Treachery at Wuhan. Ch. # 10 Freeing the Lads

Chapter # 10 -  Liberating the Lads

Two nights later, another full Special Ops “A Team” would follow Captain Gengler, onto the beach at Wuhan.

 

The night before Gengler’s raid, a Halo detachment of Special Forces “A Team,” led by Captain Jack Martin, from Special Forces Pathway Command, had been ferried in the belly of a C-17 Globemaster, from Kunsan AFB some 40 miles south of Seoul. The huge star lifter crossed the DMZ at an altitude of 15,000 feet, well above SAM effectiveness from North Korean Batteries along the DMZ.

 

Once past the sam defenses, the pilot immediately dropped down to 10,000 feet and opened the rear portal of the plane for the jump. When the green “go” light flashed, Captain Martin and his 12 troopers would jump from the open rear of the plane into the inky black Korean sky.

 

 

Capt. Martin gave last minute instructions to his men.

 

“Check your gear, your ammo, water and food supplies. There aren’t any corner stores where we are going. Fix coordinates on your gps systems. We meet at the beach incursion spot for tomorrow night’s raid. Then we go and get our boys. If you get separated, make your way to the beach site and hide out in the woods until you can reconnect with us.”

 

“Stand up and hook up,” Martin hollered. “Check the harness and chute of the man in front of you. Wait for the green light and go ! “

 

“The green Go light flashed. “Go, go, go” hollered Martin. His men stepped off in a row into the inky night sky. The wind and fate would carry them where they would.

 

The C-17 immediately banked eastward and dropped low on the horizon, headed towards Wuhan and the Coast. 

As the Globemaster made for the coast, and the protection of the off shore U.S.S Reagan. Martin's commandos floated down in silence, landing just behind the beach area where tomorrow night, Gengler’s team would make their incursion.

 

The men landed, policed and buried their chutes. Then, made their way to the beach incursion site. 

 

“Okay, men. Let’s place these claymores in an arc that will cover any troops descending from the hill,” said Martin. 

 

“Gengler’s men are going to be depending on these nasty little suckers tomorrow night, to decimate their opposing forces.”

 

The men laid a series of claymore mines, across an arc facing the small hills, where Gengler's team would beach. 

 

“Put a smaller arc behind them,” said Martin. ”Gengler said the little rascals hit them from behind, when his team tried to make it to the boats on the beach.”

 

 His demo man placed a smaller arc of claymores behind where the team would take shelter and buried the ignition switches. It would protect their rear. 

 

“Oaky, now cover up any traces of the mines and their triggers,” said Martin

. 

“We don’t want any nasties discovering them before hand and ruining the surprise.”

 

When their task had been completed, Martin gathered up his men.

 

“Okay, guys. We have done what we could to help the other team landing here. Let’s take a quick run into Wuhan and see if we can get our boys back. Put your night vision goggles on. Use suppressed fire, your knife or a garrote to take down the opposition only. We don’t need a lot of curious nasties coming to see what all the noise is about.”

 

Martin’s unit made a fast run into Wuhan. Their GPS maps had pinpointed the prison, holding the two Americans. It was a small two-story brick structures, with fencing and barb wire surrounding it. They sat quietly for a time, observing the timing of the rounds of the exterior guard patrols.

 

 

Martin circled his men and gave each raider his task for the event. 

 

“Com devices active,” said Martin. “Let’s do this one by the numbers. Shaw, McGuinness and Riley, flank the fenced in area. When I signal, take out each guard with suppressed fire,” said Martin. 

 

“Kearns, I want you to cut the fence and infiltrated above the entrance area. Get close to the guard standing post at the door. When he challenges us, you take him down with a garrote. Everyone clear?” He asked. 

 

Each of the raiders made his way to their position and waited for Martin’s command.

 

“Hit them now,” whispered Martin into his com mike. Three suppressed spits sounded. Three guards dropped to the ground at the same time, alerting the entryway guard by the sound.

 

They could hear the entryway guard call out in Korean, asking his men to respond. Only silence greeted him. He stepped forward to have a look around and called out again.

 

From behind him, SSgt Paul Kearns leaped onto the man and wrapped a garrote around his neck. The struggle only tightened the noose. After a minute, the Guard collapsed, dead. Kearns dragged the body into the bushes.

 

Martin whispered into the com mike.

 

“Single entry through the fence where Kearns has cut a hole. No noise. Assemble at the Prison entry point.”

 

Outside the entryway, Martin’s men assembled.

 

Martin whispered. “Kearns, take point and make entry. Shoot anyone you encounter with suppressed pistol rounds. We will follow you in. Clear?” The men nodded in agreement.

 

 Kearns made entry with pistol raised. Inside, two soldiers were sitting in a coffee ready room, smoking and talking. Two spits from Sgt. Kearn’s silenced Sig Sauer ended their vigilance.

 

“Clear, Captain,” said Kearns into his mike.

