The ambush teams have just settled in place when the snipers notice a jeep-like vehicle- an open-topped Humvee, it soon turns out to be- is seen turning left off of the 629. It slows and then stops, maybe 20m or so off of the intersection. One of the passengers (there's about five men aboard) surveys the street ahead of it- Targowa (637)- through a pair of binoculars. A low rumbling sound soon drifts up to the sniper's earie from the direction of the intersection. Seemingly cued by the sound, the Humvee begins moving again, heading towards the ambush at about 35kph.
Once the Humvee's about 120m away from the intersection, another vehicle comes into view. A Soviet main battle tank- a T-72 most likely- rumbles past the intersection, pivots to its left on its tracks, and lurches forward, following the lead Humvee towards the ambush. The tank isn't moving as fast as the wheeled point vehicle and it's festooned in infantry- a fireteam is riding on the rear deck, clinging to the turret. Both the tank and the Humvee bear the Baron's signature paint job- spray-painted vertical black stripes over whatever faded pre-existing camouflage scheme the vehicle already had.
Fifty meters behind the tank, an M113 clanks onto Targowa street and fifty meters behind it, another M113. Both APCs are covered in riders; assuming a full internal load, the two M113s must be carrying about 30 men between them. Due to all of the external passengers, it's hard to tell what kind of organic armament the two APCs might have. Behind the two American-made APCs is a third, Soviet-made one: an MTLB. It has a twin-barrelled ZU-23-2 mounted on top. Unlike the two M113's, the MTLB is not covered in riders (aside from the two-man crew of the AA gun).
The sixth vehicle that turns on to Targowa is a large military cargo truck. It's got a canvas cover over the top of the cargo bed but Warren and Sutherland can see rifle barrels sticking out of either side so it's safe to assume that another 30 or so infantry above those already noted riding on the tank and the two APCs are part of the Baron's reaction force.
Only Warren and Craig can see this. An angle in the road hides the intersection from the eyes of the street-level ambush teams. The enemy convoy can be heard, though.
The ground starts to vibrate as the convoy rolls towards the ambush. Concrete dust starts to fall from the taller and steeper mounds of rubble around you and, as the vehicles crawl closer, small stones begin to jump and dance around on the ground. The low grumblig of the AFVs' powerful engines and the squeeling of their tracks is amplified and funneled towards you by the canyon of damaged apartment blocks on both sides of the street.
The lead Humvee rounds an angle in the road and comes into view of the ambush team. It slows, presumably to allow the rest of the column to catch up a bit. Warren and Sutherland note that the main body of the reaction force continues to move forward without slowing. The Humvee's passengers appear alert but not anxious. It slows even more and then stops just short of the intersection of Targowa and Kepna, right inside the far end of the kill zone. A passenger with binos stands in his seat and scans the length of Targowa ahead of him for just a few seconds before sitting back down. One of the passengers in the back calls out and points at the plates laid out across Kepna. He and another passeger dismount and walk slowly towards the plates. The rest of the Humvee crew become even more alert, scanning the buildings surrounding the intersection. The two dismounts study the plates for a few seconds before realizing what they are. One of the men shouts something and kicks one of plates down the road. His partner raises his AK and fires a long burst into the upper stories of an apartment building further down Kepno. The other man joins in, laughing. After shooting off a couple-dozen rounds at nothing in particular, both men return to the Humvee, smiling and laughing. The tension on board the point vehicle seems to melt away, and the Humvee starts moving again, driving dead center into the middle of the kill zone. From all appearances, they have no clue that their lives are now in your hands.
As difficult as it is to tear your eyes away from the enemy Humvee- so close now it seems like you could reach out and touch it- your attention is drawn inexorably towards the black-striped main battle tank now crawling into view, not much more than 150m away. The racket it's making is so loud now that you nearly have to shout to make yourselves heard to the teammates on either side of you.
In less than a minute, the T-72 will enter the kill zone, with the first M113 50m meters behind it.
Your finger tenses on the trigger of your weapon, waiting for the first shot to innitiate the ambush...
Updated Tac-map: http://maps.google.com/maps/ms...6&mid=1320527946
Next Moves?
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:07, Sat 05 Nov 2011.
