HEART OF THE COUNTRY SHORT STORY COLLECTION BY NICK ARMBRISTER

Another town was coming under Soviet control, liberating the suppressed Finns from their fake Western government. Yes, some had died in the effort of liberation, but that was war. In a stern voice the Colonel ordered his gunner to target the middle house in a group of three: a Finn with a hunting rifle was sniping at the Soviet infantry; three soldiers had died and two were injured in his stoic defence. Slamming a High Explosive shell into the breach, the gunner aimed carefully and watched as the target came into view. One pull on the trigger and it was over, a massive blast of flame and explosive gasses as the shell destroyed the house, killing the Finn who paid with his life for his actions. Looking from the trees nearby, Finnish army observers radioed that the enemy was in town and that it had fallen. Now the defensive plan could be put into effect. It started with an air strike by the Finnish air force, a small force of six Hornet fighters flying at full throttle at low level, hugging the land in their desperate gamble. Many of their comrades had fallen and now, would they follow them? Arcing over a ridgeline like darts, the Hornet flight came upon the Soviet tank elements at Rontaluumi. Here air defence wasn’t as dangerous as at other Soviet captured areas. It would be no cakewalk, though – each man knew that and determination made them more likely to succeed or to die trying. With a war load of Sidewinder wingtip mounted missiles, fuselage AMRAAMs, a centreline tank and four underwing cluster bombs, they were armed for bear, to wage war and defend their homeland. In cockpits Radar Warning Receivers chirped and came to life as Soviet radars reached out to find the jets. Flying under the radar was helping to make detection hard but not impossible – launch! In a flare of exhaust gasses four missiles flew skyward, aimed at the Finnish jets. Flying even lower over trees and hills, a dozen metres above the frozen earth, the battle started. In each cockpit alert eyes saw and noted the Skoda missiles course. Hands worked controls and each plane broke off in a different direction to momentarily confuse radars and missile guidance units. The tactic worked along with a healthy dumping of flares and chaff expendables to blind the missiles. Blue sky spinning, g-force taking hold, Hornet jets flew seemingly random courses, but every second heading more closely to Rontaluumi and the enemy. In blinding flashes and in a noise to wake the Gods, detonations indicated spent Skoda medium range missiles.