“Right now I am content to enjoy the peace.”

We are within “striking” distance of Izyum, but things are moving so fast I don’t think they are sure where to put us, or equally likely, they are too busy to know we exist.

Chris says we will probably go NE to try to work our way into their escape lanes to pin them for the heavy stuff. Maybe. Just more of the same. We are under new command here, so don’t know what to expect, or even who to deal with. We can’t just go freelance without becoming potential targets of both the Russians and the Yooks. So we sit.

Most of those who came with us on this jaunt have joined regular units. We are here with a small platoon of Yooks run by a Lieutenant with a nervous tick and an Errol Flynn mustache. Chris is adamant that we will not be running with them in the shit.

We are getting no artillery at all, are about as safe as one can be here, but it is grating. All this stuff going on and we are sitting on our ass. Chris called his Colonel buddy and yelled at him a bit, and is convinced we will be back in the fight once a few gears mesh and roll in the right direction.

Right now I am content to enjoy the peace. But, I want to go too.

I don’t go looking for them, but the people who do say there’s lots of videos of dead and captured Russians from the Kharkiv area. Your info was right, the Yooks slipped right behind them and created havoc.

Yeah, they totally fucked them over. If Putin had good sense, he would slit his own rists standing in Red Square.

We have be supplied….armed to the teeth. I have everything except Terminator 2’s man-portable minigun….:) Am surprised some Yook shade-tree machinist has not rigged one of those up yet.

Nice. Incidentally, the blog is live. I finally got it arranged the way I wanted it last night, in chronological order.

Man I wish we would have been in one that move…

Oh, ok. will try to check it out.

Russian Telegram channels have gone from denying there’s a Yook offensive to just going quiet.

Also, a document surfaced that appears authentic that has a number in rubles of payouts to families of dead mutts. Using the known payout number it works out to over 48,000 dead Russians, not including Wagner, militias, etc.

That is a number I can buy. I have probably seen 500 or so, in my limited role.

That’s on average 240 Russians a day. X2 wounded. That’s the (equivalent of the) entire initial invasion force.

They seem to die easy. I never bought that they had any technological prowess, and I am doubting their bravery and resolve as soldiers. It is mostly a bunch of kids with little training and probably little desire to be here.

Oh, so tell me what you guys got supplied with.

We are at a temporary weapons depot, so were able to get new rifles, new ammo, mags, western grenades and explosives, and they let us have 2 Javelins. I have a pack full of loaded mags. We could get more but can’t carry it. They do have a fund of spanking new M4s.

Do you have a dedicated Javelin gunner?

No, we can all use them. At first, I was the only one with Stinger experience, but they are easy to learn to use. We usually carry just one.

I am drinking a hard cider to celebrate 48,000 mutts down. I rarely do this, I’m allergic to alcohol.

There’s an audio cue when the Stinger gets an infrared lock, right? Like a growl?

It is a high pitch whine of sorts.

Yep. I think I said some time ago that the Yooks were planning the Russian’s mistakes, and then forcing them to make them. Odd thing is, they are using a basic Russian doctrine with a lot of western twists. Chris told me some time ago that I probably have some old buddies here from Bragg and Campbell.

Placing the enemy on the horns of a dilemma, back to my old maneuver warfare studying days.

I did find some LAW rockets, which could be useful if we get deployed in the forest belt. But, again…carry weight. It is like being in Santa’s workshop of little horrors and you can take all you want but no more than you can carry.

Ha ha, that’s a good analogy not a lot of people experience firsthand. Definitely not the Russians.

It has not been our experience here, in general.

You guys were working in the forest belts north of Kyiv, if I remember correctly.

Yes, N and NW, but at the time, we did not have a pot to piss in.

By the way are you still sticking with the ’74?

Yes, it has served me well so far, so will stick with it. Sorta odd, using a famous Russian rifle to kill Russians with.

I wish I’d had kept the earliest messages from when you were taking the back roads into Kyiv to avoid Russian forces.

I was not always attuned to news dates. I will see if I wrote them in bulk before posting.

The asshole Belgian. Did you ever find out what happened to him?

No, never did. That would have been in March, I think.

You were right also about the Yooks worried about nukes right now. (Link)

It is a concern. That would be about right that I get whacked by a fucking nuke. talk about karma…..

Any sign of NBC gear issued?

No, not at all.

I haven’t seen anything, it seems like a struggle for them to issue consistent uniforms.

I admit I have no idea what Russia’s TNW arsenal looks like right now.

Up here would be the ideal place to use a small tactical weapon. But, it would not change anything unless they went all the way with them.

Combat forces seem spread out, maybe the best they could take out is a brigade HQ and a nearby battalion? Even with a larger yield.

Yeah, the Yooks are good at force spreading, mainly to prevent artillery losses.

Excuse the pun, but I think the fallout would be too much for them to go that route.

Did they ever develop enhanced radiation weapons?

They did, they have them in their stockpile. But, the effective kill/disablement range is limited.

Is that a factor of the weapon itself or the Russian design?

Neutrons have a limited effective travel range. However, against metal armor, they work well as they induces gamma emitting secondary effects. It is physics…neutrons.

To be effective, the Russians would need good intel on Yook positions, and it would take more than one warhead. I have yet to see any evidence their intel rises above what my granddaughter could work out using open sources.

I have to think any Russian use of tactical nukes would be well telegraphed. They’d put their strategic forces on alert, for one thing.

Well, they might play it down, assuming no US response, and not wanting to goad one. Nukes are a battlefield weapons in their doctrine.

Did you ever talk to the Russians you met about the purpose of nukes, or was it mostly technical?

We had long, drunken conversations over the use, the morality and the future of them. We were very limited in our technical exchanges.

Did anything they said surprise you?

No, it was almost copy text per our positions. Except for the Hawk, Viktor, who was very aggressive.

I think I remember you talking about him, a long time ago.

We became friends of sorts. I spent some time at his dacha helping him plant melons. We would get along, then drink and scream at each other…Lol! Vik was a Soviet patriot.

That sounds amazing. Is he still around?

No, he died about a year ago. The times we spent in Vegas were classic.

Hey, turning in for the night, got to take the kid to school bright and early. She was a pain in the ass to put to bed again.

Hope they put you in the game soon.

Lol! If something does not happen soon, Chris will be screaming at someone to parachute us into Moscow. Later.