"They got all the guns?" McCoy asked, incredulously.
"All of them. And before the 63rd was able to spike them," the colonel said, confirmed.
"Jesus!" McCoy said.
"At about this time," the colonel went on, "Item Company learned for the first time that Love Company had bugged out, and that the enemy was astride its road to the rear. The company commander asked for permission to withdraw, and 3rd battalion commander recommended that it be granted; he said that he didn't think the re-formed Love Company- he described them as `demoralized'-could be trusted to counterattack and reopen the road behind Love Company. I gave permission for the withdrawal."
The colonel let that sink in and then went on.
"It was necessary for them to `withdraw' over the moun-tains-the roads were in enemy hands-and they eventu-ally made it here. Without a substantial percentage of their crew-served weapons, which simply could not be carried over the mountains."
The colonel gave McCoy time to absorb that, and then went on:
"I have no reason, Captain, to believe that the 19th In-fantry will fare any better than the 34th has, for the same reasons. One of the reasons I believe that to be true is that the division's third regiment, the 21st Infantry, in three days of fighting, has lost about half its officers and men."
"Half?"
"Half," the colonel confirmed. "What was left of the 21st was gathered near Taejon, and reorganized. Reorga-nized, rather than reconstituted, which implies bringing a unit up to strength. There is no replacement system in place from which replacements for losses can be drawn. What happened to the 21st is that an attempt has been made to form companies and battalions from its remnants.
"What that means, of course, is that when the 21st goes back into combat, very few, if any, of the men will have served*-much less trained-together. Moreover, because many officers are among the dead and missing, many com-panies-perhaps most-will be commanded by lieutenants who were platoon leaders four days ago, and many pla-toons will be led by sergeants. In some cases, corporals.
"Early this morning, the 21st was trucked from Taejon to Okchon, here." He pointed on the map. "That's about ten miles east of Taejon. They have been ordered to set up positions here, on the Seoul-Pusan highway, about halfway between Okchon and Taegu. If the enemy elects to attack down the highway-or to take the high ground on either side of the highway-resistance to those sort of moves will obviously be hindered by the lack of artillery. In fact, I sus-pect that when the North Koreans attack, their assigned ar-tillery will be augmented by the 105-mm tubes the 63rd Field lost."
Again, the colonel paused to give McCoy time to absorb what he had told him.
"And there will, of course, be another attack. If not this afternoon, then during the night, or at the very latest, very early in the morning. The only question is where." He paused. "That, Captain, is `what's going on.' I really hope you can find communications somewhere and get through to the Dai Ichi Building. Somehow, I suspect that they don't know what's going on.'"
"Colonel, your prisoners are from the 83rd Motorcycle Regiment. It's one of their best-sort of an elite regimental combat team-normally attached to their 6th Division. Maybe if I-"
"If you know that, Captain, I have to presume that's common knowledge around the Dai Ichi Building. I won-der why they didn't think we would be interested to know that."
"I'm not sure how common that information is around SCAP, sir."
"So you-whatever organization you work for-had that information, but didn't pass it on?"
There was a perceptible pause before McCoy replied.
"Colonel, I'm only a captain. I gather intelligence, not disseminate it. I can't answer your question."
"You were saying, about the prisoners?"
"Maybe I can learn something from them, sir, about their intentions. Because it's highly mobile, I suspect that its officers have to be told more about the overall picture than officers are in standard units."
"That would be helpful," the colonel said. "Providing you do it quickly. I want you-especially the woman-out of here as soon as possible. I'm going to have enough on my platter without having to worry about her. Or you."
"Sir, with respect. I have no authority over Miss Priestly. Even if I returned her Jeep to her, there's no way I can make her leave, go back to Eighth Army. And I need that Jeep."
"And if I order you to get in your Jeep and, taking Miss Priestly with you, to get the hell out of here?"
"Sir, with respect, I'm not subject to your orders."
The colonel looked at him intently for a long moment.
"You intend to stay, then?"
"Yes, sir, for the time being. I really would like to talk to some more prisoners."
"It's occurred to you, I presume, that if you stay, you're likely to become a prisoner yourself?"
"Yes, sir, it has."
After a moment, the colonel nodded.
"Okay. I gave it my best shot. Will you need me, or any of my men, to deal with the prisoners?"
"No, thank you, sir."
[THREE]
"The corporal speaks Cantonese," Zimmerman reported outside the room where the prisoners had been held. "He was willing to talk, but he didn't know much. But you're right, they are from the 83rd Motorcycle Regiment, and the little guy is an officer."
"Who speaks English?"
"And Russian."
"That's interesting," McCoy said. "What's his rank?"
Zimmerman nodded, in agreement with "interesting," and then shrugged.
"The corporal didn't know. He said when he got drafted to do a little reconnaissance-there were originally five of them, two of them got killed when they ran into one of our patrols, where they got caught-the little guy was already wearing the private's jacket. But one of the others, one who got blown away, called him `sir,' and he was obviously in charge."
"What else did the corporal have to say?"
"He said that after they took Seoul, the regiment was taken out of action, and sent down the peninsula right be-hind the units on the line. Now they're getting ready to go back into action. Soon."
"No specifics?"
"No, but it can't be far off, Ken. It looks to me as if this guy, the officer, is an intel officer. Maybe not even from the 83rd. He wanted a closeup of where they were going, and got himself bagged."
"Did the 6th Division come up?"
"They're here. The corporal didn't know if the 83rd was attached to them or not."
"How's your Russian these days, Ernie?"
"Not bad. Milla Banning and Mae-Su decided the kids should know how to speak it, and then Banning got in the act. We have Russian suppers, talk only Russian. I'm all right with it."
"Let's go talk to the officer," McCoy said. "Where's the corporal?"
"I had him put in another room, to get him away from the officer."
"You go in there, tell the guard to put the sergeant with the corporal, make a show of chambering your Thompson, and in a couple of minutes, I'll come in. You pop to when I do."
"Got it," Zimmerman said.
"Where's Priestly?"
Zimmerman pointed out the door, to where Jeanette Priestly was talking to several GIs, who were beaming at her.
McCoy nodded and motioned for Zimmerman to enter the room where the prisoners were being held. A minute later, the American sergeant came out, holding his carbine in one hand, and with his other on the North Korean sergeant's shoulder.