by Jack Terral
Carey and Berringer watched the men get to their feet and move toward the exit. Berringer was more morose than normal, and he turned to his fellow staff officer, speaking in a low tone. "I wonder how many of 'em are coming back, sir."
"I don't even want to think about it."
CHAPTER 18
OA
1 SEPTEMBER 0030 HOURS
ENSIGN Orlando Taylor worked the toggles on his parachute by the book, and he stalled enough to land as gently as if he were stepping off a curb. He grinned happily and looked around to see if any of the others had seen this Class A act. The smile faded as he realized his triumph was not witnessed by any of the other SEALs, who had been occupied with their own PLFs.
A few more light skidding and thumping noises of others landing sounded before everyone was down. The jumpers quickly shucked their chutes and organized M-16s, bandoliers, and grenade pouches as they readied for the bloody job ahead. Within three minutes the detachment was formed up. CPO Matt Gunnarson and his SAW gunners, along with Doc Bradley and Frank Gomez, brought up the rear. Gomez had the combined twenty pounds of the Shadowfire radio and battery to lug, while Doc was burdened with extra medical gear he deemed would be necessary for the mission. He anticipated the worst-case scenario, with several badly wounded men to care for.
Up at the front, Garth Redhawk and Matty Matsuno acted as point, with Mike Assad and Dave Leibowitz backing them up. The middle of the column was formed by Lieutenant Jim Cruiser's First Section, Ensign Orlando Taylor's Second, and SCPO Buford Dawkins' Third. Lieutenant Bill Brannigan and Connie Concord had buddied up as Tail-End Charlies until they could rejoin the Sneaky Petes for the assault on the mountain fortress.
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0105 HOURS
REDHAWK and Matsuno had the same deadly task as in the first HALO assault, but this time it would be in a different place. The original attack outflanked the southern enemy positions and worked its way down the Zaheya MLR. This time the two point guys would be taking out a guard or guards at the camouflaged entrance to the fortress interior. In fact, the Brigands would literally be going in through the back door.
It took twenty minutes of careful maneuvering to get into position to sight the ingress within the heavy thorn vegetation and boulders. The two SEALs' NVGs showed only one guard on duty, and he didn't seem to be too attentive to or concerned about the assignment. The ragheads obviously considered the place secure, and had posted a sentry simply because it was SOP to have someone at each entrance and exit. Redhawk and Matsuno had agreed that it was the Japanese-American's turn to tend to this latest unpleasant silent killing, and he pulled his K-Bar knife from its scabbard.
Matsuno moved softly through the darkness, working around a stand of tangled brush, then easing between a camouflage net and the mountainside. The dozing guard squatted at the entrance, facing forward with his back against a rocky outcrop. Matsuno moved in, bent down, and drove the sharp blade into the guy's throat, then pushed the blade sideways, slicing around to the jugular vein. The gurgling and gagging were muffled by the SEAL's hand and did not last long.
Matsuno spoke into his LASH. "The entrance is cleared."
Brannigan replied, "We're moving up. Go ahead, First Section."
Jim Cruiser and his men appeared at the entrance a couple of minutes later. Rick Morales, the grenadier of Alpha Fire Team, led the way in, a concussion grenade in his hand. Gutsy Olson and Pete Dawson were on his heels, with Cruiser behind them. The Bravo Fire Team followed the section commander.
The Sneaky Petes left the entrance area and made their way back down the column until joining with Brannigan and Connie Concord. Then they assumed a fire team formation and trailed closely behind the senior chief's section. The column had now penetrated 100 percent into the interior of the fortress.
When the last man entered, Chief Matt Gunnarson kept his men outside, arranging them in a defensive perimeter, with the SAWs around the ingress site. At the same time, Doc Bradley and Frank Gomez found a good place within a stand of rocks to set up their combination commo and medical center. The dead guard still lay slumped over, the last of his life's blood now pumped out of him through the large, jagged wound inflicted by Matty Matsuno.
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0115 HOURS
THE going was slow, since sound discipline was vital at this stage of the assault. There were a couple of places where the tunnel either narrowed perceptibly or made sharp turns. The tight spots required extra care to avoid bumping weapons or equipment against the stone sides. Any noise created in such incidents would be intensified in the tubular environment. The tunnel was also leading upward at a ten-degree angle, meaning that it required extra sound discipline because of the tougher walking conditions.
