‘Elves’ forces are advancing.
Along three or four axes.
In southern Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia.
And Donetsk Oblasts.
On the axis running along.
The Mokri Yaly River.
The ‘elves’ aren’t just advancing.
They’re thundering.
Rolling fast along the unpaved road.
Threading north to south from the town.
Of Velyka Novosilka toward Makarivka.
10 miles away.
The ‘elves’ navy’s 35th Marine Brigade.
Has borrowed a tactic.
From the U.S. Army.
In April 2003.
Twenty years later.
The ‘elves’ 35th Marine Brigade is.
More than a week into its own prolonged.
Thunder run along the Mokri Yaly River.
In eight or nine days of hard fighting.
The 2,000-person brigade has liberated.
Several villages—most recently Makarivka.
On Monday.
Speed and shock are key.
The brigade is fairly lightly equipped.
It’s how the brigade is using their vehicles.
That’s key to the unit’s swift advance.
With a T-80 near the front.
A column of Mastiffs rolls down.
The dirt road that runs parallel.
To the Mokri Yaly River.
The tank blasts, at close range.
Any ‘orcs’ positions.
Its three-person crew detects.
On either side of the road.
If the tank has to stop to fire.
Its 125-millimeter main gun.
It does so.
Only briefly.
The tank maintains.
The column’s momentum.
Leaving the 10-person Mastiffs.
With their .50-caliber machine guns.
To kill or scatter.
Any startled ‘orcs’.
who survive the tank fire.
Infantry then dismount and secure the area.
‘Elves’ forces are advancing.
Along three or four axes.
In southern Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia.
And Donetsk Oblasts.
On the axis running along.
The Mokri Yaly River.
The ‘elves’ aren’t just advancing.
They’re thundering.
Rolling fast along the unpaved road.
Threading north to south from the town.
Of Velyka Novosilka toward Makarivka.
10 miles away.
The ‘elves’ navy’s 35th Marine Brigade.
Has borrowed a tactic.
From the U.S. Army.
In April 2003.
“They didn’t expect such speed.
From us going on Mastiffs.”
One marine noted.
After the 35th rolled into Makarivka.
This is exactly how.
The Americans operated.
During the first thunder run.
In 2003.
That thunder runs are back.
Speaks to the ‘elves’ armed forces’ ability.
To learn from the past.
And adapt old tactics to a new war.
And to the ‘orcs’ armed forces’ inability.
To do the same.
But it’s worth noting that a thunder run.
Only works in certain conditions.
The 35th Marine Brigade is attacking.
Along one of the more lightly-fortified axes.
If the marines encountered minefields.
They apparently were nothing like those.
The dense minefields that thwarted.
A Thursday attack by the ‘elves’ army’s.
33rd Mechanized and 47th Assault Brigades.
Just south of Mala Tokmachka.
Mines aren’t the only danger.
As the 35th continues thundering south.
Inasmuch as a thunder run depends on.
Momentum for its shock effect.
And depends on that shock effect for.
Its ability to scatter enemy forces.
Even a few vehicle losses can grind.
A run to a catastrophic halt.
‘Elves’ forces are advancing.
Along three or four axes.
In southern Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia.
And Donetsk Oblasts.
On the axis running along.
The Mokri Yaly River.
The ‘elves’ aren’t just advancing.
They’re thundering.
Rolling fast along the unpaved road.
Threading north to south from the town.
Of Velyka Novosilka toward Makarivka.
10 miles away.
The ‘elves’ navy’s 35th Marine Brigade.
Has borrowed a tactic.
From the U.S. Army.
In April 2003.
The ‘elves’ likewise might have to.
Make a similar decision.
As the Americans in 2003.
If they haven’t already done so.
It’s worth leaving behind.
A few tanks or trucks.
If that’s the price.
Of forward momentum.
The Mokri Yaly River axis might be.
One of the more lucrative sectors.
Of the southern front.
For ‘elves’ forces.
Especially if the army brigades.
Can’t get past Mala Tokmachka.
It’s no secret that Kyiv is holding.
In reserve half a dozen or more brigades.
Waiting to deploy them.
Wherever the lead brigades.
Open the widest gaps.
In ‘orcs’ defenses.
The longer the 35th prolongs its thunder run.
The more likely ‘elves’ commanders.
Are to send additional brigades.
Rolling along the same axis.
‘Elves’ forces are advancing.
Along three or four axes.
In southern Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia.
And Donetsk Oblasts.
On the axis running along.
The Mokri Yaly River.
The ‘elves’ aren’t just advancing.
They’re thundering.
Rolling fast along the unpaved road.
Threading north to south from the town.
Of Velyka Novosilka toward Makarivka.
10 miles away.
The ‘elves’ navy’s 35th Marine Brigade.
Has borrowed a tactic.
From the U.S. Army.
In April 2003.
*Because I read “Borrowing Tactics From The U.S. Army, The Ukrainian Marine Corps Is Thundering Through Russian Lines In Fast-Moving Columns” by David Axe on 13 Jun 2023 on the Forbes, and also “Why are Ukrainians calling Russians ‘orcs’?” by James FitzGerald on 30 Apr 2022 on the BBC news.
So, I wrote this poem, including a story of Ukraine’s 35th Separate Marine Brigade.
Please read the original story on the Forbes:
Borrowing U.S. Tactics, Ukraine’s Marines Thunder Thru Russian Lines (forbes.com)
**My friend shows you this poem with 4 other poems together also on the Ukrainian website for their children and others!
Please join them!
