Part 2

This is part two of my Burden of Command story, it's been awhile so please read it here. Hope you enjoy.

Barry informs me that his men made it through the first enemy camp without incident. About the time they come within firing range of the bunker, enemy reinforcements converge on them from both sides.

Wincing, I give Barry the order to withdraw. I wait a few seconds for confirmation, but there's no response. Since Barry would never ignore an order, especially a retreat, I have to believe that his walkie-talkie must have been hit.

Without a way to contact them, I can't help but worry about my men's survival. It's quite possible that Barry died when his radio was hit, and I'm un-sure if his group can get out. Just as I'm pondering what to do from here, my radio crackles.

Kelly: Sir, I'm taking my men in.
I'm going to try to get Barry's team out.

Most commanders would go out of their minds. I am not most commanders; Kelly is acting how I would like him to, though I don't agree completely with what he is doing. He's assessed the situation, chosen a course of action, and followed through; acts of leadership. If he makes it back I'll chew his ass out, but for now I'll just hope his plan works.

Since I can't do much to get my men out of the situation below, I turn my attention to our escape. It's pretty much clear that we won't be getting out of the area easily. It's doubtful that our forces will be able to make it back to camp, and if they do they will probably have the enemy close on their heels. To prepare for this, I instruct the dozen or so soldiers standing around to carry the supplies to the edge of our escape route and stay there. Inez, Cole, Niet, and myself will provide covering fire until Kelly's and Barry's forces are out of the base. At that time, Inez will set off the booby traps which will destroy the base, and we will haul ass. At least, that's the plan.

It seems like an eternity since Kelly's last message, and I can't help but wonder if they aren't all dead and we're just sitting here like ducks while the enemy surrounds us. I look at my watch, if he doesn't report in within the next two minutes I'm going to have to order the retreat without them.

Kelly: "Sir, we've succeeded in taking fire off of Barry's group and we're both heading back."
"What about Barry?"
Kelly: "He's dead, sir."

I hang my head, I've sent at least 4 men to their death today and achieved nothing visible by it. Losing men is tough enough when the reason is obvious, but I have to admit I'm having trouble seeing the purpose in it at the moment. It's all I can do to hold back tears.

I pull my thoughts back to the situation at hand, if I don't focus I may lead more men to a needless death today. First order of business is to take up firing positions behind my office, the westernmost building in the camp. All we have to do is hold off the enemy long enough for Kelly to get through camp.

I hear gunfire tear through the trees as my men appear, Kelly bringing up the rear. I nod, prompting Inez, Niet, Cole, and myself to begin picking off the enemy trailing just behind. Kelly's men duck and dodge behind tents as they make their way through camp, gaining more ground at every turn. Finally, they head past my office into the clear and we follow them. As we're nearing the tree-line, Inez detonates the mines in camp, obliterating everything.

We head down towards the valley, counting on the confusion and explosion to give us time to get out of visual range. So far, the only planned part of the retreat is to high-tail it west. And, truthfully, I'm not so sure we'll be needing any more of a plan.

I examine our situation and where we can go from here. North of our position, is the enemy border which is defintely out of the picture. To the south is headquarters, roughly 6 miles away. To the east is a battallion of enemy troops, definitely foaming to get at us. I'd rather not die today so heading east is out, and going to HQ is about as despressing a solution so I decide to head west.

According to the last intelligence I received, the nearest American base lies 8 miles distant to the west. It's a pretty long trek under the circumstances, but it appears like I have little option. The bright side is, the commander there is an old friend of mine.

I motion Inez, Cole, and Kelly over and tell them we're going to see Colonel Garrett. They seem to be agreeable to my decision so I inform the rest of the troops. With that decided, I ask Kelly to fill me in on what happened in the enemy camp.

Kelly: "Well, my men pushed through but were unable to get any real information."
"Yes, you kept me abreast of your first assault, what happened thereafter?"
Kelly: "I saw that Barry was surrounded and had no chance so I went in after him. I think sentries may have seen them coming.
"You took a big risk putting yourself and your men on the line like that, you disobeyed orders and threatened the safety of the entire camp. I should bust you to private and have you on KP for the rest of the war. And if you ever have the situation presented to you again, I want you to do exactly what you did today, soldier. What did you see?"
Kelly: "When we charged the bunker, I saw the generals leaving under close guard of about 2 dozen soldiers. And, sir, I also saw General Kwan in the group."
Inez: "Holy Shit"

General Kwan is, without a doubt, the most experienced commander in the Korean army. He has been fighting for over 40 years and led United Nations forces in every war they have been involved in for the past 20 years. He's known for instilling fear in both his men and his enemies and being a strong believer in overwhelming force.

