The transports were in the middle of the formation, while one pickup traveled on point at the head of the group. Two other of the small vehicles were on each side of the convoy, while one Tail-end Charlie brought up the rear. Military discipline was being observed in a haphazard manner, and while the gunners were in proper positions by their weapons, most had their minds on other things besides security. They stood up in the backs of the smaller trucks, keeping an inconstant vigilance in their areas of responsibility. Some were close to falling asleep, but having to stand in the swaying vehicles prevented even short naps.
Arsalaan Sikes Pasha, the commander of the fierce al-Askerin-Zaubi Storm Troopers, still sat in a contented frame of mind as he fantasized about his coming fame back in Blighty after the Iranian Army's conquest of the entire Middle East.
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BRAVO SECTION
JIM Cruiser had gotten his two vehicles moving as soon as practical. He kept the Skipper informed of his progress as he tailed after the smugglers, remaining out of sight to their rear. The lieutenant junior grade drove the DPV carefully, making sure he followed the tire tracks left by the bad guys. Pech Pecheur, up above at the M-2 .50-caliber, cautioned him when they drew too close to their quarry. His weapon, like those of his gunner partner, Dawson, along with Doc Bradley and Garth Redhawk in Bravo Two, was locked and loaded, ready to spit out the armor-piercing tracer ammo when the confrontation began.
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CHARLIE SECTION
CHARLIE One and Charlie Two, fully manned and ready, were parked side by side on the east side. They faced due west on the guesstimated azimuth of the approaching enemy. Senior Chief Buford Dawkins, the section leader, listened through his LASH at the conversation between Cruiser and the Skipper, ready to order his two DPVs into action as soon as they were needed.
CAPTAIN Naser Khadid sat in the cab of the front Toyota, gazing through the windshield as they rolled across the desert. His thoughts were of his wife and children back in the city of Shiraz in Iran. He missed them, but was consoled a great amount by his Pashtun bride Mahzala. She had become more than a source of sexual relief as she evolved into an agreeable little companion, her skills at cooking and other aspects of housekeeping increasing rapidly. The best thing, of course, was how she had also begun responding enthusiastically to his lovemaking; in fact, his experience with his Iranian wife had convinced him that women did not enjoy sex particularly, but the youthful nymph of the muta marriage was teaching him an entirely difference aspect of the matrimonial bed.
The Iranian Special Forces captain began to feel a strong urge to get back up into the highlands for a coupling with Mahzala. He felt a flush of desire as he glanced at the passenger-side rearview mirror. He could plainly see the lead transport truck to the direct rear. He watched it in an absentminded way for a few moments; then suddenly an explosion erupted from its gas tank beneath the cab.
The large vehicle veered both left and right, then turned over and was completely engulfed in flames. A couple of Pashtun mujahideen emerged from the inferno, running blindly in circles with their clothing on fire.
Now the machine gun mounted on the cab above his head began firing, its expended cartridges bouncing off the right front fender.
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THE BATTLE
ANDY Malachenko in Alpha One, after hosing the lead transport with his M-2 heavy machine gun, swung the barrel toward the truck to its immediate rear. Even before he squeezed the trigger, his M-60 partner Guy Devereaux was already splattering the new target with well-aimed bursts of full-auto 7.62-millimeter slugs. When the heavy .50-calibers of the M-2 joined the fusillade, the target vehicle exploded in a fiery burst of ignited gasoline, bouncing completely off the ground. The two Iranians in the cab were enveloped in flames, but several Pashtun mujahideen managed to get out the back. They turned and ran south for the sanctuary of the foothills.
Connie Concord swung Alpha Two over to a more diagonal route toward the enemy column, allowing the Odd Couple to turn their own individual weapons onto the third truck. It came to an abrupt halt an instant before a loud swoosh announced its fuel tank turning into an impromptu bomb. The men in the cab managed to get out as the mujahideen in the rear bailed over the tailgate.
GASHTEE junub! Captain Naser Khadid shouted at the Iranian driver next to him. Turn south!
The man whipped the wheel to the right, almost rolling the Toyota. The machine gunner in the back, who had just started firing at the attackers to their direct front, almost fell out. He grabbed the weapon mount on the cab and held on with all his strength as the centrifugal force of the violent maneuver threatened to throw him off the pickup truck. As soon as the vehicle was on a southerly route, the pressure faded and the guy slid to the bed of the truck. He had no reason to use the machine gun now. The attackers were to his rear, well out of his arc of fire.
Over to the left of the smuggler formation, Arsalaan Sikes had already made his own tactical decision as rounds from four enemy machine guns swept up and down the convoy. He pointed to the south and slapped the driver across the side of the head. The soldier was not angered by the blow that shook him out of shock and instantly obeyed his passen-ger's frantic gestures. Sikes turned and looked out the back window, sighting the dead machine gunner sprawled and shaking on the deck as the vehicle bounced across the ground in its wild run.
Now the other three Toyotas, carrying Husay Bangash, Malyar Lodhi, and Jandol Kakar, also headed away from the attack. The drivers sighted Sikes' and Khadid's trucks, and hit the accelerators to catch up with the two officers. The sixth pickup had been riddled and sent rolling a couple of minutes before when DPVs appeared from the east and cut loose with sweeping volleys of machine-gun fire.
THE Bravo Section, after disposing of the rear pickup, closed in on the scene of the burning transports. All six were now dead hulks, spewing out obscene orange flames and black, oily smoke. Corpses with smoking clothing were scattered around the vehicles. Jim Cruiser's section immediately began receiving fire from mujahideen on the ground. These were the lucky Pashtuns who had managed to escape the infernos of the big trucks. They were skilled fighters, and had assumed kneeling and prone positions, squeezing off well-aimed bursts from their AK-47s.
Cruiser spotted one group of almost a dozen who had gathered from two of the destroyed transports. Gunners! Turn your weapons on those ragheads at ten o'clock! The quartet of SEAL gunners responded immediately, cutting down the resistance with a close-packed combined volley of 7.62 and .50 slugs. The Pashtuns were kicked down into undignified positions of death in the short space of three beats.
The Alphas came to a stop. From their vantage point, they had clear fields of fire into the area of the burning trucks where scattered groups of mujahideen still offered resistance. Brannigan did not have to give any orders as Devereaux, Malachenko, Assad, and Leibowitz did what had to be done with their weapons. Now the Charlies closed in and added their firepower to the scene. The men on the ground died fast in the hail of fire bursts.
Alpha One, this is Bravo One! Cruiser transmitted through his lash. There're five pickups heading south for the foothills. Let's go! Brannigan said, being economic with words since everyone was able to quickly figure out what was going on.
BOTH Sikes and Khadid had sighted the chase vehicles. Although unable to communicate, they both issued the same orders for their respective drivers to kick up to the fastest speed the vehicles could possibly attain. The other three quickly caught on and joined in the run for safety. The pickups were much faster than the DPVs, easily increasing the distance between themselves and their pursuers.