North Korean Blowup (13 page)

Chapman and Lawrence carried the dead Korean farmer into the brush away from where the tied man lay. They pushed him into a gully and carried limbs and leaves and branches off trees to cover him.

They all went down to the trucks. Ho took the stake truck and all of Alpha Squad climbed on board. They heaved four of the drag bags on board. Five men fit into the pickup body, and two from Bravo squad got in the stake. Will Tanner drove the pickup. He reported almost three quarters of a tank of gas. Ho showed him where the controls were and how the stick shift worked.

“Let’s take off our outside shirts and put them and our combat vests in the drag bags,” Hunter said into his shoulder mike. We’ve got to look like a soccer team. We’ll see how easy it is to get through this town coming up and then up the road a ways we’ll have our MRE’s.”

A small cheer went up.

Beth and Hunter rode in the cab with Ho.

“MRE’s I know what they are,” Beth said.

“Let’s roll. Tanner, stay about fifty yards behind us, so it doesn’t look like we’re a convoy until we have to be at a check point or a road block. Ho said there won’t be many up here. The area is not heavily fortified, and the border with China is a love feast. Moving out.”

The road continued northwest following the coast but eight or ten miles inland. They passed a few hills on the right and after twenty minutes they could see the town ahead. They had been traveling about forty miles an hour, which was fast enough for the quality of the road. Now they slowed a little and the road turned north toward the town.

“Tran, can you drive that pickup?” Hunter asked.

Tran in back of the pickup used the radio. “I can. Want me on the door side in case we get stopped?”

“Right. We’ll pull off up here and make the switch.”

Soon they were on the way again. A few houses along the road showed now. Some were farm houses with small plots on the hilly side. Then there were more houses and soon the highway hit the city street which was in better conditions.

“Road signs,” Ho said to his mike. “Tran, follow me. Close up. No  lose me.”

There was some traffic now. Mostly going into the town. Hunter had no idea how big it would be. As they came up to it the town  looked to be twelve maybe fifteen thousand people. A real metropolis for that part of North Korea.

“Stay up, Tran,” Ho said.

They saw people on the street. Some must be going to work. Many bicycles moving in waves. The highway was at the side of the main part of town. Hunter was glad about that. They were almost through the town and the road had returned to the two lanes of blacktop, when Ho pointed ahead.

“Check point. Two army trucks. Four soldiers.”

“Everybody remember your Korean for ‘yes’ and chant the name of the team,” Hunter said. “Move your shoulder mikes down under your tee shirt and out of sight. Here we go. Keep all of your weapons hidden. No shooting here or we’re all dead.”

CHAPTER ELEVEN

They coasted toward the checkpoint which consisted of a large army truck parked crossways in the street and sidewalk, leaving only one lane on the far side. Two soldiers stood there with rifles slung waving down the truck. Ho brought it to a smooth stop within inches of the soldier who had moved to the side. He peered inside the cab and  looked in back. Some of the men feigned sleep.

“Big load, where are you headed?” the soldier asked in Korean.

“Uiju. We have a soccer match set there for tomorrow. Want to get there early and get in some practice.”

The soldier harrumphed. “No practice needed for that bunch of losers. Couldn’t kick their way out of town.” He went to the back. “You men all soccer players?”

“Yes,” half of them shouted the Korean word for yes. The others pretended to wake up.

“What’s the name of your team?”

Half of them called out the Korean name on the back of their tee shirts. They turned around so he could see the logo printed there.

The soldier came back to the cab. “Take it easy out of town. Some roadwork up there about three kilometers.”

“Oh, the other half of our team is in the pickup back there. We couldn’t get a bus, so we had to go this way.”

The soldier looked behind them where Tran had brought up the pickup and now idled there waiting.

“Didn’t think you had a full team there. Good luck at Uiju. When you come back have a game with us. I play on the first team.”

Ho waved at him and drove ahead. Behind them Tran moved up and stopped, said a few words with the soldier who waved them on through.

Hunter lifted his hand from behind his leg. He held the pistol with the safety off and a round in the chamber. He relaxed.

