‘All right, guys. We’re going to break camp today and move out to the north,’ started Higgins, interrupted by cheers from some of them. ‘Okay, quiet down,’ Higgins said, his hands motioning for everyone to calm down. ‘I know you’re all happy to be moving out. Our orders are to move north-west, a 150 clicks east of a town called Duchess. The Chinese rail line goes through Duchess, Mount Isa and then on to Karumba where they’re exporting the minerals. We will create a base camp and from there we will be given our objective. Transportation will be arriving tonight, so we will need to break camp immediately. Questions?’
Finn put up his hand. ‘Sarge, what’s the transportation?’
‘We will be extracted tonight by chopper and flown to a rendezvous point to the west. From there we will be issued with three light-armed vehicles, which we will use to locate a base camp. Anything else?’
‘What are we doing with all the gear here?’ asked Carver.
‘We leave everything except your personal kit. Everything goes in the cave and we do a thorough electronic wipe-down of the whole valley — I want no trace of our being here. Understood?’ replied Higgins.
A chorus of ‘Yessirs’ came from the men.
‘Right, get to work then,’ said Higgins, clapping his hands once.
That night the sound of the beating rotors was like music to Finn’s ears. They had been disconnected from the world for so long that the chopper seemed like an outstretched hand pulling them back to civilisation.
Finn stood beside Carver as the huge, modified Blackhawk troop carrier came in slowly to land. Nothing could be heard above the roar of the engines. Higgins waved his arm, signalling the men to board. Finn noticed that overhead there were at least two other choppers, probably Apaches, to cover the Blackhawk. On board, they took their seats and buckled in, dust flying in the open sides in waves and covering them from head to toe. Finn lifted off his goggles to look back on where their camp had been, now devoid of any trace of their presence — the cave again just a crack in the rock face. He was suddenly stricken with the realisation that all they’d managed to do while there had been completely undone by the Chinese. All the fighting, the struggling, losing McCaw — they may as well have never been there. The powerful engines revved and they slowly lifted off the ground, rotors straining to gain height.
It felt good to be moving. Nobody bothered to talk over the noise. Finn looked around at the other men and saw tired but relieved faces. The vibrations and movement lulled him into a sleep despite the roar of wind and machine.
They landed just outside of Duchess. The town had been taken over by the military, but everyone wore civilian clothes and the vehicles were almost all civilian. It was a way of keeping the Chinese less suspicious about the tiny town. It was in fact a hub for a number of military operations in the region. The squad was given a two-day rest to clean up, eat well and bandage their frayed nerves. They were informed that Lieutenant Taylor was to stay in Duchess and Higgins would take command of the team, which was fine by everyone.
After two days’ rest, Finn felt stronger than ever and was already looking forward to some action. While he’d started to admit to himself that he had doubts about the effectiveness of what they were doing, that didn’t stop him from wanting to help out his mates in action. Somewhere during his time in the cave, without him really realising it, he’d started fighting for his mates, not for himself.
They received a thorough briefing of the mission and how it would fit into the overall coordinated attack on the Chinese. They learned that General Stephens was planning an all-out attack on multiple targets, all designed to wreak havoc on the Chinese transportation lines. Simultaneous with their mission, there would be joint operations by what was left of the navy and air force. They were not told what the other missions were, only that they would be part of a coordinated joint attack.
A further three days of training in high explosives gave the men more time to physically recover from the previous few months. Finn found it therapeutic to have something to think about, to learn, even if it was learning how to blow up things — or people.
Three nights later they prepared the vehicles, loading up their supplies and equipment. They were issued with three Canadian-built Conquest Knight XX Light Tactical Vehicles. Despite having the word ‘light’ in their names, the ‘Connies’, as they called them, were hulking great trucks. Armoured and armed, they were an awesome vehicle for extreme landscapes like the outback.
The plan was not to stay at a remote camp for as long this time, but they had to be prepared for any eventuality. At 0100 hours they fired up the three Connies and headed out of the town. The driving was slow and rough and took a long time, as they were only able to travel at night and, when they were travelling, they had to stop every few hours while the satellites passed overhead. Two nights later they reached their operations base. Spirits were high and the men felt like a cohesive unit again — even Private Samuels, McCaw’s replacement, now fitted in seamlessly. Finn always felt safe around his squad-mates, especially Higgins, who’d proven to his men over the past months that he was a warrior and a survivor.
With the base communications and defences set up, Higgins gathered the men around the bonnet of one of the Connies, under the shade of a thermo-tent pitched over the top. They had received their mission objective.
Higgins stood with hands on hips. ‘Okay boys, you’re gonna like this: as you know, we’re part of an all-out offensive on the Chinese. Our target is of strategically high importance to the Chinese. So, we’re going to blow it to bits.’
A few sniggers and wry looks were exchanged at this news.
Higgins continued. ‘Our target is a bridge, 120 metres high, that crosses a river valley north-west of our position — about 30 clicks over hard terrain.’
‘Will it be guarded, Sarge?’ asked Bull.
‘I’m getting there, Bull. Yes, it will be guarded. We will need to approach the target under darkness,’ Higgins said, pointing now at the mapscreen on the bonnet of the Connie. ‘The way I see it is we position snipers here and here to cover a smaller team that comes down either side of the bridge on the western bank.’
‘What’s the design of the bridge, Sarge?’ asked Finn.
‘Here are photos and schematics of the bridge.’ Higgins turned on a projector that flashed the images in front of the men. ‘It’s an old truss bridge, single rail track, built back in 1963. All we need to do is correctly place and detonate charges on one end of the bridge. That will cause it to give way and slide into the valley and river below.’
There were nods all round as the men took in the plan.
‘If it’s such an important asset, what defence can we expect?’ asked Finn.
‘Our intel suggests we can expect medium resistance, probably a platoon, two at the most — and likely to be based on the eastern side of the bridge where there is easier access to the river below.’
Finn was surprised that such an important asset would only be defended by a single platoon. Surely, thought Finn, the Chinese must have increased their security in the last few months — what with all the attacks they had been conducting? Something about it didn’t feel right.
Something else was on Finn’s mind, too. His mouth opened before he had a chance to stop himself. ‘Sarge, what’s the point of these attacks? We’ve been blowing up their trains, roads and camps for months and every time they just build more,’ he was egged on by nods from the other men. ‘It all seems pointless.’
Higgins shifted, putting his hands back to his hips. ‘Hunt, you’re a soldier. You don’t question “why?” you only question “how?”. Am I clear?’ he said gruffly.