Every man on the job felt the urgency. Missiles had come twice. The word was the enemy was coming southeast. All of them were determined to get this ship out a quickly as possible before they might be shut down again.
Ricks and his team were watching thousands of people begin to gather across the DMZ from their station. They had called in the information and were told to sit tight and observe until they started coming across, then high tail it. The line of vehicles they had stopped just a few nights before were now an aid to the enemy because they would provide cover for some coming across. Already several strafing and napalm attacks had been made against the people on the other side, but it hadn’t slowed them down. Ricks and the demolition team spent all night setting charges and getting ready for the inevitable.
Hufham dashed across the old road and stopped beside Ricks. “The guys down the way have started seeing them pile up three hundred yards away. This is going to be a big one,” he said looking over the top of some logs they set up for cover.
“You know, I hate giving up this ground again. It’s getting too expensive,” Ricks said.
“See anything new?” Hufham asked.
“Just more people. That napalm attack roasted a bunch of them, but more just filled in after the fires stopped. I don’t hear any tanks or anything, but they sure don’t try and hide themselves. I told the guys not to fire and give away our positions.”
“Good move. No use getting a bunch of guys killed. The trucks and Jeep are waiting. When we go, we set the fuses and take off. I’ll also call it in so the guys down the line can get ready. We got a new General named Richardson who’s calling the shots now. I don’t know the plan, but it sounds to me like they are just going to let these guys in a while,” Hufham said.
“I sure as hell hope they know what they’re doing.”
Across the DMZ someone began yelling at the assembled men. Everything got quiet except for his excited words.
“What’s he saying?” Ricks asked.
“He’s telling them to fight for their country and for their leader Kim Sung Nua. He is telling them about the glory that is theirs and their duty to the state that cares for them.” Hufham paused a minute. “He’s getting ready to sound the charge. Get the men back to the trucks,” he ordered.
Ricks crossed the road at a run and began calling for the men to fall back. Within a minute the thirty guys with them were piling into the trucks. Hufham heard the trucks start farther down at the original compound and knew those soldiers were on their way.
Suddenly the air was filled with the yells of men as they tore down the fence on the northern side and began running across the DMZ. The mines that had not been detonated began exploding under the feet of the soldiers as they ran. Hufham set the detonators and made a mad run to the Jeep as the trucks pulled off. As Ricks drove them away he grabbed the radio.
“Outpost 24 to base, the horde has run. I repeat, the horde has run, over.”
“This is base, message received, get the hell out, over!”
“This is Outpost 24, we are way ahead of you, out,” he shouted into the microphone. A thunderous explosion went off behind them as the charges the men had set went off. Ricks and the demolitions team had filled the North Korean tunnels with as many explosives as they could pack in. It went off just as the first of the North Korean troops arrived at the fenceline. The explosion lifted dirt and debris high into the air and shook the ground so hard Ricks had to fight to control the Jeep. The resulting trenches stopped the advance for a few minutes until they could climb out the other side. More than 100 men had been buried alive just from the debris that was blown over them.
Ricks passed the trucks as they went down the road. They motioned for the drivers to speed up. The fallback line was a full 20 klicks away. As they drove, they met up with other units coming in from the Z. MPs on the ground were directing the traffic and urging the trucks forward. The whole line of trucks was being directed southeast away from the Z following the valleys between the hills. As they went, Hufham glanced at the speedometer and saw Ricks was going nearly 60 miles per hour. Fighter jets screamed overhead moving to where they had just left. Then came the Warthogs. It looked like 200 or more had sailed over the hill they were passing. The sound of explosions was heard behind them.
Ricks kept his eyes on the rearview mirror to make sure he kept his people in view. The trucks were keeping up. None of them wanted to be caught by that wave of angry soldiers. Just before they came to their lines, Ricks and Hufham saw the aircraft returning without the bombs they had been carrying. They were passed by more heading in the opposite direction.
As Ricks came around the far side of a hill both men looked in astonishment at what was in front of them. It was like a military brick wall. Tanks, guns, emplacements, missile launchers, artillery, and more were assembled. It was thick with people and munitions. The line slowed as they were let through the gauntlet. Ricks pulled over and waited for his trucks to come through. They were the last ones on the road.
“Are you guys the last?” the sentry at the line asked.
“As far as I know,” Ricks said. “The next thing you see will probably be the whole North Korean Army,” he said as he pulled the Jeep away.
RADM Shranski and his team were going over their findings. The Iowa got underway late that afternoon and was steaming north at flank speed to join the others off the Korean coast. The orders were to patrol just south of Wonsan to Yangyang, a distance of only 100 miles. With four battleships on station, that left only a twenty-five mile patrol area for each ship and it would take only a couple of hours for the others to join up if needed. Shranski and his team had decided to stay aboard and finish the job. If they had to remain onboard for a few extra days it was no problem. Their report could be sent by message. Shranski sat at the head of the table in his cabin.
“I went over all the logs and interviewed the Strike watch,” said Captain Scott Bass, the Chief of Staff. “Everything was done in accordance with policy and regulations with the exception that the Captain ordered the ship into danger. He took all the precautions and all of his orders were valid,” he said. “I worked up this chronology from the team members. We know what was done and when.”
“So nothing out of order from your side,” Shranski stated.
“That’s right, Admiral. The crew, from what I see, did a magnificent job and the Captain put it on the line.”
“What about the bridge crew?”
“All interviewed,” said LCDR Reynolds. “The XO took the deck and conn just as the Captain gave the order. He knows how to handle the ship. Placed her in the right place to take on those missiles. I also looked into Weapons. The Weapons Officer had the 5-inch guns engage even though the onboard computers couldn’t generate solutions for aircraft going that fast. He had trained the gun captains to fire locally. The Mk-37 system locked on and tracked while the gun captains just led the missiles visually. They used VT-FRAG rounds and actually shot down one missile. The CIWS got one, but didn’t designate to the second. After looking at the data, the missiles were practically lined up together, so they didn’t break out. The crew did its job properly. All PQS and PMS are on the money,” he said. The Personal Qualifications System and the Planned Maintenance System set the standard for training and maintenance on the ship.