Power Sturggle
Part 1: Rise from the Ashes
Prologue
10 October 2010
Liberty Plain-Northern part of the Zamosk Peninsula;
“Run. Run as fast as you can. Run to save yourself.” Those are the words that were on his mind at this moment. Escape. The farm was slowly approaching. One more step. One more step. The plain was full of ponds and the mud was everywhere because of the last night’s rain. Another step. In his mind he could still hear them shouting:
“Catch him! Don’t let him escape.” Only now, rethinking that moment he observed that he lost his pistol. Run. One wrong step and he fell into a pond. His uniform was filled with mud and he was wet to the skin. “Doesn’t matter. I must get to the farm,” he told himself. “I must warn them.” He started running again. After a few meters he fell again. Too tired. Exhausted even.
“Hey! Who is there?” he heard someone yell. “Look it’s a Potporučnik [1].”
The soldiers have a hammer and sickle brassard on the right arm.
“Friend!” he tried to shout but he then observed that not even himself heard the yell. The soldiers saw him and took him by the arms to the farm.
The headquarters of the National Patriotic Guards was the city of Rovograd, but since the rebellion, the commander of the guards, Pukovnik [2] Krzysztof Grozinski started commanding the militia from the field of battle, earning the respect of the soldiers. He was standing in the kitchen of the farmstead and was looking at a map of the peninsula. His jacket was split near the sleeves. It was dirty of sweat, blood and mud. This shows that he was active in battles and the soldiers loved him because of this. He didn’t sleep well for a few weeks. In the daytime he was fighting and preparing new recruits and at night he was watching the map and was thinking a way to stop once and for all this madness. The only time he had for himself was between around 2 o’clock and the morning report which was around 6 o’clock.
“Sir, the scouts are coming with the man you sent into their camp,” a soldier said
entering the kitchen without knocking.
“You mean… he survived?” he asked baffled.
“Yes, sir. He is well but over exhausted.”
“Finally some good news. Can he talk with me now?”
“I think he could sir.”
“Good. Send him here.”
A few minutes later the scouts help the Potporučnik enter the kitchen and left him with Grozinski.
“What did you saw?” the Pukovnik asked anxiously.
“They were preparing for an attack. I don’t know from whom but at the time I was there they were being delivered a towed howitzer. “
“A howitzer?” Grozinski asked nervously. “From where could they get a howitzer?”
“I don’t know, sir…”
“Do you know when they would attack?” the Pukovnik asked interrupting him.
“Yes sir I heard them talking. At the first hour in the morning, tomorrow.”
“Good. Thank you. For this, you will be rewarded then this ends. Go and get some rest. Good day. ”
“Thank you, sir.”
Grozinski left the house and started giving orders to fortify the farmstead. The night was restless in the camp the soldiers were working and Grozinski also ordered the officers to help them. It was a clear night. The moon was full and it saw shining and illuminating the whole field. No move outside the farmstead. A wolf was howling. It was sad long sound that one couldn’t forget. So many stars were above them. “You couldn’t see so many in a city or town.” Grozinski thought. A few hundred meters away from the farm the Adas Forest was starting. That night the forest was looking like a wall of darkness. From there, they would wait the enemy to come. A few hundred meters; nearly a kilometer maybe. Enough to rain bullets on them and to make them rout, without making letting them to approach the farmstead. Darkness. In the old religions of Gorno-Altai the prophets often said that a man shouldn’t be in a dark place during daytime because it shortens life. The forest was dark during the day but much darker during the night. They said that darkness represents fear and fear leads to death. Seems reasonable if you think that they will attack from the forest; death comes from the forest.
“Soon the sun will rise and we will be tested to see if we will live another day,” thought Grozinski.
He was right. An hour later, around 5 o’clock the sunrise began and with it the wind began blowing. The wind was strong and the sounds it made into the forest resemble voices, like the trees were warning them of the impending attack.
A half an hour later, the battle started with a thunder-like sound that made the earth tremble. The shell hit the earth in front of the trenches, throwing mud all around.
Someone yelled:
“Howitzer! Take cover!”
