"Better there than in the field!" Twenty Ponies remarked. He told their drivers what was up. Transport Warlock Polley looked at her maps, her blonde hair coming out of her cap. "We'll get you there, sir!" she snapped. "It's gonna be a rough five hours, but we'll get you there! But if you get bumped around a bit don't blame me! Some of these roads are pretty poorly patched."
"Just get us there!" Twenty Ponies snapped.
Another female driver ran up. "Are you Twenty Ponies?" she asked.
"Yes!" the Warlock answered.
"I've got another truck for you loaded with extra munitions, anti tank rockets, anti artillery lasers, even a few bumblebees!"
"Follow us!" Twenty Ponies snapped. The young woman saluted and hurried off. "Damn!" he thought, "How young do they recruit these damned drivers! That girl looked barely fourteen!"
They took off. There was no stopping for anything. If anybody had to go he got up, pushed out the canvas, and went! Twice their driver shouted back, "Don't you piss up my canvas!"
And whoever was going shouted back "Yes ma'am!" and everybody would giggle.
But finally the trucks rolled to a halt. The men jumped out and began to unload equipment. Twenty Ponies surveyed the scene. There were three earthworks, there was a fifty foot gap between each one. Apparently the metal baracades that used to be there had been moved somewhere else. "Not good!" he thought. They wouldn't have time to reconstruct any replacements. They'd just have to keep the enemy from getting in between them.
Warlock Polley came up. "If you're empty," Twenty Ponies snapped, "get rolling, Warlock! These trucks are too valuable to risk!"
"Sir!" the Warlock remarked, "Did you notice those six wrecks we passed coming up? I'm sure the enemy's reconnaissance has mapped them. I'd like your permission to take my trucks up there, haul the wrecks into the woods, and replace them. There we will be in full view of the road where the enemy is coming up. Each of my trucks has got an anti tank rocket. If we could knock out some of that armor it would give you a much better chance. They've got ten tanks. If there was only four, that would be all the better for you. We'll fire and run like hell! I think it's worth the risk, sir. We'll stay out of the trucks so their infrared detectors won't pick us up, run out, fire, and go!"
Twenty Ponies didn't like it, he didn't like it at all, but he knew the young woman was making a very good suggestion. If the enemy did have those vehicles marked as wrecks, there was very little chance they would waste ammunition firing at them. "Go ahead!" he snapped. "If you succeed call us on the radio and just say how few problems we have left."
"Yes sir!" the Warlock snapped. "Come on, girls!" she cried. Let's see if we can give them a little hell!"
Two nervous hours passed, then the radio operator called to Twenty Ponies.
"We've got four less problems, sir!" he remarked, "all away safe! They're mad as hell!'
"Good! Twenty Ponies cried, "Good!"
It was at that time he heard motors. Six all terrain vehicles came rolling up, their young riders looking at them curiously. "Hi guys!" one of them called, "What's up?"
"You kids had better get out of here!" Twenty Ponies snapped. "There's going to be a battle here. Things are going to get real nasty. And what are you doing wasting fuel riding around on those things?"
"We're not just riding around on them," the young man answered, "we're scouting for the local militia units, checking for contraband."
Crow's Wing came up. "Sir," he remarked, "I was thinking...these things are pretty fast. If we were to borrow them and go down the road with some anti tank rockets, maybe we could lessen the enemy's fire power even more, hit and run!"
"Well, you're not takin' our bikes!" the young man remarked. "But if you want to be given a ride we'll take you. And we know all the best ambush points!"
"Four volunteers!" Twenty Ponies snapped, "Anti tank rockets. Go with these guys! Snap to!"
Again a couple of hours went by. They heard distant explosions, a lot of them. The bikes returned.
"Whoa!" the young driver remarked, "Those guys got real mad! Your boys blew up four of their light tanks! Whom! Those rockets are nasty! You guys better get ready! They're only about an hour behind us."
Twenty Ponies looked at his watch. It was 5:30 in the morning. The enemy had been careless. That had allowed them to hurt him. He doubted if they were going to be careless any more. They had to know there was a force somewhere ahead of them. Their first elements should reach him by 6:30, the main unit by 7:00. He figured they'd just come straight at him.
"Wing!" he cried, "Turtle! Rabbit! Come here!"
The other Warlocks gathered around him. "I'm taking the center position," he remarked, "Wings, you take the left, Turtle the right, fifty men in each. I want the men to dig quick fox holes back there, on that rise. And put the light machine guns covering these gaps. Take care of anybody that tries to get thorugh. Rabbit, I want you to take your fifty men and cover that trench behind us. I'll lay odds they'll send two of their remaining tanks that way, trying to get behind us. Make sure they don't! Let's get ready, people!"