A light glowed dimly ahead, getting steadily brighter as they moved toward it. Suddenly Morales sighted the entrance to a bunker. "We're ready to make the big move."
"Do it," Brannigan said.
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THE BATTLE
MORALES looked into the bunker, noting that the men inside were sleeping. A glance to the right showed the egress to the trench in front. He looked back to get the combined attention of Gutsy Olson and Pete Dawson, then pointed to it. They nodded to indicate they were ready.
Morales pulled the pin on the concussion grenade and tossed it into the interior. The explosive device clattered across the rock floor, then detonated. Morales leaped in, his M-16 spurting three-round automatic bursts into the sleeping men. Gutsy Olson and Pete Dawson covered the exit to the trenches, and a moment later a Zaheya man stepped inside, totally bewildered by what had just happened. His arms flew up and he staggered back into the trench, to collapse under the impact of the combined volley cut loose by the two SEALs. Olson led the way outside to the trench, with Dawson half a step behind. They rushed across the narrow, open area to a sandbagged parapet, then turned their weapons down the Zaheya defensive line, squeezing out more bursts at ragheads rushing their way. The impromptu enemy attack broke off as they took casualties. The survivors sought shelter in bunkers and ramparts.
Now Monty Sturgis and Andy Malachenko of Bravo Fire Team joined Morales as he pulled another concussion grenade from his pouch. He went to the entrance of the next bunker and tossed the explosive inside. As soon as it exploded he jumped in, but before he could fire, he caught a four-round volley straight in his chest. He died immediately, and both Sturgis and Malachenko leaped over him, chopping down his killers. They cleared the place with a few more fusillades, then turned their fire on the two enemy soldiers in the trench outside. At the same time, Olson and Dawson advanced up the line to the next redoubt in the defensive line. Lieutenant Jim Cruiser led Malachenko and Sturgis outside to join them. Now the Brigands' attack was a double-pronged operation, moving through the fortress, through the bunkers, and down the trench.
This was when Ensign Orlando Taylor brought his Second Assault Section up to take over the advance position of the attack.
BRIGADIER Shahruz Khohollah was having a hell of a time figuring out what was going on. All discipline among the Zaheya units had fallen apart, and the babbling over the LASH commo sets had merged into a steady, unintelligible noise of combined Arabic and Farsi.
Sikes Pasha had hurriedly dressed and grabbed four bandoliers of ammo for his FA-MAS rifle. His first reaction was that the Americans were storming the trenches, but he quickly determined that if they were, it was a pretty weak assault. He made some quick inquiries of nearby Zaheya soldiers, learning that a couple of the fighting sites had fallen, but that was all. A full five minutes went by before he was able to figure out that the attack was actually inside and outsid e the fortress. He rushed toward the fighting through the complex until brought to a stop when he encountered Warrant Officer Shafaqat Hashiri desperately directing the defense inside a bunker now under fire. Hashiri was glad to see his commanding officer.
"Sikes Pasha! Two of our bunkers have fallen, and they are pressing the attack against this one," Hashiri reported breathlessly. "The enemy
is outside in the trenches, and we cannot engage them without sustaining many casualties. I fear they have complete control of the battle."
"Right then," Sikes said, quickly realizing what had to be done. "Pull out o' this one, hey? And we'll set up in the next one back. There's some cover in there you can use. Kawam! Hurry it up!"
Hashiri issued the orders, and the bunker was quickly abandoned, leaving three dead Arabs sprawled on the floor.
UZI Melech, the grenadier for Charlie Fire Team, quickly surmised that the bunker ahead of them had been abandoned. But instead of rushing in, he wisely threw his concussion grenade across it and into the next one. Then he and Pech Pecheur charged in firing, with Ensign Taylor behind them.
The trio ran through the empty bunker to the next entrance, with Delta Fire Team deployed as backup. Suddenly a lone Arab leaped into view and cut loose with his bullpup rifle. Melech caught it in the belly, and he crumpled just as Pecheur blew the Arab away. But other Zaheya soldiers inside had taken cover behind a stack of surplus sandbags that had been filled as replacements for any damaged in future battles. The Arabs popped up and quickly shot off an uncoordinated but effective fusillade that cut down Tony Valenzuela and George Fotopoulos.
