Author: Nick Ryan
In Nick Ryan’s “Charge to Battle” book, Russian troops pour into northern Poland and an elite platoon of American Army soldiers in Stryker Infantry Carrier Vehicles (ICV) face a dangerous reconnaissance assignment of clearing a route for a US Army Cavalry unit preparing to counterattack the advancing Russians before they reach Warsaw. But the Americans’ difficult mission is made even more complicated when a less-military trained Company of Polish militia are added by NATO to the counter attacking force, and the now joint-force runs into a vital bridge along the route that is unexpectedly defended by the Russians.
Faced with an impossible battle to win the bridge, and the challenge of the unreliable Polish allies, the American Cavalry must find a way to fight through the dug-in Russian force that is determined to hold the vital crossing at all costs. The light-armored Stryker is an eight-wheeled armored fighting vehicle produced by for the United States Army. It has four-wheel drive (8×4) and can also be switched to all-wheel drive (8×8). Significantly lighter and more transportable than existing tanks and armored vehicles, the Stryker fulfills an immediate requirement to provide combat readiness with a strategically and operationally deployable brigade of troops capable of rapid movement anywhere in the world.
Unlike a super heavy Abrams tank or a Bradley fighting vehicle, the Stryker is a medium-weight vehicle that can carry 11 soldiers and weapons at speeds up to 60 miles per hour. The short and sweet of this story is that it is of military fiction. It’s a heavily military cliché ridden narrative - the good are great, the enemy brutal and the European allies are weakly led and somewhat ineffective. Nevertheless, the tale is entertaining, and the action in the battle scenes is unrelenting.
The book was mostly focused on one battle event – the Russian occupied bridge - with little on the strategic side of the clash. That said, Ryan does not disappoint and provides a very entertaining read that's hard to put down. The plotline was a little stretched at times, but again, the battle sequences were first rate.
A worthy read, and I am looking forward to the next book in author Nick Ryan’s chillingly authentic collection of action-packed combat novels.
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