The 425th Assault Battalion.
Is one of just six ‘elves’ battalions.
To receive American-made.
M-2 Bradley infantry fighting vehicles.
—31 of them.
If the battalion adheres.
To the standard ‘elves’.
Force structure.
The 400-person battalion.
Is putting the 33-ton.
10-person IFVs.
To good use.
As part of the ‘elves’.
Spirited defense of Pokrovsk.
The city in eastern ‘elves’.
Donetsk Oblast.
That is the locus.
That is the locus.
Of ‘orcs’ yearlong offensive.
In the east.
The ‘elves’ saw the ‘orcs’.
The ‘orcs’ didn’t see the ‘elves’.
The ‘elves’ saw the ‘orcs’.
The ‘orcs’ didn’t see the ‘elves’.
In a furious infantry action.
Somewhere along the approaches.
To Pokrovsk.
On or shortly before Monday.
A team of 425th.
Assault Battalion troopers.
Backed up by mortars and drones.
—and a single fast-reacting Bradley—
A team of 425th.
Assault Battalion troopers.
Defeated an ‘orcs’ force.
Five times its size.
The two-part firefight.
Began when three 425th.
Assault Battalion soldiers.
Who’d apparently been dropped off.
By an M-2 performing.
Its primary role as a “battle taxi”.
Spotted three ‘orcs’ soldiers.
Approaching along a road.
The ‘elves’ saw the ‘orcs’.
The ‘orcs’ didn’t see the ‘elves’.
The ‘elves’ saw the ‘orcs’.
The ‘orcs’ didn’t see the ‘elves’.
“These three do not.
Suspect anything.”
A 425th Assault Battalion soldier.
Narrated in a video.
The ‘elves’ “came out.
And controlled the situation.
With a grenade.”
The narrator quipped.
A few well-aimed.
Rifle rounds.
Ended the ambush.
Two ‘orcs’ lay dead.
A third “decided.
He’d had enough”.
And crawled toward.
The ‘elves’ to surrender.
The ‘elves’ saw the ‘orcs’.
The ‘orcs’ didn’t see the ‘elves’.
The ‘elves’ saw the ‘orcs’.
The ‘orcs’ didn’t see the ‘elves’.
That’s when an even.
Three-on-three fight.
Turned lopsided for.
The 425th Assault Battalion.
A dozen more ‘orcs’ marched.
Down the same road.
Surveilled the entire time.
By an ‘elves’ drone.
Nearby ‘elves’ mortar crews.
Opened fire.
Drone operators joined in.
The bombardment.
The ‘orcs’ assault group.
“Ceased to exist.”
According to the narrator.
Just to be sure.
An M-2—perhaps.
The same one that.
May have dropped off.
The initial three ‘elves’ troopers—
Arrived on the scene.
“And added more fire.”
Blasting away with its.
Fast-firing 25-millimeter autocannon.
The Bradley turned the kill zone.
Into an abattoir.
There were no additional.
‘Orcs’ prisoners.
The ‘elves’ saw the ‘orcs’.
The ‘orcs’ didn’t see the ‘elves’.
The ‘elves’ saw the ‘orcs’.
The ‘orcs’ didn’t see the ‘elves’.
The skirmish ended with.
Engineers blowing up a bridge.
The two ‘orcs’ assault groups.
Had used to approach Pokrovsk.
Finally, the 425th.
Assault Battalion dropped off.
A fresh group of infantry.
A fresh group of infantry.
—and fetched the three soldiers.
Who’d just beat 15 ‘orcs’.
—and fetched the three soldiers.
Who’d just beat 15 ‘orcs’.
The ‘elves’ saw the ‘orcs’.
The ‘orcs’ didn’t see the ‘elves’.
The ‘elves’ saw the ‘orcs’.
The ‘orcs’ didn’t see the ‘elves’.
It was a classic.
Combined-arms engagement.
For the ‘elves’.
—a coordinated mix of.
Infantry and mechanized actions.
Supported by reconnaissance.
Artillery, aerial fires.
And engineers.
And it underscored.
The extreme value of.
The 300 or so M-2s.
The United States has donated to Ukraine.
Most of which remain in action.
Despite participating in.
Almost all of.
The hardest battles.
The hardest battles.
In Ukraine and.
Western ‘Mordor’.
Since early 2023.
The ‘elves’ saw the ‘orcs’.
The ‘orcs’ didn’t see the ‘elves’.
The ‘elves’ saw the ‘orcs’.
The ‘orcs’ didn’t see the ‘elves’.
If there’s anything.
For the ‘elves’ to lament.
It’s that they may not get.
Any more Bradleys.
The incoming administration.
Of U.S. President-elect winner.
Has signaled that.
At best, it will.
At best, it will.
Reduce U.S. aid to Ukraine.
At worst.
It may end it.
In the latter case.
Those 300 M-2s will.
Have to suffice—potentially.
For the duration of the war.
*Because I read “Three Ukrainian Soldiers Assisted By An M-2 Bradley Made 15 Russians ‘Cease To Exist’” by David Axe on 10 Dec 2024 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.
Please read the original story on the Forbes:
3 Ukrainian Soldiers Helped By An M-2 Made 15 Russians ‘Cease To Exist’
