Battle of Pudasjaervi Bridge, Fan fiction Options

[Spejjarn]

�Virtanen...VIRTANEN!!� Major Eigner of Battlegroup Sisu's 1st Combat Engineering Company shouted. �Ja, Major!� Lieutnant Virtanen answered after a few seconds. Major Eigner continued: �The bloody Russians are trying to relieve their VDV maskirovka at Oulu. Recce has spotted columns of armour with support advancing along Road 20.� The major pasued for a moment to let the news sink in to the thick head of the lieutenant. �Take your mortar platoon and reinforce our forces at Pudasjaervi Bridge�. �But Maj...� Virtanen tried to respond before he was harshly interrupted: �No buts, it is an order! Dismissed!� The lieutenant came to attention, saluted his superior, and retreated from the command bunker muttering something about bad leadership.

Five hours latter and 40 km North-East of the command bunker the rear echelons of the 77th Armoured Regiment came to an halt. �Careful, Sasha! We are supposed to repair OTHER vehicles – not our own!� the commander of a MTP Recovery Vehicle informed his driver - Private Oelexander �Sasha� Chernyshev - as the vehicle did a hard brake just infront of a Kodiak tank. �Da, Comrade Seargent� Sasha responded inferiorly. A despatch-rider on a motorcycle came up along the vehicle and told the maintenance crew to prepare for battle. The atmosphere inside the truck instantly became tense. It was not their first battle since the entry into Finnish soil two days ago but just like a sportsman before a race a soldier always gets tense before a battle.

Dusk was rapidly approaching when the Russians reached the seemingly undefended Pudasjaervi Bridge. FOO Corporal Svensson lay in his nest on the North side of the Bridge with his binoculars in one hand and the radio in the other eager to call in the opening barrage but he had been told by that muck of mortar officer to wait until a command vehicle appeared. The corporal suspected that the order was given because the lieutenant was so frickin afraid of counter-battery fire, and true to say the Maroons seemed quite good at that. The FOO did not have time to finish his thought befo re he was revealed by a patrol of NVG-equipped conscripts. AKM rounds started to hail around his head and he barely managed to send his fire request: �Den, this is Arctic Fox 3, fire request, soft-skinned hostiles, pre-determined fire point Delta Two-Zero, fire for effect!�. Perforated by a dozen rounds and just moments before losing consciousness he heard somenone hysterically yelling in Russian and the welcome sound of incoming mortar rounds.

�PERKELE!� Virtanen exclaimed as he heard the fire request on the field radio and his beloved mortars opening fire just metres from his position. His radio operator looked at him with shock in his eyes. �I told them to wait until a good target appeared� he added followed by �Okay, let's re-deploy�. The mortar platoon loaded up in their Lynx Combat Personnel Carriers and raced to their next posistion�.

The truck's radio wired some noise and a short request: �Brown Bear 1....iiiiiieeeee... to Badger 7. We need yo.... oooouuuuyyy... immediate assistance at the front.� Seargent Pavel �Pasha� Budanov forwardered the order to his driver in an even shorter manner: �Sasha, move it!� The decadent frogs had managed to fire an ATGM which disabled a Kodiak. The loss was fiercly retaliated when the remaining Kodiaks and a Burantino hurled their munition on to the European position. Under intense fire the MTP managed to pull the Kodiak from the river bank.

�Major, the Russians have reached the bridge, but we are – at the moment – able to hold them back, but not for long� the orderly of the company commander called out. �Fire the mortars on them! Where is Virtanen when you need him!?� Major Eigner exclaimed. �Negative, Sir. He had to re-deploy after the first salvo.� �Hm, tell the engineers to sabotage the road and place some additional minefields between here... and here� the Major ordered and pointed at two locations on the map. �Sir! Sir! We have reports of Golems and BMPs flanking our defence line by swimming over the river� a radio operator shouted. �Scheisse!� bubbled out of the mouth of the commanding officer. �Radio Battlegroup Command for reinforcements!� he ordered his radio operator.

�HAHA! That's the way it's done!� Pasha exclaimed as the amphibious tanks broke the enemy's defence line from behind and the main tank column started moving again to cross the bridge. �Pasha... I mean Comrade Seargent, shouldn't the frogs have blown up the bridge by now? Sasha asked childishly. �We should be grateful the failed to do so, soldier! Pasha bitterly answered.

