‘Yes, I agree,’ said Higgins calmly, trying to lower the lieutenant’s voice, ‘I just think we’re leaving a lot to chance on this, sir.’
‘Fine,’ said Taylor, taking Higgins’ hint and lowering his voice, but clearly indicating that the decision had already been made, ‘so who do we send? My pick is Carver, Hunt, Bull and yourself. Good mix of experience, and I think the sooner we blood Hunt and Carver the better.’
Higgins looked at Taylor. He respected him but he also found his cavalier attitude a little hard to swallow sometimes. ‘Well, sir. I was thinking McCaw, Bull, Marks and myself. Hunt and Carver are too green for an op like this.’
‘No, I want those two blooded early. The sooner they see action, the sooner they become useful to the squad, and to this war,’ replied Taylor without hesitation.
Higgins could see his point, but he didn’t like it. He’d seen enough young men slaughtered in the first battle. ‘All right, sir. I’ll round up the men. We better brief them and start going over the plans.’
Higgins assembled the men and stood before them, beside the electronic mapscreen on the wall. ‘Tomorrow, at noon, we will be engaging the Chinese. We will be part of a coordinated series of attacks on the Chinese transportation lines and logistics centres. The first attack will start in the south. A further three attacks will occur, each moving north before ours at 1200 hours.
‘The plan is this: a four-man team on motocross bikes will travel at high speed to this point and lay an explosive charge, a rail-splitter, on the railway line. This bomb is designed specifically for inflicting maximum damage on railway infrastructure. I will be leading the team accompanied by Hunt, Bull and Carver. The rest of you will remain here and assist the lieutenant in communications and base defence.
‘We will be relying on our comms team back here to give us advanced warning of any enemy activity. We don’t know how they will react after this series of attacks, but I think we can safely assume that they will be upset.’
Finn was still reeling from hearing his name called out. His mind was so scrambled he hadn’t heard a word Higgins had said. Finn forced himself to listen and concentrate on what Higgins was saying.
Higgins continued. ‘I’m going to be briefing my team outside. The commander is going to take the rest of you through the comms protocols. That is all.’
General Stephens was sitting at his desk in the SOF finishing his dinner. With a single knock on the door, Fletcher came bursting in without waiting to be asked. ‘Marty, you’re going to love this — the first squads are all stationed at the assigned ops bases. The first deployments have all gone to plan. Tomorrow morning the first attack wave begins. There will be a series of successive operations, which will start in the south and move north. We’ll be hitting them where it hurts — their transportation and logistics centres.’
‘Fantastic!’ said General Stephens, dropping his fork to his plate and wiping his mouth with a napkin.
‘It’s finally happening, Marty. Can you believe how big a shit Xian is going to have when he hears? That skinny little fucker is going to get his ear chewed off by someone back in Beijing.’
General Stephens suddenly looked contemplative. ‘It’s not Xian that concerns me, it’s the possibility of Chinese reprisal attacks. Beijing may well go back on their word and put civilians at risk.’
‘God knows,’ replied Fletcher, ‘I mean, they’ve been true to their word so far, but I guess we’ve never tested their word like this, have we?’
‘No, we haven’t. I guess we’ll have to cross that bridge when we come to it,’ said Stephens. What he meant, really, was there was nothing they could do about it now. If the Chinese decided to lash out at a civilian population because of their attacks, then that was a price that had to be paid. Though the general would do everything in his power to avoid civilian casualties, there would be one positive to a Chinese strike on civilians. It might jolt the public into realising that they were all being held hostage in the greatest act of geo-terrorism the world had ever seen. Alternatively, the public might turn on Stephens and demand a return to diplomacy. These were such extreme times that there really was no way of predicting how the media, and therefore the masses, would react. There was no way of telling how the Chinese would react, either.
‘Well, by this time tomorrow, we should know how the Chinese are going to take it — one way or another,’ said Fletcher.
Chapter 10
As the men milled about after the briefing, Finn noticed that the mine had taken on a darker, more sinister look with the weaponry unpacked. His chest had tightened the moment he’d heard his name called and he realised his breathing was shallow, a sheen of nervous sweat accumulating on his brow. Was he ready? How would he react under pressure? How would he react to being shot at?
Higgins walked past. ‘Hunt, Carver. Outside please,’ he said, without stopping to make sure they heard.
In the scorching afternoon heat outside, Higgins faced them both. ‘Well, you two have landed yourselves right in it, haven’t you?’ he said with a faint smile.
‘We’re ready, Sergeant,’ said Carver, not at all convincingly.
‘Shut it, Carver. You’re barely ready to wipe your own arse,’ Higgins retorted.
His gaze now alternated between the two of them. ‘Now, you two have done well in training. In fact, I think it’s fair to say you’ve excelled. However, that does not make you real soldiers in my book. Out there is a very different story. I have faith that you will both do well out there tomorrow, but slow down. Remember your training, listen to my orders and keep your eyes open — always looking, always thinking.’
Finn and Carver nodded, staring at Higgins’ face as though hypnotised.
‘You stay alert and you stay alive,’ said Higgins, so fiercely that it frightened Finn.
‘So what’s the objective, Sarge?’ asked Carver.
‘Right, Hunt. Get the other monkey over here, will you,’ said Higgins, gesturing at Bull.
The team gathered. They went over the plans time and time again until late into the night. The operation was choreographed down to the smallest detail and they went through the specific actions as a team. Everyone had to know their role in the operation and the role of the other men, in case something went wrong. The plan itself was very simple: tear in on the bikes, secure the area where they would be laying the explosives, place the device, retreat, detonate and then get back to the ops base as quickly as possible. The rail-splitter explosive they’d be using worked by creating an extremely low-frequency shockwave that travelled through the railway line. The shockwave would go for over a kilometre, literally tearing the rail from the sleepers, lifting the rail into the air. Once the explosion happened, the Chinese would be left with over a kilometre of busted, twisted and buckled metal instead of a railway. The Chinese could build railways so quickly and efficiently that the Aussies had to try to damage as much rail line as was devastatingly possible to have any effect on their operations.
By midnight the men were all exhausted and thoroughly versed in the operation. ‘That’s enough for tonight, boys. Let’s get some shut-eye,’ said Higgins, wearily rubbing his eyes.
The men grunted as they shuffled off to their sleeping area.
‘I suggest you take a Nightcap to help you sleep better. You’ll need to look lively tomorrow,’ called Higgins after them. The Nightcap was a pill used by athletes that moderated the body’s heart rate, temperature and deep brainwaves to ensure the optimum night’s sleep, with no drowsiness the next day. In the field it was every soldier’s best friend. Finn took the pill and slept soundly all night.