Never So Few by Chamales Tom T.;

Author:Chamales, Tom T.;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Open Road Media
Published: 2017-05-12T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER XXIII

The first thing that Con saw at the Assam base was the money making machine. It printed genuine Japanese occupation rupees. One of the new sub-operations of the guerrilla force was to circulate this money, paying twenty and thirty times value for articles and property. The theory was that the resultant inflation would devaluate the money until it became worthless. The people would lose faith in the Japanese occupiers. And when the Allies came in with a pure silver exchange the Burmans would side with them. Con was taking fifteen million for a starter.

He left the base after only one day. He had decided to parachute into the training area behind the lines. They had a light plane strip there and Doc Travis was flying in later in the morning. But Con had not jumped in several months and wanted to keep his jump-status and the extra pay that went with it.

Now as the DC-3 approached the drop area, which was the light plane strip, Con stepped back from the open doorway and told the jumpmaster to have the pilot circle the area several times. Finally he detached his jump cord and went forward and directed the pilot for fifteen minutes as he studied the surrounding terrain. Then they made another pass over the field and he jumped.

The Kachins, as fascinated as ever with a jump, cheered and crowded round him. He hardly had time to dump the air from his chute when Billingsly, his number one boy, and chief parachute hoarder, was cutting it right off his back and gathering it up.

“Vas a niiice jump, Dua, very niiice,” he heard Billingsly say.

“You keep what you need of this chute for supply,” Con said getting up, “but remember what I told you about selling it. What’s left over you divide.”

“Me one hundred percent honest Kachin,” Billingsly grinned. “Goddamn niiice jump, Dua,” he said authoritatively.

Con waved and kidded with the Kachins, really overwhelmed at seeing them again, and took two packs of cigarettes from his pocket and distributed them around. Then he spotted the priest and the Subadar Major. Con shook hands with them both and after dusting the seat of his pants with his bush hat they began to walk towards headquarters.

“You look fine, lad. Rested,” the priest said.

“The Dukaba has put on weight,” Subadar Major La Bung La grinned whitely.

“Who picked this camp site?” Con asked.

“It was my own suggestion,” the priest said proudly.

“Well it’s piss-poor,” Con said menacingly. “There’s unoccupied high ground to the north. Open ground on the high China side. The river is raging in the valley to the south. If they take the ground north and hold that and attack from the Road you’d be a dead duck. They’d cut you in half strafing if you went to open ground and ambush you if you went toward the river. Subadar Major,” he said turning to La Bung, “get the men to start packing up. We’re moving.”

“But we have the training field made, Dua, and the airfield.

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