Seals (2005) (22 page)

"Ground the other helicopters and do not fly them over the objective," Khamami said. "I shall let the ground fighters take care of those interlopers."

"How goes the battle, Amir?" Sheriwal asked.

"Our men progress upward in a proper, prudent manner," Khamami said. "They continue toward a sure victory. I must turn my attention back to the attack." He gave the handset back to the radio operator, and once more gazed across the valley through the binoculars.

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MUJAHIDEEN ATTACK FORCE

WEST RIDGE

0750 HOURS LOCAL

THE platoon and section leaders kept in close contact with the men as they moved upward, firing well-aimed volleys toward the area where the infidels were dug in. Mortar shells had been coming slowly but regularly, and caused a few casualties, but the barrage did not amount to much. It was quite evident that the unbelievers had no more than one such support weapon, and it was of a minimum caliber. However, they had managed to slow the assault with accurate drops of shells in key locations.

But now the warlord's fighters were getting closer to the crest of the ridge, and the effect of the small arms fire from above was beginning to tell. The incidents of mujahideen crumpling under the impact of rifle bullets grew more numerous with each passing moment.

The commander, Major Karim Malari, ordered a halt when they reached a place where numerous stands of boulders offered good cover. At that point, the men settled in and began trading shot-for-shot with the defenders.

Malari gestured to his radio operator to join him. He took the handset and raised the warlord. "Amir, we have reached a place where it is most perilous to continue the advance without suffering very heavy casualties."

"I understand, Major," Khamami replied. He had total faith in whatever tactical decisions or opinions his field commander might express. "Are you completely stopped?"

"Not at all, Amir," Malari assured him. "We could score a victory here within an hour or an hour and a half, but I fear our casualties would be close to fifty or even sixty percent."

"What is it you wish to do?"

"I respectfully request that you send the two companies in reserve around to the opposite side of this mountain, Amir," Malari said. "When they are in position, we can launch simultaneous attacks from both directions. The infidels' volume of fire would be reduced by having to defend two sides. I estimate a victory could be accomplished before dark even if we are most sensible and cautious. By carefully advancing upward, our losses would be more acceptable."

"I will issue the necessary orders to Captain Tanizai immediately," Khamami said. "Hold your position and keep the enemy busy. I suggest a few rushes up toward them to keep the dogs distracted."

"I hear and obey, Amir," Malari said. He switched over to his own command net. "All units began rapid fire at the enemy for a period of ten seconds, then cease. Platoon Two and Platoon Four! As soon as the firing stops, make a bold attack to test the mettle of the enemy. Begin immediately!"

The sound of firing picked up in intensity as all mujahideen began shooting at the enemy above them. As soon as the fusillades lessened, the two platoons ordered to attack leaped from their positions and rushed upward toward the infidels' defenses. They immediately came under fire, and several of them were hit by the accurate shooting from above. Then three hand grenades were tossed by the defenders. The explosive devices hit the rocks, bounced once, then detonated. A half dozen attackers wilted under the solid steel hail of the M-67 grenades' deadly pellets.

"Platoons Two and Four!" Malari radioed. "Break off the attack and return to your original positions." The field commander now realized that the infidels were much more desperate and skilled than he had at first thought.

The surviving mujahideen gladly broke contact and stumbled back to where they had launched the attack.

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0910 HOURS LOCAL

THE convoy of ten Soviet ZIL-157 transport trucks came to a stop a kilometer southwest of West Ridge. Each vehicle had twenty mujahideen packed into the back, and when the tailgates were dropped, the fighters quickly leaped to the ground, forming up by platoons.

The commanding officer, Captain Lakhdar Tanizai, wasted no time in facing the men toward the mountain occupied by the unbelievers. "Double time!" he bellowed. "March!"

The double column moved out quickly, anxious to do their part in changing the assault to a two-pronged operation.

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WEST RIDGE BASE CAMP

0925 HOURS LOCAL

LIEUTENANT Jim Cruiser spoke rapidly but calmly into the PRC-112. "Charlie Papa, this is Second Squad. Approximately two companies of enemy troops have moved into the area just below our positions. Expect an immediate attack. Over."

"Roger, Second Squad," Lieutenant Bill Brannigan radioed back. "I'm sending over the reserves." Then he added, "Both of 'em. Out." He pressed the throat mike of the LASH. "Chief Gunnarson! Bradley! Get over to Second Squad and report to Lieutenant Cruiser. Out."

The two grabbed grenades and bandoleers, then rushed from the First Squad's perimeter to dash across the open space to where their squad mates were preparing for the impending mujahideen blitz.

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1015 H0URS LOCAL

THE attack from the west side of the ridge was carried on like the one on the east side. The mujahideen took advantage of the cover to fire-and-maneuver their way upward. And like their comrades on the opposite side, they became bogged down under the intense and accurate fire of the SEALs. Hand grenades and the sporadic mortar shells that came from Connie Concord and Bruno Puglisi also slowed their advance.

Khamami, back on East Ridge, knew he could overwhelm the defenders anytime he wished. The problem was that it would cost him dearly in casualties. As the general of a private army, he did not have the luxury of a draft board or the populations of large cities from which to draw replacements. If he behaved rashly, he could well end up almost as bad off as his idiot brother-in-law who stupidly sacrificed almost two hundred men and gained nothing for it. He turned to his radio operator and took the handset.

"Major Malari! Captain Tanizai! Pull your men back to more secure positions and hold them there until further orders." Khamami paused long enough to take a deep breath before continuing. "Mortar Battery! Renew your fire mission! Fire at will! Twenty-five rounds each gun! Commence firing!"

