"Blitzkrieg" Chap 8
AN: From now on, I will be changing between 1st and 3rd person. Enjoy and don't forget to review!
Rei was gone. "What?" Rei stepped from the shadows, pistol raised. "Don't move. I don't want to shoot you." Kai's AK blazed, and Rei was forced to dive sideways as 7.62 bullets smashed into the wall behind him. He rolled and opened fire with his pistol. Kai swung the assault rifle round and sprayed the area with fire. Rei stayed low, pinned to the ground by the enemy's fire. The Chinese soldier crawled over to the first shelving unit that he could reach. Kai continued to fire, inaccurately. Rei slammed his shoulder into the shelving unit. It swayed. He rammed his shoulder into it again. It fell. Kai leapt aside. "Damn, damn! Can't you just die?" He picked himself up, but Rei was quicker. Bullets from the lieutenant's pistol sparked off the Hind and the concrete ground. Kai threw himself sideways, behind some boxes, cursing. The Chinese marine moved into the dusty sunlight from the window. Kai, smirking victoriously, rolled out of cover…until Rei turned in a blur and shot him. The bullet struck the soldier in the shoulder. Kai spun and fell. Rei moved forwards, his pistol raised in front of him. He kicked the AK-74 away from the fallen Kai.
Vietnamese Airspace, 1132 hrs.
A mixed force of MiG-21 "fishbeds", MiG-23 "floggers" and MiG-25 "foxbats" flew towards Viet-Tri. "This is Foxbat 1." Radioed the lead MiG-25. "We are to bypass the city entirely and strike at the Emperor tanks o the outskirts." "Roger." The following fighters acknowledged. As the fighters roared across the city, the PLA were ill prepared. A single Triple A (Anti-Aircraft Artillery) gun was fixed on a rooftop. The crew fired a thousand tracer rounds at the last MiG-23 as it swept across the city. It was fatally struck, and cannonballed into a building…. a warehouse.
Rei was blown backwards as the plane smashed into the warehouse. He was thrown straight through a large window on to the street. The lieutenant picked himself up off the ground and stared at the wreckage of the warehouse. "Poor guy." He thought. Even if he had been an enemy, what a way to die. Rei holstered his pistol and returned to the humvee. The engine growled into life and the marine drove through the tunnel was the Hind had strafed them. The same Hind was sitting in its hangar 12 miles away. As he turned right to head back to the square, he noticed that his hands were shaking. He clamped them down hard on the steering wheel and drove on.
Qingdao, China. 1134 hrs.
The two troop-carrying trucks turned into the main street of the port city of Qingdao. The driver was a large, well built man with a scar over his nose. His name was Nguyen Trig Penh. He glanced around at the 12 men behind him. They were good men. They all were. The 25th infiltrator group had taken heavy casualties. One way or another, this would be their last mission. The trucks pulled into a deserted yard. "Listen up!" Growled Nguyen. "We're going to infiltrate the marine HQ and destroy the plans for their part in "Blitzkrieg" and their base itself. I won't lie to you. We probably won't survive." The men exchanged looks. The boldest, a Corporal, spoke up. "We're with you, sarge!" The sergeant smiled. "Let's go then!" The trucks drove out and the sergeant felt a swelling of pride for his men.
Viet-Tri, Vietnam. 1136 hrs.
(1st person) I pulled into the square. For a moment I thought I had gone back in time. A Helix was sitting in the corner. Zequin was talking to a pilot. I stopped the humvee and got out. Xung spotted me. "Sir? Are you okay?" I nodded. "We've been called back to Qingdao." I perked up. "Great!" "We're leaving straight away!" Xung led me to the chopper "The whole regiment is going back. Explained the sergeant. "It must be somethin' big." He clambered on board. I followed. The Helix's rotors started to turn. Xung cracked a joke and I chuckled. I felt a hand on my arm. It was Zequin. "Thank you Lieutenant." He said over the noise of the engines. "I won't forget it." The Helix lifted off and turned northeast towards China and home. My spirits lifted with it. We were going home!
The pain…it was the first thing he felt. Kai Hiwatari dragged himself out from under the wreckage of the MiG-23. It's wings had been sheared off and the fuselage had torpedoed through the warehouse. He crawled to the wall and out.
