by W. R. Benton
“Charge!” I screamed, as we all ran for the cars of goods protected by our enemies.
One car was resisting very well, and no one could get close enough to use a grenade. I moved to my flamethrower operator and asked, “Can you take the threat out?”
“Yes, sir.” she replied, with a huge smile.
She shot high into the air and let the flames fall into the open boxcar door, and Russians began screaming as the burning liquid fell on them. They jumped from the car to avoid more flames and they were taken out by the machine-gun crew. Finally, Captain Xue neared the door and tossed a grenade inside. A second or two later it exploded, sending dust and wooden splinters in all directions. Blood ran to the edge of the door and began to drip to the gravel below. I could see one arm extended out the door, and it was riddled with shrapnel from the grenade.
I looked for Captain Hensley, but he was nowhere to be seen. I suspected he was still in the trees.
“Staff Sergeant Young, check all the cars for Russians. Have the lightly wounded doctored up but kill the seriously wounded. The ones you leave alive, make sure they are permanently disabled.”
Corporal Ledford neared and said, “If you're looking for Captain Hensley, he's behind a log in the woods scared to death. I think he even peed his pants.”
“Let's move, people, and unload this train. Major Eller!”
“Yo!”
“See what this train is carrying and let me know.”
“Private Davis, give me a count of our wounded and dead. Also get the same information for the Russians. Let's move, people, they may have radioed for help.”
Ten minutes later, my radioman neared and said, “Base for you, sir.”
“Base, Copperhead One, over.”
I heard pistol shots up and down the train tracks.
“Uh, Copperhead One, radar shows attack helicopters leaving the Fort now and moving in your direction. Their ETA is approximately 20 mikes, over.”
“Roger, I understand. ETA in 20 minutes. Copperhead One, out.” I handed the headset back to my radioman, and then yelled, “Let's move, folks. We have twenty minutes or less before Russian choppers get here!”
Eller neared and said, “I found cases of Chemical/Biological suits, gloves, booties, and masks, along with atropine. I'm having that taken first and then the battery operated portable decontamination shelters too. All medical supplies and food is being taken, along with any ammunition. I had the horses loaded with small drums of Russian foods, but since I don't speak Russian I have no idea what they contain.” He laughed.
Staff Sergeant Young neared and said, “sixty dead Russians; six we put out of their misery and nine with permanent disabilities, one way or the other.”
“Let's go, and now! Move it, people. Split into your small cells and move!” I pulled out a card, the ace of spades, and walking to a dead Russian Captain, I placed the card in his mouth. I wanted the Russian Bear to know the Aces were back and still in a killing mood.
Xue neared and said, “I had all the civilians on the train roughed up, to protect them. No reason to let them be killed because of us. Once the Russians see they were beaten, they'll be safe—maybe.”
“Good thinking,” I replied, and knew when I got back Captain Hensley would be formally charged.
I knew many of my folks would hide in caves in the 'mountains' and not be found by any aircraft with infrared radar. They could go back to a bend in the cave and never be found. Others, like those on the horses, were probably at our main camp already, or fairly close. Then the ones like us would move overland and take the risk of being caught. I'd discovered many of the Russian aircraft had IR capabilities, but they weren't always working properly. I'd guess on a given night, 60 out of a 100 wouldn't be operational.
“Keep Hensley with me, because he's informally under arrest for cowardice in the face of the enemy.”
“I have him covered, sir.” Ledford said and then added, “Sir, Private Dobins and I would like to have you give her away at our wedding next week. You're the closest thing she has to a father these days and she almost considers you her dad, too.”
“I'd be honored, if I'm still alive next week.”
“I might not be there myself, depending on how this next week goes. I've learned since I joined the resistance to never take life for granted.”
“Enough talk, but I understand.”
We heard choppers but they never came close to us and, surprisingly, I heard no explosions or cannon fire. It was so quiet it gave me an eerie feeling.