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1600 HOURS LOCAL

THE day's fighting had been unmitigated hell for the SEALs. A total of three mortar barrages had pounded them into near insensibility while the time between the shellings was occupied with fighting off probing attacks by the warlord's infantry. These assaults, though not pressed to completion, ate up valuable ammunition and grenades.

Empty cloth bandoleers littered the fighting positions and those that held full magazines were rapidly becoming fewer. The SEALs, for all their amazing physical conditioning, were close to exhaustion. If the mujahideen kept up the pressure through the night, Brannigan's Brigands would be reduced to a token force barely able to defend themselves. Senior Chief Buford Dawkins, as usual, summed it up with one of his sardonic Alabama country-boy comments that were not meant to be humorous:

"By tomorry morning we're gonna be reduced to throwing rocks at them raghead sumbitches."

But the fighting suddenly came to a halt. Mike Assad in the OP could see the mujahideen withdrawing farther down the slope, then stopping and digging in.

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2215 HOURS LOCAL

THE pressing need for watchfulness made the preparations of MREs an inconvenience. Most of the SEALs turned to the energy bars for nourishment as they went into another 50 percent alert.

Brannigan called Cruiser and the two chief petty officers to join him in the CP. The four spoke quietly, sipping water from their canteens to get some fullness in their stomachs as they munched their snacks.

"Things are going downhill," Brannigan said candidly. "And we've just about struck rock bottom. We've got two KIAs, but at least nobody's been wounded. We won't have to go through the shit of making a choice to leave the WIAs behind or try to carry them with us."

Chief Matt Gunnarson finished off his oatmeal bar. "You're talking like we're getting the fuck out of here, sir."

"That's the next item on our agenda," Bannerman said. "We've got a real hairy operation to pull off tonight. We're tired, relatively low on ammo, and are completely cut off. But we've got to make a withdrawal under the cover of darkness. It's going to be tough sledding, gentlemen, but if we can get off this mountain and into the terrain to the west, we'll have a chance of breaking contact."

"I agree, sir;' Cruiser said. "There's a lot of deep ravines and forested areas for cover and concealment on the other side of the valley."

"Right," Brannigan said. "It also offers us a better chance to put up a fight. We can even set up some ambushes. Or if they give us a hard knock, we can use the terrain features for cover to haul ass. That'll give us enough time and space for a quick counterattack to keep 'em off balance."

Cruiser was thoughtful for a moment before expressing an important concern. "Didn't you say Al-Qaeda could be in that area?"

"Yeah. But we have no other choice," Brannigan said. "It's like we're damned if we do and damned if we don't."

"When do we move out, sir?" Senior Chief Dawkins asked.

"Oh-one-hundred hours," Brannigan answered.

Cruiser checked his watch. "That'll give our guys damn near three hours to rest up for the ordeal."

"Rest up?" Brannigan remarked. "We've got two graves to hide, not to mention digging caches for the mortar and third line equipment. We're hauling ass with little more than weapons and skivvies. You guys turn to and get those items taken care of. If it's done fast enough, the men will maybe have a twenty-or thirty-minute breather to rest up for the withdrawal."

"Luxury!" Cruiser said with a grin. "You're spoiling the platoon, sir."

"Yeah!" Brannigan said with a humorless chuckle. "Who said it was tough in the SEALs?"

Chapter 15

WEST RIDGE BASE CAMP

21 AUGUST

THE task of caching extra gear such as the 60-millimeter mortar system and everyone's third line equipment had taken longer than Wild Bill Brannigan estimated. It was difficult to do the work properly because of having to rely on the night vision system goggles to make sure the excavations were undetectable after being filled in. It was even necessary to eliminate boot prints as much as possible so the mujahideen could not make a ballpark estimate of how many people had occupied the mountaintop. The two chief petty officers made damn sure nothing was left to chance. Everyone's life literally depended on keeping the mujahideen guessing.

The most difficult part of the activity involved the graves of Kevin Albee and Adam Clifford. The idea of abandoning these resting places of their buddies seemed near sacrilege to the SEALs. As if this wasn't bad enough, the knowledge that some miserable raghead would tread over the graves gave Brannigan's Brigands a sense of shame tinged with a deep grief. The fact that it was a tactical necessity did not lessen the emotional pain.

Although the Skipper had ordered the noise of the shoveling be kept to a minimum, he wasn't that concerned about it. If the mujahideen detected the sound of digging, they would only assume the infidels on the ridge top were reinforcing their fighting positions. This would serve well in giving the impression they were staying put. It was of the utmost importance that they conceal the fact that an escape off the mountain was in the offing. But the work took extraordinary effort, and nobody in the platoon was able to get any rest before it was time to abandon West Ridge for the questionable safety of the ravine country to the west.

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0100 HOURS LOCAL

THE entire platoon was stripped down to their combat vests, taking only first and second line equipment, along with extra ammunition bandoleers, the PRC-112 radios, and hand and M-203 grenades. As soon as everyone was checked out, the chiefs formed them up to begin the withdrawal. The order of march was Alpha, Bravo, Delta and Charlie Teams. The point was manned as usual by the intrepid Odd Couple, while Joe Miskoski and Gutsy Olson acted as rear guards. Since the route would be through the deep ravines of the foothills, Brannigan didn't bother to station flankers out on the sides of the column. Security would have been seriously compromised if anyone walking in the open above the deep gullies was spotted by enemy reconnaissance patrols.