The Other Side

The Line Must Hold

Location: Village in former Atlas territory

The second wave approached ten minutes later. This time the Atlesians had basic camouflage, it wasn't much but it made spotting them harder. The artillery fire also was more precise, effectively taking down parts of the defensive line. NO forces sustain injuries and the enemy got closer to the trench, bullets passing over the New Orderians from an Atlesian machine gun set up in the forest. The machine gun was the real reason the Atlesian troops didn't get spotted. Normally their camo would only be missed at a glance, but with the NO forces being surprised they would only be in the line of sight for a second or two at max.

Of course this advantage was short lived, the NO soldiers were not going to be attacked without retaliating. A 50 cal mounted to an LAV opened fire on the machine gun, the armor paneling protecting the NO gunner which allowed him to kill the MG crew. With the gun offline the NO soldiers poked their heads out of their cover and unloaded 5.56 on the Atlas troops.

Due to the delay in time the Atlas soldiers were close enough to the first defensive line that the lone company was unable to kill them all. The first Atlas soldiers jumped into the trench and stood up and shouted for the New Orderians to surrender. The soldiers around the Atlesians moved down slowly holding their rifles and the Atlas troops thought they were giving up. They were proven wrong when a bayonet sliced the throat of their commander. The NO soldiers had actually affixed bayonets instead of surrendering and they turned the trench into a brawl. The Atlas troops managed to take out three NO soldiers in the fighting at the cost of 12 of their own.

With the damage sustained repairs would not be as easy, and the assault would only get worse. Knowing Atlas the civilians in the village would not be spared and the Faunus would more likely than not be executed or enslaved. Uyghur was not going to let that happen without a fight, neither would any New Orderian soldier. There was an option to retreat, but the soldiers would rather die than let the village be razed. 

One third of the way through repairs the next barrage began. The shells dropped were more accurate and larger, causing far more damage. The assault began within seconds of the shelling ending. Atlas soldiers were faster with this attack, choosing to sprint and get to cover fast than try and suppress the NO soldiers during a slow advance. 

The New Orderians once again opened fire, throwing rounds into the Atlesian troops. The first trench was breached once again but this time the Atlas soldiers didn't try and get the NO troops to surrender. It devolved fast into a brawl with blades and shotguns becoming the main weapon.  NO casualties mounted as they fought back the Atlas soldiers. The Atlesians, seeing they were being driven out, set up explosives and retreated. During their retreat they detonated the bombs causing the forward trench to be heavily damaged. 

The forward trench was clearly overrun. Uyghur ordered anything still up there to be pulled back to the second defensive line. This trench was slightly better, having longer to prepare and not being shelled as heavily. The NO soldiers set up defenses and sat waiting for the next assault wave. Shooting came first, from the side of the previous attacks. With this assault being on a different side it wasn't as prepared for. While the defensive line did wrap around the village most soldiers were in the part facing the previous attacks.

The three NO squads there, 15 men, started firing everything they had at their attackers as other soldiers ran over. As the Atlas soldiers approached they dove into the destroyed trench, which despite being collapsed still provided cover. The Atlesians took a moment to catch their breaths which was a large mistake, they learned it fast when mortars fired on their position. NO mortars were noticeably better than Atlesian ones. 

Atlas didn't really use artillery on the ground, often firing from airships, therefore the crews were inexperienced. Meanwhile most NO companies, with the exception being rapid response teams, had an integrated artillery unit. These artillery teams manned mortars and could drop shells on a specific building 2 miles away. The distance from the center of the village where the mortars were kept and the overrun trench wasn't even half a mile. 

The shells killed most Atlas soldiers who were in the tench. Of course the assault wave was hardly over. Atlesian soldiers still charged, this time jumping over the bombed out trench. They stepped over their fallen comrades and sprinted at the NO line. Any time they got into cover they would open fire on the NO soldiers and throw grenades. While this was effective, cover was sparse and the result was the Atlesians being cut down. The survivors had to retreat or face being turned into Swiss cheese by the New Orderian's 50 cal.

As the soldiers regrouped and spread evenly across the defensive line the Atlas artillery began it's next barrage. Shells flew and explosions occurred through and around the small village. Uyghur met up with various sergeant stories discus a new plan.

Uyghur: It is becoming obvious we may not make it to evac. CAS will take some of the pressure off of our backs but there is a good chance we will be dead before the first helicopter lands. These bastards sure as shit won't stop until we are all dead, we have to assume they won't let the civilians go.

Frasel: Sir, it sounds to me like you have given up. I know the odds of survival are slim but we can't just leave.

Uyghur: I'm not going to pull out without the helicopters landing here first. We aren't retreating but we need to find a way to keep the civilians safe. Any ideas?

Sergeant: We could load them up on the trucks and pull out with them, but we are surrounded and they will probably just hit us with an RPG. If that happens the civies will die with us.

Frasel: Sounds like we don't have any options, we just need to defend this village until everyone dies or help arrives.

Uyghur: Then that is what we'll do. Get back to your squads, I want it so one of two things happens. Either we get airlifted out, or every single soldier is KIA after taking plenty Atlesians with them.