#military tactics

[suzannahnatters]

PSA: Sieges Are Awesome

so I just watched ANOTHER TV show where the characters could have simply barricaded themselves inside a VERY cosy and defensible fortress instead of heading outside to get killed/maimed/captured by the baddies

I call this Television Abhors a Siege and it is EVERYWHERE and I hate it

I HATE IT

yes, I know the writers look at each other and say, well, if our characters retreat to their stronghold then how will we fulfill our Swords Go Clang quotient for this episode?

this is only because the writers lack both imagination and education

you see, I've been reading medieval military history in exhaustive detail now for 8 years and SIEGES ARE AWESOME, both tactically and dramatically!

tactically, sieges make sense, because there is no way to thwart an enemy and buy time like HIDING SAFELY BEHIND A STONE WALL. the only time you would not do this is when a) you have a realistic chance of pulling off a surprise attack (the TV characters are never smart enough to do this) AND b) there is no realistic hope of circumstances altering to favour you in the near future (the TV characters never consider this either).

also historically speaking, whenever people looked at each other and said "this siege has no realistic hope of success" they did not march out to throw themselves on the enemy's swords: they negotiated and usually with great success (the TV characters never consider this either). but let's say you're in one of the VAST MAJORITY of situations where a siege DOES make sense and only the most unhinged mental gymnastics would justify leaving your fortifications to fight (see: the majority of TV shows and movies that deal with this scenario)? does this mean that your characters must sit inside their walls twiddling their thumbs?

pfft don't be silly

sieges are totally dramatic!

it's not about LEAVING your fortifications to fight, it's about USING your fortifications to fight.

your baddies could try everything to get in and there might be fighting over a gate, a breach, or a tunnel/mine?

your characters might sally out under cover of night to destroy the enemy or their weapons?

one of your characters might escape the fortress in a desperate journey to find help?

your characters might turn out to have a traitor or saboteur in the group?

there might be injured people who need urgent attention, or supply shortages?

a FRICKING METEOR might fall out of the sky onto the heads of your enemies, sending them running and allowing you the opportunity to regain the initiative? (and if you think this couldn't possibly have happened, something very close to this literally happened at Antioch in 1098 during the First Crusade)

anyway this is just to say that I am begging you all to reconsider the dramatic potential of the noble siege. for one thing, it makes the characters look like total imbeciles if you ignore it. and for another, sieges are AWESOME. eta: I learned all this doing the study for WATCHERS OF OUTREMER, my historical fantasy epic of the medieval crusader states! Book 4, A CONSPIRACY OF PROPHETS, puts my own magical spin on the 1098 siege of Antioch ;)

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Rob Rogers

* * * *

In praise of the what if, whatever, and why not of doubt

Lucian K. Truscott IV

Oct 17, 2024

I’ll just bet you haven’t heard the term, “fatal funnel.”  Can you imagine what it might be?  I mean, try to form an image in your mind of a funnel, any kind of funnel, like the one you might have used to pour oil into your car’s engine, or even a waffle ice cream cone with the small end removed.  Now try to figure out how you would make a thing called a “funnel” deadly.

I’ll bet you can’t.  But I want you to know, there are a lot of people who can.  Some of them bought militia manuals and bomb-making videos that a man by the name of Christopher Arthur published online through a company he called Tackleberry Solutions.  One of the manuals was called, “The End of America or the Next Revolutionary War.”  According to an ABC News story published today, Christopher Arthur believed that, “the U.S. was falling into chaos and there would be only one way to survive: kill or be killed.” 

Arthur is an Army combat veteran of the war in Iraq and a member of the National Guard.  He was found guilty of teaching people to make improvised explosive devices intended to kill police officers and for possessing bombs and bomb-making materials inside and around his home in Mount Olive, North Carolina.  His wife and five children lived in the home where he stored the bombs.  One bomb was on his porch under an overturned plastic tub where his children played.  It was wired to a trigger that would set it off if police ever approached his house to arrest him.  A judge gave Arthur 20 years in prison, the maximum allowed by law.