As we moved, I wondered about the engineer we'd killed when the engine fell on it's side. I could see now as long as Americans worked the trains, I'd pull no more tracks apart. I'd find some other way to get the thing to stop. Don't misunderstand me, because I'd kill any Russian in a minute and do it any way I could, but I felt we murdered that engineer and all for nothing, so it bothered me. I thought back to the time we were stopping trains in Mississippi. Civilians there were forced to sign an oath to the Russians and they stated they were in favor of Russian rule. As far as I was concerned, they were targets too. When we began to hit the trains regularly, they mounted a small rail car on the front of the train. Then, they chained prisoners from the local gulag on the platform. If we made the train run off the track, prisoners were usually crushed by the heavy engine. It had not, may God forgive us, stopped our attacks.
The next morning as we entered camp, I said to Ledford, “Captain Hensley is confined to his quarters and will be issued rations to eat. I want a guard on him around the clock.”
“Yes, sir.”
After dropping off the gear I carried and placing my Bison on my bed, I undressed to my shorts and made my way to the shower. I was surprised to see Major Eller drying off with his towel.
“Tomorrow morning we bring formal charges against Hensley. He never moved out of the woods, and still got so scared he peed his pants. He's unfit to be a commander of a troop of boy scouts.”
“Not all men can lead, Colonel.”
“You got that shit right, but looks to me like he would have been screened out years ago.”
“I've no answer, except we're much more active now than we have ever been. I heard rumors that on many of his missions in the past he'd walk about a mile, spend a couple of days and then return.”
“If I could prove that, I'd have the sonofabitch shot. I want you to nose around and talk to some of the men and women who've gone into the field with him. By rights, they should be charged too, but I'll let them go if they come clean.”
“I'll try, but I can make no promises.”
“That's all I asked. I need to shower, grab a bite to eat, and catch some sleep.”
The Major laughed and said, “I'm heading to bed just as soon as I get in my tent. Good mission, sir.”
I turned the water on and said, “I think it was, too.”
At daybreak the next day, Captain Hensley stood in front of our table, his face stern and showing no emotion. Four of us made up the Board, and all of us were officers. He was standing at attention, so I gave a long sigh and said, “Please be seated. Captain Thomas Hensley, you're brought before this Court Martial Board charged with cowardice in the face of the enemy, conduct unbecoming an officer, and lying to your superior officers. How do you plead?”
His attorney, Lieutenant James Worth, a real civilian lawyer said, “The defendant pleads not guilty, sir.”
“Not guilty will be entered into the official minutes of this trial.” I said.
“Sir, I request this court martial be stopped and Captain Hensley's record be cleared of these charges. There hasn't even been an article 92 conducted and he wasn't read his rights.” Worth said, and at first I thought he was joking.
“Lieutenant, your client is guilty as hell because I was there, and I am an eyewitness. Now, by partisan law, we do not need a court martial to execute your client, none at all, but I'm a fair man. However, there will be no article 92 hearing conducted in his case.”
&
nbsp; Worth was a smart man. “Then why, sir, are you on the board that will determine his guilt, if he's already guilty in your eyes? Do you dare call this a fair trial?”
“I can agree with that. Captain Xue, I want you to take my place. By law, there should be a Full Colonel on the board, but I'm the only one assigned here. Counsel, do you agree with us not having a Colonel on the board?”
“Uh, yes, sir, we agree.”
Suddenly, the flap to the tent was pulled open and Sergeant Parsons said, “Colonel, something is drizzling from the skies, and it's not rain.”
Xue, who'd stood, ran to the flap, looked out and screamed, “Chemical attack! Don your protective gear now!”
Parsons met my eyes, and began to shake and shiver severely. She fell to the floor and started twitching and jerking as if she were having an epileptic seizure. It scared the hell out of me, but Xue pulled an atropine pen from his pocket and pushed it against her left thigh.
“It's a nerve agent they're using, I suspect, sir.”
All of us were donning our gear quickly, except Hensley.
