Pacific Siege sts-8

by Keith Douglass

  “Leave them,” Murdock said in his mike.

  They looked for Lam. It was almost five minutes later when he came around the side of the house next to the one where they lay hidden. At the same time, three more soldiers came out of the headquarters. They saw the two men down in the street and ran to them. Murdock nodded and he, Dewitt, and Jaybird all fired. The three soldiers joined their unconscious comrades out cold on the ground. Lam slid in beside Murdock.

  “Don’t look good, Skipper. Just one door on the other side. No back door, no windows worth shouting about.”

  “One squad on each side?” Murdock suggested.

  “Yeah, but only one unit to enter the place; otherwise we might be blowing each other away — or knocking us out.”

  Murdock made up his mind quickly. “Ed, take your squad to the far door. Lam, you show them the safe way. Take out any guards or soldiers you find on the way, but don’t touch any civilians. Go.”

  Murdock brought his squad up front. They were still forty yards away from the headquarters.

  Commander Murdock surveyed the target again. He used his lip mike.

  “When we’re ready, we move up to that house about thirty yards from the door. We wait for someone to go in or come out and open the door. Then we put five shots inside and let them rattle around. If no one comes out, we check the trucks for drivers; then we’ll storm the headquarters with our live-ammo weapons ready. Dewitt will be firing in the door on the other side but he won’t go in. Questions?” There were none.

  Murdock hit the lip mike. “Ed, how is it going? How long yet?”

  “Just got into position thirty yards from the door. Can we fire through the door, or wait for it to open? One window we can use on the second floor. Three rounds in each one?”

  “Roger that, Ed. We’re waiting for an open door here. I’d say the sound won’t go through the door. Has to be open. Yes, there it is for us. Everyone in First Squad fire except Jaybird, me, and Lam. Fire.”

  Two men had just come through the door. It swung open wide as the last one came out. The first shot hit both men, and they went down.

  One of them blocked the door so it stayed open.

  The other four rounds went inside.

  Murdock waited.

  No one came boiling out of the building.

  “Any action back there, Ed?” Murdock asked.

  “Nothing. We got three rounds inside when somebody came out just after you hit the front. Nothing is moving.”

  “We wait two more minutes,” Murdock said. “Then First Squad checks the trucks, then hits the door on this side. Inside, we can’t use the EARS. Any ricochet would get us too. Have your regular weapons ready, and the EAR on your back. Put them there now.”

  Murdock strapped the long stun gun on his back, and brought around the MP-5 blaster.

  He checked his watch again. “Twenty seconds, First Squad.

  Bradford, you’re closest to the trucks. Check them for drivers. Then get to the door and hold it open wide and stay back. I’ll be the first one inside, then formation order with Ching as rear guard. Now, let’s do it.”

  The First Squad came out of the dark shadows on the run. Bradford checked the trucks, then got to the door and jerked it open. Murdock rushed inside.

  Lights were on in the building. First he found a long anteroom, then the open door to an office with rooms off a long hallway to the left. Two officers sat in chairs behind a big desk. Both had slumped over the desk. The SEALs found six more soldiers inside, all unconscious. They quickly put on riot cuffs.

  “Ronson and Ellsworth, cuff those five outside and drag them around to the side, then get back in here. Anybody see stairs to the second floor?”

  “No second floor, Cap,” Jaybird said. “Damn high ceiling, though, and some windows up there.”

  Murdock looked at the two Japanese officers. Neither of them had stars or shoulder boards. One was a lieutenant, the other a captain.

  Where were the big brass?

  They found only one man not unconscious. He was in the bathroom.

  They cuffed him and left him there.

  “Clear in here, Ed, come on in,” Murdock radioed.

  They collected in the big room with a lookout on each of the doors.

  They still had to find the general.

  “Those outposts,” Jaybird said. “Maybe the general went on an inspection tour.”

  “Company,” the earpieces reported. Lam told them from the front door.

  “How many?” Dewitt asked.

  “Looks like six from a half-ton truck. All have rifles.”

  “Let them come in, then we surprise them. No shooting,” Murdock said. “Out of sight, everybody.”

  They moved into offices. Murdock hid behind the two officers’ big desk.

  A few moments later, the six men came in chattering in Japanese.

  They moved toward the center of the big room. Then one of them noticed the two officers slumped over the desk.

  One shouted.

  “Now,” Murdock said, and the SEALs rose up and ran into the room all with weapons pointing at the six.

  “Surrender and you’ll live,” Ching barked at them in Japanese.

  “Try to fire your weapons and you all die quickly,” he continued.

  One Japanese bent and put his rifle on the floor. The other five let their weapons fall and held up their hands.

  “Joto ichi ban,” Ching said. SEALs rushed up, took the weapons, and quickly tied all with plastic riot cuffs on both hands and feet.

  One of the men was a captain.

  “Ask the captain where General Nishikawa is,” Murdock told Ching.

  Ching did so, squatting in front of the captain, who now sat on the floor.

  An answer came at once. “The captain says the general could be at the grave site of his ancestors, or he might be inspecting the outposts.

  He drove away in a jeep about an hour ago.”

