Pacific Siege

23

Murdock watched the white flare burst fifty yards at sea. The road swung within seventy-five yards of the beach here. When the flare died, Murdock pulled down his NVGs and watched the water. At first he could see only the Pacific waves rolling into the sandy beach. “Everyone out, disperse along the road and in cover,” Murdock said in the lip mike.

The SEALS left the six-by and spread out along the road ten yards apart.

The sound of the hovercraft increased.

“Try them on TAC Two, Holt,” Murdock said. “Tell them there are friendly U.S. forces in front of them. We fired the star shell.”

Holt sent the message twice, but had no response.

“Don’t think they heard you, SEALS,” the radio reported. “This is Night Fly One. They’re damned near the beach.”

“Thanks, Night Fly One,” Holt said. “We’ve got them.”

“Fire another white flare,” Murdock said. Jaybird fired one over the edge of the beach. It burst, and now in the glow, they could see the hovercraft heading straight at the beach fifty yards south of them.

“Ching, on me,” Murdock snapped on the Motorola.

Ching ran up, and flattened out beside Murdock.

“You and me, Ching. We’re getting as close to that landing area as possible. When the hovercraft motors stop and it goes quiet, I want you to yell at them in Russian that the United States SEALs are here and we’re friendly. Ask them to hold their fire.”

When they’d checked the Russian hovercraft in the book on the carrier, Murdock saw that this larger boat had four 30mm/65’s with twin-mounting AK630’s with six barrels per mounting. They could fire three thousand rounds a minute up to two kilometers. Murdock didn’t want them to think they had to soften up their landing site with a few thousand rounds.

Murdock’s request to hold fire was said so the rest of the men heard it on the radio. Then Murdock and Ching rose up and ran bent over toward where the Russian hovercraft would come out of the waves and power straight up on the beach over the sand. It would continue over the grass and land until the drivers wanted to stop it.

The pair was still twenty yards from the big craft when its fans blew dry sand into a cloud as they rammed the air-cushioned craft onto the beach and across it, and came to rest on the dry land covered by grass and weeds.

The big propellers pushing the craft forward slowed and died. The huge fans that had lifted the boat on a cushion of air off the water and the land wound down. A minute and a half after the craft came to a halt, the last motor sounds faded to silence.

Murdock tapped Ching on the shoulder.

Ching took a deep breath and yelled in Russian.

“Hey, Russian friends. Hold your fire. We are United States SEALs here putting down the Japanese invaders.”

He stopped, and both men dug low against the ground in case of any Russian fire. Nothing happened. Ching yelled out his welcome again.

Two minutes later, a thin voice came back. Ching translated.

“How do we know you are friendly? You disabled one of our hovercrafts and killed three men.”

“If we had not been friendly your craft would have been sunk,” Ching said in Russian. He whispered what he had said to Murdock, who nodded. There was a long silence. “Tell them about the prisoners and the HQ,” Murdock said. “We have captured the military headquarters building and twenty-five Japanese soldiers. We have released your local Russian garrison from the Japanese prison. They now control the HQ.

Contact them on your radios for confirmation.”

“We hear you,” the Russian voice answered. Again they waited.

Then the Russians answered with a new voice in English. “We have talked with our men in the headquarters. You speak the truth. Send out two of your officers for a conference. Come to the lighted area near our bow.”

A moment later a light blossomed at the front of the dark hovercraft.

“Let’s go talk,” Murdock said. “You did good, Ching. Remind me to tell you that later.”

They stood and walked toward the pool of light. Fifteen yards from the light they were aware of men lifting out of the darkness and following them.

“Always nice to be escorted,” Ching said.

“Tell them we’re coming in,” Murdock said.

“We’re coming in,” Ching said in Russian. “We’re about ten yards out with your troops behind us.”

“Good,” the voice said in English. “We would give you a typical Russian welcome, but you can understand our suspicions.”

They saw a Russian then, standing in the light. He was dressed all in black, wore a floppy hat, and carried a submachine gun. When he saw them, he lowered the weapon and held out his hand.

“Hello, Americans, and welcome to Russian territory. I am Captain Radiwitch.”

Murdock took another few steps and gripped the Russian’s hand.

“Hello yourself, Captain Radiwitch. I’m Commander Murdock of the U.S. Navy SEALS.”