 

The rest of the team then filed in. The cells were in the back of the first-floor area. In the rear of the building, a final guard rose up in surprise, as the men entered the cell block area. Capt. Martin shot him through the head with his side arm. No more hostiles were left.

 

“Riley, McGuinness, destroy all of their com links and sever all phone lines in and outside. Clear?” Riley and McGuinness nodded and set about their task.

 

In the cells, both of the two Americans were in bad shape from torture. Lee’s eyes were closed and his face purple from beatings. Though in rough shape, Chung Hee “Jimmy" Lee still managed a sense of humor. He looked up at Martin and mumbled 

 

“I would kiss you rascals if you weren’t so damn ugly.” 

 

Martin smiled back at him and said

 

 “We have a cab waiting to take your sorry butt home, Jimmy.”

 

Med SSgt, Paddy Martin staunched their wounds with gauze, wrapped them with bandages and made them ready for transport. An injection of antibiotics would have to hold them until exfiltration. 

 

 

“I think they are ready for transport, Captain,” said Martin. “If things get too bad, I have morphine tabs to help ease the pain.”

 

“Socol. See if you can find some keys and a ride back to the beach,” ordered Martin. 

 

Socol looked out in the garage area, found both and returned to the cell area.

 

“We are in luck, Captain,” said Socol.  “They have a deuce and a half outside. with the keys in it. We are good to go.”

 

“ Listen up, everyone,” Martin said into his mic. “Police up anything they might connect with us and meet in the garage area. Socol found us an uber for our ride back to the beach.”

 

“Let’s give these lads a hand into the uber, shall we,” said Martin. The men gingerly picked up “Skeeter” Park and “Jimmy” Lee. They carried them out to the truck. They passed the wounded warriors up and inside, making them as comfortable as possible. It would be a while before they could find a cab to take them home.

 

The rest of Martin’s Halo troop entered the rear of the truck and settled in. The troop made off for the wooded area behind Gengler’s beach incursion point. Their GPS coordinates were the same ones that had been fed to the North Koreans.

 

Upon reaching the area, where they thought a hostile unit would sit in wait for Gengler’s troops, they ditched the truck in wooded ravine. 

 

“Riley, Kearns, Socol, set up a perimeter guard along the exterior of the tree line. We will rotate each watch, in two-hour shifts. If any hostiles come looking, use your knife, a garrote or suppressed pistol only, Got it? “ The men answered in the affirmative.

 

“Let’s hope they don’t discover the prison break until tomorrow morning,” said Martin. “This whole area will become like an ant hill kicked over. The rest of you see what sleep you can catch. No smoking, no talking.”

 

The unit hid themselves deep in the trees behind the beach. They would lie here in silence, until needed tomorrow night. Martin sent a brief, hi-tech message to the offshore Reagan, advising Capt. Gengler that they were in place and ready to rock and roll.

 

The rescue and killing of prison personnel was discovered the morning by the next shift arriving at the prison. Frantic calls for help were radioed out to surrounding police units. The traffic buzzing by Martin’s hidden unit all morning gave evidence of the manhunt for them now underway.  They could but crouch low and keep their heads down.

 

Meanwhile, Col. Chu, from the Ministry of State Security, had arrived in Wuhan, from Pyongyang. After visiting and assessing the mess at the Prison, he personally took charge of the search. From information leaked to the Korean Intelligence Agency, Chu knew that an American rescue team would be landing nearby, in the early morning hours. He planned to be there to greet them. He had assembled a cadre of North Korean Special Forces to greet the arriving Americans.

 

 

Late that afternoon, after not finding the escaped prisoners, Chu led his men to the dunes surrounding the beach site, in a small convoy of Army Trucks.  He assembled them in formation.

 

“The eyes of the Supreme Leader are upon you,” he blustered to his men. “Kim Jung Un expects each of you to do whatever is necessary to subdue these American Dogs, when they arrive tonight. I want you to spread out now along the top of the dunes and dig in. Do not allow your silhouette to be seen from below. Is that clear?” 

 

The men shouted their acknowledgement and deployed atop the ridge. Chu kept a small team of troops and stationed them around the trucks, to guard their rear. He and an aide then climbed the dunes and settled into a wooded copse, where he could watch the coming action and dispatch his response. Chu didn’t think he needed a squad on the beach. Any of these Devils, coming in from the sea, would never make it back out in the face of the fire power Chu would have waiting for them. He also had two of his men ready with Russian versions of the Stinger Missile. Any American helicopters that swooped in would end up as junk on the beach. The sun was just now setting. He wouldn’t have long to wait.

 

From across and behind Chu’s deployment, Captain Martin observed his adversary address his men, watching through powerful field glasses.

 

“He looks more Manchurian, than Korean,” Martin said to Warrant Officer Patrick.  “His men also look like they know what they are doing. I wonder if their commander does?” he said. “Well, we shall soon see.”