Eden's Hammer (17 page)

The first man had gone down, stunning the second man into a second of immobility as he watched the man’s back blow towards him. Before he could react he was hit in the chest with a sledgehammer blow and went down. The third man reacted by darting forward, trying to get to a downed tree, but just as he was diving for the cover, he was slammed down. Everyone else in the group behind them disappeared as they took cover.

Tim watched for a couple of minutes.
Between me and Matt, that’s five; I wonder what Perry and Roman are up to?
He didn’t consider that Matt shot twice at one man, or that he may have missed, Matt didn’t miss. No one from the raider group was coming in pursuit. With slow movements, he eased back into cover and walked off.

Perry watched a group of the raiders eating breakfast.
Scurvy bunch of assholes
, he thought while he waited. He had chosen his spot carefully, based primarily on advantageous terrain. Once again, he was using a dry creek bed. The bottom of the bed was sand. Without getting down into the creek bed, he had walked alongside it, looking for two easy places to enter or exit the steep banks. He needed one close to the raiders and one much farther back, and both had to be on the opposite side of the creek from the raiders.

When he had the two spots identified, he entered the creek bed at the location closest to the raiders. Then, facing away from them, he ran up the creek bed to the second exit location he had chosen, and up and out of the creek. Then he went back to the first spot and re-entered the creek, being careful to walk along the edges where he wouldn’t leave footprints. Perry took up his sniping spot. He was in a standing position with the creek bank at just the right height to support his rifle. He had a good field of fire, and a quick exit point on the far side of the creek from the raiders with extensive tree and brush cover. He could fire, disappear over the creek bank into heavy trees, and then head for his next ambush spot.

It was only a matter of seconds before he acquired his targets and began shooting. Perry rapidly fired two times, dropping two men before the rest of the men could scramble for cover. Perry then ran in the middle of the creek to his exit point, the one closest to the raiders. He carefully made his footprints in the sand line up with the footprints he had left earlier, the ones that led to the other exit point. Unless they had a skilled tracker with them, they would follow his tracks all the way up the creek. When he had accomplished that, he exited the creek bank and disappeared into the woods.

When the raiders pursued, they would keep going past where he had actually exited and then well up the creek.
Let’s see if they come out of the creek bed with a paddle. I’ll have a new name to put on the map for this creek if they don’t
. He mused as he jogged toward his second ambush point. The false exit spot would be another prime ambush spot. He knew exactly where they would come out of the creek and he had just enough time to set up. After two or three came over the bank, he would cut them down, then he would disappear again. Perry smiled as he moved through the woods.

Roman had been watching the way the different groups set up their camps, each separated from the other by several hundred yards. This gave him an idea, a somewhat high-risk idea, but one that had an undeniable appeal to him. Using their campfires to spot them, he slowly and carefully eased his way between two campsites in the dark. He watched for sentries, but doubted they would be alert this time of night—if there even were any. By dawn, he was behind the raiders’ line.

His idea was to confuse the raiders by attacking from a completely different direction to make them start watching their back trail instead of assuming no one was behind them. If anything would slow them down, it would be having to watch behind them as well as in front. It only took him a half hour to locate a good ambush spot. A heavy cove of trees that extended along an ancient fence line led back into a boggy area. It gave him cover to retreat, then circle back and find his way through their lines to get in front of them again. That was the dangerous part, moving through them in daylight.

He decided that if he couldn’t get back through he would simply stay behind them and skip the nightly rendezvous, operating on his own until the big battle. The others might worry when he didn’t show up, but worrying that others were worried wasn’t something to be taken into account during a war. He liked the plan—he liked it a lot.

Just as the men he was watching finished packing up and starting to move out, Roman fired two times, dropping two men. He then evacuated the area using the tree line. When he got to the bog, he circled around it and followed a dry wash to another heavily forested area and started moving back toward the raiders again. When he achieved a visual on another of their groups, he could tell he wasn’t going to the rendezvous that night. They were stirred up like a kicked-over fire ant nest; his and his compadres’ ambushes were definitely working. Instead of trying to slip through, he eased in closer and shot two more, then quickly moved back.
Hell, I can keep this up as long as I have ammo, and I have plenty of
, he thought as he began circling back for another shot or two. Roman was enjoying having the entire backfield to himself.
It gives me a lot more latitude. No pun intended
.” He thought.

