You are a rifle squad leader. Your platoon is assigned as the security element for an antiship missile battery deployed to a remote Pacific island with the mission of attacking enemy naval shipping. The tactical unit also includes a headquarters, a truck detachment, a logistics detachment, a mortar section, and an air defense section—all of which also pull security duty on the perimeter. The island is covered in scrub punctuated by copses of bamboo. The indigenous population of the island is under 10,000 persons, who seem to be neutral toward you and keep their distance.
You are one week into a planned three-week deployment on the island, after which you are to be re-embarked on Navy ships and redeployed. To augment its limited supplies, the detachment has contracted with the local village, some five kilometers northeast up the coast, for support.
The missile battery, mortar section and air defense section are under camouflage netting. The rest of the detachment is concealed in the bamboo woods. The entire detachment observes strict radio silence to avoid detection. Transmission is authorized only in emergencies. Hills 21, 22 and 28 are all registered targets (A21, A22 and A28 respectively) for the mortars.
Standing operating procedure (SOP) calls for the unit to displace immediately upon missile launch to avoid counterbattery fire. Two additional positions have been reconnoitered and planned, the primary via Route Tiger and the secondary via Route Irish. The signal to immediately begin the well-rehearsed displacement procedure is the missile launch itself.
The last two days, two unidentified individuals have been spotted on Hill 28 observing the EAB through binoculars. Both times they fled east by vehicle when a motorized patrol was dispatched to investigate. The commander has decided to dispatch a foot patrol to Hill 28, to be in position by dawn to detain the observers if they return. Your platoon commander assigns the task to your squad
You depart the perimeter after dark and follow a concealed route to a bamboo copse on the south slope of Hill 28. You push an observation post/listening post (OP/LP) forward into the scrub brush on the crest. At 0530, you join the OP/LP yourself. By 0600 the observers have not returned. However, at 0615, as the day breaks, you spot a civilian utility vehicle appear from the east on Route Tiger. It leaves the trail and makes its way slowly up the rugged eastern slope of Hill 22 about 300 meters to your north, stopping short of the crest. Two armed men in paramilitary garb exit the vehicle and move by foot to the crest, where they commence surveillance of the missile position. You are formulating a plan to capture them when you see more movement from the east. You spot a mix of civilian vehicles, 12 in total, also approaching from the east on Route Tiger. In the lead are three civilian pickups, each modified with improvised armor and a machinegun mounted in the bed. Following the pickups are nine utility trucks that could each easily carry a squad, similarly modified. They halt east of Hill 22 while the three gun vehicles make their way slowly up the eastern slope of Hill 22 toward the two observers. Meanwhile, men in regular military uniforms with weapons disembark the last truck and appear to begin setting up five mortars in the tall grass at the roadside.
Just then, you hear a familiar Whoosh! and turn to see four missiles streaking seaward from the base.
What do you do?
Requirement
In a time limit of three minutes, make you decision in the form of any orders you will issue and/or reports or requests you will make. Then provide an explanation of your rationale.
Order: Orient north. Locate Hill 22. Enemy forces are setting up mortars. We will attack by fire. Await my command to fire. Runner. Run to headquarters.
Explain the situation and our plan. Rationale: Radio silence protects our task force against detection by long-range sensors and thus attack by long-range missiles, drones, or aircraft. Our attack by fire will tell other friendlies that hostiles are about. It will also buy time for other friendlies.
I would break radio silence to alert the rest of the unit to the threat posed by the enemy force on A22 and Route Tiger. I would advise the HQ, Log and Mortars unit to follow Route Bulldog and set up a mortar position on Hill 25. I would advise the other sections in my platoon to redeploy to H21, following the route we took last night. In the meantime I would use direct fire to disrupt the set up of enemy mortars and MGs. I would use my H22 position to direct mortar fire on the enemy.
The enemy force is likely to be a company size and is supported by mortars and machine guns. Having fired the missiles means that requesting immediate mortar fire on the enemy positions would put the mortar section at risk of CB fire, and they will already be packing down. Displacing along route Tiger or Irish would put the unit within the kill zone. Route Bulldog offers concealment and Hill 25 can be a secure firebase with which to engage the enemy. Our advantage is that our mortars are hidden from view while we have a forward OP. H21 and H22 offer interlocking fire positions to prevent the enemy advancing on our new position. Having observed the unit retreating down Bulldog, they would be unlikely to follow the route Buckeye to our original position in pursuit as they will be aware of the risk of CB fire.
The enemy should be surprised by fire form H28 and our mission is to disrupt their Mortar and MG set up and force them to retreat back past H24. Once that has been achieved our forces can complete their withdrawal down Route Irish.