Murdock’s EAR weapon was held in one hand and pointing down. Ching had also lowered the muzzle of his EAR.

“What happens now, American?”

“Now we work together. The little general who started this is still at large. We’re not sure where he is. We have two Russians with us who were in the garrison here. They can help us find the rest of the renegades.”

“I will talk with our commander,” the captain said. “Wait the moment one, please.” He vanished out of the light, and two soldiers with weapons slung moved into his place.

“Send over the two Russians,” Murdock said into his mike. “Ching, tell the two guards here that two Russians are coming from the darkness.” Into the lip mike Murdock said: “The rest of you SEALs stay put. We don’t want any accidents here. Wait until we get total agreement and clearance. It looks like a friendly situation, so far.”

As he finished whispering into the mike, two men came into the light. One was the captain; the other had silver leaves on his epaulets. He was not dressed in black, but in the traditional Russian winter uniform. He stepped forward and held out his hand.

Murdock took it. “I’m pleased to meet you, Colonel. I’m Commander Murdock, Navy SEALS.”

The Russian looked to the captain, who translated. Then the colonel smiled and shook his hand again.

“I am Lieutenant Colonel Hartzloff, in charge of this strike. How many men do you have?” Ching translated.

“I have fifteen SEALS, Colonel.” The captain translated.

The colonel nodded. “I have a hundred, all seasoned veterans.” He paused. “You have done all of this so far with only sixteen men?”

“We’re specialists in this kind of work, Colonel. Have you talked to your men at the headquarters building?”

The colonel nodded. “We have. They tell me you have weapons that shoot men and put them to sleep, but don’t kill them. How do you do this?”

“Sorry, we can’t tell you that, Colonel. What we can do is work together on this problem, and bring the Japanese general to bay before it gets light.”

The translation took longer this time.

The two Russians from the SEAL group walked into the edge of the light.

They said something in Russian, and the colonel smiled.

“So, they are helping you. Have they told you where this rebel general might be?”

“No, sir. We’re taking out the defensive outposts as we come to them and working north.”

Murdock’s earphone spoke. He held up one finger and listened.

“Skipper, Holt. The Night Fly boys tell me they have a two-truck or two-car convoy out about twenty klicks and heading north along the Pacific side.”

“They have a guess, Holt?”

“No, sir, but I do. Got to be the general and the rest of his men.”

“Thanks, Holt. Stay in contact with the pilot. We’ve got to do some planning.” Murdock took a step toward the colonel. “One of our aircraft reports a two-truck convoy about twenty kilometers to the north. We believe it is the general. I have a suggestion.”

The colonel waited for his translator to do his work.

“So?”

“We divide your force. A third of it can move to the road and use the six-by-six truck there. They can continue to suppress the outpost north of here three or four kilometers. There may be no one there.

Then these men can fan out and secure the rest of the island, and work back to the village.”

The Russian nodded when he had the words translated.

“Then what?” the translator asked.

“Then our fifteen men join you on your hovercraft, and we go back up the coast twenty kilometers. We land, find the truck convoy, and engage the general and his forces. Either he surrenders or his entire force is killed.”

The Russian colonel nodded as the translation went on.

“Yes, yes. I like,” the colonel said in English. “I have very bit English.” He beamed. “Yes, we do.”

He turned and snapped orders to some men in the shadows. Murdock watched as thirty soldiers formed up just out of the light and marched off toward the truck with one of the Russians the SEALs had brought with them. “Colonel, should I have my men come over?” Murdock asked.

The colonel looked up and nodded. Murdock used the lip mike and told them to get front and center.

Ten minutes later, the SEALs were on board the Russian hovercraft.

Before the big engines started, Murdock talked to the planes overhead on TAC Two.

“Night Fly, this is the SEAL bunch. Any more action on those truck lights?”

“SEALS, not much. Estimate they are about twenty-five klicks from the town’s lights along the Pacific coast. The movement has stopped.

Headlights are off. Best we can do from up here.”

“Thanks, Night Fly. Tell Home Base we’ve met the Russian air-cushion craft. Have talked with the commander and we’re now on board ready for a fast run up the beach to where you boys saw the headlights stop. We won’t be able to hear you when the engines start.

Thirty Russian marines are now combing the lower part of the island from where you saw the air cushion rig come ashore. They’ll work down to the town.

“We’re linked up with the other seventy Russian commandos for a surprise party for the general up north.”