That evening Perry, Tim, and Matt rejoined by the little waterfall. Once they were together, they sat down to eat the cold ration bars that Sarah’s team had put together. They weren’t very tasty, but they packed a big calorie load and served their purpose.

Tim was the first to comment on Roman’s absence. “I hope he got lost again, I’d hate like hell if he got killed. He never did have a good sense of direction. Damned old fool could get lost in a phone booth.”

Matt replied, “I heard shooting from back behind their lines; I wouldn’t be surprised if he didn’t wander right through them in the dark and found himself stuck back there behind them.”

Tim added, “I’ve seen him get lost in San Angelo, of all places, and more than once. Simple little town like that, and he’d get lost like he was down in the fucking Amazon Basin without a compass. I’m with Matt—I thought I heard gunfire behind them and was thinking it had to be that damn Roman; who else could be back there? Hells bells, who else
would
be back there but him? It’s just the sort of stunt he likes to pull. If he’s smart, he’ll stay back there and keep hitting them from behind. Pretty good idea, too, making them watch their six as well as their twelve. He better be back there, dammit, or I’ll beat the shit out of him when he shows up.”

March 27, early evening

Adrian sat on the ground with a map across his lap. He had just received the latest scout reports and sent the scouts back out. He pointed at a spot on the map that showed two hills near each other.

Adrian said, “Bollinger, let’s go over the plan again. We’re going to use these two hills and the draw between them. Rex’s men are east of them a mile or so right now. He’s pulled his men in a bit closer together, thanks to the ambush team, but they are still too spread out to suit this operation. I’ve gone over every strategy and tactic that I can think of, knowing Rex knows all of them, too. I’m hoping that he is expecting us to do something fancy and tricky—that’s usually the way his mind works. So we’re going to do something simple and as old as war itself.

“We’re going to use Sioux battle tactics. Hit them with a small force, engage them, and then suddenly run in panic to get them to give chase into our real ambush. The trick is to not give them time to think about it, so the attack will be close to the ambush spot, maybe two hundred yards. I’ll lead the hit team and then pull back through the draw between these two hills. Our main body will be split into four groups, one on each hill, one right here on the west end of the draw, and the fourth, led by you, will be hidden on the east side of the north hill. As soon as the last of Rex’s men passes by, you move in behind them and plug the rear of the draw. We’ll have them surrounded with two of those positions, having the advantage of height. From there, it stays just as simple: everyone fires at their own discretion, picking them off.

“Rex will have two options: stand and fight, which I doubt; or gather his men close and charge one of the groups to try and overrun them and get out of the ambush zone. I don’t think he will try to take the hills—the terrain works against him too much. So it’s either charge backwards or charge forward. My guess is, knowing Rex, that he’ll charge forward. He never liked to back up, and going forward puts him closer to the village. If he can break through, he knows it will be to his advantage to get between us and the village. Based on that I’m going to have most of the men on the west end of the draw. I’ll be joining up with them as we pull back. You’ll be in position against their rear and the men on the hills will have a clear field of fire without worry of crossfire. The two teams on the ends of the draw will have to be careful or we could end up shooting into each other. Make sure everyone knows to take specific aim at an enemy only, no wild shooting.

“My group will be entrenched and take advantage of cover. Rex will have to keep moving, which exposes his men. You’ll direct the other three groups, joining them up and tackling the rear. Your men will have to be moving which exposes you, but you’ll be getting a little less heat if Rex keeps his men moving forward. What do you think? What are the weaknesses?”

Bollinger replied, “The first weakness is that they might not chase you. It’s so old of a trick that only a greenhorn would fall for it. Rex won’t, unless he is overthinking and suspecting that you actually want him to not follow, that you’re double-bluffing him. I think he might just do that—overthink it, I mean. He’ll be thinking that you have something up your sleeve and that by not following he’ll be in a weak spot; that you want him to stay where he is or move right or left. I think you might need to help him along with that thought a bit, have some of the scouts flash a light at them from their rear and flanks a couple of times before daybreak—nothing obvious, just a few flashes to let them know someone is out there. Do that before you attack to give him time to spin his mind up tight trying to out think what you’re doing. He’ll be expecting tricks, because, like you said, that’s how his mind works. Sometimes being as smart as he is turns into a handicap.

