War Cry sts-9

by Keith Douglass

  Murdock then talked with DeWitt. "Hey, buddy. That Russian bullet has to come out of your leg. No way to get you to the carrier. Just another day in the park. It's going to hurt like hell. You do yourself a favor and pass out, okay?"

  DeWitt gritted his teeth and nodded. "Just get the hell to it."

  They had him laid out on his stomach on a grassy spot where some of the sunshine still came through the trees. Mahanani had his kit spread out, had sterilized a scalpel, and had swabbed down the calf. DeWitt's Korean pants leg had been pulled up to his thigh.

  The two big men held Lieutenant Edward DeWitt by the shoulders.

  Mahanani wiped a bead of sweat off his forehead, looked at Murdock, who nodded, and moved the sharp knife toward the officer's leg.

  22

  Nampo

  North Korea

  Medic Jack Mahanani looked at the blue stain coming up the calf of Ed DeWitt's leg. It stopped about halfway up, so the bullet must have turned inward. How far? He felt sweat beading his forehead again. How damn far?

  He moved the scalpel up two inches above the blue stain, and made a cut an inch long. He felt DeWitt jolt from the pain; then a long high wail came from him past Fernandez's hand.

  Mahanani bit his lip and cut deeper. The wail turned into a scream that promptly cut off, and the officer relaxed.

  "He passed out, Mahanani," Murdock said. "Go now, go, go."

  The medic cut deeper into the muscle, and then used a long thin probe to explore inside the leg. He felt a scrape. Bone or lead? He didn't know. Had to be lead. Too far from the bone. He worked that side again. Yes, the slug. He felt around with the probe again, trying to get on the other side of the bullet. It didn't move. He took the long thin pliers-like device, which opened on the end, and pushed it-into the cut.

  DeWitt groaned in his unconsciousness.

  Mahanani wiped sweat off his forehead, and probed again with the instrument. He touched the lead, then again. He opened the tool and tried to grasp the slug. It grated, and then slipped off. He felt blood on his lip as he bit harder, then pressed the tool deeper into the officer's muscle tissue. He opened it again, and this time felt a solid hold on the piece of lead. He began to ease the tool out of the wound.

  It moved half an inch, then slipped off the slug. Murdock stood by, mopping up the blood that ran out of the wound.

  Mahanani worked the probe again, found the slug, grasped it with the pliers-like device, and clamped it as hard as he could. He worked it slowly outward. It moved a quarter of an inch, then again another quarter of an inch.

  Three more times he lost the slug and had to grab it again. Five minutes after he had made the first cut, he edged the dark gray slug out of the hole.

  At once, Murdock handed him sterile two-inch squares of bandages. He pressed them onto the wound, then put on four more, and wrapped the leg quickly with roller bandages. They all sat there watching, waiting for the blood to stop oozing out.

  It didn't. Mahanani gathered more bandages near the leg, then cut off the blood-soaked cloth and pressed in new squares and bandaged it again. This time they could tell that the blood was stopping. They all breathed easier, and Mahanani wiped his hands on his pants. He gave the patient two ampoules of morphine and sat back.

  "Now we wait," he said. "We should be able to move him tomorrow, but he won't be doing any walking for some time."

  "Base camp," Murdock said. He touched the Motorola. "This is base camp," he said. "We'll be here until we get the general. Dig out your hide-holes and get the best camouflage you've ever found. The slug is out of the JG's leg, but he isn't running any marathons. We'll find the general, leave some security here with DeWitt, and then jump off from here when we're done. Questions?"

  There were none, and Murdock went to scrape out a hiding place for himself. It was starting to get dark, so they should be safe at least until morning. Unless the boat captain figured he could get another payday by turning them in.

  Murdock put out two security men and relaxed. Why didn't he tell Charley to bring back some food when he returned? Murdock was getting hungry. He was sure the men were half — starved. They also needed some water. He'd talk with Charley and Pete when they got back.

