Sweetness in the Dark (31 page)

“Grandfather, please try to be just a little understanding of our Allies. They know what they’re doing,” Noel said.

“We’ll see, Son. We’ll see.” Grandfather picked up his AK-47, put the sling over his shoulder and let the weapon fall onto his chest. He checked the magazine to be sure it was seated properly. Noel grabbed his pack and weapon and fell in behind his great-grandfather.

The pink in the eastern sky was just appearing when they reached the bottom of the hill. Noel could tell that a Recon Team was already up on the ridge by the radio traffic. The major checked in regularly with his forward units. From the quiet still hanging over the south slope of the Bombay Hills, the advancing forces had not been spotted by the ‘Indos’.

Noel started the climb up the first hill. The growing light revealed other American and New Zealand troops around him.

“G’day mate. Looks to be a bonser day to kill ‘Indos’,” a Kiwi walking next to him offered. He carried what looked to be an antique from the 19th Century. The two men lugging the contraption saw Noel’s inquisitive look. “Maxim. Machine gun. World War I. Straight out of the Wellington Museum. Luckily one of the men from Blenheim knew where we could come up with a good supply of ammunition for it.”

Noel was taken back.
We’re cleaning out our museums so we can fight
, he thought. The Maxim-carrying trooper again noticed Noel’s look and again offered.

“If you think this is something, you should see what Syd over there has,” the Maxim man said. Looking over to his right he whispered. “Hey Syd, show our mate here what you have for the ‘Indos’”.

Sydney walked toward the voice. Noel noticed a man carrying an evil looking gun over his shoulder. A bi-pod swung from the muzzle end. A belt of large caliber ammunition knocked against the man as he walked. Close behind two men tried to keep up carrying metal boxes. Noel assumed they were full of ammunition.

Sydney looked over Noel and his great-grandfather. “You’re the Leffingwells. Good on you, mate. Show those ‘Indos’ what it means to try and take another man’s country.”

“What is it you’re carrying?” Noel asked.

“Oh, this little thing. My grandfather came home from the European War in 1946 with it. Told them it was for his outfit’s museum. Crikey, the bloody bastards believed him and let him bring it into the country. He’s had it well hidden ‘til he dug it up three months ago. We cleaned it up and he showed me how to use it.”

“It looks like it knows how to clear a battlefield.”

“Mate, this is the most feared German weapon of World War II. This is the MG 42 squad machine gun. My grandfather would recall the buzz saw sound of this beast when I was a kid. With a rate of 1200 rounds per minute, it throws bullets into the air with a sound every soldier on the receiving end never forgets.”

“And you have ammo for it?” Noel asked.

“Poor bastards behind me have been complaining, but we’ve got enough. My grandfather knew enough to collect plenty over the past twenty years.”

Noel found out that the Maxim and the MG 42 had been assigned to his unit to enhance their stopping power. When the Americans had left Afghanistan, a lot of the units heavy weapons had been left behind. There was limited transport to the Pakistani coast and most of the troops ended up walking the entire distance.

The major found the ridge still unguarded. The ‘Indos’ hadn’t grasped that the spot that Noel and his great-grandfather had happened upon was the tactical lynchpin of the entire hills. Major Smith began directing the troops to dig in. He spotted the best positions for the supporting machine guns.

Entrenching tools appeared and everyone started digging. Noel sighed as GG smiled at his great-grandson. Noel started digging where the old man had pointed out. Their spot was just off the top and on the backside of ridge. It would still face a secondary line of ‘Indos’ while the machine guns were dug in on the front where they faced the main defensive positions of the invaders.

The first light of sunrise broke the eastern horizon. Suddenly the air exploded in flame and steel as mortar rounds landed all around them. Noel dove for cover.

“Keep digging,” GG yelled. He was prone on the ground trying to avoid the flying shrapnel that filled the air. Noel shoveled furiously as the dirt flew out of the growing hole. More mortars arrived and Noel increased his rate of digging.

He looked up while he threw dirt out of the way and noticed men working feverishly at their own tiny spots. Dirt flew everywhere. As Noel continued attacking the ground, he heard the major on the radio calling in coordinates.

