Operation Currahee, Fight #4

All,

It is now 0330 on 27 July 1990, and the twenty paratroopers of Lt Villagrosa's ODA-212 are descending to earth below silk canopies, having just departed a loaner C-130 as part of Operation Currahee, the Cuban operation to secure space for Cuban reinforcements to enter South Leon following the full-scale invasion launched by Fédération Socialiste Nationale de Leon (FSNL).  Upon landing they will immediately form up and assault any and all enemy positions identified (in the event, it would turn out that intelligence information provided by South Leon government elements, via Task Group Fulgencio, would prove quite accurate).  This is the fourth fight of the chaotic first minutes on the ground...

Overview of the entire battlespace (town of Gimbala, with Ruhala River running east to west), north is right.  This fight is taking place at an enemy defensive position atop Hill 57 (bottom right), with Cuban paras attacking out of the fields at center bottom right.

The good guys, all twenty of them.  Due to the strain of multiple deployments, the War of Liberation concluding only months ago, and the pace of expansion of the CLEF, this unit is more akin to a platoon of US Army Rangers than US Army Special Forces, despite being labeled an Operational Detachment Alpha (ODA).  The troops are lined up in teams, with each row (top to bottom) being a team: at far right is the HQ element, consisting of Lt Villagrosa, the Det NCOIC, and two medics, then team 1, 2, 3, and 4, each consisting of a team leader, grenadier, SAW gunner, and rifleman.

I have created a roster for ODA-212 here on the blog, it's labeled "Task Force Dusty," but please keep in mind there has just been a parachute drop and the teams are scattered and mixed together in "LGOPs" (Little Groups Of Paratroopers).

These are 15mm Modern US Marines from Flytrap Factory.

The bad guys, of which I'll be using between five and ten per fight.  These are Battlefront 15mm East German mechanized infantry, with two leaders, two RPK LMGs, two RPGs, and six riflemen.

Overview, north is up.  The Cubans are strung out along the bottom of the photo, while the bad guys have a defensive position atop Hill 57 (top center right) and a few pickets spread across top center to top left.

The Cubans: far left is Staff Sergeant Miranda, a 37-year old former New York City EMT that joined the CLA and jumped into Cuba during the War of Liberation.  He's one of the detachment's two medics.  At top center is Private Sanchez, an 18-year old son of a small town Cuban mayor, kinda awkward and clumsy, doesn't think everything through.  At far right is PFC Machado, an 18-year old that joined the CLEF after the War of Liberation. During the war he aided a shot-down CLA pilot back to friendly lines.  At bottom center left is Specialist 4 Altuve, a 28-year old former Sergeant in Castro's Army that deserted during the War of Liberation and joined the CLA, fighting with the 8th Popular Force Battalion.  At bottom center right is Staff Sergeant Ruiz, a 29-year old former US Navy Machinists Mate that joined the CLA and served as a Marine during the War of Liberation.

Looking south to north at the FSNL defensive positions.  At top left is the sandbagged position atop Hill 57, which contains a rifleman, a Sergeant, and an RPK light machine gun.  They the enemy has two riflemen as pickets, at far left and bottom right, respectively.

Doc Miranda (far left) gets out of chute and tries to get a read on the situation as Pvt Sanchez (top center) and SP4 Altuve (bottom left) move up.

The enemy Sergeant (bottom center) noticed movement in the fields to the south and takes a look: he spots Doc (top center) and Altuve (top left) and hollers out a warning to his men!  The enemy machine gunner (bottom left) shifts position, sights in on the location his Sergeant points out.  He lets rip with a burst from his RPK, and a 7.62mm round slams into Altuve's left thigh, punching him to the ground!

The enemy rifleman in the defensive position then moves right (bottom right) and sights in on Doc Miranda (top center).  He raises his AK and fires, and rounds zip past the 37-year old NYC resident.

As the enemy defensive position (off camera to left, you can see the orange tracer at far left), the two enemy riflemen further down the hill hear their gunfire and begin moving up the right flank (bottom left and far right), though they can't spot any of the Cubans (top center/left) yet.

In the Cuban rear, the enemy machine gun fire slackens and SSG Ruiz dashes up to Altuve, who's writhing in pain.  SSG Ruiz quickly takes a look, then gets him bandaged up.  "Do you need morphine?"  "Negative Sergeant, just hand me my weapon."  SSG Ruize nods and hands Altuve his SAW, which he promptly makes ready for action.

SSG Ruiz yells 'cover me!' then begins moving up (bottom center left, with Altuve and his red bead at bottom left), firing at the enemy position (top center right) as he goes, hitting nothing.

And with that, one of the enemy pickets on their right (bottom left) sights in on SSG Ruiz (top center) and fires, missing.

While his buddy keeps pushing further right (the guy that just shot is just off screen at bottom left, the other picket is at bottom right).

Atop Hill 57, the enemy machine gunner (bottom left) spots SSG Ruiz (top center) and shift fire.  He cuts loose with another burst of fire and the former US sailor goes down in a heap, out of the fight!