  Murdock had situated his hiding place ten feet from where DeWitt lay. DeWitt had regained consciousness and with it, whimpered with the pain even through the morphine. Mahanani would stay with him until he was better. At least they didn't have a fever to worry about.

  Darkness swept down on them suddenly, and Murdock changed guards and told them to stay on four hours, then pick a replacement.

  Murdock dozed.

  Someone pulled on his shirt. He came awake. He automatically jerked the MP-5 up ready to fire.

  "Easy, easy," Jaybird said. "The scouts are back. They brought a dozen big loaves of rice bread, a batch of cheese, and two big bottles of water they say should be pure."

  Murdock gave a big sigh, and took a half-loaf of bread and a square of cheese.

  "The water bottles will be coming around," Jaybird said.

  "What did the scouts find?" Murdock asked between bites.

  "Charley wants to tell you."

  Charley came up in the darkness. He sat beside Murdock and smiled. "Found general. At golf course closed down five years ago. He opened it, had it mowed and three greens repaired. He play three holes six times for his eighteen holes. High score."

  "Where's the course?"

  "About five miles from here. Easy road."

  "Does the general have any guards with him?"

  "Plenty, watch all holes, go with him to some hotel."

  "Will he be there tomorrow?"

  "Man say he play every day for month. Be there tomorrow in morning."

  "Good work, Charley. Get some rest." Jaybird sat nearby. He looked at Murdock. "So?"

  "So, we let the men sleep until midnight, then we move out and find the golf course and plan our hit. We'll use the fifties and hope we can discourage the troops on hand."

  "Sounds reasonable."

  "We leave Mahanani here with another man for security for DeWitt. The rest of us go and hope for a quick hit and a getaway."

  "About time we used the fifties. See you at 2400."

  Murdock didn't realize that he had gone to sleep. Douglas shook his shoulder, and he came up with the MP-5 at the ready.

  "Wake-up time, sir. It's 2400, time we get moving."

  Murdock went to check on DeWitt. Mahanani had been dozing, but came awake when Murdock walked up. He checked DeWitt and looked up.

  "Doing better, Skipper. He's been sleeping, the morphine is helping. Hear we're moving out about now."

  "You and Adams are on guard duty for security on DeWitt. You probably won't have any trouble. With daylight, work up some kind of camouflage for the JG. We'll see you when we get back. By then we'll need some kind of transport for DeWitt, unless we can grab a boat at that dock."

  When Jaybird got back to his spot, Jaybird was there and said the men were ready to move out.

  Murdock sent Adams over to stay with the medic, and the rest of them followed the two Korean scouts toward the golf course.

  At that time of night, there was little activity around the few houses and buildings they went by. The golf course had been built on former farmland, and had gotten in trouble with a stringent North Korean land-use law. But a general in charge of everything can change anything.

  They found the golf course after an hour's hike. Murdock scanned the three holes the general had reactivated. There were trees and shrubs growing on the rest of the course, plus lots of weeds. The course had been closed down, but the officials at that time must have forgotten to put it back into farm use.

  Murdock and Jaybird chose a natural growth of trees that must have at one time been between two fairways. They did a little clearing, and had good fields of fire at the third green from just over 150 yards. Fish in a barrel.

  Murdock put the two fifty-caliber weapons ten yards apart, and made sure their field
s of fire were wide open. Then he put the rest of the platoon on security and backup around them. He placed the four PSG1 sniper rifles one on each side of the fifties and two in the middle. They would have six shots at the general before the Koreans knew anyone was there.

  Murdock and the men settled down to wait. Charley said that often the general was on the course at daylight. He evidently was an early riser. This might be his last day to get up, Murdock mused. There was no reason that the SEAL marksmen could miss at this range.

  Murdock began thinking about his retrograde movement. He'd pull back through the course, make for the small hill they had come over, and then find the dock and his other three men.

