“DeWitt, we need that LZ in a rush,” Murdock said to his lip mike. “Shoot one flare, and charge down here. Get those choppers back. We should have had the SATCOM with us.”
“Coming, one red flare up.”
Murdock saw it blossom and hoped that the chopper pilots could see it. He prayed they weren’t a ridge line over.
“Can the commander stand?”
“We walked in here from where we landed. I mostly carried him. Need a litter if you have one in the chopper. Otherwise we carry him.”
“Any Chinese troops around the area?”
“Think so. We heard two choppers come and then go, but not sure how far away they were. After that we heard some small arms fire. Could be infantry looking for us.”
“So we use the flares and get out of here before the Chicoms find us,” Lam said. He had found two tree branches he broke to the right length. “Let me splint that arm for you, Lieutenant,” Lam said.
“We don’t want it messed up any more than it is.” Lam laid a piece of the branch under the officer’s arm and one on top. Murdock held them in place while Lam tied them securely on one end with a kerchief he took out of his pocket. He used the roller bandage from his pocket and wrapped it ten times to secure the other end.
The commander pilot groaned and woke up. “Where the hell are we?” he asked.
“Still in China, Commander. I’m Murdock with SEALs. We’re going to get you out of here.”
“Cap, I’ve got an LZ for us,” DeWitt said. “About fifty yards from where I see you under that tree. I’ve got the men in a perimeter defense. Going to be light in about twenty. We’ve fired three more red flares. Where the hell are those choppers?”
“Should be watching for the flares,” Murdock said on the Motorola. “Keep one man on the LZ with two red flares ready to mark it on the ground when the choppers come.”
“Roger that.”
They waited.
The backseat man sat beside his pilot. He looked at Murdock. “Where the hell is that chopper?”
“Two of them, who are supposed to be here by now. We’ve fired two more flares. They may have pulled back waiting for daylight to be sure we have found you.”
“Them and the Chink infantry,” the Commander said. “Yeah, I’m back. Gut hurts like fire. Guess I got gut shot. Damn but that hurts.”
“Getting you out of here, Jock, no sweat,” Lieutenant Birnbaum said. “Just hang in there, buddy.”
“You guys have any kind of a radio?”
“Not with us. Wish we did.”
Murdock went over to DeWitt who stood looking uphill at the LZ he had picked.
“Anything closer?” Murdock asked. “The commander is gut shot, so we’ll have to carry him.”
“I’ll work it down this way. It’s getting too damn light for our flares to do much good. Where are the damn choppers?”
Twenty minutes later they still waited. Streamers of light had daggered into the darkness eating it up, spreading like a cancer, devouring every bit of blackness it could find.
Lam came on the Motorola. “Cap, I’m out about five hundred in front of our perimeter downhill. Heard there could be some Chicom infantry in the area. I’m concealed and watching another mile of territory downgrade. Damn but these mountains are big ones. Don’t have anything like this in Tennessee.”
“Any movement down there?”
“Not so far. A little wind blowing which will make it harder, but I’ll keep them pealed.”
“Roger that, who gave you the five hundred?”
“I did, Cap. Figured you were busy and you’d just say okay, anyway. I’ve got my Pup with me, so I can engage at a thousand if you want me to, if anybody shows up.”
“Hold fire and we’ll see how we’re doing. No choppers yet.”
“Be full light in ten.”
“Don’t remind me.”
Murdock looked up. The other men did as well.
“Chopper,” somebody said. Then the sound faded.
“He’s over one or two ridges,” Murdock said. “Damn, how could he get lost? He’s got the fucking coordinates.”
Lieutenant Birnbaum shook his head. “Just isn’t our day. I should have seen that damn MiG come up from the side. He didn’t fire any missiles so I wasn’t concerned by his blip. Figured I had worse trouble from the two MiGs firing missiles at us.”
“Trouble, Cap,” Lam said on the Motorola. “I’ve got at least twenty Chicom troops moving my way. They are on a search and destroy, kicking every shrub, digging into every nook and cranny. I figure they are about half a mile out. What the hell do you want me to do?”
24
Murdock listened to Lam’s report of the Chinese troops.
“Only twenty. Any more coming out of the bushes down there?”
“That looks like all of them, Cap.”
“We should keep them away from this area. Use your Bull Pup on them and I’ll send down three more Pups to help. The damn chopper has to be coming in soon. Open fire when ready.”
Murdock looked around. “I want three more Pups down five hundred to help Lam. Three of you, move now.”
Four SEALs lifted up and ran forward. At the same time they heard the report of a 20mm round going off ahead of them. The fourth man at the rear, slowed and stopped. The other three charged down the slope.
“Yeah, love this gun,” Lam said in the net. “First two rounds put them on the ground. Don’t know how many will get up. I lasered them on the first man and it worked perfectly with an air burst. Oh, yeah, like fish in a barrel. I’m still way out of their range. They must be about seen hundred yards down there.”
“Three more Pups coming. No chopper yet.”
As he said it, Murdock heard the sounds of choppers coming toward them. Yes.
“Choppers inbound,” Murdock shouted.
“Flares now on the LZ,” DeWitt barked into the Motorola.
“Lieutenant, let’s get the commander up and moving. Bradford, Ching, give us a hand here.”
Both U.S. Navy 46 choppers came down the slope and settled into the landing zone.
“Choppers on the ground,” Murdock said into his lip mike. “Lam and three buddies, bug out of there and get back up here for a ride. Move now.”
The three men carried the unconscious pilot out of the depression and thirty yards up the slope to the 46 chopper. The rear hatch had been lowered and they carried the pilot inside. The lieutenant stayed with him. Chin and Bradford came out and ran back to the area to pick up their weapons.
The first mortar round came in with no warning. It exploded fifty yards up the slope from the choppers. The 46 closest to the SEALs with the pilots on board, lifted off at once before anyone could even yell at the pilot. Murdock screamed at him but he was gone. The second chopper stayed on the ground.
“Load up, all SEALs load up on the last chopper. Move it guys. Somebody has a damn mortar within range.”
Two more mortar rounds landed and the SEALs dove into the rocks and dirt. One exploded with a furious blast twenty yards from the chopper. The SEALs were still in the dirt when the second bird revved up and began to take off. A mortar round landed ten feet from the nose of the big chopper and sliced jagged shrapnel through the cockpit, killing the pilot instantly and knocking out the engines. The bird settled to the ground and a fire erupted in the engine compartment.
“Take cover,” Murdock bellowed into the lip mike. “Scatter, I want twenty yards between men.” He looked downslope and saw the four SEALs moving toward him.
“You Pup men coming up the hill. No rush. We just lost our ride out of here. Lam, how are the Chinese?”
“Three or four of them ran back to where they were, hidden behind a hill or some bush. Fifteen of them must be out of action, dead or badly hurt. No shit, no chopper?”