At once they heard the trucks racing in the new direction.
"Moving," Murdock said into his Motorola. Each SEAL had a personal communication radio with lip mike and earpiece. A transceiver was fastened to each SEAL's belt.
The fifteen men hiked toward the beach. A hundred yards from the sand, Murdock found Lam standing behind a tree. He pointed ahead. A line of ten Korean soldiers, all with rifles at the ready, were positioned across the beach and facing shoreward.
Murdock gave a sigh. He'd hoped that this one was about over. He whispered in his lip mike. "A line of skirmishers up here in the brush. We have ten Koreans out front. Fire between them. Make damn sure you don't hit anybody. Five rounds between them and we'll see what happens."
It took the SEALs three minutes to get into position. Murdock asked for a platoon check. All fourteen men reported ready on the radio.
"On mine," Murdock said, pushing the safety off his H&K MP-5SD submachine gun. He lifted the weapon and aimed between the two nearest Koreans. They stood ten yards apart. He fired three rounds and before the last one was out of the barrel, the other fourteen SEALs opened fire.
Five seconds after the last SEAL weapon fired, the ten Korean soldiers on the beach were screaming in surprise. Some ran to the left, others to the right. In half a minute none of the Korean GIs could be seen.
"Let's take a swim," Murdock said into his Motorola. Then he pulled off the components of his radio and stowed them in the waterproof pouch on his combat vest. He slung the submachine gun over his back and ran toward the dark waters of the Yellow Sea.
After a quarter-of-a-mile swim off the point of land, they made contact with the Pegasas that had been waiting for them.
"About time," the coxswain called. "Figured you guys were gonna hang around for breakfast in there."
The SEALs climbed on board the boat and Murdock fired a green flare. A few minutes later a South Korean patrol craft surged alongside the long, slim boat and stopped. She was the Sea Dolphin 292, a craft that Murdock had been on before. Murdock and DeWitt climbed a ladder for a conference on board the South Korean boat.
'That's my report, Colonel. From a security standpoint, there was little or no coverage of the beach. We swam up, ran across the beach, then surprised one sentry who came strolling along. The security inland was worse. The mounted patrol was decoyed off its station and the guards around the 'prize' building were lax, casual, and ineffective."
The South Korean Army colonel scowled in the dim lights of the boat. "Did you use live ammunition, Commander?"
"We fired between the guards they had put on the beach. None was hit, all were frightened out of their skins. They ran away as fast as they could." Murdock paused.
"Colonel, these troops have never been under fire before. They need a firm hand. But if I were grading them on their defense of this sector and their security of the building, it would be a dismal failure."
The colonel nodded. "It is true. Our men need better training. We may ask your captain if you could do some of that training for us."
Murdock smiled. "Colonel, I always follow orders."
The South Korean colonel nodded, turned sharply, and walked to the bow of the ship.
Murdock and DeWitt stood there a moment, then hurried to the ladder to get back in their taxi for a quick ride out to the carrier.
"Glad that's over," DeWitt said as they settled into the Pegasus. "How many of these test situations have we done now in the past three weeks?"
"That's the seventh or eighth, I can't remember. If I thought it was doing any good, it wouldn't be so bad."
"Hey, could be worse. Better this than the bad guys shooting at us."
Twenty minutes later, Don Stroh met them as they walked into their assembly room on the carrier. The SEALs were not happy.
"Hey, Stroh. When the hell we get off this tub and go home?" Les Quinley, Torpedoman Third Class, yelled.
"Can't tell. Not yet. Hear you kicked ass out there again tonight. The ROKs are gonna be glad to see you go… anywhere." He laughed at his own joke as the SEALs stripped out of their wet combat gear and wet suits. He held his fist in the air, and the room went silent in a second.
It was a holdover sign from the BUD/S training in Coronado, and still served a good purpose.
"Fact is, I wanted to talk to all of your about that. Things are heating up in Panmunjom. I'm going over there tomorrow morning for a big conflab. The second-highest-ranking North Korean general, Soo Chung Chi, is going to be at the table. On our side will be Vice President Wilson Chambers. We're rolling out our big guns for this talk, and I want to be there. I want to hear what both sides have to say."
"If those two guys kiss and make up, we'll all go home," Jack Mahanani, Hospital Corpsman first Class, roared. Everyone laughed.
Might not be quite that easy," Stroh said. "What happens tomorrow is going to have a huge bearing on whether you go home or not. Thanks for the last training bit. The South Koreans could stand a lot more work, but I don't know who is going to teach them. Now, you guys get some sleep. I've got to get ashore and be ready for the big yahoo tomorrow."
Murdock walked Stroh to the deck, where he would catch his helo.
"Is there really going to be a chance to work things out tomorrow with the North guys?"
Stroh shook his head. "Don't think so. The Vice President has a lot of packages for the North, if they'll take them. I just can't read the Korean faces, on either side." Stroh shrugged. "Hell, we'll just have to wait and see what goes down tomorrow."