“Get a suit and mask on your client, Worth, or he'll be dead before we can determine his guilt.” Xue yelled at the Lieutenant.
My only armed guard, Sergeant Ledford, was putting his chemical warfare jacket on when Hensley exploded from his seat and made a mad dash out of our tent.
The Sergeant started to follow him when I said, “As you were, Sergeant Ledford. You're not dressed to go out and he'll be dead in a few minutes. Get your mask on, all of us, and this trial is over, due to a dead suspect.”
A handmade siren was sounding, and everyone on the base knew we were under a chemical attack. I knew most would survive, but as I dressed Dolly I wondered how many people we'd lose. I slipped her mask on and as awkward as it was, she didn't complain. I think she knew it was to keep her alive.
When we left the tent later, even Sergeant Parsons was wearing her chemical suit, and she was carried out by a stretcher team. I saw Hensley laying in an unnatural position in the dirt. He was on his back, his mouth still foaming, and his eyes huge.
His death had been a hard one, much harder than a bullet to the head or even a hanging. Fool; he was a damned fool. We would have found him guilty though, beyond any doubt. He'd lied about previous missions and rarely moved more than a half a mile from the base. He'd stay there two days, call in bogus reports and then return. We even had a good dozen enlisted witnesses, and I have no use for a man like him, I thought.
Chapter 15
The troops began the slow jog controlled by the Senior Sergeant that most could do all day if need be, as Georgiy moved toward his office. He was ready to run when he was informed of a phone call from the base commander. Seemed lately, everyone wanted to talk to him first thing in the morning.
Entering and picking up the phone he said, “Captain Georgiy speaking, sir.”
“Captain, I need to see you in my office, and shortly too, so I can brief you on a classified mission you have coming soon.”
“How soon do you need me, sir?”
Laughing, the commander said, “Five minutes ago. Come over now, and I will fill you in on the job.”
“Yes, sir, I am on my way.”
Since Captains did not rate individual transportation, he walked to the base commander's office. When he entered, a very attractive Private met his eyes, smiled, gave him a wink, and said, “Go on in, sir, he is expecting you.”
In the office, Colonel Olegovich offered him a vodka, which he turned down because it wasn't even dawn yet, but did accept coffee.
Lieutenant Colonel Zakhary Leonidovich, head of the anti-partisan center for the state, was in the room and stood before some maps on an easel near the far wall. The man spoke. “What you are about to hear is classified Top Secret and will not be discussed outside of this room.”
“Yes, sir.”
Olegovich said, “We are about to bring full chemical warfare down on the partisans.”
“Sir, that was tried in the deep south and did not work, except it did kill a lot of innocent civilians.” said Captain Georgiy.
“Civilians mean nothing to me, nothing at all. Our attack will start in the morning, right at 0500 hours.”
“What is the role of my troops in this effort, sir?”
“I want you and a number of other units out looking for results of our poison gas. Since your group is an airborne group, you will be dropped from around 182 meters, so reserve chutes will not be issued. I do not think you will have time to fix any malfunctions or use a reserve parachute prior to ground impact.”
“When do we jump?”
“At 0600 the day after tomorrow. Tomorrow morning at 0300 the gases will start being dropped using a spraying system mounted on Transport aircraft. The area to be sprayed will be surrounding this fort and much of Phelps county, as well. This first gassing is a test only, to see if it produces enough successful results to make it cost effective. Now, we did drop some east and south this morning, just to make sure our equipment would work, and it is fine.”
“How many of my troops are to go on this jump?”
“Your whole company.”
Ilik nodded in understanding.
“Of course, any partisans you meet will be eliminated, clear?”
“Of course it is clear, sir, and it is normal routine.”
Colonel Leonidovich said, “In a few days the nerve agent will start to dissipate, but it will still remain in low areas for some days to come. Try to avoid low lying areas and keep your masks and gear on through the entire mission. I know the gear is hot, but it beats death all to hell.”
“Will that be all, sir?”
