Dragon of the Mangrooves (5 page)

Jinno looked infuriated. He was notorious for his short temper. Having a tendency to get angry over trivial matters, he used to give them “binta,” a hard slap, and sometimes forced them to recite “Gunjin-Chokuyu,” the Imperial rescript to soldiers and sailors. Everyone nicknamed him “Binchoku,” a compound of binta and Gunjin-Chokuyu, behind his back and avoided him.

Kasuga now believed the possibility of an enemy landing was strong. Disclo-sure of positions was only a matter of time. Comrades in Kyaukphyu were moan-ing under severe attacks. The time to shoot was now or never. He became indignant and looked back to Tomita, who was grinning in a self-satisfied manner. Then Tomita tightened his mouth, faced Jinno, and said, “I wasn’t going to shoot, Lieutenant. I moved the gun into the bunker so the enemies wouldn’t spot it from the air. It’s my fault for not having gotten your permission to change positions, sir.”

Jinno showed some embarrassment and murmured, “Well, I was thinking exactly the same. Actually I also came here to order you a position change. You’ve made a good decision, Sarge.”

Then Jinno disappeared again. He looked uncertain of this war situation. If not for Tomita’s quick wit, Jinno would probably have pulled Kasuga or someone else out of place and given him double binta. Kasuga reckoned that Tomita excelled over Jinno in experience and shrewdness.

Tomita grinned lightheartedly again, indifferent to his admiration, and stated,

“A puking excuse suits Binchoku. Now I can’t help it. He has nothing better to do than to keep me as meek as a lamb here.”

After a while, a buzzing low-pitched sound came from nowhere. Everyone had heard it many times. Kasuga looked for the western sky. More than thirty aircraft came into view at once. A flock of Consolidated B-24 Liberators—examples of expensive, tough, Allied heavy bombers—spread over the sky. Allowing them no time to feel overwhelmed, everyone erupted into a commotion. Kasuga heard everybody around him shout.

“That’s too bad! Here come the damned Consoli!”

“Everybody! Evacuate immediately! Bombers coming!”

“Shelter the machine gun! Get into the cave! Hurry up, you dimwit!”

Other soldiers jumped into the narrow bunker, one after another, while members of Tomita Squad were dragging the machine gun. Shortly, a sound like distant thunder came. Kasuga supposed the first bomb had just reached the ground.

Then another followed. Gradually the sounds became incessant, louder, and closer. Soon an incredibly loud reverberation came. And the loudness like a drum performance at a Shinto festival wrapped up everything. Dry soil powder began falling on them from gaps in the logs beneath the ominously squeaking ceiling.

Though it was a fully covered bunker, a direct hit would crush it easily. Due to the number of people, Kasuga could no longer evacuate into the slightly safer side tunnel. He firmly fastened the webbing tapes of his steel helmet in haste and covered his eyes tightly with both hands to guard them from the negative pressure of an explosion that could easily force them out of their sockets. Then he spread out his palms and plugged his ears with his thumbs to prevent an eardrum rupture.

That was all Kasuga could do.

The enemy had already won command of the air when he had come to Ramree Island for the first time. He had experienced the terrors of air raids many times, but never one as fierce as this. It was so severe that it felt almost everlasting.

Bombers were clearly aiming at the hills around there and Mount Peter, to the north of Hill 353. The Japanese had installed a sentry post in Mount Peter due to its good vantage point, not to mention Hill 353. Kasuga thought the enemy must have gotten information about Ramree Garrison through spying or aerial photog-raphy. If it were not true, the enemy couldn’t carry on such a tenacious attack there. However much Jinno might worry, the enemy had known Japanese positions for a long time.

A dead silence fell abruptly; the hostile operation might have gone into a new phase. Kasuga scanned the outside of the bunker. He couldn’t find any aircraft; in their place, the blue sky was very serene.

The scene around the camp had been altered completely. The bombardments had uprooted the trees, dimpled the hill, and destroyed many trenches. Equipment and weapons had been buried under dirt. It was hard to dig them out quickly because the shovels and picks had also been embedded in the soil. Soldiers smeared with dirt wandered weaponless, already expressing signs of defeat.

The sole consolation was the lack of casualties. Considering the violence of the bombing, it was almost a miracle.

