Jeffers took it. “Thanks, Admiral. It’s been fun.”
Hustvedt winked at him. “Just take care of yourself. We’ll be seeing each other,” he said as he turned and left the stateroom.
Jeffers sat back and stared at the opposite bulkhead. Life was going on. He had lost a friend, but made many more. Now there was another opportunity provided by a previous friend. He would make the most of it.
It was a slow process. The drones were used more often, preventing casualties for the Allied forces. A section of streets would be cleared, then occupied, and another section would be targeted. But the results meant that more Russians were killed than the Allies. In many cases, streets would be cleared with no Allied casualties at all. The platoon actions were working well and they were being expanded outside the city to pockets of resistance. Once again, technology was being used to take up the slack for the dirty job of clearing the enemy out of all the buildings. The heat weapons would get troops to try and move out of the way. When they did, they were exposed. The sound weapons would often clear a group out before the troops could get set up. But one of the most effective tools was what the troops called the Punisher. It was a grenade launcher that could be set to explode at a predetermined distance. This let the user hit targets behind walls or around corners. Nearly every kind of shell now had a digital component that helped. There wasn’t anything much to stop the Allied troops.
Master Sergeant Ricks called his top sergeants together for an early morning brief before the day’s operations. “Listen up, people. There are five new targets we have been assigned just outside the city,” he said as he pointed to the locations on the map. “The first is the rail yard near Podgorze. They have stockpiled material there on a train. The second is in the Institute of Environmental Sciences. They have occupied the dorms and some of the other buildings on campus. The third is the media center around Television Krakow where they are controlling broadcasts. The fourth is a wooded area just south of there where there is an encampment and the final one is up here to the east, where there is a wooded area with a small lake. This one is kind of segregated from the others out in farm country. There are about five hundred people using the lake as a rest area of sorts. Let’s get in there and break things up. The idea is to keep them on the move. No rest, no mercy. Just keep the pressure on. Any questions?” he asked.
Petyr raised his hand. “Master Sergeant, I know that last place. Once we get in there and block this road in, there’s not much of a way out except through these woods. We might want to use the grenades in these woods and drop them from higher up. I don’t much fancy going in down low with pistols,” he suggested.
“I agree. Why don’t you and your group lead this one? Any other questions? Then we kick off in thirty minutes. Get going,” ordered Ricks.
The men got up and left the room except for Petyr. He walked up to Ricks. “Dale, there’s something else we might try. Looking at the map, we are only five miles or so from our lines,” he said.
“Yea, so?”
“Ever think about taking prisoners?” Petyr asked. “I mean, several have thrown up their hands to our guys before. I have a feeling they are scared to death of these things. We might turn this into an advantage. If we go in today and the situation presents itself, let’s see if we can march these guys over the line?”
Ricks shrugged. “Sounds like a good idea, but we have to be careful that they aren’t pulling a fast one.” A puzzled look came over Petyr’s face and Ricks had to explain. “I mean, they may try and trick us,” he said.
“Still, it might work. The guys are getting tired of shooting people. If we could do it, I’d like to try,” said Petyr. “We even have a way of linking our speakers so that someone can make a big broadcast.”
Ricks nodded and slapped him on the shoulder. “Then give it a try. If any of them do surrender, we can arrange for them to get a free pass across our lines to some waiting troops. Nice idea,” he said. “But to make this work, we need more than just a platoon. I’ll get a few more to join in. If nothing else, we will scare them to death. I’ll come up once it’s arranged.”
“I’ll see you then,” Petyr said before heading off to his people.
***
As described, the lake was surrounded by trees and gave perfect cover for the men encamped inside. A kitchen unit had been set up and smoke rose from some of the tents. A number of men were in the small clearing about to get their first hot meal in a long time. Tents were all around the perimeter and there were about twenty trucks and armored vehicles near the lake. Small fires had been built near groups of tents to supply some warmth. It wasn’t much, but for troops who had been out in the cold for over a month, it was almost a paradise.
Suddenly the drones descended from over the trees and began coming up along the roadway. They swarmed in dropping grenades along the stacked supplies and on the mobile kitchen. The soldiers panicked and began running everywhere for cover. Anyone going for a rifle was shot. Several headed into the trees were turned back when they found grenades going off ahead of them. Very quickly the soldiers were herded into the center of the compound when a voice seemed to come from all the drones at once, “Keep your hands in the air. If you are peaceful, we will not kill you,” the voice said in Russian. Near one of the trucks, a man held up a rifle. A single shot from a drone which was directly behind him caused him to flop to the ground. One of the officers came out of his tent brandishing a pistol and screaming at the men to get to their rifles and fight. A single drone dropped down and went over to him. The man aimed the pistol and fired several wild shots. The drone operator moved in a little closer and shot the man between the eyes. Blood spurted from the hole in his forehead and he stood for a moment before crumbling to the ground. The rest quickly abandoned their weapons and raised their hands.
In the drone center, Petyr turned to Ricks. “Okay, you want them to walk or ride?”
“Let’s let them ride. It’s the best chance they will make it across alive,” said Ricks.
Petyr keyed his microphone. “Thank you for being so reasonable. Please do as we say and tonight you will be warm and fed. Do the trucks work?” He saw many of the men nod. “Good, leave your weapons and get in the trucks. Have the drivers go to the main road and turn right. You are to drive through the lines until we tell you to stop. We will be with you. As long as you do as we say, you will come to no harm. Now get everyone in the trucks.”
The soldiers did as they were told. They rushed to the trucks and climbed into the back until all were packed to overflowing. Some then climbed up on the running boards or held onto the sides as best they could. As the trucks moved out, a set of drones moved with them, some on each side and back and one on the top. They drove down the old dirt road past the farmhouse and turned right onto the paved main road.
In the center, Ricks was on the phone with the colonel in charge of the sector. “Yes, sir, there will be twenty trucks filled with Russian soldiers. They have surrendered to our drones and are headed your way. I have drones with each truck so you will be able to tell who they are. I may also have some of our guys keeping the forces opposing you in their holes as they pass. Just please don’t shoot these guys,” he said. After hearing a response, he said, “Yes, sir,” and hung up. He turned to Petyr who was seeing the last truck off. “All set,” he said.
Ten of the drones surged ahead of the trucks looking for anyone who might want to stop them. Along the way they saw several sets of troops moving along, but not very interested in much more than trying to keep out the cold. The guards at a checkpoint were eliminated along with several men manning machine gun positions beside the road. It was like a set of offensive linemen making way for a quarterback.