Winds of War 03 - Red Dragon by William Dietz

Author:William Dietz [Dietz, William]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Sci-Fi & Fantasy
Published: 2020-02-24T00:00:00+00:00

Bhimphedi, Nepal

The village of Bhimphedi was located west of Kulekhani on a flat spot, halfway down the steep slope that led to a V-shaped valley, and the river that rushed through it. The community consisted of terraced farms and scattered homes.

Two dirt roads intersected near the center of the village, and served to supply a couple of stores, and through them the local residents. Lee and his companions were positioned above Bhimphedi looking out over the mostly green valley while eating snacks and waiting for the Gurkhas to return.

Staff Sergeant Thapa and two of his men had gone down into Bhimphedi to check things out. And now, more than two hours later, Lee felt impatient. Thapa’s orders were to make sure that there weren’t any PLA soldiers lurking about, but more importantly, to assess the political situation. Were the locals Nepalese patriots? Or, were they ambivalent about the Chinese, and therefore likely to report the presence of foreigners if given a chance?

The answers arrived when an ancient truck rattled its way up the road and dropped the Gurkhas off directly below the spot where the group was waiting. Thapa appeared moments later. He sat cross legged. “Sorry, sah, but the headman insisted that we take tea with him and some of the elders. It would have been rude to say ‘no.’ Plus we were able to get a good picture of what’s going on around here.

“The Chinese send a patrol once a week,” Thapa continued. “Usually on Tuesdays. They poke around, search some houses, and steal some beers. Then they leave.

“As for the locals, they hate the invaders, and won’t do anything to help them. Or so they say. I tend to believe them, but that isn’t to say that the Chinese don’t have a paid informant in town, so it would be foolish to linger.”

“We won’t,” Lee promised. “One night. That’s all.”

Thanks to Thapa’s relationship with the headman, the group was allowed to spend the night in Bhimphedi’s one-room schoolhouse. After posting lookouts Lee ordered Cato to contact Major Gupta which he did following a short delay. Lee gave the S-2 a sitrep and went straight to the point. “There’s plenty of landing spots here… Please send a couple of helos to lift us out. Over.”

“I wish I could,” Gupta replied. “But the weather sucks. So, we can’t fly anything in that direction.”

Lee battled to maintain his composure. Other members of the group were watching him. And any hint of the despair he felt could bring morale down. “Roger that. We’ll head west in the morning. The terrain is likely to be rough. If you can’t pull us out drop some supplies. We’re running out of diapers. Over.”

It was the sort of humor green berets were known for. And Gupta laughed. But the problem was very real. The group was running out of food, ammo and diapers.

“I’ll take your request to the colonel,” Gupta promised. “More when I have it. Over.” And that was that.

The weather Gupta had mentioned swept in during the night.

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