A fatal funnel is a tactic taught by Arthur to prospective militia members who visited his North Carolina farm for training sessions.  The tactic is intended to trap attackers by funneling them into a smaller and smaller space until they can be shot and killed by a small untit or single shooter.  Joshua Blessed stayed at Arthur’s farm and slept on a cot in his kitchen.  During the day, Arthur and Blessed would go out into the surrounding woods to shoot automatic weapons and practice bomb making and military tactics. 

Blessed was a truck driver.  According to ABC News, weeks after training with Arthur in North Carolina, Blessed was stopped for speeding in his truck on a road between Rochester and Buffalo in upstate New York.  An argument with the police officer ensued, and Blessed drove off with the officer still standing on his truck’s running board.  During the chase that followed, Blessed fired at pursuing police cars until he finally turned his truck to block a narrow highway off-ramp with the truck’s trailer and cab in a V-shape.  Blessed fired from the cab at officers until one of the officers managed to get around to the other side of the truck.  Surprised, Blessed drove off, followed by the police cars.  Finally, they forced his truck onto a farm road where they had set up a police ambush and fired at the truck cab as he sped by.  The truck crashed into a ditch, and officers found Blessed dead in the driver’s seat with a bullet through his head.  Five police vehicles had been struck by bullets fired by Blessed. Forty police officers in all were involved in the chase. 

Blessed had been trying to form a militia group called “The Army of God” to prepare for an “upcoming Civil War,” according to the FBI’s field office in Richmond, Virginia.  ABC reported that officers found in Blessed’s truck after the chase “two how-to explosives and military tactics manuals for which he had paid $850 from Arthur’s Tackleberry Solutions. They would find $125,000 in cash, 14 live pipe bombs, an AK-47 with a scope, a .50-caliber rifle, a sniper rifle and tens of thousands of dollars in ammunition.”

The FBI finally arrested Christopher Arthur after an undercover officer witnessed and secretly recorded Arthur teaching others, including the undercover officer, to make improvised explosive devices.  Arthur described to the undercover officer how he would kill the governor of a state: “Say it’s a whole walled-off gated house. The governor’s mansion. Alright, how do I attack him? Well, he’s going to have to leave to go to the Capitol at some point, right?  I know if I can put a round right there in the base of the windshield where it meets the dashboard. I’ll hit him. So is the sniper hit better? Yes.”  According to the undercover FBI man, Arthur’s wife and children were nearby in the yard working in a garden and talking about school when the assassination instruction took place.

Twenty years in prison.  A heavily armed truck driver killed after a chase by 40 cops on a public highway.  Hundreds convicted of criminal trespass and violence against police officers at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, people Donald Trump among whom included himself at a town hall yesterday on the Univision Network when he used the word, “we.”

“We didn’t have guns. The others had guns, but we didn’t have guns,” Trump said. “That was a day of love.”

Please allow me to tell you what the difference is between politics and a gun.  With a slight depression of your finger on a trigger, a gun can kill, meaning a gun can end the life of another human being.  Politics can affect you.  Politics can change what you pay in taxes, or what speed you are allowed to drive on your local streets or an interstate highway, or whether your trash is picked up once or twice a week.  Politics can be confusing and infuriating.  Policy arguments and political contests can be won or lost, but the results are not forever.

When politics and guns merge, civil war is the result.  Six hundred thousand Americans died between 1861 and 1865 because of a political argument over the issue of slavery.  The difference between the South and the North was that the South was willing to kill and be killed in order to maintain the right to own other human beings as slaves.  The political argument ended when the first shot was fired. 

Wars are absolute.  Winning and losing means life or death.  But politics in this country is not a fatal funnel, narrowing it down to “us” and “them,” making it as absolute as warfare. 

They used to call politics the battlefield of ideas.  One of our two political parties has decided that its politics is existential, that it is a battlefield where being “right” conveys absolute power given by God.  Winning in this kind of politics means the rule of law can be superseded by force, allowing the National Guard and active duty Army to be employed against those who were “wrong.”  One of our two political candidates has recently threatened to do just this if he is elected.  Such a right to retribution comes only from belief in self, not in laws that are agreed upon as greater than oneself.

