Ambush by Eric Meyer

Author:Eric Meyer [Meyer, Eric]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Swordworks
Published: 2020-05-24T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter Four

Signals Lieutenant Van Vu was experiencing the worst moments of his life. He’d trained hard in the college in Hanoi, and it had taken several days to work his way south on the Ho Chi Minh Trail to take over communications for the 97th Battalion Headquarters. Although he should have made clear the propaganda value of the communications equipment, it wasn’t his fault they’d positioned the antenna so close to the village of An Bao that the enemy had discovered it before he’d been able to order it moved.

It wouldn’t make any difference. He’d ordered his soldiers to remove the radio equipment and the antenna to a safe place several kilometers away. If they were successful, Hanoi wouldn’t discipline him for his failure, if they were successful. If they weren’t, and the communications equipment was lost, his career would soon follow. As would his life.

“Corporal Trinh, gather every man and protect the radio.”

“Yes, Lieutenant. Sir, what about the crew on the ZSU?”

Van Vu could see the prospects of living a long life ebbing away rapidly, and he lost his temper. He snatched out the Makarov from his holster and pointed it at Trinh. “I said every man! Get them here now before I put a bullet in you myself.”

“Yessir.”

He raced first to the anti-aircraft gun, screaming orders. The gunner and loader both stared at him in amazement. “Corporal, you cannot be serious? This gun is our last chance of fighting off the American attack.”

Trinh was as desperate as his officer.

If these fools refuse to obey the order, I’ll get a bullet for their failure.

The prospect of losing a radio set personally presented by the hands of Ho Chi Minh was too terrible to contemplate. “The radio is all that matters. Go with it and protect it with your lives.”

They didn’t get far. The Bradleys had driven at high speed to the east, flanked the village, and circled in to set up a blocking position for the expected People’s Army soldiers fleeing north. Van Vu pushed out of the jungle to an open area of fields and rice paddies. On the opposite side waiting were M113s, armored tracked vehicles with mounted heavy machine guns. Too late he realized he’d made a mistake. If they’d stayed in the village, they could have hidden the radio to prevent it falling into enemy hands and defended themselves with weapons like the ZSU. Back there they were up against infantry armed with little more than assault rifles. Here they were up against something else, a formidable armored force, yet it was too late, he had too few men. A moment later everything changed as hundreds of men emerged from the jungle, where they’d been racing to relieve An Bao.

The officer, a tough-looking major, short, squat and with an angry expression on his face, glared at him. “Lieutenant, where do you think you’re going? It looks like you’re deserting in the face of the enemy.”

He explained about the radio. “Sir, I didn’t have any choice.”

“Perhaps not.

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