"This is Brigand Two," Taylor said. "I've got three casualties in the third bunker. We've taken fire from the fourth. The guys in there have cover. It's either a pile of sandbags or an interior defensive position. I surmise it is the former rather than the latter."
"Keep the door under fire and hunker down!" Brannigan ordered. "Brigand One, are you still outside?"
"Roger," came back Cruiser. "I have four guys with me. I've lost Morales, but I can throw fire down on that fourth bunker."
"You're gonna have trouble hitting anybody in there," Brannigan said. "Concentrate on keeping the enemy from coming down the trench and reaching us here."
"Aye, sir!"
The Skipper started to order the senior chief to move his section forward but was interrupted over the LASH by Frank Gomez. The RTO spoke quietly and efficiently. "I've received a relay over the Shadowfire, sir. The Army Rangers on the other side of the valley want to know if we need fire support."
"Negative! Negative! Negative!" Brannigan yelled. "We can't tell them where to put it because we don't know where we'll be from minute to minute. Cruiser and his guys would be hit. Tell the Army to hold their fire!"
"Aye, sir," Gomez said.
"Everybody on the net listen up," the Skipper said. "Assault sections, press forward and trade shot for shot. Better yet, two shots for every one of theirs. Sneaky Petes along with Puglisi and Miskoski, move forward!"
The fighting in the tunnel and bunkers grew more desperate for both sides. Sikes Pasha left his Arabs in charge of Warrant Officer Hashiri and hurried to answer a summons to the brigadier's Headquarters bunker. When he got there, he found that Captain Naser Khadid and Captain Jamshid Komard had already arrived.
"What's with this meeting?" he asked angrily. "Me blokes are down there up to their ears in Yanks!"
"We realize the situation is grave," Brigadier Shahruz Khohollah said. "It is obvious the Americans have learned about the hidden entrance to the mountain. Once again we have been betrayed."
Khadid was mortified. "I cannot believe that anyone on the General Staff would be sending information to our enemies. The traitor must be getting millions of dollars from Washington for his disloyalty. And, of course, the rewards would include political asylum and a new identity for living in America."
Komard was coldly furious. "He will not live long enough to enjoy that arrangement."
"There could be another source of treachery," Khohollah suggested. "I am thinking it is perhaps the Russians."
"Right now we ain't got the bluddy luxury of thinking about that, do we?" Sikes snapped. "The bastards are in here and we got to throw 'em out, yeah?"
"Of course," the Brigadier said. He turned to Khadid. "Captain, I want you to take ten of your men and go around the northern flank and down the mountain. You are to go directly to the camouflaged entrance. If you meet resistance there, destroy it, then move into the fortress and attack the Americans from the rear."
"I can leave immediately, Excellency!" Khadid said.
Now Khohollah addressed Captain Komard. "Send two of your grenade launcher teams with him for support."
"Yes, Excellency!"
"I shall collect them on my way out," Khadid said, rushing to obey the order.
The Brigadier looked over at Sikes, who had taken the arm of his wounded shoulder and pulled it from the sling. "How are you doing, Major Sikes? You seem to be able to function."
"I'll do me bit, don't worry none about that, sir," Sikes said.
"Excellent," the Brigadier said. He turned his eyes on Captain Komard. "While Captain Khadid is making his attack, you and Major Sikes must combine your forces and pin down the Americans. When we catch them between your group and the detachment of Captain Khadid, we will have the battle won."
The two officers rendered quick salutes, then left the bunker to tend to their duties.
ONCE again the fighting in Operation Battleline had evolved into one of attrition. The four survivors of Ensign Taylor's assault section had now been joined by the seven men of SCPO Dawkins' outfit. Dawkins led his men forward, working to spots within the Second Section's firing line. A moment later the seven Headquarters weenies joined the crowd, adding their firepower to the mix.