“We made it through the first test,” Hunter said. “That soccer idea saved our skins today. Hope it works on up the road.”

The work on the highway five miles out of town was pathetic. Men and women slaved at filling pot holes in the black top. They used picks and shovels and a tamping down weight that pounded the dirt and rocks in place. There was no black top to seal it.

They drove round the workers and angled on up the road. It was about five more miles on to the smaller town of Uiju.

“No check point at next town,” Ho said.

“Are you guessing?” Beth asked.

“Yes. Guess.”

Two miles farther on they came around a curve in the road and Ho hit the brakes hard. Lying in the road were about twenty children of all ages from six or seven up to fifteen. They sat up when the truck stopped. The larger ones ran at the two trucks from each side of the road. They screamed at them, stopping a short way from the trucks. Soon both vehicles were surrounded by the children.

“They shout food, they want food,” Ho said.

“Where do they come from?” Hunter asked.

“We call them wandering children. Live by begging from town to town. Go far south in summer to stay warm.”

“How can they live that way?” Beth asked.

“Die. Many die.” Ho stood on the side of the stake truck and shouted at the children. In Korean he told them:

“We have no food. No food for ourselves. Go away. Let us pass.”

A moment later Hunter stood on the stake truck. He showed Ho a stack of Won notes.

“Can we give them money? Will they use it for food? It must take a lot to feed all of these. If we give them five hundred Won, would they let us past and hurry into town to buy food?”

“If they have leader.” Ho said. He spoke rapidly to the children again. Three of the tallest came forward. He scolded them in Korean  and asked if they had money would they buy food.

He listened to the response. Hunter had opened the money belt he had around his waist and took out all of the small denomination bills he had. Then he added larger ones until he had five hundred Won notes. That was about two hundred and thirty US dollars. He held it out to Ho.

The big North Korean handed the money to the older children, making sure most of them got some. He warned them about feeding the small ones as well. There were big smiles and shouts of joy and waves from the children. Soon they left the road and walked south along the highway. None was left behind. Some of the older ones helped the small ones along the way.

They drove again. Ho told them that often parents died from disease or lack of food. The children went into the towns looking for something to eat. Often they were chased out into the country. Many of them starved to death. In the winter hundreds of them died from the cold.

Soon they came to the tiny town of Uiju. The guard had been right. If they had a soccer team it must be made up of most of the men in the town. It had about twenty houses and a few stores, Hunter decided. He wondered how the town survived. They powered through it on the highway, and saw only a few cars along the street and fewer people.

Beth frowned. “This first bomb. How do we know where to look for it?”

“Dr, Sung told us. It’s in an old coal mine. An abandoned coal mine. They put it underground so there would be no chance that it could be destroyed by South Korea or U.S. aircraft.”

“And we know where the mine is?”

“Yes,” Hunter said. “We have directions. Dr. Sung was there when it was hidden away.”

Less than five miles out of Uiju Ho called out.

“Trouble ahead. Army trucks.”

Two small army vehicles and one six by type truck had pulled off the road at a level spot and evidently the troops were having a meal.

“Wave at them,” Ho said in his mike. About twenty North Korean soldiers looked at the two trucks as they went by. The SEALs waved at them and a few waved back. Nothing happened for half a minute. Then one of the smaller rigs pulled out onto the highway and raced after them. It caught them easily and pulled alongside and motioned to Ho to turn off the road and stop on the shoulder. Ho did and Tran stopped behind him. Hunter’s hand vanished below his leg and lifted his MP-5 where he could get it quickly.

Ho stayed in the truck. The jeep had parked just in front of the stake truck so it couldn’t move. A soldier with braid on his shoulders came out of the passenger side of the rig. He marched up to Ho’s window and stared at him hard. Then in Korean he asked:

“Who are you and where are so many men going?”

“We’re the soccer team touring the north country. We played in Sinuiju yesterday, but there was no team back there in Uiju, so we’re going to the next town. Do you play on an army team?”
               “No, I don’t play. Some of my men do. We could have a game right here if it were level enough. What’s the name of your team?”

