Free Hammer of God (Kirov Series Book 14) by John Schettler Page B

Assyrian
and Kurdish levees. Your mission will be to support the British garrison in
securing that base.”
    “Then we will want to take out
that artillery immediately,” said Troyak.
    “Agreed,” said Fedorov. “As we
will also be getting help from the Argos Fire , they will have three more
helicopters. The British also have aircraft, mostly obsolete, but they might
suppress those guns.”
    “The helicopters should be
enough,” said Troyak. “Then we should take that plateau as soon as possible.”
    “You’ll have to work with the
security detachment from Argos Fire, ” said Fedorov with a note of
caution in his voice. They call them Argonauts, a 40 man team to augment yours,
all well armed. These are ex-British SAS and commandos from our day, so they
will know their business. But will this be a problem?”
    “No problem,” said Troyak flatly
“as long as they are fighting with us, and not against us.”
    “Let’s be certain we keep things
that way, Sergeant. I want no incidents here. We left the last war behind us
when we came here, and we’re fighting this one now to see that it never
happens.” He looked at all the Marines now. “Understood?”
    “Aye sir.”
    “Once the situation is secure, we
will arrange to move your force into the main offensive against the Vichy
French. At that point you can operate with an ad-hoc force we’re putting
together—code named Sabre Force. Brigadier Kinlan has provided three troops of
British Scimitar tanks, 24 in all. There will be trucks supplied by the
British, and even a few AFVs and light scout vehicles, so you will be mobile.
We’ll move supplies of ammo for you in the KA-40, and the food and water will
come from the Brits. I don’t need to tell you how important that helicopter is,
so keep it safe. What weapons loadout would you recommend for this mission,
Sergeant?”
    “The 12.7mm Minigun on the gun
pod, the 30mm Shipunov autocannon, air-to-air defense missiles, and the 9K114
Shturm pods for some AT defense.”
    “I’ll see that it is done. The
X-3 helos from the Argos Fire will have good weaponry as well, and that
force should be all we need to silence that artillery. After Habbaniyah, you
will join with the Argonauts, and become part of Sabre Force. One other thing…
Popski will be with you from the outset to act as liaison with the British and
serve as an interpreter. He will be regarded as your senior officer, and report
directly to me. Any questions?”
    “None sir,”
    “Very good then.” Fedorov smiled.
“Go secure that airbase.”
    The Marines were more than ready.
After having to sit about in an old truck for nearly 48 hours in Egypt, they
were finally getting what they really lived for, a hot combat mission. Troyak
selected the weapons, adding auto-grenade launchers, two 82mm Podnos mortars,
and the deadly RPGs to the team’s inventory. Kirov put out to sea on the
night of March 10, 1941, moving from Alexandria to a point due east of
Jerusalem, just off the coast. They lifted off on the 11th of March, making an
in flight rendezvous with the three X-3s over the Mediterranean before heading
inland. This would cut over 400 kilometers from the distance the helos had to
fly, which was considerable. From there it was still another 875 kilometers to
Habbaniyah, and the KA-40 could only range out 1200 kilometers.
    To solve that problem they
planned to make an initial ferry mission to the deserts of Jordan, where a
small base designated “Tango-1” was established near the border of Iraq, about
425 kilometers inland, or half the distance to the airfield. The helo offloaded
the first ten Marines, containers of aviation fuel, and reserve ammo before
returning to the ship to run that same mission again. Zykov pulled the lead
team duty with nine other Marines. They would wait for the main mission to land
there before heading to Habbaniyah, and in this way they would still have two
thirds of their fuel, which was more than enough to operate and