“Not exactly. See, we have a Russian missing that is both a scientist and a Colonel. He is an expert on Chemical Biological warfare, and we know the partisans have him. If he is seen, you are to spare no cost in rescuing or killing him.” He handed a photo of “Dennis” Denisovich to Captain Georgiy.
“Am I to keep this photograph, sir?”
“No, we do not want the partisans to know we are looking for him.”
If they have him as a POW, they must know you are looking for him, Georgiy thought.
“Now, return to your unit and prepare for your parachute drop.”
Georgiy's Master Sergeant was pissed as he said, “Captain, some of our troops have not jumped in over a year, and a few have never jumped. We have not jumped in so long we no longer get jump pay, but we are to jump the day after tomorrow?” The man was speaking in a meeting with all the sections assigned to the company in attendance.
“Yes, and we will jump. We will each be carrying two equipment bags, and we must drop them as soon as the chute opens. If the bags are not dropped, we will have some people hurt. We will be jumping with Chemical Warfare (CW) gear on, so stress that as well.”
“I will take care of the training and briefings, sir, but this is a real mess in my opinion.”
“Go, start the training right now and tell them it is a combat jump, so they will be paid for this one. I want everyone in the first aircraft hanger at 0400 the day after tomorrow and ready to go. The only acceptable excuse to not be there is if they are in the hospital.”
The Master Sergeant left the room.
Georgiy turned to his weatherman and asked, “What kind of weather can we expect on the day of the jump?”
“Very light winds from the north, clear skies in the morning with rain clouds moving in after dusk. Temperature in the low fifties near jump time, and our high will be around 59 degrees or so. We see rain coming the day after your jump, so the poison gases will dissipate with the rain rather quickly.”
“Lieutenant, it is not just my jump but all of us in the company, including you and your personnel. Every man and woman in this unit will jump with me. Once on the ground, we will break into small five man cells and start looking for evidence the chemical spraying did any good.”
“Sir, I thought the mission was only for operational combat troops.”
“Well, you thought wrong. Return to your unit and see how many have been to the parachute training given by the Master Sergeant. I want all of you to attend before morning. Once we leave the aircraft is not the time to realize you need to be trained.”
That night in bed, Lena asked, “Does it scare you to jump out of an airplane? I do not know if I could do it, because high places scare me.”
“I am not really scared, but my senses are tuned much higher than normal and I expect something to go wrong, so I am really at my best when I leave the aircraft. Many men and women enter into jump status for the extra pay, which is substantial, especially if you are of low rank. In the morning, jumping into combat will earn each of us a large paycheck next month.”
“If you survive.”
Taking her head in his hands, he gazed into her eyes and said, “I have been jumping since before you were born and I am still here. I feel it is safer than driving a car in Moscow. We will jump, complete our mission and return home, simple.” He then kissed the very tip of her nose.
She nodded, but didn't think it was all as simple as he claimed. She'd spent the last two days placing patients in CW tents and carrying her CW gear. Right now the winds were from the north, but they could change direction at any time, and then they'd need to don their protective suits and masks. The patients were already protected and breathing oxygen from compressed tanks.
“Come, Ilik, let us play a bit and then get some sleep. You will be up at 0400 and it is close to 2100 now. I love you and need to love you one more time before you leave me in the morning.”
Ilik turned the light off, climbed into bed beside her and said, “I was lucky when I met you..”
I was the lucky one, she thought as she rolled over on top of him.
At 0500 Georgiy's company was loading on a Russian UAC/HAL Il-214 aircraft, and they would be using three of the big birds to make the drops. The commander and vice-commander, Olegovich, would be on different aircraft. This was in the event one aircraft was lost, a commander would still be able to lead the remaining troops. Three T-90 tanks would also be dropped using a low-altitude parachute-extraction system (LAPES), once the troops were on the ground. The tanks and additional ammunition would be dropped to better equip the troops for their mission and, like the commanders, one tank and pallet was on each aircraft.