At the sound of the explosion a private sitting in the old watchtower hit the switch activating the mines. Immediately mines started going off under trucks up and down the roadway. Those still on the road had no place to run. As several men jumped out of their cabs and began to run back to their line, the mines went off under their feet. Flashes of light were appearing all along the DMZ line where the trucks and men were. Each outlined something almost like a strobe light in a disco.
At the same time the call went out for air cover. A flight of ten Warthogs suddenly zoomed over the hills and began following the road back into North Korea. The line of trucks was over a mile long and many more were making their way to the same point. Within 30 minutes nearly 200 trucks were burning wrecks.
As the explosions began, Ricks and his men poured up the road into the small compound. The North Korean soldiers fought back as best they could, but there was no way for them to win. Several threw up their hands. Ricks detailed some men to guard the prisoners while he and a man with the flamethrower followed Miller to the doors they had seen. The first door was opened and Ricks jumped in with his 9mm pistol. The small cavelike enclosure had some bunks on one side and a few cases of food and water. Other tunnels led out of it. Ricks followed one to a room where a radio operator was telling his people what was happening. Ricks shot the transmitter and held the gun on the operator. The operator grabbed for a pistol on the table and Ricks shot him in the head. A shout came from another tunnel and Ricks waited until an officer walked into the main room. Ricks clubbed him over the head and watched him fall to the floor.
Fire erupted from the two enclosures below the fence posts. The men topside began to dive for cover as the bullets sprayed the area. Hufham grabbed a grenade and threw it, but there was no effect. He saw two of his men go down from one burst and tried to get the snipers to try and hit the slits. Nothing seemed to work and the machine guns continued to pepper the area. Hufham was about to rush the enclosures when first one and then the other stopped firing.
The area became very quiet. Then a door opened nearby and Ricks shouted, “Tunnels clear!”
Hufham let out a sigh. “Thank god,” he said. “I was about to frag your ass, Ricks.”
“Thanks for waiting on me. This place is honeycombed with these damn little tunnels. I suggest we finish cleaning them out and then blow them,” Ricks said.
Shouts came from the road and the men saw several truck drivers running up with their arms raised. A squad of soldiers began running along the road of trucks and Hufham and his men opened up on them, mowing them down as they reached the center. In one case, a soldier strayed off the road and tripped another mine. Machine guns had now opened up along the North Korean side spraying the general area.
Hufham made a second call for air support and within minutes napalm was spread along the fence on the north side. In a few minutes all shooting had ceased. Using their night vision glasses the snipers set up shop beside the first truck. As heat blooms appeared, the men took their shots. It didn’t take long before no one was appearing on the other side.
The men began clearing the area and setting up their own guard post. Another was set up at the old observation compound a few hundred meters away. The men found a third partially completed post 100 meters to the right of the road. This provided an excellent crossfire for that crossing. Ricks supervised the return of the prisoners. He gathered them on the road 50 meters away from the fence. A truck was sent up with some additional guards and the prisoners were loaded in. The officer began shouting something at the men, but Ricks’ pistol shoved under his chin silenced him. He was gagged and thrown in the truck tied hand and foot. The enlisted men seemed to enjoy it. When the truck left, Ricks returned to the compound.
Hufham handed him a cup of freshly made coffee. “Here you go, Dale. Have some of this MRE horse grunge they call coffee.”
Ricks took the mug and took a long sip. The warmth felt good. “Mmmmm. Just like Mom used to make,” he said. “The prisoners are on their way.”
“Give you any trouble?”
“Not really. The officer started saying something but I stopped him. We tied him up and gagged him for the trip south.”
“Serves him right. Colonel Peterson is on his way up. He’s going to chew you out.”
“What for?”
“Jumping down in that hole and playing mole. You’re going to get your ass shot, Dale. Then what will I tell Su Lynn?”
“I died with my boots on. Come on, Paul, we both know it had to be done. Otherwise you would still be pinned down by those two pillboxes.”
“I know, but he has to play papa. Just take it and let it go. I can’t stop you, so I know he can’t,” Hufham grinned. “Nice job by the way.”
“Humph,” Ricks grunted. “Did anyone think to bring up some MREs for dinner? I’m starved.”
“They’re coming with the Colonel,” Hufham said. He noticed one of the snipers walking past him. “Hey, Miller! Nice job man. You guys are slick as glass.”
Miller walked over and sat down next to the men. “Thanks, Sergeant Major. Glad we could help out.”
“Where you from, son? You shoot like nothing I’ve ever seen,” Ricks said.
“Raised in the woods near Franklin, North Carolina. Been shootin’ since I was three.”
“Man, I can tell. What kind of rifle is that?” Ricks asked.
“Miller pulled the rifle around. ‘It’s an M40A5, a Marine Corps weapon. Based on the Remington 700. I like it ‘cause I can put on this night vision scope. Feels real nice,” he said, not letting go of the weapon.
Ricks looked it over but didn’t take it. He heard snipers were particular about their weapons and he respected that. “I may just find me one of these when I get back. Thanks for the help.”
“You guys Army?” asked Hufham.
“No, sir, we’re with the First Marine Division. We joined up with your guys just a few hours ago and when they said they needed some sharpshooters, we volunteered to come up. It’s been a hell of a walk,” he said pleasantly.
“Well, welcome to the Army, Miller. You guys going to hang around?”
“For a bit. When we’re not really needed we’ll head back to the CP. Till then we might just watch the other side and see what pops up,” Miller said.
“Semper Fi!” said Hufham.
“Hoo rah!”
The men chuckled as Miller made his way back to the fence.
“The Marines have landed,” Ricks joked.
Hufham chuckled. “From what I heard there’s a shit load of different services starting to pile up behind us. Dale, I think the push is on.”
A Humvee made its way up the road and stopped below the crest of the hill. A figure got out of the passenger side and walked up to Hufham and Ricks.
“You two still lounging around?” Peterson growled.
The two men came to their feet and saluted. “Everything’s secure for now, Colonel. We captured six including an officer. They are on the way back. The snipers are on the line looking for bad guys and we have secured the area.”
“Good. We’re bringing some mortars up in case they try and retake this place. Just make sure everybody’s ready. Ricks, I want to talk to you a minute,” he said taking him by the arm and walking him out of earshot.
“Ricks, am I going to have to kick your ass? What the fuck are you thinking jumping into a set of tunnels?”
“Colonel, they were too spread out and separate for a flamethrower to work. Somebody had to get in there and take care of business. If we didn’t there were still guys in there shooting at us and might have killed a few of my guys. It just had to be done.”
“Yeah, but we have other guys who can do the hard jobs. I need your experience and your leadership to get this job done and I can’t use it if you’re dead. Sergeant, you have to delegate things like that out damnit. You know better!”