The Bosnian Experience

by J E Higgins

  “In the event we get ambushed, rivers are also incredibly restricting. It will make it easy for the enemy to hit us. The enemy can easily plan ambushes that we won’t be able to avoid. That said, the lead boat will move no less than seventy meters ahead. If we take fire we will pull forward and establish ourselves on the opposite side of the river. The following boat will stop short of where the ambush point is, pull up on the same side of the river, disembark, and assault through it. We’ll provide cover fire from the other side of the river.

  “Once we’ve cleared the ambush, we have to continue moving up on foot along the banks a good distance to make sure we aren’t going to encounter anyone else.”

  Oleg lifted his head and repeated her instructions in Croatian. His orders were once more responded to with grunts and nods. The group disbanded with most of the men returning to the larger boat. One of the older men stayed back and moved up to meet Oleg.

  “This is Smolesk,” Oleg said, as he brought the man forward. “He has fished and sailed the river since he was a boy. He will be with us to help navigate the waters.”

  Sauwa looked the man up and down. Smolesk had a round, pudgy face that matched his equally round, pudgy gut that was quite visible under a baggy wool sweater and equally baggy field coat. His mustache was so thick and unkempt that it hid his lips entirely. “Pleased to meet you, Smolesk,” Sauwa bowed slightly to the older man.

  Smolesk didn’t wait for Oleg’s interpretation; he replied cheerfully in Croatian. That his lips appeared not to move under his mustache made him look like a cartoon character when he spoke. He was a happy, affable sort that Sauwa liked instantly. The trio started back toward the smaller boat. As she turned to leave, Sauwa caught sight of Micha. The young man was looking at her from the bow of the larger boat. He was about to step in her direction when he was stopped by one of the other Croatians who took him by the arm and pulled him back on board. He continued to stare at her as if watching the love of his life walk away.

  Stepping into the smaller craft, Smolesk moved back next to the motor so he could steer. Sauwa and Oleg quickly took one more inventory of equipment. In addition to the radio and flashlights, they also carried three Kalashnikov rifles loaded with thirty-round banana magazines. They stowed an additional twelve magazines, four for each rifle, and two boxes of grenades. Marko and Sauwa had discussed using a grenade launcher instead of the East European grenades that were of generally poor quality and unreliable.

  Despite Marko’s insistence, Sauwa turned down the grenade launcher. She would have liked it, except it was too big and awkward for such a small craft and would be far too difficult to adequately conceal. The grenades would have to do. The rest of the inventory consisted of some food to get the trio through the night, a pair of wooden rowing oars in the event the boat motor wasn’t usable, and a map in a plastic bag with all the towns and cities they might come in contact with marked.

  Sauwa knew that the river boasted numerous inhabited places along its shores. Aside from Mostar, which was one of the biggest cities in the country, she had little knowledge of the others. Smolesk waved his short, pudgy finger over the map and began speaking something in Croatian as he pointed to the various ink stains denoting the locations. She looked up at the kindly older man and gave him a shrug reminding him she had limited understanding of his language.

  “He was explaining that most of the villages are small with very few people or buildings,” Oleg interpreted. “So, aside from Mostar, most of the places should be easy to pass without much difficulty,” Sauwa said as she looked at both men waiting for an answer. Oleg quickly interpreted for Smolesk who promptly turned and nodded back to her in reply.

  “All right then, let’s get moving,” Sauwa ordered as she went to untie the boat from the large rock mooring it to the pier. Smolesk took the cue to start up the motor. He pulled on the cord a couple of times before the motor came to life and water began to gurgle and spray mists. Pulling the rope away from the rock, the boat was now free and began to slowly pull away from the shore.

  Looking back, Sauwa and Oleg watched as the men in the larger boat followed suit. The ropes securing the boat were rolled in and they followed the smaller boat into the river. Both boats were flat-bottomed making it easier to pass over the shallower parts of the river. As an added precaution, the boats were lined along the sides with of old tires cut in half to allow a buffer when navigating around the sharp, jagged rocks. As the current became a little stronger, it slapped against the side splashing large drops back onto the occupants, continuously annoying them. The journey was finally underway.

  18

  Darkness descended leaving the world around them in pitch blackness. The guerrillas had enjoyed a full half hour of mild light from the retreating sun before they were navigating with nothing more than the weak illumination of their tiny flashlights. Sauwa sat at the front of the boat holding the light as she carefully scanned ahead for any protruding rocks or debris while ensuring they stayed on the river rather than too close to the aligning bank. Behind her, Oleg stood with one of the oars ready to use if he needed to push the boat around any obstacles. Aside from a few near accidents earlier, the ride had gone relatively smoothly.

  Every so often, Sauwa diverted the flashlight to look quickly at her watch. True to their plan every half hour they cut their motor and signaled back with a radio squelch to notify the second boat do the same ─ the time was 19:00 hours. Sauwa nodded to Oleg, who turned and ran his hand across his throat giving Smolesk the order to cut the motor. The boat instantly went silent. Squelching twice on the walkie-talkie, Oleg looked back hoping the other boat was following suit. In the blackness, the only evidence the other boat was still there was the slight glow of the other flashlight. Between the noise of the river and the low sound of the motors, it was impossible to tell.