Our other political party has more doubts than beliefs.  Doubt allows for the possibility of loss in the way that science assures us of the inevitability of our own deaths.  We know the sun will come up in the morning because we have experience in day and night that dates back to the opening of our eyes as infants.  We have no such experience with certainty.  It is a belief system, an illusion invented in hopes of personal gain. 

How does “whatever” win out over “must be”?  By realizing that right and wrong are temporal, part of the natural ebb and flow of living on this planet, as floods and fires and earthquakes are as much a part of the weather of existence as the birth of a child or the death of a loved one.

We are here.  One day, we won’t be, and there will be others who come after us.  Then politics will belong to them.  That is the difference between belief, which seeks to fix a certain future, and doubt, which allows for the inevitability of change. 

[Lucian Truscott Newsletter]

[raxistaicho]

Chapter 101 jump out!

I recently posted chapter 101 of my fanfic, On Black Wings :)

It’s a ludicrously in-depth retelling of the Crimson Flower storyline of Fire Emblem Three Houses, focusing on character moments, tactics and strategy, and the day-to-day life at Garreg Mach.

Both armies gamble for victory in the Battle of Derdriu…

[feline17ff]

Greg Stoker, a former Special Operations member in the US army, analyzes the war in Palestine from a military perspective, debunking Israeli propaganda and explaining why the regime is losing its ground campaign.

I absolutely love greg.j.stoker's I/P conflict analyses on Instagram.

He's an ex US veteran who knows the ins and outs of military science, as well as US military obv.

Usually his IG vids are a few minutes long analyzing Israel's military tactics (or lack of)

He's so good at explaining and gets right into his subject matter that I didn't notice this interview of his on TMJ News Network was 30 minutes long lol

He talks about what the US military really thinks of Israel's military, years before Oct 7th. Spoiler: The US military doesn't trust Israel's info coz they know they just LIE.

[racefortheironthrone]

How much of Robbs victories do you think comes from the fact he had a really excellent staff of front line officers (with himself being one of the best)? His tactics seem very reliant on the ability of his subordinates to emulate his own methods of shock attacks, since his special move is splitting up his army for near simultaneous actions at multiple points. He personally needs to be great at identifying the weakest point for the soldiers he directly commands, but so does the Greatjon, the blackfish, and any other commander leading the other fragments as far as I can tell.

Personally, I would hesitate to describe a medieval army led by feudal lords as a "staff of front line officers."

To answer your question: the only one of Robb's men I think that really describes is the Blackfish, who Robb calls "my eyes and ears." While I don't agree with those who think that the Blackfish was the brains of the operation and Robb was a mere figurehead, the Blackfish has a certain set of skills that go above and beyond the norm for a highborn man's military education. In particular, his specialization as a leader of scouts and outriders made him absolutely invaluable at the Whispering Woods, an important although less decisive officer at the Battle of the Camps, and the one man Robb trusted to hold the Riverlands for him in his absence.

When it comes to the rest of his lords - Greatjon Umber, Maege Mormont, Galbart Glover, Helman Tallhart, etc. - most of them are pretty conventionally competent. They can command a detachment in advance or retreat, follow orders when it comes to where and who to attack, and so forth. There is an element of interchangeability there, however. Apart from the Greatjon having something of a reputation as a juggernaut who's all about charging straight ahead, you could switch around commanders when it comes to something like Nunn's Deep or the Pendric Hills and I don't think anyone would notice.

Robb really only has difficulty with two officers, and it doesn't really come down to their "ability...to emulate his own methods of shock attacks." Edmure I've talked to death, so I'm not going to get into it here, but that came down to a matter of ability to follow orders rather than interpret them in a favorable light. And then there's Roose, where it's a matter of straight-up disloyalty and treason rather than ability - Roose is very good at killing Stark loyalists and can execute adroitly on quite devious plans when it benefits him personally.

