War
He was right. He was goddamned right. Why the fuck did he have to be right?
2LT Joseph cursed his PSG in his mind for his correct intuition. SFC Harrison was just killed in action. To be specific, a 23mm round from a North Korean chain gun clipped his head right off. This was not the only problem for 2LT Joseph. He lost his RTO, legs blown off by a mortar shell. 2nd Squad was completely mowed down in a long burst of grazing fire. At the moment, he had only 15 men left. 3rd Platoon was combat ineffective, but spearheading the assault meant they could not pull back.
The remains of his platoon had just made it to a large bridge spanning the Taedong river. Their objective, the research facility, was not too far from the other end of the bridge. The immediate problem that they faced was the North Korean troops dug in across the bridge, as well as the North Korean engineers on the bridge attempting to demolish the bridge. Luckily, they were doing a fairly good job at suppressing the engineers, but with ammo running low, they couldn't keep that up for much longer. 2LT Joseph decided to act.
"Campbell, Gunnar, Dunn! I want you to stay here and provide us with covering fire. Man the 2-40 Bravo!"
"Yes, sir!"
"The rest of you, we are going to move up. We have to take the bridge before the enemy blows it. Leonardo!"
"Sir?"
"I need you to run back to the forward observer attached to Fourth Platoon. Give this to him."
He handed the private a folded piece of paper.
"This is a fire-mission I need Division Artillery to complete. Now go! Covering fire!"
He began to fire his M4 in rapid succession, and the rest of his men followed suit. PFC Leonardo sprinted out of the group, back to friendly lines.
"Alright, let's get moving! Sergeant Campbell, I want suppressing fire on that machinegun nest on my command!"
He looked at his men. They were all covered in dirt and blood. Some were shivering and looked pale. He had to lead by example if he expected his men to follow.
"Now!" He hopped over the concrete wall they were using as cover, and sprinted onto the bridge. He took cover behind a wrecked tank, a North Korean Type 59. He saw his men moving to do the same. Two got cut down. He peeked over the vehicle and saw the machine gun nest firing at his men. He pulled the pin on one of his grenades. Standing up, he threw the grenade at it, landing inside and blowing the operators to smithereens.
He ducked behind cover and waited a few seconds. He stood up again and rushed forward, firing his weapon at enemy positions, his men following suit. Two more dropped.
I'm losing too many men!
He slid into a maintenance trench at the center of the bridge. Two North Korean engineers working on the detonator. 2LT Joseph fired two rounds into the back of one. The other turned to look at the lieutenant. Joseph aimed and pulled the trigger, which ended with a dissatisfying 'click'. His gun had jammed!
The engineer rushed and tackled him, and tried to stab him with a knife. Joseph caught his arm before the knife could stab him. 2LT Joseph grunted, straining to push the knife away. The North Korean engineer was bony, and looked malnourished. His face was dirty, his teeth were yellow, and his eyes were bloodshot.
Goddamned ugly gook!
The engineer wasn't too strong, so 2LT Joseph used his free hand to punch the North Korean in the face, and pushed him off. The lieutenant then drew his sidearm and shot the engineer twice in the chest. The North Korean fell onto his back.
With a sigh of relief, 2LT Joseph holstered his pistol, picked up his rifle, and cleared the jam, a simple stovepipe. He dropped the magazine and slipped in a new one. He looked back to see four of his men in the trench with him.
"Sir, if we keep rushing, we'll all be dead before we reach the end of the bridge."
"You're right, Sergeant. We'll hole up here until that fire support comes in. What's our ammo situation?"
"I'm black, the Specialists and Private here are red."
"Damn, I only got one mag left myself."
Just then, a 7.62mm round passed through the SSG's head. Blood, skull fragments, and brain matter flew everywhere.
"Fuck!"
The other soldiers looked just as disgusted as 2LT Joseph was.
"That fire support better come in fucking soon."
Coincidentally, the fire support came in just as the words left his mouth. The trenches on the other side of the bridge got hammered by artillery shells. Incoming fire became sporadic at best. The remaining enemy forces began to retreat. The men started to cheer. The LT himself was smiling.
He looked back to his men at the end of the bridge and motioned for them to move up. Their smiles, showing their gleaming white teeth, shone through the dreary backdrop of their dirty faces, the cloudy weather, and the war. The victory was sweet. When they started to cross the bridge, he turned back. That's when he saw it.
Him, the North Korean soldier 2LT Joseph had shot with his pistol, detonator in hand. 2LT Joseph raised his rifle to shoot, but it was too late. The engineer squeezed the detonator as he said something to the lieutenant. It probably was the Korean equivalent of "Fuck you". 2LT Joseph pulled the trigger just as the bridge began to shake. The bullet passed right between the North Korean's eyes, and his body went limp.
The whole bridge vibrated as it began to collapse. 2LT Joseph tried to brace himself, squatting down to shift his center of gravity lower.
This is it. I'm gonna die.
Each truss junction shattered as if it were in slow motion, starting from the center, then moving outwards. The center of the bridge, where 2LT Joseph stood, caved first. He fell into the Taedong River, the bridge collapsing around him. He sank down into the river and almost drowned. He dropped his rifle, helmet, and stripped off his tactical vest. He surfaced, and swam to shore. He looked for any of his men, but only saw a single body floating down the river next to him. He pulled it in.
It was PFC Dunn. His face was pale, purple veins showing through. His eyes were bloodshot, staring straight forwards: the infamous thousand-yard stare. He was dead.
2LT Joseph began to tear up. He began to cry.
