The Battle Continues
As Konrad, Mariusz, and Tucker look on, Stoner crawls down the road towards the burning Ural. Fortunately, the troops that had ridden in on it had dismounted before the first mortar round fell, or the carnage could have been much worse. The driver and his assistant, however...
Dave looked up and saw the driver's assistant, fully engulfed in flames in the truck's cab, his skin blackening, his hair singed away, moving aimlessly and slow, as if under water. Then, suddenly, he is still. A few meters away, off the road on the right was a prone man, groaning softly. Dave moves closer until he is within touching distance. He gets up on his knees and instantly notices a huge exit wound in the man's lower back. He can see fragments of bone amid the blood and gore portruding from the gaping, skillet-sized wound. The man is finished. Dave moves on until he finds another militiaman. He has shrapnel in both legs. He's doing his best not to scream but his pain is obvious. There is a lot of blood. Quite a lot. But upon closer inspection it is clear that no major veins or arteries have been severed. This one can be saved. Dave gets to work patching him up.
Meanwhile, on board the Krolowa, Anneka orders a broadside on the fleeing picket. By the time the agile tug swings its port side to face the distant town, the IPAT runners have disappeared from view. They must have either gone to ground again or perhaps they are using some subtle fold in the seemingly level terrain to avoid being seen. On the tug's bridge, the Russian liaison's radio blares to life.
"Shell the city! Shell it now! Silence that mortar!"
The liaison, unaware of the new ship's intercom system, leans out of the bridge door and shouts down to the Vasilek pit.
"Open fire on the city! Silence that enemy mortar immediately!"
Back on shore, the Sandomierz militia, having recovered their composure, continues spreading out into their attack positions. Both BMPs swing further out into the fields bordering the road on the inland side. The mortar squad- shorthanded due to casualties sustained in the IPAT shelling- hastily sets up three of its tubes and begins laying them on Tarnobrzeg. As loaders arrive with crates of mortar rounds, the tubes cough forth a counter-barrage. The attack platoons, believing the enemy mortar silenced- or at least temporarily sated- begin to advance towards their objectives. Several seconds later, the sound of distant detonations can be heard rumbling out from the town. Assuming the attack had caught the defenders by surprise, there'd been no time for the residents to flee. Hopefully the many civilians Griet saw on her brief visit there have managed to take shelter...
Actions?
OOC: Those players whose PCs are on board the Queen, please post your character's location either in a combat tag or by changing the subject line of your post. I'm unclear as to exactly where most of the tug team is located at the moment. Thanks much.
This message was last edited by the GM at 03:54, Sun 11 May 2008.
