“What kind of a schedule are we talking about?” Murdock asked.
“Sooner the better for the hostages,” Domingo said. He had on a different shirt now, one with gold stars on the shoulders. Murdock had grinned at him when he saw the Rangers two hours ago. “General, you’re back in command. You have more men than I do.”
“We’ll work it together. But with my men here, I better wear the stars.”
“I’m wondering how long it would take to hike up on each side of the place and hit it from both sides,” Murdock said. “The road is out as access. He must have it well defended.”
Juan spoke up. “General Domingo, I like the idea of hitting them from the sides. It will take a little more time, but if we took off from here by truck and came within a mile of the road up the mountain, then jumped off and one half of us went straight up the mountain, and the other half hiked a mile the other side of the Eagle’s Nest road…”
Heads nodded all the way around.
“Seems to be a consensus,” General Domingo said.
“We’ll take the far side,” Murdock said.
“No,” Domingo said. “You’ve been in the field for three days. I’ll take the fresh troops the extra two miles. What’s your ETA on the attack site, Murdock?”
“Up that hill six miles?” Murdock scowled. “Jaybird?”
“Two hours, sir.”
“Should work,” Lieutenant Quezon said.
Domingo rubbed his face. “We won’t be able to use the twenties until we’re sure where the hostages are. However, we can use the EAR. Commander, I’d like to have you attach one of your men with an EAR to Lieutenant Quezon’s unit.”
“Done. We’ll need communications with all parties. We’ll send six Motorolas to the Rangers to use for coordination.”
“Range of the radios?” Quezon asked.
“Five to six miles, depending on the line of sight,” Jaybird answered.
“What advance planning do we need to take care of?” General Domingo asked.
“Not much else we can do, General, until we see the layout,” DeWitt said. The others nodded.
“Agreed. Juan, can you find transport for us? A big stake truck or five or six vans. Tell the owners it’s a temporary confiscation. I’ll have a portable radio that I can use to contact the three aircraft. I don’t want to use the choppers to take us down the road so we won’t alert anyone.”
“Roadblocks,” Jaybird said.
“Two of them between here and ten miles,” Domingo said, looking at Jaybird. “Did you talk to Franklin?”
“Yes, sir. He said one about a mile out of town, and the other one was more than seven or eight miles away from here.”
“So we could have two of them, if they have been reestablished. We put the twenties in the lead cars, side by side down the roadway. If the blocks are there, the twenties can do the job and we crash on through just at dusk. Get to our objective and hike up the hill. The transport will return to Lebak.”
“Anything more about the target?” Murdock asked.
“Reports say the jungle comes within a dozen feet of the buildings in many places,” Domingo said. “There is an open area we can land a chopper in. There are four buildings there: garage for three cars; big house; one large building that might be for machinery or recreation, we’re not sure; and the barracks.”
“Suggestion,” Murdock said. “We put one EAR and two twenties with the Rangers. Then we both get into position, say a hundred yards from the site, and do any last-minute planning by radio. We’ll hit them tonight. We can take out the guards outside with the EAR. Then work a couple of EAR shots into the main house and one into the garage and the building we’re not sure of. If we put to sleep some hostages, it won’t hurt them. When the EAR shots are done, we move in and try not to shoot each other.”
“The leader up there must know that something is happening,” Juan said. “Roadblocks blown apart, choppers flying over. A runner or a man on a bicycle could have gone to the mountain by now and told him who we are and how many men we have. What I’m saying is that the rebels could be on a fifty-percent alert.”
“The safety and welfare of the hostages has to be our first concern,” Sadler said. They all nodded.
There was a pause. General Domingo looked around. “All right. We’re done here. It will be dark in two hours. Get your men ready and we’ll move out at that time. A half hour to our point of departure and then we hike. Two hours for the hike and positioning. We’ll keep track of each other by radio as we move.” He paused. “Any chance that the rebels could monitor the Motorolas?”
Jaybird shook his head. “No, sir. Not unless they have a greatly sophisticated scanner that checks all frequencies. Doubtful.”
They broke up and went to an early chow at the same restaurant they went to before. Domingo said the Philippine Army was picking up the tab. The food was good, different this time, roast pork with lots of vegetables and ice cream for dessert.
An hour later they left the village in two large trucks, and drove past the first roadblock, which had been burned out and not replaced. The second one came up soon, and they could see a new truck across the road. It was just dusk and the roadblock truck turned on its lights shining down the road. “Twenties,” Murdock said. “Two only, Lam and I.” They fired.
The truck erupted in flames and rolled off the road.
“Clear ahead,” Murdock said, and the trucks raced ahead and rolled past the former roadblock, which showed two bodies near the truck.
Five minutes later they stopped where Domingo decided was about a mile from the road that led up to the Eagle’s Nest. They had been driving with lights out, and now the trucks stopped side by side on the roadway. Murdock’s radio came on and they all listened.
“Murdock, not sure what to make of this, but there is a lot of firing up front there about where that next roadblock should be.”
“Hear it. My guess is that they’re green troops shooting at shadows and ghosts of their ancestors. They are now in a combat situation, maybe for the first time, and getting nervous.”
“Should we send up a patrol and check it out?” Domingo asked.
“No,” Murdock said. “Let them have their fun. Then they won’t spot your troops going across the road as you move on north of them.”
“Yes. Let’s dismount, troops, and get ready to move out.”
22
Murdock lined up his men in the usual marching order, with Lam out in front by twenty yards. Even that close, it was hard to see him sometimes in the gloom of the rain forest. Murdock was behind him, then Alpha Squad with Juan attached, and then Bravo Squad. Lieutenant (j.g.) DeWitt acted as rear guard. They went single file at five-yard intervals. The Philippine sergeant went with the general. Murdock had assigned Bill Bradford to go with the general’s platoon with the Bull Pup and twelve rounds of 20mm. Miguel Fernandez took one of the EAR weapons and joined the Filipino platoon.
The narrow plain here next to the Moro Gulf was about two miles wide; then the mountains rose up in a series of gentle ridges, each one higher than the last. Murdock didn’t know how high they were, but the highest peak in Mindanao and in the Philippines was Mount Apo at over 9,600 feet. These hills were far lower than that, but dirty to climb.
The rain-forest jungle was unrelenting as they worked their way up one ridge after another one. Now and then they could spot the splash of lights above them that they knew must be the target, the Eagle’s Nest.
Murdock called a halt after an hour. He went on the net. “General, we’re taking a break, figure about halfway up. How is it going?”