Operation Dragon Slayer - part nine
Corporals Denny and Ferris had just finished the mad dash out of the forest when the first of the PLA helicopter gunships arrived. Lt. Hogan had secured a protected position just outside the pine tree forest where they encountered the PLA dismounts. Their new position was on the other side a small field of about sixty meters where an outcropping of large rock formations and the beginning of a bigger thicker forest provided a stronger element of cover than the thinner pine trees. The men still sprinting in would have to cross the field to get to the covered position.
"Get down and dig in" ordered Sergeant King to the corporals as they reached the relative safety of the position. Denny started to make a little room for himself to squeeze into. They were spread out a little bit and were trying to keep low, hidden and protected. The gunships flew over their position and unleashed a viscious salvo into the forest where they just came from. The rounds exploded in the tree tops sending twisted metal and wood splinters in deadly force to the ground.
Denny looked around and saw most of the Marines from the other teams. Lt. Hogan was there with his Sergeant and radioman. He was barking orders into the squad's radio. The explosive rounds were making such a deadening racket it was hard to believe that whoever was on the other end could hear him clearly. Two men from the third team were just joining the group now as they came running from the forest in clear view of the gunships. The pair dropped to the ground as a missile exploded about ten meters from them. Since it didn't hit any treetops, and instead hit the ground, the explosion wasn't severe. Clearly, the weapons were made for armor piercing and not for anti-personnel. This was a nice lucky break to catch, one they knew wouldn't last too long. Two other gunships were hovering just above their position when they unleashed another deadly salvo into the pine trees. The smoke coming from the treeline was heavy and it blocked their views.
Denny looked over at Sgt. King, "Is there anyone else still in there?"
"Those are the first two back from third squad. The other four are still in there somewhere."
Denny was trying to see through the smoke into the forest for his brother marines. The feeling of helplessness was starting to get him agitated.
Two more men came charging out of the black smoke and were headed for the cover but were interupted by gunship machine gun fire and forced back into the forest.
The first two men had gotten to their feet and were continuing to dart across the field. At only about thirty meters to go another missile struck closer. The explosion engulfed one of the men in its cloud of debris and the Marine went down - spinning like a top.
The men watching from the cover took immediate reaction as Seargents were grabbing their men by the collars to keep them from running into the field to help. Seargent King, after sending Ferris and Denny back to cover, made a dash to help the wounded soldier. When he arrived a few seconds later, the first Marine had grabbed the soldier under the arms and was about to hoist him over his shoulders. Instead, he started bringing the man towards cover while continuing to hold him under his arms, as Sgt. King grabbed the mans legs - sharing the burden of the weight. The two were moving at a pretty quick pace when one of the gunships came back into view at the edge of the forest - about forty meters away and at a relatively low altitude of about thirty meters. At that altitude, he was just below the tree tops but in the area between the forest's edge and the cover. Dust started to kick up and hearts sank as everyone expected to see a hail of gunfire rain down on the field.
Suddenly sparks flew off the side of the gunship as it was hit in repetitive blows coming from the marines in cover. Sgt. Barnes and one of the marksmen had set up the M82 and were sending armor piercing explosive rounds towards the rotor blade motor of the gunship. The third shot was a charm and smoke started bellowing out of the motor as the gunship drifted back into the woods and lost altitude. It slammed into a thick pine tree and immediately burst into flames.
Sgt. King, and the Marine helping him, soon burst into the cover as the Corpsman dropped down beside them. The wounded marine had taken a chunk of hot metal to the side of his head and was knocked out cold. The Doc applied pressure to stop the bleeding from the fractured skull.
"King hold this here against his head", ordered Doc. King did as requested and put his hands over the now blood soaked bandage. Doc routed around in his med kit until he pulled out a some fresh supplies to attend to the wounds.
Lt. Hogan, who was moving around assessing his troops situation, saw the backs of King and Doc leaning over the wounded marine. The young Lieutenant felt a sudden ping of remorse and headed over to the Doc. Sgt. Barnes, in an uncharacteristic move, grabbed the Lt. by the arm and spun him back around.
"The Doc is taking care of it sir.", Barnes stated as he stared into Hogan's eyes. "You don't need to see that.", he said in a softer tone.
The Lieutenant held his gaze for another second before he realized the Sergeant was right. He needed to focus on the mission and what to do next. As painful as it was, he couldn't let himself be overly concerned with one Marine's situation right now.
Lieutenant Hogan shook his head in agreement and spoke to Barnes.
"Help me set these other marines up to defend this position. We're getting an evac chopper in about an hour. We have to stay alive if we plan on getting on it."
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