  Murdock frowned. “Ask him how many men work out of this building and where the rest of them are.”

  Ching asked the captain, but he shook his head, refusing to answer.

  Ching asked the other prisoners, but they shook their heads.

  Murdock walked up to the group, picked out the smallest, and cut his ankle cuffs off. He grabbed him by the cuffed wrists and started to lead him toward one of the doors.

  “Tell the captain if he doesn’t tell us what we want to know, we will kill one of his men each time he refuses. Jaybird. Take this one into that room. Leave the door open. If the captain here refuses to answer again, shoot one round into something solid so it won’t ricochet.

  But don’t kill the guy.”

  Jaybird grabbed the Japanese man and pushed him toward the door.

  “Tell him, Ching.”

  Ching told the captain what would happen if he refused to answer the questions. Ching asked him again how many men worked out of this building, and where the rest of them were.

  The captain looked at the open door, took a long breath, then shook his head. “Now,” Murdock said into his lip mike.

  The shot sounded like a cannon inside the concrete-block building.

  The captain collapsed on the floor.

  Ching moved beside him, lifted his head, and asked the question again. This time the answer came quickly.

  Twenty men worked out of this building. The rest were at the outposts. The general had just started a new outpost at the bay where he expected the invasion to come. Twenty men were out there.

  The captain said he did not know where the general was. The next question was about how many men were in the invasion force. The captain said they had 180 men.

  “Now, Ching, find out where the jail is where the Russian military is kept locked up.” Again the answer came quickly.

  Murdock had the headquarters searched. They found Russian handheld radios like walkie-talkies.

  “Bring one with us, we might be able to use it later,” Murdock said. “Right now, let’s get
over to that jail and free the Russians.

  They can take over control of the headquarters here, and maybe lead us to some of the outposts.”

  Ed Dewitt and two of his men remained behind to keep control of the headquarters, and to capture any more returning men. Murdock moved out with the Japanese captain to show them the way to the jail.

  They found it five minutes later. It was a large warehouse that had been used to hold crab meat. Murdock saw three guards patrolling outside. Ching asked how many guards were inside, and the captain said none. Murdock gave the word, and the three guards were shot with the EARs and collapsed.

  Murdock and his men ran forward, found the locked doors, and opened them. Ching went to the door and talked with the ranking Russian officer, a major, and quickly the men in the jail were released.

  However, Ching told them they would soon be able to go back to the military headquarters building, but they could not use deadly weapons against the Japanese.

  “Why not?” the major asked Ching. “They killed four of my men.”

  Ching translated for Murdock. Murdock spoke strongly, and the Russian heard the translation.

  “We are here to free you, but restrict your activity until the last of the Japanese are gone. That’s our job. Your job is to hold the central headquarters and capture any Japanese who report there. Do so bloodlessly. Understood?”

  At last the Russian grinned. He looked at the unconscious Japanese guards and asked how they’d done it. Ching explained it to him, and the Russian major was amazed.

  “Now, that bay outpost,” Murdock said. “Time we move down there and see if we can bag General Nishikawa.”

  As he said it they heard rifle shots, then some automatic weapons.

  “Sounds like it’s coming from the military headquarters building,” Lam said.

  “Let’s move it,” Murdock said. “Ed Dewitt and his men must be in trouble.”

  22

  Thursday, 22 February

  Kunashir Island

  Kuril Chain, Russia

  The SEALs ran flat out from the temporary Russian prison toward the military headquarters four blocks away. Lam outran the rest of them.

  The Russian military troops came along lagging to the rear.

  Lam edged around the last building before he came to the headquarters, and spotted ten to twelve soldiers. They were behind the trucks and firing at the HQ front door and windows. Lam flipped down his NVG, and studied the dim greenish view.

  “Twelve of them, Skipper,” Lam said. “Behind those trucks.”

  “Use your EARS,” Murdock said to his lip mike. “No time to ration our shots. Grab a target and fire.”

  Lam got off two shots before the last of the Japanese Ground Self Defense Force men crumpled to the ground unconscious.

  “Dewitt, you guys okay in there?” Murdock asked on the Motorola.

  “Have one wounded, but outside of that we’re alive. A patrol of some kind came back, and sensed something was wrong. They jabbered in Japanese, then opened fire.”

  “We’ve got company for you, about forty Russians. You come out and we’ll let them go in.”

  Murdock found the Russian major panting up to the trucks where the SEALs were cuffing the Japanese troops.

  He frowned at Murdock. “You shoot them but don’t kill them. How do you do that?”

  Ching translated.

  “Major, it’s our little secret,” Murdock said. “We’re giving you back your headquarters. The only stipulation is that you don’t shoot any of the Japanese. These men are only unconscious. They’ll wake up in three to six hours and be thirsty as hell. Take care of them. You can put them in your old jail if you want to. We’re looking for the little general who started all this.”

  When Ching translated, the major offered to send along troops.

  Murdock accepted two men who knew the island, knew where the defense points were, and the outposts.

  “The bay,” Lam said. “When we gonna check it out? Bet that little Nishikawa guy is down there.”

  “The rifle fire up here will have alerted him that something is wrong,” Dewitt said. “You think he’s down there?”

