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hope to wear his opponent down. He knew that pure firepower seldom won battles. Maneuver was the key to victory – at least that’s what every officer who was outgunned told himself. It would be shortsighted to even consider that his opposing commander didn’t know this , and besides, those tanks could move almost as fast as his equipment.
    There were a host of other issues plaguing him as well. Both sides were equipped with the latest electronic networking systems. A commander si t ting inside of a Stryker could see both friend and foe on a computer screen , and this functionality provided the American Army a huge advantage in recent Middle Eastern conflicts . Marcus’s problem was that both sides owned the same technology. To make things worse, no one could be sure that the Ironhorse’s computer screens wouldn’t show the 4/10’s data. The decision had been made to disable the systems. The colonel hoped the Cav would reach the same conclusion.
    Air support was another big concern. American doctrine dictated that U.S. troops did not take the field unless air superiority was clearly established. If the United States Air Force were supporting the p resident, the 4/10 was in t rouble. Because of that mandate , his brigade had practically zero anti-air defensive capability. While he had been assured that the USAF was sitting this one out, a good officer never took these things for granted. If fighter-bombers attacked his ground forces, the 4/10 wouldn’t last long. Worse yet, if the Cav brought out Longbow Apache attack helicopters, his brigade probably wouldn’t even get off a single shot at the approaching force. Normally, he would be counting on his own air capabilities, but their fuel supply had been exhausted while the brigade was occupying Baton Rouge. The Independents promised him a re-supply, but so far, none had arrived. His platoon of flying tank killers was grounded.
    While most of th e 4/10’s commanders were battle- proven and well trained, their CO still had concerns. Over the last 10 years, all U.S. ground commanders had come to depend heavily on either fix ed -wing or rotary air support. In the last two wars, his forces had had the capability to stand back and call in either artillery or air support against a well -defended position. If there were going to be a fight tod ay, it would be a fluidic, fast- moving war of maneuver. His troopers were experienced, but with a different type of action. Not since the first Gulf War had the American military fought a force on force b attle, and that had been so one- sided it had only lasted a few hours. While most of their equipment and tactics had been originally designed to fight the hordes of Warsaw Pact divisions crossing into West Germany, they had never actually been used against anythin g close to a technological equal .
    Other than the artillery, Marcus figured this to be a confrontation between mobile ground-based forces. While the 4/10 had a platoon of Paladin self-propelled ar tillery, the Ironhorse had its ow n field guns. With modern radar- equipped counterbattery capabilities, the two artillery units would be playing shoot and scoot - a deadly game of chess that would most likely cancel each other out .
    A military strategist , the colonel easily recognized the dilemma. A n artillery shell flies through the air for several seconds before impact. Since b oth sides possessed radar units that could detect the incoming round and backtrack to the parent gun , i t wasn’t unusual for return fire to be on the way before the initial salvo landed . An artillery unit’s life must be one of constant movement because remaining stationary meant death. I can’t count on artillery support because they will be playing c at-and-mouse with the Cav’s long-range guns, concluded the colonel.
    Marcus scanned the horizon one last time and made his decision. He hop p ed down from his perch on the Humvee , pulling the map with him . As with all good sergeants, Mitchel