The Battle Plan Part 1

In the middle of the book The Ark Lords, Jack Henry comes up with a battle plan for ambushing the Ark Lords. He knows the Ark Lords will be entering the former site of FermiLab and the Tevatron. He knows they will be coming from the south and heading straight for Wilson Hall. Here is an image of the terrain. You can click on it for a larger view. Follow along as Jack instructs his troops:

     “I want thirty men,” Jack said. “You split yourselves into two teams. Team A will hide in the trees to the west of that clearing.”
     He pointed to the two stands of trees to the east, in the direction they’d come when they first arrived.
     “Team A will be armed with these fire sticks.” Jack lifted a rifle into the air. “They’ll hide in the nearer stand of woods. Team B will hide in the trees farther to the east. Crossbows and spears only.”
     “How come they don’t get the good weapons?” one man asked.
     “Because the Ark Lords don’t know we have them. And we have to keep it a secret for as long as possible,” he said. “They’ll be coming from the southeast, just like we did. They don’t know we’re here so they’ll head through the clearing, the same as us.”
     Jack pointed to the gentle rise to the southeast, toward the horizon. “We’ll put scouts along the way with these radios. They can call in what they see so you know when to be ready.”
     Jack surveyed the surroundings, noting again the geographical layout.
     “I’m guessing they will come in three vehicles,” he said. “No less. One will be for transporting the disease weapon, the others will be escorts. The escorts will be heavily armed. You let the lead vehicles pass through. You only attack the third.”
     “What kind of attack?” another man asked.
     “After the first two vehicles pass through, Team B will hit the third one with the crossbows and spears. Go for the spacemen but don’t aim for the chest or the head. They have armor plating. There are only a few places where they’re exposed.”
     Jack pointed out the various parts of his body. “Aim for their arms or hands first. They can’t shoot a weapon if they don’t have hands. Then shoot them in the knees or thighs. They can’t run away if they don’t have feet, so to speak. Once you have them hobbled, to apply a kill shot, you need to hit them here.” Jack turned and pointed to the base of his neck then he turned back around. “That’s the only place on their head that isn’t protected.”
     “And you want us to do this with crossbows?” the same man asked. “Why are we shooting arrows when we have the fire sticks?”

We'll find out why tomorrow.