Location: South of Sieradz-Kalisz Road
TIME 0830 18 July 2000
(MAP of the situation)
CPT Cappanetti calls out on the radio to SSG Cutter, "Cutter: talk to 'em! Get 'em to hold up out of blast
radius of you..."
SSG Cutter replies "They ain't friendly sir!, not unless AK's are standard issue for us!"
CPT Cappanetti calls SSG Martinez and tells him "don't get too close but flank left and back off 10 meters!"
SSG Martinez replies "Moving, Sir"
CPT Cappanetti reaches into the cab and grabs the M249 SAW and tosses it to The Major. "ever use one of the
before?" he asks the Major as he double-checks his M203.
"Once or Twice" replies the Major, "I'll cover our 6...don't want anybody sneaking up on us and
taking the truck" shouts the Major as he heads west.
CPT Cappanetti starts moving east and mutters "Man I wish we had some armor!" CPT Cappanetti makes it
about 20 meters when he hears the 60 open up. He mutters, "that's NOT what I meant by speaking to them!"
SSG Cutter brings the M60 to bear on the 3 approaching soldiers, taking aim at the soldier carrying the submachine
gun. As SSG Cutter fires, the soldiers dive for cover, but the one with the submachine gun isn't quite fast enough,
as SSG Cutter rips him nearly in two with the Pig (M60).
The soldier to the left of the one with the submachine gun fires at SSG Cutter, hitting him high in the Left Arm,
throwing him off balance.
Suddenly, Cutter is lifted up off is feet as he's hit in the chest by a burst from an unseen soldier. Cutter sees
the soldier and his machine gun just before he slumps down into the humvee, unconscious. The 2 remaining soldiers
of the 1st group continue to fire at the humvee, making sure Cutter is going to stick his head out.
As CPT Cappanetti reaches the ground swell that the humvee is parked behind, he spots 4 men near the machine gun.
CPT Cappanetti quickly figures the range between him and the 4 men, and takes aim with the M203.
SSG Martinez reaches the ground swell about the same time the captain does and fires as he moves, missing his target.
The soldier that SSG Martinez fired at returns fire and hits Martinez in the head. Martinez drops like a ton of
bricks.
CPT Cappanetti fires the M203 at the machinegunner...dropping the round just short of him. 3 of the men near the
machinegun scream out in pain. The remaining man dives for cover, not knowing where the grenade came from.
CPT Cappanetti loses sight of the 4th man, but sees the 3 that he hit with the grenade still moving...so he makes
sure all three are dead with a few well placed bursts.
SSG Martinez shakes his head and blinks a few times..."WHA! that hurt....gotta quit doing that!" Martinez
glances at the soldier that had hit him, the soldier doesn't seem to notice Martinez is moving..."Payback's
a bitch" he muttered as he aims at the soldier.
SSG Martinez fires at the soldier hitting him in the right arm, the last casing however doesn't eject. SSG Martinez
clears the jam and fires a quick shot at the soldier but misses.
CPT Cappanetti catches a glimpse of the 4th soldier and fires a burst at him...missing. CPT Cappanetti fires at
him again, this time hitting him in the head and left leg.
SSG Martinez fires at his target again...killing him.
CPT Cappanetti fires again at his target...tearing his left leg to shreds and killing him.
The remaining soldier sees his buddy get killed and decides the humvee wasn't such an easy mark. The soldier gets
up and starts running away. Both SSG Martinez and CPT Cappanetti fire at him, but both miss. The soldier gets away.
SSG Martinez rushes to the humvee to check on SSG Cutter. As he arrives SSG Cutter regains consciousness. SSG Cutter
coughs as he tries to sit up...."man that hurt."
SSG Martinez quickly rips open SSG Cutter's kevlar vest and says "you're lucky, the rounds glanced off your
ribs. SSG Martinez bandages up SSG Cutter, saying "I'm no medic, but you should be okay."
The Major calls in and asks for a sitrep. When he gets it he says "Damn...let's hope that one that got away
doesn't have any friends." "I doubt it" Says CPT Cappanetti "they look like stragglers."