“We’re the Lancers. So far we are ten wins and only one loss on this road trip. How far to the next town? My team is getting hungry and we didn’t bring much food.”

“We’re at the end of our patrol or we could feed you. We’ve used up the last of our rations. The next town is Chongson-Abdongiayu. They do have a town team. Good luck on your tour.” The officer saluted, did a snappy about face and marched to his jeep which wheeled around in a U turn and headed back to his troops.

“Soccer is alive and well in North Korea,” Hunter said. “I just hope we don’t get trapped into playing a game.”

“That be bad,” Ho said.

“MRE’s you mentioned,” Beth said.

“Yeah, right.” Hunter turned and spoke into his shoulder mike he had put back in place. “Dig out the MRE’s from the drag bags. We’ll eat on the run. You copy Bancroft?”

“Copy that. We’re on it.”

The MRE, Meal Ready to Eat, had been seriously upgraded during the past twenty years since they first came out. They were now in their thirteenth version and were giant strides ahead of the first ones. The new ones had heat pouches that could be activated to serve a warm entrée and the MRE’s included a wide variety of meals. Each pouch was marked with what was inside.

“Next town, Chonsong,” Ho said. “I hear of it. Not big. Forget why I hear.”

They had met few cars or trucks. Now and then one came by. There had been no more army trucks. Not one car or truck had passed them. The speed averaged about thirty miles an hour, Hunter figured. Now and then they passed through heavy growth of trees as the highway began to climb up mountain grades.

They came around a corner in the highway and ahead saw another wooded area. It wasn’t until they were almost to it that Hunter called out.

“Trouble. Trees across the road. Stop back here,” They stopped twenty yards from the downed pine trees. At once two armed men jumped out of hiding places. Both carried rifles and aimed at the trucks. Hunter looked behind the pickup and saw two more armed men.

“I’ve got the right,” Hunter said.

“I’ve got the left front,” Lawrence said from the stake body.

The men came closer. When they were twenty feet away, Hunter gave the command. “Now.”

The two MP-5’s stuttered out three rounds each and the two armed men stared in astonishment a moment before they slammed backwards on the black top dead before they stopped moving.

Hunter heard gunfire from the rear.

“Splash two bandits back here,” Bancroft said on his radio.

“Might be more of them,” Hunter said. “Two men in back, hit the trees and recon. Tran, Tanner, take the front and check it out.”

Hunter left the cab of the truck and examined the two bodies near the trees. Both were dead. Both had Chinese rifles and extra magazines. He took the weapons and ammo and put them in the stake. Then he dragged the bodies off the road into the brush.

Hunter and Ho looked at the trees that had been felled across the road.

“Too big,” Ho said.

The first one was forty foot long and about a foot and a half in diameter where it had been chopped down. Hunter waved at the rest of the men in the stake.

“Up here, we need some grunts.”

Hunter put ten men on the top part of the tree where it was about three inches thick.

“Pick up that sucker and we swing it around off the road. Easier than trying to drag it back. Let’s give it a try.”

The men grabbed the pine tree, lifted it waist high and charged forward. It resisted a moment, then the butt of the log moved and they pivoted the pine tree toward the ditch slowly at first, then at a lunging run as they drove it into the shallow ditch.

“Just like log work in BUD/S,” Sanborn shouted.

“Good work,” Hunter said. “We’ve got one more. Let’s take it the other way. This one isn’t quite so big.”

The ten men picked up the tree trunk two thirds of the way to the top and charged forward, pivoting it off the road and into the ditch. Hunter noticed that Beth was one of the SEALs on the tree clearing operation.

Tran slipped out of the brush carrying three rifles. “We found a camp about a hundred yards into the woods. Two women cooking something. Six rifles and a box filled with watches and jewelry. Must be loot they have stolen from highway raids. They could stop a dozen cars here before someone dragged the trees off the highway.”

Tanner came out of the woods with three more rifles and a cloth sack full of ammunition. He tossed it all on the stake truck.

“Our guys found no one back here,” Bancroft reported.

“Let’s clean those limbs off the highway and get this motorcade back in motion,” Hunter said.