[doctor-meaty]

Bayonet Charge

Bayonet Charge

[HTTPS://LINKTR.EE/DOCTORMEATY]

[sjsmith56]

The Attack on New York - Chapter 14, Finding Jade

Summary: Bucky and the horse detachments prove that his strategy is the best way to fight back against the Others. The decision is made to begin taking back the large urban areas starting with New York.

Length: 4.4K

Characters: Bucky, Steve, Sam, assorted military.

Warnings: Bucky being stubborn mostly, Bucky giving a young private a hard time.

Author notes: only a couple more chapters.

<<Chapter 13

🐴 🏍️

In the two weeks before they tackled New York, Bucky, Steve, Sam, several military tacticians, and officials from the city met up with the two detachments of cavalry that Bucky had assembled. They were a rag tag crew of mounted policemen, civil war re-enactors, equestrians, leisure riders, and a few cowboys. They were transported by cargo helicopters to a larger city that Bucky had chosen and had acquired access to street maps to plan out their attack. When they landed they divided themselves up into their two detachments. Bucky put himself on the rooftop with Steve on another, both armed with rifles and ammunition while Sam monitored from above. The first detachment loaded up jury rigged flash bang carriers that would release one into their hand as required. Bucky gave the command and the crew started at the edge of the city, each one following a loop course that brought them back to their starting point. Each flash bang was set to go off at a specific time and they did, as a muffled bang sound was heard. Grabbing his ammunition and slinging his rifle Bucky jumped to the next building. Steve followed suit and the next detachment ran their routes. They alternated back and forth between the two detachments for two hours until they came to a natural barrier, a river that bisected the city. When they had completed that section Bucky signalled Steve to go down to the ground and meet there. Pulling up a manhole cover the two men went down into the storm sewers with flash lights and found they had disabled the aliens everywhere they could see as they walked to the outskirts of the city. Sam had also sent a video drone into the sewers further away and confirmed they had neutralized the Others present in that section of the city. After feeding and watering the horses they rode them across a bridge to the other side. Bucky joined the cavalry this time when another rider asked if he could be the sniper.

"I've been improving my horseback riding skills," said Bucky to Steve. "If I go back to New Mexico I might as well, right?"

Steve smiled at him and ran up to a sniper position in a building along with the other man. Bucky gave the command and like the others in that detachment tossed the explosive devices down into the street drain. Within seconds of them returning to their starting position the flash bang detonated and the next detachment took their position. For a couple of hours they alternated back and forth until a lady with a clipboard informed Bucky they had reached the maximum mileage per horse. They hadn't cleared the whole city but they had cleared about three quarters of it in total.

They stayed in motels at the edge of the city, posting guards for the horses as they let them loose in a park to feed on the grass and drink from a natural pond. The next morning they returned to where they stopped and had to backtrack a bit as several nests had expanded into some of the areas they had cleared. Within a couple of hours they had cleared the remaining parts of the city. After a quick meeting with everyone, one of the riders asked if they could please go to New York and get rid of the fucking aliens. Everyone laughed but the military tacticians looked at each other and said in their minds the attack was a go. For maximum impact they did want as many mounted detachments as possible. They would be clearing the former Naval Air Station New York, now known as Floyd Bennett Field and JFK Airport simultaneously of Others and setting up their command post at the latter. The detachments would be split between the two airfields and work a pattern from both locations eventually meeting somewhere in the middle of Long Island, while regular military detachments would handle clearing the northern part of the island in the traditional way. Once the island was cleared they would use it as their staging area to start clearing the eastern seaboard.

Steve and Bucky would be running and dropping flash bangs in areas that were inaccessible to horses with Peter flipping up the manhole covers if there were no rainwater drains. The military and police would drop snipers and police sharp shooters off via helicopter to various rooftops to cover everyone's six. The date of the attack on New York was set and everyone was told to prepare for it.

It doesn't take a hero to order men into battle.

It takes a hero to be one of those men who goes into battle.

