[ambrafoxtrot]

Part 10 Armageddon in Brooksville (subpart 3)


Cantatore displayed quite a degree of coolness under adverse conditions: with the mob at less than 50 yards from his position, he listened quite calmly to Lario’s communication that he was leaving tactical reserve to rush to the hospital. He didn’t even bother to answer, no time for that…the charging mob was too close now. The thought that putting himself right in line of containment had been a bad idea was more and more a certainty now. He would lose control of the battle…but he also understood what kind of danger his CARABINIERI faced, and that it was his job to bolster their morale with his presence. Besides, if the containment line gave, there would not have been much more of a battle to control.

20 yards behind, up on the Chase Bank building roof, Hubbard didn’t have any more spare time to aim…so far he had tried to shoot accurately, picking only armed people, but the crowd didn’t stop. He abandoned any finesse and just let go into the mass. More targets fell squirting blood as his M-21 went off multiple times. Talbot watched horrified the fact that the mob, enraged instead of panicked, or a mix of the two, still would not stop. He couldn’t find anything better than adding to the carnage with his MP-5, downing some more refugees just before they impacted the CARABINIERI line.

Lario, half body exposed out of the top hatch of the VM-90 that Goia was driving at crazy speed, found himself shouting on the radio.

“November Hotel…this is Relief force coming to your rescue. Do not surrender…repeat do not surrender…we’ll be there in minutes now”.

Goia had an extremely hard time to race the VM downtown Brooksville, avoiding barricades, loose rubble, and occasional fires still burning from previous clashes, but he did his best to get the vehicle to the hospital as soon as possible. On the positive side…the total absence of traffic.

While Goia struggled to keep the VM on the road, William Ralston came to the conclusion that he would indeed have to storm the building by force, to occupy it. He still didn’t like the idea of “backstabbing” the CARABINIERI, but Bell’s orders were precise and he was a professional: he would obey those orders. Ralston slipped along the front wall of the hospital and under the window from where the Italians had previously opened fire. He gestured to Bell and Fiedler to take position on the opposite side.

“We’re going to go on three…you guys keep behind me and cover my blind spots right and left; don’t shoot at anything in front of me…I’ll take care of that. Be aware of possible civilians…if you have to shoot…look first”.

The two National Guardsmen looked worried but determined to follow Ralston instructions. Even Bell looked resigned to follow Ralston’s tactical leadership.

“Cobra this is Alpha Bravo…we are now bingo fuel and we will head towards Hernando Beach…Will come back if we can refuel…God Bless you all…over and out”.

“Alpha Bravo…roger that...disengage and good luck…out”. Cantatore looked at the Blue and white helicopter leaving Brooksville. The noise of its rotor was now matched by the screaming crowd very close to impact his defences.

Rogers did not dare to shoot on the charging crowd with a heavy MG…at least not until he thought that the Italians were fried or he received a direct order to do so. Impact being imminent now, everything was in the hand of the containment line. Moments before, he even thought to go to assist that part of the crowd that stopped and accepted to lay down weapons, but he had to abandon the idea when the other half of the refugees resumed their charge.

Lario and Goia came in view of the hospital building a couple of seconds after the American fire team had forced its way in. And they really did force their way.
Lieutenant Brusi had waited a second too much to surrender to the Americans; as soon as Ralston jumped over the window, he saw him crouched behind a desk with his assault rifle pointed in his direction. Once more the double tap shooting technique proved to be efficient in close quarter combat; the first MP-5 bullet missed by a hair Brusi’s head, but the second one hit Brusi right in his mouth, shattering five of his teeth, and exiting from his neck, just by miracle not severing anything vital. That did not prevent Brusi to go down in shock and being incapacitated.
Lieutenant medic Farro, paralyzed by the mental shock himself, was saved by Master Sergeant Fiedler, who had rushed into Ralston’s tail; Fiedler had the presence to yell at Farro to drop his weapon and raise his hands, and Farro had the presence not to force the American to repeat twice.

Cantatore, overcame any survival instinct, raised his club and threw himself in the line with his men, second apart from impact with the charging crowd. He wasn’t expecting what he saw: the line broke ranks and a human wave came right at him. It turned out that the CARABINIERI in antiriot gear just did not stand the prospective of fighting a crowd for a big part armed with hatchets, knives and other improvised melee weapons, not to mention some individuals armed with handguns. Once they had a detailed view of what they were facing, the CARABINIERI turned and fled. The few that did not realize in time what their comrades were doing were caught by the crowd and died with various degree of quickness. Among these, Brigadier Dalmazia, who lost his helmet in the stampede, and had his skull crushed. Cantatore was just marginally luckier: the mob run over him without even noticing that he was there; with multiple fractures in his rib cage and various minor wounds in other parts of his body, Cantatore was just left bleeding in the street in critical conditions. In his last seconds of consciousness he wandered what he had done wrong.

Picture #1 Ralston moments before storming the hospital
Picture #2 Cantatore's men with a scared look moments before been charged by the mob