Fields of Fire Chapter 1.3: Negotiations - SFC Eryk Gawlik
Welcome back to Fields of Fire! After a close call with a Soviet BMP, the group will continue their mission of rescuing the group of American soldiers from the Polish Militia. This chapter will be told through SFC Eryk Gawlik’s eyes.
—-
Evening - July 11th, 2000
In all my wildest dreams, I never thought I’d be getting ready to assault a group of my countrymen, with an American soldier and a German university student, just after being shot at by a Soviet BTR. What a world this has become. Still, this must be done and I must do it.
I hope we will not have to spill blood today, but I am not sure at this point. Perhaps the American can talk some sense into these locals. That or it comes to bullets. Either way, we need to do this.
We creep up to the edge of this shopping center. I can see rubble and smoke from recent explosions. Maybe the Soviet convoy took some pop shots at the militia as they came past. Maybe the militia was stupid enough to shoot back. Who knows.
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| Milita will fortify anything they can. Photo by Nareeta Martin on Unsplash |
I get a bit closer to have a look.
Eryk - Intelligence C + Recon C
No successes, Pushed for 2 Successes
So what are they up against? I’ll say he sees 2 D3 militia outside the market spread out. That’s four. And they are arrayed in along the entrance to the market, or what was the entrance before it got blown out. Two are standing in a pile of rubble on the road leading into the small group of buildings.
He also sees these militias are not armed well. Three of them have civilian-style rifles, two with hunting rifles, and one with a shotgun. The fourth has a military-style rifle, likely an M-16. I’ll stat things out if/when it comes to blows.
I tell the American and the German what I see. “Is there anything about them you recognize?” he asked.
“Yes, because I know every single Pole in the country. There are 38 million Poles. Or there were.”
The smug American shakes his head, “No, I mean do they look like soldiers or former soldiers or anything like that?”
“Service is compulsory for all Polish 18-year-olds, so we can say they know something about fighting. But the way they look, how they are standing, and their laxity show me they have forgotten a lot about being soldiers.”
Sonja asks, “Do you think they’d speak with us? This doesn’t need to lead to bloodshed.”
“They won’t speak to either of you,” I grunt, “but they may speak with me. They will be jumpy after that Soviet convoy just came through. If they think we are Russian, they will shoot at us.”
I sigh about the stupidity of all this. I sling my rifle, not wanting to look aggressive, and start slowly walking down the road to the supermarket.
About 100 meters from the rubble, they spot me. So unprofessional. A clear “STOP!” rings out, and I see rifles lowered at me.
I yell back in Polish, “I am a friend! Let me get closer to speak. I am a patriot of our beautiful country!”
There is a lot of whispered talking, and then a voice, “Are you alone comrade?”
“I am!” I lie. No use in telling them I have an American and German along for the trip.
“OK! Come closer, but no funny business or you’ll be shot.”
Walking to the group, I see all their weapons pointing at me, but nobody looking anywhere else. This would be such an easy ambush if I were interested in it.
I get closer, and a big man with a beard and an American M-16 comes up to me. “Friend, please do not lie to me. Were you with that Soviet patrol? Did you fall off a truck and think it’s better to come to us? If that’s the truth, you’ll end up in prison with those other soldiers we’ve captured.”
“No friend. I am no Soviet nor would I ever work with an invader. I’m just traveling through the area is all.”
The big man considers this for a while. “Where are you traveling to?”
“West is the goal. To find any Polish Army unit and continue the fight against the invaders. What is your goal here?”
“To survive. To protect my people against soldiers of any nation who may harm them.”
“I see. You said you have soldiers under guard. For what crime?”
“Ah yes. Americans. Three of them. They broke into the supermarket to steal our food. We got the drop on them. They had deserted their unit and therefore deserted Poland. We are planning on conducting the sentence on them today. They’ve already been tried.”
“So you have a judge here? A court? A prosecutor and police?” I ask.
The big man smirks, “We are the judge when it comes to protecting our people. Judges, police, the military. All gone like Warsaw. We are on our own out here, nobody helps us. We help ourselves.”
We are going to have to see if Eryk can convince this man or if it will get more serious.
Eryk - Empathy C - No persuasion skill
1 Success!
“Brother. I am here. I am a friend. Let me help you. Hurting Americans, even if they stole from you, is a bad idea. Have you spent time with American soldiers? They have this crazy notion that no one be left behind. They will come looking for these troops, and when they come to your village, what will your people say? Someone will tell the truth.”
“And if the Americans never come?”
