Hill Defense

Eric, Thomas and Timothy were deep in their foxholes, staring out into clearing, their rifles held close and raised, aimed in front of them. It was the third day of the siege of the hill that they were on, and things were getting dicey. There had been scattered attempts by the enemy in charging up the hill, but so far, they had managed to repel them quite effectively. But ammunition was running low, and more importantly, water itself was starting to be scarce. The hill itself wasn't exactly a fortified position; it was at best a small observation outpost due to its slightly superior height advantage.

The jungles of malaya were full of water, from the dew that gathered during the dawn and the various fruits and plants. But actual potable water was hard to come by, especially for the hill. The nearest river or stream was nearly a hundred metres away from where the trio were located, and was deep in territory controlled by the enemy. There was simply no easy way of getting hold on such sources of water. The waging of a guerilla-styled defense was hard at times. The three of them were acting as static posts, the first line of defense, the one that will get overrun eventually without fail. It was already day three. They were sure that the next day's assault on their positions would be the last one if there was no relief in sight.

Eric looked at Thomas from across his foxhole, signalling him to ask if he had any water available. Thomas signalled back: not really. Timothy was in the front of the two in his own foxhole, not taking part in the signalling discussions, and manning the portable machine gun that was in front of him, resting on its bipod. His fellow machine gunner had been killed just a few days before they had dug in to this position, but it was alright because of the dug-in---he could easily manipulate the weapon himself.

A sudden rustling made the three of them forget their thirst temporarily, their adrenaline pumping. Eric looked in the general direction of the sound and thought he detected a scout from the enemy trying to determine the dug out positions. He signalled Thomas: possibly an artillery spotter. It was just about the right tactics anyway, the three-day delay being enough to reposition artillery to support the hill assault.

(Based on an exercise generated by WriteThis - 01-Jun-2014 20:28:25)