FIGHTING AND SUCH

It is sort of a lonely day. Not many people up and about, so far. I have not heard of any rapes or murders so folks must have behaved themselves last night. So nothing to talk about in the way of juicy gossip.

Spent the better part of the afternoon watching Mel Gibson in 'The Patriot". I have noticed that in movies of this type that the guys fighting the battles are always looking for food and ammo. They are always looking to get re-supplied. Kinda makes me glad I am planning on NOT running out of ammo. The buzz words in the battles were aim small , miss small. That means have your rifle sighted in and make the shot with as much precision as you can muster. Like Patton said in the movie, you let that other sonovabitch die for HIS country. And I say never quit. Any time you get the chance to kill one of them, do it. Only if you are restrained because of operational security do you pass up the chance to kill one of the enemy. Tomahawks and Bowie knives have a place in your battle dress. You might have a modern up-to-date rifle or shotgun but to take out an opponent with low or no sound is a good thing sometimes. And at very close quarters it might save your life if you can get it done quickly. It is hard to teach tactics to people who will be fighting guerrilla warfare. The standard "L" formation is your most utilized ambush tactic. You start the ambush with the short leg of the L perpendicular to the direction your enemy is moving. The long leg of the L runs down the side of your enemies directional path. Generally the short leg guys set off the trap and the long leg guys pour it on and wipe the enemy out.

Guerrilla tactics call for treachery and subterfuge. You are allowed to lie and cheat as much as you wish in warfare. Do not pass up an opportunity to do either. If you are good enough to blow a guy's leg or arm off where his buddies can see it up close and personal, have at it. Nothing demoralizes enemy troops like seeing one of their own maimed for the rest of his life. It works on their mind something fierce. And that works to your advantage. You get them mentally screwed up and they will make mistakes and mistakes on your enemy's part means you are that much closer to victory. About 6 or 7 miles from here is a lot of Karst land. Karst is a geographic condition where Limestone is under the surface of the dirt and it dissolves and caves in under the surface and leaves a mostly round indentation in the earth, sometimes a hundred yards in diameter, but mostly less. If you can catch your enemy in a piece of Karst, or what the locals call a sinkhole, you just gather around the rim and pour it on. Ain't time to be using an L shaped ambush at that point.

Learn Boobie trapping. A Boobie trap will produce a casualty and you don't even have to be there. And producing casualties is what it is all about. If your enemy is from someplace a few thousand miles away, he can't take too many loses before he finds himself fighting attrition as well as other troops. Play dirty! Go burn their supply dumps. Turn their food into ashes and their fuel into bonfires. Make life as much of a living hell as you possibly can for them and don't take a bullet yourself. You will reap great benefits from these kind of tactics. Somebody once said that an army marches on it's stomach. If it don't get fed it loses strength rapidly. Shoot holes in all the water tankers you can't steal. Mess their routine up to the max. "No where to run, Baby, no where to hide" Let your enemy face this every day of his hopefully short existence. And don't fight at your homesite! Keep your fighting away from the women and kids. Keep it away from your roof tops where a stray bullet will cause a leak. Got patching material in case this happens? A leaking roof is a goddamn bummer and don't forget that. It can start the rapid deterioration of your home if it is not handled properly. Keep a few gallons of patching material on hand. You might not get to use it right away but it will be nice to have when the time for fixing comes.

As to your own casualties, get them to your sanctuary and patched up as quickly as possible. Make it a sworn duty to never leave a man in the field, even a dead man. Get the body to your private burial ground and get it buried and some words said about the everlasting soul of a man. This gives your people "closure" on a very difficult matter. As frequently as you can do it, get your men home and bunking up with their families as much as possible. You might not be able to accomplish this every night but it will be a blessing when it happens. But no matter what, do not let up on guard duty. Getting shot in your sleep is such disgraceful way to die.

I'll leave you now with a couple of thoughts from my youth. "Back at the ranch, Tonto, not recognizing the Lone Ranger disguised as a pool table, racked his balls." And "Tonto, not recognizing the Lone Ranger disguised as a burning cigarette, stomped his butt."

Stay alive.

Michael