Murdock watched Stroh take off. His men were rested after the hard mission in the Kuril Islands. They were ready. He'd been a SEAL for six years now, commander of this platoon for the past two. He'd wet nursed some of them, come down hard on others. They were SEALs, the best trained special operations fighting men in the world. Quick Response was their middle name. He and his men would be ready, no matter what happened at that conference table tomorrow.
2
Joint Security Area
Panmunjom, Korean Demilitarized Zone
The Joint Security Area at Panmunjom is a green island in a raw brown swatch of land called the Demilitarized Zone that gouges across the width of the Korean peninsula. This neatly landscaped, oval-shaped area is where North and South Korea meet to try to maintain peace through day-today discussions. This is where the famous table sits that separates the forces that are often more angry than ready to talk. United States Army soldiers from nearby Camp Bonifas provide protection for the area and the more than 100,000 visitors who come there every year.
The DMZ itself is 151 miles long and two and a half miles wide. It's a buffer zone created by the July 27, 1953, armistice that ended the Korean fighting.
Don Stroh took an observer's position at the back of the South Korean contingent inside the big room where the peace table sat. The South Koreans and their American guests were already in place at the table. The North Korean delegation was not there. It was an old tactic, making one side sit and wait for the other side to arrive.
Ten minutes later, the far doors opened and a short, thickset man with his North Korean military uniform pressed and spotless, with all the brass shined and all the combat ribbons and medals firmly in place, walked quickly down the aisle and took the center spot in the chairs. Four gleaming stars perched on his shoulders.
When he was seated, the rest of the delegation, most in uniform, marched in and sat on both sides of their leader.
Usually the wrangling at this table was reserved for low-ranking officers of both sides.
Perhaps someone had fired across the line. Some soldier had encroached into the North's territory. Civilians had been caught rushing across the cleared and mostly sterile zone.
The sight of high-ranking military men as well as the second-most-important man in America brought the tension to a new high.
A minor North Korean civilian spoke first. His words were at once translated into English.
"The Democratic People's Republi
c of Korea is pleased to be at the table today and to welcome the Vice President of the United States. We hope that this will mean the intransigent Americans have at last realized that our people can never be defeated and that we will continue our programs and operations.
"Since the United States has come with its second-ranking man, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea has also brought to this table the second ranking official in our government and our army. It is my great pleasure today to introduce to you General Soo Chung Chi. General Soo."
One North Korean civilian began to clap, but was quickly hushed by a soldier sitting beside him. The general rose and stared across the table at Vice President Wilson Chambers. The Veep was an imposing figure — six-two, broad shoulders, forty-eight years old, a head of jet-black hair, and cleanshaven. He was in better physical shape now than he had been when he was in college.
Chambers stared back just as hard at the stocky North Korean general. For a moment the Vice President almost winced at the anger he saw in the general's face. Then he built a small frown and his eyes turned icy as he sent his own anger back, until the shorter man looked down at his notes.
An interpreter translated each word into English as the general spoke.
"I am disgusted and angered at this meeting. There is no true purpose here, and no possibility of any agreements. No chance that one of our sides might make concessions to the other. I have watched the United States imperialists function for many years. It is always the same. They attack and subdue an enemy so they can make a profit from that nation and hold power over them.
It's an old, old way of life for the Western powers.
"The Democratic People's Republic of Korea has never done any of these things. We have never subjugated another people. We have never made war on anyone for profit or power. We are a small country hounded and threatened by a huge nation with unlimited resources, hundred of warships, thousands of warplanes, and millions of men bearing modern arms.
"'We are half of a poor country. A poor nation that could be great if it were unified under one government. We are one people. We should be one country with one government. We must strive for this, to bring eighty million Koreans into the twenty-first century as a new people with tremendous promise and power in the great family of nations around the Pacific Rim."
General Soo looked hard again at the Vice President.
"The United States of America has for almost fifty years shattered the peace and freedom of all Koreans with the presence of her armed forces on our soil. This is nothing but a naked power plot to take over all of Korea and incorporate it into the American union of states, making Korea simply another small part of that union.
"This type of thin king, this type of furious action is nothing short of international criminal aggression, and should be dealt with by the United Nations and other law-abiding security groups.
"The intransient position of the United States leaves the Democratic People's Republic of Korea with only one alter native. That course of action is neither pleasing nor easy for the people of Korea. But at this point it is the only way that Korea can survive. We are one people. We must have one government."
The stocky man sat down. There was no cheering by the North Koreans. Instead they all looked with distaste at the Vice President.
Don Stroh had watched and listened to the North Korean with surprise and anger. The man was coming as close as anyone could to suggesting that an all-out war between North and South Korea could be the only solution to the current situation.
Stroh was surprised. War talk from a nation nearing the end of its economic rope? The North had a 1.2-million-man army, but much of the equipment it used had come from the Soviets and the Chinese many years ago and was now rusting and running out of spare parts and fuel. A MiG pilot who flew his jet to the South and surrendered had said that many of the North's fighter pilots had only five hours of flight time a year, due to a severe shortage of jet fuel. How could they stage an attack? No, the general was bluffing, and he was good at it.
