Annihilation Prequel - Psychic Beginnings (25 page)

• • •

“Sir, I see a NVA unit at the base of the hill. Should I order a mortar to hit them?”

Bingham said, “No, we’re going to need every round to keep their mortars out of range. We’ll handle them when they start up the hill.”

Private Martin turned around and looked through a hole in the sand bags at the unit taking cover at the base of the hill. It was going to be difficult to take them out with only small arms. He sighed and continued to watch the white birds circling across the entire front of the hill. Massive numbers were moving their way and they should arrive before nightfall. He looked at the eight 50s. He wondered why the Major had all the tracers removed from the belts of the center one and replaced with standard rounds. As fast as that thing fired, how was the gunner going to determine where the rounds were hitting? Well, so far the Major had been right in his decisions. Tonight would determine if his success ratio was going to continue. He looked back out and saw hundreds of NVA setting up at the base of the hill.

• • •

Jerry eased his way forward and looked into the small clearing. Two Zu-74s were set up and their radars were active. He looked at the five Ghosts following him and made a circular motion with his hand. The six moved back and disappeared into the jungle. An hour later, Jerry inched his way forward through the vegetation until he was less than fifteen yards from the two vehicles. He stood and rapidly moved on the two guns. He wasn’t seen until he was five yards away and the spotter that saw him took a knife in the throat before he could sound a warning. Two more Ghosts came running in and killed the remaining members of the gun’s crews. Jerry rushed forward and pulled two grenades from his pouch. He jumped up on the gun’s platform and pulled the pins and nodded to Private Jolly. Jolly moved the turret around until it pressed the two grenades against the wall. Jerry moved quickly to the second gun and setup two more grenades. The three then went to ground and disappeared. Jerry heard shots out in the jungle and knew that the fight on his side of the river had begun. Fortunately, the five companies of Ghosts only had to handle a couple of support battalions scattered across fifteen miles. It was going to be slow going, but removal of the two anti-aircraft guns was a good start. Getting to the missile batteries was not going to be so easy.

• • •

Van Phang arrived with his staff far in the rear of the units at the hill and he waited for night fall. He had been advised that several holes had been made in the camouflaged barbed wire and his troops were massed to begin the charge. He turned to his aide and said, “Start hitting them with our mortars.”

The aid looked extremely uncomfortable but said, “We have not been able to get one close enough to the hill to hit it.”

Huang felt immense pleasure at Phang’s expression.

“What do you mean?”

“Every time we attempt to set one up, it’s hit by a mortar round. The enemy has the high ground and has a much greater range than we do.”

“How are they targeting our sites?”

“We have no idea but they are.”

Phang stared at the captain and said, “Go over there and set up a mortar.”

The captain moved away and three troops ran up with a heavy mortar two hundred yards away from the General’s position. They stacked the rounds and put the tripod on the tube. That’s when a mortar round struck and blew up the stack of rounds, killing all three instantly. Phang and his staff hit the ground as shrapnel blew through the trees around them. Phang stood up and saw the destruction and then looked at Huang who said, “The White Demon could hit us as well if he chose to do so.”

Phang stared at Huang and finally said, “Then why hasn’t he?”

“I would guess he doesn’t want you to miss what’s about to happen. He’ll take you after he’s finished with our men.”

Phang ordered three more mortars set up and the fourth crew refused to do it. He shot all three of them and looked for the commander of the mortar crews. He and his men had faded into the jungle. He looked at Huang and said, “We will move a hundred yards further back.”

Huang laughed, “He still has the heavy guns up there. You could move a mile back and he could still hit you.” Phang was beyond rage. He looked at Huang and said, “You will go to the front line and go ask the Demon to surrender. Tell him I will spare his men if he will turn himself over to me.”

Huang stared at the General and took a deep breath. He turned and moved toward the front. He knew he would be shot if he didn’t follow Phang’s orders. As soon as Huang moved out of view, Phang snarled, “Send five sharpshooters to kill that Chinese coward once he gets on that hill.” The captain nodded to his lieutenant and he disappeared behind Huang.