Kelly: "The enemy's firing line broke to counter us, and Corporal Graves siezed the opportunity to lead Barry's men out. It seems that the first bullet caught Barry in the head."
"How many casualties?"
Kelly: "There were 3 in my first assault, 4 in Barry's assault including himself, and an additional 5 in the return to camp."

An hour ago I thought I had lost 4 men for nothing, now I know that 12 men gave their lives to get a few more pieces for the puzzle. It doesn't take away the fact that they died, or make up for it, but it does give their death meaning. The fact that General Kwan is leading the battallion proves that something very important is going on.

Kelly knows the end of a conversation when he sees one. And he understands what I've told him. Unlike most Commanding Officers, I want men who think on their feet and know when to disobey orders. I'll take 500 good men over 5,000 sheep anyday.

We left camp at a little after midnight, it's now around 1:30a.m., and we've traveled a little over a mile. Between the exhaustion and the supplies we haven't made great time but we seem to be in the clear for now. At this pace we should make it to Garrett's camp a little after 6. Knowing the colonel, the camp will be in full swing when we arrive.

Colonel Garrett is very different from me in many ways. For one, he's very much a stickler for doing things by the book. But, something that sets him apart from so many other people is that he also knows when to throw the book out. Most people despise him, but we have been friends for many years now. As hard as he is on his men, he loves them as much as I love mine and they know it. He's a very loyal friend and a stand-up kind of guy, always willing to bail a friend out.

I take a look around, my troops all seem to be deep in thought, surely about their fallen friends. And with quite a ways left ahead of us, I finally let my mind wander that way too.

Lieutenant Steven Barry was a communications specialist. As good as he was at decoding enemy transmissions and at other deviousness of that nature, I always thought command was his destiny. Everybody loved him and followed him gladly, something not many people can say. He never was that good at combat, but he was the kind of man who would never back away where he was needed. He gave his life in the bravest way a person can, fighting for his country's freedom. When we reach camp, I'll write the letter to his wife and family telling them just that.

Inez: "Sir, what's the plan once we reach Colonel Garrett?"
"Right now, I really don't have one."

Lieutenant Susan Inez, formerly with Intelligence, came under my command in Canada a few years ago repulsing a Russian invasion. Shortly thereafter I was given my biggest command with Inez serving as an advisor. With the departion of the majority of my outfit after the last war, Inez became my right-hand. Most of the credit for surviving this long belongs to her and her ability to keep the rest of the company calm in crises. When I get the chance, I'm recommending her for promotion.

Which brings me to Kelly, James Kelly reminds me of myself...to some degree. As a lieutenant, I was much more arrogant and much less inclined to follow orders than Kelly, but then I was younger than him as well. Like me, he has a good understanding of situations and the ability to make quick and decisive decisions even in the worst circumstances. Were he under a different man, he would probably have been at least put in the stockade. In a few years, he'll either be a major or dead.

Cole: "Once things are settled, we should have a service for the men."
Inez: "Agreed."
Kelly: "Yeah."
"That's a good idea."

It's a little out of the ordinary in the situation, but that's the way Cole is. Lieutenant Adrian Cole is the younger brother of a high school friend of mine. He's a weapons specialist and very artistic. A few weeks ago he was able to wheel and deal for a guitar, and we all stayed up late for nights on end singing and dancing until the strings broke. Since then he's helped keep up morale by leading the men in songs and the like. It's really a shame that he's out here fighting instead of backing home entertaining the masses, but I'm glad he's here.

We finally reach the outskirts of Garrett's base. I tune the walkie talkie to the "frequency of the week", the standardized frequency used for one week then changed so the enemy doesn't have time to catch on, and tell Sergeant Hope that we're on our way. Once I give him the password he signals the sentries that we're friends and we enter camp. As I expected, it's 6:30 and the camp is bustling with activity.