  Sauwa had redirected her attention and light to observing in front of them. The lack of visibility also meant that her other senses became more acute to compensate. The water was calm now leaving an eerie silence. She could make out distinct sounds, such as twigs and branches cracking from someone or something moving along the land nearby or whispered tones of people talking. The quiet river made it easier to hear potential threats. It also made their own movements more noticeable as the thrums of their motors could be heard. The darkness continued to offer protection because they could not be seen aside from a mild illumination.

  At the allotted time, Sauwa nodded back to the two men. The motor came alive, and Oleg sent another squelch to the second boat. Both boats began to move steadily again. The narrow beams of the small flashlights continued to provide their only means of forward sight. A few times Sauwa spotted a tree in the river or a collection of rocks protruding from the water. Oleg easily negotiated around the obstacle by using the paddle while Smolesk radioed back to alert the others.

  Sauwa was continually tense as she kept a lookout for an attack. She hated that they were entirely vulnerable on the water. She had initially assumed that rapids would move them too fast for an enemy to lock them down. But the virtually lifeless water presented something totally different. They would be too slow to move quickly past any enemies they encountered. Even if they cranked the motors up to full speed, they would be sitting ducks and virtually defenseless to any enemy that caught them out in the open. In the dark, moving too fast with the lack of illumination could easily cause them to crash into something. The only real hope she could imagine would be that the thickets and rocky terrain would make it nearly impossible for an enemy on land to intercept them.

  Midnight came and the silence of the night was suddenly shattered by the sound of multiple explosions going off in rapid succession shaking the earth and rising in spectacular displays of colorful lights in the distance. The explosions were followed by a loud barrage of machine guns going off wildly in what sounded like multiple directions. What worried Sauwa and the guerrillas was the gunfire was going off just a short distance from the river. A few times the sparks
from the heavier guns could be seen lighting up the nearby pockets of trees.

  “Should we dowse the lights?” Oleg’s voice broke her concentration, and Sauwa felt him hovering near her. His breath was hard and rich with the flavor of nervous energy. She knew he was hoping she would flip off her flashlight and instruct him to order the same for the boat behind them.

  “In this darkness, we’d crash,” she replied to Oleg’s obvious dismay. “Which means we keep going and hope we bypass this battle, or we move to the thickets and wait to move at dawn.”

  Neither option offered much relief to Oleg. In either scenario, they risked being embroiled in the midst of what was turning into a hellacious firefight. Sauwa continued holding the flashlight and searching the river ahead. She could feel Oleg slowly crawl away from her as he returned to his original spot. Behind her, she could hear the voice of Smolesk saying something in hushed tones to Oleg and grunt slightly after Oleg’s reply. Apparently, he wasn’t happy about the decisions either.

  For the next thirty minutes, the fighting fluctuated between intense exchanges for short periods to intermittent exchanges of shots between sides. The bombardments could only be from Serbian artillery and remained concentrated somewhere off in another direction far from the river. Lighter gunfire remained close making it clear the warring factions were moving. The situation soon became more complicated with the sound of men shouting and running through the trees while laying down fire as they moved. The voices were loud enough that at times pieces of their conversation could be heard clearly. Sauwa couldn’t understand what was being spoken but knew instantly that the language being used was not Croatian or Bosniak ─ it was Serbian.

  She felt her heart race as she quickly turned off the flashlight. She didn’t need to tell Oleg. He had no sooner watched her than he was already on the walkie-talkie instructing the following boat to do the same. Both Sauwa and he looked back just in time to see the scant beam of light vanish.

  “Kill the motor,” Sauwa commanded softly. “With Serbs this close, we can’t chance that they won’t hear us.”

  Oleg relayed the order to Smolesk who promptly cut the motor. Oleg picked up the walkie-talkie to explain to the rest of the band. In seconds both boats were dead quiet and drifting slowly while the battle raged only a short distance from them. No one spoke as they waited nervously anticipating what might happen next. They heard the voices of Serbian soldiers as they moved closer to the shoreline. All it would take was one artillery round landing too close and lighting up the area long enough for the Serbs to spot the boats on the river or even someone shining a flashlight in their direction.

  Sauwa stood at her post her head turned toward the shore and the direction of the battle. She could feel the boat slightly vibrating and realized it was Smolesk shaking with fear. She wanted to try and stop him but decided it would be a wasted effort. Instead, she fixed her mind on strategizing for her next step should they be discovered. They had no information on where they were and no idea how extensive the battle was. There was no way to estimate how long they would be in danger.

  The current was light and in the absence of the motor, the boats were little more than inching along. In the absence of any light, Smolesk was navigating blindly, and Sauwa feared what would happen if they should get thrust up onto the bank. They would suddenly become sitting ducks. Another major concern was the second boat. Though none of the men was the hot-headed attention seeking type, she figured they had to have already dug out their weapons in preparation for a fight. As inexperienced as they were, it wouldn’t take much for one of them to start firing. She didn’t like the situation but without knowing what they were up against she was hesitant to make any move beyond what they were already doing.

