Thunder Down the Mountain

Somewhere along the way, a largish group of UAS soldiers managed to sneak through our lines and traps. I guess it's possible they've been here for longer than our precautions, which is frankly pretty fucking scary to think about for any length of time. However they managed it, the end result is what matters. That result being the total annihilation of a small community deep within the borders of the Union.

The potential loss of life would have been about a hundred people, and a very important hundred at that since the community in question had a very specific focus. They produced bullets. Not hand-made ones, either. A lot of resources went into the town, which I'm told must remain nameless, in order to give us a manufacturing base capable of making high-quality ammunition that won't foul our gun barrels.

I say the loss of life would have been a hundred or so people because thankfully the movements of the UAS soldiers was noted a day before they attacked. We were able to relocate those folks with a few hours to spare before the destruction could begin.

And that destruction was total. Heavy machine guns shredded the buildings, incendiary bombs slagged the equipment. Most of our stockpiles were picked up at their usual time with the last shipment, which was a particularly good stroke of luck. But no more new bullets will be made there.

As for the UAS soldiers in question, well...

However they discovered what the place was making, their sources of information clearly didn't warn them that we knew they were coming. Hell, they attacked from a distance at first. They weren't even aware that the place was empty until the first salvo was over and their soldiers moved in with their fiery grenades that burned hot enough to melt steel.

They surely weren't aware that even as they were coming down the small mountainous hills near our little manufacturing center, our own people watched them. There's a lot you can do with a good hunting rifle and time to find exactly the right place to shoot from. Hell, I've talked before about the sniper known as the White Death, who killed hundreds of men without the use of a scope. In winter. In the mountains.

Our people aren't that insanely good, but the plus side is that they had plenty of time to hide in places they'd be difficult to spot. Fifty men and women whose ability to fire a bullet has been directly proportional to how well they eat, every one of them insanely pissed off at the invasion before them.

Then there were the land mines. Look, I don't want to get into the details. It was bad, okay? And the UAS didn't have a single survivor from that group. Not that the total destruction of those soldiers matters on the large scale; this attack was crippling. We're still well provisioned for the time being, but the longer this drags out the more starved for bullets we're going to become. Whatever ridiculous stocks the UAS has access to, they aren't hurting for materiel.

Combined with the fact that we now know they're digging in for long-term occupation and settlement, and this does not bode well. Something is going to have to change. Fortunately, the Union and her people aren't exactly known to slack when it comes to adapting to new circumstances. We'll manage somehow.