Marine HQ, Qingdao, China. 1140 hrs
The infiltrators' trucks halted before the gates of the marine HQ on the outskirts of the city. "How do we…" Started a private. Nguyen cut him off. "Get down and shut up. You'll see." A marine guard came forward. In the cab, Nguyen, in his Chinese uniform and obscuring helmet, passed his inspection. "How can I help you, Captain? Asked the inquisitive guard, taking in Nguyen's Chinese uniform. "I'm here to deliver munitions for the armoury." Said the infiltrator. "I can't let you in without clearance." Replied the guard. "And I don't have any trucks on my schedule…" The Vietnamese infiltrator smiled. "Check with a superior. I'm cleared to come through." The guard complied, returning in less than two minutes. "Go on in, Captain." He said.
The gate slid open and the trucks drove through. They parked round the back and disembarked. "How did we do that?" asked the same private. "Simple." Said the sergeant. "We have an insider helping us." The soldiers headed off to continue their mission.
Qingdao Marine HQ heliport, China. 1200 hrs.
I dropped from the helicopter as it landed on the heliport. Xung followed. "So, sergeant, what are we to do?" I asked. The marine shrugged. "I don't know." He said. A marine detachment was waiting for us on the edge of the helipad. The newly promoted Commander Li was there. Captain Hing met him. "Commander." He said, shaking his hand. "Congratulations." "Thank you, old friend." Replied Li. "I want you and all your officers to report to the briefing room." Hing nodded and turned to us. "Come on you lot! Move it!" We smiled and followed him off the helipad.
We strode down the corridor towards the briefing room, past the guardroom, and almost ran into a group of marines coming the other way. We entered the briefing room and sat. Li turned and started to speak. "Well, you guys performed magnificently. You destroyed the garrison in Viet-Tri, you captured a lot of prisoners…" He went on to say how we were using the town to push into Vietnam… I was sore and I still had dried blood on my face from the stone chips, I had to recover an AK-74 to replace the one lost in Viet-Tri, I was thirsty. I raised my hand. "Yes, Lieutenant Kon? Do you have a question?" I nodded. "Yes, sir. May I go and clean the blood off my face and get a replacement AK for the one I lost in Viet-Tri? I can catch up from one of the men's reports." The commander shrugged. "Yes, Kon. Go ahead. But remember to catch up your report later." I rose and left, heading for the guardroom and the toilets to clean the blood off my face.
When I arrived at the guardroom, the first thing I saw was a dead body of a marine sprawled on the floor. I was reaching for my pistol when another marine entered the room, in desert camo. He unslung his AKM and opened fire at me. I dived sideways and shot him from the floor. The bullet slammed into his neck, throwing him backwards into the wall. I ran to his body and frisked him. He had nothing more than an ammo clip and a radio. It sparked into life. I raised it to my ear. "Ivan, are you there? Have you destroyed the plans?" Said the voice in Vietnamese. Luckily, I could speak Laotian, which bore a close resemblance to Vietnamese. "We're in the main hall, heading for the armoury, to blow it. More soldiers have taken the command centre and the heliport. Get down here and hurry it up!" Continued the voice. The radio went silent. I went to the alarm on the wall and smashed the glass with the butt of my pistol. Pressing the button, I picked his AKM up from the ground and left the guardroom.
Running down the corridor, I exited into the main hall. The soldier at the desk was lying on the floor, dead. I picked up his ammo and dodged into the stairwell, shooting the Viet who was stationed halfway down. He fell, dead, down the stairs. I took the stairs four at a time, hoping that I could get to the armoury in time. I could hear gunfire elsewhere. Obviously the other soldiers had run into the infiltrators and the battle had begun.
The infiltrators had arrived at the armoury just after the alarm had started to sound. The guard there was on alert, having pulled his desk to the middle of the hallway and crouching behind it, ready for anything. "Sir!" He exclaimed, perking up at the sight of a superior officer. "Is the alert over?" Nguyen frowned. "No. I have to inspect the armoury, in the event of an emergency." The soldier shook his head. "Sorry sir, but the alert has to be called off over the P.A. first. Standard operation procedure." The Viets didn't waste words. The marine died in a hail of gunfire. "Open the door." An infiltrator broke through the door and the Viets charged through.
