Battleground by Keith Douglass

Author:Keith Douglass [Douglass, Keith]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781101559543
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 1998-06-01T04:00:00+00:00

16

Wednesday, July 21

1415 hours

RX Military Headquarters

Nairobi, Kenya

General Umar Maleceia paced his office, blowing one blast of cigar smoke after another into the already too-warm room.

“How could they do it? I sent two hundred men in there to put down that raid on the prison, and all hundred and sixty prisoners still got away? You’re telling me that they all escaped and got on U.S. Navy hovercraft and charged out to sea? The one hundred and sixty hostages I had in the prison all got away?”

“Yes, my general. There were the jets strafing the prison, and then they had direct hits on our trucks that brought in the men. The men couldn’t fight back against hundreds of rounds of twenty-millimeter cannon fire. I’m sorry, my general.”

“You’re sorry? Hell, we lose this fight and you’ll be hanged, you know that, don’t you?”

The colonel nodded.

“So, what do we have left? The ship, the stinking little frigate we captured at dockside. How many men we have guarding it?”

“There are twenty-four men under Lieutenant Elijah Koinange. He’s a fine officer.”

“Have you heard from him today?”

“No, sir.”

“Didn’t you give him one of our new radios?”

“Yes, sir. I’ll get in contact with him at once.”

“If the bastards rescued the crew from the prison, sure as hell they’ll try for the ship too.”

Colonel Kariuki saluted and hurried out the door.

General Maleceia continued to pace. He’d had it in his grasp. He’d had the embassy and forty hostages. Then he’d had the ship and a hundred and sixty hostages. What the hell went wrong? He shook his head, and took a long pull from the glass of bourbon on his desk. Too many things had gone wrong.

There was still time. He would hold the U.S. Navy ship. Send five hundred of his best rangers to pitch camp on the docks with all of their heavy weapons. Yes, that would do it. He looked at the list of the units he had in Mombasa. Not a lot.

He had sent his Fifth Infantry to the prison. A late report showed that they had suffered nearly fifty percent casualties, including more than seventy percent of the officers. That unit was out of service.

The Second Infantry was fifty miles north of Mombasa in a blocking position. Two hundred men, two tanks, and 81mm mortars. Yes. He’d get them moving almost at once.

Colonel Kariuki came rushing into the room, then slowed. He held up a piece of paper.

“General, it seems there have been some attacks on our guards left on the American ship. Two men were killed last night, and some arms and grenades were stolen. Lieutenant Koinange has no explanation other than that there must be some American sailors hiding on the ship and attacking during the night.”

General Maleceia threw his drink across the room. The glass shattered on the far wall.

“Idiots! Why am I surrounded by idiots? He was told to search the ship and make sure there was no one hiding. Idiot. Have that lieutenant relieved and broken to a corporal with a note on his personnel file that he is never to be promoted any higher.

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