Huang arrived at the bottom of hill 231 and looked over at Phen, “Do you have a piece of white cloth I may use for a few moments?”

Phen said, “Why do you need it?”

“Our General has ordered me to go to the Demon and request his surrender.”

“Why is he sending you, general? That’s a suicide mission.”

Huang softly smiled and Phen took off his undershirt and gave it to Huang, “It isn’t completely white but it should serve your purpose, Sir.” Phen cut down a small bamboo stalk and tied the shirt to it. He handed it to Huang and the Chinese walked out on to the hill. Phen watched him go and knew that this was not a coward. As Huang reached the halfway point up the hill Phen saw five troops arrive and climb trees. He noticed that they were all carrying captured American assault rifles. He looked over at his commander and saw him shrug. He looked back up the hill at the white flag moving slowly forward and hated the kind of mind that would do this to a brave man. He looked up at the five snipers and saw them start to take aim.

• • •

Huang struggled up the hill and thought about all the good days in his life. He started humming a song his mother used to sing to him as a child and he missed her so much. She had died too young working on the state’s farms. He saw his wife’s face and he thought about how much he loved her smile. He waited for the shot that would end his life and somehow he found peace. This was not a war he could feel good about. It seemed only the innocent died and most of them died horribly. Suddenly he heard a strange sound erupt from the top of the hill and he waited a moment to see if he was hit. He didn’t feel anything, so he continued moving toward the top of the hill. He arrived and found the Demon sitting on a wall of camouflaged sand bags.

“Long time no see, Colonel.”

“It’s General now.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

“Then what are you doing coming up here? Are they out of lieutenants?”

“It seems the commander of this action doesn’t like hearing the truth.”

“Is that why he had five snipers in the trees with AR-15s?”

Huang looked back down the hill and then turned back around. “It was you that saved me last time.”

“It was.”

“Why are you doing that?”

“The time I need you is far away and I’m not going to let your general remove you from the board.”

“Is all this game to you?”

“Not really. But it is an exercise in strategy. Why are you here?”

“To ask for your surrender.” Huang looked back down the hill and said, “Aren’t you taking a risk exposing yourself like this?”

AG smiled and said, “Excuse me a moment.” He leaned to the left and a bullet hit the ground behind him. He raised a 45 caliber handgun and fired at the jungle below. He holstered the gun, glanced at the jungle below, and no more shots were fired. “Now where were we?”

“Surrender.”

“Oh yeah, I forgot. Sorry but I’m not going to do that.”

“I figured as much.”

“But you came anyway.”

“Sometimes we really don’t have a choice.”

“There is always a choice, General. Making the hard decisions is what’s difficult.”

Huang took a deep breath and nodded. “The Witch asked me to thank you for Van Bao’s ear. She saw the photographs of what the villagers did to him and said to tell you they did an even better job than she could have done. She said they were quite inventive”

“I doubt that; however, there’s still General Zheng.”

“He’s keeping her a long way from him. I’m sure she’ll get to him eventually.”

AG smiled and said, “General, things are going to get really dangerous around here so I am not going to allow you to go back to your lines.”

“I’ll be killed as a traitor if I don’t.”

“Ordinarily that would be true but there will be too many witnesses to allow that to happen.”

“I’m not sure what you mean?”

AG smiled and hit him on the side of his head with the colt 45. Huang dropped like a rock to the ground and AG lifted him and carried him over the sandbags. The massed troops at the bottom of the hill opened fire too late to hit them before they disappeared.

• • •

Phen looked at his commander who sneered, “Our fearless leader has just delivered someone into enemy hands that knows all of our plans. Just how stupid can someone be?”

Phen looked back at the five dead snipers and wondered if they were killed protecting the demon or the general. Someone else was going to have to figure that one out.

• • •

Huang woke to a throbbing pain in his head. AG was standing over him and smiled, “I think those below know you were forced behind my lines. You should be ok on the count of treason.”

“Did you have to hit me so hard?”

