Segal

MAY 2ND, 2009
1:00 PM

After a day of endless marching through sweltering jungle and steaming swamps, fighting mosquitos and skirmishing with Russian outposts, the vanguard of Groggy's regiment - Captain Grenouille and F Company - finally arrived outside the Russian fortifications at Segal in the early afternoon of May 2nd.

Segal looked like an easy enough target on paper. It was a star fort, surrounded by five sides of entrenchments manned by riflemen, mortars and machine guns. However, like the Russian positions at El Grapadura, it had only minimal artillery - a fatal handicap. The Americans had brought up several batteries of mortars and field guns, giving them an immediate advantage.

General Ramsey, who had lost two dozen men in the fighting at El Morro, urged a cautious siege to reduce the fort. But Groggy and caution were like water and oil, and so he began drawing up plans to reduce Segal without his superiors' consent. However, Brevet General Alstott caught wind of the plans, and Groggy was kept on a leash for the time being.

* * *

2:00 PM

BANG! BOOM! A flock of birds scattered, shrieking crazily, as the first shots of the battle were fired. Two batteries of American field artillery thundered, bombarding the Russian fort into rubble. The Russians, with their minimal artillery, could only hope to conserve their own ammunition for the main assault.

Groggy and his men waited anxiously on the sidelines, watching the bombardment from a thin line of trees. They had briefly seen action on the way to Segal, a ten-minute skirmish with a Russian outpost, suffering the wounding of a Private Alabaster in G Company. They had quickly overrun the Russians, taking twenty prisoners. But the horror of El Grapadura behind them, most of the men - and women - were eager to spill their foeman's blood once more.

The guns belched their deadly fire onto the Russians for over two hours. Soon the Russian entrenchments were invisible behind the drifting clouds of smoke and debris. A few hapless Russians, their bodies shattered and scattered to the four winds, could be seen bleeding in the grass and dirt around the fort.

Groggy summoned Captain Harriman, her hand still bandaged. Together they surveyed the bombardment with a learned stoicism.

"This shouldn't be too bad," Groggy said off-handedly. "One hundred fifty Russians in trenches with AKs - piece of cake."

"Well, hopefully when this smoke clears we'll be able to see them, sir," Harriman replied.

Lieutenant Colonel Starbuck arrived, saluting. "Sir, companies are formed and ready for action."

"Thank you, Colonel," Groggy replied. "Now all we have to do is wait for the damned generals to give the go ahead."

4:20 PM

Ramsey's regulars, spearheaded by the 8th Infantry Regiment, were given the task of the main assault. They would attack the fort from the stronger North and East sides. General Alstott's brigade would attack the two weaker sides, with Groggy's troops attacking the South, cutting off the Russian escape route. With the help of a group of Palacian partisans, they were able to slip past the Russian skirmishers and outposts and position themselves along the Green City road, the only line of retreat.

Ramsay's men initialized the assault. Although they suffered several casualties, they quickly overwhelmed the first line of entrenchments, sweeping the Russian troops back into their reserve redoubt. The fort might well have fallen in this first rush, but a close-range barrage of artillery and machine guns prevented the 8th from completing the job. Two other regiments, the 5th and 11th Infantry, stormed forward, and the North side redoubts were quickly overwhelmed. The East entrenchments barely put up a fight, scattering when the Americans got within a few yards of their lines.

Alstott's brigade, however, met with heavier resistance. A machine gun company was stationed on the West side, inflicting serious casualties on the 71st New York, which fell back under a heavy artillery screen. The 7th Florida advanced, attempting to carry the advance, but they, too, were repulsed. Alstott re-organized the men into a combined, en masse assault, and they carried the first line of entrenchments, but were too exhausted to press any further.

After this repulse, Alstott sent word to Groggy to initialize his assault on the South of the fort to relieve pressure on the rest of the brigade. Groggy had been led to believe his job was merely blocking the Russian escape route, but he was predictably chomping at the bit to go into action.

"Major Martinez!" Groggy bellowed.

"Sir?"

"Take your battalion and initialize an assault against the South trenches. I'll bring up the rest of the regiment in due course."

Martinez saluted and organized his troops - E, F, and G Companies - and began the advance. A pair of Russian mortar shells exploed in his front ranks, killing a Private and maiming several others, but the Major's men quickly recovered and prepared for their assault.

4:55 PM

After a brief mortar and machine gun barrage, Major Martinez led his men forward. They charged down the Green City road at double-time. Despite orders to charge directly into the trenches, Martinez's troops couldn't help but stop to return fire as they advanced. This left them susceptible to Russian gunfire, and the combined weight of machine gun, mortar and rifle fire began to take its toll.

But they quickly reached the trenches, spear-headed by Grenouille's F Company. Distinguishing himself in the fight was the former troublemaker Nirvana Naslund, who would win a Corporalcy for his actions. He took out his repressed anger and delinquency on his foes, and it was put to good use that day.

On their right, G Company went into action, with Sven Celeton decimating his blood enemies with his rifle and fists, while Whalestoe gutted many a Russian on his clamming knife. Susie, who seemed to have something of a deathwish after the death of her beloved Kyle and friends Charlie and Steve, shot down Russian after Russian without pity or mercy; her anguish seemed unstoppable.

Within ten minutes, the South side entrenchments were overrun. Groggy started to bring up the rest of the regiment to press the issue, but by then a white flag was flying over the fort.

It was a sharp, bloody little fight; the American forces lost a combined fifty-three killed and over 200 wounded, many more than at El Grapadura. But they had killed 80 Russians and taken 75 more prisoner, and had overwhelmed the last major outpost to the Molotov Heights. Now the road was open to the Molotov Heights and Green City, and the climactic phase of the campaign.