The enemy rifleman (bottom center left) continues firing on Doc Miranda (top right)...

...but Doc is sprinting to SSG Ruiz (far left) and the rounds impact behind him (bottom right).  Doc screams out "I need help, lay down some fire quick, I gotta get Ruiz to cover!"

PFC Machado (bottom right) answers Doc's (off camera to bottom left) call: he gets to the nearby cottage wall (bottom center, with Pvt Sanchez at left, just below the trees), brings his SAW up, and opens fire on the enemy emplacement (top center), though the rounds slam harmlessly into the sandbags

Machado (just visible at far right) is pumping rounds through his SAW, and Altuve (bottom center left, with red bead) fights through the pain and joins him, firing off a long burst that pins the enemy Sergeant (top center).

With two SAWs going (Machado is at bottom left), Sanchez dashes forward, (center), looking to get up the hill.

The enemy Sergeant (bottom center) returns fire on Machado (top left) with his AK, but misses.

Altuve (far left) keeps firing his SAW, hitting the enemy machine gunner in the shoulder, as Doc Miranda drags SSG Ruiz (bottom right) to cover and begins working on saving his life.

Machado (bottom left) is screaming at Sanchez (right) to keep going as he pours fire into the enemy emplacement (top right).

Doc Miranda (bottom center) gets SSG Ruiz stabilized, while Altuve (bottom left), getting weak from the loss of blood, continues firing at the enemy emplacement (top right, with Sanchez at far right).

Sanchez hauls ass up the hill, almost making it to a copse of trees (far right), as Machado (bottom left) keeps firing bursts into the enemy position, and this time his rounds meet flesh: the enemy rifleman there goes down, out of the fight!

The enemy machine gunner tries to bandage his shoulder and get back in the fight (red bead at bottom right), but he's having a hard time doing it himself.  And his Sergeant (yellow bead) is in no position to help as he's busy trying to keep up fire on the Cubans, sending another volley of rounds at PFC Machado (top left).  Neither are aware that Sanchez (far left) is nearly upon them; the Sergeant's big concern at this point is wondering where the hell his two pickets are.

Having no idea how perilous the situation is atop Hill 57 (off camera to left), the two enemy pickets continue looping around the right side (center right and top center right).  They are inexperienced and a little scared, so they're not moving nearly as aggressively as their Sergeant would like.

PFC Machado (bottom left) is locked onto the enemy position on Hill 57 (off camera to top right), so he doesn't see the two enemy pickets (top right and top center left).

So he (bottom center right) and Altuve (bottom left) continue firing on the enemy emplacement (top center right), suppressing the enemy Sergeant.  The enemy situation atop the hill is not good: the Sergeant is suppressed, the machine gunner is hit in the shoulder and working on getting himself back in the fight, and the rifleman is dead.

Pvt Sanchez takes a deep breath: "I'm here, time to be the hero."  He ponders pulling out a hand grenade and tossing it into the enemy position, but he's aware he's kind of clumsy, so he rules that out.  "Gonna have to do this the old fashioned way."

Sanchez shoulders his M-16 and begins shuffling towards the enemy position, firing as he goes...

Sanchez is super keyed up and his rounds go high, but he keeps moving forward and the next thing he knows he's launched himself into the enemy position!!!

The Cuban kid shoots the surprised machine gunner in the chest, then shoots the enemy Sergeant just as he's turning to see what the hell is going on, both out of the fight!  Sanchez moves up to get a better luck, and to signal his comrades he's taken the hill!  But as he steps up, a round from one of the SAWs hits him in the arm, spinning him around and planting him on his ass!

I told you he doesn't always think things all the way through!

Doc Miranda sees Sanchez on top of the hill (far right) get hit and go down; "cease fire, cease fire, you hit Sanchez!!!"  And with that, Doc leaves SSG Ruiz lying in the bushes (off camera to left bottom) and sprints forward (center bottom left, with Machado at bottom left), looking to get up the hill.  Still no one has spotted the two enemy pickets (top center right and top left).

But they finally make their presence felt: "Dembe, I don't hear any firing from our guys on the hill, we'd better pinch in and see what is going on."  Both pickets move left (bottom center and right), and the guy on the right spots Machado (top left) and opens fire.  The rounds miss, but the young Cuban nearly soils himself at the shock of taking fire from so close and such an unexpected direction!

The other picket (bottom right) spots Altuve (top left) and fires, but misses.

The enemy fire drove Machado (left) to flop on his face behind the cottage wall, and Doc Miranda (bottom right) halted his trek up the hill until he could figure out what the hell was going on, unable to see the bad guys (off camera to top right).

Though Doc and Machado can't see anything (far right), luckily Altuve (bottom center) could.  While he didn't have an exact location pinned down and couldn't really see anything, he saw the muzzle flashes and aimed in on those, spraying and praying, but ultimately coming nowhere near the bad guy (top left)...

