Location: 2 km south of the village of Ladek Starey
Time: 1515 20 July 2000
<Feldwebel Gerhardt Dietricht had been running for days, hunting for opportunities to kill more tanks, opportunities
that are far and few between now that he's the lone survivor of his team, when he overhears the report of a tank
on the radio. He immediately realizes that whoever is on the radio is close, within a few klicks. He decides to
find the group and possibly link up with them. It doesn't take Dietricht long to find the convoy, as 2 duece and
a halfs make quite a bit of noise. He slowly follows along, waiting for an opportunity to introduce himself.>
Gerhardt is hungry, so hungry he thinks he's going to be sick. The last time he ate was on the road to Kalisz and
that was a quick bite, he starts thinking of his favourite foods but this quickly proves to be highly counterproductive.
The small unit he's following appears to be American and are using non-standard radio procedure so they're probably
not in contact
with anyone else. They are heading for Germany which looks good, Black Flags would hide out in the hills but Gerhardt
is still very wary, who knows these
days?
Being slightly quicker than the convoy he works his way around the side and parallel with the trucks, once over
a ridge he carefully recons the valley from an O.P. below the skyline and then traverses it in a quick spurt so
he can get in front of the American trucks. After leaving a few surprises with "Papabär" he once
again he sets up another O.P. but with even more care, he aquaints himself with some alternate exits from the position
before entering and does not use the same route twice for fear of snipers. Pressed for time, Gerhardt enters the
O.P., unhappy with the slipshod methods he is employing. Shading his binoculars lenses with his Schirmmuetze (peak
cap) he has a last long look at the Americans, noting that they are in good order and seem more concerned with
what is behind than what is in front. A wise choice considering whats after them. Then Gerhardt carefully scans
the area
behind the convoy, looking for dust, exhaust fumes or any sign of movement.
Gerhardt considers his options, taking into account the empty state of both his belly and the jerry cans back
on Papabär and weighing them against the unknown, there really is only one choice. He sighs and readies his
radio, going over in his mind the transmissions he has intercepted. "Hallo? Hallo? Schlangekonvoi? Lesen Sie
mich? Kann ich mit Schlange sechs bitte sprechen? über." Gerhadt stops and curses his stupidity, maybe
English would be a better bet! "Hello? Hello? Schlangekonvoi? Do you read me? Can I speak with Schlange six
please? over."
Lee looks at the radio with a puzzled look on his face as the German voice barks. "What the hell? Some kraut
is on our freak." He signals for the convoy to stop, then listens as the voice changes to English. "Hello,
hello...we read you, who is this? If you can see us, step out in the open." He then turns to Captain Wolfe,
"What do you make of this, Wolfe?"
Lee then waves at the rest of the convoy, "Keep an eye out guys. Someone out there speaking in German."
'Well Gerhardt my boy, you knew they'd ask you that' he thinks to himself. He vehemently hopes that the Americans
aren't trigger happy as he lifts his G36 over his head and walks down the hill and out into the open.
He appears to be a biggish man in Bundeswehr feldwebels uniform, he's holding a H&K G36K over his head
by the barrel and stock but appears to also have a sawn-off weapon of some sort as well a pistol and bayonet and
a few grenades to round it out. His gear is grimy and smoke stained and he looks very tired but is trying to smile
in an evidently friendly way. As the trucks turn up he calls out "Hallo Schlangekonvoi. I am lost."
SSG Ingle says "OK. We need to get to the rear of the T-55 to get the best shot. Driver, do you think you
can do that? I can pop any infantry or survivors who show up. Believe me, I'm a good shot."
SGM Stewart checks the wounded over one more time, then wipes down his weapon.
CPT Lee calls back to Ingle, "We'll worry about the tank later, right now, we have more pressing matters."
1700 meters south of the village of Ladek Starey
Time: 1515 20 July 2000
<Trailing the trucks isn't hard, as the duece and a halfs are rather loud. Getting close enough to get a good
view takes quite a while, as the convoy is hauling ass. >
Whitedog moves alongside the wagon to talk to Kartz. "We'll trail them for a few days, keep an eye out for
what made them bug out. I don't think we rate even this small a convoy buggen out. I'll take point and watch
for any traps. This place has been held by the enemy, so keep your training on mines and how they are deployed
in mind. I'm good but that is not my area of expertise. I'll be a hundred yards ahead unless we get to a sharp
turn.
I'd like to keep in contact, so if you catch something I need to know give a whistle. Any questions or ideas Kartz?"
With that Whitedog trots his horse ahead to pull point duty. Ears up, eyes open, nose breathing and a belief
that the world is full of things trying to kill him.
"NO, I think that is an acceptable plan, and I agree with your comments on them bugging out just because
of us..." Kartz the double, and triple checks his weapons, and follows Whitedog at the prescribed distance,
with his eyes open, his mouth shut, and his ears working."
Location: 2km East of Highway 43, 14 km Southeast of Ladek Starey
Time: 1530 20 July 2000
<Smith and Star travel towards the northwest side of Ostrzeszow. They hide the ATV in the woodline, then sneak
to an observation point about 250 meters from the town. They immediately spot several trucks coming in from the
north. They pull up near what seems to a hospital and then unload several soldiers on stretchers. The trucks then
head over to another part of the town and refuel from one of the several fuel trucks. All the guards that they
see seem to have been injured in one way or the other. There is also what seems to be a supply dump near the fuel
trucks.>
LT. Col. Star pulls out his Binoculars, and looks for markings on the trucks, looks at the uniforms on the soldiers
being taken out of the back of the truck and the uniforms of the
soldiers carrying them into what appears to be a hospital! also check out the fuel trucks and the supply depot.
Smithy sees LTC Star already conducting observation, and decides to do a bit of his own. Finding a good perch a
few paces away from Star, Smithy settles in and makes use of whatever cover there might be and covers the other
side of the base and withdraws his binoculars. He peers into them warily, noting any markings that might distinguish
the
troops from friend or foe, and also checks to see how the perimeter is guarded, if at all.
The soldiers are definitely Pact, as are the vehicles. LTC Star spots very few weapons being carried by the soldiers.
LTC Star immediately starts formulating a raid plan for after dark.