I head straight for Colonel Garrett's office, leaving my men to fend for themselves. I knock on the door and walk in to see a standard military room. It consists of a long, metal desk with a roll-chair behind it. In each corner is a large file cabinet containing information of all sorts on all of the personnel and orders of the unit. The liquor cabinet beside the desk is empty, Garrett doesn't drink, and the rest of the room is mostly barren. The only proof that its used are the man at the desk and the papers he's mulling over. Without looking up, he half-mutters, "What is it?"

"Now is that any way to talk to the man who saved your life, Tim?"
Garrett: "Jack! What are you doing here? Last I knew HQ was letting you waste away in the middle of nowhere."
"Well, that's a mighty long story Tim, and I really would like to get accomodations set up for myself and my men before I get into the subject."
Garrett: "Of course. Sergeant, see that the colonel's men are given quarters and put his things in the V.I.P. tent."
"Shouldn't be too hard, we only brought a bit of ammunition and a couple days supply of food and water along with us."

Sergeant Hope seems a little squirrely to me, but then so do most sergeants I run across. He seems adept at his clerking job in as much as his office was well-organized. But then, Colonel Tim Garrett would never let any part of his camp be otherwise.

After the Sergeant leaves, Colonel Garrett finalizes a deal he seemed to have been working on with another outfit, then instructs the Officer of the Day on a few changes he wants made to the daily patrols. About the time he finishes and I settle in to explain the situation to him, Sergeant Hope pops his head in.

Hope: "Colonel Coburn, it'll take a day or two to get extra tents for your men but for now we've managed temporary quarters. And the V.I.P. tent is ready for you, sir."
"Thank you, Sergeant"
Garrett: "Sergeant, see that we're not disturbed unless it's a matter of life and death. Dismissed."

I take a moment to decide just how to tell Tim what's happenend. I have no doubts that he'll understand my position and what I plan to do, but he's the type of man who will be very anxious about acting outside of orders. I must make it clear that these circumstances require swift and decisive action which headquarters has shown repeatedly they are inept at doing. I finally settle on a plan, I'll tell him the whole story and work with his reactions, and begin.

"Tim, we've been friends for what, 20 years now?"
Garrett: "Something like that."
"And you know that I'm not one to grumble when things don't go my way."
Garrett: "You're one of the best soldiers I've ever seen, you follow orders but you know that orders need to be broken sometimes. But I've never known you to disobey orders without a good reason, no. Why?"
"Because I'm already in violation of orders by being here, Tim."

I expected Tim to be somewhat taken aback by what I've said, but instead find that he simply nods his head almost as if he expected this.

Garrett: "I knew that once Stone took over operations and put Boulder over the theatre something was bound to go wrong. I'm just glad you were the one to find it."
Garrett: "They screwed you over royally after General Yates retired."

General Yates was the Commander of the United Nations forces in the last war. He assigned me to be his right hand after the first week of fighting when I defeated the bulk of the Turkish army.

Near the end of the war, Yates' health went into decline and he became unable to continue as Commander. Instead of declaring it publicly and having the bureaucrats bring in someone new, the General put me in charge for the last month and a half of the war. Following the signing of the peace treaty, he was honorably discharged and returned home.

When war broke out between the newly unified Korea and the United States, General Frank Stone was placed in charge of Operations instead of me. Stone quickly shuffled me to the bottom of the command chain and put me in the middle of nowhere, far from the action.

So that leaves me here, talking to Colonel Garrett about how to handle the situation that now faces us. He needs to know about General Kwan and the other things I have learned recently, but first I need to get a plan moving.

"Tim, I need to ask you to do something very unusual for me."
Garrett: "What is it?"
"I need you to give control of your outfit to me, I don't want you caught up in this. You can forge any documents neccessary, whatever story you need to make up, I just don't want us both to have to go down for defying orders."

So that brings us to the end of part two, part three will be done as soon as I can compile it. For those of you looking for Starcraft battlereports from me, they're in the works. This was already basically done and I just happened to run across it while I was slacking off work on the others. ;)

Thanks to wakiki for proofreading/color scheme help. Now get out your own report, you lazy bum. ;p