    Norman Schwarzkopf

Bucky looked at the telephone in Steve's office and picked up the receiver then put it down again. If he phoned Jade and she didn't want to talk to him what would he do? Damn, he couldn't do it and he walked away, not wanting to be denied hearing her voice if she was still angry with him. Steve and Sam watched him leave the office.

"He didn't call," said Steve. "He was only in there a minute. Damn, he's a stubborn man."

"He's still hurting," countered Sam. "Over how he left I'm guessing. She can't refuse him if he doesn't call. Right now, not calling is easier for him."

"I wish he would call her before we head to New York today," said Steve. "She makes him feel stronger and I need him at his best."

"He will give you his all, Steve, you know that," replied Sam. "I think his developing those tactics with the horse detachments has proven that. That cyborg brain of his just won't stop."

Steve smiled at Sam, hearing that term again. It was true. Of all the things that had stayed with Bucky from his Winter Soldier years the ability to assess risks and develop tactics for specific situations had proven to be invaluable. When this was all over and they reformed the Avengers officially again he wanted Bucky in a leadership position. Whether that was as his master tactician in New York or as the leader of their western detachment based in the New Mexico bunker would be up to Bucky. He could probably do both if what Sam joked about Bucky's brain was an accurate description of him. Steve went into his office and dialled the number of Jade's ranch. Ma answered and Steve drew a breath of relief. He wanted to talk to her more than anyone.

"I can hear your mind working from across the country, Steve," said Ma, chuckling. "They're both stubborn. She wouldn't have talked to him but would have been thrilled to know he phoned. What's up with him? I've deliberately stayed out of his head."

"On the Jade front he's afraid she'll reject him," replied Steve. "But he has been preoccupied with developing tactics to use in the cities against the Others. In fact, we're headed to New York today for the big battle. He and I will be in the thick of it. Ma, I want them back together but I know she won't come to the city. So, I'm going to make the Bunker the western office of the Avengers, and Bucky to be the man in charge there. But I'm not telling him that and I don't want you to tell Jade that. It has to be his decision to go so I'm going to make it look like I'm pressuring him to stay in New York after we clear it. I'm going to allow the media access to us because I know he hates it. You wouldn't believe the number of women on social media who are crazy for him, and it drives him crazy in return. Makes him as uncomfortable as hell. I'm hoping that by putting the pressure on him here he'll make the decision to come back on his own. Ma, don't influence Jade on this. It has to be them making the decision themselves. Do you still have the ring?"

"I have it," said Ma. "When he gets here I'll give it to him. I agree with you. They have to work this out themselves. Without her gift she's got to learn to trust him at his word if she wants a life with him."

"How's Bruce?" asked Steve.

"I don't know what you mean," said Ma tersely.

Steve smiled. "I do video calls with him," he replied. "I see your sweater that I know you took with you to the ranch hanging up in the corner of the lab. He's happier so I'm guessing you're the reason."

There was silence for a moment. "We're both good," she sighed. "It wasn't something I was looking for. It just kind of happened and we enjoy each other's company."

"Good," smiled Steve, "I'm happy for both of you. Hang in there. We'll get these two back together somehow."

They said their goodbyes and Steve asked Friday if the staging areas in New York had been cleared yet. The answer was affirmative and Steve went out to make sure everything they needed was being loaded. Outside in a makeshift corral were forty five horses. Their riders were nearby questioning Bucky on what they could expect after they were transported to the staging areas on Long Island. He saw Steve and waved him over, repeating the questions.

"I have just confirmed they have cleared the staging areas and they are currently setting up corrals, water troughs and feed stations for your horses," said Steve. "There will be military units to provide security and we will also be running a sound file that the Others nearby may find distressing so that they don't approach where your horses are. I believe another mounted police detachment, the RCMP in fact, are on their way from Canada. They're going to learn from you and take that knowledge back with them after New York is cleared to start on their own larger cities. Tonight, look after your horses, relax, have a few beers, even a campfire if you want. We start taking our cities back at dawn tomorrow. Thank you, everyone, for your service."

