Murdock moved up beside him. "Goddamn."
"About the size of it. Must be two hundred feet straight down, like somebody sliced the mountain in half with a cleaver. Left or right, L-T?"
They heard the sound of trucks to the right.
"Company to the right," Red said.
"Yeah, lets take this slope down to the left and get around that drop-off as soon as we can. These fucking Chinese know the territory. They know we're stalled up here, so watch them try to plug both sides and the rear."
They hiked down the slope to the left. Murdock called up Doc, who reported that the two walking wounded were not holding them up.
"Frazier is a tough little cookie, sir. His side wound is hurting him, but it ain't serious. Fernandez has that arm wound, but he's still fit for duty. No other casualties so far."
"Keep it that way, Doc."
They hiked along the rim of the drop-off for ten minutes working down the left flank.
Red heard them first.
Murdock was close behind him. "More choppers," he said. "Moving up to block us on this left flank. Damn, told you these fuckers knew the terrain. That gives them a huge killing advantage."
36
The SEALS kept hiking down the hill beside the sharp cliff. There was still no way down it. They had to go to the left the way they were committed. They heard the helicopters twice more. The birds were flying well to the left of their position. Probably the Chinese aircraft had landed two miles away in what they hoped was a safe spot to discharge their troops.
"They can move straight up this way and cut off our movement to the left," Murdock told Holt. "Then the truck troops from the right begin moving in, and I'm sure they have some men in the rear who can sweep forward to close the fucking trap."
"So what happens next, L-T?" Holt asked.
"We'll get as far down this slope as we can. They probably have two miles or more to hike. Looks like the terrain is flattening out ahead. We should find a spot to get down this cliff along here somewhere." Five minutes later they heard the water.
"What the hell is that?" Holt asked.
Murdock grinned. "Sounds like running water to me. Not an ocean but the next best thing. It could be a good-sized river."
Jaybird moved up. "A river?" he asked. "Sounds like it. If it's big enough it could be a help."
They heard the jets screaming overhead again. The Chinese must be using them to fire up their troops on the ground. Strange psychology, but this was China.
Another quarter mile and the cliff faded away, the ground leveled out, and they found themselves beside a river.
"Must be a hundred yards across," Red said.
Murdock grinned again. "Yeah, and our Chinese friends are going to close the trap and find absolutely nothing at all inside it that they're looking for… namely us."
Red motioned them to be quiet. He pointed up the side of the river. They could see along it for a quarter mile upstream. In the faint moonlight they spotted six shadows moving slowly forward. They were on the bank of the river where the walking was easy.
Murdock motioned to Horse Ronson to set up his machine gun. He flipped out the bipod and bellied down behind it. Quietly as possible he chambered the first round of a belt of the NATO rounds and looked at Murdock.
The platoon leader held up his hand as he watched the soldiers come closer. When the six were two hundred yards away, Murdock slashed down his hand and the HK 21A1 belched out a nine-round burst of the 7.62mm NATO rounds. After a pause, another five-round burst slanted at the confused Chinese.
Two had gone down from the first rounds. Another stumbled and fell on the second burst. Magic Brown got off two rounds from his M-89 sniper rifle, and another Chinese died in the sand. The last two charged into the brush along the riverbank and out of sight.
"Time for us to take a swim," Murdock said. "Get rid of all the weight that won't help you fight. Keep your weapons. Anybody down to two or three rounds for the AKS leave them here and give the rounds to somebody else."
A single chopper came from the south. It snapped on a searchlight and played the powerful beam on the ground. The SEALS scattered into the sparse growth to find enough cover to hide from the light if it came their way. The light paused for a moment when it showed the dead Chinese patrol members. Then it worked a search pattern to the front with the light probing every tree and bush.
Murdock leaned flat against a pine tree to become part of the trunk. The light swept over him and continued. The chopper worked the area a hundred and two hundred yards away from the bodies, then wheeled and vanished back the way it had come.
"Now it's swim time," Murdock said. "Waterproof the Motorolas and the SATCOM and let's get in the water. It's downstream and away from the bad guys."
"Buddy system without the lines," Murdock added. He pushed into the river with Holt. "Try to stay in contact," he called, then the tug of the current pulled him downstream.
Murdock had not forgotten his two wounded. A shot-up arm and one wound in the side. They were SEALS. They would do better in the water than on land. He tried not to think about it. Jaybird and Doc came moving up to him. They treaded water and floated. Their weapons kept sinking them. Murdock had ditched his AK-47 and given his four magazines to Magic.
They drifted down the river. This close to the coast there was only a sluggish current, maybe two knots, Murdock guessed. He figured they had been in the water ten minutes. He let Jaybird and Doc go ahead, and he grabbed Holt and they swam against the current for two minutes. Three pairs of SEALS came up to them. They had three more men somewhere. Murdock stalled another minute and saw the trio coming.
All three were holding hands or holding onto vests. Dewitt had Frazier and Fernandez in tow. They came close.
"Frazier's a little weak, but he says he'll make it. Told me he isn't about to go KIA in fucking China."
Murdock relaxed and he and Holt moved along with the three. Ahead he could see lights.
"Far shore," he said to Dewitt, and he saw the 2IC slant toward the shore. The river here was about a hundred yards wide. The lights were all on one side. As they drifted slowly past the lights, Murdock got the idea that some sort of festival was in progress. There was dancing under outdoor lights, and stalls and booths and fancy costumes.
They didn't catch up with any of the others, but neither was there any disturbance, so they must have gone away from the lights as well.
Murdock and Holt kept up with the trio. They felt an added tug of the current as the river narrowed and dug deeper into the soil of China. He welcomed the increased speed.
Dewitt turned and waved, and Murdock swam over near him.
"We dumped Frazier's 4A1. He's having a hard time. Can I trade you Frazier for Holt for a while?"
Murdock swam up and caught hold of Frazier's arm.
"Which is the bad side?" he asked.
Frazier turned toward him, his eyes glassy, then shook his head. "Sir, right side, sir."
"Easy, Frazier, easy. You're out of Hell Week. All we're doing is getting down this river to the salty Taiwan Strait. You're going to make it fine. Right, Frazier?"
Murdock looked at the man. He was nodding. Murdock shook his arm, and Frazier came back to the present.
"Take it easy, Frazier. We don't leave men behind, remember? You're with us all the way."
Murdock saw what Dewitt meant. It took more effort all the time to hold Frazier up. Murdock called quietly for Holt, who came back and held Frazier from the other side.
"No sweat, sir. We'll get him there."
Ten minutes later Murdock saw big trouble ahead. He figured they had come two, maybe three miles when he heard the rumble of motors. He knew what they were at once. Shallow-draft river patrol boats.