Soon sounds of outgoing mortars cracked overhead as the Americans sought out the ‘Indio’ mortar unit. Noel saw explosions on the hillside to the front of their ridge. Noel noticed the tormenting mortars slacken considerably as the American fire wreaked havoc on their enemies.

Finally the hole was big enough to get his great-grandfather into and off the open ground. Noel worked on expanding the hole to make room for himself. Accomplishing that, he started to relax.

“Make it deeper, Son. You’ll be wishing that you could reach England before the day is out,” his great-grandfather said. Noel bent to his task. He noticed as he dug that the fire had subsided with only an occasional round impacting their position.

But now he could hear the cries of the wounded. The mortars had done a job on the troops around him. Medical teams took up the wounded and began the trek down the hill to an aid station. The dead were left where they fell. Noel could see three dead Americans.

When Noel felt the hole was deep enough, he took off his pack and made sure his great-grandfather was settled. He took his weapon and shovel and crawled over the ridge to see if he could lend a hand getting the machine guns dug in. Noel knew they were critical in stopping any determined attack.

“You and GG OK?” Major Smith asked as Noel crawled by the area set up as headquarters.

“We’re right,” Noel answered. He continued forward.

He reached the position Sydney had been assigned and saw the men working hard digging. They were reinforcing the position with a few logs that the Kiwis had found in the bush. Sydney motioned for Noel to jump in as he pilled dirt against the logs.

A firing slit was created between two logs so that the gunner could have a free range of fire while being protected from returning shots. The top was open, but bullets coming from the ‘Indo’ positions would have eight inches of wood to chew through. Unless they were lucky and could hit the slit.

A single shot rang out and one of the ammunition carriers working with Noel dropped over with a hole in his head.

“Snipers,” someone yelled and all the troops dropped into their holes. Noel stared at the man as blood oozed out of the front of his skull. The back of his head was missing. Syd shoved the body aside and out of the way. He pulled his extra ammo cans into his firing pit and lined them up on the left side. They were ready to feed into the German gun.

“Let me show you how this works,” Syd said. “You may need to take over.” Syd proceeded to show Noel how to lift the plate that allowed the ammunition belt to be loaded. Once settled, Syd dropped the plate and pulled back on the slide to chamber a round. He hit the selective fire switch and pulled the trigger.

The gun fired one shot. He hit the switch again and showed Noel how to hold the belt so that it would feed smoothly. Taking aim at the ‘Indo’ trenches, he pulled the trigger.

Noel felt the belt fly across his hand as the buzz saw sound tore through the air. Syd stopped and motioned Noel to repeat what he had just done.

Noel moved over and opened the plate. He pulled out the belt and then reloaded the gun. He followed through the steps that Syd had done and fired once. Then switching to full auto, he fired a short burst. He stopped firing and sat back to take a breath.

“It’s a beaut, mate. Those ‘Indios’ can find out what my grandfather suffered through now,” Syd said.

Noel nodded in agreement. The power of the gun was overwhelming. He couldn’t imagine being on the receiving end of such mechanized death.

Syd then showed him the padded glove needed to change the barrel after sustained firing. The heat generated by such a volume of fire required that the barrel be changed frequently in order to keep shooting. An extra barrel in a cloth case lay beside the gun. Syd looked at Noel with the look of an instructor letting the pupil know that lesson time was over. They were ready.

They didn’t have to wait long. As soon as the sun was up over the ridge, the ‘Indo’ commanders organized a response. Syd pointed out troops assembling to the left of their position. He swung the barrel around to make sure he had a clear field of fire in that direction. He sat back satisfied and waited.

Noel indicated that he wanted to check on his great-grandfather and crawled out of the log pit. He stayed on his belly as he headed back over the ridge to his own hole where Grandfather brewed tea.

“I missed you, Son. Anything new going on about?” GG asked.

“I got lessons in machine gun use.”

“Good, that may come in handy later.”

“The ‘Indos’ are gathering. Syd figures for an attack soon,” Noel offered.

“Time to get things moving, I say. Have a cuppa and then we’ll join the lads,” GG said.

Finishing their tea, they grabbed their weapons and ammunition and crawled over to the front of the slope. As liaison, they weren’t assigned a fighting position. Other troops would watch the back side of the ridge.