  The situation was quickly made worse when it appeared the Serbians made contact with someone who wasn’t their friend. Suddenly, the land was awash with gunfire as the Serbs engaged with whoever they were fighting. The darkness along the bank was quickly disrupted as guns began firing erratically lighting up the bank with flashes of white and red tracers. Screams and shouts erupted from all over as the two forces closed in on each other. Soon Sauwa was listening to another language being shouted by numerous voices she recognized instantly as Bosniak. It was clear to her that the battle on land was being waged between Serbs and Bosnians.

  With the current truce between the Croatians and the Bosnians that could be a good thing. However, given the situation the guerrillas had with continued hostilities toward the Bosnians, either side was likely to kill them at first glance.

  The shooting intensified as it became obvious the armies on the bank were much larger than initially thought. To make matters worse, bullets were soon flying over their heads in massive waves and tearing into the surrounding water. It was only a matter of time before they were going to get shot.

  She looked behind her to see both men hunkered down in the boat trying to take whatever cover they possibly could get. “Call back to the other boat!” She screamed at Oleg’s silhouette. “Tell them to turn on the motors full blast and have them use the big flashlights. We’re going to make a run for it!”

  Oleg screamed back to Smolesk in Croatian, and the older man quickly scrambled to start the motor. As he did, Oleg was already on the walkie-talkie issuing orders to the other boat. Sauwa grabbed for the larger flashlight. She waited until she heard the motor roar to life. Once she did, she flicked on the light and aimed it toward the front looking down and ahead. Almost immediately the boat was speeding through the water.

  “They’re following us!” Oleg shouted.

  She looked back to see the powerful beam of light as the other boat followed suit. Onshore they heard shouts and screams. Bullets continued to fly over their heads and into the water near them, but it was impossible to tell if they were intentional or just misdirected rounds from the existing firefight.

  “They’ve spotted us!” shouted Oleg. “I can hear someone commanding their troops to fire on us!”

  “Tell our people to fire back and keep going!” Sauwa cried. She wanted to offer cover fire for the larger boat, but it would have been futile. In this instance, it was better not to offer another obstacle for the larger boat to have to navigate past quickly. Behind them, she could see the second boat unleash a barrage of gunfire toward the left bank. Grabbing a grenade from one of the boxes, Sauwa fingered it in the dark as she felt around to get her bearings while she used her forearm to steady the flashlight. Pressing the spoon tightly as she gripped the checkered metallic object, she pulled the pin. Taking a deep breath, she raised her arm and hurled the grenade as hard as she could. Jumping back down she focused the flashlight back on point as she steadied herself. A second later a thunderous blast erupted behind them as the grenade exploded on shore. She didn’t look back to see where it hit.

  “Good work!” Oleg shouted. “You were on target. I think it killed some of them!”

  Sauwa didn’t respond, she was now entirely focused on the river ahead. Speed was their only hope for survival. Smolesk navigated the water with the precise expertise of a true seaman. It was amazing to see such skill from the man with so little light available and under heavy gunfire. Bullets continued to fly over and near the boats, but they kept going nevertheless. At an elevated speed, the boat was pounding heavily into the water with waves splashing into Sauwa’s face. It was running down her shirt and freezing her body. Still, she held her position.

  The boats continued knifing through the water until the storm of bullets began to dissipate and the rattling of gunfire faded away. The only remaining sounds were the boat motors roaring over the water. Making a judgment call, Sauwa instructed Oleg to slow the boats down. Oleg hesitated at first, then relayed the order to Smolesk. The boatman eased the motor to a slow cruising speed. At the same time, Oleg was on the walkie-talkie issuing a similar command to the following vessel. Sauwa heard shouting from the communicator that she could only assume was an angry protest. Oleg relayed his command again, this time in
an equally angered growl. Seconds later, the boat, that had been speeding up to them began to slow and gradually fall back to its original distance behind them.

  With the noise dulled significantly, Sauwa listened carefully. Artillery blasts and gunfire were still going off in the distance. However, none of it seemed to be happening in their immediate vicinity. “I think we escaped them,” Oleg said with relief.

  Sauwa didn’t reply to the Croatian. Instead, she held silent as she continued to listen. Her chief concern was that while they had escaped the middle of one battle, they could still be deep in hostile territory with forces from one of the armies still lurking about. She listened intently for the slightest hint that they were not alone, but ready to give Smolesk the signal to accelerate the motor at any time. Time passed and nothing occurred. The two men sat nervous and impatient, not knowing what to do as they watched the movements of their leader.

  Satisfied that they were alone, Sauwa turned back to Oleg. “I think we’re out danger, I don’t hear anything unusual.”

  Oleg breathed another sigh of relief as he turned to explain things to Smolesk who responded in equal fashion. “What now?” Oleg asked as he wiped his brow with the sleeve of his coat.

  “We keep moving until daybreak,” Sauwa said. Her attention was still focused on the river ahead. “We can’t see anything now, and I don’t want to take a chance that we’re still too close to that action back there. We’ll keep moving until light. Then we need to find someplace to tie up while we assess casualties and any damage. From there, we’ll decide what to do. In the meantime, we keep going.”