Carnage City: A World at War Novel (World at War Online Book 6)

by Mitchell T. Jacobs

  “Yes, it does,” Bryce said. “To answer your first question, Redd Foxx will be redeploying to the district from the west. They'll be using the tunnel route as a launching pad for their assault.”

  “And the second?”

  “The enemy jamming device,” Cody said. “We think we know where it is, but they've buried it in a basement somewhere. We could drop all the 155 shells on it we wanted, and it wouldn't leave a scratch. And we need that thing dead.”

  Zach suddenly had a sinking feeling in his stomach. So did Nora, by the look on her face.

  “Let me guess,” he said. “You need a commando raid to take it out before the attack can begin?”

  “That's correct.”

  “Then we're going to need reinforcements. There's no way we can hold the tower with less troops than we already have on hand.”

  “OK, we'll look into that,” Bryce said. “But for now we'll need you to devise some sort of commando raid.”

  Zach was about to reply when his wrist alert went off with a message from Danny. He quickly opened it up and took a glance.

  Under heavy attack, it read.

  He suppressed the urge to groan. This just kept getting better and better.

  19

  KILLSHOT

  “We have enemy troops incoming from all sides with armor support,” Selene said over the radio. “Looks like they're playing for keeps this time.”

  Danny frowned as he looked out over the sprawling battlefield, watching the ranks of enemy soldiers pushing their way through the rubble and cover. No subtlety there. Ragnarok was going in for the kill.

  The ruse was up, he thought to himself grimly. Like it or not they would have to unleash anything and everything they had at their disposal to stem the tide. At least they'd put a hurting on the enemy, though, because they didn't seem to be aware that Black Wolf was sitting on a ton of firepower up here. Most likely they believed the defenders were on their last legs, drained of ammunition and reinforcements and ripe for the picking.

  That was probably why they hadn't bothered to jam communications either. It hurt their side as well, and what was the point if they were just going after a few remnants with no hope of reinforcement? Ragnarok would simply crush the enemy with their sheer ferocity, just like they always did.

  “Miko,” Danny spoke into the radio, “how's it looking up there?”

  “Looks like we're in a bit of a bind,” Miko commented dryly.

  That response made him grin. “Naturally. But what kind of armor are we facing?”

  “Let's see,” she said. “Looks like there's an armor platoon of three tanks apiece coming from all four directions. There's another platoon hanging back to the north. Looks like they might be flame tanks.”

  “Good to know, thanks.”

  That probably meant the enemy was waiting to drain them of their remaining munitions before swooping in for the final blow. Once it was relatively safe the flame tanks would close in and fry them all.

  They were in for a rude awakening, but Black Wolf wasn't in a comfortable position either. They had to deal with numerous tanks along with several companies of infantry, and they couldn't afford to get careless with their firepower.

  “Selene,” he said, “can your guys handle the tanks? I want to focus on the infantry with the guns up here.”

  “Roger, we can try, although if the recoilless rifles don't work well we might need some support.”

  “Understood. Do your best.”

  “Right. By the way, you should be in the command center, right?”

  Danny frowned. “Have we decided who's in charge?”

  “Well, it's between you and me and I'm all the way out here,” Selene said. “By process of elimination that puts you in charge.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Just move.”

  “Right.” Danny contacted the rest of his platoon. “Xavier, Javy, Ryan, I'm headed up to the command center. Orders are to concentrate fire on the infantry and leave the tanks to Alpha Wolf. Talk to them and back them up if they need it. Xavier, you're in command of the platoon.”

  “Understood,” Xavier replied.

  And with that, there was only one thing to do. Danny sprinted for the stairs and headed up, taking them two at a time. He could hear the sharp report of the anti-tank guns firing behind him.

  * * *

  “Weapons free,” Selene said. “Fire at will, but conserve your ammunition. Resupply is going to be hard.”

  Her other squad leaders acknowledged, and Selene toggled her own gun to semi-auto. She sighting in on the advancing tide and squeezed the trigger. One Ragnarok trooper moving through cover fell where he stood, shot in the head by an extremely lucky round. Another toppled over grabbing at his chest, then another. The troops surrounding Selene were pouring on fire hard as well.

  Bam!

  She saw several bodies fly into the air as a high-explosive shell slammed into their midst, killing several and maiming more. Then another hit. Then another. Then another.

  Selene pulled her rifle down and watched with a little bit of awe as the world lit up in front of her. Shell after shell blasted into the advancing Ragnarok troops, killing many and forcing the rest to cower. She didn't blame them. Under that kind of firepower even crawling would be suicide.

  But the sheer amount of it coming down amazed her. Each side of the tower had four guns, each capable of firing ten to fifteen rounds a minute. But these were firing much faster.

  “Xavier,” she said into the radio, “you're up behind me on the west side, right?”

  “Right?”

  “Might want to slow down the pace of your guns?”

  “Oh we will,” he said. “This is just to kill a bunch of them from the start.”

  “Got it. Nice shooting, then.”