They both dropped into the headquarters redoubt hidden in some trees. A quick hole with logs had been dug and Major Smith was on the radio with the main headquarters in Hamilton.

“We’re advancing on both flanks as planned. It should generate a response very soon,” the major said. He handed the radio back to his corporal.

The response arrived in the shape of mortars again landing on their position. The rate of explosions was back to its original intensity as the ‘Indos’ focused more fire on this critical spot. Noel felt the intensity showed that the enemy had finally figured out this spot’s importance.

The ‘Indos’ were now intent on claiming land that two hours earlier they hadn’t even known they wanted. The Kiwis and Yanks were now the focus of the fight.

Noel and his great-grandfather shrank into the earth as shells landed around them. At a slight lull in the mayhem, they looked out at the forward positions. Smoke was everywhere. New holes had appeared from the mortar rounds impacting and tearing the ground.

They both reacted as one, jumping out of the headquarters hole and running to a new mortar hole. Sliding in, they quickly snapped into place at the forward slope of the pit. Across the slope enemy troops were advancing. American mortars again were seeking out the opposing mortars. Shells were bursting across the depression that separated the two forces.

The ‘Indos’ continued forward. As they drew closer the Allies opened up. The enemy staggered but kept coming. The Maxim gun opened up and the enemy paused again. But they rose up and charged forward.

Mortar shells intensified as Noel ducked into the pit for safety. Firing around him slowed as men retreated into their holes for survival.

Then Noel noticed his grandfather sprinting out of the hole. Noel looked up and saw him heading to where the Maxim had just been firing. But now nothing but smoke and debris littered the area. A shell had landed nearby and killed the gun crew.

Noel’s great-grandfather struggled to right the overturned gun. With its water jacket and tripod, its weight resisted GG’s pull. Noel ran over to help, falling into the pit as he tripped on one of the dead bodies.

Shoving the other dead gunner out of the way. Noel pulled with all his strength to get the machine gun back into position. His great-grandfather jumped behind the gun and motioned for Noel to feed the belt.

Pulling the trigger, the Maxim barked to life just as the leading ‘Indos’ ran up to the front of their position. Hard-charging men fell as GG pivoted the gun back and forth on the tripod. Each pass would cut down a swath of attackers, but more were right behind them.

Noel watched the belt run up out of the box and through the gun. As the end fed through, the gun stopped. Noel looked around frantically for more ammunition and found a new box. He pulled it forward.

“Never mind, I’ll get that. Use this,” his great-grandfather shoved the AK-47 into his hands.

Noel looked up to see dark-skinned men very close. He popped up out of the hole and pulled the trigger. The assault weapon ripped into the enemy at close range. Enemy troops fell as the AK-47 found its mark, but spraying bullets in the open had risks to it. Noel felt a burning stab of pain hit him on the side of his head.

Then another one hit him in his injured arm. He used all his energy to keep from collapsing. He threw a new clip into the Ak-47 and finished off the closest attackers. Just when he felt like he would pass out from pain, the Maxim opened up again. He dropped down behind the logs and saw his grinning grandfather clearing the field in front of them.

Noel reached up and felt his throbbing head. The wound stung when he touched it, but the wound was a glancing one. The hole in his arm was bleeding, so he retrieved a dressing from the dead man’s kit and tied up his wound. His great-grandfather stopped firing long enough to turn and look at his Noel’s head wound.

A lucky round found its way between the logs protecting the gun position, hitting his great-grandfather in the leg. He fell over clutching right above his knee, swearing a streak. Noel grabbed another dressing and quickly applied it to GG’s leg. He found some pain killer in a self-administrating syringe and started to stab his great-grandfather.

“No,” he yelled. “I’ll need my wits about me,” and shoved Noel’s hand away. Noel looked out the firing slit and could see more attackers coming in from the right. Right on cue the mortars opened up in earnest again. Explosions crashed into Noel’s position and he could hear the screams of the wounded over the din.

Again the Maxim came to life as GG opened up. But as intense as the old machine gun was, the troops kept advancing. Noel noticed that there was a certain sound missing that had been there before. He looked to his right and saw the answer.