Considering this for a second, I say, “Do you think the Soviets will also take kindly to a group of Polish militia killing foreign troops? They may not even ask questions. Give these Americans to me, and they will leave.”
The big man hesitates. “But they stole from us. I can’t leave that alone. What if we don’t have enough food to make it now?”
“I’ll trade you for them. One full 7.62 magazine?”
“More than that.”
“OK, a grenade and a magazine. That’s worth what they ate before you caught them and more so.”
“Deal.” And the big man puts out a dirty hand. I shake it.
I look up at the roof of the Supermarket and notice an antenna. “Who are you speaking to on the radio my friend?”
“We mostly just talk, and nobody responds. I figure it’s a good idea to try to connect to the other true patriots of Poland. Have you heard of the Silesia Army? They broadcast out of North Silesia somewhere, asking Polish soldiers to come and fight for them.”
I nod at this interesting development. We stand around making small talk for a while as the big man’s people go get the Americans. He asks me where I’m from, and I tell him Eastern Poland. He’s from here. But we both really don’t care.
Finally, a group of three ragged American soldiers exit the building under guard. The big man says “Good, take these Americans away from here, and if they come back, we will shoot them on sight.”
I nod again and wave to the Americans to follow me. They look confused and scared but do so because the militia looks less welcoming than I do. They speak to me in English, asking who I am and where I’m taking them. I don’t respond, not where the militia can hear me.
After a couple of hundred meters, I look back to see we are out of sight from the supermarket. I turned to the Americans and say “You are safe now. I have friends close by, another American, and a German. We will help you if we can.”
On cue, Diaz and Sonja step out of the brush on the side of the road. The American soldiers seem even more surprised now.
“I’m First LT Joe Diaz of the 5th Infantry Division. As my friend Eryk said, you are safe now. Can you tell me what happened and who you are?”
One of the soldiers stepped forward, a woman in her late 20s it seems. “I’m Captain Forrester of the 7th Military Intelligence Battalion. This is Sergeant Grace and Specialist Han. We got nabbed by those militia on our way south. A bit embarrassing really. We popped into the market for some shelter and to look for food, and before we knew it, they surrounded us. Only Grace had a rifle, and I just had my M9. So we surrendered. I can’t speak Polish, but I figured we were in a bad way before you got us out. Thank you.”
“No problem. We don’t leave anyone behind,” Diaz says. I laugh inside. I’ve seen plenty of Americans get left behind in this war. Diaz continues, “Do you want to come with us? We have a car that’s working, and we are aiming to get back to Germany?”
“LT, do you have any orders or know what’s going on in this part of Poland? Do any of you?”
I shake my head. So does Diaz and Sonja.
“Well, it’s bad. The whole damn Reserve Soviet Army is sitting between us and the German border. Probably some of the only actual military formations left this side of the Rhine. You can’t go West. Maybe North? Maybe South. But not West. Oh, and Lodz is crawling with Soviets as their rear supply base.”
I chime in, “So that is where that convoy was heading from and going to!”
The Captain nods, “Yeah probably. As for us, we have our orders and a mission to carry out. I can’t tell you about it, but we are traveling South and leaving now. Again thank you LT for saving our asses.”
“Of course Captain, but you're the first-ranking officers I’ve met in a week. Are there any orders? What should I do?”
Smiling, Captain Forrester says, “You heard the general over the radio, right? Good luck, and you are on your own. But keep doing what you're doing. Get to a NATO unit where you can be safe. Look, the area between the Prosna and Warta rivers are where the Soviet Reserve Army is based. Stay away. They still have tanks and a few helicopters.
“They control Koto also, so North will be hard. Maybe sneak south between the Warta and Lodz. Or go east. I’ve heard there are fewer actual units that way, but there are more gangs and militia.”
I ask, “Any NATO or Polish units close by? Anything?”
“Yes, but they won’t help you. It’s where we are headed, and don’t ask again. I can’t say anything. Look, I’ve heard rumors, only rumors of friendly Polish forces a bit west of Warsaw. And maybe some remnants of the US 5th Division south past Radomsko. But it’s just rumors. Now we have to go. I’ve lost enough time already. Good luck, and thank you again. You're a good group, and I hope you make it.”
With that, the Captain and her small squad start walking fast down the road to the South…
—-
Well, there you go. A successful mission and no bloodshed. As awful as post-WW3 is, this event may give the group hope…
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love everything about this playthrough ! just recently picked up Twilight 2k for my own solo play, and your playthrough has already given me ideas on how i want to tackle my own game. keep up the great work !
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