South side of Kasam Beach attack.

I thought I'd give you all a little introduction to myself before I told you my story. My name is Steven Hexom. My job title is Vice Cheif of Resupply. My assignment was to the 102nd Infantry division. We were stationed at Nexor near the Kasam Beach. The battle force was tasked with finding a way to move up the beach and attack the enemy from their weak side. No army had ever effectivly breached the full length of the beach. That meant we would be the first to do it. My job as Vice Cheif was a little different. The Head Cheif got most of the credi

This was our situation. The beach was formed when part of the mountain go washed away by the sea. That mean that the beach was nothing more than a bunch of large rocks piled on top of each other. In some places water actually came up from the cracks in the ground when the waves hit. The bolders also formed a maze. A person could get lost in there if they tried to navigate it all by themselves. It wasn't the fastest way to get across the beach, but unless one could hold their breath for a very long time, it was the only way to sneak an army in. The problem facing us first was how to get a large group of men through there in a reasonable amount of time without losing anyone. The credit for solving this one goes to one of the infantry men. I don't remember his name now, but he was well thanked for his idea.

The plan was to send scouts into the rocky maze that made up the beach. They had one task. Mark the path for the troops. We actually sent them out before the war offically started because we needed to be ready. They weren't armed or acting in any aggresive moves so I don't think anyone was too worried about sending them out befor the war started. It took them almost a week to mark a path from our side of the beach to the opening on the other side. The route they picked was both quick and fairly easy to navigate. There was one more problem though.

No matter which way a person took through the rocks there was going to be at least one spot along the path that would be hard to get through. Every so often there was a break in the rocks that a person could squeze through, but not with armor on. With that fact, and the fact that it got very hot in between those rocks, the next problem was obvious. How were we to get all the armor and weapons from one end of the beach to the other if we couldn't pass them through the rocks. The solution for this problem was found by the Cheif of Resupply.

The plan was simple. If the armor wouldn't go through the rocks then it would be brought over the rocks. The only reason the infantry wasn't brought in over the rocks was because of the time it would take to get everyone over that narrow strip of beach. By the time everyone was over the enemy would have known we were coming for over an hour. We needed more of a surprise. Also with the larger gaps in some of the rocks, the people carrying the armor would have to pole vault from rock to rock in some areas. It was my job to make special harnesses for carrying all the armor with as few people as possible. I ended up making special harnesses for each piece of armor so that one guy was only carring one piece of the uniform. Once at their goal they would line up and let the infantry men file through to get their gear. In the end we didn't need nearly as many men as we first though to carry all the gear over the beach.

The pole vaulters were to stick close to the mountain cliffs to help them avoid detection until they were close to the beach head. This solved the problem of sneaking our armor over the beach with out too many hazards. However, we still had weapons to worry about.

The weapons probably could have been carried by the vaulters but each weapon weighed about twice as much as a piece of armor. That meant we would need a lot more men and each man would have to carry less. We needed a better way to transport the weapons. This was my idea.

Smugglers and theives used to hide their loot in boxes that floated just at or under the waters surface. The boxes were tied off shore so that any passing person wouldn't be able to see it clearly. The boxes could also be floated along the beach like a small raft. That was they way we were going to use them. The boxes were filled with our weapons and floated down along the beach. We used ropes to guide them along. The beach had a narrow strip down the side that was wide enough for one man to pass along it. That prevent the rest of the army from using it but we only needed one man to guide a small raft.

Now the problems of getting the men, armor and weapons over the beach were solved. I was very proud of our team for coming up with these simple, yet affective, solutions to our problems. The only other concern we had was how we were going to storm the fort. This wasn't a main concern of mine other than the fact that I would have to get them the supplies they needed. This was the situation though

The enemies fort was located on a hill some distance from the end of the beach. By the time we got all of our men out and armed they would have had time to call in the reserves and to lock down the fort. We could go around and storm the city but that would be harder. The city was even more fortified and it wasn't a good idea to trap our men between it's walls and the enemy forces at the fort. The fort had to be taken first. With the fort taken we would then have our foot hold on their land and we would have a base to operate out of until the city was taken. The forts walls were perhaps fifteen feet tall at the high points. The gates were sure to be locked down tight which meant that we wouldn't be able to break them down without a ram. This left the wall as our only way of getting in. We had to go over.