That seemed to satisfy everyone and they went back to preparing to load themselves and their horses on the cargo planes. Bucky looked at him and smiled.

"You always seem to know how to settle people down," he said. "I wish I had your gift."

"I wish I had yours," said Steve. "This is all your doing. Who would have thought an old fashioned cavalry using improvised tactics would prove to be the most successful against a technologically advanced enemy. I looked it up. The last time a US cavalry unit was used in battle was in 1942 in the Philippines. Thank you Buck, for proving you're more than a pretty face."

Bucky smirked. "Punk," he replied. "I'm going with them. They have a horse for me. Will you transport my motorcycle? When we clear Brooklyn I want to take a ride in the old neighbourhoods, even if they've changed considerably since we lived there."

"You got it, Sarge," said Steve. "It's what you are to them, their leader. I might have settled them down but they follow you. Before this they might have been accountants and teachers and such but you turned them into soldiers. That's on you."

Bucky coloured, nodded his head and returned to the preparations as horses were now being loaded on the cargo aircraft. Less than an hour later they were airborne and although the horses were a little unsettled at the take off, they calmed down as their owners moved among them, stroking them and speaking softly to them. He sat on one of the fabric seats that lined the perimeter of the aircraft, closed his eyes and tried to meditate for the short trip to Long Island. All he could think about was Jade; her green eyes looking up at him, her soft pale hair blowing in the breeze as they walked in the wash near the Bunker, feeling her hands on his back as they made love. Blowing out his breath he opened his eyes and looked around at the assorted people who had come forward to become the first US cavalry unit to enter into battle since 1942. He got up and went to the cockpit and saw New York coming closer. The copilot looked back at him.

"We've made contact with JFK and they're putting us down there," he said. "Longer runways than the other airfield. I believe they will transport you over to that one via helicopter. You guys are crazy but I hear this approach has worked the best. I'd like to meet the guy who thought this up and shake his hand."

Bucky stuck his hand out and the copilot shook it. "That would be me," he said, with a grin. "I'm surprised as well. It was just an idea and it worked. It worked very well. Thanks for flying us in. Any idea of how rough the landing will be, considering our cargo?"

"We'll do our best," said the pilot, who also stuck his hand out for Bucky to shake. "Good luck down there. Prepare for the landing in five minutes."

Bucky nodded and went out advising his people they were landing in five minutes. He strapped himself back into a seat and waited for the bounce but the pilots did a great job and it was one of the smoothest landings that he had ever experienced. As soon as they taxied onto an area of the tarmac away from the terminal the horses were led off and led right on to cargo helicopters, most of them military Chinooks. They took ten horses at a time. Bucky went on the first transport and was happy with the setup, as were the first group of horse owners. He helped each subsequent group get their horses settled in the corrals. Only then did he search out his tent, interrupting a private who was making his bunk.

"Sorry sir," said the young private. "I'm Jones. I was hoping to be finished before you got here. I can get you something to eat right away."

"Don't call me sir," growled Bucky. "My rank in WWII was Sergeant. I would prefer you just call me Bucky."

"No can do, si...Sarge," said Jones. "We're under orders. What would you like to eat? We have burgers, spaghetti and chicken on the menu today."

"Any of it horse meat?" asked Bucky, glaring at the private.

"No sir, sorry Sarge," stammered Jones. "Horse meat is off the menu, permanently."

"Burger is fine, fries if you have them, beer or a cola," said Bucky, being intimidating and totally enjoying it.

Jones ran out and almost ran over Steve without noticing him, who stood and watched him go. "You never used to be that intimidating during the war," he said with a grin.

"That's because our guys knew what they were doing," he replied, sitting on his bunk and motioning Steve to take a chair. "This kid is a little wet behind the ears. I'll be nicer...I promise."

They sat and talked about the plan for the following day until Jones came back with his food. Steve stood up and smiled at the young private whose eyes got large at the fact that two of the most famous soldiers in history were standing before him.