Machado (bottom left) still doesn't want to raise his head up above the wall: "Doc!  Doc!  Where are they???"  "I don't know!"  Doc peered west (top, where the bad guys are) in the pre-dawn darkness and, predictably, didn't see anything.  "I gotta get to Sanchez and see if he's alright!"  And with that, Doc set out at a sprint to get up the hill (right, from the trees at left center).

Altuve (bottom center) checks fire for a moment and looks over his sights...  There!  He spots movement as an enemy soldier pops his head up to look around.  Altuve yanks the trigger and sends seven rounds in his direction, and one pops the bad guy right in the chest!

Atop the hill, Sanchez is staring into the night sky, wondering what the hell just happened.  It's perfectly still atop Hill 57 and the sky is beautiful, but he can hear AKs and SAWs exchanging fire down below him.  But even that's not enough to pull him out of his stupor; what finally wakes him up is the incredible pain in his left arm.  He sits up and looks around, not sure what to do.  He reaches into his pack for a bandage, but he accidentally flips it over in the dark, scattering the first aid kit's contents all over the ground.  Dammit!!!

The wounded enemy rifleman (bottom left) is still in shock from the pain of taking one in the chest; his partner moves up (far right) and sprays AK rounds at Altuve (top center, with Machado still cowering behind the wall at top left), keeping his head down.

He continues pouring fire at Altuve, and now the rounds are getting close, forcing Altuve's nose deep into the dirt.

But as Altuve is figuring out exactly what kind minerals the soil of South Leon is composed of (far left), Machado (bottom center right) finally realizes he's no longer taking fire and pops his head up.  He spots the enemy soldier firing on Altuve and cuts loose, but misses.

As the firefight rages across the meadow (top), the old-man Doc finally makes it up the hill, where he promptly leans on a nearby tree to catch his breath (left).  Sanchez spots him; "hey Doc, how are you?"  Sanchez then stands up, but promptly falls back down.  "What the hell???"  "Sit down kid, relax, you've lost a lot of blood.  I'll be right with ya."

The far enemy picket realizes that having being on the receiving end of two Cuban SAWs is not where he needs to be, so he falls back (center, from top left).  "Dembe, Dembe, where are you?  Are you okay?"  But his friend has been hit in the chest and can't speak; the picket finds Dembe only by the sound of his labored breathing.

"Hang on Dembe, I'm going to get you out of here, you'll be okay."  The enemy soldier gingerly picked up his friend and began helping him to the shelter of a nearby house in Gambala.  While they've escaped immediate danger from the Cubans, they've moved right onto Main Street, with Lt Villagrosa leading more Cubans up from the south.  We'll be seeing these guys again (fight number 8).

Meanwhile, back with the Cubans, Doc Miranda quickly patched up Sanchez atop Hill 57, then moved back down the hill where he grabbed Machado and they ferried SSG Ruiz and SP4 Altuve up the hill, occupying the former enemy defensive position.  Doc told Sanchez and Machado to establish security and prepare for an enemy counterattack, then began working on Altuve.  He checked his wound and reset the bandages, then helped him into firing position; "sorry buddy, but we need every gun we can get in the line."  Then he looked back over to SSG Ruiz; "dammit," he muttered.  He sat next to his fellow NCO and began working on him.  "Hang in there buddy."  Ultimately SSG Ruiz is out of action (hit in the chest), and while Altuve is able to continue the fight, he's immobilized (hit in the left thigh), and they both need to be evacuated as soon as possible and will be out of action for about the next two months.  Sanchez was hit in the arm, and though he can fight too, he needs to be evacuated also, and will be out of action for about a week.

For his actions in reducing the enemy defensive position atop Hill 57 in close combat, Pvt Sanchez received the Estrella de Plata (the Silver Star).  It only sucks that he lost situational awareness right after he did it and hopped out into the line of fire, catching a friendly round in the arm...

In the overall scheme of things, a very fun fight, very interesting in terms of how things developed, with Altuve being WIA then hanging in there to continue delivering accurate, sustained fire, Doc Miranda treating him and then rescuing SSG Ruiz, then taking the hill, then the last ditch firefight on the left with the two enemy pickets.  If you're wondering why the enemy pickets weren't more aggressive, didn't work harder to relieve pressure on their comrades in the emplacement, the reasons are two-fold.  First, playing solo, I roll a lot to see what bad guys are going to do, and how they're going to do it.  Hell, I've even been doing it quite a bit for the good guys!  Second, I'm dealing not only with having opposing troops having to spot enemy soldiers, but I'm also trying to work situational awareness into the mix, with troops on both sides being constrained by what I think they would know and be worried about.  So the enemy pickets could hear their LMG pounding out rounds, they're moving up the right side rather cautiously (which was diced for: aggressive, normal, or cautious), then all of a sudden they figure they have problems when they don't hear their LMG anymore.

Well, on to the next fight, in which we shall see Lt Villagrosa leading an assault into the southern end of Gambala, coming right up!

V/R,

Jack