Stalemate (The Red Gambit Series) Read Online Free PDF

back on more ancient tools for the close-in killing.
    At first, rifle butts and bayonets responded to Shashkas, but it was not long before the Gurkhas discarded their guns for their weapon of choice, and the Kukris flashed in the last light of the dying sun.
    The Shashka was a superb weapon, slightly curved and very strong, as well as legendary for its sharpness. It was also designed to be nothing but a killing machine, a job it performed extremely efficiently in the hands of an experienced swordsman.
    The Kukri was beaten on length at seventeen and a half inches, being just about half the length of the Soviet blade. Its origins were as a work knife but, historically, the tool had converted easily into a wholly efficient weapon of war, and the strangely shaped blade meant that it delivered optimum cutting power when in the hand of a proficient soldier.
    Both the Cossacks and the Gurkhas knew their craft and whilst bullets and butts still claimed lives, it was the s harp blades of the Shashka and Kukri that did most of the killing in the awful close-quarter fighting.
    Graham, recovering , but still groggy, assessed the situation and summoned men to him. He rushed them forward to the position that was under most pressure. Halting behind it, he ordered rapid fire and bullets smashed into the cavalrymen who were gaining the upper hand there, reducing the numerical superiority of the enemy to his front.
    The English C aptain had mastered all facets of his command, from the language and culture through to being able to hold his own in the Gurkha skills, and to that end, he carried his own Kukri.
    With his Webley revolver in his left hand, he raised his right hand high. Brandishing his blade, he shouted the battle cry loud enough to hearten the men fighting to his front.
    “Ayo Gurkhali! Jai Mahakali! Ayo Gurkhali!”
    His small group plunged forward into the fighting, immediately driving back the nearest cavalry troopers.
    The sides fell briefly apart, and firing grew as blades were substituted for guns, both sides shocked by the nature of the fighting.
    A burst from a PPSh knocked over a number of Gurkhas to the left of Gurung’s position.
    In the centre, it seemed that Graham’s counter-attack had succeeded in restoring stability.
    On the right, part of the mixed force had rushed to bolster the sagging 6th Platoon, but the fighting was hard and bloody.
    The CSM made a quick assessment of where the next attack would focus.
    It seemed obvious to the experienced NCO.
    It would be on the left, where he was positioned, so Gurung readied his men for the charge.
    The PPSh’s did more work, and another two riflemen fell, encouraging the Cossacks to push in once more.
    Gurung gave the order and charged forward, the pain in his wounded shoulder now forgotten. Despite the hammering of the Thompson in his left hand, his mind was focussed on his right hand, now occupied by the weapon of his youth.
     
     
    Blinking rapidly to clear the tears brought on by the smoke, the CHM sought another target. The Thompson yielded its last bullets, smashing down a panicky cavalryman as he reloaded his PPSh.
    Tossing the empty weapon to one side, Dhankumar Gurung threw himself forward, rolling under the thrust of a Soviet bayonet, coming up into the crouch and ramming his kukri home, point first, the tip exiting the back of his screaming opponent.
    Releasing the blade, he rolled again, avoiding a massive swipe from a bearded Cossack, the tip of the shashka kissing the rim of his helmet and creating a ringing metallic sound.
    Sl ipping as he tried to rise, Gurung’s wounded shoulder impacted with a discarded ammo box, and he cried out in pain.
    Seeing weakness in his opponent, the bearded Russian attacked once more, intent on using his strength and reach to batter the Gurkha down.
    Blade met blade as Gurung fended off the blows, but the Gurkha was being penned back, acting solely defensively, as the big Cossack pressed harder still.
    Suddenly, the man