"Holy...Steve Rogers," Jones stammered. "I didn't know you were on base, sir. I would have picked up some dinner for you if I had known."

"That's okay Private, I already ate," said Steve. "You just do your best for the Sarge and you'll be okay."

Bucky rolled his eyes but said thank you to the private and dismissed him. After he finished eating he put the food tray outside his door and pulled his tent flaps closed. He stripped down to his boxers and got under the blanket on the bunk. All that time that it took for him to get used to a bed and now he had to get used to a bunk again. Eventually he got to sleep and dreamed of horseback riding with Jade in the New Mexico desert.

The next morning he woke up at 05:00 and found Jones had left him some military fatigues to wear for the day. He put them on and, although they felt comfortable, thought they might be inappropriate for him to wear. He heard Steve's voice and looked outside, seeing him in fatigues as well so he let it go. Stepping out he saw Jones approaching with a mug of something hot. The young private offered it to him and held out a couple of sugar packets and a couple of coffee creamers in his other hand. Bucky took just the coffee.

"Thanks Private," he said gruffly. "Mess hall?"

"This way, Sarge," said the young man, leading Bucky through the already busy camp.

When they got to the tent he saw most of his riders there, also in fatigues. They didn't look so ragtag wearing the same clothing and he realized that was by design, to give them a sense of belonging and camaraderie. Jones asked what he wanted and went to get his food while he checked in with his riders.

"This is the best food I've eaten in months," said one of them, a grocery store produce manager in his previous life. "It's bacon, real bacon, and eggs. I could get used to this."

Jones brought the food tray for Bucky and set it down at an empty place. "Have you eaten yet, Private?" asked Bucky.

"No Sarge," was the reply.

"Take a seat," he said and offered his tray to Jones. "Eat, Private, that's an order."

Before he could protest Bucky went up and got his own food and sat next to Jones. "I don't mind you bringing me a coffee but I'm a grown man and I can stand in line for my own food, Private," said Bucky. "You're not my servant. I want you to eat at the same time I do so that if I need you to do anything during the next few days you can attend to it without missing out on your own meal. Understand?"

"Understood, Sarge," said Jones.

They ate quickly and Bucky walked to the command tent where Steve was already in talks with several military types and a man in a police uniform. Looking closely he could see a Canadian flag patch on his chest pocket and a crown above four chevrons pointing downwards on the man's uniform sleeve.

"Buck," said Steve, "Sergeant Major Tom Myers of the RCMP. Officially with their Musical Ride which has been converted to a cavalry for this attack. Buck is our guy who came up with the idea of using horses."

"Sergeant," said Myers, offering his hand. "Good thinking. Our horses are highly trained for ceremonial purposes but with the occupation there were those who wanted us disbanded. You've given us a new purpose which we will explore to the fullest. We've been practicing and have had our share of successes in some small towns. We figured we would get in on the action here in New York and return home with the experience under our belts. Then we will start training others in the process and hopefully reclaim our country."

Bucky shook his hand. "Thanks for your help today," he said. "It's not that hard, really. I wasn't even much of a horseman when I conceived the idea. I'll start out on sniper duty before I take a turn on a horse. Sergeant Major, do you have anyone acting as sniper?"

"We brought two of our tactical team members," he replied. "You just go ahead and deploy them how you see fit. We'll defer to your authority on this."

After another ten minutes conferring with everyone the order was given to prepare to attack. The horses were saddled, loaded in horse trailers and the riders piled into army trucks. They travelled on the Belt Parkway towards Brighton Beach and Sheepshead Bay. Before they got there the trucks all stopped just outside the first neighbourhood. Bucky and Steve took several snipers each and they deployed on top of buildings and houses. As they waited for the order the General in command asked Bucky to do the honours from his position. Bucky pressed his comms and gave the order to attack and the horse units started doing their thing. Within an hour they had all of Brighton Beach and the area around Coney Island cleared as well as the entire neighbourhood of Sheepshead Bay. By the end of the day they had reached almost to Atlantic Avenue to the north and Aqueduct Racetrack to the east. The other two detachments had started from JFK and gone north towards Queens, then had regrouped going south towards Rockaway Beach. It wasn't as much as they were hoping but the tacticians were happy with the progress since it was mostly residential with a lot of streets to cover. Video cameras were set in the cleared neighbourhoods both above ground and below with infra red capability to see if any nests tried to retake the the ground they had won.

