"Not my stick, it belongs to the President. You really want us out of here by first dark this coming afternoon?"
"Right as rain, Little Beaver."
"Hey, You're not my Red Rider, I can tell you that. We'll be there for chow. Then you and I and somebody over there in the Eighth Army Headquarters gotta have a long talk."
General Richard Reynolds, commanding general of the U.S. Eighth Army, stood in front of a wall map of the DMZ that had been hastily converted into a battle map. It now showed the progress of the North Korean invasion, and had been updated only ten minutes before.
"The war is only twenty hours old, and already it's bogged down," General Reynolds said. He had been awake since just after 0430 that morning and his eyes were bright with anger and loss.
"This damn bulge in the line right in front of us is the main problem, General," a bird colonel at his elbow said. "So far it's bulged in almost ten miles, which puts it less than sixteen miles from our camp here."
"Our flanks, Colonel?"
"Fairly solid. The line is holding on average about five miles below the DMZ on the twenty-five-mile front. At least it's five miles shorter than we thought early this morning. Our airpower is coming in handy. The carrier offshore has fifty eight planes that are fitted out for land bombing and close support."
"Reserves?"
"We've pushed half of them up here to the Seoul bulge. The attack up and down the line didn't come at the same precise time, so many of the South Korean troops had time to do some fighting and pull back gradually. That wasn't the case where the tanks hit first. They swamped the Ninety-first with artillery and the T-62's. Cut them in half before the tankers got out of their sacks."
"Air?"
"General, our Air Force bases are far enough away from the attack to be safe. Wish we had twice the number of planes we have, but the fifty-eight from the carrier have helped tremendously. They have more helicopters than we do as well. So that part is going well. They coordinate perfectly with our AWACS combat direction and their turnaround time is amazing."
"So, our biggest problem is the bulge?"
"Yes, that and one other. We have a communications relay station that was built close to the DMZ for maximum coverage. Now it's been overrun by infantry elements. It's about four miles behind the enemy's MLR.
"The center is an unmanned relay point. Most of it's built underground with camouflaged antennas hidden in a grove of trees so they are almost unrecognizable."
"So there are no personnel there?"
"Right. However, there is a lot of sensitive communications gear we don't want to fall into NK hands. We can get along without the relay, doing much of it with the AWACS and other facilities. But the gear on site is the problem. I was thinking about ramming a column of tanks and trucks up there, retaking the area, and getting the equipment out. But now with our shortage of tanks, that doesn't look practical."
"What about an air strike?"
"Possible, but most of the equipment is well underground and it would take a massive hit to do any good. Also, it would attract attention to that site."
"So, send in a team of sappers." "Sir, we have no Special Forces to do the job. No Delta teams are available. You heard about the SEALs from the carrier who went in and pulled out the Vice President where the Ninety-first tanks had b een. Could we request them to do the job? They have the explosive skills and the ability to get in and out quickly. I've contacted Admiral Kenner on the carrier to see about the availability of the SEAL platoon, if we want to use them."
"Are they on tap?"
"They can be ready at first dark about 1730 tonight. Go in at dark. Have all night to do the job and get out."
"Choppers in and out?"
"I'd expect so. Save a ten-mile hike."
"You don't think a column of tanks could fight in, do the job, and get out?"
"Looks like a waste of tanks right now, sir."
"Where are what's left of our battalion?"
The Ninety-first has six tanks left. We brought them up facing the bulge. The other two battalions were not as badly hurt. I think we have fourteen in each group. I'm not sure where they are situated right now."
"Enemy air?"
"Some. The carrier's F-14's are doing a good job overhead. They shot down three MiGs this morning and chased away a dozen more."
The colonel watched his general. "Sir, the communications center?" the colonel asked.
"Yes, go ahead and see if the SEALs want the job and if they can do it. What about the NKs' supply lines to the bulge? Can we hit them hard with air and artillery? If we can keep supplies from coming up, we could blunt their charge, maybe keep them right where they are."
"Yes, sir. We're working on that. Captain Olson, the commander of the air on the carrier, says they are sending out some F-18's to try for some headlight bombing and night strafing. If it works, it will be a big help."
"Good."
"Sir, I'm going to contact the Navy again."
General Reynolds waved him off, and the colonel hurried away. Communications had been one of his big jobs. Now he didn't want to see all of that highly advanced hardware in the relay station be captured by the North Koreans. It took him almost three minutes to get through to Admiral Kenner on the Monroe.
Just after 0100, Murdock, Stroh, Captain Olson, and Admiral Kenner sat in the task force commander's quarters. Stroh had a map that had been faxed to him.
"The Army says that it wants the SEALs to do the job," Stroh said. "It's a straight demolition. That will be the easy part. Getting in won't be so bad; it will be a surprise for any NKs we run into there. Getting out will be tougher when the NKs call in help."
"Where is the center?" Murdock asked.
"It's just north of Kangso-ri, which is about a half mile from the old DMZ and is now in enemy hands," Stroh said. "This is about eighty miles from the carrier's present location." Could we go in with the Sea Knight again?" Murdock asked. "It's big enough to handle our platoon and equipment and has good speed."
"That's within its range," CAG Olson said. "We can mount two .50-caliber machine guns in the doors for some protection. Night work, so there wouldn't be any enemy air."
"Land the chopper and power it down, or get it back to friendly country and re-enter on call?" Murdock asked.
"A problem," Stroh said. "The general says as far as his people know, this sector has a reinforced battalion of NKs regulars. For them, that's about a thousand men. We're not sure how long their sector is, but there must be some kind of reserves and rear-area units on hand. We don't know if they have found the facility yet. It's camouflaged and mostly below ground."
"Looks like one squad could do the job," the admiral said.
Murdock shook his head. "Not really, Admiral. We work as a team. If one squad goes underground to blow up the equipment, there's no one covering them on top. If we go we need all fifteen men."
"We can't hide a Sea Knight," Olson said. "It would have to come in, drop off the platoon, and come back for the pickup."
"After we blow up the center, we can try to find an LZ where it wouldn't take any ground fire," Murdock said.
"The pilots would appreciate that," CAG said, and grinned at Murdock.
Admiral Kenner turned to Murdock. "Commander, can you do the job quickly and get out?"
"Sir, I don't know. Blowing up a bunker filled with goodies is no problem. Just a matter of identifying the most sensitive and putting enough charges in enough places. As the CAG said, getting out of the area will be the problem."
"Make you a deal, Commander," the air chief said. "You take the job and I'll throw in a Cobra gunship to shepherd you in and out. Then if you run into some firefights getting out, the Cobra can lay on a lot of lead, the way that one did for you a couple hours ago at the tank camp."