Dawid, Minh, and Lech volunteer to act as the hostages. Unarmed, they accompany the militia negotiator and his young rower across the river in the row boat (he takes the trade goods with him in the boat).
The boy in the attic and his sniper sister remain behind, watching the remainder of the team as it waits its turn.
The main body waits somewhat nervously for the vehicle that is to take them across the river. They can't help but feel somewhat vulnerable, essentially at the mercy of this unknown militia group. These people clearly don't like the Baron, so you've got that "enemy of my enemy" thing going, but still, it's hard to relax.
Several minutes after the boat reaches the far shore, you hear engine sounds. Some sort of amphibious vehicle emerges from behind some trees on the far side of the Narew and eases it's way into the river. A few minutes later, it's crawling up on the bank just 150m or so from where the BTR is parked. It looks like an old WWII-era American DUKW amphibious 6x truck- probably a Soviet copy (some of you might recognize it as a BAV 485). It pulls on to the road, executes a wide U-turn so that it is again facing the river, stops, and lowers its rear ramp. The familiar face of the negotiator is there, along with another man whose RPD light machine is gun levelled at its potential passengers (You!).
"OK. Please unload and safe your weapons. Then sling them on your backs. That's it. Thank you. Alright, climb aboard. We'll begin our tour shortly." he smiles disarmingly.
The team, carrying quite a bit of extra weaponry, climbs into the amphib's large cargo bay. Once everyone's on board, the driver raises the ramp and heads towards the river. The negotiator climbs up and sits next the the driver. The man with the RPD- an ugly cuss- sits facing you, ready to sweep the cargo bay with automatic fire should anyone decide to play the fool. The BAV 485 slowly enters the river and begins motoring across the Narew. It would be a pleasant ride if it weren't for the somewhat tense and uncertain circumstances. The journey lasts only a couple of minutes. The passengers stumble forwards and the lurch backwards as the vehicle touches groung and begins to climb the deceptively sleep ramp up the north bank. From there, it pulls onto one of the narrow village streets (the sour-faced, RPD-toting tour guide tells you that the village is called Zegrze) and winds its way to the main road (the 61 N). The village shows signs of fighting but much of the damage has been patched up. A few civilians are about and a couple of kids even wave at you as you roll by before a protective mother figure pulls them inside the nearest dwelling. Once on the 61, the BAV leaves the village and continues up the highway for a couple of hundred meters. It finally comes to a stop and the ramp is lowered. The negotiator hops down and meets you on the road. Pointing past the nose of the amphib, he says,
"There's your new truck. We'll provide the driver until you're out of town. We'll give you a couple of minutes to load up before we continue."
The "new" truck is an old 2.5-ton Ural 375 6x6 with a canvas roof over the crew cab. It's been repainted several times. It's current livery is a brown and light green patchwork embellished with faded Polish army markings in white. An old Red Army star has been covered up by some the weathered green paint but it's still visible. The old truck looks like it's been around the world at least a couple of times.
You load into the Ural's cargo bed. It's large enough that the 14 of you and all of your extra gear can fit comfortably. It's a big improvement, space-wise, over the captured BTR-70. A couple of jerry cans of meth are set forward near the back wall of the cab.
Once aboard the Ural, you are driven N-NW up the 61. A GAZ-69 pulls in behind you and follows about 20m behind. The negotiator drives the trailing GAZ while the tour guide sits in the passenger seat with his RPD levelled at you the truck bed. There are two more armed men in the back. These miltia people have developed a pretty clever system.
The approximately 5km journey is quiet. Farm fields line both sides of the road. At least some of them show signs of recent management. The sun is up and enough of the previous week's snow has melted to reveal large patches of bare earth and vegetation. At the end of the day, most of the snow will be gone.
You enter the small town of Serock, passing a few unnoccupied homes before crossing through a high earthen berm that marks the border of the inhabited portion of the settlement. Empty fighting position are dug into the berm's reverse slope at 10m intervals. A couple of armed men watch you from a brick and timber bunker built into the edge of the berm where the roads cuts through it. A gate of sorts made of 55-gallon drums and coils of barbed wire has been moved to one side to allow your passage. You see a BMP-1 in Polish Army colors parked on a side road just inside the berm. It's crewed and appears fully functional.
The occupied part of Serock, like Zergrze, shows signs of battle-related damage that's been mostly repaired. There are still a few demolished buildings mar the otherwise peaceful town. The settlement appears to be fairly densely populated, moreso than any other you've passed through since Gora Kalwaria (besides the occupied neighborhoods of east bank Warsaw, of course). People are out and going about their daily business. After travelling less than a kilometer, the small convoy passes through another tall earthen berm/fortified roadblock and out of the town proper. At some point during the transit out of town, another vehicle, a Tarpan-Honker, pulls out in front of the Ural truck. It's armed with a pintle-mounted PKM adn appears to be carrying the hostages and three more armed militiamen. You proceed for another two kilometers or so, until a battered bridge comes into view off to your right. About 2/3 of its length from the western (near) side is a tall, vertical green wall. It's some kind of military bridging segment, raised and folded to form an ad-hoc drawbridge where the "real" concrete and steel bridge has been severed. This must be the drawbridge the 10th TD's recon platoon mentioned being hung up at.
Wednesday, October 25th, 2000
0930 hrs.
40F
clear skies; slight breeze from the northwest
Narew river crossing (East bank), 2km north of Serock, Poland
Just past the turn-off from the bridge road (where the 61 and 62 intersect), the convoy comes to a halt. The driver of the Ural exits the vehicle and moves up the road while the GAZ-69 stops about 30m back. The Tarpan-Honker is up ahead another 30m or so from the Ural, its PKM trained backwards and pointing at your truck. The hostages are unloaded from the T-H and sat down on the shoulder of the road under armed guard (one man w. an AK), their hands tied in front of them.
The negotiator steps out of the GAZ but the RPD gunner stays put, hunkering down over his light machine gun. Another passenger from the GAZ walks over to the left rear of the Ural and levels his AK at the cargo bed. A from the T-H in the road up ahead does the same from the right side. You are more or less surrounded with two machineguns and several AKs pointed in your direction. These people clearly have you over a barrel. The negotiator speaks. His tone is still friendly, but an edge of seriousness has crept into his voice.
"Stay put for a minute. Kindly keep your guns unloaded and slung. Keep a cool head and tell the truth. The commander has been around the block a few times."
An older man, about 40 or thereabouts, walks back from the T-H and joins the negotiator. He's dressed in washed-out Polish Pantera pattern fatigues with engineer insignia and carries a slung Tantal with the wire stock folded. He's missing his right ear and an eyepatch covers his right eye.
"Well now, here we are. I'm the commander of the Independent Serock militia. Brzjek here tells me that you folks might know something about the Russians over there on the east bank. They seem rather anxious to cross here. Tell us about it, and no bullshit. Your lives depend on it."
Next Moves?
Updated tac-map: http://maps.google.com/maps/ms...21,0.008234&z=18
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:32, Sun 23 Jan 2011.