  That made her feel better. The amount of firepower they were projecting might be impressive, but firing so fast ran the risk of heating up the barrel so much that it warped, jamming the gun and making it completely useless. And since they had no replacements on hand, losing the guns would put a serious dent in their firepower for the rest of the battle.

  “Selene, you have a tank incoming,” Miko's voice warned her over the radio. “Scratch that. Make that all three in the platoon. Looks like they're coming in to press the attack.”

  She had scarcely finished when the first tank trundle into view and fired its gun. Selene braced for impact, but the shell didn't land anywhere even close to them.

  Instead, it slammed into the tower, hitting around the level of the fifth floor. That was concerning, she thought to herself as she watched the dust swirl. Instead of going after the defenders on the outer ring they were trying to neutralize the anti-tank guns. A savvy strategy, since they were capable of inflicting severe damage on all parts of the Ragnarok force.

  “Uh, Selene?” Xaiver said nervously.

  “On it,” she replied, before motioning to one of her heavies carrying a recoilless rifle. The tank sat on the outer edge of their range, but they needed to try, at least. One lucky shot from the enemy and there would be carnage in the tower.

  “We're loading up one of the guns with anti-tank rounds,” Xavier told her.

  “Roger that. Make it two, actually. I think you've done enough for now to let us handle the infantry.”

  They might be able to kill the first tank in a timely fashion, but that would still leave two more. Rather than focusing on killing one part of the enemy force, Selene wanted to cripple all of its elements. Even if a platoon or more survived, they'd be ineffective against the defenses without armor support or larger numbers.

  And that meant dividing their firepower up for now.

  * * *

  Danny was breathing hard when he reached the command center, but he quickly moved to the map table and started to look the situation over. At first glance it wasn't very encouraging.

  Black Wolf was surrounded on all sides, coming under attack from droves enemy infantry and tanks. They had a stro
ng positions, but with just a company to defend it the outcome of the battle was very much up in the air. Ragnarok definitely had more than the three to one ratio of attackers to defenders that most people recommended.

  But things weren't all bad. They had plenty of ammunition to spare, along with strong cover and significant firepower, including recoilless rifles, heavy machine guns and anti-tank guns. If they didn't have the numbers to fend off this many enemies, they certainly had enough weaponry to cut them down to size.

  Here he was, though, trying to control the flow of battle from the command center when he was mostly used to fighting alongside his troops. The few times he had led an entire force were times when he only lead a platoon. Other than that, Zach, Nora, Anna or someone else was around to do most of the heavy lifting.

  Well, he thought to himself sardonically, he was going to have to learn how to do this properly, and he needed to do it fast. One wrong step and they might have a breakthrough.

  “Miko, how's it look out there?” he asked. “I'm looking at the map right now, but from your vantage point, what looks like it could use the most help?”

  “Hm, that's a tough one,” she replied. “Hold on a second.”

  Danny looked over the map again. “Uh, Miko?” he asked after he received no response.

  “Sorry, I was targeting an officer. I'm on the south side of the tower. This is staying pretty steady out here. Doesn't look like they're doing much other than trying to keep us occupied.”

  “OK then.”

  “But then again, I don't have a bird's eye view of it all, so you're on your own there.”

  “Right. Thanks.”

  Danny looked down over the map again, trying to discern a pattern in the enemy's attack. The southern end fit Miko's description. Ragnarok forces were certainly present, but they didn't seem to be moving with much aggression. That was probably because they didn't want their main thrust to come from a side where they could be counterattacked by other forces. They weren't attacking heavily from the east either, where Crimson Eagle had established their new line.

  That meant their main thrusts were coming from the west and north, and if it came down to it, that was where he needed to shift forces, scant as they might be. He could always take crews off the guns in the quieter sections of the defenses.

  But then another message interrupted his thoughts.

  “Danny,” Selene's voice cut in.

  “Yeah?”

  “I'm sending you a video feed. Tell me if I'm just seeing things.”

  Danny opened up his wrist menu and accepted the feed. He could see enemy troops moving up past the bodies of their fallen comrades. The dark silhouette of a burning tank sat in the background.

  But it was the enemy infantry that caught his attention. They had slightly different battledress than the average Ragnarok troopers, wearing dark red berets in place of helmets. And as Selene zoomed the feed in closer, he cold see their unit patch. It was a wolf, but it wasn't their wolf. Instead, this one was snarling, with a Norse symbol emblazoned on its side.

  “You're not dreaming,” he said, then switched channels. “Miko get to the north side and start taking names. Looks like they've brought along Fenris.”

  “Roger that.”

  Danny went back to the map, trying to figure out just what they could do against the enemy elite.

  Things were about to get very interesting.

  * * *

  “Xavier, switch back to high-explosives and start laying down as much cover fire as you can.”

  “Copy that.”

  Selene reloaded and brought her assault rifle back up to her shoulder, scanning for targets. She certainly didn't lack for selection.

  She sighted in on one, but her enemy ducked behind cover as she squeezed the trigger, and her shot went wide. Selene gritted her teeth and aimed for another, punching her off her feet with three shots in rapid succession.

