The Fall of America | Book 10 | No Winners

by Benton, W. R.

"I'm sorry, Captain, but glad you see my point."

  The Colonel picked up the clackers for two of the Russian equivalents of Claymore mines and waited for the proper minute to squeeze them. Squeezing them would send hundreds of steel bearings out in an arch, a nasty tool if you are up close to the mines.

  Just as the American squad had most of their packs off their backs, he squeezed both clackers.

  The noise of the explosions was very loud and as his two troops moved from deep sleep to fighting positions, he yelled, "American squad at my 12 O'clock position."

  He noticed dust, smoke and droplets of blood filled the air. Immediately screams began, along with the strong smell of cordite, a coppery scent of blood, as well as the stink of urine.

  "We will wait until dawn and first light to check our enemies out. Some will bleed to death waiting that long. We take no prisoners. That means all will be dead when we leave the area."

  The medic started to say something, but wisely kept his mouth closed. Spetsnaz did what it took to complete a mission and allowing no prisoners to be taken to a target was smart. It was not a good time to take prisoners, because POWs would make completing the task much more difficult. After completing the mission, they usually took prisoners if possible. While not a cold blooded killer, the Colonel was a practical man and his success on his mission came first.

  After about an hour the screams died down and about ten minutes later, hearing a noise in the brush off his left, Eyes tossed a grenade. The explosion was no more than over when screaming started in that location. A couple of burst from the Colonel's Bison sub machine gun and the night became quiet once more.

  Just as the sun came up, the Colonel stood and said, "We approach them from three different directions and if you see movement, smoke them."

  As they neared the bodies, the first five were blown to hell, with limbs and heads missing. They then found the heavy bleeders dead and finally one man who was slightly injured, covered up by bodies.

  "Bring him to me." the Colonel said in Russian.

  When the man was standing in front of him, Filippovna slipped his pistol off of safe and said, "I want your name, unit and why you are out here."

  "I'm Corporal James D. Collins and I'm with the 95th partisan unit, infantry."

  "Do you want to live, Corporal?" The Colonel asked. Knowing his target, the General, was assigned to the same unit.

  "Of course, doesn't everyone?"

  "Will you lead me to your unit?"

  "Yes, I can do that, if you will release me afterward."

  "I will release you to a newly found freedom, but lie to me and I will cut your tongue out, then kill you slowly. Understand?"

  "Yes, when do we leave?"

  "Now, so walk, and how far is it?"

  "We'll be there in four hours. We were sent out late last night to check and see if you Russians were violating the peace treaty, and I guess you are."

  "Shut up and get on point." the colonel said, and slipped something into the backpack Collins wore.

  "What's in my pack?"

  "A command detonated hand grenade. The normal fuse has been replaced and I hold the transmitter. Get out of my sight for even a minute and you are dead meat. If you try to remove or dump the bomb, it will detonate. Once I activate the bomb, only I can make it safe again. Now start walking."

  Four hours later, from the top of a hill, Collins pointed to a grove of trees in a long valley below. "They are all in those trees. Guards are near the edges of the trees and they watch 24/7, and they are alert."

  Stopping, the Colonel pulled out his map and spread it on the ground in front of him and Collins. "Show me on the map."

  "We are here and the compound for the unit is right there." he said as he pointed with his right index finger.

  While Collins had been looking the map over, the Colonel pulled his sheath knife and when the man leaned forward and pointed, a quick slash with the sharp knife slit the American's throat. The map was waterproof but the Colonel tossed it away from the dying man and then sheathed his knife. Collins fell to his back and his eyes were full of questions and fear. Each time his heartbeat a stream of blood would spurt into the air.

  "Yes, I lied to you, my friend. See, I have nothing against Americans, but I cannot allow a traitor on either side to live. I am disgusted by men with no personal honor and that includes you. Do not worry, you will soon be dead."

  The more he bled the more the light of life in Collins' eyes was lost. Finally, after about 4 minutes, his body was dry of blood and his eyes were open, but they were unseeing. The Colonel moved to the dead Collins, removed the hand grenade and then booby trapped the body. If he got lucky, he'd kill more Americans if they found his body. The trap was just a regular hand grenade with a normal fuse and all he'd told Collins was a lie. Fear kept most men honest.