Many soldiers hid in their foxhole and others hid in the crater. Nearly two hours later the bombing stopped. The farmstead was in ruins. Some foxholes were hit by the shells killing the men within. Many were lucky and weren’t hit and escaped.
After that the enemy appeared from within the forest.
“Look at that. They are nearly a thousand and we are only a hundred.” Grozinski said to his second in command.
“Should we retreat sir?”
“No. Tell the machine gunners to position themselves at the extreme points of the trench. Order them to sweep the field when they fire but to concentrate their fire on the center.”
“Yes, sir.”
The enemy began to taunt them and after a while they began to shout propaganda. Grozinski understood nothing but a statement that he will never forget:
“We are the weapon of God!”
After a while, a whistle sounded and the enemy began attacking, shouting and yelling to intimidate the defenders. It was like Grozinski thought: they attacked the center of the trenches. The machine guns were pinning them down, killing many of them. Even so, they were still approaching. At one moment the machine guns needed to reload. The problem was that both of the weapons stopped fire at the same time. The enemy was approaching. Bullets were flying through the air, blood was everywhere, the soldiers were tired and couldn’t fight longer and the enemy was approaching. In a desperate act to stop the advance Grozinski ordered:
“Grenades. Throw them now.”
The soldiers followed the order and had thrown the grenades. The action was followed by a chain of explosions along the trenches. This scared them a little. In a last effort to rout them, Grozinski ordered his soldiers to take their bayonets and follow him. He was the first to jump out of the trench and attack. The soldiers followed him. At this moment the machine guns were ready again and started firing.
All this cascade of shocks: the chain of explosions, the bayonet attack and the machine guns firing made the enemy to retreat. A few minutes later, the enemy was beyond the forest and still running.
After the battle, some soldiers started to rob the corpses but Grozinski didn’t said anything. He was talking with his second in command:
“We lost many soldiers. If they attack again we won’t hold them again. We must retreat back to Rovograd.”
“ I agree, sir.”
After the battle he noted in his journal:
“Battle of Adas Farm: Tactical Victory-Patriotic Guards;
Real Victory-National Salvation Army;
Potporučnik-Second Lieutenant;
Pukovnik-Colonel;
Part 1: Rise from the Ashes
Prologue
10 October 2010
Liberty Plain-Northern part of the Zamosk Peninsula;
“Run. Run as fast as you can. Run to save yourself.” Those are the words that were on his mind at this moment. Escape. The farm was slowly approaching. One more step. One more step. The plain was full of ponds and the mud was everywhere because of the last night’s rain. Another step. In his mind he could still hear them shouting:
“Catch him! Don’t let him escape.” Only now, rethinking that moment he observed that he lost his pistol. Run. One wrong step and he fell into a pond. His uniform was filled with mud and he was wet to the skin. “Doesn’t matter. I must get to the farm,” he told himself. “I must warn them.” He started running again. After a few meters he fell again. Too tired. Exhausted even.
“Hey! Who is there?” he heard someone yell. “Look it’s a Potporučnik [1].”
The soldiers have a hammer and sickle brassard on the right arm.
“Friend!” he tried to shout but he then observed that not even himself heard the yell. The soldiers saw him and took him by the arms to the farm.
The headquarters of the National Patriotic Guards was the city of Rovograd, but since the rebellion, the commander of the guards, Pukovnik [2] Krzysztof Grozinski started commanding the militia from the field of battle, earning the respect of the soldiers. He was standing in the kitchen of the farmstead and was looking at a map of the peninsula. His jacket was split near the sleeves. It was dirty of sweat, blood and mud. This shows that he was active in battles and the soldiers loved him because of this. He didn’t sleep well for a few weeks. In the daytime he was fighting and preparing new recruits and at night he was watching the map and was thinking a way to stop once and for all this madness. The only time he had for himself was between around 2 o’clock and the morning report which was around 6 o’clock.
“Sir, the scouts are coming with the man you sent into their camp,” a soldier said
entering the kitchen without knocking.
“You mean… he survived?” he asked baffled.
“Yes, sir. He is well but over exhausted.”
“Finally some good news. Can he talk with me now?”
“I think he could sir.”
“Good. Send him here.”
A few minutes later the scouts help the Potporučnik enter the kitchen and left him with Grozinski.