I ran down the corridor, AKM ready. I ran into two soldiers exchanging fire with a pair of Viets. I dived in beside them, opening up with the AKM. The Viets fell. The soldiers picked themselves up and turned to me. "Sir, do we have any info on the men who are attacking us?" I shrugged. "I dunno." I replied. We turned and pounded down towards the armoury. Two infiltrators pinned us down with fire as we came round the corner. Leaning out, I shot one as he reloaded. He shrieked and fell. The other died as he was hit by a multitude of shots at once. We ran up the hall and leapt through the door. The Viet behind the door was quickly killed. We ran to the explosives and took them down. I took one and tucked it into my pouch. I turned to the soldiers and said. "We've got to liberate the heliport. They have an advantage from there."
"Look out!" Roared a soldier. I turned with AKM raised, but it was only Sergeant Xung and a few others. "What's going on, sir? We heard gunshots." I cocked the Kalashnikov and growled: "Infiltrators." Xung paled. "We have to find Captain Hing." I nodded. We headed for the heliport, shooting any Viets that got in our way.
Arriving at the heliport, we were jammed in the doorway as the Vietnamese blasted away at us. Xung fired back, and a soldier staggered back and fell from the heliport to the vehicle yard three stories below. I stepped out of the doorway and loosed a long burst off from my stolen AKM. Viets fell under the accurate fire. An infiltrator took a grenade from his belt. I aimed quickly for him and fired. The hits travelled up the man's arm and detonated the grenade. The remains of the man were thrown off the heliport. We took advantage of this explosion to kill the rest of the Viets on the 'pad.
Suddenly all was quiet, save for the gunfire in the vehicle yard below. "Sound off!" I yelled. "Only Hahn is dead."
Hahn's body was covered with a green canvas tarp. I was inspecting the chopper. I climbed in. Suddenly a Viet launched himself at me from the cockpit, knocking me out onto the concrete. I raised my AKM, only to have it knocked away by the enemy. I slammed my fist into his face, stunning him for a moment. I kneed him in the chest, throwing him off me and off the heliport. His scream was cut off as he hit the floor below.
Upon reaching the ground floor we fought our way through the level. We hit a snag in the central hall. The infiltrators had barricaded themselves behind the desks and the steel boxes. We scrambled for cover as bullets whizzed around us. I aimed my AKM over the top of the boxes and shot a Viet as he fired a long burst from his AKM towards my men. He disappeared behind the overturned desk in a cloud of blood. I was forced to cower behind cover as a storm of lead slammed into the desk that I was hiding behind. Suddenly, a group of marines appeared at the top of the central staircase and fired at the enemy. Together, we eliminated the Vietnamese. As we regrouped, one of the soldiers explained the dire situation that we found ourselves in. "We're trapped," He explained, "They destroyed a tank in the entrance. No one can get past it. They also have Commander Li hostage." "Where are they holding him?" I asked. "In the command room." I blanched. "To get to him, we're going to have to fight our way through half of this base with only a handful of allies. Great."
A marine, face blackened with burns, set a C4 against the door that led to the command room. We trained our weapons on the door. I nodded to the marine. He blew the door off its hinges. We ran through the doorway and killed the two Viets that were on guard. After a short we reached the vehicle yard. The staccato bursts of AK rifle fire echoed in the spacious yard. I sprinted for cover behind a supply truck. I leant out from behind the truck and fired off a burst at an infiltrator hiding behind another truck. He yelped and dived back behind the truck. The yard was square, with the admin building supported by six pillars on the west side. The yard was strewn with rubble and dead bodies. The Viets had taken cover behind the pillars and had a sandbagged machine-gun post in the middle of them, spitting death onto the whole yard. We were in cover in the east side, where a row of trucks was wrecked and burning. We were behind them. The heavy thud-thud-thud of the heavy machine gun kept us down. I saw Xung hit in the leg as he ran from cover to cover. The trusty sergeant fell. I saw red. Xung had been with me from the beginning. "You Vietnamese bastards!" I charged out from cover, ignoring the bullets chipping the ground around me. I fired a burst from my AKM, killing a Viet as he levelled his AKM at me. He jerked backwards and dropped from sight. I slid beside Xung. He turned his head. "It's not bad." I reassured him. A Viet was killed as he tried to throw a grenade at us. I got up and started to drag the sergeant towards our defences. The machine gun crew was hell-bent on killing us both. I yanked a grenade from my belt and threw it. Weapon and crew were disintegrated in a ball of fire. Suddenly all was quiet. Xung had a bandage applied to his wound. I sat back, exhausted.