In reply to helbent4 (msg # 127):

Kelsey proposes the far north route, and asks if anyone disagrees.

From his position in the rear of the Humvee Thomas adds: "No you guys have a better idea of what's going on then I do and its your ride." He reposition the Charlie G.

In reply to Kelsey Sarah Champlain (msg # 128):

"Your word is my command, Sahib."

In reply to William Hawke (msg # 130):

The group headed the opposite direction from the civilians, looping east, then north along Highway 13 to River Road. River Road was washed out in several places but it led back to Fort Langley with no additional headaches as they travelled slow and their vehicles had good off-road performance.

Within the hour they returned to the old Fort. It was mid-morning.

In reply to helbent4 (msg # 131):

Kelsey dismounts and heads to report to Taras the details of the outing.

Taras could hear a familiar soun. Apparently the convoy was returning to base.

In reply to Taras Vladimirovich Shevchenko (msg # 133):

One of Bezov's crew plus Tremblay, the Marine, opened the vehicle gate.

The team was returning with the armoured-up Humvee and the Iltis. But Tyler's Challenger and the other, captured Humvee was not present. Tyler had confirmed via radio he and Koldan were ok but splitting off from the team so they could maintain their undercover status. The other humvee had been given to a salvage party from Abbotsford.

So far communications with HQ was still spotty. It seemed there was still heavy fighting going on over on the island but it didn't seem likely the team would be pulled back to UBC.

A quick head count and Taras was happy to see that the return of the team was free of troubles. It was the culmination of the prior mission. The outstanding shoot-out that gave the government troops a clear victory over the outlaws.

The victory didn't come without a price. The savage battle witnessed the fight between two well equipped and dedicated set of combatants. The rearguard that was the Lower Mainland was far from being free of "battles" were nothing was to be spared.

Ahead of the eclectic government team was the decision to move forward while the war embers seemed to be rekindled in the island. The Ukrainian could imagine that the soviets could muster enough strength to push forward. At this point he thought that not much of the original force was still standing. The breakdown of the soviet steam-roller in warlord groups probably forced a sort of "federation" to regain territory and overall "loot" for them. Hopefully the island forces could weather this threat the best they could before recalling the team from the Lower Mainland.

Welcome back! How is everybody doing?

In reply to Taras Vladimirovich Shevchenko (msg # 135):

Darek walked up, wiping his hands on a grease rag.

"I've just gone over our new tank. The gunsights are gone. The engine has taken damage. I wouldn't trust it.

"The armoured car, the V-100, it's in good shape. It's got twin 7.62mm MGs and some ammunition."

Great, that thing looks like one of ours BDRM. We can make good use of it!

In reply to Taras Vladimirovich Shevchenko (msg # 137):

Darek studied the V-100. "Yes. I guess it does! Not as good off-road, I bet. But fine on the road.

"The tank... much as it pains me to say this, we can't fix it here and we'd need to make sure it stays out of enemy hands. There are dozens of anti-tank and anti-personal rounds for the main gun. Plus machine-gun ammunition. Very dangerous! Want to send Lee and I back with it to New West or the forward base at the high school? We can catch a ride back this evening."

In reply to Darek Sochacki (msg # 138):

A disgusted-looking Lo was washing the remains of one of the tank crew out of the crew compartment. It looked like it was the loader. The commander, who Kel had sniped out of the TC's hatch, was already in a body-bag.

Oh crap! That thing sure took a beating...
The monster of steel was a monument to the soviet resilience or at least that was Taras thought about it.

Useless for now. I'll give you a hand to dismount the Dushka. See if there is anything of value left inside.

In reply to Taras Vladimirovich Shevchenko (msg # 140):

Bezhov walked over, studying the tank.

"You know... is lorry trailer that can haul machine back to secure zone. Is civilian vehicle meant for transporting construction equipment, but should work."

The Dushka had half a belt left, and there were 2 spare belts in ammo boxes. The coaxial SAFN machinegun had been fired more and there was only half a belt of 7.62mm ammunition remaining.

