The group moved at steady pace. The infantry hid behind the shields, and the tank was clearing their path.

‘Flash’

‘BOOM’

A flash of fire from a building hit the formation.

“RPG! RPG!” The tank stopped on the dime and we were pushed forward by inertia.

“Azimuth 357! RPG! FIRE!"

BOOM

Bu-bu-bu-bum

The window where the RPG hid was shot at with everything we had.

As the dust settled, one of the allies rushed to the tank.

“Keep your eyes open!”

I opened the hatch and peeked.

“What now?!”

“Thank you for dealing with the mage but the men refuse to move. Go forward and cover us!” The officer was not looking like he will back down.

“I DON’T GIVE A F* ABOUT WHAT YOU WANT! IT’S UP TO YOU TO KEEP OUR A*S SAFE, NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND!”

The hatch was closed and we stood in place.

The infantry started shouting and swinging fists but after they understood our intention to stay still, they reluctantly started walking. Only after they were 30 meters ahead we continued moving.

There were no talks and no unnecessary actions. I was focused on the right side of the street, and Jester was looking at the left side.

RPG, or rocket-propelled grenade, is the most dangerous anti-tank weapon in infantry’s arsenal. This narrow street is the ultimate tank trap, and that is why I refused to lead the charge here. I was damn right about it.

“Infantryman, azimuth 5!”

“Shooting!” (J)

BOOM

Our safety took priority over target identification. Every window that appeared suspicious was reduced to dust. What helped us is that we did not see a single civilian soul here. They all seemingly disappeared.

Finally, we passed the street and approached the target.

“50 meters!”

Suddenly, the allies became agitated and rushed forward. They turned around a corner, towards the destination. As the tank passed the corner and turned, we saw another battlefield.

There were dozens of people, armed with axes, pitchforks, and other makeshift weapons. Those were just citizens, who rose against the enemies, as the rebel leaders stated. In 20 meters from them were standing enemy soldiers.

Unlike the rebelling crowd, the soldiers were keeping a line and were clearly having advantage.

Even without looking into the scene, I could confirm that the losses were huge. We met so few enemies on our way because those folks were standing their ground here, against the enemy reinforcements. Now was our chance to pay back for the people’s efforts.

The tank approached the frontlines and moved through the crowd of people, where even women and children were holding weapons. The crowd stepped to the sides, as the machine moved. It looked like sea, that gave way to a ship; like butter, that was cut by a knife.

As the line of the enemies entered our view, we aimed the gun.

And remained still.

The enemy line was shaken by the appearance of our forces. Just seeing a 50 ton armored vehicle was enough to shock the enemies but the thought of seeing our forces here was more shocking. The assault was successful enough.

Instead of opening fire I used a less blood shedding way of dispersing the enemies. To finish the fight, I used Shtora-1.

Shtora-1 is active protection system, designed to disrupt attacking missile’s path by using jamming and countermeasures. One of them would be efficient against infantry too.

The infrared lights of Shtora were aimed at the enemy line.

From their view it must look like a devil’s eyes. I heard that the medieval people are very religious, and also superstitious. I used their superstitious nature against them.

Just as I predicted, the enemies started to waver, and ran.

Simultaneously, the headquarters were captured by the allied infantry, and thus we were finally done here.

The city was captured and the enemy forces surrendered. We lost a few soldiers but it was better than wasting hundreds of lives for an assault, or starving hundreds of lives during a siege.