Vice President Wilson Chambers stood and looked at the North Koreans. He spoke without notes. A translator on the North side translated his words.
"This is the start of an interesting exchange. I come directly from the President of the United States, and he has made several tremendously generous offers to the North Korean people.
"The United States does not want to annex Korea. It would be unheard of. We don't conquer independent countries to take them into our nation. Rather we help smaller countries and then free them to be independent, the way we did the Philippines.
"Today I bring to the North Korean people an offer of more than a billion tons of foodstuffs, everything from corn and wheat and rice to powdered milk, baby formula, cornmeal, oats, barley, soy, and a hundred other nonperishable foods that can help out a starving people.
"Our only restriction is that these millions of tons of food be used for the civilian population of North Korea. We know that food is in tremendously short supply, and we are not trying to embarrass our guests here today. It is simply a fact that North Korea needs to eat more food than it can produce. We want to help the North Korean people in this matter."
The Vice President paused and took a drink from a glass of water. He looked directly at the Korean general, who had his arms folded in front of him and a look of fury dominating his features. The Vice President hurried on.
"We know that medical supplies and treatment are also lacking in the northern half of the Korean peninsula. To help with this problem, the United States government has made plans to ship twenty fully equipped mobile hospitals to North Korea. They will come with supplies, instruments, machines, drugs, and enough goods to last for a year. A volunteer medical staff can also come along, and will stay and work in the hospitals with Korean medical people for a full year. There is no cost or obligation."
Genera] Soo slammed both hands down on the polished table, creating a loud slap. He stood at the same time. The rest of the North Korean delegation rose as well. The general turned and scowled at the Vice President. He said something in a low voice, then marched stiffly out of the meeting and through the doors he had came in by. The entire North Korean party followed him.
Vice President Chambers stood watching them. Surprise, then a touch of anger, followed by resignation inched across his face.
"What did the general say as he left?" the Vice President asked the interpreter.
For a moment the man frowned, then shook his head. "I must have heard him wrong, Mr. Vice President. To the best of my hearing he said: 'Your fancy giveaway plans will kill you yet.'"
Vice President Chambers asked the interpreter to tell him again, then turned to the rest of his delegation and the South Koreans.
He shook his head sadly. "I just can't understand a man with a mind like that. We offer him a generous solution to two of his country's largest and most serious problems, and he threatens that our good plans will kill us? Does anyone understand what he meant?"
The Vice President looked around, but no one could answer. He lifted his brows. "Well, It seems like my big presentation is over. I didn't get started on it. Now, so we don't have a completely lost day, I want the ten-dollar tour of the DMZ, our troops at Camp Bonifas, the tunnels, the lookout towers, everything I can see, even the tank battalion."
The Vice President looked at his military guide, Major Prokoff.
"Sir, not a good idea. From time to time there are shots across the DMZ. It's always a danger up there."
"Nonsense. I've been in combat before. I have my CIB, and I've even taken a few shots in anger. Arrange it, Major. I want to take the whole delegation along, my staff and the Congressmen. Make them do some work on this pleasure trip."
"Yes, sir. I'll see you back to your quarters, then make the arrangements. You said all of your people?"
"Right, Major. There are twelve of us, my staff and seven Congressmen. Leave the newsmen in the rear this time. Like to get on that today. Might even decide
to stay overnight on the line. Bring back some memories for me."
"That would have to be cleared by the commanding general, Mr. Vice President."
"Fine, get it cleared. You tell him that I've already cleared it. I outrank him all to pieces. Now get cracking, Major."
"Yes, sir."
Vice President Chambers smiled as the major hurried off. He enjoyed ordering these officers around. He had barely made buck sergeant during his two years in the Army. Yes, he enjoyed giving the brass orders for a change. He remembered his time in the Army Signal Corps. Lately he'd been fascinated with the military SATCOM radio. He carried one with him everywhere.
He could get in instant satellite communication with the White House or his office anytime he wanted to. He was amazed how well it worked. It transmitted to a satellite and then to the States and into the White House, where the message that had been encrypted was decrypted and came through in voice transmission. The unit was fifteen inches high, about six inches square, and weighed a little over ten pounds. The Vice President remembered the old SCR-300 Army radio he used to carry. It weighed thirty pounds, could transmit no more than five miles, and often didn't work at all.
Two hours later, just inside the gates of Camp Bonifas, the Vice President had the caravan pull to the side. He told his aide, Lukas Young, to bring up the SATCOM radio and get in touch with the White House. Young set up the antenna, turned it to face the satellite, and got the set working.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Vice President, the President isn't here," came over the radio.
"Well, this is Chambers. Tell him it didn't go well today at Panmunjom. Old General Soo went into a tirade about one people and one government. I just got started with our food and medical programs when he snorted, got up, and walked out. Tell the President for me. I'm off on a tour of the DMZ." Inside the camp, Lieutenant Colonel James F. Lauderdale became the Vice President's official guide.
War Cry sts-9 Page 2