Inside the tank were 2 WP grenades, 3 smoke and 5 frag grenades (Russian type). The commander had been armed with an AKMSU-74 and there there 4 spare magazines for this weapon. As well, there was a Mossburg shotgun with a folding stock and 5 shells in loops along the receiver.

The tank had 2 US Army AN/VRC-8 digital radio sets (SINGCARS). There were a few boxes of US MREs, and a few papers and a road map.

In reply to Taras Vladimirovich Shevchenko (msg # 140):

There was a sound of retching behind the tank. A queasy-looking Able Seaman Lo came around the side into view, wiping his mouth.

"Taras, we leaving the tank here then? I can see if there's a tank-transporter back in the city. I don't think a flatbed's going to cut that weight load. This thing's 30-40 tons at least."

In reply to helbent4 (msg # 142):

Being a US Marines weapons specialist, Tremblay started looking over the machine-guns that had been pulled out of the tank.

"Looks good. I think we can mount the Dushka on the Humvee. Shoulda kept the other Humvee as well, we could have mounted it there."

"Why not turn it into a bunker? Find a good spot for it and dig it in. It would be a hell of a deterrent."

Yup, yup...36 tons to be more precise. Many of them were removed from the roads in the last Soviet offensive. Things weren't going too good and my Combat Engineer Unit was re tasked with recovery, attached to the Transport and Logistics folks. We used those monsters MAZ from Minsk. The idea of recover a tank is that it can be used again in combat. Well, it seems to me that the engine could be fixed but the main gun looks bad without the Fire Control. Lets leave it here for the time being. Another option is to "hull it down" around here.

Taras recovered the hand grenades inspecting their fuzes and safety mechanisms.

Yes, it would be great to put the Dushka in the hummer. Mobility and firepower is what we need...

In reply to Taras Vladimirovich Shevchenko (msg # 146):

"We only have the one Humvee, I see. The other one got given away. Not a bad decision, at the time, I guess. Want me to pull the M240 and replace it with the Dushka?"

He started looking around for a place to emplace the tank.

"Depends on what we want. We can put it away from the fort covering the main road in to Ft. Langley. Outside the vehicle gate, near or at the end of the parking lot covering the streets leading up to the fort: Hudson Bay St and Mary Ave. There are some concrete barriers and other fencing we could use to create a revetment that will defeat anti-tank rounds."

In reply to Taras Vladimirovich Shevchenko (msg # 146):

"For ammunition, the main gun has seven fragmentation rounds, four anti-armour solid shot and one anti-armour fragmentation round. Nothing too unique.

He brightened.

"Oh, but really good news! The night vision equipment works for the gunner's and commander's periscope, as well as an infrared viewer for the driver's main vision block. There are infrared headlights and the coaxial L-2 "Luna" infrared spotlight is still working. The only problem is that the infrared capable TPN-1-22-11 gunsight is, ah, non-functional."

Thank you, Darek. That will do as a fortress gun! Covering the Fort entrance will look impressive. And yes, lets refit the humvee with the heavy MG. It will be able to defeat protected targets. For the next mission I want to have and the extra 240 will go to the infantry. For a machine gun squad.

In reply to Taras Vladimirovich Shevchenko (msg # 149):

Tremblay got to work dismounting the M240 and replacing it with the Dushka.

There was a roar as Darek started up the T-54's engine and began slowly backing it up out of the parking lot. The steel tracks clashed on the pavement. Lo assisted him by ground-guiding the vehicle. They only took out 1 "NO PARKING" sign in the process. Eventually, they parked it on the northern corner of Mary Ave and Hudson's Bay St., on  a bit of a rise. That way they could also look out over the fields to the north.

"Gave away the captured vehicle to pay for services, more or less.  We don't need to come off to the civilians as greedy and thoughtless.  Don't forget that while the wheels are good for speed, boot leather is always safer."

We need the support of the locals. They will be able to travel, trade and spread the news.

Taras sat down by one of the concrete features.

Worries me that Soviet offensive...seems like we are fighting in two fronts now.