The next day everyone was at the mess tent by 05:00 and ready to go before they were transported. Jones was already eating so Bucky stood in line with the others for his breakfast. They were joined by two more horse detachments, one from New Jersey and the other from the Boston area. Like the Canadians they had been training elsewhere and had success in small towns and were now ready to tackle larger population centres. They were deployed south of the Southern State Parkway going northeast while the original two detachments were deployed north of the Parkway going in the same direction. The two detachments that Bucky was with and the Canadians were deployed to take the rest of Brooklyn and as much of Queens as they could manage. Playback of the video cameras showed minimal pushback from the Others and what ground they had retaken was quickly returned to them. By the end of the day they had accomplished most of their objectives. Midway through day three the combined forces had retaken all of Long Island, setting the stage for a major offensive on the eastern seaboard.

They used the remaining half day to rest the horses and the riders while Bucky, Steve, the tacticians, and generals met to discuss the plan to retake Manhattan, the Bronx and further up to the Connecticut border. The question was brought up as to why the Others were not giving much opposition. One of the tacticians stood up and gave them the ongoing theory.

"The sound file of the woman's brain waves," he said. "It distracts the Queen and the drones are tasked with supporting her instead of defending themselves. Even the ones who do take shots at you are severely weakened. It's a last gasp effort. We also think the different hives don't cooperate with each other. The Queens are pretty selfish and seem to keep their drones for themselves."

After the meeting Bucky and Steve took their motorcycles out and rode to Brooklyn. Together, they rode the empty streets stopping at familiar landmarks that were still around. It was almost dark when they left the north end of Brooklyn. They both felt completely free as they rode on the Belt Parkway around the perimeter of the southern end of Long Island. The decision to use the island as a staging area meant that thousands of soldiers would be airlifted there in the next week to start the clean up process of clearing the sewers and water lines of the carcasses of the now dead Others. It was going to be a dirty job but really it was the best task that the soldiers could perform given the unsuccessful battles they had with the Others when they first invaded Earth. For now the cavalry units were their best option to fight the alien symbiotic species. Until that changed the military would be in charge of clean up and rebuilding.

Two days later the cavalry split themselves between the four bridges that linked Long Island to Manhattan. The two tunnels between the two locations were considered too dangerous for the horse units and the flash bang devices were loaded onto drones and robots that would drop their loads at a pre-arranged signal. On the first day they cleared up to Central Park. On the second day Bucky and Steve ran through Central Park itself so fast that the video drones could only record them as a blur. They cleared it out in less than 30 minutes and the cavalry units cleared the rest of the island of Manhattan by the end of the day.

It took the army a week to clear out the dead remains of the Others. The Army Corps of Engineers had the water, power and sewer running on a limited basis in another week. While they did so the cavalry expanded their attacks to the New Jersey shore clearing it as far north as the New Jersey Turnpike and all the way south to the Bayonne Bridge. The City of New York was officially returned to the control of the citizens at the end of the third week. In that time the Army made the decision to reinstate all their cavalry regiments that had been active in the Civil War as a gesture to restore the fighting spirit of their military. All of the civilian detachments that Bucky had started and inspired came under military control. Across the country the military appropriated horses for their soldiers to learn to ride. Many of the original participants were offered commissions to lead detachments. They all trained soldiers to ride and instruct them in the tactics that they and Bucky had developed over weeks of practice, trial and error. Bucky himself was offered a significant commission in the Army but he had seen enough action in his life time and turned it down although he agreed to be available as a military consultant if needed. For the Avengers it was time to hand off control of the fight back to those who had the resources and manpower, and go back to being just the Avengers.

Chapter 15>>

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Chapter 99 jump out!

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