Meanwhile, out in the trench, Lieutenant Jim Cruiser was in excellent cover with five SEALs. They were keeping busy preventing Zaheya troops from entering the third bunker from the trench to attack the Brigands in the interior. Several dead ragheads who had been caught in defensive fusillades were sprawled at the entrance, piled one on top of the other. All this happened in the roaring pandemonium of the battle. Any additional Zaheya fighters would have to use interior ingresses to join the fighting, and that put them under the direct fire of the Second and Third Sections.
OUT in the natural cover and concealment around the rear entrance, Chief Matt Gunnarson had arranged his men in a semicircle, with each one able to combine his zone of fire with the guys on both sides of his position. Their SAWs were locked and loaded, and they had plenty of ammo at hand.
Greg Beaver was on the extreme right flank of the Chief 's defensive line, which covered the fortress's hidden ingress. Beaver perceived a line of skirmishers that suddenly appeared to his right front. They were moving rapidly toward the SEALs.
"Enemy sighted off my flank," Beaver reported.
An instant later, four incoming grenades from one of the rapid-fire LAG launchers splattered around the SEAL, blowing his life away. The other five SAWs immediately responded by hosing out long fire bursts into the scampering riflemen moving toward them. The attackers responded with two more grenade barrages among the SEALs.
The resultant detonations claimed the lives of Arlo Bartholomew and Terry O'Rourke.
Matt Gunnarson sighted one of the enemy grenadiers and fired a quick burst from his M-16, cutting the guy down. "Brigand Boss, this is Big Gun," the Chief said into his LASH. "We're under heavy attack out here from rifles and grenade launchers. I've taken three casualties in the past couple of minutes."
Brannigan's voice came back, calm in spite of the bad news. "Have Gomez call in air support, Chief. Those F/A-eighteens are out there someplace."
"No can do, sir! The enemy is in too close and moving closer. We'd be in as much danger as the bad guys."
"Do your best then, Chief," Brannigan said. "I'll send Puglisi and Miskoski out to you. As of the moment they're the only ones I can spare."
"Send 'em ASAP, sir!"
SIKES had managed to get the jabbering over the LASH quieted down and was able to issue orders to his men in the fourth bunker. He had given up on sending an attack down the trench line to rush into the third bunker, but left a couple of rifleman to keep the Americans outside occupied.
The rest of the Arabs were well protected behind the stack of
sandbags. The incoming fire from the third bunker ricocheted off the walls, but all ended up slamming harmlessly into the burlap containers. Now Sikes Pasha's Storm Troopers didn't bother to aim as they sent blasts of automatic fire into the other bunker, knowing that the slugs bouncing around in the interior would eventually find live flesh to plow into.
BRANNIGAN realized the only way they were going to take that fourth bunker would be to storm through the narrow entrance into the interior. He had fifteen guys with him, more than enough to get the job done. The only problem was that the first three or four were sure to be mowed down like wheat stalks in a Kansas harvest. He couldn't order his men into a situation of certain death unless he led the way. He looked over at the SEALs nearest him. His old stalwarts Mike Assad and Dave Leibowitz were at his side. The Skipper took a deep breath, knowing it was close to being his last.
"We're gonna storm through that door en masse. We'll have to go in shooting. Leibowitz and Assad, get behind me. As soon as the three of us get through there, the rest of you come in on our heels. And pump out those three-round auto bursts. If you aim just over the sandbags into the wall, your rounds should ricochet down into the ragheads."
The SEALs were astounded and stopped firing for an instant, then renewed their salvos. Everyone--including Mike and Dave--knew that they and Lieutenant Bill Brannigan had as much chance as that proverbial snowball in hell once they entered the other bunker.
"Everyone put in a fresh magazine," Brannigan ordered. "Get ready! On my--"
Frank Gomez's voice crackled over the LASH headsets. "Skipper, word just came over the Shadowfire. Cease fire! Cease fire and pull out!"
"Say again!" Brannigan angrily demanded.
"We have received orders to cease fire and withdraw."
"Goddamn it, Gomez!" Brannigan said.
"Did you authenticate that transmission?"
"Yes, sir."
Brannigan swallowed hard, almost stunned by the astounding news as he managed to utter, "Cease fire."
Now it was CPO Matt Gunnarson over the net. "Brigand Boss, this is Big Gun. The enemy attack has broken off. They've pulled back."