  Depending on who was chasing him, he'd steal a boat or simply dive into the bay and swim out to sea. But what about DeWitt? He was a SEAL. He would be able to swim better than walk. He would be stronger tomorrow. Other possibilities cluttered Murdock's brain. They could carry DeWitt to the dock, put him on a boat. They might find a truck, drive down the coast, and find a boat or a better place to get into the sea and swim out to contact the RIBs. No, they had to contact the destroyer first with SATCOM before they went into the water. Give a location.

  His mind whirled. Everything was so tentative. Play it by ear. What if there were too many alternatives'?

  Murdock mentally slapped himself. First things first The general. First the general.

  Time crept past, and at last the east streaked with light, then dawn, and finally the sunrise. He used the Motorola. "Let's look sharp, SEALs. He should be coming soon, if he does today. He wouldn't dare double-cross us and sleep in."

  Murdock checked everyone he could see. All were in place. The snipers had their orders. The general first, then his military guard if he brought one. When the guards were down, the SEALs would move back to the dock.

  Some distance away they heard motors, heavy ones on trucks and lighter ones, perhaps cars.

  "Jaybird?" Murdock asked on the radio. The platoon chief had been spotted halfway to the first tee, in a clump of brush. He came on the personal radio, his voice a whisper.

  "Yes, they are here. One truck, ten men all with rifles. Two cars, strange make. The general, two other officers. And the drivers. The three officers have their golf bags on pushcarts."

  "Good. Jaybird, can you get back up here without being seen?"

  "Affirmative."

  "Move it."

  Five minutes later Jaybird slid into the thicket beside Murdock.

  "From the kowtowing, my guess is that the largest of the three golfers is the general. We better put all of them down just to be sure."

  "Will the soldiers come with the golfers?"

  "Don't know."

  They waited. From their slightly raised vantage point they could see about fifty yards of rough fairway on the other side of the second-hole green.

  Another five minutes and they saw the three golfers walking up the second fairway. They all lined up shots and swung. The largest man had a good swing, the other two bad swings. Always play with someone you can beat if you're a general, Murdock decided.

  The men followed the first shots. They all had three and four putts on the green, then the tee shots for the third hole.

  "We go when I give the order," Murdock said in his mike. "We'll wait until all three are on the third green. Confirm. Alpha Squad?"

  He received agreement from the men. "Bravo Squad?" Again the men came on in rotation to say that they understood.

  Another wait. The general reached the third green in three shots. He lay about thirty feet from the pin. The green looked like an unkempt suburban lawn, closely clipped but still a lawn.

  The other two chipped on. One rolled to within two feet of the pin, and he screeched in joy. The general put his hands on his hips and must have been scowling.

  Two more men came behind them. One had a basket, another what looked like folding chairs. Both were soldiers, but neither had a weapon.

  Murdock used the radio. "Bradford, take the general. Fernandez, do the golfer next to him. Share the third one and the two picnic guys. Lam and Jaybird. When they're down, you two get down there and make sure. Soon now. They're all on the green."

  He waited while the general lined up his shot. When he got ready to putt, Murdock gave the word. "Ready… fire."

  The six weapons went off almost at the same time. The general had stood up from his crouch to check the line again. The big .50-caliber round caught him in the right side of the chest, blowing out half of his lung and three major arteries. He jolted backward and didn't move.

  The other two golfers took rounds in their chests and heart and went down. The two men with the picnic lunch goods didn't have time to run. They got nailed at the same time. Nobody moved after the first volley. Lam and Jaybird took off at a sprint to cover the 150 yards to the green. Their weapons went off six times with rounds to the head; then they rushed back to the cover and concealment of the woods.

  They waited a minute longer. Nobody appeared from the direction of the first tee.

  "Take the brass and let's get out of here," Murdock said. They pulled back through woods and brush and trees off the golf course and over a small hill.

  Jaybird hit his radio. "Commander. I just saw a soldier running back from the second green toward the first. I think we've been spotted."

  "Move it," Murdock said. "Ching, take the rear guard. Let's get some distance here, people."

  They had started down a slight hill when Lam came on the Motorola. "Motors, I can hear motors. Are the soldiers in the truck and moving toward us?"