  “Best way is to go down and see,” Murdock said. “Who got wounded?”

  “Washington. Took a round in the ankle. Looks broken. Doc is tending to it.”

  Murdock went over to where Doc Ellsworth had splinted Washington’s right ankle and leg.

  “He’s on the shelf for the rest of this one, Skip. Suggest he stay here with the Ruskies.”

  “Hey, no way, man,” Washington protested.

  Murdock punched him in the shoulder. “Your lucky day, Washington.

  You can find some pens and paper and work on that novel you tell me you’re writing.”

  Washington brightened. “Yeah, I could. Good idea.”

  Some of the freed Russians ran into the headquarters building with shouts. Others grabbed the rifles of the unconscious Japanese.

  Murdock turned to Lam. “Which way are those docks and the bay?”

  Lam pointed, and the SEALs fell into their diamond formation and moved down the street. They found one walking sentry, and zapped him with an acoustic gun before he could get off a warning.

  The bay was six blocks away, and Murdock and his men took it cautiously, working from cover to cover. They stopped when they had a good view of the small bay and the finger pier that extended out into deeper water.

  The bay was only two hundred yards wide and about that long. A protective strip of land extended nearly to the mouth, giving the anchorage good protection. A dozen small fishing boats dotted the bay.

  Murdock figured they were for crab fishing.

  One warehouse stood at the shore end of the pier. It was dark and evidently closed. Murdock used his NVGs and spotted a machine-gun emplacement complete with sandbags halfway down the one-hundred-foot pier.

  A military jeep was parked fifty yards from the far side of the bay, and Murdock could see a dozen men there gathered around the vehicle.

  “Dewitt and Adams,” Murdock said on the Motorola. ” Take out the gun emplacement on the pier. We’re using the EARS. The rest of us, check out the jeep to the right. Let’s see how many of them we can put down. We’ll freelance on targets. Do it now.”

  The whooshing of the acoustic guns came again and again. Men around the jeep went down. Murdock heard the jeep engine gun, and a moment later the small rig blasted away from the scene, making sharp turns and twists, then darting behind a nearby house and down a street out of sight.

  Four more men tried to run away from the scene, but they were zapped by the EAR guns and put down. Ed and Adams had worked the machine-gun emplacement and cut down the two men on the gun.

  “Cuff all the Japanese and throw their rifles into the bay,” Murdock said. “Then we have to find that damn little general. Holt, fire up the SATCOM on the TAC frequency and let’s talk to Home Base.”

  A minute later Holt handed Murdock the mike.

  “Home Base, this is SEAL.”

  The reply came back quickly. “Go ahead, SEAL.”

  “We’re on land, have control of the headquarters, and have released the Russian military. Have cautioned them not to shoot any Japanese, but that’s problematical. Searching for the general who was not at the HQ. We have Tomcat cover?”

  “That’s affirmative, SEAL.”

  “Can they watch for any headlight movement? It’s possible that the general learned of our move here and is cutting out for some fallback position.”

  “Will have the Tomcats watching your end of the island, SEAL. How are the new rifles working?”

  “Home Base, they work better than expected. Perfectly. So far no other weapons have been used.”

  “That’s a Roger, SEAL. Stay in touch.”

  Murdock tossed the handset to Holt. “Keep the TAC frequency open so we can receive. Now let’s get back to the headquarters. Where’s Douglas?”

  The platoon’s top mechanic and driver
jogged up to Murdock.

  “You bellowed, Skipper?”

  “Those trucks back at the HQ. Let’s go see if you can get that six-by running. It will make our moving around this rock a lot quicker.”

  It took them ten minutes to get back to the military headquarters building. The Russians were in total control. Murdock sent Ching in to talk to the Russian major. He came out grinning and pleased to be free.

  “Of course you can use the truck,” the major said through Ching’s translation. “We’re pleased that you came to our aid.”

  Murdock put Douglas in the cab, and had the SEALs jump in the back of the canvas-topped truck. It held all of them easily.

  Ching asked the Russian guide the major had sent with them where the closest outpost was. Ching listened.

  “Skipper, the man says the outpost is about nine clicks to the north on the Pacific Coast side.”

  “Ching, you and the Ruskie get in the cab and let’s get up there.

  The general may be watching for us, but we’ll have to take that chance.

  Do we still have that Russian walkie-talkie?” Ching said he had it.

  “Turn it on and see if you can get in contact with the general.

  Call him in Japanese.”

  The truck ground away from the HQ, and the men settled down to a few moments’ relaxation.

  “So far this has been a Sunday stroll through Central Park,” Jaybird said.

  “I like it this way,” Horse Ronson said. “Let’s hope this is as hard as it gets.”

  They were out of the tiny village then, on a dirt road leading close to the coast.

  The SATCOM came to life.

  “SEAL, this is Home Base.”

  “Go, Home Base,” Holt said.

  “Our night flyer reports one vehicle is on the road moving north out of the village.”

  “Roger that, Home Base. That’s us SEALs in a six-by truck heading to an outpost. Any other traffic heading north?”

  “Not exactly a freeway down there, SEAL. Night Fly reports you are the only one moving.”