Episode 7: Regret's Capture

By Leigh Barker

Soldiers - Season 1: Episode 7: Regret's Capture

A Bitesize 1-hour read.

The lads have been captured by Hauptmann Schiller and face certain execution.

Only Regret can save them, but he is pinned down by the enemy squad guarding the train.

He must neutralise the guards, destroy the Maxim machinegun and get into the heart of the German headquarters to rescue the lads.
Or die trying.

He won’t leave them to their fate, no matter what the cost.

And the cost is likely to be his life.

Schiller is waiting.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Leigh Barker
• Release date: Nov 24, 2015
• ISBN: 9781310752834

Leigh Barker

Leigh was born in Dudley in the middle of England. He has been a merchant seaman, a (useless) electronics salesman, a programmer, and a business analyst. And now he is a full-time writer, but that doesn't make him a bad person.He is presently writing 4 series:Clan, following the adventures of Calum Maclean as he tries to avoid the Bonnie Prince but still protect his beloved Highlands.The Hellfire Legacy Series follows US Marine Master Sergeant Ethan Gill and his team as they take on the jobs too hot for other special forces. They go where they're sent; South America, Middle East, Korea, but their most dangerous missions are on US soil.Volume #1: A Whisper of ArmageddonVolume #2: The Hellfire LegacyVolume #3: The Orpheus DirectiveEden, a three-volume series -Trinity is at war with Lucid, the son of Lucifer, and he will do whatever it takes to win. The Archangel Gabriel has an army but he needs more. He needs heroes, but they are few and far between. Which is why he gets Dylan and co. Not too much luck in Heaven then.Volume #1: Eden's Last HeroVolume #2: WinterwoodVolume #3: Requiem for Eden.Soldiers is set in 1914 and follows John Regret and his 12-man squad on their suicidal mission to find and destroy the German howitzer nicknamed Big Bertha. Find it before it drops it's thousand-pound shells on the allied army retreating across France. A seemingly hopeless mission that just cannot fail.Other occasional series include:Anarchy, the 'completely true' stories of men doing what men do when there's nobody to keep them in check. Create mayhem and behave like monkeys on speed.Coffee Break Reads - each issue has 5 stories short enough to read while taking a break from life. A mix of adventure, love, disaster, and fun. All with one thing in common; for a moment they transport the reader to another world.Episode 1 of each Season is free and can be picked up with other free books at:https://leighwbarker.com/my-library/Just copy the link above and paste it into your browser and you're there...

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Soldiers

(Episode 7)

Regret's Capture

Copyright 2015 Leigh Barker

Published by Leigh Barker at Smashwords

Smashwords Edition License Notes

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ISBN: 9781310752834

Regret’s Capture

Regret didn’t wait to see the effects of his first shot, he knew it would be true, and he shifted his aim to the rest of the four-man machine-gun crew.

Hidden away in the roof of the old farmhouse, the crew hadn’t expected to be seen and never thought they’d be shot at, so it took them several seconds to recover. And Regret made them pay for that delay.

The second gunner slammed back from the gun, and the third was starting to move when a deadly accurate round hit him in the forehead. The last gunner turned and scrambled back from the opening in the roof, a bullet shattered his shoulder, and he crumpled out of sight.

Regret grabbed his spare magazines and pulled his rifle off the branch. He hadn’t really thought it through, but now the Maxim was out of action, he realized his position was near suicidal. The six enemy soldiers were no longer lounging alongside the railway line, they were moving, and they were less than a hundred feet away. A few more yards to their left and they wouldn’t be able to miss.

He dropped off the branch, clutched his rifle to his body and rolled to his right, and heard the smack of bullets punching into the tree where he’d been sitting. It had been that close and he knew it was likely to get a lot closer.

His rolling escape was halted by the log he’d intended using before he’d climbed the tree, and he turned onto his stomach and pushed his rifle out onto the wet wood. Crazily, he realized he’d lost his cap in his rapid exit from the tree. Improperly dressed, Sergeant Needle would have his guts for garters. He put his head above the log, saw the spiked leather helmets just visible above the railway embankment as their owners tried to get to the train, either for cover, or to kill the prisoners. He prayed it was for cover, but couldn’t just hide and hope. He took a breath to calm down, shifted his aim to track the lead helmet and squeezed off a shot. The helmet kicked violently and dropped out of sight, followed a fraction of a second later by the other five.

He took a quick look around. He was at the edge of the small stand of trees, but a little way forward from them. A good firing position, but if the enemy got onto the train, he’d be a sitting duck from that angle. He had to find a more defensible position, but just as he decided to go he saw movement under the locomotive. The legs of five men moving quickly. Almost without thinking he put a round into the boot of the leading pair of legs, and a grey-uniformed soldier appeared between the wheels before disappearing down the embankment. He could