  "Doc, bring me the radio."

  Once the radio was there, he picked up the handset and said, "Python this is Cobra One."

  "Go Cobra."

  "I have located the American base. It is at these coordinates . . ."

  As the Colonel talked, Eyes tapped Doc on the leg and pointed to the woods Collins had pointed at. Men were leaving the woods in a single file and they both counted 12 men. Eyes, then pointed the men out to Filippovna, who nodded in understanding. The Americans were moving at an angle that would take them away from the watching Russians.

  Doc felt his chest tighten in fear, because he'd never been so close to Americans with so few men. By the time the Colonel was done talking, the Americans were out of sight.

  He handed the handset back to Doc and said, "We need to find a place to hole up as I kill the General. Once he is dead, I will return to where the two of you are and we will leave quickly. In these trees, my spotter won't help me any, so unless I take you along as another rifle, you will stay with Doc, Eyes."

  "Understood, sir." He'd been on many sniper missions, but this was the first one against a specific man and rank. He'd also fired on American bases before, killing a few Americans over the years.

  Chapter 17

  John and Joy were in his tent sleeping when Sergeant Major Dunbar knocked on part of the wooden frame of the shelter and asked, "Colonel, I mean General, are you up?"

  "What time is it, Top? And, come on in. I'm not fully awake yet."

  "0430 hours, sir." the top Sergeant stepped inside.

  "Why in the world should I be up this early?"

  The Top Sergeant laughed and then replied, "I wasn't thinking of the time, sir. We have a squad of men missing, all presumed dead and one of them was discovered not a quarter mile from here with his throat cut. Some of our troops remembered the dead man. The other General, the real boss, said for me to let you know."

  "Not good. He is preparing to leave and relocate, right?"

  "I assume he'll move, but I don't really know, sir. All he did was curse and tell me to inform you ASAP."

  "Okay, thanks for letting me know."

  "Yes, sir." the Sergeant Major said and then left the tent.

  "What's the matter, John?" Joy asked.

  "Squad ambushed, our base position has been compromised, and the real boss wants to see me. I guess if he's up, I need to be up too."

  "Can I still sleep?"

  "I see no reason for you to be up too."

  "Good." Joy said and then rolled over.

  At the General's office the Secretary, Staff Sergeant Thomas Barnes said, "Go on in General, he's expecting you."

  John entered, walked to about three feet from his desk and said, "You wanted to see me, sir?" Then saluted.

  The General returned the salute and said, "Forget the formality this morning, John, because we have a serious problem. A Russian message was broken last night that gives the exact location of our base camp here. Have a seat."

  John sat in a gray metal chair with no cushioning .

  "We can always move, sir."

  "The message was from a member of Spetsnaz and he is near, waiting to kill you. A
ccording to the translators, the man has been in position for about 24 hours. For that reason, I am having you work the night shift until we can find and kill him."

  "He's Russian Special Ops, so he'll not be easily killed. Sir, I'd much rather stay on days, because if he's out to kill me, he'll still try at night and some of the night scopes show a clear image, much clearer than NVGs. Trying to avoid him will not work."

  "Well, stay on days then. The Russians broke the truce this evening by killing a squad of men and women, but only one man was missing. The name of the missing man was sent in the Russian classified message. The missing man's body was discovered by a guard with a dog a little after midnight. He must have been captured, questioned and then killed when no longer needed."

  "So?"

  The squad was killed miles from here, so why was the dead man, a member of the same squad found dead here, near our base camp?"

  "I see. I suspect the man showed them our base camp and was then terminated. A sniper doesn't have the time or patience to keep a POW alive."

  "You and I agree, then. We need to move today, and quickly. I suspect once he kills or thinks he's killed you, we can expect an air attack by Russian bombers." the General opened the lower right drawer on his desk and added, "Here, a bullet proof vest, and just pray he doesn't go for a head shot."