“The other weakness is that he moves forward, but on a tangent going either north or south of the hills, and gets around us. The only defense against that is to have the men ready for it and have a plan in place to move into his line of march and engage.”

Adrian replied, “I like the flashlights, ask for volunteers. Make it clear that this is only a ploy, no engagement with them, it won’t do anything except weaken our ploy, make real sure they understand that because these men are eager to start shooting. Also, pull the guerilla groups into a position to fire on the raiders if they choose one of the tangents instead of the draw. They can buy us time to bring the other men into position. If the raiders don’t go on a tangent, the guerillas can come in and join your group in the east.”

Bollinger said, “Done.”

March 27, late evening

Linda gathered the women fighters together. They were sitting near the eastern edge of the village defense line.

Linda said, “Our mission is to defend the village as a last straw defense. A Hail Mary kind of defense. Everyone else has been evacuated; it’s just us here now. The reason that Adrian didn’t take us on the battlefield is because he was worried that the men would become overprotective of us, and therefore less effective. It’s a good reason, a sound reason. But it has flaws. First flaw is that we are only defending property. I know it’s important to defend our homes and crops and livestock, but is it critically important? If we save all this but lose our men in the process, can we call that victory? Would we want to live on like that? You tell me.”

While the women were looking at Linda and shaking their heads back and forth Shirley asked, “What are you suggesting we do instead?”

Linda replied, “I’m suggesting that we follow the men out onto the battlefield, stay together as a unit, and provide them with backup reinforcement. I’m suggesting that we get into a position behind them where we can see what’s happening and move into any area that needs to be supported. I’m fully aware that we may startle the men, and maybe some of them will be distracted when we arrive. But our bullets kill the same as their bullets, and if they need support, I’m confident we can provide it. However, it’s also necessary that those that go are willing to go, want to go, and believe it’s the best thing to do. Sitting here on our hands doesn’t appeal to me.

“The options for you to consider are to go with me, stay here to defend our houses, or pull all the way back to defend the older people and children at the evacuation point. Personally, I think it would be best for any that don’t want to go with me to pull back and defend the evacuation point. If the raiders get past the men—and us—they may eventually find the evacuees, so they will have to move as far away as they can as fast as they can and you can certainly be a positive help with that. Bottom line is that I am going to the battlefield—alone, if need be.

“Now, those who want to provide protection at the evacuation point, raise your hands.” Four women slowly raised their hands. Linda continued, “Those who want to go with me, raise yours.” The rest of the women quickly raised their hands.

Linda said, “We’ve got a few hours of daylight left. Go home, get your gear, and meet me here in thirty minutes. Bring four of Matt’s cannons; we’ll take turns carrying them in teams of three. We’ll be marching all night. I know where Adrian plans the first engagement, and we have just enough time to get there before the shooting starts. We’re burning daylight, ladies, let’s move!”

CHAPTER 17

March 27, morning

“F
rank, bring in the group
leaders, we’re going to have a council of war.”

Frank left and sent runners out to bring the men in. Within two hours, they were gathered.

“We’ve been hit by nine ambushes in the last twenty-four hours. We’re about two days of hard marching from Fort Brazos. My gut tells me that we will engage the enemy in a major battle sometime tomorrow or the next day, probably tomorrow. They’ll throw every man they have against us, trying to defeat us before you can get to their women.

“These are farmers, not soldiers. They may have a few soldiers among them, but the majority of them are farmers. Their tactics have been to hit and run so far, not a very brave way to fight—about what you might expect from untrained hicks. The battle we come against tomorrow will be the one that breaks their back. They’ll hit us and we’ll hit back twice as hard. Your job is to kill as many of them as you can before they run. The more of them you kill out here, the fewer of them you’ll have to chase from house to house later.