Operation Broken Reed by Arthur L. Boyd

Author:Arthur L. Boyd [LT. COL. ARTHUR L. BOYD (RET.)]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Hachette Books
Published: 2011-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eleven

Danger Intensifies

Jim and I, somewhat to our surprise, finished the encoding with two hours to spare before the time to contact the airborne operator.

“Wake me at 1130,” I called to the others, falling onto my bedroll in the corner, asleep before I heard any response.

The next thing I felt was Moody shaking me awake. “You gonna sleep through the whole damn war, Baker?”

“Yeah, princess,” said Kingsley beside him, kneeling over me, “it’s been almost two hours.”

Capeman called from his corner, “Funny, even with all that beauty sleep, he doesn’t look any better. But do me a favor, will you? Talk a little louder in your sleep next time. It sounded like you were having a great dream. And give us more details.”

I looked at him in embarrassment. “Was I talking in my sleep?”

“Oh, yeah, sir,” Moody said. “Some really hot stuff. I never expected that from you. You always seemed a straight-arrow guy. An officer and a gentleman.”

Kingsley nodded. “It was good stuff all right, but I’m not sure it was your wife you were talking about.”

I was mortified, but I laughed. They’d been kidding and I’d fallen for it. I struggled up to get out the communications gear, but they had already set it up for me.

I turned on the transmitter and at precisely noon, the airborne operator acknowledged my signal. I transmitted in Morse code for three and a half hours.When I finished, I had sent off a cumulative ten intelligence reports documenting enemy troop strengths and unit locations.

The reports revealed a staggering enemy buildup—hundreds of thousands of troops we had not known about, numerous artillery and armored units, and tons of supplies and munitions. Commando units and reserves ensured rapid replacement for casualties, while artillery was registered on major targets. Elaborate field-wire communications networks, as opposed to tactical radio transmissions, were established to prevent monitoring by UN intelligence intercept units. Well-maintained supply routes extended from North Korea into Manchuria.

I was shocked at the enemy’s strength and preparedness. MacArthur’s counterattack in 1950 had been foolhardy, but an offensive now, after fourteen more months of enemy buildups, would be even more disastrous.

This ominous intelligence aside, I had a personal issue to deal with; I was still smarting from the “dream” joke the guys had played on me that morning and I had been thinking about payback ever since; it helped take my mind off the Chinese and North Koreans. There wasn’t anything I could do about the enemy, but I could at least get back at Capeman, Moody, and Kingsley.

After they all had helped me break down the com gear and put it away, I told them the reports had been bad. “It’s a lot worse than anyone expected.”

“How bad?” Kingsley wanted to know.

“You know I can’t go into any details, but Soviets, Chinese, North Koreans are all waiting to pounce.Nearly a half a million of them.”

“You can’t tell us anything?” Moody asked.

I shook my head. “It’s for your own protection. Besides, you don’t want to know. You don’t want them to torture you for info.

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