Thankfully the solution to this came from another private working in our unit. He recalled a team work exercise he did in training camp. The task had been to slip a round hoop over a fifteen to twenty foot tall pole. The only trick was that you couldn't touch the pole with hoop and noone could touch the pole with their hands. The common answer to this problem was to get a group of strong men to stand with their backs to the pole and form a ring around it. Then more men would climb on their shoulders until the top man was able to pass the hoop over the pole. This idea was the basis for our plan of attack.

The attack was to go something like this. The exact process was more up to the stratigic command, but this gives you a basic idea. The men would group up on the end of the beach and get ready for the assult. By the time the assult started the enemy would have called in it's reserves and closed the fort. That was what we wanted. We need the enemy to be in that fort and for them to have most of their men commited to this attack in order for it to work fully. The men were going to lay siege to the fort until they started to throw nets. Every man was given a knife in case they got caught in the net. We wanted the ropes from the nets to help us over the wall and to help us later when we took the city. Every supply we could take from the enemy was that much less that we needed to carry with us.

Once we had enough "fun" with the enemy, or until they were throughly confused by our attacks on a wall we couldn't climb, we would scale the walls. The "Human Ladder" would be formed at one of the corners of the fort. This ladder would allow us to send out forces over the wall. Then the orders were to gain control of the upper level, or at least most of it. Command would then give the order to start the assult on the ground level. The hope was to leave no survivors in the fort. No matter what happened, once the fort was controlled we would stop for a rest. Then start the assult on the city. The exact plan for that attack was not known to me.

The only thing I really needed to supply was the knives, nets, and some rope. The only thing I didn't have in stock was the knives. This war wasn't supposed to allow killing so the only knives issued were given to the Kitchen Crew. I had to send a special request to Command in order to get enough combat knives. Along with my request I had to send in a reason for asking for the knives. Command was being catious with their weapons. Thankfully the request was accepted and processed quickly. We had our Combat knifes within a week. They arrived just a day or so before the war started. Now I had all the men supplied. The only thing left to do was to wait for the War to start.

The men occupied themselves by practicing for the assult. Soon they would have to do it for real, and there wasn't going to be any second chance.

Command wanted the attack to take place early on the second day of the War. That meant that our men would have to naviate the rocks at night. It would only take the course of the night to cross the beach. We had enough lights to provide us with an easy passage through the rocks. However, these lights would have to be discarded before we got too close to the end of the beach. Hopefully the sun would be up high enough for us by that time and the lights wouldn't be needed anyway. Moving at night did give us one advantage though. The men on top of the rocks, and the rafts in the sea, would be a lot harder to spot now. I was lead to understand that the reason for attacking on the second day was so that it would match with another operation they were doing. I wasn't told the full story but Command was very insistant that things went on schedual. This demanded strick disipline.

The men gathered on the end of the beach in the early evening and prepared for the fight. I was busy running around checking on the supplies. I had to make sure we had enough armor and weapons for everyone. Because of my tasks I missed the speach given to the men but I assume it was a normal motivational and instrutional speach. My speach was much shorter. I had to give my men a few quick instructions about staying close the the cliffs and to move quickly when the order was given. My speaches were always short.

By the time I came out of the tent which housed my office the men and vanished into the rocks. The only thing I could see was the men on top of the rocks running and jumping from stone to stone on their way towards the enemy. Me and the other officers would follow the men in a hour or so. We were taking the route along the sea's edge. Officers always get the easy paths. I didn't have much to do now. The supplies were moving along with the men. The only thing left was to get with the other officers and head down the beach.

