Commando City: A World at War Novel (World at War Online Book 7) by Mitchell T. Jacobs Read Free Book Online Page B

lightly.”
    “OK then, what do you think we should do? We have to start taking districts, otherwise this fight is going to drag on for months. And we can't afford that.”
    There it was again, Nora thought to herself. The impatience that had long seethed just under the surface was starting to flare up again, and it threatened to completely derail their progress. They had to balance between being too cautious and being too aggressive, and right now they were trending toward the later.
    Nora could understand everyone's feelings, because she had felt them herself. The fight for Milwaukee had already taken several months, and though they had made progress there was still no end in sight. In contrast to their rapid advances in the beginning stages of the war, this fight was a slow crawl, a grind for every last inch of ground.
    Maybe they had been spoiled by their rapid progress in Indianapolis. With careful planning, the Hydra Alliance had managed to take many districts within a few hours. Several had to be fought over for a long stretch of time, but those fights lasted little more than a month, and each successive one broke the enemy more and more.
    But even though they had won a major victory against Ragnarok, their enemy wasn't defeated. Not even close. Ragnarok still had over half the city in their hands, a strong, veteran and versatile army, extensive industrial capability and a host of determined members. They could match Hydra in a technological race, and their best units could match or even exceed the capabilities of Hydra's elites.
    Fighting against such a strong opponent meant they had to work for every small victory, constantly on the lookout for any signs of weakness. It became tiring at times, and Nora knew everyone wanted to crush their opponents. Going up against someone strong proved to be quite the thrill, but the enjoyment of it was severely diminished if they didn't win.
    But this? A measure like this seemed like an extreme gamble at first glance, and like the rest of the battalion, Nora remained skeptical.
    “OK, let's start from scratch,” Karen said. “Let's assume for a moment that we think this operation is feasible. Now, given that, what can we do to make it work? What kind of problems would we face and how can we mitigate them?”
    Nora thought for a moment. “First things first, we have to get on the ground. It doesn't matter what we can or can't bring to the fight or if we can supply them, if we can't on the ground and get assembled then we're dead on arrival.”
    “And I think we need to have a better way of getting everyone in the right place,” Liz agreed. “I went over the data from the last battle. Alpha Wolf Platoon got torn up because they dropped slightly north of their planned location. It was just a slight deviation, but it put them right over an AA position, and then we all know what happened.”
    “That's a matter of pilot error, and there's not much they could have done about it,” Robbie shrugged. “It's hard enough to get to a pinpoint location in a helicopter, let along in a plane that can only go forward.”
    “So, do we want to go with one of our original plans?” Neil asked. “Weren't we supposed to have a pathfinder platoon?”
    They were, but time constraints had forced them to scrap that idea. Their original idea had been to deploy a unit with ram air parachutes. They could steer themselves onto the target, secure the landing zone and then guide in the rest of the paratroopers using their beacons.
    “Trouble is, are we going to run into those same time constraints,” Robbie said.
    Nora decided to speak up again. “If we're going through with this, we need to have every advantage possible. If we have to take some extra time to ensure we have a properly trained pathfinder platoon, then so be it. It's necessary.”
    “Agreed,” Anna said. “If we're going to make a jump like this then we're going to be prepared. That's one thing I'm not willing to negotiate with