  "Or they'll try to get ahead of us," Murdock said. "I don't remember any roads up in here. Let's keep moving."

  They were strung out in five-yard intervals in a single line when the North Koreans fired on them. The men evidently had driven ahead and set up a blocking position. They were two hundred yards away down a slight incline. The land was open with only a little brush.

  The SEALs went to ground, foun d what cover they could behind old downed trees and some rocks.

  "Hold your fire until they advance," Murdock said. "Jaybird, you saw ten of them at the first tee?"

  "Roger, Skipper, but another truck could have come. I see more than ten down there."

  "Jaybird, you're leading Bravo Squad. Stay in position. Be sure every man covers the man on his right. We need to get out of this and on our horse. Holt, warm up that box and get in touch with the destroyer on TAC Two. Tell them assignment number three is completed. On our way out but small delay. Tell them we're at Nampo and to get the damn RIBs on their way."

  "Aye, Commander. Doing it."

  "Confirm when they confirm."

  Murdock had been watching the NK soldiers below moving slowly up the hill. They didn't look like seasoned troops. Probably some unit assigned to the general that hadn't fired a shot in months.

  Murdock went back on the horn. "Bradford, see if you can pick out an officer down there in your scope. If you can, blow him away. Fire and then move, right?"

  "That's a roger, Skip."

  Murdock saw three men below lift up and charge up the hill ten yards to some boulders. The NK soldiers below opened fire again, and the SEALs hugged their cover. Murdock looked up and saw fifteen men come out of some brush on the left flank only fifty yards away.

  "Left, fire to the left," Murdock bellowed into the lip mike. The SEALs cut loose, and five of the advancing troops slammed into the ground, the other ten dashing back over the small rise of land.

  The big fifty exploded as Bradford fired. They heard a long let-out breath; then Bradford came on the radio.

  "Yeah, scratch one officer. He won't send no more men into battle, leastwise on this planet."

  The men below edged closer. Some were now within a hundred yards.

  "Let them come,' Murdock said on the air. "We can wait." He watched the left flank, but no more men appeared there.

  "We've got five of them on the right flank," Jaybird called. "Douglas, Fernandez, cover t
hat sector. Rest of Bravo front."

  When four more men below stood and charged upward, Murdock gave the order to fire. The SEALs cut down three of the four. They lay sprawled on the ground in the open, either dead or badly wounded.

  "They are coming on the right," Fernandez screeched. He fired his sniper rife as fast as he could pull the bolt and slam it home. Jaybird looked at Douglas. He wasn't firing.

  "Douglas, get with it, don't hang Fernandez out to dry," Jaybird screeched in the Motorola. Still, they heard only one weapon firing. Jaybird swore, and turned so he could support Fernandez. He was almost too late. Three of the NK troopers had broken out of the taller timber and were almost on Fernandez when Jaybird cut down the last two. Fernandez got one of them.

  "Clear here," Jaybird said. "Fernandez, you okay?"

  There was no answer. "Fernandez, come back." When there was still no answer, Jaybird crawled forward and to the right, keeping behind as much cover as he could find. The rest of the platoon kept up the fire to the front.

  "Don't let them get away," Murdock said. "Some are pulling back. You sniper rifles, nail them."

  Jaybird crawled up to the log Fernandez had used for cover. It was perfect from the front, but he had been fully exposed from the right flank. He saw blood on Fernandez's shoulder and chest.

  "Fernandez is hit," Jaybird said. "Looks bad, Skip."

  "Don't move him yet. This is about over. Chase the last of them down the hill. Lam, check that left flank to be sure nobody is left over there."

  Three minutes later the firing had stopped. Murdock ran to the right to find Jaybird and Fernandez.

  Jaybird looked up, blinking back tears. "He's alive, but he's hit in the shoulder and the chest." Murdock checked Fernandez. Together they helped Fernandez to stand.

  "I can walk," Fernandez said. "I can walk."

  "Yeah, and pigs fly all the fucking time," Jaybird jawed. "Lean on me, we've got some moving to do."