  Another enemy fired at her, forcing her back into cover. Selene crept along the trench, trying to determine where the best spot to pop out would be. After about five yards she braced herself, then stood back up and took aim. She couldn't find her original assailant, but her shots killed another Ragnarok trooper.

  Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam!

  The high-explosive shells began to rain down, scything down several of Fenris, though far less than she would have liked. The rest threw themselves prone, but they continued to crawl forward, some even stopping to provide cover fire to their comrades.

  Yet another disciplined elite unit, Selene thought to herself sourly. Most of Ragnarok's regular troops were tough and brave, and their elites had even greater amounts of those traits. Even under withering fire from above they continued to advance on Black Wolf's positions, trying to break them.

  But was it foolish? That might work if they were in a winnable situation, but Selene doubted Fenris would have enough troops left once they came to grips with her troops. Black Wolf had too much ammunition and too much firepower to fall victim to a frontal assault. Sure, it was dicey, but they would hold, she was confident of that much.

  She had to smile as she brought up her rifle for another shot. Zach's insistence on the ruse seemed to be paying off. Ragnarok would have never tried a frontal assault like this unless they had no other choice, or they thought they could win in short order. It would have worked if Black Wolf was low on supplies too, but right now it was nothing more than a slaughter.

  The question was now, when would Ragnarok decide to fold?

  “Danny, you guys still alive?”

  A grin spread across his face. “Alive and kicking, Zach,” replied. “Looks like they've stalled out.”

  “Do you need reinforcements? We can ask for them if they're critical.”

  “No, we're good. I think it's just a matter of time before they realize what they're up against and give up.”

  And, as he looked down at the map, the icons symbolizing the Ragnarok force started to withdraw. Danny didn't blame them. He didn't have accurate kill counts, but Black Wolf had laid down a beating on their enemies.

  “Danny, looks like they're withdrawing,” Selene said.

  “I see. Good work everyone.”

  “Danny. It looks like they're withdrawing pretty far,” Miko broke in.

  Something in her voice caught his attention. “How far are they withdrawing?”

  “Far enough that I don't want to know what might be coming next,” she said. “I think they might have just given up on taking the tower and are going to flatten us instead.”

  “Aw, crap,” he said, his mind racing. The tower was sturdy, but would it hold up against a sustained bombardment? The defenses outside certainly wouldn't.

  “Danny, if they're going to bombard us we can't afford to lose Alpha Wolf,” Zach said.

  “Right. Selene, get your units inside the tower.”

  “Copy.” There was a pause. “Well,” she said, “that didn't take long.”

  * * *

  “All units, retreat into the tower!” Selene ordered over the radio. A full-on barrage from the enemy rocket artillery was surely coming, but that wasn't the only danger.

  She didn't need to look up to determine the source of the howling sound, but she did anyhow. Sure enough, a squadron of dive bombers was making an attack run on the tower.

  They had done all the could to stem the assault. Now it was just a matter of whether the concrete and steel would hold up against the coming onslaught.

  20

  WHO DARES?

  The thunder of explosions started to die away outside, and Zach could finally breath a sigh of relief. The tower had held firm against the onslaught of enemy firepower, ranging from artillery shells to bombs, to a rain of rockets.

  He hadn't been certain their position would survive something like this, even with all the assurances from Hephaestus Company. The tower had shaken and rumbled under every impact, making him wonder whether the next hit would be the one to bring the whole thing crashing down around them
. But despite his concerns, they were still alive in here.

  That was all well and good for the time being, but they had other problems to worry about. After their last failure Ragnarok had to know that Black Wolf had a supply line to the outside world. That meant no more easy kills for them, because their enemy would approach things in a far more cautious fashion. When they finally showed up again, though, they'd bring the hammer with them, and Zach wasn't sure they could hold off a Ragnarok onslaught from all sides. Even dealing with them from just one direction was a tough prospect.

  And then there was the other issue, the mission that battalion command had charged them with. Zach understood why they had done it, but he had serious doubts as to whether they could actually pull it off. Could they do it with little more than a squad, or would they have to bring along more troops? And if they had to do that, who would they get to defend the tower?

  He didn't know the answers, but he wanted several different opinions on the matter, so he assembled the squad and platoon leaders along with Miko in the command center and explained their predicament.

  “Man, they don't like giving us any easy jobs, do they?” Javy said after he had finished. “A commando raid into enemy territory when we're already cut off and surrounded?”

  Xavier was looking over the map of their target. “Not to mention this place looks like it'll be heavily guarded, or at least hard to get into. You sure that they can't just blast it with the artillery?”

  “They already tried that multiple times,” Zach confirmed. “Nothing more than scratches.”

  “Well, that sucks.”

  Ethan pointed at something. “More importantly, that's on the other side of the district from us. It's closer to the shoreline than the tower, so how are we getting over there?”

  “I assume the tunnel?” Gavin said.

  “That's probably our best bet,” Nora agreed.

  “But then how are we getting past the front lines?” Ethan argued. “We're going to have to sneak through the enemy lines, avoid any patrols that might be lurking, get to the target, get inside the target, blow everything up and then escape. That's a pretty tall order.”