“What did you saw?” the Pukovnik asked anxiously.
“They were preparing for an attack. I don’t know from whom but at the time I was there they were being delivered a towed howitzer. “
“A howitzer?” Grozinski asked nervously. “From where could they get a howitzer?”
“I don’t know, sir…”
“Do you know when they would attack?” the Pukovnik asked interrupting him.
“Yes sir I heard them talking. At the first hour in the morning, tomorrow.”
“Good. Thank you. For this, you will be rewarded then this ends. Go and get some rest. Good day. ”
“Thank you, sir.”
Grozinski left the house and started giving orders to fortify the farmstead. The night was restless in the camp the soldiers were working and Grozinski also ordered the officers to help them. It was a clear night. The moon was full and it saw shining and illuminating the whole field. No move outside the farmstead. A wolf was howling. It was sad long sound that one couldn’t forget. So many stars were above them. “You couldn’t see so many in a city or town.” Grozinski thought. A few hundred meters away from the farm the Adas Forest was starting. That night the forest was looking like a wall of darkness. From there, they would wait the enemy to come. A few hundred meters; nearly a kilometer maybe. Enough to rain bullets on them and to make them rout, without making letting them to approach the farmstead. Darkness. In the old religions of Gorno-Altai the prophets often said that a man shouldn’t be in a dark place during daytime because it shortens life. The forest was dark during the day but much darker during the night. They said that darkness represents fear and fear leads to death. Seems reasonable if you think that they will attack from the forest; death comes from the forest.
“Soon the sun will rise and we will be tested to see if we will live another day,” thought Grozinski.
He was right. An hour later, around 5 o’clock the sunrise began and with it the wind began blowing. The wind was strong and the sounds it made into the forest resemble voices, like the trees were warning them of the impending attack.
A half an hour later, the battle started with a thunder-like sound that made the earth tremble. The shell hit the earth in front of the trenches, throwing mud all around.
Someone yelled:
“Howitzer! Take cover!”
Many soldiers hid in their foxhole and others hid in the crater. Nearly two hours later the bombing stopped. The farmstead was in ruins. Some foxholes were hit by the shells killing the men within. Many were lucky and weren’t hit and escaped.
After that the enemy appeared from within the forest.
“Look at that. They are nearly a thousand and we are only a hundred.” Grozinski said to his second in command.
“Should we retreat sir?”
“No. Tell the machine gunners to position themselves at the extreme points of the trench. Order them to sweep the field when they fire but to concentrate their fire on the center.”
“Yes, sir.”
The enemy began to taunt them and after a while they began to shout propaganda. Grozinski understood nothing but a statement that he will never forget:
“We are the weapon of God!”
After a while, a whistle sounded and the enemy began attacking, shouting and yelling to intimidate the defenders. It was like Grozinski thought: they attacked the center of the trenches. The machine guns were pinning them down, killing many of them. Even so, they were still approaching. At one moment the machine guns needed to reload. The problem was that both of the weapons stopped fire at the same time. The enemy was approaching. Bullets were flying through the air, blood was everywhere, the soldiers were tired and couldn’t fight longer and the enemy was approaching. In a desperate act to stop the advance Grozinski ordered:
“Grenades. Throw them now.”
The soldiers followed the order and had thrown the grenades. The action was followed by a chain of explosions along the trenches. This scared them a little. In a last effort to rout them, Grozinski ordered his soldiers to take their bayonets and follow him. He was the first to jump out of the trench and attack. The soldiers followed him. At this moment the machine guns were ready again and started firing.
All this cascade of shocks: the chain of explosions, the bayonet attack and the machine guns firing made the enemy to retreat. A few minutes later, the enemy was beyond the forest and still running.
After the battle, some soldiers started to rob the corpses but Grozinski didn’t said anything. He was talking with his second in command:
“We lost many soldiers. If they attack again we won’t hold them again. We must retreat back to Rovograd.”
“ I agree, sir.”
After the battle he noted in his journal:
“Battle of Adas Farm: Tactical Victory-Patriotic Guards;
Real Victory-National Salvation Army;
Potporučnik-Second Lieutenant;
Pukovnik-Colonel;