  John took the vest and slipped it on. Smiling he said, "Lighter than the old flak jackets we used to wear, huh?"

  "We've come a long way in some areas, but that one was made before the war. It’s better than the ceramic ones, and will stop any known bullet, as long as it's fired from over 30 feet away. Some of the guns, like a .357 magnum or .44 magnum, will penetrate when closer than 30 feet. We know Spetsnaz members can hit a pie plate a mile away, so I expect your man to fire from long distance."

  "What now, sir?"

  "I want everyone up and preparing to leave. I want to leave by dark and I have a spot on the map that will be our new home."

  "Is it close or far away?"

  "About ten miles. Now, once we are there, we put up nothing until we know we've not been spotted. That means no tents or shelters, no showers, no communications center and no base supply. If they are hungry, have them eat MREs or Chinese rations. If they have them, the Russian Green Frogs are good, too. Tell 'em to pee and poop in the woods, until further notice. If we're okay by the end of this week, we'll get organized and put everything in it's proper place. See to the move, General."

  John stood, because the meeting was over. He saluted the General and then left. On the way back to his quarters, he stopped by the command post.

  "What can we do for you, General?" the Major running the place asked.

  "Get me the senior NCO on duty this morning."

  "That would be First Sergeant Dunbar, sir, and he's sitting over by the radar screens. Do you see him? Hes the one that woke you up earlier and told you the General wanted to speak with you."

  "Yes, and thank you. I know the Sergeant Major." John said and walked to the man.

  As soon as the Sergeant noticed the General he stood grinning. He and John went back for years.

  "Well, First Sergeant Dunbar, I need your help."

  "In what way, sir?"

  "I need you to prepare the base for a move. We suspect we've been compromised and have to move. The big boss wants to the last of us to leave right at dark, this evening. Can you get the word out and ramrod the whole process?"

  "Yes, sir, that's what I'm here for."

  "It may take a few trips but we're not moving far, maybe ten miles."

  "Check back with me near noon and I'll give you an update on what we have done to move, sir."

  John moved to his tent and put a pot of coffee on to perk. He glanced at his watch and it was a little after 0530. He'd let Joy sleep until 0600 hundred then he'd wake her. Everyone on the base would be up and moving by then. Moving a partisan base was no small task, but they were more mobile than a brick and mortar base. Tents were already coming down, along with file cabinets, chairs, and tables being loaded on a few deuce and half trucks. The other stuff was being placed in the ground near the trucks so they could be picked up later. Now they were taking the heavy stuff first.

  The morning was quiet and, near noon, Sergeant Dunbar reported to John they were a good two hours ahead of schedule. They were speaking near a big truck when the General was suddenly knocked on his ass. Joy ran to him and screamed knowing he'd just taken a bullet to the center of his chest.

  As she knelt to take John's head in her lap, she felt her heart breaking. She should have agreed to marry him. Now he was gone from her life, forever.

  John opened his left eye, saw her crying and said in barely audible voice, "Joy, I'm not dead. I am wearing an armor vest the General gave to me to wear. The bullet knocked the breath out of me and I'm sure I'll be bruised like hell in the morning, but it didn't break the skin. Dunbar, take five men and look for that sniper. Start at about a quarter mile out in your search and use care, because the sniper is Spetsnaz. But, before you go, have two men take me to the infirmary. I want the sniper to think he killed me."

  "Yes, sir, so I'll not salute you if your supposed to be dead. Franklin and Brown, get the General to the infirmary and now. Pretend he is dead, but show his body some respect." Dunbar said, and then laughed.

  Once with a doctor, John said, "Doctor Myers, I am fine. I did take a bullet to the chest, but I was wearing a vest. The bullet didn't touch my skin, but I know I'll be bruised."

  "Well now, that's interesting. Then why did the two men laugh when they dropped you off after saying you were dead?"

  "I need you to wrap my head up because there is a sniper out there that has a bullet with my name on it. I want him to think he killed me with his last shot. With my head wrapped, he'll not know it's me."