“That’s a Roger, SEALS. Will relay the information to Home Base.

Good luck down there.”

The air-cushion engines began, and Murdock handed the mike back to Holt.

A minute later they edged down to the water, skimmed over it, and turned north. At forty-five knots it would take them less than thirty minutes to cover the twenty miles northward.

Murdock looked around the vessel. It was 155 feet long, he’d been told, and over fifty-eight feet wide. The troops and gear were all stowed in a hold that was covered. He wondered how the flyboys had decided that the first hovercraft the day before had been empty. He would never know. He tried to memorize as much about the craft as possible. It would come in handy for his after-action report.

The colonel sent the captain to take him to the bridge.

“We want you to see more of the ship,” the Russian captain said.

“The bridge is the best. Perhaps your radio will work from there, and your aircraft can give us some direction.”

It did. The Night Fly team could follow the wake of the air-cushion craft. They had a previous fix on the headlights, and brought the ship into shore as close to the lights as they could determine.

“We can do seventy knots without a load,” the Russian captain said.

“That is much faster than your American air-cushioned boat, the LCAC, which has a top speed of forty knots.”

Murdock laughed. “You win that one, Captain. This is a remarkable ship. You can carry four light tanks and how many combat troops?”

“No secret. It’s in Jane’s Fighting Ships book. We can carry four light tanks, or two medium tanks, and two hundred combat-ready soldiers.”

By that time they were nearing their target. The Night Fly planes had agreed to do a fly-over of the suspect area. They would come in off the sea and across the land so their flaming tailpipes could be seen by the hovercraft pilot. The plan worked remarkably well.

The craft headed for the beach, then diverted a quarter mile south.

“Too many sharp rocks and bad beach for landing,” the Russian pilot explained.

The craft slashed through the Pacific Ocean’s swells, rode the breakers, leveled out on the sand, and raced up the wet part to the dry sand. Then it slid easily over the weeds and small brush to a stop fifty feet from the shoreline.

When the motors cycled down, Murdock heard rifle fire and one machine gun.

“Looks like we’re at the right spot,” Murdock said. “Colonel, like we said on the way up, let my men go out first and try to get the general’s rear guard in a cross fire with our weapons. If we can’t dislodge them, we’ll have your man call you in.”

The colonel, who said he wasn’t wild about getting his men killed, gave a curt nod, and the SEALs left by the rear of the big ship out the tank-access door. First Squad swung to the right and Second Squad moved left. They could hear the Japanese firing.

“Sounds like six or eight men,” Murdock said into his mike. “Let’s get a clear field, then fire at the muzzle flashes.”

Three minutes later Ed Dewitt called on the Motorola that his men were ready. Murdock moved around another ten yards, and found an opening through which they could see the flashes.

“Open fire,” Murdock told his lip mike. He sighted in on one muzzle flash and pulled the trigger. The soft whooshing sound came, and then he heard six more down the line.

At once the number of shots coming from the Japanese trailed off.

Three more rounds hit the defenders; then the last guns in the rear guard went silent.

“Let’s move in and mop up,” Murdock ordered into his mike.

They ran forward, their EAR weapons off safety with ready lights glowing. In the pale Japanese moonlight they found the six defenders.

All had two weapons each. All lay sleeping beside their still hot rifles and the one machine gun.

“Cuff them, and call up the troops,” Murdock said. The Russian with Murdock used the Russian walkie-talkie, and soon the first elements of the Russians moved up. They stared in surprise at the six defenders all unconscious.

Colonel Hartzloff checked the pulse on two of the men, and shook his head. He came up to Murdock.

“Commander, must know about your weapon.”

Murdock laughed. “Colonel, it’s like your Akula-class submarines.”

The colonel took a step backward. “You know about Akula?”

“About them. They are in Jane’s Fighting Ships, right? But we don’t know all the scientific and secret aspects of them. Like this rifle. Now you know about it, but not how or why it works. We must leave it that way.”

The colonel frowned, then shrugged. “We will leave it this way for now. But after we have captured the Japanese general, we will deal with it again.” He paused. “You realize that we have five times as many weapons here as your fifteen men have?”

Murdock smiled in the moonlight. He stared at the Russian commando. “I’m aware of that, Colonel. But have you realized that our weapons are fifteen times as effective as yours are?”