Tomita Squad had been left alone until early in that evening, when Jinno finally appeared. “A village named Gonchwein lies at the north foot of Mount Peter,” Jinno said, “and a defile goes through there toward Kyaukphyu Plain. A landing party has already occupied this village and is advancing further southward toward Ondaw Village, which is next to Gonchwein. Have you ever been to Ondaw?”

“No, I haven’t,” answered Tomita.

“It doesn’t matter now. Ondaw is within a stone’s throw of Hill 353. If it is broken through, the enemy will be able to encircle Hill 353 easily. You and your men are to stop it.”

Tomita fell silent, as did Kasuga. Jinno resumed the briefing, indifferent to his subordinates’ dismay. “Machine Gun Second Platoon was attached to the rifle platoon of the vanguard. They have gone ahead. Tomita Squad is just a backup. Go and take care of things.”

Jinno then disappeared without giving any information about how large the enemy force was or where the vanguard was. Kasuga couldn’t believe such irre-sponsibility. But once the commander had given an order, they had no option but to follow through.

Four gunners normally attended to each model ninety-two heavy machine gun: Gunner number one was a right wing watcher; number two watched the left wing; the man in charge of loading was the number three; and number four was a marksman.

Kasuga and the other three disassembled their machine gun and carried the barrel and tripod parts on their shoulders. Then they descended the hill with Tomita at the top. Four ammo bearers followed them, holding Type Ko ammunition boxes. Horses usually carried those items, but Kasuga had not seen one on that island. Soldiers were substitutes for horses. It was quite tough for a soldier to go down a slope with the barrel weighing nearly sixty kilograms on his shoulder.

When Kasuga and the others managed to reach the defile at the foot of the hill, the setting sun had already ducked behind the top of Hill 353. Silence reigned all around and made Kasuga feel that the fierce attack that morning had been a dream.

“Sarge, do you know where our vanguards are?” asked Kasuga.

“How am I supposed to know that? I’m here as I’m told. Keep Mount Peter on the left, and go straight on this road. Maybe it will take us to Ondaw. They are somewhere along the way.”

Tomita carried a toolbox containing spare parts and assembling wrenches for the gun, and ragged binoculars with moldy lenses dangled from his neck. But he didn’t have a map. He hadn’t been issued a map.

“How can we join a friendly troop properly?” Kasuga asked himself, anxious from suffering under the heavy weight of the barrel. Just then, a voice called out to them.

“Hi! Over here, guys!”

Kasuga scanned the dreary field of tall, dead grass on their left side. Several windmill palms stood facing the road. A stocky man, who looked like an NCO of the rifle platoon, was beckoning. Tomita immediately ran to him.

The man said, “We’ve set our first line over this wasteland, just where the grass fades out. You see? Ondaw isn’t so far. You can see a bank over there, can’t you? Set your machine gun under the bank. Engli will probably come along this road. When they come out from the corner of that woods, sweep them away. We’ll take your fire as a signal, and catch them in a crossfire.”

“Covering the left first line? OK, I’ve got it. Leave it to us. Where’re the attached machine guns, then?” asked Tomita.

“You mean HMG? Heavy machine guns?”

“Yeah, what else?”

“Yours is the only heavy machine gun we have here,” stated the stocky man.

“What?”

Still suspicious, they went into the dreary field and advanced further, as they had been told. The vanguard came into view when they reached the bank. Soldiers were deployed along a breastwork made in haste. According to a sergeant major commanding there, their firepower was merely two-squad strength with no mortar support. It was much less than expected. And, they could find no heavy machine gun but their own. The vanguard only had two light machine guns and a grenade discharger, apart from rifles. Second Platoon, the attached HMG to

Sixth Company, should take part in that kind of action. No one knew why their Fifth Platoon had been sent instead.

The sergeant major thanked them over and over. On the other side, all of Tomita Squad turned pale when they heard that the enemy moving southward was one-battalion strength. The whole strength of Ramree Garrison was merely one battalion. A simple calculation told them that the vanguard must take on an opponent eighteen times larger. Kasuga understood why the sergeant major was so thankful for even one machine gun.

The sergeant major did not want to intimidate the HMG guys, who had

kindly come to strengthen his forces. He humored them, saying, “I heard engineers had destroyed all the bridges in the village and had laid mines between Ondaw and Gonchwein. So those damned tanks can’t come here. That’s good, because we don’t have any armor-piercing mines here right now.” And with that the sergeant major returned to his position hurriedly.

