As I looked across the landscape I was annoyed by an incursion into our territory. After scouting and an investigation I had found the enemy had penetrated deep into our area and was establishing a foothold. What I thought was an establishment of agreed upon lines was actually the launching pad for their offensive. Having spotted this just in time I was able to beat back the incursions and reestablish the front lines.
This is how these things start and slowly unravel. I went to battle at first with light weapons and now it has become a series of pitched battles, tactical warfare with strategic purpose. Having taken out my first salvo, I descended into the woods. The Ivy had worked its tendrils into every garden bed and taken over the hill. They had taken the high ground and were choking us out with a patient siege and war of attrition that we could not sustain. I broke the siege by cutting them off at the base.
 |
| Jason Kotarski |
Thus the battle begun. The small hatchet and machete struck the first blows. The ivy fought back, grabbing ahold of my foot and tripping me causing a tumble. I didn't even notice the Ivy had allied with the Blackberries causing a mess to my fingers, hands, arms, and face. I ratcheted it up a notch and invoked fire to burn through the root mass that had strangled the landscape to death. I hacked and piled and torched small circles to the earth and tilled the ashes and tinder to the soil. I was moving the frontlines of the war and in these circles I planted our counter offensive. The ivy had strangled the native species and specimen plants leaving behind a green carpet of landslide danger. The counter offensive was to reinforce our position and entrench the battle lines.
 |
| Jason Kotarski |
The enemy had infiltrated our transportation corridor necessary for supply lines and reinforcements. The rocks were to be our foothold and we had to press the advance.
 |
| Jason Kotarski |
We spotted the enemy position and plotted our attack. We would wait for a Saturday when the enemy would be vulnerable and waited for the sun to set to mask our movements before we sprung our trap. We had flanked the enemy and were advancing on two fronts in a pincer movement to divert the attention of this infiltrator. They were deeply entrenched in their position and we invoked Sun Zhu as we planned to hold our ground. It was hand to hand combat, grappling and twisting, pulling and wrestling to yank them from the trenches.
 |
| Jason Kotarski |
The southern flank had succeeded but we knew we would be tested on this side again. By only attacking the exposed positions we left the main forces to regroup later. We need to establish an observation post to monitor the situation.
 |
| Jason Kotarski |
The initial pitched battles are showing signs of stabilization with new habitation in the controlled sectors. These are becoming excellent rear guards to sustain our Forward Operating Bases (FOB).
Oh adversary Ivy and your proxy Blackberry, we will defeat you and on the fourth day of the month of July we will declare our independence and watch you burn in the flames of our success!
