The Shrewd King 18.1: Bait

Sheldon was absolutely wiped out.

He was looking forward to racking out more than anything he could remember.

The conquest of the Amish had been ridiculously simple. Amish are pacifists. They offered his troops places to sleep and food to eat.

In a few days, they would figure out those niceties were not optional, but for now it was a blessed relief.

Sheldon and his troops had been up since 8:00 AM the previous morning. Some of them tried to get some sleep before the convoy left Howell but most of them, Sheldon included, had been too jittery to sleep.

Sheldon had been resentful of the battle-group that went to Eaton Rapids. He thought it should have been his battle-group. It was a sign of disrespect that his group had been given the easier, less lucrative target. His guys were at least as good as the pansies who had been sent to Eaton Rapids.

But for now, he had no envy. Word from Wendy, the sultry vixen on the other end of the radio, was that they were struggling with controlling the area between Lansing and Eaton Rapids. In fact, Mr Heavy had thrown troops into the battle on the side of Eaton Rapids and the red forces were struggling.

Sheldon’s eyelids were slowly closing, in spite of his earnest efforts to keep them open, when….

Wendy called. “Homebase to Sheldon. Homebase to Sheldon. Do you copy?”

“Sheldon copies. What’s up?” When he was tired, comms protocol went out the window. They could kiss his rosy red ass if they expected him to repeat everything twice.

“We have been interrogating prisoners and learned of another target. Derious expects you to secure current area of operation and attack the new target.” Wendy said.

Sheldon thought all kinds of uncharitable things about Wendy and Derious. It is all so very easy when you are sitting in a radio room.

“What is the target?” Sheldon asked, wearily.

“Mr Heavy has a fuel and weapons dump in the northwest corner of Delta Township. Most of Mr Heavy’s troops are committed to fighting in Eaton Rapids.” Wendy said.

That caused Sheldon to perk up.

“I am skosh on fuel.” Sheldon said.

Wendy’s voice dripped with condescending arrogance, “Derious knows that. Drain the fuel from two of the buses and put it into the other vehicles. Leave two squads to secure the area and get your ass moving.”

Sheldon was pissed. “Just what is worth dropping everything and driving thirty miles into Mr Heavy’s home territory.

If anything, Wendy’s voice became even more dismissive. “A hundred barrels of gasoline and diesel, 7.62mm ammo and 107mm rockets and launchers.”

“You gotta hustle. Mr Heavy’s forces are south of there and it will be like taking candy from a baby, if you don’t screw the pooch.” Wendy said.

Just a half an hour ago he had been resentful of his competitor who had been given the mission of taking down Eaton Rapids. Now it looked like his competitor had thrown a turd into the punchbowl and that Sheldon’s group could outshine him...if he got their asses in gear.

He started shouting at them.

*

Chernovsky had not wanted to leave any of the forces in Amish land.

Tomanica made the point that those forces would become suspicious if they were ordered to do anything that stupid.

Chernovsky reluctantly agreed that it was better to pull most of the forces and nearly all of the mobile assets out of Amish land. Three-quarters of a loaf is better than no loaf. His comfort with with the plan solidified as the munitions team refined their plan.

*

Forty minutes later, Sheldon radioed back, “We are ready to start moving. Can you give us location and directions.”

Wendy complied. “Location is 8626 West Saginaw Hwy. Take M-100 north to M-43. Turn east and go exactly three miles. Your target is the Fairhaven Senior Apartment complex.”

“Senior Apartments?” Sheldon said. He knew his mind was not turning as fast as it usually did, but that did not make sense.

“Mr Heavy’s people used the underground parking for storage. It has two entrances on the south end. Recon the area to confirm reports. If reports are accurate, load materials with emphasis on 7.62mm ammo and fuel. Then return to rally point to support forces in Eaton Rapids.” Wendy said.

Like hell, he was going to throw his people into Eaton Rapids. He would make sure they took their sweet time loading those trucks. The worse his competitor looked, the better he would look when he showed up, loaded to the gills with fuel and ammo with no losses.

“Copy that.” Sheldon said. “Proceed to 8646 West Saginaw Hwy” he said as he scribbled down the address “three miles east of corner M-100 and M-43. Entrance to underground warehouse on south side of….Fairhaven Senior Apartments.”

Wendy replied “Correct. Contact me when you reach the objective.” and hung up. Hyena smiled at her. She had gotten carried away by the drama of the moment and had forgotten him. She had been much, much happier when she had been reading the script.

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