Price nodded and yelled out to his squad, “Follow me! Let’s get moving.”
A couple of Aussie platoons moved into the enemy positions they’d just cleared. They would hold this section of the town while the Rangers moved to the next location.
Once Sergeant Price’s men reached the location where the tanks were currently sitting and waiting, they dropped their packs and broke out their boxes of extra ammo. His soldiers knew what to do without even being told. They would use their free time to reload their empty magazines and get ready for the next assault. While they waited for the Air Force or Navy to send a jet over to drop some bombs, some of the Rangers pulled out MREs and wasted no time chowing down on some food. The level of physical exertion they had expended in the last several hours had drained many of them, and food and water was one way to replenish some of that energy.
Thirty minutes after Price’s squad had sat down to wait for the Air Force and the tanks to make their move, their company CO walked over to talk to them.
“Listen up, Rangers. There’s been a change of plans,” announced Major Fowler. “A brigade from the 63rd division is moving up here tonight. The Air Force is going to plaster the enemy fort tomorrow morning and the 63rd, along with the Aussies here, are going to clear it out, along with the rest of the valley. After nearly a month in the field, we’re being pulled out and back to the airfield. I have no idea where we’re going next, but let’s enjoy the reprieve for the moment, because you can bet your paychecks they’ll be sending us back into the thick of it soon enough.”
Battle of Fei-ts Ui Reservoir
Crack, crack, BOOM.
The sounds of war were ever present for the men of Echo Company, 2–6 Marines as they began the first day of Operation Spartan, a Marine-led operation to clear the Fei-ts Ui Reservoir, the last major enemy stronghold on the island.
This key location in the northern center of Taiwan provided the majority of the island’s freshwater and was also one of the only routes left to the west coast of the island, so it was a critical piece of land. The reservoir and the entire surrounding area was heavily defended by the PLA’s 121 Motorized Infantry Brigade, which was a specialized jungle unit, as well as their parent unit, the 123 Mechanized Infantry Division. These Chinese forces had spent the better part of six months preparing the area for this very battle, and their commanders definitely would have been aware that clearing the reservoir was one of the last major obstacles to the Allies in securing the island.
Captain Tim Long was feeling apprehensive about the upcoming hostilities. Unfortunately, just the day before, his new battalion commander, a freshly promoted lieutenant colonel by the name of Mohamed Abadi, had been killed along with his executive officer and two staff officers when their M-ATV command vehicle had driven over a tank mine on their way back from a division briefing about the operation. Despite the vehicle’s armor, it had been completely obliterated, killing all of the men inside instantly. With only six hours left until the operation was slated to kick off, Colonel Tilman had placed Captain Long in the position of de facto battalion commander until another officer could be pulled from another unit to take his place.
Captain Long wasn’t normally superstitious, but Lieutenant Colonel Abadi had been the second battalion commander that 2–6 had lost in the past three months, and he wasn’t exactly thrilled to find himself in the same position. This sudden shift in responsibilities was also a lot for him to mentally prepare for in a short amount of time. He had a lot of intelligence and data to sift through.
Long pored over maps, memorizing the marks where there were potential enemy positions and fortifications. From what he was able to gather, there were a series of enemy forts built along Route 9 at multiple points and elevations. What he still didn’t know was exactly how complex these fortifications were. He couldn’t find any information on whether or not they had machine-gun positions, antitank or artillery cannons. He didn’t know what type of infantry support they had or what type of antiair defenses they had in the area.
He sighed. “I guess we’ll find out soon enough once we head in,” he thought, frustrated.
At 0530 hours, Captain Long found himself standing in front of the company commanders of Alpha, Bravo, Charley, Delta, Fox, and of course, his own company, Echo. He knew he should say something profound, even inspiring, but he was at a loss for what to say. The sudden unexpected death of their battalion CO had caught them all off guard. Steeling himself, he looked up at the group.
“We’ve had a rough couple weeks, and I’m not going to sugarcoat it and say this operation will be a walk in the park,” Captain Long began. “This is probably going to be just as tough as the invasion, maybe tougher. We’re finally moving inland, but we’ll be attacking the enemy on ground of his choosing, not ours. That said, we can and will defeat them.”
He stood a little taller before he continued. “Unlike the enemy, we haven’t been abandoned by our country to fight and die on some island. They have. We are Marines — the greatest fighting force on earth, backed by the greatest country on earth. I’ve been assured by Colonel Tilman that we will have close air support from both the carriers offshore, and the Air Force, who’s finally got themselves set up at the airfield in Toucheng, near the coast. He also said the 1-10 Marines have settled into Firebase Ripper, so we’ll have both 105mm and 155mm artillery support for the duration of the operation. Their call sign is going to be Ripper One-One.”
Long turned to another captain and signaled for him to step forward. “This is Captain Reich; he’s our FSO. If your unit needs fire support, direct your request to him, and his team will relay that request back 1-10 for support.”
Captain Long signaled toward a new face in the unit, a man wearing a different uniform from the rest of the group. “This is Master Sergeant Hill. His six-man team is on loan to us from the Air Force. They are our tactical air control party or TACP group who’ll handle coordinating our close air support from both the Navy and the Air Force. If you need any airstrikes, get with your TACP, who’ll call it in.”
Long finished going over who their support LNOs were going to be, confirming the call signs and frequencies everyone would be operating on. Then he pointed to a spot on the map hanging on the wall. “We’re going to move to this point here along Route 9. This is where the recon guys said is roughly the edge of where the enemy lines start. We’ll disembark the vehicles here and move in on foot. This farm area is where we are going to leave the vehicles, and will become our base camp for the time being. The aid station will be set up here.”
He turned to face his Fox Company commander as he continued his brief. “I’m not changing Lieutenant Colonel Abadi’s plans from earlier. Your company will provide security for the base camp. You’ll need to clear an area for medical helicopters to land and find a spot for your mortar platoons,” he instructed.
The captain nodded.
“OK, guys. We all know our orders. We’ve gone over this plenty of times this last week in preparation for this operation. It’s time to execute, so let’s go make the Corps proud and kick the PLA where it hurts.”
Two hours went by as the column of armored vehicles and trucks trekked through the winding mountain road known as Route 9 to their new base camp. They reached the small mountain city of Pinglin, where they disembarked their military vehicles and went to work on turning the area into a forward base camp. Alpha and Bravo companies were sent forward to the position the recon Marines had identified as the front lines to start identifying where the enemy was. The remaining four companies worked to get a perimeter established, build up machine-gun positions, and clear a suitable flat area for helicopters to land. By midday, a Seabee unit also showed up, bringing their construction equipment with them to aid in the transformation of the area into a forward fighting base.