Meanwhile...
The past few weeks haven't been the best for Sergeant Major (SGM) Brantley. First, the ambush didn't goes as planned,
and to top it off, he got separated from the rest of his unit, deep in enemy territory. He thought his luck had
changed for the better when he linked up with the 4-12 Cavalry. "They may be army pukes, but at least they
ain't Russian." SGM Brantley was assigned to 1st brigade, since they had the fewest snipers. Things were going
well, until he heard the orders for the breakout. Today was even worse. The humvee he was riding in hit a mine,
throwing him clear. He rushed to the humvee, but it was too late, the others were dead and the humvee was on fire.
He grabbed his rucksack and sprinted away just before it exploded. SGM Brantley had just decided to head south
towards the forest, when he heard the unmistakable sound of the M60, and it being answered by AKs. "Sh*t!"
he muttered as he started moving towards the gunfire..."It just ain't my day!"
As SGM Brantley moved towards the gunfire he the rattle of a soviet machine-gun, then a grenade, then the pop pop
pop of M16s firing. As he made his way towards the fire fight, he noticed the AKs weren't firing much.
The final shots he heard were of M16s, "well" he mutters, "sounds like the good guys won."
Just then he catches a glimpse of movement about 150 meters to his front. Quickly taking cover, he settles the
cross hairs on the soldier. The soldier is carrying an AK and is wearing a soviet uniform. SGM Brantley moves the
cross hairs to his head and says "Give Stalin my regards" as he squeezes the trigger. "Kill number
87" he cracks as the soldier drops like a rock, helmet flying up. SGM Brantley chambers another round as he
heads to check out Kill #87. (I'll list what you found at the end).
SSG Martinez was scanning towards the east with his binoculars, when he spots movement. "Sir, I got movement!"
"Looks like that jarhead that was assigned to brigade." "Let him get closer, then challenge him"
replies the Major.
The marine seems to approach slowly and deliberately, watching for the enemy as he moves forward. After the challenge
and a quick introduction, SGM Brantley says "who's in charge?"
The Major steps up and says "ME." SGM Brantley asks for a quick sitrep. CPT Cappanetti rattles off the
events of the last 10 minutes, and then says "then one got away. About 2 minutes later, we heard a single
shot, which must of been you." SGM Brantley says "I figured he was a straggler from the fire fight, that
or he was going for help. He didn't have much on him, just a few magazines for his rifle and a few grenades. He
must have been a raw recruit, couldn't have been more than 16 or 17."
After a few minutes, SGM Brantley suggests that you police up the bodies and move out..."The buzzards will
give away this location. Also, I heard someone on the brigade frequency...might try to contact them."
The Major then snaps out a few quick orders...
"Cutter, you try raising those friendlies that the Sergeant Major heard."
"Martinez, you keep your eyes peeled"
"Captain, you take the Sergeant Major and search those bodies"
"I'll cover our 6. Now MOVE OUT!"
"Major. I got 'em...want me to tell them where we are?" asks Cutter.
"No, send them about 500 meters east of our position...once we're sure they are friendly, then we'll bring
them in."
"Roger Sir" says Cutter as he begins to give the friendlies the location.
"Captain, got any antitank rockets in the truck? just in case..."
"Yes sir, I'll grab Cutter and set up" replies CPT Cappanetti
"Humvee, with looks like a Mk19. They look like they are alone." calls Martinez.
"Okay, guide them in" replies the Major.
As the Humvee gets close, the gunner swivels the Mk19 so that it's not aimed the the group, but could easily be.
The driver gets out and says "I'm Captain Wolfe and that is Sergeant Major Martinez (pointing at the gunner),
who's in charge here?"
"I am" says the Major "and we are about to move about 500 meters south of this position...buzzards
attract vermin...like Russians. You'll take the lead, SGM Brantley will ride with you to guide you to the new position."
"Yes sir" replies CPT Wolfe
The group moves to the new location, setting the humvees on the perimeter (let me know how exactly you are set
up).
After the perimeter is set, CPT Wolfe pulls out his map and says "Where to Major?"