roaring in from the east, hitting those along the Guadalupe River and Highway 111-183.All units struck within seconds of each other.Striganov and Payon had slipped in and set up old 8I-mm mortars and gave Brodermann's camp a full 90 seconds barrage of HE and willie peter as they were storming in.Hans Brodermann heard the fluttering of mortar rounds and was out of bed and jumping into his trousers and boots just as the first round hit."Mein Gott!" he muttered."It can't be.Raines wouldn't dare!"But then he had no more time to think as a round exploded very near his quarters and tipped the trailer over.Brodermann went rolling and sliding ass over elbows on the tiled floor and banged his head on the base of the commode, knocking himself goofy for a few minutes.Outside, the scene was chaos, highlighted by tanker90trucks being ignited, vehicles burning, and the area filled with racing Fast Attack Vehicles and pickup trucks and Hummers, the vehicles scooting around, the machine gunners pouring out heavy fire at anything that moved.Big Thumpers were knocking out grenades and spreading death and confusion all over the place.The central command of Hans Brodermann was in total chaos.Commanders were trying to rally their troops amid the clattering of machine guns and the roaring of 40 mm grenades.No one could believe it was happening.Something like this was simply not done to the elite troops of the SS.But it was being done.And being done devastatingly well [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]