“I had to make it look real. Now I can bind you and leave you tied up during the coming battle or you can give me your word to stay out of the way and I’ll allow you to be an observer.”

“Why would you trust my word?”

“Is it good, General?”

Huang shrugged, “It is.”

“Then what’s it going to be?”

“I’ll agree to stay out of the fight.”

“Then make yourself at home. I expect the first charge momentarily. There are some rations on the table and you can come observe when you’re ready.” AG turned to a corporal, “Please take care of our visitor and try to keep him from getting killed.”

“Yes Sir.” AG left the bunker and ran to the front wall.

Huang looked at the corporal and said in English, “I’ll take some of these with me.”

The corporal said, “I speak Chinese, Sir.”

Huang looked startled and said, “Then let’s go see what’s happening.”

“As long as you stay behind the sandbags and don’t lift your head, you can observe.”

Huang nodded and walked out of the bunker.

• • •

Phen’s Commander said, “I need you to go back and tell General Phang that the Chinese General was captured by the Americans.”

“I don’t want to leave my men, Sir.”

“I’ll lead them up the hill; do as I say.”

Phen stared at him and said, “I will do as you say, Father.” Phen stood and ran back through the jungle.

• • •

“They’re moving up the hill, Sir.”

“Hold your fire until the third line clears the Jungle.”

Fifteen hundred troops rushed out of the jungle and began moving up the hill. Two minutes later a second line moved out and followed the first. Two minutes after that the third line emerged and AG ordered, “Launch flares.” Night turned into day and six M60 machine guns opened fire on the advancing enemy. Most of them hit the ground and started crawling up the steep embankment. A fourth line left the trees and began the long, slow crawl up the hill. AG said, “Make your bursts count. You know your zones; stay in them.”

Numerous rockets were launched but most of them fell short or flew completely over the camp into the river beyond. The ones that hit the sandbags killed the soldiers immediately behind them but very few managed to hit. Replacement sandbags were piled on and the firing continued unabated. Huang saw that hundreds of the advancing soldiers were being killed. This was a slaughter. The Demon stood at the wall looking down on the advancing soldiers. He would occasionally lean to the left or right and a bullet could be heard zinging over the camp. Huang knew that the survivors from the first line would soon be close enough to start throwing grenades over the wall. They were a hundred yards out and they would be close enough within a few minutes.

The Demon stepped down from the wall and said, “Cease fire.”

Huang looked and saw the Demon move behind a fifty caliber machine gun and lay down behind it. An unearthly sound erupted from it and Huang saw hundreds of puffs of soil erupt from the hill all the way down to the edge of the jungle. It couldn’t have fired for more than five seconds.

The Demon stood and said, “Pull it back. Let me know if they send another line out.” He then walked back to his bunker.

Huang looked down the hill and saw no movement. Everything was deathly still and silent. There were more than six thousand North Vietnam troops that started up that hill. Now there was nothing but stillness. He stood and followed the Demon to his bunker.

“How many did you just kill out there!?!”

AG looked up and said, “All of them.” Huang stared at him and AG said, “How many would your troops leave alive if they are able to take this hill and don’t think I’m stupid. I know how your army operates!”

Huang simmered and finally said, “You would all be killed but what you just did wasn’t noble or fair.”

“That’s the nature of war, General. It never is. I’m doing this in the hope that I won’t have to kill all of your men before this is over.”

“You have a funny way of making that happen.”

“Your men must be forced to choose between life and death. Before they can make that choice they must first realize they have to make it.”

Huang sat down, “So what are you going to do?”

“They’ll come back tomorrow night; that’s when they’ll decide.”

“They won’t be given a choice, Demon. They’ll advance or be killed.”

“I told you before that there is always a choice. Perhaps you’ll learn that here. It’s an important lesson. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have some things to do.” AG nodded and Corporal Melton led Huang out. “Jerry, I can take your call now.”

“We’ve managed to eliminate most of the Zu’s. There are four missile batteries up on the hills that we just are not going to be able to get to without losing a lot of men.”