�Major Eigner, we are sending you a flight of four Tiger Mk IIs to assist you� the Battlegroup Commander informed him who abruptly responded: �Only four mosquitos against that horde of bears!� His superior defended his statement by saying: �That is the only reserves we can spare. The Russians are hitting us badly on all fronts. High Command has lost most of their air assets – the enemy knew exactly where to hit us - without air support we have to rely on good old artillery... hm... well, we gonna give those bastards a fair fight anyway. Oh... and we have still not been able to crush the maskirovka outside Oulu. The longer you keep the land forces away from them the bigger chances are for us to wipe them out. Over and out!�

The Russian tank charge down the road now started to gain momentum again, but out of a sudden new ATGMs started to appear from the treeline, hitting Tunguskas firstly, then Golems and Kodiaks. Pasha burst out �What the heck!� then the radio cracked and a new command was ordered: �Tank commanders, man the AA machineguns, NOW!�

Lieutenant Virtanen and his men had just deployed when the Tiger Mk IIs cruised over the mortar pits and begun engaging the enemy with mast-mounted sights and missiles. �YEAHAAAA! WOHOO! Finally, reinforcements!� where heard among the men. The cries of relief was soon turned into a dissapointed �NOOOOOOO!� when the air was filled with roars and the helicopters were downed one after another. Su-47 Berkut fighters begun circling above the battlefield like hungry vultures taking down targets of opportunity. The field radio went active: �All forces, retreat to Phase Line Kiiminki� and Virtanen called out: �Fire two salvos at the bridgehead, then pack-up and let us get hell out of here, fire at will!�.

The mortar platoon's five Lynxes begun raising down Road 20 with soldiers manning the roof-mounted machineguns. After a few kilometres the rear unit's gunner yelled: �Air raid! TAKE COVER!� just as his vehicle was shrouded by smoke. Two Su-25 Frogfoots strafed the road section with autocannons and rockets. Only Virtanen's Lynx survived the ambush and his driver drove straight out in the terrain and did not stop until the vehicle sank down in a marsh. �Puuh! That was close!� one of the soldiers exclaimed. The Lieutenant started calling his squads on the radio but no one responded. He banged the hand in the dashboard with a �saatans perkele� on his lips. He rallied his men outside the vehicle and said: �Put the camo net on the vehicle and get some rest. I take the first watch.�

[MARS]

Nice story. Judging by some of the foreign terms, I presume this is set in Scandinavia?

[TheCeLL]

Love it

[Casojin]

Interesting story but the switching between both factions constantly is a bit confusing.

[Spejjarn]

Nice story. Judging by some of the foreign terms, I presume this is set in Scandinavia?

You are right! My first idea was to have the story set in Narva and Rakvere of Estonia since I have been there (much easier to get it realistic if you have been there) but since Estonia is already occupied by the Russians according to the storyline map it was not possible to do so. On the same map I saw that the Russians had attacked in mid-Finland and since I am from Scandinavia I I feel more familiar here than in Poland. Eigner is German, Virtanen is Finnish and Svensson -was- Swedish.

Interesting story but the switching between both factions constantly is a bit confusing.

Hihi, I am heavily influenced by my favourite author: Tom Clancy. He, however, usually put date and location before every new section. I was considering that but turned the option down.

[Casojin]

Considering this as an advice from writer to writer, you can combine a few paragraphs of each side into group so that reader can feel the continuation of actions on each side.
Fiction doesn't have to be real-time situation monitoring. You can shift slightly back in time with a simple word to synchronize the story.
Side changing could occur when there is a major event popping up.

Here would be some plot example.

<ECA command discussion>
<ECA holding the bridge, seeing the Russian approaching>

<Russian drama before crossing>
<Combat action between the two>

<ECA is losing and calling for reinforcement>
<Tiger helicopters appear>
<Some turn of event that cut those heli down without revealing what it is>

<Slightly backward in time, Russian advances quickly following their success>
<Tigers appear>
<Some discussion between Russian command to bring them down>
<Berket strike>

<Some conclusion>



You can also add some lines to mark the location where the scene switch instead of using date and time.

For example:

<ECA story>

---------------------------

<Russian story>