  An hour later the General left the doctor with his head wrapped up and before he left he removed his single star from his shirt collars. Now, if he walked around like this the sniper might think he killed the man. Dunbar had returned and had nothing to share. The sniper had gotten away clean.

  Spetsnaz, damn those killers, he thought as he walked to his quarters in a light drizzling rain.

  "Sir," Sergeant Dunbar said, "back home I'm known as a good tracker in the woods, so I was able to tell there were three of them. I figured a sniper, spotter, but who else?"

  "Medic or radioman, or maybe the man does both. Not much for a medic to do unless the shooting starts, except put bandaids on injuries."

  "Okay, so I followed the tracks for a good two miles and they just circled around on us. It was a big circle and near the water in that crick north of here, I lost their tracks. Whoever is out there is good, very good, but I could have picked the tracks up in a bit, I think. I decided to return, because we have things to do here too. He'll be back again, I'm sure of it, sir."

  "Yep, you did the right thing. I expect him to follow us when we move, but I'll increase the number of patrols and maybe we can corner him."

  "Something tells me if you corner him, you'll want him out of that corner fairly fast at some point. I think our man is deadly."

  "I've fought Spetsnaz before and they can be killed, but it takes much more skill and determination than killing a regular soldier."

  "I don't hope to find out."

  Master Sergeant Thomas suddenly stuck his head in the tent and said, "General, our radar folks have picked up about a dozen images of what appears to be Russian Tupolev Tu-95 Bombers. You know it as a Bear Bomber. They have an escort of 10 Su-47 Berkut fighters, or that's the guess. Lately they've started using them for escorts more so than other fighters."

  "Evacuate the base and do it now. I want everyone gone in five minutes! Move too!" John said as he jumped to his feet and began packing up some classified documents from his safe.

  The camp loud speaker came on, "Attention all base personnel, bombers inbound so evacuate the base, I repeat bombers inbound so evacuate the base.” John heard some yelling and the so
und of feet running by his door.

  He glanced at Joy and she was placing things in her pack. She seemed to be in a hurry, but not in a panic. Good, she's keeping a level head right now and that's hard to do, he thought.

  He picked up his briefcase full of documents, turned to Joy and said, "We need to be moving, and now. Put what's in your hand in your pack and let's leave."

  The loud speaker said, "Bombers are seven, I repeat seven, minutes out. Move, everyone!"

  Joy and John picked up their long guns; they were wearing side-arms, and out the door they flew. John ran from the trees and found a long ditch about a quarter mile from the camp. Just as they jumped in, a loud explosion was heard, and then a long line of explosions were seen where their camp was located. Massive fireballs were rolling upward to the sky and smoke filled the air over the partisan base camp. Tents, trees and other structures were flying through the air as bombs struck. The smell of cordite was strong, along with dust.

  Then it grew quiet.

  As John watched the last three bombers flying overhead one instantly exploded and the other two dropped down to about 200 meters off the ground.

  It was then that Joy yelled, "They are being fired on by Chinese fighters, see them?"

  "Yes, I see, and they are Chengdu J-20, Mighty Dragons!"

  "There goes a bomber!" Another bomber must have had the pilots struck hard because it flew into the ground with only two parachutes seen. John knew the rest of the crew must have been killed. The fireballs from the downed aircraft where huge and black oily red flames curled and moved inside of other flames.

  "Here come more!" John yelled to be heard over the guns firing on the ground at the bombers.

  "Must be the second wave of bombers!" Joy yelled.

  One bomber, the left wing on fire, attempted to land in a field, but the aircraft struck a large boulder and began to cartwheel down a long stretch of flatness, leaving burning fuel and wreckage on the ground. Suddenly the nose slammed into the ground hard and the aircraft exploded. He saw no one run from the debris and knew the crew was dead.

  He watched one bomber nose down and then about 50 feet off the ground the pilot skillfully pulled up, but the Chinese fighter on his ass couldn't pull up in time and crashed into the ground hard, sending the wings, tail and fuselage in different directions. Seconds later the pilot ran from the fireball only to collapse less than 20 feet from the dancing flames.