I don't know all the events that happened before I arrived with the other officers but I was filled in on some of it. I was told that the attack didn't actually start until almost 6:30. That was thirty minutes after it was supposed to start. In my opinion that wasn't too bad at all. It was between 7:30 and 8:00 on the second day of the war when the other officers and I arrived. At that time the soldiers and already started to get a good hold on the Fort. I was told later that it hadn't been easy.

I stood there and marveld at how well the crazy plan had worked. The men were forming a huge Human Ladder that resembles a pyramid more-or-less. Every so often new men would step in and releave one of the other guys. However, with the way it was formed the weight was distributed so well that it wasn't ver often that the men had to switch. The plan had worked perfectly so far.

In another hour the fort fell to our forces. Our men had won. I guessed that somewhere around 70-80 of the enemy had managed to escape out of the fort and make it back to the city. That was fine though. They would easily be taken when we attacked the city. On our side of the fight the losses were great. Luckily there was no killing. Most of our men would recover. Because of the heat and intense battle we had a few men faint from the exhaustion. A few hours of rest and they would be fine. In this battle for the fort the enemy had only managed to make 13 "kills". The rest of the men were saved by the fact that the enemy couldn't take time to make kills in all the confusion and we knew enough to take care of our own.

By 10:00 we had secured the fort and were preparing our supplies for the assult on the city. The time line said that we should make our attack on the city happen at or around 6:00 in the evening, just before the sun set.

Before that time came I had to get the ropes ready and check everyone's armor and weapons for damage. I quickly got several crews started on the various tasks. I then made a brief report to my boss before going back out to help with the preperations. There wasn't much left to do though. My men had everything taken care of by the time I finished my rounds. I told them all to get some rest and then I did the same myself.

The time between when I finished the preperations and when we started to get ready for the assult went by very slowly. All I could do was sit around and wait. I kept checking the time every few minutes. Finally, though, it was time.

A few hours before, a large group of men had made an escape from the west side of the city. Our scouts had reported this to the Commander. The Commander said that it was fine. This was going to make our mission easier and that the men would never make it to their Main Forces in time to effect our mission. Now their city was even less protected. The time for our assult had arrived.

The men lined up for the attack. The plan was another simple one. With the citties defences almost non existant, we were simply going to march right into the front gate. We had made ropes and hooks to use for catching on the gate. The cities gate was one that raised and lowered, not one that swung open. This was their weakness. Our men were going to climb the gate and unhook the ropes that raised the gate, then they would run our ropes through the pullies and allow us to raise the gate from the ourside. The practice run we made gave us the idea that the whole task should take no more than twenty minutes. After the gate was raised our men would simply rush in and overpower all of the enemy forces left in the city. Then the city was going to be searched completly for any hiding forces.

The fort's doors swung open as our army began it's march up to the city. We arrived proptly at 6:00 pm. I was near the front for this assult because I had to over see the gate opening operation. The men tasked with this job trotted forward and waited for the ropes. I called for the ropes and they were proptly brought forward. The Captain in charge of this assult called to the gaurds of the city and ordered their surrender. The whole order was pointless but required by mannors. The enemy refused without a second thought. The Captain noded to me. That was my signal to begin. With a few quick commands I had my men throwing their hooks up onto the top of the gate. After the hooks were set the two soldiers climbed to the top and started to do their work.

It only took fifteen minutes to get the gate open. After that the army began to pour into the city and take control. As the men rushed into the city the wall gaurds threw as many nets as they could over both sides. Because our men were armed with knifes for this very reason, it was feutal, but they were going to do anything to slow us down. Some of the enemy had locked themselves in building hoping to make their lifes last as long as possible.

I didn't even care to watch the rest of the battle. It wasn't even fair to call it a battle because of the ease in which we won. I got with the other officers and went straight for the enemy command post. This was now our command post. There were still fights going on in the city and there would be for sometime, but we had our own tasks. For the other officers and me there was paperwork to be finished. That was all that was left of this battle, paperwork.


Chapter 3
Chapter 5

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