“Sneaky sumbitches. Looks like they turned the Z into a killing ground. They mined both sides and set in new pillboxes. Let’s take a trot down to the old road,” Hufham said. They gathered a squad of men and walked back to the trail in the woods behind the South side. Ten minutes later they came on the old crossing that had been there before the first conflict in the late Forties. The road had grown over except for two ruts that were too compacted for a plant to take root in. The old road ran through the woods and met up eventually with another road inside South Korea. The younger soldiers didn’t see anything worth noting, but Hufham and Ricks caught it immediately. They backed their men into the woods.
Hufham brought them together. “Okay, listen up. We have enemy troops around our side. That fence has been changed and the road was traveled very recently. Did you notice the grass is almost gone?” The guys shook their heads. “Well, we were here before. What else did you notice, Staff Sergeant Ricks?”
“The leaves have been disturbed along the line and head off into the trees. There are also two mounds of dirt that weren’t there before. They tried to cover it up with some grass and leaves, but the leaves don’t match the trees around them. I bet we either have a trap door or some sort of tunnel. I bet there are even some snipers in the trees. What kind of equipment are we carrying?” he asked.
“Just rifles mostly. I have some grenades that we carried along, but nothing heavy,” said the Sergeant.
“Anything with a silencer?”
“Nothing like that.”
“Okay, we fall back to the compound. When we get there get two guys to go back in the truck and bring up some explosives, a sniper, a large battery, and about twenty more guys. Tell the Colonel we have DPRs on our side all settled in. Tell him we’re going to try and clean them out,” Hufham said. “Now get your guys and head back.”
The men began walking casually but on alert through the woods. Ricks stayed behind just a minute then caught back up. He settled in beside Hufham. “Paul, I caught sight of two dense notches in some trees along the road. There are also some thick clumps of vegetation about twenty yards back. You know what I think?”
“That this is one of their supply lines. They didn’t open up on us because they want to keep it a secret. They probably open the fence at night and then close it during the day to keep it from being discovered,” Hufham said nonchalantly.
“Glad we think alike. You figure on sneaking up on them just after dusk and doing it really quietly?”
“As quiet as we can. I’d like to do it as the first trucks come across. If we can stop a bunch in the Z, it would make it tough to use that road again. If I know the colonel, he’ll rustle up some air cover and follow the line back.”
“Makes sense. What’s the battery for?”
Hufham stopped a second and took a draw from his canteen. “You remember our system of mines. They were controlled in the watchtower.”
“Yea, but we lost electicity.”
“Actually, there is a battery backup, which I’ll need to replace. All the wires and the control panel are on the undamaged side of the tower. If we can activate our side, when the trucks start spilling over…”
Ricks grinned as the idea struck him. “Those things will go off killing everything in sight. When will you turn it on?”
“I’ll have a guy here with his hand on the switch. When he hears the first explosion, he punches them all on.”
“Not bad at all, Sergeant Major, sir.”
They arrived at the clearing and Ricks grabbed a man and took off in the Jeep for the command post. Hufham stayed back and kept everyone hidden. He wanted everyone to think they left the area.
Late that evening, Sgt. Ben Miller inched forward wearing his night vision goggles. Ten pair were sent forward for the troops on this mission. As he slowly made his way up the road the outline of men hiding in the trees and in the surrounding area became clear. All of the American troops were behind him or holding a position to the left of the road. When the men came up from the command post, Ricks stopped them at the junction with the old road. The truck made its way to the compound. Only two had gotten off the truck. The second sniper was ten feet behind and to the left on the other side of the road. Using hand signals he indicated for the other man to take the second target in a tree just twenty yards further on. Both men got down on one knee and aimed. There was a soft “pap” as the muzzled rifles went off. It almost sounded like a tree limb falling somewhere. Miller knew the shots were good as both targets jerked from the impact and slumped in their perch.
The two men continued up the road. Forty yards farther they caught sight of two men preparing what looked like a machine gun behind a blind. The blind had cut off some of the body heat, but the gun and the movement in the open revealed them. Miller directed the other sniper around to the left and he moved to the right. Using techniques actually taught to him by the Cherokee Indians, he was able to silently walk through the leaves until he was in a good firing position. He waited until this partner was in position and raised his hand. Once again, he took aim and squeezed the trigger. One man went down slightly before the other and there was a low moan that came from the position. Luckily no one responded.
The third position was a problem. The men were walking just thirty feet away when suddenly a door flipped open on the ground and men began to come out. There was light in the bunker they were in and as a result, the exiting soldiers had no night vision. There were four men. They walked past the snipers and up to the fence. One began working with some sort of latch on one side and the barbed wires slid aside.
Scanning the area from side to side the snipers noticed there was some heat coming out of two openings at the base of the fence posts. Another door opened down the fence line and several more men came out stretching their legs and arms. Across the DMZ the sound of a truck starting alerted everyone.
Miller scanned the trees again and found them clear. He looked deeper in the woods on the left of the road and caught the outline of a number of men crouching and waiting. He raised his hand and waved for them to move forward.
Miller saw one of the men raise up, followed by the rest and begin moving up. Miller signaled the other sniper to back away and target the men standing closest to the now open fence.
Hufham led the squad to the left. He sent Ricks back to the old road to come up the road behind the snipers. The snipers wore a special patch that reflected into the night vision goggles so they could be identified. Ricks saw the snipers crouching on the left hand side of the road. One turned and saw them coming. Ricks raised a hand and waved. The figure waved back. He eased up to one of the men and crouched beside him. “When the truck comes through, take out the driver and any passenger.” Miller nodded and relayed it to his partner while Ricks fell back to his men.
The truck churned up the road and approached the open gate. One of the soldiers was caught in the glare of the shaded headlights. The soldier waved them on. The driver gave the truck some gas and pushed past the gate. He was a little surprised to see something black in the road. The last thing he saw was what looked like a small flash and a puff of smoke.
The lead truck swerved off the road and into the trees on the right hand side, striking a thick tree and coming to a halt. Its bed blocked the road for the others. Two of the soldiers ran up to the truck to see what was wrong and were dropped like stones from the silenced rifles. The lights from the second truck clearly illuminated their fall.
Another soldier cried out an alarm as Hufham and his men began throwing grenades along the trucks and fence line. The explosions filled the air with deadly shrapnel, further stopping the line of trucks. Some of the drivers saw what was going on and tried to get off the road and turn around.