Chapter 41
"Captain MacDonald, this place is getting too hot for us.
We're going to pull out.". . ."Do you think you can
traverse the fortified area and find out what's doing beyond
it, or do you feel you'd have to come back?". . .
"I already know what's behind me, sir.". . ."All right, but
don't take any fool chances. Remember your mission. Avoid all
contact, and keep your ears and eyes open.". . ."Yes, sir.". . .
You draw your feet up under you and assume a
half-crawling, half-crouching walk, making yourself as
mmmsmall as possible.
Egan wants to know what you are going to do, and
you indicate the ravine and tell him that the plan
is to follow the defile right through the defense positions
and report on further enemy preparations. The tall grass, vines
and foliage close in on you from both sides of
the natural crevice like the structural steel framework of buildings
toppling down. "We're moving, Captain. The slope of the hill
is becoming quite pronounced, and the top of this gully
is rather uneven.". . ."Can we use it as a route
of approach?". . ."No. You'd have to travel single file, and
as soon as the Japs get their snipers posted, anyone
taking a Sunday stroll here will be vitamins for worms.". . .
Egan is to your left and he moves along the
ground with a peculiar, mechanical motion as though
mmmsomeone were
prodding him from behind with a pitchfork. Toy soldiers, you
think. Toy soldiers, both of us. They wound us up
and they sent us out and we can do nothing
to prevent the lifting up and the setting down of
our feet until the mainspring plays itself out and we
topple over, stiff and metallic. No, it doesn't require experience
to be courageous, but it certainly demands plenty of practice,
and there is something innately presumptuous in a
mmmdemocracy that
so confidently believes there are extraordinary qualities
mmmin ordinary men.
There is a clump of trees on some rising ground
and you see movement among them. "Sir, there is quite
a bit of activity in a wooded sector just beyond
the Jap defense positions, and I think a sizeable force
is being held in reserve to either cover a general
retreat or counter-attack at the right moment.". . ."Well, it seems
clear from our information back here that they will be
used for an assault of some kind, so we'll take
necessary action. Meanwhile, bypass them and keep
mmmon going.". . ."Okay."
The ravine curves widely away at right angles to the
enemy assembly point, and you lose sight of the troops.
They looked like a scrawny bunch, but don't underestimate them.
They are at their best in a surprise maneuver like
the one they seem to be planning, because it gives
them an opportunity for swift, offensive action and tends to
minimize any deficiencies they may have in strength or firepower.
Sometimes they'll send wave after wave at a single point,
and sightseers, souvenir hunters and general kibitzers not
mmmactively engaged
can actually stand on the sidelines with no danger whatever.
If the maneuver fails, they will still keep pressing forward
regardless of losses rather than retreat. In the heat of
combat they are given to thoughtless acts of desperation and
a tendency toward hysteria, and they seem quite incapable of
making adjustments to fit a changing set of combat conditions.
Once they commit themselves to a battle plan, they will
repeat it over and over again without trying to devise
anything new or attempting to remedy their increasingly
mmmdifficult situation.
Then, for want of a better idea, they kill themselves.
* * *