“Has the platoon commander cheated us, Sarge?” Hirono said abruptly.

Tomita made a sour face. “Yeah, I think so. That stinker probably fawned on the company commander. He might recommend making us the sacrifice. It’s one of that grinder’s daily point-scorings.”

Tomita Squad set the machine gun at the very left wing of the first line. A clearing offered a good view in front of them, and they could see defoliated woods beyond that. Kasuga pointed the gun at the hem of the woods, into where the left-curving defile vanished. Then a rifleman squatting right next to them cried out. “Enemy sighted in front!”

But Kasuga couldn’t see beyond the corner because some tree trunks blocked his view. He released the safety on the gun by twisting the trigger button. He scrutinized the woods carefully and felt his eyes throb with pain, thanks to the tension of facing a real battle. Before long, his aching eyes captured some moving figures on the road through the woods. They were British soldiers. Though each man held a rifle at the ready, they were all standing upright. Nobody was crouch-ing or deploying. They came straight toward them in a close formation. Kasuga didn’t know whether they were brave or stupid. Tomita whispered while peering through his binoculars. “Don’t shoot yet. Those trunks are in the way. Wait until they finish rounding the corner.”

Suddenly the shrill crack of rifle fire shattered the quiet. Somebody at the right wing must have been unable to tolerate the tension any longer.

“What a mess! A damned greenhorn shot without asking. Haven’t they been told to wait for a sweep of HMG?” Tomita gritted his teeth with anger.

But it was too late. He had no time to feel angry. The British dispersed in the twinkling of an eye; the Japanese had to attack ahead of the enemy vanguard. But the enemy fired first. The clatter of hostile light machine gun fire started in the woods, and streaks of bullets stuck into the clearing, kicking up dust. The British vanguard apparently had a Bren gun. With reinforcements joining, the enemy gunfire soon became fiercer. Kasuga realized that a shower of bullets had been fired in his direction. Although they all wanted to fire back, no one could pin-point the enemy lineup. Attackers and defenders had completely changed positions in a short period of time. Panic-stricken, Kasuga clung to the grips.

“Hey, Kasu, can you see that bamboo thicket at about two o’clock?” A vigorous and confident voice rose in the middle of the Bren gun’s reports. It was Tomita.

Kasuga squinted his eyes and saw a small, dense thicket growing low bamboos.

“Yes, I can.”

“Fine! Now, deliver thirty rounds in there, right? Hit the front of the bamboo thicket! It’s about one hundred meters away!”

Kasuga readjusted an elevation and repeated back the order. “Distance, one hundred meters. Right!”

“Fire!”

At Tomita’s command, Kasuga pushed the trigger.

Spitting out yellow muzzle fire, the model ninety-two heavy machine gun roared. Its low-pitched stuttering sound, characteristic of the model, echoed throughout the area. Kasuga frantically hammered away, almost blindly. He delivered some rounds with his eyes shut. However, after he had emptied all the rounds on the strip, the enemy light machine gun had gone silent. A hush had fallen over the clearing and the woods.

Suddenly a scream burst out from the thicket. Someone was yelling something in English. The British might have suffered some casualties. The scream continued, and another shout went up. Certainly the enemy LMG men had been lurking in that very thicket. Tomita’s eyes had been searching for the enemy position while all others had flinched from the vehemence of the barrage. Kasuga was impressed with Tomita’s coolness.

“It’s getting darker now, Hirono,” Tomita said. “Hit it with more tracers this time!”

Hirono quickly beckoned ammo bearers. Just when they were about to reload a spare strip, Kasuga heard a strange noise in the rising wind. A continuous sound pricked up his ears. Hirono was also straining to hear. The sound gradually got clearer; the two were surprised and looked at each other. It was the exhaust note of an engine. Tomita peeped into the binoculars. “Oh, shit! They have a tank! I wasn’t told about that!”

There was no need to wait around. They had already seen a thick cloud of dust rising up over the woods, and they could hear the rattle of the tracks on the trail. “Hey, let’s pull back! Prepare for a crawl.”

Tomita ordered Kasuga and the other three gunners to drag their machine gun and flee to a safer zone. It was far beyond the management responsibility of Tomita, who was nothing more than a squad leader NCO. If things went wrong, what they were going to do might be considered desertion in the face of the enemy. It might well end up in a court-martial. Kasuga objected. “Can we retreat without permission?”